The Personal Blog of Jason Dunn

Scientology: This Is Some Crazy Stuff

Jason Dunn — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 14:00:51 +0000

As a person of faith myself, I respect the right for others to believe what they wish – but I also believe that everyone should look at faith systems with a critical eye, asking questions, and seeking the truth. Scientology is a religion of secrets…and this video exposes how truly bizarre some of those secrets are.

Oh, So They Really Do Shut Down The Gate An Hour Before The Flight Leaves?

Jason Dunn — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 00:37:47 +0000

I feel like such an idiot. Today I was leaving for my flight to Seattle – to attend the Microsoft Mobius 2009 event – and my flight was leaving at 1:30pm. Not boarding, but leaving the ground. I have a NEXUS pass, which allows me to breeze through US customs quickly, so an hour is more than enough time for me to get my boarding pass, go through US customs, then go through security and walk to the departure gate. In fact, I can typically do that in 15 to 20 minutes at the Calgary airport – giving me 20+ minutes sitting at the gate waiting for the plane to board. I’ve always thought I have more important things to do than sit around at an airport, so I tend to cut it close.

Well, today I cut it a little too close…I arrived at the Calgary airport at 12:32 PM, and was at the Horizon/Alaska gate by 12:36 PM with my US customs card completed. There was no one there, so I went over to the next gate to ask how I could find someone to check me in for the flight. I was directed to the Horizon/Alaska office 50 feet away. I walked in, asked for someone to check me in for the flight, and was told that was impossible – the gate was closed. My jaw fell open and worked silently for a moment, then I sputtered “But…but…I must missed it by only a few minutes! There’s really no one that can check me in? They informed me that Horizon/Alaska closes the gate exactly 60 minutes before the flight leaves, and that once the gate is closed, there’s no way to check baggage – so if I wanted to make this flight, I’d have to go with carry-on only. There was another flight leaving at 6pm today, and if I wanted I could exchange my ticket for that flight at no charge. Those were my only two choices.

I was in denial for another few minutes as I moved from denial to reasoning – trying to see if there were any other options (”I have a NEXUS pass so I can get through US customs really fast! Please?”). There weren’t. I called Ashley, asked her to turn around and come back to the airport, then looked at the empty space in the middle of the Skooba Checkthrough Brief I took with me to figure out if I could really make it there with carry-on only. At Mobius events we typically get given a Windows Mobile device, and often a bag or a backpack – once even a small suitcase. So when I come to Mobius, I bring an extra big bag knowing I’ll come home with a few more things than I arrived with. That made it a no-go for my carry-on plan, so I reluctantly asked them to bump me to the 6pm flight. Ashley picked me up, and I went home for a few hours. Talk about a waste of time going back and forth to the airport! Thankfully, it’s a faster trip now with the new ring road opened.

As much as I was kicking myself all the way home, this has been a good life lesson – I’ve always tended to cut things close, looking at the departure time of the flight as the “drop dead” time I need to be there for – but, really, it’s 30 minutes prior to that when they start boarding that’s the important time to arrive for. When I returned today for the 6pm flight, we left the house at 4pm, arrived at the airport by 4:30pm, was through US customs (my NEXUS pass worked without a problem this time!) and security within 15 minutes, and sitting at the gate by 4:50pm. I thought it was funny that when I arrived at the gate it didn’t even say Seattle yet – it was still flagged for Houston. So sometime between no one being there at 4:50pm, and the flight boarding at 5:30pm, it all comes together.

My flight is finally boarding, so off I go…

The Canadian Business Forum Comments about Concrete Equities

Jason Dunn — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 06:14:10 +0000

Earlier this year, there were a couple of discussion threads started in the Canadian Business forums about Concrete Equities. The threads were full of useful information, and I posted in them several times. Curiously, right around the time that Vincenzo De Palma had his lawyers threaten to sue me for libel, the threads in the Canadian Business Forums were deleted. I don’t know why they were deleted – in fact a post I made there asking what happened was deleted – but it’s not hard to see the reasons why. Someone contacted me earlier this week about this topic; they’ve created a blog with all of the posts originally made to those Canadian Business Forum discussion threads about Concrete Equities. It makes for some interesting reading!

Are You a Promissory Note Holder With Wealthstreet?

Jason Dunn — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 05:52:44 +0000

As I mentioned in this previous blog post, for one year I was a promissory note holder with Wealthstreet here in Calgary. We loaned Wealthstreet the money, and got it back with 10% interest on top, and that was the end of it. They asked us if we wanted to re-invest it, and we declined. Others chose to re-invest, or invested for the first time within the past year, and now with Wealthstreet shutting their doors the holders of those promissory notes are wondering what they can do to get their money back. The building that Wealthstreet formerly occupied was purchased by a numbered company owned by Dave Jones, meaning it’s an asset with real value. If you are a holder of a promissory note from Wealthstreet and would like to get organized to take action, please send an email to promissory@jasondunn.com. This email address does not go to me – that email address forwards to someone who is a current promissory note holder who is interested in hearing from other promissory note holders who want to take collective action.

Ernst & Young Calls Town Hall Meeting for Concrete Equities Investors

Jason Dunn — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 20:50:32 +0000

For those investors that haven’t yet been contacted, here’s the time and location of the next meeting for Concrete Equities investors:

Ernst & Young Town Hall Meeting
Nov. 10th, 2009, 7:00 PM
Telus Convention Centre
120-9th Ave. S.E. Calgary
Exhibition Hall D / E & Annex

I’ll be there, and am cautiously optimistic based on the tone of the email sent out by the steering committee.

Tofino, BC 2009 Photos

Jason Dunn — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 20:00:55 +0000

Ashley’s sister Chelsea Skolny married Ryan Fornataro in Tofino, BC, in August of 2009. We flew into Comox, rented a car, and drove to Tofino. The wedding was lots of fun! I didn’t take any photos of the wedding because they had a professional and I was busy filming it…speaking of which, I really have to get back to editing that video! Here are a few selected photos from the full gallery.

Object Collection: Canadian Coins

Jason Dunn — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 20:37:41 +0000

Canadian 1 cent (penny) coin heads
[Download high-res version, transparent PNG]

Canadian 1 cent (penny) coin tails
[Download high-res version, transparent PNG]

Canadian 5 cent (nickel) coin heads
[Download high-res version, transparent PNG]

Canadian 5 cent (nickel) coin tails
[Download high-res version, transparent PNG]

Canadian 10 cent (dime) coin heads
[Download high-res version, transparent PNG]

Canadian 10 cent (dime) coin tails
[Download high-res version, transparent PNG]

Canadian 25 cent (quarter) coin heads
[Download high-res version, transparent PNG]

Canadian 25 cent (quarter) coin tails
[Download high-res version, transparent PNG]

Canadian 25 cent (quarter) special Breast Cancer edition coin tails
[Download high-res version, transparent PNG]

Canadian 1 dollar (loonie) coin heads
[Download high-res version, transparent PNG]

Canadian 1 dollar (loonie) coin tails
[Download high-res version, transparent PNG]

Canadian 2 dollar (toonie) coin heads
[Download high-res version, transparent PNG]

Be sure to check out the whole Object Collection category to find more scanned objects. These objects are free for personal use, but commercial use is prohibited without permission. Please see my Creative Commons License for further usage details.

Logan’s First Halloween Party

Jason Dunn — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 04:36:27 +0000

The full gallery is over on my photo site.

Geocities is Closed, And Now This Awesomeness is Gone Forever

Jason Dunn — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 04:18:36 +0000

Geocities is no more, but as I was scanning and archiving a really great Wired article (scanning a bunch of images to a PDF file is slick!), I came across a PDF file I made back in 2001, eight whole years ago…it was pulled together from a site, hosted on Geocities, that was one of the most hilarious prank/hoax sites I’ve ever seen. It’s so well done that when I first saw it I thought it was all real. It looks like I’m not the only one wanting to make sure this great site doesn’t fade from memory, but I figure I’ll post this entry anyway just for fun…

Little Mr. Logan is Learning How to Smile

Jason Dunn — Fri, 30 Oct 2009 19:53:39 +0000