Friday, April 22, 2022

"This man will pay you $10,000 to find him a girlfriend"/ "Matchmaker, make me a match"/ "Autistic teenager found more than two years after disappearing in California"


Feb. 19, 2022: I found this article "Putting a price on a search for love" by Yanan Wang in the Edmonton Journal.  I couldn't find the article, but I found this article about the same man:


Jul. 6, 2015 "This man will pay you $10,000 to find him a girlfriend": Today I found this article by  on Business Insider:

This Alabama man has been on 30 unsuccessful dates in the past the past ten months — to remedy this situation, he created a website offering a $10,000 reward to anyone who can find him a girlfriend. 

Ren Lu You is a 29-year-old living in Birmingham, Alabama. 

He's a recent Harvard Business School graduate and works full-time as a private equity associate. 

You created his own dating website, dateren.com, where people can submit female friends who might like to date You.

As an incentive, if You and a woman submitted to the site wind up dating for more than six months, You says he will pay $10,000 to the person who helped set them up (unless You's future girlfriend submits herself, in which case she would not be eligible for the cash reward).  

Finding the woman of his dreams is worth at least $10,000 to You. He compares finding a potential partner to purchasing other "big-ticket items" such as a car or a house. 

"I would argue that all these things pale in importance to finding somebody you get along with and you may end up marrying," You told BI. "So $10,000 seemed pretty reasonable."

Before starting his own dating site, You was disappointed by his experiences with standard dating techniques.

"I’ve been on a bunch of dates and gone through all the usual methods: friends of friends, introductions through coworkers, OkCupid, Match.com, Tinder, everything," You told Business Insider of his failed dating efforts. 

Even though he was going on plenty of dates, he wasn't meeting the kinds of women he envisioned potentially spending the rest of his life with.

"With online dating you have this problem of adverse selection," You explained. "Only the people who self-select into a particular dating website are the people you have access to." 

Unlike other dating websites, women can be involuntarily submitted to You's website. 

"With this site I have access to basically everybody," You noted to BI. "You don't have to see the site or know who I am, you just have to know somebody who has seen the site." 

You made sure to let his family and friends know what he was up to before starting this new dating adventure.

"I understand there's always the potential hazard of people thinking you're an a------ and the internet deciding it doesn't like what you're doing," You said of his concerns in starting the website. 

For now, You is just trying to streamline the process of finding a woman who he can call his girlfriend, and maybe someday, his wife"I'm trying to make dating as efficient as possible," he said.

If you're interesting in submitting yourself or a friend, check out You's dating site here.

Man Offers $10,000 If You Find Him a Girlfriend (businessinsider.com)

My opinion: I will give points to him that he's actively trying and working to find his partner.  I can relate to him that I have been actively dating and studying dating and relationships by reading and rereading these news articles.

My little brother P said that You seemed "stupid."  This does seem kind of funny.

May 7, 2011 "Matchmaker, make me a match": Today I found this article by Marta Gold in the Edmonton Journal:

Like a rotary phone or a stereo turntable, Elizabeth MacInnis is a quaint anachronism in the electronic age: a professional matchmaker in a world of online dating.


While her job description may seem old-fashioned, her techniques are anything but.

From her offices in Edmonton and Calgary, MacInnis handles a portfolio of about 1,000 clients in the two cities.


She has her own website (real connections.ca) and is not averse to using the Internet to help her clients find matches. In fact, she’s setting up her own, made-in-Alberta dating site as a supplement to her personal matchmaking service. Still, she considers online dating to be “a beast, an absolute beast.”


“Am I a proponent of it? I’m a proponent of being proactive. If you’re not proactive, you’re hoping that Mr. Knight-in-Shining-Armour or Miss Princess is going to come your way and they’re not.”


People choose to date online because it’s easy and, in some cases, free, she adds. “But I’m of the belief that if it’s free, you get what you pay for.”


Increasingly, she says, people are coming around to the idea of using professional matchmakers and the screening benefits they provide.


A 2007 report from the U.S. found professional matchmaking services there were on the rise, growing from 1,300 in 2004 to 1,600 in 2007.


“I find that individuals who have an ulterior motive won’t come to me because it’s too expensive,” she says.


“If you have an ulterior motive, why would you spend a large amount? And why would you come in and face someone and try to snow them?”


Her personal service doesn’t come cheap. MacInnis charges about $100 an hour for personal coaching. Her matchmaking services range in price from about $600 to $3,000, depending on how much coaching and other help you want or need.


She’ll hold your hand through the dating process, help you determine your relationship goals and coach you on what you might be doing wrong or right.


“Matchmaking is about understanding why you’re choosing the individuals you choose in your life, 


giving a second opinion, 


giving you feedback after a date, 


supporting you when you’re unsure about what it means when someone does this,


finding out why they didn’t call you back,” she says.


If MacInnis doesn’t have enough potential matches for a particular client, or if they’re already on an Internet dating site, she’ll handle that too, screening potential matches and bringing them in for interviews if they’re willing.


She charges based on the time for which people use her services, but in that time, she offers an unlimited number of matches and allows clients to put themselves on “hold” while they’re dating or taking a break.


She doesn’t show pictures to prospective matches, though she does describe people to each other. “I don’t have unattractive clients. 


They might not be attracted to you, or you might not be attracted to them, but they’re not unattractive. I don’t think anybody’s unattractive.”


MacInnis studied through the Professional Matchmaker’s Association in Manhattan, has trained as a life coach and has taken marketing and human resources at NAIT. She goes to matchmaking conferences to keep up on developments in the industry, too.


A matchmaker needs to be empathetic, but tough, she says.


“Sometimes you need to really shake somebody and say, ‘What are you doing?’ But you cannot, in this business, judge people.”


The work can be difficult, even when you try to match people based on similar interests, values and backgrounds. 


“When people meet each other face-to-face — are you kidding? — it’s a whole different thing,” she says.


“I would say that lately I have been more on than off, but there’s times that I’ve been off.”

Edmontonians have been slower to embrace her personal matchmaking services. She has about 200 clients here, versus 800 or more in Calgary.


“I think Edmonton is slow to accept it,” she says. “Edmonton is just a leery city. They’re cautious.”


While singles here are a mixed bunch of blue-collar and professional workers, Calgary clients are almost exclusively in the oil and gas industry, with little time to meet people on their own, she adds.


MacInnis, who lives in Edmonton with her husband of six years — her second marriage — spends up to 10 days a month working in Calgary.


Her client base is about 60 per cent women and 40 per cent men, largely because men are more reluctant to seek out her in-person services and prefer the relative anonymity of online dating.


By contrast, online dating is about 70 per cent men to 30 per cent women, she says.


MacInnis’s aim is to realize whatever relationship goals clients set for themselves. 


“And if they’ve learned something from me or gained something, to me, that’s a success.”


PressReader.com - Digital Newspaper & Magazine Subscriptions



My opinion: This was back in 2005.  I was 19 yrs old and I was watching Blind Date.  I watched that show casually from 16-20 yrs old.  I quit that show when I made myself stop watching Maury Povich in Nov. 2005.


I asked one of my friends to set me up with a guy, and she did.  We all went on a group date.  However, I tried to turn this into a relationship, but he wasn't interested.  That's okay.



Apr. 17, 2022 Friends matchmaker: This was way back in 2006.  My sister majored in business at university and so did my friend Angela.  Angela came over to my house, and at dinner, she met my sister and they talked about school and work.  They got along.  However, they didn't really stay in touch after that like they could add each other on Facebook. 


Here is another example:



Summer Heights High:


"The life of a public school epitomized by disobedient student Jonah Takalua, self-absorbed private school exchange student Ja'mie King, and megalomaniac drama teacher Mr. G."


Summer Heights High (TV Mini Series 2007) - IMDb


Season 1, Episode 4: This is the episode where Jonah draws a picture of his dad touching his privates, so he can get out of English class.


"Ja'mie undermines her relationship with her new friends; Mr. G holds auditions for his new musical; a suggestive drawing puts Jonah's irate father on the defensive."


"Summer Heights High" Episode #1.4 (TV Episode 2007) - IMDb


At the 22-23 min. mark, Jonah, dad, the Teacher and the Counselor are talking about the picture.


(830) Summer Heights High Ep4 - YouTube


When I first saw this in 2010, there was this:


This is:


A. Offensive

B. Funny

C. Both

D. Neither


I was 25 yrs old and I thought this was 95% offensive, and 5% funny.  Now I see this as 99% offensive, and 1% funny.


I remember telling to this to my friends.


Jessica, 23 yrs old: Offensive.

Angela, 25 yrs old: Offensive.

Dan N. 25 yrs old: Both.

Trayton, 20 yrs old: Both.


The people who have similar opinions would probably get along with each other.




This week's theme is about dating:


"Where do you draw the line on lying in a relationship?"/ "Dating Diaries: I wanted more from my co-worker, but I knew it was a bad idea"



Tracy's blog: "Where do you draw the line on lying in a relationship?"/ "Dating Diaries: I wanted more from my co-worker, but I knew it was a bad idea" (badcb.blogspot.com)


"Attracted to someone already attached? Run the other way"/ "Go-getter finance guy sends email survey to women after dates"


Tracy's blog: "Attracted to someone already attached? Run the other way"/ "Go-getter finance guy sends email survey to women after dates" (badcb.blogspot.com)





My week:


Apr. 15, 2022 Earth Day: This day is Apr. 22.


Recycle cosmetics: I got this email from Wal- Mart.  I didn't know that you can recycle makeup there, but then I don't wear makeup.


What's accepted

Skin care:

  • Lip balm tubes
  • Face soap dispensers and tubes
  • Lotion bottles, tubes, dispensers, and plastic jars
  • Non-pressurized shaving foam tubes
  • Hand lotion bottles and tubes
  • Body wash containers
  • Soap tubes


Makeup:

  • Mascara tubes
  • Eyeliner pencils and cases
  • Eye shadow tubes
  • Concealer tubes
  • Lipsticks, lip gloss, and lip liner tubes
  • Foundation packaging and bottles
  • Powder cases


Recycle your cosmetics | Walmart Canada


Recycle at Staples: I know you can recycle pens, markers, batteries, and electronics at the store because I have done that a lot.



Earth Day Canada: I found this website:


Earth Day Canada - Jour de la Terre Canada – April 22 & Every Day !



"’12-pound hero’: Dog barks for help after woman falls down Edmonton river valley embankment": Today I found this article by Caley Gibson on the Global news:


An Edmonton woman is indebted to her dog for flagging down help after she fell down a 50-foot embankment while the pair was out for a walk in the river valley earlier this week.

Maia Stock, 24, and her dog Brady were walking along a path in the Riverdale neighbourhood Wednesday, near Cameron Avenue and 94 Street. She stopped to take a picture and when she did, the ground gave way.

“I just fell all the way down — head over heels and just tumbled down. I just remember thinking, ‘I’m going to hit the water,'” Stock said as she recalled the frightening ordeal on Friday morning.

“I was terrified just tumbling down … When I came to, I realized how far down I was and I couldn’t get back up. I just started panicking I was so scared.”

Luckily, this time, Stock came to a stop on the ground before she hit the water. But after realizing she wasn’t going to be able to help herself out of the situation, she panicked and started to cry. Then she called her mom.

“She was obviously distraught so I was trying to figure out where she was and I couldn’t quite figure it out. I was trying to calm her down,” her mother, Barb Wilkinson, said.

While this was going on, Stock had no idea what was happening above her, but Brady began to bark and run in circles. Eventually, he caught the attention of a couple of people walking by and drew them over to where his owner had fallen.

The pair called 911 and emergency crews arrived to help. The firefighters went down on ropes, secured her in a basket and hoisted her back to safety. She was taken to hospital where she was treated and released several hours later. Stock twisted her ankle and suffered a concussion, but she is grateful she wasn’t more badly injured.

Signs have since been put up along the trail warning people of unsafe conditions.

’12-pound hero’: Dog barks for help after woman falls down Edmonton river valley embankment - Edmonton | Globalnews.ca


"Autistic teenager found more than two years after disappearing in California": Today I found this article on Yahoo news.  This is a really positive story:


An autistic teenager who disappeared two-and-a-half years ago in California has been found almost 800 miles (1287km) away in Utah.

Connerjack Oswalt was 17 when he went missing from his family's home in Clearlake on 28 September 2019.

He was found by police officers on Saturday, sleeping outside a shop in Summit County, Utah.

The teenager, now 19, was shivering and cold when he was found and Sheriff Justin Martinez said he appeared to have been living on the streets for about two weeks.

Connerjack's family had searched for him since he disappeared, even moving back to his birth town, Idaho Falls.

"Any hints at something that remotely resembled him, we would follow up on it," said his stepfather Gerald Flint. "It's been a real nightmare."

His mother, Suzanne Flint, said: "I never stopped looking for him. There wasn't a day I wasn't searching for him, in some form or fashion."

After officers found Connerjack, they asked him to sit in their patrol car as they took his fingerprints.

An outstanding warrant from February in Nevada was found, but Mr Martinez said officers felt there was "something beyond a criminal warrant".

"There was a humanitarian effort that needed to be explored further," he added.

Officers searched documents of missing children and found the 2019 report for Connerjack, which they matched with the person they had found.

The Flints were initially worried their son had been found dead when officers called them.

Mrs Flint confirmed identification through a birthmark.

"Everyone in the room was in tears. They went above and beyond, put hours of work," Mr Flint said.

"They could have dismissed it, but they didn't and that made all the difference in the world."

Autistic teenager found more than two years after disappearing in California (yahoo.com)


Apr. 17, 2022 Threads of Life: I buy these Tarantula Anti- Slip shoes for my 1st restaurant job (the company gives us a voucher and they pay for it.).


Bringing hope and healing

The Association for Workplace Tragedy Family Support, known as Threads of Life, is a Canadian registered charity dedicated to supporting families after a workplace fatality, life-altering injury or occupational disease. Our network of family members and corporate partners believes traumatic workplace injuries, occupational diseases and deaths are preventable.

Our mission, vision and values capture what we do and aim to achieve. We are guided by a board of directors comprised of family members affected by workplace tragedy and experts from Canada’s workplace health and safety community. Our work is accomplished by volunteers, and we document our progress in annual reports.


About Us | Threads of Life



Apr. 18, 2022 "31% of Canadians don't earn enough to pay their bills: Survey": Today I found  this article Noah Zivitz on Bloomberg news:

A new survey suggests almost one-third of Canadians aren't pulling in enough income to cover basic monthly expenses.

Thirty-one per cent of respondents to an Ipsos survey conducted for MNP said they don't earn enough to cover bills and debt payments, and almost half of all respondents (49 per cent) said they are within $200 of insolvency.


31% of Canadians don't earn enough to pay their bills: Survey - BNN Bloomberg


Apr. 19, 2022 "These are the world's most affordable and least affordable cities": Today I found this article by Jack Sidders on BNN Bloomberg:


Most affordable:


  • Pittsburgh, PA, U.S.
  • Oklahoma City, OK, U.S.
  • Rochester, N.Y., U.S.
  • Edmonton, AB, Canada
  • St Louis, MO-IL, U.S. 

Least affordable:

  • Hong Kong, China
  • Sydney, Australia
  • Vancouver, Canada
  • San Jose, CA, U.S.
  • Melbourne, Australia

These are the world's most affordable and least affordable cities - BNN Bloomberg


"Why prepared rotisserie chickens are cheaper than ones you cook yourself": Today I found this article by Danielle Nerman on CBC news:

"Our rotisserie chickens are priced the way they are as a convenience to our members. An oven roasted chicken is a fast and easy dinner option, and our members are likely going to fill their baskets with other items while they are buying a chicken," wrote Barb Munro, corporate communications advisor for Calgary Co-op, in an email to Cost of Living.

"It's a win-win for our members and our stores."

Experts say grocery stores also rely on knowing customer behaviour and needs, such as wanting to save time.

"When people are under time stress, they take a lot of mental shortcuts. And they often do not do price comparisons," said Andreas Boecker, a food economist at the University of Guelph.

"So that leaves the opportunity for the retailer. They can even design the store in a way that after you pick the rotisserie chicken, you see other items in the store and things that are complementary to it."

Potentially that means customers get a deal on a rotisserie chicken, but end up buying side dishes which aren't as good of a deal.

Think of grabbing the tray of mashed potatoes priced at double the cost of making it at home — but a customer grabs them. along with the cheap chicken, to save time.

Why prepared rotisserie chickens are cheaper than ones you cook yourself | CBC Radio


Apr. 18, 2022 "US man wins $450k lawsuit after unwanted office birthday party": Today I found this article on Yahoo news:



A Kentucky man has been awarded $450,000 (£345,314) after his company threw him a surprise birthday party despite his warnings that it would trigger stress and anxiety.

The plaintiff, Kevin Berling, claims that the unwanted 2019 birthday party at Gravity Diagnostics caused him a series of panic attacks.

Mr Berling's lawsuit alleged that the company discriminated against him based on a disability.

The company has denied any wrongdoing.

According to the lawsuit filed in Kentucky's Kenton County, Mr Berling - who suffers from anxiety disorders - had asked his manager to not celebrate his birthday at work as it normally does for its employees, as it could potentially result in a panic attack and would bring back uncomfortable childhood memories.

Despite Mr Berling's request, the company, which conducts Covid-19 tests, threw him a surprise party in August 2019, triggering a panic attack. He quickly left the party and finished his lunch in his car.

The lawsuit notes that Mr Berling was "confronted and criticised" at a meeting the following day, where he was accused of "stealing his co-workers joy" and "being a little girl". The tense meeting prompted a second panic attack, after which the company sent him home for the remainder of 8 August and 9 August.

On 11 August, Gravity Diagnostics fired him, citing concerns about workplace safety. His lawsuit alleged that the company discriminated against him because of a disability and unfairly retaliated against him for asking that his request be accommodated.

After a two day trial at the end of March, the jury awarded him $450,000, including $300,000 for emotional distress and $150,000 in lost wages.

US man wins $450k lawsuit after unwanted office birthday party (yahoo.com)

My opinion: I would have respected his wishes and not thrown a party.  I would ask: "Would you still like a birthday cake bought for you?  We could put it in the staff room."


"That costs what?! A look at how much some consumer prices went up in the last year": I found this article on BNN Bloomberg.  I go to Shoppers Drug Mart once or twice a month to buy chips and cookies, and I didn't notice any difference in those foods:


Here's a look at how much some prices have gone up between March 2021 and March 2022 at the grocery store: 

  • Margarine: 27.8 per cent
  • Oranges: 23.9 per cent
  • Sugar and syrup: 20.8 per cent
  • Bacon: 17.9 per cent
  • Beef:  14.1 per cent
  • Jam and jelly: 13.9 per cent
  • Lettuce: 12.4 per cent
  • Coffee: 10.6 per cent
  • Milk (whole and low-fat): 7.7 per cent
  • Apples: 6.2 per cent
  • Canned tuna: 5.8 per cent
  • Baby food: 4.5 per cent
  • Potatoes: -1.2 per cent
  • Tomatoes: - 1.8 per cent

Looking to blow off some steam? The cost of snacking has also gone up, as too has the cost for alcohol purchased from stores. Here's the year-over-year increase for some items:

  • Cookies and crackers: 6.1 per cent
  • Ice cream: 5.2 per cent
  • Potato chips: 3.2 per cent
  • Beer:  4.2 per cent
  • Wine: 2 per cent
  • Liquor: 1.8 per cent

Data released Wednesday by Statistics Canada also shows that some prices like those for cannabis actually declined year-over-year in March, or showed little price change, such as digital economy services that were up 0.2 per cent compared with the same month one year earlier.


  • Women's clothing: -0.1 per cent
  • Internet services: -0.9 per cent 
  • Children's clothing: -2.9 per cent
  • Cellular services: -3.3 per cent
  • Mortgage interest cost: -5.4 per cent
  • Recreational cannabis: -8.3 per cent
  • Medicinal cannabis: - 10.2 per cent


    Pipe- Up Toastmasters Meetup: I went to this one today.  It was online and I met 11 people.  I answered a question.  The theme was travel.  If you were to travel to attend an event, what would the event be?  I would go to a concert or a music awards show to watch the performances.  

   I'm glad I attended this.  I asked Dan L. if he will go to the Screenwriters Meetup in 2 weeks, and he said no.  If he was going there, I would have gotten a ride home.  There are online Meetups I could attend.  

I




 


No comments: