Burning the midnight oil here,
happy Friday Prince George.
Thank heavens for block heaters, both kinds, the ones for your vehicle engine, and the ones for your noggin!
Speaking of transportation, nothing quite like a frozen seat, a clutch pedal that is reluctant to move, a very stiff shifting manual transmission, and windows that are still frozen shut after the last melting cycle. Add to those the fact that my wood pile is disappearing at an alrming rate and we have Joys of Northern winter life.
metalman.

Still griping about the horrendous price we are being charged for diesel in this town!!! Before they start shipping Canadian oil out of the country we need a little more refining capacity here so we won’t get these prices because of a fuel shortage?

I worked out side in this weather this week, actually, really, very refreshing, and thank goodness the wind has sub-sided for now. Remember folks that not all ppl work indoors,9-5, in this weather, we have to start our cars, and get to work , just to be out in the weather, if its hot (ya right) or cold. There are ppl doing jobs that matter in this city, and we are blessed for doing it…..have a warmer friday PG..apparently get your shovels ready. Have a great day all.

Ps: fuel could drop right about now… he he he

Just an observation, when federal,provincial and municipal governments start making cuts the first place they seem to go is anything related to the environment.My heart goes out to the people that had their jobs eliminated last week by the city. I am not sure, but the way the story was reported these people had no idea it was coming. OK more than an observation,I wonder how long the effects of these cuts will begin to show?
To all of the 350 people that made the march to the Ramada in protest of the pipeline,I commend you for your dedication, with it being 30 below.

I am one of those that support the enbridge pipeline the benefits greatly outweigh the risks and will provide long term employment for many along the pipeline route. The Indians don’t support it because they are not getting as much money as they want they are just using the environment and traditional lands as an excuse to wring more money out of everyone.

Well Dearth I would have to disagree for the following reasons,benefits&risks how would the possible destruction of a whole ecosystem or a way of life benefit anyone?
Employment, from what I understand once the pipeline is complete there will only be fifty permanente jobs most of which will be in Edmonton. And the First Nation People it is THEIR traditional land they are part of the environment that is how many of the coastal villages live. If you are interested how foreigners feel about the province of BC here is a link.

http://thetyee.ca/News/2012/01/16/Enbridge-First-Nations-Relations/

dearth,i was going to comment on the pipeline but you have my thoughts down to the letter. thank you.

I’m not necessarily against the Enbridge pipeline. It’s a crazy world and we have to make money with resources we have at hand. What I’m against is the deal(s) they are offering.

British Columbia (specifically the location where the pipeline will be) is not nearly being offered enough compensation for all the risk involved in the project. There’s not enough jobs being created to offset that risk.

I’ve personally seen what a mess these pipelines can leave behind. Kinder Morgan had a gusher leak into homes and Burrard Inlet back in 2007. The city crews were digging and Kinder Morgan had inaccurately marked were the pipe was.

Here is another little tidbit which I read a few days ago(will try to find the article) according to one analysist it takes the cost of 2.5 barrels to process 1 barrel. How do you make money doing that?

Gosh, metalman, I figured I had one of the last manual transmissions! I often feel so alone with my frozen stiff clutch and shifter. LOL
Willyj, outside workers are often in my thoughts during weather like this, not everybody has forgotten you. Thanks for the work you do, and stay warm.

With Endbrige’s record it speaks volumes,the cost of policing all those Crackhead pipeliners and the like!
See the Natives did there homework this time round..you see what happened up in the peace region.The bands there were screwed over,oil Co,s did as they pleased!!
I say good for them this time round!
As for the arm chair critics,go do YOUR homework!! I worked in the patch and saw lots of things that were reportable spills,they just bury it and on there way!!
this need to cross at least 20-30 river crossings,imagine a grounded tanker in the sound at Kitamat…..priceless!

little,

If it didn’t make money, they wouldn’t do it. Here is what the economics of selling products boils down to: if you make a widget for $1 you sell if for $2. You get a profit. If the same widget starts to cost $2 to produce, you sell it for $3 and make the same per widget, or you sell it for $4 and make double per widget. As long as people need your widget more than they need the money it costs to purchase it, the widget will sell.

So until there is a viable replacement for oil, they can charge whatever the hell they need to to make a profit, and we will line up in droves to buy the end product. Look what happened in the last real fuel shortage, people literally killed each other for the opportunity to pay for severely overpriced gas.

What’s with the price hike on food in Save-On on the Hart!
Everything starts at 5 bucks, 2 things 10 bucks for some that’s an hours wage! WTF
I stood patiently while a family of 4 before me were digging through their cart to put things back because he was short of cash. Many moons ago I would have helped that situation out but at those prices I’ve got to pinch myself.

Soon we obliterate the LIE – berals then EXTINQUISH the HST. Call the election NOW.

Why do people think just because you use a product you have to accept every aspect of its development, creation and ultimately its distribution. I can see how anyone who is in the business of oil, whether working directly in the field or has a business that services the oil industry, would think this pipeline is a good thing for BC, Alta and Canada. But really, they are thinking it is a good thing for THEM and not really caring about anyone else, if the truth be told.
But I seriously don’t think anyone in BC, especially, who isn’t tied directly to the oil business couild possibly see how this is a good thing for BC. And for those who like to lament that BC is part of Canada and this is for Canada and not just for BC, just has to look at the details of the proposal to see that isn’t the case. As for the first nations, for those who say they are holding out for a larger payout, all I can say is, you are wrong this time. This isn’t some logging company or mining company that is localized and dealing with 1 or 2 bands. This effects a lot of different bands and they won’t all want to be bought out. Unless the govt allows Enbridge to go against the wishes of the people it will most affect, this deal over and done with.

I watched Mansbridge interview Harper the other night and was alarmed at a few things said.

The question of Canadian energy security was brought up as eastern Canada still depends on foreign oil imported from the middle east…and why is it that Canada does not supply this itself? The response was a bit reluctant but that “Canada doesn’t decide where pipelines go” and that is simply a “market driven decision”. Harper went on to say that “this system has served our interests well.”

What comes to mind from that answer is the fact that the world should have learned that the financial crisis and mortgage meltdown was a product of governments around the world allowing the free market economy to run itself without the necessary controls. Even Greenspan himself (the most notable architect of this wide open and markets/money rules everything system)admitted that a global free market economy needs to be regulated [by smart governments willing to look after their national interests]

We need a national energy policy which addresses our national interests by introducing measures which protect our energy security..and we need it now.

porter …..

littlebuds is right, it is very expensive to remove the bitumen or light oil from the sands. There are different figures out there that hover around the energy of 3 barrels of oil to generate one. It is used to heat the water to produce steam to separate the bitumen out.

It is only be because the oil prices have risen that it has become viable to use this extraction method.

So porter, the real result of this is that the countries which have conventional crude available that they pump out of the ground and be done with it make a higher profit per barrel than Alberta/Canada does.

The method to extract the bitumen is not only “dirty” since it creates more greenhouse gases and creates settling ponds over a vast landscape, it is also more expensive.

That is the very reason why some in the USA do not want oilsands oil.

To me, it would seem reasonable from many points of view to keep the capacity to the one we have been living with in recent years, work on a better extraction method, make more profits per barrel down the road, and become more effective in the use of the oil that we have so that it lasts longer.

S, everyone is talking about effectiveness and efficiency of government and how we have to curb spending, but here we say, “the hell with it, people are willing to pay the money to drive their SUV’s and crew cabs so let free enterprise do what it wants” while the cost of oil based transportation and building the roads for it and maintaining them is going up faster than inflation.

Too many people cannot connect the dots. Can you give us some insight of why that is porter? Why are you unable to connect the dots?

The best solution is, IF it is a done deal is. each band claims so many km of pipe going thru their territory. They work that out, In the meantime, Enbridge sets up a rate of $0.25 / barrel pumped thru to a fund and it gets divided up amongst the band by the number of km.

Plus Enbridge works with the first nation with a response team, which deals with ability to shut off the oil, and mitigate damages. Meaning proper training and the ability to respond to a scene with in 3 hrs. not 3 days. Meaning it employs people year round at Enbridges expense.

Enbridge posts a $500,000,000.00 bond for emergency work. Enbridge also post and purchase a $500,000,000.00 insurance policy for clean up. Meaning a Billion dollars is set up for a potential disaster.

Everyone wants to talk green, because it is vogue. Reality is, most greenie’s does more talk than actions, If the Greenies are really against fossil fuel. Have they shut off the natural gas to their homes, do they walk to work, is anything plastic being erradicated from their homes. Nope, most Greenies are hypocrites.

For Enbridge to pump oil through BC, they need to show more interest in investing in this province. The pipeline is not an investment in this province, it is an investment in the oilsands operations.

If they want to show some investment in this province, require the producers in Alberta who benefit from the pipleine to invest in the exploration of oil deposits in the central interior of BC and the development of deposits which are found.

We might find that it is cheaper to extract the oil that is supposed to be there than it is to remove the oil from the sand in Alberta.

See how Alberta would like them apples ….. :-)

Thank you Shari Green, finally a Mayor with Cahonees. Its not easy changing peoples lives by doing layoffs, but I am sure many of them gets a parachute landing. It takes courage for what you have done in two months in the office.

Finally the power is being returned to the taxpayers instead of the administrators dictating to council what to do. Power to the People, thru a Mayor that understands what the people wants.

To those who lost their jobs, It is difficult times ahead, but you will make it through. For the rest of the populace, we salute our lady mayor with the cahonees.

Forsight. A **Smart Government** is an oxymoron.

The Government can make decisions as to where a pipeline can be built, or whether or not Oil can be shipped along our coasts, but it is the Oil Companies that decide who will buy our oil.

It certainly seems strange that we would import one million gallons of oil from Norway to supply Eastern Canada, and export oil from Western Canada, to the USA, and eventually China. Im sure the oil companies could explain this.,

In any event because of the NAFTA we need to maintain the amount of oil we export to the USA, at least until the agreement is trashed. So in some respects our exports are tied to the USA.

Personally I would like to see the oil go South or East and forget about shipping from Kitimat. If the Natives, and others dont cave in, this could be the end result.

Companies will always try for the cheapest way to do business first, which is what they are doing with this pipeline.

He spoke….enough about the argument, greenies are hypocrits, that boat has sailed. There are a lot more people that are not considered “greenies” who are against this pipeline for a lot of different reasons, the environment being just one. Why should Canada/Alberta run a pipeline across another provinces land to benefit just a few. BCs return on this project is too small for us to even entertain the thought. There is better ways for that oil to be turned into “green” for everyone, but it would mean a smaller bottom line for Enbridge the big oil companies and thier shareholders, so they want the fast easy buck, regardless of the consequences to those opposed.

“For the rest of the populace, we salute our lady mayor with the cahonees.” .. don’t speak for me. I still see taxes going up, and it is way to early to congratulate the mayor, lets wait and see how services are affected first.

Could someone please tell me what are our legal resonsablities to our native peoples? I did some some reading online and I think we only need to consult with them in good faith. We do not have to accomondate all thier wishes and they do not have a veto on any projects. I feel we have treated them poorly in the past,and we need a new system so they can all move forward not just a few rich chiefs.

Well said Gus and thank you

“For the rest of the populace, we salute our lady mayor with the cahonees.” .. don’t speak for me. I still see taxes going up, and it is way to early to congratulate the mayor, lets wait and see how services are affected first.

Cajones, amigos.

Found it

http://thetyee.ca/Opinion/2012/01/12/HughesReport/

One more link shows the Enbridge track record,if you would like to open the link please take note of the last line that is in bold type.I think that says it all

http://sowhatdidimiss.blogspot.com/

The 2-1 or 3-1 relates to ENERGY not OIL.

Natural gas, which is extremely cheap on a energy basis compared to oil, is used 2-1 or 3-1 depending on whom you listen too. There is also alot of oil used in the form of gas and diesel but I think that most of us realize that if it takes 2 barrels of OIL to create one barrel of OIL than Suncor/CNRL/Syncrude/whoever would just sell the 2 barrels of oil. Not, effectively, spend billions to use oil!?!?

I don’t agree with the job cuts at City Hall, not the way they were done; I would have liked to have seen the City approach the unions involved and tell the unions that it was either wages cuts or job cuts and let the union (city employees) decide what they wanted. I heard that they got rid of most of the department that deals with the envirnoment (including the forester positions). Not sure that makes sense.

Would it be too much to ask some of the drivers in PG to turn on their freaking headlights while driving in the morning? If you drive a little, road-colored car (whether it’s dark gray, etc. or just has a lot of dirt on it), don’t drive fast in blowing snow conditions without your headlights on. I was just about to change lanes when some dolt in a road/dirt-gray little car without headlights came roaring up on me in the lane I was about to change into. Turn on your headlights when the conditions warrant it!

I agree with whoever said that BC is being asked to take on too much risk for not enough reward.

We need to tax the movement of the oil through our beautiful Province. This tax needs to be enough to establish a significant clean up fund PLUS provide a significant advantage to British Columbians in the form of free cash flow year after year. This is in addition to any jobs that may or may not be created.

Our Provincial Gov needs to show some leadership and find a way to make this happend. As it stands now its like its the Native Community and Enbridge negotiating, what about everybody else?

First of all, natural resources like oil are ultimately owned by the Crown PROVINCIAL, not Federal.

And any National Energy Program that impinges on Provincial sovereignty in this area without correspondingly compensating that Province and its citizens in some way should be resisted.

If it isn’t, we’ll be in the same spot as we’re already in wherever we’ve (foolishly) surrendered Provincial sovereignty in regards to taxation. For example, the levying of Income Tax, which was signed over to the Feds in World War One as a TEMPORARY measure to help pay for the War, but is still with us today, almost 100 years later. And more lately, the HST.

That was the problem with Trudeau’s NEP, it forced Alberta oil producers, (who are NOT all big companies, by the way), and that Province, to accept a lower price for Alberta’s sold in Canada WITHOUT any corresponding compensatory National benefits for Alberta’s citizens.

Albertans didn’t get a price break on household appliances, or cars and trucks, or other manufactured goods made in eastern Canada. They had to pay just as much as ever for those, which were, in some instances, being exported to the USA and abroad and sold cheaper there than what was being charged for them in Alberta.

So fair is fair, and if some future Federal government wanted to have another NEP, lets make sure those of us who reside in Provinces that are resource rich are not bearing the full cost of lost incomes and revenues alone.

I heard a story quite some time ago that there are natural gas or oil deposits capped around Prince George. Anyone know if there’s any truth to it?

The environment is one question as it relates to the pipeline(s) but there is much more to this.

The question that should be on everyone’s mind is what the increased production and increased export rates and therefore rapid depletion of our national energy reserves mean to Canada’s future?
What will it mean to the domestic price of oil when our exports command a higher price (about 10-15%)from china than they do from the north american markets?
What country’s economy is going to be more effected than Canada’s by dramatic energy costs increases? What other industries and not to mention Canadian consumers are going to be able to afford exponentially higher energy costs?
Fuel prices are already having a serious effect upon the prices which Canadian consumers pay as well as the costs of goods which we manufacture and how close are we exactly to putting them all out of business because of energy prices?
The corporate wealth extracted by oil companies will afford some employment but it will not be enough to offset all other industries grinding down to fraction of what they have been. Unemployment will dramatically increase in Canada just as the cost of living will skyrocket.
If you are worried about the environment now just wait until Canada has no options as to how to sustain any industry or employment and the only way to reduce the costs of doing anything then involves no protection of the environment, period.

Really, about the ONLY way a pipeline across BC that’s put in to deliver Alberta oil to the Orient could benefit British Columbians would be if we were to get OUR oil and gas purchases cheaper.

That’s not what’ll happen when it goes ahead. The price at the pump will rise, and so will that of natural gas and home heating oil, diesel fuel, and virtually ALL our other purchases of everything. We will get a price inflation, across the board. As we would with any large capital project such as this.

Some politicians will present this as being a sign of prosperity. For many businesses will initially be able to record larger profits due to those higher prices. What is overlooked is that these larger profits are being realised in dollars that are continually BUYING LESS AND LESS. They are not really profits at all, but pure inflation of our currency.

The amount of inflation a project such as this will induce could be measured, and should be compensated for in a tax levied on the volume of oil transported. And that tax should be applied to provide price rebates to British Columbians on their purchases of oil products. That way WE would ALL get some benefit from it.

The fact that man knows right from wrong
Proves his intellectual superiority to
other creatures
But the fact that he can do wrong
Proves his moral inferiority
To any creature that cannot.

Mark Twain

The fact that man knows right from wrong
Proves his intellectual superiority to
other creatures
But the fact that he can do wrong
Proves his moral inferiority
To any creature that cannot.

Mark Twain

I read that it takes one barrel to make 2.5 barrels in this case.

Folks do you know there is 2 million miles of pipelines in north America of all types. Heck in Germany they even have beer pipelines.

Gus for all the internet prowess you have shown on this site for digging up information in the internet you are still into this greenhouse gases thing. Have you heard of the climategate emails, do you know what hide the decline means?

Dirty oil maybe it is dirtier than other extraction methods but define dirty. Land that is mined is being reclaimed. Expensive to mine yes and always will be but don’t think the companies do improve efficiencies of operation. Their incentive profit. Does not everyone like to make profit with the least cost? Oil prices are high mainly do to production costs, not lack of quantity of which there is no shortage for the foreseeable future.

Wind generators kill upwards of 500,000 birds a year in the US alone, not counting bats. Hardly a peep out of those Hollywood greenies and their fancy lifestyles they want to deny everyone else.

When the keystone pipeline gets built and it will that oil once refined will get exported out of the US as they don’t need it. The use of oil for transportation has actually declined in the last while in the US.

Since China and India are flat out expanding, though there now seems to be worry of a slow down lately, prices will stay up.

Lets see if jobs at city hall get contracted out and to who. Sherry seems to be running a secret little ship.

People say tarsand oil is dirty – and probably true. But is Middle East oil clean when you count the cost and environmental damange of keeping a US Navy fleet in the middle east to protect “their” oil. Would their be a net environmental benefit if North America became oil self sufficient on resources here – and pulled our military out of the rest of the world and quit running around the ocean burning uranium to protect oil.

Mt hat is off to anyone who has to work outside during this weather. My dad was a construction worker and he always joked that a good person’s day was -41.

There seems to be a lot of good people in this city evidenced by the many who work outside.

Thank you!

“Does not everyone like to make profit with the least cost?” .. define least cost…least cost to whom? The big oil companies or the people they will affect?

“People say tarsand oil is dirty – and probably true. But is Middle East oil clean when you count the cost and environmental damange of keeping a US Navy fleet in the middle east to protect “their” oil” .. Difference is we don’t control thier oil, Canada should be able to control it’s own oil and make responsible decisions based on what is good for EVERYONE, not just one province and the feds.

Palopu:-“It certainly seems strange that we would import one million gallons of oil from Norway to supply Eastern Canada, and export oil from Western Canada, to the USA, and eventually China. I’m sure the oil companies could explain this.”
——————————————-

I’m not an oil company, Palopu, or even in the oil business, but I think there is an explanation to your question.

Part of it has to do with cost, and it’s probably cheaper to haul Norwegian crude, or even refined product, across the Atlantic by tanker than it is to transport crude to the eastern Provinces by pipeline. There really is not a large population to serve in the Maritimes.

And it’s not a phenomenon unique to Canada. I believe most of Alaska’s North Slope oil production goes to Japan, even with the USA being a net importer of oil from elsewhere.

But I believe another, larger, reason has to to with the way the international money system currently operates.

No single industrialised country, not a one of them, anywhere on Earth, CAN currently financially buy ALL its own production (of everything) with the total amount of money that is distributed IN THAT COUNTRY in the course of making that production.

They ALL need Export Credits, in effect some other country’s money, in order to try to close what amounts to an ongoing gap between the rate that overall Prices are generated and overall Incomes are being distributed in their own economy. If they can’t obtain these Export Credits from running what is called a favourable Balance of Trade internationally, (something which, in its totality, is mathematically impossible for EVERY country), then this gap must be bridged by further Loan Credits ~ an exponentially rising amount of overall debt.

Which, as we’re currently witnessing, is no more sustainable long term than the inane quest of every nation to try to sell more than it buys, and thereby pretend it is somehow getting richer by actually becoming physically poorer.

“When the keystone pipeline gets built and it will that oil once refined will get exported out of the US as they don’t need it. The use of oil for transportation has actually declined in the last while in the US.”

While demand in the US has declined the US still imports a significant amount of oil from the middle east. Therefore they will not end up exporting oil, they will simply import less. This is true even if the Bakken production climbs to the highest of estimates. They will not become exporters under any scenario that anyone in the industry is currently projecting.

As for exporting refined products that isnt likely either. Where do you plan to export it too? India? China? They dont need us to refine for them. They will build there own refineries and these refineries will be more efficient than our 70s era refineries. Refining capacity continues to decline with several refineries either shut or for sale on the US Gulf Coast and Atlantic.

Seamutt ….
“I read that it takes one barrel to make 2.5 barrels in this case”

I hope you do not mind my saying, you are mathematically challenged.

Your statement means that for every barrel extracted, 2.5 barrels are produced …..

If that were the case, we would be owners of magic oil ……

What it should be is that for every 2.5 barrels extracted, 1 barrel is produced ….

In other words the efficiency is 40% right from the start. As I understand it, conventional drrilled oil is around 7 times as efficient when it comes to the Ratio of Energy Returned on Energy Invested. I also understand that 50% of the production increase projected over the next 10 years goes to offset the procution decrease in Canada’s conventional oil capacity.

I do not care about greenhouse gases. I care about energy conservation …. that is what this is all about. But, it is convenient for the pro side to attach the opposition ot the environmental movement, rather than looking at it from an economic waste point of view ……

The hacker group “Anonymous” took down the FBI’s website today in retaliation for them closing down MegaUploads.com

The FBI is going to be XL cranky on this one. Can you imagine the grilling the internal FBI geeks are getting right now?

The issue of whether a country has the ability to direct its energy reserves to a specific market or prevent it from being exported is one that exists in Alaska as I recall.
To my knowledge the US federal government restricted the export of Alaska’s natural gas as it was seen as a national energy security issue for the whole of the US.
I don’t know if that is changed since the boom in shale gas in the lower 48 OR whether that restriction applies to Alaskan oil.
The point is that many countries do in fact restrict oil exports and so should we. Take one litre of oil and burn the NAFTA agreement if that is what it takes.

Hey Gus, the energy ratio is that it requires the energy equivalent of one barrel of oil to produce approx 2 barrels for sale from the tar sands. Seamutt is correct as from what we are told. Who knows if that is true or average or the extreme or conservative.
The fact is that it actually won’t be the oil itself (for the most part)that is used to convert the oilsands into saleable bitumen but rather natural gas.

It is generally good to compare apples to apples.

When one says it takes 2 barrels of oil to produce a barrel of oil, the reall meaning of it is that it takes the energy content of 2 barrels to create one barrel. …..

people are lazy ….. language is reduced to the basics since the rest is understood.

As far as the source of the production energy goes, you might recall that they were talking about building some nuclear reactors to generate the energy required … don’t know if that is still being considered.

Here is a table which shows an order of magnitude representation of the Ratio of Energy Returned on Energy Invested for energy sources.

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/fe/EROI_-_Ratio_of_Energy_Returned_on_Energy_Invested_-_USA.svg

Biodiesel is on the low end and hydro is on the upper end.

Bitumen Tarsands sits at less than 5

Shale oil slightly higher

2005 oil imports at about the same level as wind – just under 20

1990 oil imports – around 35

coal is at 80

hydro at close to 100

——————————
interpretation

Oil coming from the bitumen tarsands uses 4 times as much energy input to produce as does the average oil imported into the USA in 2005 and 7 times as much as the oil imported to the USA in 1990.

The energy to extract a unit of energy from the tarsands is 17 times as much as it takes to extract a unit of energy from coal and 25 times as much as it takes to extract a unit of energy using hydro.

So, will site C be a good investment in BC energy? You bet!!!!

Energy is still energy, no matter what form.

We can’t export hydro to China. But we can export it to Alberta since they have little of it and use fossil fuels to generate electricity.

The natural gas can be compressed into LNG and shipped off to other countries. Much more energy efficient than using it to extract bitumen from sand.

Hammy, I hear you about the price of groceries at the Hart Save-on and that goes for the other Save-ons as well. They kinda have people on the Hart by the you know whats as there is no other viable competition there. I make the trek into town to SS or Costco for my big grocery orders, damn if I am going to pay 1.69 for a can of beans that I can get for a dollar less in town. Everything is jacked at Save-On. Unless you are going to just purchase their specials, you are going to pay through the nose for your purchases. A 24 pack of specialty tea is 3 bucks at SS and often on sale for 2, but SO wants 4.49 for the same brand. I could go on and on, item by item, a buck more, 70 cents more, 1.19 more, 90 cents more….it all adds up and better in my pocket than in Jimmy’s. No offense to the staff who are always pleasant and helpful, just griping about the store chain itself. Damn tired of the gouging and I let my feet do the talking, not going to find me in SO unless it benefits my pocket book.

Alaskan oil is largely exported to Japan. The Alaskans have what is known as the Alaskan Permanent Fund which invests a large portion of the royalties received each year by the State from the Alaskan oil industry.

Each year the income received from these investments is distributed to each and every Alaskan as dividend, sometimes amounting to several thousand dollars per individual man, woman and child resident in that State.

While the dividend amounts may vary yearly, depending on the income generated by the investments in that year, the Capital of the fund itself is always maintained, and continually increased due to continued receipts of royalties.

Alaska citizens will thereby get an ongoing benefit individually from their share of invested money derived from a depleting resource they collectively own. This is the way it should be here. If we had a government that truly was “for the people”.

Everyone, do your best to have a safe weekend.
Do you ever give a thought about what its like to have an accident when its cold? Suddenly, you have no source of heat and you are injured. You need to keep warm then, but can’t. Who knows how long you will be there before help comes? It is not a pleasant thought.
So give a little forthought to what you do.
Have a great weekend.

Gus,

1) Thank you for agreeing with me. Yes, others do make more money per barrel, but, despite the costs of production, Oil Sands companies are able to produce oil and sell it for a profit. The reason is because they can sell oil for more that it costs to produce it. That was my entire point.

2) When did I say anything abuot how clean or efficent oil sands oils are?

3) I agree that it would be nice to wait until we have better technology, that has nothing to do with my post.

4) I have never in my life that I can recall commented about how the oil companies relate to the roads.

5) Stop adding irrelevant dots to discussions and impling that they are stupid. If you disagree with my point: that oil companies make profit selling oil for more that the cost of production and that they can do so because people are willing to pay that price, then I am ready to listen.

On another topic, I have a bone to pick with YRB and all traffic between Vanderhoof and Prince George on Monday morning.
My 19 year old daughter was traveling from Vanderhoof to PG on the morning of Jan 16th. She is a typical teenager who is trying to be independent. Her cell phone had been cut off, she only had just enough gas in her car to get home, and she wasn’t dressed for -27 degree weather.
It is a recipe for disaster and the unthinkable happens: About 12km east of Bednesti, her tire blows and her car swerves into the oncoming traffic. She is able to swerve back and avoid a head-on collision but almost goes off the bank on the other side. Luckily she is able to stop on the shoulder.
She realizes she needs help as she has no cell, so she gets out starts to flag down traffic.

This is my big issue: NOBODY STOPPED! She tried for almost an hour to flag people down and everyone just continued on their way, including 2 YRB trucks. She was freezing and finally gave up, climbing back in her car to try to stay warm with the few dollars worth of gas she had left.

Finally two men in a pickup pulled up behind her and then she panicked, thinking she was going to be abducted. Luckily these two men were decent and let her use their cell phone to call her parents. Thank you so much whoever you are.

It took us another 45 min to get to her and she was long out of gas.

Huge lessons here for my daughter, I hope.
But what the heck is with the other drivers on the road who saw a 19 year old pleading for help and passed her by? Are people so afraid of their imagination that evil lurks everywhere that they would deny their impulse to help someone in need – specially a young girl?

My drive out to find her was filled with prayers that she was still there and hadn’t been abducted. The highway is NOT a safe place to be stranded, especially for a young girl.

If you see someone in need on the highway, please do the decent thing, and at least call the police. You may be saving their life from the next guy who comes along who may not have good intentions.

All I am trying to say is that there are other costs that have to be considered. We operate in a complex world.

While people are willing to pay for the cost of the oil, essentially because they have not choice, that is fine for the person who does not need to drive to deliver goods or a service.

However, when that increase of cost is factored into a reduction in the money the person who does that, as a for instance, receives, there is an impact to that individual that many people do not take into consideration.

So that person does not like it, and he/she ups the price of that good or service to the consumer.

When the oil is used to build roads for the City, our taxes go up or some other service level drops to compensate.

The consequence of an increase in the price of oil is not a take it or leave it situation.

The way that the oil is extracted from the sands by the use of natural gas, will start to impact the level of gas that Alberta will be able to export to the USA.

When the production level of oil from the sands is increase several fold in the next 10 years to feed the proposed pipelines, the level of export of natural gas will decrease because so much will be needed to extract the oil unless technology improves considerably.

Nobody talks about that, and you, porter, seem to be included in that group of people who cannot look at an integrated economy and do some true cost accounting to see where costs actually lie to determine directions that should be set, not by the companies who have short term vision, but by us, who ought to have longer term vision.

“But we can export it to Alberta since they have little of it and use fossil fuels to generate electricity” – According to an interview with some bigwig in Hydro last summer on CBC, apparently we already import power from Alberta and Washington State. Go figure.

“But we can export it to Alberta since they have little of it and use fossil fuels to generate electricity” – According to an interview with some bigwig in Hydro last summer on CBC, apparently we already import power from Alberta and Washington State. Go figure.

Stopping to help people on the highway used to be a given. However we have been crying wolf for so long no one wants to take a chance.

If under normal circumstances you were to try to offer a lift to a women on the side of the highway all hell would break loose. You could be subject to a police interogation, as to what you intentions were, etc;

I predicted a number of years ago that people have become so paranoid about helping people, especially women that, one of these days an innocent person will die, because no one would stop to help. Even in the story above, when someone did stop, the first thing the girl thought was that
she would be abducted.

So yes, in this day and age, people are not prone to pick up or help anyone on the highway, because of all the ramifications. I think that it is a terrible way to live, and most of the problem can be attributed to TV, newspaper reporting.

Littlebuds:”Here is another little tidbit which I read a few days ago(will try to find the article) according to one analysist it takes the cost of 2.5 barrels to process 1 barrel. How do you make money doing that?”

Actually it’s the other way around, it takes the energy equivalent of 1 barrel of oil to gain an energy equivalent of 2.5 barrels!

Actually, it’s pretty pathetic, isn’t it? And it’s only profitable as long as they get a lot of money for each barrel of crude and as long as natural gas is cheap! If the price of crude drops and the price of natural gas goes way up – they will be going into negative profit territory!

But, don’t worry, they will find a way to get us to bail them out, as usual!

hammy:”What’s with the price hike on food in Save-On on the Hart! Everything starts at 5 bucks, 2 things 10 bucks for some that’s an hours wage!”

I totally agree! We used to buy ALL our groceries there but now we do not. We are driving to Save-On at Parkwood or College Heights! For some items we go to the Super Store because the Hart Save-On has such a poor selection in all departments.

Sure wish we had some real competition in the Hart like Extra Foods or a Safeway store!

There are not two but actually three different energies involved with the tar sands development. Where two of those three come from is important as is who pays for it being delivered to the poor chaps who mine and sell the black gold from the tar sands.

A few years ago senator Neufeld and former BC energy and mines minister stated that the site C dam was required to provide electricity to BC. He then stated that a powerline was needed to be constructed from site C to Fort Nelson which then would place the northeast corner on to the grid. That sounds sensible until you realise that Fort Nelson produces about 10 times the energy it uses and sends it to Alberta to who knows where. The question is why does BC Hydro need to build a powerline to Fort Nelson? Senator Neufeld went on to say that the energy demand created from the BC shale gas industry was to be in the range of 500MW and that it would be greener to provide hydro rather than burn natural gas to produce the power this industry needs. Site C is supposed to generate 900MW of which 500MW is supposed to be used by natural gas producing companies in the northeast of BC. BC Hydro has been telling us that we need to invest into our future energy production and our rates will have to go up in order to afford things like Site C. What few people realise is that Site C is one of the energies involved with the expansion of the tar sands development.

The second energy is the natural gas required to process the tarsands and make the black gold those companies will sell and profit by. Where do you think that natural gas is going to come from? A large part will come from NE BC as is being piped there for that exact purpose. We are told that it is greener to use natural gas than it is to use oil to create the heat necesary to produce the oil from the sand. It is actually because it is cheaper to use (what is currently called surplus) natural gas rather than oil and it sounds good if you throw the green word into the sales pitch. So cheap is natural gas that the BC taxpayor is practically paying to have the natural gas developed and expanded as quick as possible so as to meet the needs of the tarsands and beat their competitors to the Asian gas markets as well.

The third energy is obviously the bitumen produced from the sand and now the debate is how to provide the enourmous outlets aka pipelines so that this can be converted to corporate profit as quickly as possible.

In isolation each step of this has its pros and cons economically and environmentally. BUT as a whole this is absolutely hideous as to what this means to Canada’s future as an energy depleted wasteland. We are paying for this boom to happen and we are going to pay dearly when it goes bust.

On another topic, I have a bone to pick with YRB and all traffic between Vanderhoof and Prince George on Monday morning.
My 19 year old daughter was traveling from Vanderhoof to PG on the morning of Jan 16th. She is a typical teenager who is trying to be independent. Her cell phone had been cut off, she only had just enough gas in her car to get home, and she wasn’t dressed for -27 degree weather.
It is a recipe for disaster and the unthinkable happens: About 12km east of Bednesti, her tire blows and her car swerves into the oncoming traffic. She is able to swerve back and avoid a head-on collision but almost goes off the bank on the other side. Luckily she is able to stop on the shoulder.
She realizes she needs help as she has no cell, so she gets out starts to flag down traffic.

This is my big issue: NOBODY STOPPED! She tried for almost an hour to flag people down and everyone just continued on their way, including 2 YRB trucks. She was freezing and finally gave up, climbing back in her car to try to stay warm with the few dollars worth of gas she had left.

Finally two men in a pickup pulled up behind her and then she panicked, thinking she was going to be abducted. Luckily these two men were decent and let her use their cell phone to call her parents. Thank you so much whoever you are.

It took us another 45 min to get to her and she was long out of gas.

Huge lessons here for my daughter, I hope.
But what the heck is with the other drivers on the road who saw a 19 year old pleading for help and passed her by? Are people so afraid of their imagination that evil lurks everywhere that they would deny their impulse to help someone in need – specially a young girl?

My drive out to find her was filled with prayers that she was still there and hadn’t been abducted. The highway is NOT a safe place to be stranded, especially for a young girl.

If you see someone in need on the highway, please do the decent thing, and at least call the police. You may be saving their life from the next guy who comes along who may not have good intentions.

I got a feeling that very soon I’m gonna roll over in bed in the morning , turn the radio on and listen to the CBC news tell me that Iran, Israel or the United States did something stupid in the Strait of Hormuz and which will knock off all this useless chatter about pipelines off of the front pages for a while. Should be most interesting. Wait and see how other dilemmas pale in comparison. It is just a matter of time.

No kidding, Harb. Remember when Smart Meters were all the rage? What ever happened to that?

And to those who have observed, yes, Save On has the most expensive groceries in town. They have for quite a while now.

But apparently, people can still afford to shop there, I see lots of cars in their parking lots.

Pylot project said “Kinder Morgan had inaccurately marked were the pipe was”
How much you want to bet that no one could find the as-built drawings, made back when the pipeline was laid?
Hammy said:
“What’s with the price hike on food in Save-On on the Hart!”
Yeah, I noticed that too, beginning to feel ripped off, have to check Superstore I guess.
Hey Gus, with all due respect, ’cause I know you are a serious person, could you cut back on the condecension? Thanks.
metalman.

“Pylot project said “Kinder Morgan had inaccurately marked were the pipe was”

Metalman: “How much you want to bet that no one could find the as-built drawings, made back when the pipeline was laid?”

I read about that. The incident was caused by one of Kinder Morgan’s contractors not following proper procedure to expose the pipe. They had drawings, but they were from the 50’s.

One of the main causes of pipeline ruptures is the backhoe.

JohnnyBelt I think this might have something to do with the lack news stories.

Injunction Requested Against Smart Meter Program

CST has filed a complaint under Section 47 of the Utilities Commission Act requesting a stop to the Smart Meter rollout claiming that the wireless capability and the “snooping” components are outside the scope of the Clean Energy Act and not in the public interest.

Also I heard Coleman state a few weeks back they are continuing to install meters in areas that have no opposition to them.

I agree with hammy and PrinceGeroge prices are ridiculously high at the SaveOn on the Hart. We could use a Safeway out here to give a little competion, but Safeway has no plans on relocating to Prince George. I wonder why that is? There is a Safeway in Ft Nelson, Ft St John, Quesnel, Williams Lake, 100 Mile House and two in Kamloops. I guess they just don’t like PG.

I would assume the topic that is “all the rage” is the pipeline for the simple reason the Northern Gateway Alliance Review Board is touring right now. If it was a review board for the Smart Meters I am sure there would be lots of talk about that as well. People can talk about several issues at once. I guess the HST is forgotten too because it isn’t continuing to be the hot topic these days.

Other than Kamloops those other places don’t have big stores like Super Store and Costco to compete with. Safeway was here and left when the competition moved in.

“The incident was caused by one of Kinder Morgan’s contractors not following proper procedure to expose the pipe. They had drawings, but they were from the 50’s.”

The contractor was not given up-to-date drawings by Kinder Morgan. Great!

That’s why pipelines will NEVER be as safe as the proponents are claiming. There are at least two main risks: 1) Human error and 2) the unpredictability of nature, like earthquakes, erosion due to flooding, avalanches, rock slides, material failure, corrosion of welds, forest fires…etc.

PrinceGeorge: “The contractor was not given up-to-date drawings by Kinder Morgan. Great!

That’s why pipelines will NEVER be as safe as the proponents are claiming. “

Um, no. If you’re going to be anti-pipeline, you’re barking up the wrong tree. Mapping and as-building has come a long way since the 50’s. Besides, if the contractor isn’t going to follow proper procedure, the best drawings in the world won’t save you. If they had, they would have noticed the error.

http://www2.macleans.ca/2012/01/20/crack-in-the-pipe-dream/

http://www.edmontonjournal.com/business/barrels+spilled+last+spring+Enbridge+says/6021270/story.html

Sorry kids, the pipeline dream is dead,dead, dead.

Gus huh I think you have it the wrong way around about energy to produce oil.

Ft. nelson is connected to the grid via Alberta. There are studies but no immediate plans to build a powerline from the Peace to Ft. Nelson. yes we buy power from Alberta and the US mainly at night when it is cheap, then sock it to them during the day.

Site C will be built mainly to increase a base load because of the Plants built by the Independent Power Producers and the huge contracts given to them by the fiberals. The wind don’t always blow and river flow is up and down. So the taxpayer is on the hook for the huge contracts and to build site c to cover the IPP’s. Bend over.

I always like how corporate profit is made out to be a bad thing. Point out something in your house that somehow does involve a corporation.

So how is that carbon tax on your heating and gasoline bills working out for everyone. It is 5.58 cents per litre. For what?

JohnnyBelt:”I read about that. The incident was caused by one of Kinder Morgan’s contractors not following proper procedure to expose the pipe. They had drawings, but they were from the 50’s.”

JohnnyBelt:”Um, no. If you’re going to be anti-pipeline, you’re barking up the wrong tree. Mapping and as-building has come a long way since the 50’s. Besides, if the contractor isn’t going to follow proper procedure, the best drawings in the world won’t save you. If they had, they would have noticed the error.”

I think it is you that is barking up the wrong tree! The right tree is Kinder Morgan, not the contractor! The drawings were from the fifties and the contractor did not follow proper procedure! It is the RESPONSIBILITY of Kinder Morgan to make sure that the maps are properly updated and that the contractor follows proper procedure!

Do you mean to say that if Enbridge (the owner of the pipe) has a spill because the maps were not accurate and the contractor was an idiot – Enbridge is off the hook???

Now I am even more convinced that this whole dual pipeline project is one really bad, bad idea! As soon as something goes wrong everybody is going to blame some poor sap while the black sticky stuff is spoiling rivers, creeks, lakes and heretofore unspoiled wilderness!

Yes, I am against this pipeline. People like you are scary.

“Do you mean to say that if Enbridge (the owner of the pipe) has a spill because the maps were not accurate and the contractor was an idiot – Enbridge is off the hook???”

I didn’t say anything of the sort. Please don’t put words in my mouth.

“Yes, I am against this pipeline. People like you are scary.”

Yeah, being pro-economy / pro-jobs might be scary to some. You should probably stick to fluoride in the future.

This should put to rest the issue of big business thinking it can dictate the tax policies that municipalities implement:

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/story/2012/01/20/bc-tax-bill-catalyst-north-cowichan.html?cmp=rss

This should put to rest the issue of big business thinking it can dictate the tax policies that municipalities implement:

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/story/2012/01/20/bc-tax-bill-catalyst-north-cowichan.html?cmp=rss

It’s a little early to say how all that’s going to finally play out, NMG. I’ve a strong feeling those municipalities are going to wake up when they find their unwillingness to change their tax policies have just killed the geese that lay the golden eggs.

It’s not just BIG business that’s affected by the kind of excessive property tax exactions levied on an outfit like Catalyst, but ALL sizes of businesses. Everywhere in BC.

No one minds to pay their fair share, but the property taxes levied on businesses these days relative to services businesses receive ARE grossly excessive.

Property tax is really one of the most unfair types of taxation there is. It bears no relation to what the land and improvements actually are able to earn in money, only to what an Assessor arbitrarily decides they’re worth on a certain date.

Yet what those lands and improvements ARE really worth is based almost solely on their ability to earn money.

A pulp and paper mill, if there was a huge demand for pulp and paper over everything else, might have an earning capacity that stretches to infinity.

But if there’s so little demand for the product that the price obtainable for it is at, or below, cost, that pulp and paper mill is only worth what the machinery might fetch as scrap. While the remediation of the land itself nowadays, if the mill were removed, could easily exceed what it would ever reasonably sell for to be used for some other purpose.

There may have once been a good justification for property tax, back in days of yore, where the tax was NOT paid in money, but rather through remitting a portion of whatever the land produced. So much of a farmer’s crop, etc.

Today that’s not the case. The municipality doesn’t want so much of Catalyst’s product at whatever the going price is to meet its tax bill. It wants money. And Catalyst, like any other business, doesn’t MAKE money, it can only GET money. And then only if it can sell its product in excess of its costs.

Far fairer to tie the property tax more closely to the cost of the services provided to that property. Take the difference in a tax on sales or incomes.

Thoughts on the Crisis of Capitalism

http://www.prudentbear.com/index.php/creditbubblebulletinview?art_id=10623

Socredible wrote:
“Property tax is really one of the most unfair types of taxation there is. It bears no relation to what the land and improvements actually are able to earn in money, only to what an Assessor arbitrarily decides they’re worth on a certain date.”

Interestingly, the total tax paid by residents for their residential property is paid on property whose improvements typically house no business which can make any money. Using your premise, private dwelling units should not be paying any tax at all.

Of course, socredible, I know you understand that businesses in PG pay one of the lowest tax levies in relation to residential taxes in BC. And, of course, the Chamber is quite about that and keeps on lobbying City Hall to lower the taxes even further.

Businesses are in the business of making money. If they can’t figure out how to do that by calculating ALL heir costs and charging the residents of this and other communities enough to compensate for their expenses, including a fair salary of the owner/operator, plus contingencies, then they do not deserve to be in business. As they say, survivsal of the fittest.

The assessor values the capital cost of the land and improvements adjusted for age and condition of the improvements. It is the City which is responsible for determining the mill rate for various classes of property. The assessor plays not part in that. The City’s mill rate is an across the board mill rate for a class of use and does not take into consideration the valuation of the business. As far as I know, no tax system in this country taxes bases on business valuation. Do you? Are you suggesting they should be taxed on valuation of the business?

http://www.catalystpaper.com/investors/annual-reports/annual-report-2009

The link is to the Catalyst Annual Report 2009.

Property, plant and equipment asset valued at $1.664 billion

Sales
2009 = $1.20 billion
2008 – $1.85 billion
2007 – $1.71 billion

Net earnings
2009 = -$4.4 million
2008 = -$219.8 million
2007 = -$36.5 million

Property taxes paid or payable for 2009 = $15 million (there are other balancing entries, but it appears that is an approximation of the taxes payable to municiplaties from their four operations.

The following statement was found in the annual report:
“We also initiated legal actions in an effort to resolve the long-standing issue of excessive municipal property taxes in four of our operating communities in British Columbia. Our initial petitions were dismissed and while we have appealed the decision, we are also pursuing an equitable outcome through ongoing and focused government relations and ongoing discussion with some municipalities.”

Based on a $15 million property tax, it is just under 1% of the reported property and improvement valuation and just over 1% of the gross sales income. Say they want to drop the tax to half, they should be able to find that half a percent elsewhere instead of going to the local taxpayer.

Of course, the City could shut down the road leading to their facility and charge each major truck a user fee for using the municipal roads. ;-)

http://www.catalystpaper.com/media/news/events

“Catalyst Paper continues discussions on debt restructuring – defers interest payment”

Is it the responsibility of a municipality to bail out a business? I think it could be. However, I also think that if that were to be proposed, it should work similar to an insurance. In that fashion, property taxes on businesses would have to be increased across the board in order to allow a municipality to forgive all or portions of taxes for a year or more when justification can be shown. The more businesses will use that, of course, the more businesses will have to pay in property taxes. I am sure that would be a popular proposal … LOL.

“Far fairer to tie the property tax more closely to the cost of the services provided to that property. Take the difference in a tax on sales or incomes.”

The company appears to have paid $500,000 in income tax in 2009. There are estimates of what the liability of future assessed income taxes might be which are around $25 million. I am sure they will be able to figure a way to keep on carrying that forward rather than paying it.

As far as jobs go, they employed 3,023 in 2007, 2,711 in 2008 and 1,851 in 2009. That does wonders to a community.

Seamutt wrote: “I always like how corporate profit is made out to be a bad thing. Point out something in your house that somehow does involve a corporation”

Please do not put me in the category of saying corporate profits are a bad thing. You got the wrong person for that.

As far as my house goes, I happen to have designed and built my own house with the help of some local paid indivduals who helped with some of the labour. The materials and equipment which went into the house are the only things which relate to corporations and a higher percentage of the dollar value of material was local than is typical for housing these days.

Of course, the property was bought from the City in those days in a competitive bidding process. So even that was not a corporation; more like a cooperative… ;-)

On another topic, I have a bone to pick with YRB and all traffic between Vanderhoof and Prince George on Monday morning.
My 19 year old daughter was traveling from Vanderhoof to PG on the morning of Jan 16th. She is a typical teenager who is trying to be independent. Her cell phone had been cut off, she only had just enough gas in her car to get home, and she wasn’t dressed for -27 degree weather.
It is a recipe for disaster and the unthinkable happens: About 12km east of Bednesti, her tire blows and her car swerves into the oncoming traffic. She is able to swerve back and avoid a head-on collision but almost goes off the bank on the other side. Luckily she is able to stop on the shoulder.
She realizes she needs help as she has no cell, so she gets out starts to flag down traffic.

This is my big issue: NOBODY STOPPED! She tried for almost an hour to flag people down and everyone just continued on their way, including 2 YRB trucks. She was freezing and finally gave up, climbing back in her car to try to stay warm with the few dollars worth of gas she had left.

Finally two men in a pickup pulled up behind her and then she panicked, thinking she was going to be abducted. Luckily these two men were decent and let her use their cell phone to call her parents. Thank you so much whoever you are.

It took us another 45 min to get to her and she was long out of gas.

Huge lessons here for my daughter, I hope.
But what the heck is with the other drivers on the road who saw a 19 year old pleading for help and passed her by? Are people so afraid of their imagination that evil lurks everywhere that they would deny their impulse to help someone in need – specially a young girl?

My drive out to find her was filled with prayers that she was still there and hadn’t been abducted. The highway is NOT a safe place to be stranded, especially for a young girl.

If you see someone in need on the highway, please do the decent thing, and at least call the police. You may be saving their life from the next guy who comes along who may not have good intentions.

On another topic, I have a bone to pick with YRB and all traffic between Vanderhoof and Prince George on Monday morning.
My 19 year old daughter was traveling from Vanderhoof to PG on the morning of Jan 16th. She is a typical teenager who is trying to be independent. Her cell phone had been cut off, she only had just enough gas in her car to get home, and she wasn’t dressed for -27 degree weather.
It is a recipe for disaster and the unthinkable happens: About 12km east of Bednesti, her tire blows and her car swerves into the oncoming traffic. She is able to swerve back and avoid a head-on collision but almost goes off the bank on the other side. Luckily she is able to stop on the shoulder.
She realizes she needs help as she has no cell, so she gets out starts to flag down traffic.

This is my big issue: NOBODY STOPPED! She tried for almost an hour to flag people down and everyone just continued on their way, including 2 YRB trucks. She was freezing and finally gave up, climbing back in her car to try to stay warm with the few dollars worth of gas she had left.

Finally two men in a pickup pulled up behind her and then she panicked, thinking she was going to be abducted. Luckily these two men were decent and let her use their cell phone to call her parents. Thank you so much whoever you are.

It took us another 45 min to get to her and she was long out of gas.

Huge lessons here for my daughter, I hope.
But what the heck is with the other drivers on the road who saw a 19 year old pleading for help and passed her by? Are people so afraid of their imagination that evil lurks everywhere that they would deny their impulse to help someone in need – specially a young girl?

My drive out to find her was filled with prayers that she was still there and hadn’t been abducted. The highway is NOT a safe place to be stranded, especially for a young girl.

If you see someone in need on the highway, please do the decent thing, and at least call the police. You may be saving their life from the next guy who comes along who may not have good intentions.