Dealing with plastic

The events of last week suggest our prime minister has no understanding of the environment. The UK  is proceeding with the eventual elimination of one use plastic. When asked Justin would not commit to anything, and gave the impression it was not a worthy topic. For me this was the first time he crossed my line in the sand. It is my opinion that plastic is the # 1 problem we have.
But counting on government mandates solving this issue is pie in the sky imagination. The UK put a timeline of 2040 to put an end to this. In other words it’s on the back burner on low heat. No what needs to be done is to make all the manufactures recycle what they produce. All of it. The one use stuff will disappear on its own without legislation. I swear there are people in this world that dream all day of ways to make even more plastic things. A person could say we have a serious addiction to this stuff. A world wide epidemic if you ask me.
Seven billion, all addicted, and counting.

Facebook Politics

Is it me or has everyone lost their ability to judge things for themselves. They could bombard me with political stuff and it still wouldn’t change my mind about what I think. Maybe it’s because no one really cares anymore. That all the lying and deceit we have heard for all these years has made us numb to the point of indifference.
Of coarse FaceBook is a prime place to target ads, heck there is a billion people on it daily. But I’ve noticed that most people don’t seem to care much about issues as much as the latest baby pictures. I find that it’s he pictures that gets everyone’s attention, not some political ad. And this is the thing that attracts people to FB, calm casual social interaction.
I won’t be quitting the FB, it has a place in my life and the lives of my friends and family.
One more thing, it’s a sad day to say farewell to Rick Mercer and all the lives he touched. He will be missed.

Flat Earthers

Please tell me why this is a trend. I’ve tried my best to understand what it is that consumes these poor souls. Recently a man built his own rocket to launch himself up in the air, to somehow prove the earth is flat. Spent a lot of money doing so. Wouldn’t a ride in an airplane do the same thing? Is this a genetic disorder we haven’t discovered yet? Crazy shit if you ask me!

Shopping Malls

Not unlike cars we have hit the saturation point in malls. I never liked them, it seemed to me they all were selling the same thing with a different name. Massive land development and parking for everyone. How is that a good thing? Christmas time was always insane. Had to go there to get it done. Push push push, buy buy buy! For what? In their heyday you had to know someone just to get into these places. The owner of the mall took at least a 10% cut of all sales, not to mention the exorbitant price per square foot of space. I for one am not sad to see them die, we don’t need them.
Below is an interesting statistic.

The country boasts 94 square metres of retail space for every 100 people, according to data from the Shopping Centre Council of Australia, far more than the United Kingdom — at 44 square metres — and Germany — at 22 square metres.

Seven billion, looking for a place to live and counting 

Olympic Canadian men’s hockey

Oh my god, they lost to the Germans!! Don’t get you’re nickers in a knot, there are many Canadians on that team. We can’t win all the time otherwise it would be boring. But here’s a thought, rather then send our pros why don’t we send our best juniors. I think they would represent our country well and maybe even win! What a thrill it would be for these players to go to the Olympics. I never liked the way the NHL schedule was made in order to accommodate this event. And the pros don’t need this, they make millions playing the game.
Send our best juniors is in my mind the right thing to do.
One of seven billion and counting

Tim Hortons Rant

For three days this week the “blank” roll up the rim cups were in my Canadian news feed. Really? Is this important news? Are people running into glass walls not knowing what to do with a blank roll up the rim?
Then it was the franchise owners who stopped paying for breaks, my goodness, where do these employees go for a break? Well what I saw when I was a customer was employees hiding behind the garbage bins, and to smoke there as well so I guess the non smokers had to be endure extra foul smells. Seams to me if you don’t provide a lunch room for employees then you must pay them to “hang around “ in uniform.
I find it so hard to believe that an “institution “ like Timies has lowered itself to this bottom pit of gloom. Not sure what it’s like back east but out west there is a serious shortage of workers to fill these positions, many 24 hour Tim’s have had to scale back hours because of a shortage of people to fill these rolls. And now they are punishing what loyal workers they have over a little ity bitty raise. I guess the profits just aren’t what they were in the good old days.
I no longer go to this restaurant as I’ve had to quit drinking coffee, and really there is little else they serve that would draw me in.
Wake up Canada, this greedy chain of franchises needs a good slap in the face. And only you can do this. Roll up the rims fill our landfills with unnecessary garbage, totally disgusting environmental behaviour from this company that was once a Canadian institution!
Blaaaaaaa humbug from this one of seven billion and counting.

Olympic trade deadline

I’m starting to feel that Olympic teams are more and more like professional teams, a good athlete that doesn’t qualify for his or her country then joins a country that needs him or her. Sometimes these athletes win a medal for the country. Many of Canada’s athletes come from other countries, because  we are a smaller nation and in order to be competitive we bring these people in and grant citizenship.
Why not make it like pro sports, have a trade deadline and shuffle the players around a bit. No need to pretend they’re from our country but that they’re part of our team. Cash payments, buyouts and future considerations plus draft picks! Haha that would be fun.
One thing is for certain, the games are not as meaningful as they once were. Don’t get me wrong, I still enjoy watching the competition but don’t really care what country they play for. That, I think is the right spirit to have, not this win at any costs, or funding only for results.
Deeper I often wonder just how long the games will even exist, the costs are crazy high, of coarse I’m not a participant just one of seven billion with an observation.

Musical Chairs

I will not pretend to know how the markets work, but from my viewpoint it sure looks like musical chairs. The smart guys all get out leaving everyone else to fall to the floor. Am I not seeing this right?

In some states there is such a shortage of labor companies are hiring people in jail to work, and at premium wages, in the trucking world the shortage of drivers has become nasty, heck who wants these jobs anyways. Drivers I know who use to run south of the border don’t want to anymore because of the new electronic log books. Can’t get anything done and their wages have fallen. Heck I’ve been recruited by people I barley know to go drive for someone else. 

My point is the fed is raising interest rates to try and stop inflation, yet inflation is going to happen because there is not enough people to do the shit jobs out there and the wages and prices will increase. Yep, just a great big merry go round!

I’m a Headline Junkie

Are you like me, skimming the news only looking at the headlines? Maybe it’s my age and experience but I can picture the article with just the headline. In fact I find reading the piece to be boring as hell. I think it comes from school where you are not only encouraged to write 1000 word essays. So what do you do? You rehash everything that has been already said in order to get the content needed.
Starting today I’m going to keep my blog down to one paragraph with a great headline that says what I feel. No need to bore you all with rehashed content!
One of seven billion and counting

Uber

I need help with this, why does this company continue to reject any and almost all pre clearance of its drivers? They left the largest city in the US because they refused to do a criminal check on their drivers. It’s almost like they want to have criminals behind the wheel!
Today one driver was arrested in California after raping four different women. He wasn’t even a US citizen! https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2018/jan/23/uber-driver-charged-with-four-rapes-california?CMP=Share_iOSApp_Other
This company could have owned the taxi business but chose to be some kind of outlaw you can’t tell me what to do company. I may be a big male and not afraid of much but man, who is it that’s picking me up? Or my daughters? You just don’t know.
Then they attack these drivers with a shrinking percentage of revenue to the point of starvation. Was everyone involved at the start Trump followers? To be a big company like this and not care at all for your customers or the people who make you your money is hard to understand. It feels like a very criminal behaviour to me, heck I’d have more faith in a rickshaw driver in Vietnam then an Uber driver anywhere in the world.
They are currently trying to crack the Vancouver market, and even though this market needs a shakeup in the worst way I’m afraid of what will come with it.
Seven billion, looking for a lift, and counting

Hard Work

It’s been said many times that in the future we will have more leisure time, that robots and such will free us to an easier life, yet no sooner is this said we all seem to be busier and work longer and harder lives. I have a theory on this, I think we are afraid to be idle. That we will get into more trouble and spend past our means. Is happiness being busy as we can be? Working till we can’t?
No we need to work, we want to work, and a future that may eliminate all these jobs is not something most want to see. There is a guilt to sitting around that’s hard to take. Yet a lot of what we do is really quite meaningless. That can be very frustrating, and I think explains the Trump movement. It’s a last grasp at a life that has past us by. Drill for more oil, dig for more coal. Ignore climate change. It’s a plea for a past life, one that is done done done!!!
I’m looking forward to the new economy, whatever that’s turns out to be. But one thing is for certain, we need to be busy and lead a life that has some meaning.
Seven billion, wondering what’s next and counting.

Buying and selling

I used to sell cars, for dealers and privately. It could be a long and painful journey from start to finish. First you place an add, that took a week and sometimes longer. Then it would get to print but there were mistakes, or you sold it, or the price needed to be adjusted for work done. Then came the internet.
Thursday night at 4 pm I went to see a car, liked it and bought it. Got it home, plated and insured by 7:30. Then I needed to sell the one I was driving. Friday at 2:00 pm I posted an add to Craig’s List, got an email at 2:10, by 3:30 car was sold. It to was plated and insured and driven to the buyers home. I was dropped off at my home by 7:30 pm. 24 hours to do 2 deals completed privately is in my mind just crazy.
Why oh why do we need dealers?? Values are there for everyone to see, specs and problems are just a google search away. I think Tesla has it right, order on line and get it delivered to you. We don’t need to be paying all these middle men (and women) to do what we can do ourselves in relative ease. Kind of like Sears and other stores like them, just a big waste of time and added expense.
We are entering the speed warp of commerce now and it’s going to get even faster then my example.
Seven billion, getting what they want and counting.