Good customer service can be so rare it's worth capturing the moment! / Image: Richard Ryder

SHOP SHOCK :: Okay here’s the poop: they finally opened the “Mega Loblaws” at Carlton and Church. It’s big. It’s sparkley. And it’s price point is just high enough to keep the riffraff from venturing out of their local No Frills.

Usually when a store is so big, customer service suffers…or so I had expected. I ventured into the once ‘center of the Canadian Hockey world’ with the hopes of finding seitan, a vegan non-soy protein substitute. Well they didn’t have it. No surprise, it’s a hard thing to find anywhere, but I must admit I was also reticent to ask anyone for help. Stores that big usually don’t have well informed employees…ever try to find something at Wal-Mart? I rest my case. So, I was at the checkout when the cashier asked if I had found everything I needed. Well, I was gobsmacked. Usually the most I get out of a cashier is, “do you need a bag?”. I was caught so off guard that I told her about the seitan in spite of my expectations.

Well, she sprung into action, first handing me a form to fill out to request the item they didn’t carry and then she called over Néma, a registered dietician from their health and wellness department. Yes, you heard me, they have a health and wellness department. Not only did Néma help me solve my seitan woes (apparently you can make it with Vital Wheat Gluten. Who knew?) when I was back a few days ago, she came up to me and asked me how I was doing on the seitan front. Again, I was amazed. I don’t get that kind of service and attention from store I’ve frequented for years!

Well done Loblaws, for hiring Néma and for keeping customer service alive!

More Richard Ryder

LUST :: Vampires, Witches, and Werewolves. Oh my!

All this fairy story bullshit aside (this is factually correct as the story line does now, in fact, have fairies), True Blood can just get good and over itself.

Richard Ryder on Designing Women, Family vs. Friends, Rob Ford, and viagra.

There’s one reason and one reason only we drift back to TV’s hottest show: it has the hottest sexiest sons of bitches on cable TV. Period. Case in point, yummy Joe Manganiello. Lube companies across America should thank his trainer for spank bank shots like this one! Woof, I mean Grrr, I mean…oh just pass the lube.

Thank you HBO!

YULETIDE :: Christmas really is a fabulous time of year, isn’t it? People seem a bit warmer, they smile more…well, as long as they know you, they do. Strangers can still go suck it!

But I digress. Sure, there are Scrooges that roam the earth ruining everyone else’s good time, and by Scrooge I mean those effers at the mall! Stealing parking spots, snatching bargains. It’s a wonder more people don’t get shot! Seriously, if you want to have a Merry Christmas, steer clear of the malls. Plus they’ve been pumping out that nauseating “Xmas Muzak” since Nov 1. It’s lost it’s charm, people. It’s hard to hum along to “Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas” when someone is elbowing you in the face to get the last Must-Have piece of crap you didn’t even want in the first place!

My Christmas wish is for true peace on earth. We can do this quite simply by eschewing the malls and box stores. Seriously, check out the shops in an interesting part of town instead. Get lost in a quaint store’s unique wares. Soak up the customer service (aka: humanity). Get a gift your greedy family members, that you only see once a year, will remember. Your holiday spirit will thank you.

Merry Christmas Everyone!

POLL :: How are you feeling this holiday season?

AWE :: Okay by the time you read this the glitter dust will have settled and the Mirrorball Trophy will be awarded but as I write this, I am watching the finale of Dancing With The Stars season 13. Here’s what I think: Ricki Lake’s career is about to take off! Never has anyone transformed more beautifully than she has. And I’m not just talking about her new gorgeous figure. Sure she’s lost weight. Everyone does on that show (except for Bristol Palin. Just saying.) But she is executing Derek Hough’s fantastic choreography like a pro. Seriously, if they were doing a dance film and asked any other actress in Hollywood to dance the way Ricki has been, they’d have used a double! Even if Rob Kardashian surprises us all and wins (Ricki’d be robbed!), Ricki has reintroduced herself to an adoring public as a confident, sexy woman with cheekbones to die for!

From one Ricki to another, I love ya mamma! xox

HEARTBURN :: So I’ve been working out with G Force Training for over a year now which doesn’t only involve exercise but also the complete overhauling of my food intake. Which basically means I haven’t eaten carbs past 4 pm for a year. So imagine my poor stomach’s shock and dismay over the recent Thanksgiving weekend at being forced to deal with mashed potatoes (made with cream, Brie and bacon. I know, heaven), turkey soaked stuffing, and fat laden gravy at 7 pm. Needless to say I awoke in the wee hours Sunday morning with my first bout of heartburn in over 12 months!

It wasn’t pretty. There is no better advertisement for healthy living than gastrointestinal woes. Trust me.

RAVE :: So, my day job is hosting morning radio in Toronto. It’s great. We get a lot of bands and artists in to promote this and that, like you do. It’s not often that I hear someone sing live in front of me, most of them don’t and I can’t blame them. It’s freaking early.

Well, the other day The Boom Boom came in to promote their new iTunes EP: ‘Booty and the Beats’. They sang live in the studio and let me tell you, they don’t sound good,  they sound freaking fantastic! They are so great in fact, that they recently won Perez Hilton‘s “The Best Thing I Never Had” cover contest where anyone and everyone could enter by covering Beyonce‘s song. Well, The Boom Boom did…and they won! Suck on that, America! It’s obvious they’re destined for Pop Greatness. Don’t believe me? See for yourself:

THANKSGIVING :: Things I’m thankful for: G-Force Training: without their guidance and support, I’d be dead. It’s as simple as that. Although pie does taste good, you can’t taste it (or Extra’s Dessert Delights gum) from the grave. I’m grateful for my friends. They’re my rock. They keep real when I’m knee deep in the Cray Cray and they’re Cray Cray when I get too real. I’m grateful for my talents, both real and imagined. It’s nice to be able to generate an income just being me, no matter how bad this economy gets. I’m very grateful for the possibilities that our world and time provide me on a daily basis. Just knowing that it can all change in a blink of an eye makes me less worried about the bad times and more appreciate of the times that are good. And finally, I’m very grateful to all who read my blogs and attend my shows. I’m as entertained by my your interest as you are by my sense of humour.

Happy holidays to you all!

Miss Raquel gives thanks for her uncle and grandmother’s concurrent heart attacks. (Yep.)

SKIP DINNER :: Okay, shut your face! Or better yet, your mouth… around this: Extra has made gum that tastes like desert. I’m serious! Gum that taste like, among others, strawberry shortcake, apple pie, and their best: key lime pie… you can actually taste crust! There’s even a whip cream finishing note in the strawberry shortcake! And two chews is all you need to know that that apple pie is a la mode! But it’s sugarless gum! It’s like eating pie FOREVER! Seriously! Do yourself a favour, get some today and see how bad tomorrows commute is chewing on one of these bad boys! YUMMY!

My, my, me oh my, i love pie!

ALTER EGO :: Okay, in the theatre of my gay mind. If they were to redo Designing Women with an all gay cast, I’d be Suzanne Sugarbaker. I’m loud, fat and lippy. We’re practically twins. But if I could have a BFF from Designing Women, I’d want it to be Charlene Frazier as played by the delicious Jean Smart. She was warm, funny, friendly and the type of friend who’d help you move. Suzanne would never do that. She’s too selfish…and probably just had her nails done.

Let’s face it, it’s probably better to be a selfish person than to know one.

The difference between family and friends:

A friend will ask you if you’ve lost weight.

Family asks if you’ve gained.

The battle continues.

Sigh