One of the perks of having a blog is being approached by companies to help promote their products or services. It’s something I’ve never taken advantage of until now, because I wasn’t really sure whether I wanted to open that particular can of worms. And I’m not sure I would have, except for over the last few months I happened to be approached by two newish sites that are based on the same premise: getting deals through group buying. The idea is strength in numbers. If enough people agree to buy a particular deal, everyone benefits from steep discounts at local businesses, which include restaurants, retail stores, services, recreation facilities, etc.

The concept piqued my interest and, well, it must be something in our fine Winnipeg water, because the deals sound just too good to resist. I took TeamBuy and WagJag up on their offers of credits for their respectives sites, and also some some extras (see Reader Giveaways below)  which I will give to you, loyal readers! And while I’m on the topic of group buying sites, I’ll touch on Groupon and OneSpout for good measure.

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WagJag

WagJag recently made its foray into the Winnipeg market with a pretty cool PR campaign: show up at a particular eatery or shop at a given time, and WagJag will foot the bill or dole out some sweet  freebies. WagJag’s offers are often for companies that are a little less well-known, which I think is cool because it’s a neat way to explore your own city and its local businesses. They also have deals for some bigger names, like Hu’s Asian Bistro and Hakim Optical. The nice thing about WagJag is that their deals are often valid for more than 24 hours, and at any given time there are several deals on the go.

With my complimentary WagJag credit, I happily tested out the site and scored a couple of 70% off gift certificates for a eco-friendly house cleaning service. The process was very smooth and took me all of a minute to process.

Reader Giveaway!*

I have 4 tickets to give away to WagJag’s invite-only family-friendly block party from 2-5 on Sunday, March 27. There will be a gourmet coffee bar, a slushie bar, and snacks from local favourite food places. Moses Mayes will be the entertainment, and there will be activities for both kids and adults. Sounds like a lot of fun! To have your name entered, please leave a comment telling me how many tickets (out of 4) you’d like!

TeamBuy

Team Buy is another sweet Canadian company with deals for almost 30 cities. In Winnipeg, they’ve recently featured deals at Marble Slab, The Nook, Academy Uptown Lanes, Archangel Fireworks, Yoga Pilates and More, and Jonnie’s Sticky Buns. I’m told there will be upcoming deals  include Pineridge Hollow Restaurant (the perfect place for a quick road trip, if you ask me!) and Sushi Daruma. I’ve got some complimentary Team Bucks credits burning a hole in my pocket, but I’m waiting for the perfect buy to use ‘em.

I like TeamBuy’s layout a lot,  and appreciate the nicely formatted buy details. You can also send any questions you have about the buy to the vendor, and answers are posted for others to see. Very handy feature!

Reader Giveaway!*

Leave a comment telling me your favourite way to get a deal, and you’ll be entered into a draw for $30 in Team Bucks, which you can use to make purchases on TeamBuy.ca!

Groupon

Same concept as the others. My only real beef is that Groupon, you have to enter your email address to view the deal of the day. Annoying if you just want to see what the fuss is about, but not a big deal if you’re going to subscribe to their daily emails or join the site anyway. I recently snagged a $50 voucher Lux for Sprouts voucher for just $15: the deal was $25, plus I used the $10 off promo code that I got when I joined Groupon. Not too shabby!

Some recent deals include vouchers from 50-90% off at places like Laura Secord, The Body Shop and IMAX.

OneSpout

Hat tip to Save Money in Winnipeg for this one! OneSpout is a Canadian group-buying aggregator – it rounds up current offers for a particular city (in our case, Winnipeg) from a bunch of different group-buying websites and presents them in an easy-to-scan format. Or they’ll send you a daily email that lists all current offers in one go.

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So whether you’re going broke saving money or legitimately saving a few bucks, these team buying sites are worth checking out. Being frugal can definitely be fun. Thanks to TeamBuy.ca and WagJag for the credits and inside scoop on upcoming deals!

*Reader Giveaway details — I’ll accept entries until Friday March 18 at 11:59pm (local time, of course!). To choose winners, I’ll number the comments in the order they’re received and generate a random number from random. org to see who wins!

Giveaway Results:

Christie is the winner of the Team Bucks giveaway, and both Sphinxy and Sarah win block party invites – thanks, WagJag, for throwing in an extra ticket!

Well, a new day has come, for I just received my one-parter in the mail. It’s less colourful than my old one — it actually sort of looks like it’s been left in the sun to bleach —  and the (laser engraved) photo is black & white. And it’s got all sorts of fancy new features such as Guilloche patterning (yep, had to look that one up!), rainbow printing and lenticular lens.

Well, so long old two-piece license. I kept you snug in your little plastic sleeve, and you served me well. What’s next? Plastic health care cards? Only time will tell!

Of the five candidates running for school trustee in my riding, only one has a website. Fortunately, it’s polished and professional. Although I haven’t seen any lawn signs or flyers for this candidate, her effort in developing and maintaining this website speaks volumes to me. On the other hand, I received in my mailbox today a slip of orange paper promoting incumbent Suzanne Hrynyk, with the following text:

Re-Elect Suzanne Hrynyk

First on the ballot!

School Trustee  WSD Ward 3

October 27

You vote at:

[School name & address, hours]

The text is followed by the NDP logo. What does this tell me about this candidate? Absolutely nothing, except that she wants you to vote for her by remembering that she is first on the ballot. Unbelievable! I got another flyer in the mail for incumbent Mike Babinsky. It is written as a letter to voters from his son, explaining why we should vote for “my Dad”. It includes cheesy photos of the son, at different ages, wearing a campaign hat. And oh yeah, the text is in one of those kids’ handwriting fonts. Need I say more?

Visiting campaign websites and reading through questionnaire answers on Winnipeg Election and the Freep websites, I find it appalling how many grammatical and spelling mistakes many of the candidates make. I also got a flyer where the election date must have been printed incorrectly, because it had been whited out, with the correct date written in pen over top. And don’t get me started on the headshots — you want to be a councillor or trustee in one of the largest cities in Canada, but you can’t be bothered to put on a shirt and tie and head down to Sears for a $20 portrait session?

As for our mayoral candidates, who knows what’s motivating Brad Gross, who hasn’t bothered to actually put content in three quarters of his hilarious real estate template website, and Rav Gill, whose site states “Nothing is more empowering then voting”. (Personally, I think nothing is more empowering than a mayor who knows how to use “then” and “than” properly.) Whether they are actually serious about becoming mayor or just looking to boost their name recognition to improve their real estate businesses, neither of them is running a campaign I’d expect of a mayoral hopeful. Fortunately neither really has a chance of winning.

I still haven’t decided who I’m voting for on Wednesday, but it’s sure easy to decide who I’m not voting for. It’s a pity that’s how elections go.

I’d gotten used to 10-digit dialing in Vancouver – I didn’t really question it, as there are so many people, and therefore phones, in the Lower Mainland that it only made sense. But when I was growing up in southern Alberta, it had always been 7-digit dialing. It was a huge deal when they added a second area code for northern Alberta, but it wasn’t hard to get used to, either. Then, on a recent trip home, I couldn’t figure out why my local calls weren’t going through. “You have to dial 403,” my mum told me. And so Alberta had gone 10-digit, too.

Lots of people speak wistfully about the good old days of party lines or when everyone had the same first three digits, so that when someone gave you their phone number, you only had to remember the last four. In the same quasi-nostalgic way, I guess I’d always thought it was quaint, or charming, or something, that here in little old Winnipeg, we don’t have to dial an area code. But now it looks like those days are coming to an end.

It’s a seemingly trivial thing, I know. Anyone else a bit verklempt over this, too?

• Size and Locality of Potholes on the Disraeli Bridge and Overpass, circa March
• Common Typographical Errors by Commenters on the Winnipeg Free Press Website
• Odds of Vegetarian Entree Availability at Catered Events
• Winnipeg Wrap Form & Function

Aaaaaand a few I’m sure I would fail miserably at:

• Underground Navigation of Portage & Main
• Social Music 101
• Minnesota/North Dakota peasant-vision ads of the 80s

Okay, so I know they’re not standard Jeopardy-type categories, but I had fun coming up with them.

What are your dream (or dreaded) Winnipeg-related Jeopardy categories?

I have devised a method of determining the level of local and provincial patriotism evidenced by the names of  each of these prominent CBC Radio One hosts. Here’s how the points system will work: each host is awarded one point for each first or last name that begins with either an “M” or “W”; the host may receive 1 (one) additional point if they possess both an “M” and a “W” as the first letter of either their first or last name; the host may receive 1/2 (half) a point if they possess a duplicate “M” or “W” as the first letter of their first or last name. Sounds pretty simple, huh? Well I say let’s start tabulating those points! But first, I know there are several awesome people that regularly broadcast on CBC Radio One (Manitoba); however, I am focusing on the major show “leaders” from our provincial radio programming. According to the website (click on “Programs”) these are our main hosts:

Terry MacLeod and Marcy Markusa (Information Radio), Marilyn Maki (Radio Noon), Margaux Watt (Up to Speed), Wabanakwut Kinew (The 204; Weekends with Wab), Beverley Watson (The Weekend Morning Show), and Mark Szyszlo (North Country). If you dispute this list, please let me know; we can add others!

Terry MacLeod = 1 point (“M”; my name change suggestion for more points: “Merry MacLeod,” which would also earn another 1/2 point!)

Mark Szyszlo = 1 point (“M”; my name change suggestion for more points: “Mark Wyszlo,” guaranteeing 3 points)

Wabanakwut Kinew = 1 point (“W”; my name change suggestion for more points: “Wab Minew,” which would secure Wab 3 points! Plus, it just sounds cute)

Beverley Watson = 1 point (“W”; my name change suggestion for more points: “Maverley Watson,” for a solid 3 points)

Marcy Markusa = 2.5 points (“M,” “M,” and 1/2 point for the double “M”)

Marilyn Maki = 2.5 points (Just like Marcy, Marilyn’s a double “M”!)

And our winner is…Margaux Watt = 3 points! (one “M,” one “W,” and a full extra point for the combo!)

A note about CBC News at 6 and the I-team. Janet Stewart and John Sauder have the same…exact…initials – aside from their middle names, which I don’t know. While this is creepy in its own way (the matching initials), I find it interesting that neither of them has an M or a W as the first letter of either their first or last names. Just like Janet and John, I-team lead investigator Alex Freedman also does not have an M or a W in his main initials. What conclusions can be drawn here? Did this team miss the memo about how important my discovery would be? Do you think these outcast CBC hosts should consider changing their names in order to become more beloved in the hearts of “W”innipeggers and “M”anitobans?

My suggestion is that Janet Stewart should consider changing her name to Waneta Stewart (1 point). The name John Sauder might easily be replaced by John Waulder (1 point), and Alex Freedman might have a better better luck as Will Manfreed (that’s a creative switch that would earn him 3 points…if he cared!). I mean, c’mon – what’s a name change if it means you can join the ranks of those other chic, patriotic CBC personalities? If I’m ever a host on CBC Radio One (Manitoba) you can bet I’ll be changing my name to Maron Witchett in a heartbeat! But seriously…is it just a strange coincidence that so many of these hosts have “M” and “W” names?

Emma: We’ve now had the novel experiences of being interviewed both on the radio and for film for our blog. And I have to say, it’s been fun… but I still like blogging better. It’s easier to express myself, I think, when I can edit a post until it says what I actually mean. On radio you’re put somewhat on the spot, and think of a million ways you could have said something better the moment they turn the tapes off. And even though I’m sure Paula will do an excellent job of editing, I felt like I didn’t — or wasn’t able to — properly articulate my feelings about Winnipeg. When I tried to describe or explain the complex, deep ways I feel about this city, it seemed (to me, anyway) to come off as trite or superficial. I guess that’s the beauty of this place: people like it for reasons that are indescribable. (Interestingly, people seem to hate it for no particular reason, too.) I think many people have an easier time of communicating one way or another (either writing or speaking) and it’s for exactly that reason that I think it’ll be really cool to see and hear the human faces and voices behind the names of bloggers that make up the Winnipeg blogging community. I’m curious to see whether what we say out loud matches up to what we write and publish online.

Laurel: We ended up filming in this weird parkade-top garden at the base of my building (Sidenote: I need to devote some time researching Winnipeg’s architectural weirdness – it’s not the first rooftop garden I’ve seen, but so far it’s been the only one I’ve spotted in this city). Outside of some zealous early evening construction noises, the filming went by without a hitch. I’m definitely in the same camp as Emma – writing as a means of self expression offers a lot of opportunities to reword, rework and read over. We had opportunities to rephrase and stop during the filming, but it was a lot like having to sit down and write something concisely without my usual procrastination and over-thinking. During filming, I was embarrassed to find myself completely stumped by the question ‘What’s the best thing about Winnipeg?’ In the end I think I rambled about the friendliness of the people (which still floors me – Manitoba, your license plates don’t lie!) but in retrospect, the thing I really love about this city is that we’re blogging about it. I feel like I’ve done more here, discussed, debated and thought more about this city than any other, and have had so many opportunities to be questioning, clueless newcomer that never would have happened without this blog. We’ve also become part of this extremely active, articulate Winnipeg blogging community, virtually-meeting and reading the exploits and opinions of other bloggers in the city. Would I feel the same about Winnipeg had we not started this blog? I’m not sure. I think it may have remained to me like Vancouver did the years I lived there – admired, but largely unstudied. In the same way an unexamined life is not worth living, an unexplored city is not worth living in.

Thanks Paula, for the excellent opportunity to be a part of BlogWinnipeg – we’re looking forward to seeing the finished product, and what other Winnipeg bloggers have to say about this fair city!

Be sure to check out the Bartley Kives article, City in a growth spurt, which discusses some of the reasons Winnipeg’s been growing faster than statisticians predicted.

Since I moved here with a car, and was driving to school most days, one of the first things I noticed about Winnipeg was the quality of its roadways. While many people slag off Winnipeg for its seemingly ancient infrastructure, I will say that this city has perhaps the most active public works crews that I’ve ever encountered. On the dark and bitterly cold January nights when I first moved here I was surprised to hear, around the time I was going to sleep, the ice-scraping and snow removal trucks starting up for the night. I certainly don’t envy those men and women their jobs (having to work in that extreme cold and through the night), but I appreciated their efforts the next morning when the streets were cleared. Similarly, almost as soon as the sanding trucks and scrapers were disappearing from the city, I noticed the street-sweepers were hard at work beginning to clear away the layers of dirt, sand, and dust that had built-up all winter.

Now, it seems the city of Winnipeg embodies the popular Canadian cliché that there are only two seasons north of the 49th parallel: Winter and road construction. As a driver in the city you can’t avoid the crews working on street renewal or sub-surface infrastructure maintenance. These projects disrupt traffic, and are completely annoying; yet, they’re entirely necessary. Because I hope to avoid outright criticizing the city of Winnipeg and its public works (to be honest, I don’t know much about maintenance schedules, or how resources are spread throughout the city), I am willing to offer a more positive interpretation of the distress caused by summertime road construction: Potholes as Metaphor.

There are potholes everywhere in this city: whether you’re bounding up Henderson Highway in mid-April; slinking across Grant Avenue around 4:00PM on a weekday; or, bombing down Pembina on the way to the university. The potholes are a physical reminder of the damage a harsh winter can cause. In the spring, the potholes fill with water while it’s raining and then lie in waiting for unsuspecting drivers to underestimate their depth. I’ve winced, yelled, and shook an angry fist at the potholes around this city. I’ve gone so far as to complain to many non-Winnipeggers that damaged roadways—and the constant need for the city to be working on the roads—is the most frustrating aspect of life in Winnipeg.

The inverse, however, is that potholes demonstrate the willingness and necessity of Winnipeggers to build and rebuild their city year after year. Pothole-ravaged roads await repair while signalling the need to constantly renew municipal infrastructure. I believe Winnipeggers know their city more intimately than other Canadians due to their need to avoid large potholes while driving, which is then matched by a silent need to give thanks once those potholes are filled. Following the spring thaw (and occasionally throughout the winter) I noticed city crews repairing potholes as quickly and efficiently as possible – even in severely cold weather. I have even witnessed a strange looking vehicle that is both driven and operated by one worker: it sprays asphalt into small holes and cracks while still remaining in traffic. I suppose this eliminates the need to block off entire streets in order to address minor road repairs, however I would advise NOT driving next to one of these machines while it’s in use!

The potholes riddling Winnipeg streets are frustrating and may cause serious damage to vehicles. Likewise, the distraction and nuisance of constant road construction is something we’d all like to avoid. To defend my argument that potholes are a metaphor for change and renewal in the city of Winnipeg, I will offer a few more suggestions. Feel free to add to my thoughts, or dispute them in your own constructive way:
-Potholes remind Winnipeggers that nothing lasts forever.
-The depth of each pothole is the measure of the depth of a Winnipeggers’ patience.
-Potholes are the point of convergence between Mother Nature, Winnipeggers, and the City of Winnipeg.
-Potholes represent Winnipeggers’ need for less motor vehicle traffic.
-Potholes are a 20th century reminder of the idealism of this city – a city that humbly aspires to self-actualization through perseverance, determination, and road work.

WO’MH-isms:

Fancy Place (from the post Roadtrippin’): A bar or pub that has more than one draught beer available. These are typically public houses in larger centres where beer drinkers enjoy selections beyond Coors Light. Ergo, if there’s only one type of beer on tap, it’s not a fancy place.

Manitoba street cred (from the post Curling): The valuating system by which new Winnipeggers (and in our cases, new Manitobans, too) are judged as integrating into the local culture. In joining a curling league, drinking slurpees in the wintertime, or apologizing to newcomers about the weather (despite the fact that you can’t control it), you raise your Manitoba street cred. You’re becoming an authentic Manitoban.

‘Pegiversary (from the post Roadtrippin’): The anniversary of a new Winnipeggers’ arrival in the city. Emma’s 1st ‘Pegiversary is quickly approaching on July 8th; for Aaron it will be January 5th, 2010; and Laurel just likes to celebrate hers on the 2nd of every month.

Social Time (a comment to the post Socials): Submitted by regular commenter, Michel, “Social Time is the acceptable time at which you should arrive at a social” and it directly correlates to the attendees’ age. The social arrival approximation scale is available in graph form, and strict adherence to these guidelines will prevent one from decreasing her or his Manitoba street cred.

Water-peg (from the post Water-peg): In the springtime, melting snow and swelling rivers transform Winnipeg into its always latent, ulterior character, Water-peg. The sidewalks are wet, the potholes are filled to the brim (and deceptively deep), and every story on CBC radio is somehow (magically?) spun to include a flooding-related angle.

Weatherpeg (a Winnipeg O’ My Heart post category): So much of Winnipeg’s mystique involves the extremes of weather at this geographic location of the continent. In this way, whenever a post includes significant content relating to the weather in Winnipeg, it will be categorized as a Weatherpeg post.

A sloppy Winnipeg Wrap

Winnipeg Wrap (from the post Wrap it Up): You know when people use lame clichés like: “If I opened the dictionary to the definition of goofball I’d see a picture of your face”? Well in this instance I will simply provide a visual example of the Winnipeg Wrap, and for a more detailed explanation you really should read all about it in the original post. Sadly (for fans of the Winnipeg Wrap), sightings of WWs around town reduce during warm seasons when it’s less likely that a Winnipegger will need an extension cord to plug-in the car while at work all day.

WO’MH-er (from the post Roadtrippin’): A Winnipegomyhearter is a member of the Winnipeg O’ My Heart blogging team. Although we haven’t yet invited guests to post their reflections about Winnipeg or Manitoba (we will), these persons would be considered honorary WO’MH-ers.

Terms unique to Winnipeg or Manitoba:

Caribou: The deliciously potent fortified wine that is intrinsically linked to the Festival du Voyageur. If you’re lucky enough to enjoy this drink at Festival, be sure to try it from an ice cup. We did. It’s a reeeeal good time.

Dainty: A small, sweet treat that is typically made in a large baking pan, then cut into squares or rectangles. In other parts of the country these are referred to as “squares”; however, in Manitoba the general term for a tray of assorted squares is “dainties”. When referencing a specific item on the tray, you should call the dainty by its appropriate name. Usage: “Just look at the fancy dainties at this bridal shower!” “I know…delish! I think I’ll have a Nanaimo bar.” A note about shape: in our limited experience, dainties are square; yet, we cannot corroborate that dainties are always square. This requires further (mmm…tasty) exploration.

Social: A traditional Manitoba fundraiser, usually held by friends (and sometimes family) of the engaged couple, meant to offset the costs of establishing a family home or farm. The social may have extended from this province into north-western Ontario and parts of Saskatchewan. “Classic” or “Traditional” socials feature a midnight buffet that always includes rye bread, cheddar cheese, and mustard (NB do not lick the knife). Some modern “Fancy” socials are catered, have professional DJs, and offer a combination of conventional auction items (the lottery tree) alongside new favourites (the spa package).

Social Table: So far as we can decipher, the rest of the country simply refers to this as a table with folding legs. These tables are aptly named according to their frequent use at socials held in community halls. The tables are rectangular in shape (probably 8’ x 3’?) and most likely either wood- or plastic-topped with folding metal legs. Usage: “I’m wondering if there’ll be enough seating at the social this Saturday.” “Oh yes, there will be. The hall provides 25 social tables.”

“LC”, the: An abbreviated slang term for the Manitoba Liquor Control Commission (MLCC). This phrase omits the “M” and last first “C” from the initialism (“LC” stands for “Liquor Commission”). Not to be confused with the initials of Lauren Conrad, star of the popular MTV show The Hills. She has probably never been to Winnipeg or Manitoba in general; what a pity. Usage: “I’m going to stop by the LC on the way home from work. Would you like anything?”

Of course this list is but the tip of an iceberg floating down the Red River following an ice jam breakup in April. Our goal is to keep the glossary updated with our own terms as well as those submitted by our readers. We surely welcome your feedback about our list and additions to what will become the Glossary of Terms Unique to Winnipeg or Manitoba. We appreciate attributions whenever they are available (in order that credit is given where due), and we also strongly discourage plagiarism. Let’s have some fun developing the glossary to define our shared Winnipeg and Manitoba experiences.

Please submit a comment to this post if you have a term to add. We are currently creating the glossary and will tweet (@winnipego) with a link once it’s up and running!

ALSO: Listen to CBC Manitoba Information Radio this upcoming Monday and Tuesday mornings (May 18 & 19, 2009) around 6:40AM (Central time) in order to hear the WO’MH blogging team in our very first discussions about blogging in Winnipeg and our distinct outlook on moving to this fair city from Vancouver. There is a link to live streaming of the broadcast on the CBC website, and we hope against all odds that our friends at Information Radio will consider podcasting these segments!