Ola from Vegas peoples! Enjoy your friday and weekend. Hehehe

A good and safe weekend to all.
metalman.

What’s with the tv commercials from crusty Clark. How many millions is she wasting telling us how good she is doing for us ? It’s pathetic. We don’t have money for Heath care or eduction but we can pay for every second commercial on tv. Watching the Canucks game on Wednesday night I saw more of her than I did the sedins.

“Bollywood” Now there’s a good investment for the taxpayers of B.C. Thanks Liberals. Meanwhile…….

Soon the HST will be EXTINGUISHED. Then after that maybe we will be able to afford a few things again here in BC. Only 2 months left suffering with this tax every single time you go out and try to do anything and get taxed for every single thing imaginable. These expensive TV adds are only sinking snooki further and further into oblivion and coming in May this year the LIE berals are gonna be EXTINGUISHED too. I can’t wait to go out and get a me cheese burger on April first. Maybe a few restaurants can open again aftet HST is EXTINGUISHED. Thanks Bill. I was very happy to be a canvasser that got us our democratic right to the refferendum that got this HST EXTINGUISHED. Thanks again to all the other canvassers as well.

Must be Friday, mattyc’s HST meds came in! :)

Sure hope Toronto council does the right thing and the Rob Ford era officially ends today. What a putz! Sick of seeing his fat ugly mug in the national media.

P Val, if you are against the $$ being spent on advertising, go to the NDP website, where they are hosting a petition against it!

PLEASE SLOW DOWN ON THE HIGHWAY!!!
The speed limit is for dry and good highway conditions, not for year round travel! The snowplows are there to make the highway conditions passable, so give them room and be respectable! After witnessing moronic driving behavior yesterday and many near misses because of impatient drivers behind snowplows, I think the speed limit should be posted in the winter to 85 or 90km per hour!! If you speed in the winter and get caught, you need to have your license taken away for a month or so instead of a fine!

What’s with all the dog poop? Getting a little tired of stepping around it..not looking forward to the spring thaw!

Matty, do you really think the restaurants will lower the price of their cheese burgers? The tax might be gone but the bet is on that the prices will stay the same.

Matty, let us know how much you save on a new TV or appliance after HST is gone.

I received my City of PG utility statement this week.
My monthly bill went up from $54 per month to $70.
That is an increase of 30%. Isn’t that a little high?

Why can’t drivers realize what lane they are in on foothills, going north after the bridge on the slight curve?! A lady in a minivan pushed me right into the oncoming traffic last week, completely clueless as i’m laying on my horn! Same thing happened to a friend a couple of days ago. The next time it happens to me, get ready for it cause i drive a big truck and i will not hit some poor bugger head on!

Ritalin or Prozac would probably be a better choice of meds…lol

If you keep on driving your Goat Truck with the Snowmobile deck on it the way you do, Jail is just around the Corner.

How does govt work? I see the BC Liberal ads on TV telling us how good things are [$15M], then I hear about Bollywood funding [$12M]…..and THEN I see the BC Children’s Hospital running fundraising ads.

I’m not positive what you think…but I am thinking the BC Liberals have their priorities mixed up? They would rather use tax money to buy votes than to fund a Children’s hospital????

Really curious too about the BC Liberals involvement in setting up BC Coastal First Nations [great bear rainforest] into a carbon trading scheme??? Now they can sell carbon offsets because of the carbon sink of the GBR….isn’t this crown land that the BC government should be selling carbon credits from and using to reduce the deficit?? Or fund a children’s hospital…or or or…???

There is nothing new about governments using our taxes dollars to tell us how well they are doing. Believe it or not, even the NDP did when they were at the helm.

Miss G… (hmmm wonder what that stands for) ahhah musta been you driving on inside lane going so slow. Numbers on speedodometer all look alike??? If you speed in the winter and get caught, you need to have your license taken away for a month or so instead of a fine! or be punished by listening to Miss G for an hour.

mafkees…. yesss our bills are higher. Mine jumped fifteen bucks a month. Guess they gotta find money to give City workers another raise while the rest of the country is still struggling with no raises or minimal.

interceptor…. Enjoy.. we just got like another couple inches last night.. Lucky you.. basking in the sun..

heyy read that artickle on page A7 by Mark Crawford. Fantastic article on Idle No More and Dick Harris..

checkitout, maybe drive in the right lane and that won’t happen. That would propably require slowing down some where close to the speed limit though.

ohh that article is in todays Free Press

I’m not a fan of government advertising, but there is one reason they do it. It works.

“Why can’t drivers realize what lane they are in on foothills, going north after the bridge on the slight curve?!”

I can answer that. It’s because the typical driver in PG is a complete and utter moron. Concepts like ‘Merge’ and ‘Keep Right Except To Pass’ are foreign to most of them.

Why do so many in the “sheep” (goat if you prefer) trucks drive like the repo man is chasing them ?

Speaking of taxes how about the almost 6 cent a litre carbon tax for what? This month 18 dollars added to my to my heating bill, carbon tax. Hydro costs going up to pay off the very expensive contracts to Independent power producers. I laugh how that word Independent is used. Lets see the government forces rises hydro costs to pay to pay off their friends hanging onto the government boob. That is how the free enterprise system works, government welfare to corporate friends.

I wonder how many people in PG are suffering from energy poverty, unable to afford to properly heat their home. In Germany, Greece and even England people are being forced to steal wood for heat.

” The deep economic crisis Greece faces as the recession enters its fourth year, as well as the new fuel taxes introduced by the government, have caused a sharp increase in the price of heating fuel.
The arrival of winter, coupled with record prices for fuel and the fact that household budgets have decreased, has forced tens of thousands of families across Greece to turn off their central heating.
As a result, the old wood-burning stoves and fireplaces have seen a revival, creating a lucrative market for legal importers and salesmen of firewood, but even more so for illegal loggers who collect and sell their product without a permit.
These illegal practices are causing serious damage to Greece’s forests. Deforestation has become a real problem – particularly since the start of December – due to illegal logging, the forest service of the Ministry for the Environment reports. The official figures suggest that thousands of hectares of forest have already suffered severe damage”

http://wattsupwiththat.com/2013/01/23/lomborg-electricity-prices-for-german-households-have-increased-61-since-2000-renewables-blamed/

Green is the new Red.

friday,blahhhhhhhhhhhh

Taxes….ya mine went up $24 a month. Hope some of that goes to fixing the roads or better yet it’s so that us tax payers can pay for the greens raise she give herself when she was elected. What was that a 30% raise??????

Is she still getting her parking stall shoveled out??? Bet all the past Mayors never asked for that type of service.. bring your shovel or just step out of your car and get snow on your winter boots. Oh wait she wears high heels to work. Don’t want to get any snow on those.

Wonder if she has reserve a private stall for that HIGH

HST gone? Don’t get your hopes up that there will be any great savings. Unless I missed it, the gov’t has yet to declare if all of the previously pst expempt items will be returning to the old tax system. My guess is that you will see two taxes on items that previously had only GST.

PRICED LABOUR LAWYER from VANCOUVEDR she hired to bargaining with the City’s two unions. That is going to cost the tax payers alot of money. They would have to pay for her hotel room and a rented vehicle….plus meals…on top of her wage.

Do the handicap people who visit city hall get the some treatment as green….is the handicap stall shoveled out and sanded.

sorry people VANCOUVER

Hey, Styxxx,
If anyone crawls under a rock they may find you and your cronies there. We don’t need personal attacks like yours.

Cutting down too many trees in Greece? Deforestation? Hmmmm? If you didn’t mention Greece, the first country that would come to my mind would be Haiti. On the upside, Greeks don’t believe in voodoo.

City utilities bills are going up by 26% – 16% increase to water, sewer and garbage, and the removal of the 10% discount if you pay bill on time.

“Don’t get your hopes up that there will be any great savings. Unless I missed it, the gov’t has yet to declare if all of the previously pst expempt items will be returning to the old tax system.” . I did read somewhere (not sure where) that the old system is supposed to be put into place exactly as it was before, all the same exemptions of pst where it was before.

Sardonic? To whom did I level my personal attack? Justin Trudeau? Then you address one to me. Nice try Nancy. Thanks for living-up to the stereo-type liberal hypocrite. Next.

But: If that is true, why did we have to wait a year and a half for it to revert back? the government said it would take that long to reinstitute PST and GST seperately.

Let me understand this snow shoveling of the mayor’s parking.

ya’ll are complaining that someone the taxpayers are paying around $100,000 a year should take time to do manual labor.

So we want to pay someone $48.08 per hour to shovel snow while coming to work dressed to conduct top level municipal management?

Funny how Chief Spence was on a 44 day ‘hunger strike’ but doesn’t look like she lost an ounce. That must have been pretty nutritious ‘fish broth’. She sure played that little stunt to the hilt!

And funny how we didn’t hear anything of another elder joining her until it was over.
Idle No More should have distanced themselves far from her. I don’t think she gave them anything positive for their cause at all.
I also get quite a kick out of their name. Idle No More. What does the insinuate?

Sorry, that should have been ‘that insinuate?’

Loki: “Let me understand this snow shoveling of the mayor’s parking.

ya’ll are complaining that someone the taxpayers are paying around $100,000 a year should take time to do manual labor.

So we want to pay someone $48.08 per hour to shovel snow while coming to work dressed to conduct top level municipal management?”

It makes no sense. These are typically the same people who support raises for City workers, no cuts to staff, and are complaining about the higher costs in their utility bills.

With perennial winner Derek Bates out of the picture it is an open field as to who will win this years City Hall contest,win the sash and tiara and hold the title of Miss-Manager of 2013.

Nominations?

After reading the headline of the Jan. 14, 2013 issue of MacLeans magazine (Inside The Great Real Estate Crash of 2013), I think the residents of Prince George should boycott the magazine. It is turning into, or maybe always was, a magazine like The Star or The Enquirer. Nevermind their skewed stats on the crime in PG.

The HST will be reinstated with all the exemptions that were in place before it was brought in.

That is what the legislation states, and and that is what the Government has said on many occasions. The only exception that I am aware of is on private used car sales. Used car sales used to be subject to 7% only and will now be assessed 12% sales tax. According to the Liberals this tax remained in place to make private sales competitive with the car lots used car sales. Hmmmmmmmmmmmmm.

I would start to make a list of restaurant prices, and other prices while the HST is still in effect, so that you can make a comparison after the HST is recinded to see what retailers are keeping the price up to make more money. Anytime you find someone who is doing this, I suggest you bring up this issue with them, and if they wont give you a better price, then dont deal with them.

To be screwed by the Government, only to be screwed by commercial/retail interests would not be a good thing. (but entirely possible)

Why do people get so upset when waiting in lineups for a open till ? If you are in a hurry then why get mad at the clerk, they are not the ones deciding how any tills should be open. I see it all the time at Costco, Walmart, save on etc. the poor till workers get the old ” shoot the messenger” syndrome because they are there. Grow up people. Would you want to be treated this way ? Two suggestions.. One is. Don’t shop there, or two, plan your day better so you aren’t rushed. Poor planning on your part doesn’t make the cashiers fault you aren’t served as fast as you think you deserve to be.

Don’t mention to Costco that they should get an “express lane cashier”. It won’t work.

I don`t mind the line ups, give me time to chat up the hot mommies in line…

“Why do people get so upset when waiting in lineups for a open till”

Perhaps because it is the bottleneck in the shopping experience?

Take a look at the number of tills that are available in any of those box stores.

The think to yourself … on the busiest day, has there ever been an occasion when I have seen every single one of them has open? How about 90% open? 80%? 70%.

Then have your ever thought to yourself, what are the extra tills there for? Xmas? Thanksgiving? Easter? The Mayor’s Birthday?

It seems to me that in many places the cashiers play a part in how many tills are open. They seems to let their supervisors know or they get on the intercom and ask for someone to come back to open up another till.

So, yes, in most, if not all places, they are the ones who decide. At least in those places where the cashier also has other duties at slow times.

I took in one of the Cold Snap events last weekend and had a great time. Thank you so much to the organizers and volunteers with Cold Snap. If you haven’t gone to one of the concerts or workshops, you really should try to do so this weekend. Last concert is Saturday night.

Just one of the things that makes PG a good place to live: Cold Snap!

Oh, the other bottleneck is getting help to find something or explain a product.

In some places one is swarmed with people wanting to help you, in others it is like finding a gold mine when someone is actually visible who you think might be able to help ….. then you discover it is another shopper … LOL

Coldsnaps are getting fewer, or at least milder ….. seems the cold snaps of today were the norm just a few decades ago.

If people are unhappy about the ‘bottlenecks’ of few cashiers and people to explain products, maybe they could stay out of the big box stores and shop local.

I hear you pay as little more, but you don’t have to wait in line and there’s usually a salesperson to hold your hand through the whole purchsing process.

I too notice that people get ansy waiting in line at Costco, Walmart, etc. If you want good prices, this is the cost of that. These stores are popular. You’re not going to be in and out in 5 minutes. The quicker people realize this, the better.

Mild, isn’t it?
http://www.canadiancartoonists.com/Members/Barron/barron13.jpg

Idle No More – I have proof that the message didn’t reach as many Canadian citizens as hoped.

My daughter came home to PG from the Okanagan a few weeks back and on her trek she lost an hours of driving time stuck behind a native blockade near Cache Creek.

She was confused and amused by the Idle No More movement by the fact that all the vehicles behind the blockade were indeed – idling!

You know, I could swear when I go to box stores, I get into my car, drive for 10 or so minutes, get out, and shop. Seems pretty darn local to me.

As far as “local” goes, Mr. G is local. DO you really think I am going to by anything there rather than the large grocery stores, non of which are local. Sure, if I am missing something in the middle of the night ….. but even Mr. G is closed then …. so it is off to 711 …. which is not local … LOL

You know darn well what I mean by local, you’re just being gus… er… I mean, difficult.

And it seems like you’re one of the ansy ones I see in line all the time. I’ll be the one laughing at you.

I don’t mind slow lines if the cashier is actually working. But if he or she is chatting to their buddy in front of me I get a tad annoyed; time is money and I’m short on both counts.

I have left purchases on the conveyor on more then one occasion when the cashier was too busy catching up with her old friend. I don’t go to Save On any more because of this even though it is the closest store to me.

Self check out at Save-On in College Height and HD are the way to go, have never waited more than a few seconds.

Remember when Idle No More was just a gleam in someone’s eyes?

http://www.canadiancartoonists.com/Members/Barron/barron9.jpg

Loki. I’d like to see anyone of the outside city workers making $48.08 for shoveling snow. That wage would be for any or all of the Managers at city hall….they could be earning more than that.

Sure hope the city and the union’s can bargain in good faith…wouldn’t want to see them go on strike or locked out when the city gets a big dump of snow. Then who would be whinning because the roads are not getting plowed for you to get to work. Or your gabage did not get picked up and heaven for bid if you have to take it to te landfill yourself.

Enjoy you sunny Friday. :)

Costco could take the people who guard the exit door and checks for I do not know what and put them on the tills.

I wonder if they have less shrinkage than all the other stores have as a result of that function.

I wonder how the self check out tills are doing from the stores point of view. There is still staff standing around to help as well as monitor.

“….. heaven for bid if you have to take it to te landfill yourself.”

Wahat a way for the city to make money, eh? $6 bucks a shot.

only 35 more posts and we will have another 100 or more posts day … let’s go folks, do your part ……

All you little bleaters, whiners, snifflers and crybabies just STFU!!! Now go out side and play!

I have been out and about all morning and every person I have come into contact with have been in a great mood. Then I come home and read the Friday free for all and its back to grumpy reality. I’m gonna go stand in the sun and shovel some snow.

i just want to say there are some great people in PG. last sunday my car battery died n the middle of the road by the running track, 3 cars stoped to help me everyone helped push my car to safety. it is so nice to know when you are in trouble there are people who will come to help!! made my week:)

middle finger, not all of us are grumpy here. I have thanked the Cold Snap organizers for their great event and could mention a few other reasons why PG is a great city to live in. E.g. Otway Nordic Centre, Purden and Tabor Mtn., ice oval,Book and Company, Zoe’s Cafe, Oh Chocolate, Shhh Gifts, Bits of Bliss, Nancy O’s, Hummus Bros. and so on.

Have a wonderful Friday and weekend everyone!

Labor lawyers,school bus safety,idle no more,big box stores,Korea….Gus,GO…

let me throw Bollywood in there too…GO!!!

i almost got run off the road by a big rig (you know one of the ones that carries live stock) it was hallin ass up the hart hill to the shopping center, anyway i called RCMP because this kinda stuff seems to happen alot, i told them we need police presence up here (i never see them up here) they told me they will not have a police presece up here untill enough people go to the community policing office and request such a thing!? i really dont know how i feel about this, do rcmp only police the roads by request? or do they think the Hart is not worthy of being protected from dangerous drivers? maybe someone here knows why the RCMP would operate like this

Lets not forget the great peeler bar Alibis if it wasn`t for them we wouldn`t be a fun town.

Didn’t that feel good, eh?

@ Boudicca, not sure what time of day your cruising the Hart but I see the RC`s up here quite often,good job boyz.

I am so happy to be living in PG and not Spain or Greece or Syria…should i go on. Give it a break. You are all so hard done by. Anyone of those people living there would DIE for your lifestyle.
Oh and no i really don’t care if you don’t like my comment. Have a great weekend.

Three guys “known to the police” make a late night visit to a house carrying a sawed off shotgun, baseball bat, and brass knuckles and nobody goes to jail ! Judge Weatherly says in Citizen …..’that was really, really stupid’. They all got a slap on the wrist, nothing ! And then we wonder why there is a Crime problem in PG !?!? Of course this comes from a Judge who was a criminal lawyer who made a lot of money from legal aid, and also penned a letter to the Citizen representing several lawyers saying Judge Ramsay was a good guy, ethical, etc and being unduly picked on by the press! Stupid begets stupid!

In case somebody wants to get into a real debate rather than just idle chat, read this article which was in Macleans middle of January.

The new underclass – Why a generation of well-educated, ambitious, smart young Canadians has no future

http://www2.macleans.ca/2013/01/16/the-new-underclass

I realize it is not ONLY local news … but sometimes one has to get out into the real world which affects us all.

Why do people get so upset when waiting in lineups for a open till ? If you are in a hurry then why get mad at the clerk, they are not the ones deciding how any tills should be open. I see it all the time at Costco, Walmart, save on etc. the poor till workers get the old ” shoot the messenger” syndrome because they are there. Grow up people. Would you want to be treated this way ? Two suggestions.. One is. Don’t shop there, or two, plan your day better so you aren’t rushed. Poor planning on your part doesn’t make the cashiers fault you aren’t served as fast as you think you deserve to be.

I am sitting admiring the sun on the freshly fallen snow with the tree covered escarpment in mid distance …… I am cozy in my house with wonderful floor to ceiling windows … working table …. taking the time to contemplate the day …. and thinking my time is my time … nobody else’s …. so why are people out there trying to tell me what to do?

I thought this was the land of freedom and plenty to enjoy while in the continual pursuit of happiness.

So, you find your happiness and I will find mine ….

I know … a strange notion, isn’t it.

And yes, just because the pursuit of happiness is not in Canada’s vision statement does not mean each of us does it in our own way.

If you do not like some words, don’t read them and most certainly do not show that they upset you by responding to them …. you are just giving the author power over you …..

Besides, everyone should know by now that the blogs open to the general public are very negative on average compared to any other human social interaction.:-)

This guy from the article summed upped the “why” quite succinctly:

” After graduating from the University of Toronto in 2011, the 23-year-old from Ottawa quickly realized the value of his degree in history and political science—or lack thereof. “

I think there is a big difference between a useful university degree and a useless piece of paper; it’s been that way since I was in school and that was a long time ago. There’s not much that a BA qualifies one for.

Syria I can understand ….. but the coast of Spain, Italy, Greece, Portugal, France …. some nice places there away from the rest of the world for total relaxation …. totally different lifestyle …

axman: “I think there is a big difference between a useful university degree and a useless piece of paper; it’s been that way since I was in school and that was a long time ago. There’s not much that a BA qualifies one for.”

That, and there’s a generation of young people who have grown up with the belief that the world revolves around them and their needs. Parents have been giving them everything they want, and when they reach the real world and the job market, a rude awakening awaits.

Sort of related, I was reading an article about helicopter parenting and how some of these parents go to job interviews with their kids and fight for grades and do their homework, etc. No wonder the kids get so screwed up.

I agree, axman … too many people in the humanities.

What people do not seem to understand is that if one wants to take some applied knowledge and skills into the workplace, a humanities background will not help in the beginning years in the workforce. That is why I fail to understand why colleges such as CNC keep spending money on putting out university transfer courses when they should be strengthening applied diploma and certificate programs and working with their local industrial advisory committees to make sure the programs change over time and remain relevant.

Gus,

Very interesting article that I find true to some degree. I have always encouraged my friends etc… to be educated and to find work in a specialized field which supposedly would reward you with a good middle class life. Sometimes it does work out, but not always.

I find the solution to not be a economic problem, but to be a personal problem.

For example, the young lady in the article, looking for work in Victoria. Perhaps she needs to move and broaden her horizons(look elsewhere for work). Life is not always going to be the perfect way you planned it.

Myself, I am 25, went to a Tech school and currently work in PG as a consultant (excellent job, pension, benefits). I graduated in 2010 and came home(grew up here) but that’s not applicable to everyone.

Maybe I’m just lucky…

I picked my area of study mostly to do with work and job opportunities, not because it was my dream to always do this.

For some students going to university to obtain an arts degree because it’s always been their dream is not practical. They should instead be looking at what around them is employing people and training themselves for that position to ensure good employment.

What I will always say to those around me is this. Do not wait for life to happen around you and hope to get better. Make it better yourself. Take charge and improve your life on your own. This may include doing some things you don’t want to do.

But in the end, is it better to sit around and bemoan what could have been or to take action and make the best of the situation?

I also encourage others to comment on this topic.

Anyway, I better get back to work…

” ….. there’s a generation of young people who have grown up with the belief that the world revolves around them and their needs”

No wonder when everyone and their dog has been telling them that a University education is the magic key to high paying jobs …….

I mean, who delivered that message and who is still delivering that message? Not the young people!! The middle aged people with kids in their teens. Those parent fit under two key categories the way I see it.

1.They have a general university education and have been relatively successful and think that it will continue that way.

2.They have not received a post secondary education, have had to work “harder” than the people they know who have white collar jobs with more income and more pleasant work conditions and want their kids to do better.

JohnnyBelt, I know what you mean about Gen. Y. We have had many Gen. Y employees in our business and I can’t believe the number of them that don’t think they should have to start at the bottom and work their way up. That said, we currently have a Gen. Y employee who understands what it means to work and work your way up and he has. Proud of him.

Parents need to educate their kids before they head off to university about the pitfalls of getting a 4 yr. degree that doesn’t guarantee you a job. I too think that CNC should be looking at more diploma programs that lead into jobs. I wish Canada treated the trades the way Europe does; trades are respected in a lot of European countries and they should be here too.

Great feedback, Hummer …. thanks for that … :-)

Robbie Burns Day,Gus…GO!!!!

Gus: “….the Mayor’s Birthday.” Hahahahahahaha.
—-
Turnmycrank, get set for a lockout. Why do you think they brought the lawyer into negotiations?

gus: “No wonder when everyone and their dog has been telling them that a University education is the magic key to high paying jobs ……. “

A piece of paper never guaranteed anyone anything. The right post secondary education can help, but at the end of the day, paper or not, it comes down to the person.

Heck, there used to be a time you could get a decent lifetime mill job with a grade 8 education.

Time to wake up. Things have changed and it’s up to the individual to figure out what they like, what they’re good at, and what education is required to give them the best chance in the job market.

born: “JohnnyBelt, I know what you mean about Gen. Y. We have had many Gen. Y employees in our business and I can’t believe the number of them that don’t think they should have to start at the bottom and work their way up. That said, we currently have a Gen. Y employee who understands what it means to work and work your way up and he has. Proud of him.”

Yup, there are some good ones out there. It’s like they say, good help is hard to find.

born: “I too think that CNC should be looking at more diploma programs that lead into jobs.”

CNC is part of the problem. Don’t they run courses for things like WHMIS and TDG? Useless! Except to generate money for the school.

“The right post secondary education can help, but at the end of the day, paper or not, it comes down to the person.” …… and their connections …. sorry …. I find that is still the best even today ….
networking though whomever you can will do wonders …. that is the kick start …. always has been in my lifetime and likely always will be

I have sat on applicant selection committees more often than I care to remember in many different settings. I don’t think there was a single one which did not end up with the final selection from the short list of interviewees being done on personal vibes, feelings, body language, demeanours … whatever you want to call it.

To get on the interview list to start with, connections helped a lot as long as the other prerequisites were there.

It also dependents on how the ads are written. If it said prerequisite is this or that type of education or experience, one has taken other possibly superior candidates out of the running. So, unless it was organizational or company policy, our ads typically used terms such as a BSc preferred, etc.

“Don’t they run courses for things like WHMIS and TDG? Useless”

Those two are short courses, including annual upgrades required by WorkSafeBC regs.

There are very few how do those courses they way they need to be done. There is a generic content plus there is an application content to the particular workplace one is in. The courses are totally useless if they are not customized.

The ideal courses are done annually by an in house trainer who is familiar with the products used by the company which fall under the regs. The rest of the course one finds have at least half of the audience fall asleep. You think people on here are negative …. Do an exit poll on one of those courses that is not properly put together and the negativity on here does not even come close to it.

It is interesting that someone would relate CNC courses and programs with 2 and 3 hour courses such as WHMIS and TDG rather than Dental Hygiene, Nursing, Med Lab tech, Welding, Bookkeeping, etc. and then paint the whole college reputation with such skills maintenance courses required by the industry regulators.

Jeez…some folks don’t get it – left hand turns…you turn into the INSIDE lane – not whichever one you happen to like the look of.

Another reason people go to uni is the implied idea from a lot of high school teaches if one goes in the trades you are a bottom feeder.

The college also offers uni transfer courses as it is a money maker for the college.

In my trade had a few uni grads disillusioned from their education not having planned the end play.

Had the taxpayer pay for my education, trades training in the Navy then an apprenticeship afterwards. Got paid to learn, have fun and no debt from schooling.

I remember going to visit some ex school mates at Uvic on a dark dreary day with my fresh suntan having just returned from a two month cruise to the south pacific. They had thought I was an idiot for joining the forces. One of my friends soon quit uni, joined up and spent a career in the forces. Oh he went back to uni for an engineering degree but now was getting paid for his schooling.

“It is interesting that someone would relate CNC courses and programs with 2 and 3 hour courses such as WHMIS and TDG rather than Dental Hygiene, Nursing, Med Lab tech, Welding, Bookkeeping, etc. and then paint the whole college reputation with such skills maintenance courses required by the industry regulators.”

Once again gus, you’re connecting non-existent dots and jumping to conculsions based on a couple sentences.

I didn’t say CNC didn’t have any good relevant courses, nor was I trying to relate TDG or WHMIS to the many good offerings the college has. Nor was I ‘painting the whole college reputation’ with my comment. Let’s dial it down a notch, shall we?

JB … just to remind you …. your words

“CNC is part of the problem. Don’t they run courses for things like WHMIS and TDG? Useless! Except to generate money for the school.”

You said CNC is part of the problem ….. just because they run two short courses for annual updates that are about as good or bad as any of the other courses our there by to many fly-by-night trainers ….

get with it …. any reasonable person would come away with the same impression you left me with …

I happen to know better, even to the extent of being very familiar with those two courses nd others like it which require a hot body in a seat and that body gets the little ticket or renewed ticket.

Oh I get it ‘Stillsmokin’, you must be one of the morons that speed in unsafe conditions. No consideration for others on the road!I and most others Drive Safe according to the road conditions not according to what time I have to be somewhere. You probably need to get your book out and refresh your driving skills!!

WHMIS and TDG courses are useless, regardless of who runs them! That’s my point.

Of course, you’re more than welcome to keep jumping to wild conclusions. Don’t let me stop you.

At work today I see a business owner has brought his dog to work. Beautiful Bernese Mountain Dog, young with lots of energy. Get this: the guy lets the dog run free around a road which is very busy with industrial traffic. I sure hope this guy will pay for my therapy after I watch his dog get run over. Sheesh, some people.

“The new underclass”

Perhaps another reason for this is the economy in an indirect way. Or poor financial planning. Honestly, my parents are prime examples of this, keeping up with the Joneses rather than living within their means.

What I mean is, with a poor job outlook, or an underfunded retirement, more and more baby boomers are working later and later into life(past 65) or even going back to work after retirement.

This causes a very large problem to the young graduates that are looking for work in their respective fields.

Firstly, if the baby boomer never retired on schedule, the extra years of working means jobs won’t be available.

Secondly, if both the experienced and the inexperienced are applying for the same job, the qualified experienced baby boomer will often be looked at first for employment(you can’t replace experience).

I believe there are many reasons for “the new underclass” phenomenon, that will be hard to explain. It’s impossible to pin a problem of this scale to any one thing in society.

Declaration:

Was not intending to bash the baby boomers’ generation…
Don’t take it that way.

I was just thinking of the 26% unemployment in Spain and Greece. No peoples comments do not upset me. I guess i should just say although there is no perfect government that i still believe i live in the best country in the world, in a City where the cost of living is reasonable and where there is also a fair amount of job opportunities. I will have a great weekend and i hope everyone else does too.

“WHMIS and TDG courses are useless, regardless of who runs them! That’s my point.”

Okay …. I will dispute that point.

Both of them are short course to familiarize people with the Regulations around safe handling of various level s of hazardous materials, one in the workplace for normal handling and spill incidents and the other for the transportation of dangerous goods. Obviously people involved in such workplace situations need to know how to do that as well as any regulations they have to meet.

So there is a basic course for those who have never taken a course before and find themselves in such a work situation.

In addition to the overview, one needs to know specifics about the materials in their workplace. It is that part which is the most important part and which has to be renewed. In addition, if one is put into new situations with new materials, it is up to the individual as well as the employer to make sure that the new information is given out and understood.

Why every year? Because those kinds of knowledge and skills are perceived to be perishable. In other words, if you don’t use it you will lose it. Simple as that.

So, like bicycle helmets and appropriate protective clothing in the workplace, the KS and even Attitude is required by regulation. Obviously you need a bit of attitude adjustment, or you have never worked in such an environment ;-)

ohhhh I got Miss G going now….. Maybe we’ll hit two hundred postings by end of the day now :)

The proper way to teach the applied part of both of those is for the instructor to go into the industrial setting and see how work is done and which materials covered by the TDG and WHMIS regs are present. One better than, for a larger firm especially, is to ask some key questions. Based on the response, the level of addtional training can be determined.

THAT is the professional way to do it. But very few firms buy into that. All they want is the ticket in the workers’ wallets and the proof of training in their files …..

So, all of the sudden I have switched the responsibility a bit from supposedly poor trainers to poor employers …. ;-)

There is always more than one perspective to an action.

I am getting rather annoyed at two over used and IMO stupid cliches. Next time some one says or prints the words “we must get back to our grassroots” would some one please “throw them under the bus”. I’d appreciate that. I use cliches, not those, nor any to their annoying amount.

Hummer, better be careful with “bashing” the baby boomers as I suspect that is the majority of those who post here. Just kidding. I have enjoyed your posts so far.

Personally I blame the live beyond your means attitude on governments that treat corporations as having the right to make as much money as possible, without giving any thought to who it might harm, and on the media.

I am a baby boomer and I try not to live beyond my means but some days it is hard. I find that everyone around me seems to enjoy spending and spending. I try to keep my friends as those who don’t live a consumerism-type lifestyle but it can be hard in this day and age.

As for jobs, there are ton of jobs out there right now to be filled by people of all ages. They just aren’t the university education jobs; they are the trades. Maybe some of the teachers in school should spend a bit more time promoting the trades. I know I would have benefited from having a trade first before I went back to school. Get a trade first and then after you have made some money, think about what you really want to do with your life. If it includes furthering your education, great. At least you will always have that trade to fall back on.

Bornandbred is right. Trades are the way to go these days. Great pay, in demand, and you will not leave school with $50K in debt.

bornandbred,

Since you talk about consumerism, i have some literature you may or may not be interested in…

http://www.mrmoneymustache.com/

This link is a running blog about anti-consumerism and frugality.

Note their are occasional curse and swear words, but the overall agenda and culture promoted by the site is very positive thinking.

It may be positive reinforcement for all interested in financial freedom or independence, and an idea of living life your way on your terms regardless of what the “corporation” or the “economy” does around you.

Again gus, try and keep up, I am not debating the merits of WHMIS or TDG, just that you don’t need instructor-based training for these kinds of courses.

WHMIS and TDG (and other such courses) can just as easily be taught via computer based training or self-study. There’s absolutely no need to warm a seat for a half a day and be woken up at the end with a punched ticket.

Went to Costcos tonight by the Husky entrance and noticed that the Pine Valley parking lot was full. For a minute thought that they may be planning snow golf or something fun like that but noticed that the vehicles were from Wood Wheaton. HMMMMMM Be interesting to see if the city does decide to sell the land and to whom.

“” is right. Trades are the way to go these days. Great pay, in demand, and you will not leave school with $50K in debt.””

They could enter politics…rewarding job with decent pay and the best pensions in the land. This province is ripe for some quality independant candidates and May isn’t far off. ;-)

Be interesting to see if the city is being paid for the use of the site.

BTW, did I say anything of HOW the course ought to be delivered?

So now the shoe is on the other foot. You assume too much.

Here are the requirements for ANY course delivery if one really meets best practices.

1. customize to the industrial setting.

2. pretest to determine existing knowledge, skill, and attitude of each individual

3. adjust instruction to suite conditions found.

4. evaluate knowledge based on student initiated response – that means an open ended response, not multiple choice

5. evaluate skill based on student demonstrated planned action, response and response time – again, not multiple choice or multiple short video showing correct and incorrect methods for example.

6. observe student on all the above and engage in a dialogue to determine attitude of every individual student.

7. as a follow up, since teaching is only one aspect to the activity of learning, ensure that the supervisor is knowledgeable in the area and can evaluate the worker who has taken the training on an ongoing basis and especially when an incident occurs.

Golf course behind a car lot on 16? Might mean a BIG fence. We will see.

Wood Wheaton parking cars at the golf course? Can I get a break on my taxes then lol. Have a great weekend all! Tomorrows looking like a great outdoors day!

The posted speed limits are there for ideal driving conditions so driving too fast is a hazard. Now driving too slow is also a hazard, if you are not comfortable driving at a safe speed then you shouldn’t be on the roads.
To the lady driving the grey ford escape down Massey this morning your lack of confidence in your driving does not give you the right to only drive 20 Kms/hr.

Line ups at grocery stores, and empty tills.

I had an experience a few years ago in a grocery store where the Express Line had about 10 people waiting,plus other tills lined up, and some empty tills. At one of the tills the Manager was bagging groceries.

When I finally got through I went to the Manager and suggested that he change the sign from Express Line, to Slow Lane, stating that Slow Lane would better describe the service we were getting. I also asked him, if he was the Manager, why he was bagging groceries. He mumbled something about being short staffed.

Now heres how it works. These stores are allotted so many hours per month to run the business. It has no bearing on the amount of money they bring in. Towards the end of the month they start running out of hours, and then they start to cut down on staff to reduce the number of hours being used, so they can stay within their allotment. This explains why a (fairly) high paid Manager ends up bagging groceries.

So when you see lots of empty tills, and long line ups, it probably means they are running out of hours.

Customer service is a myth. All you get is a 1-800 number and someone, somewhere, pretending to be concerned about your problem.

Have a nice day.

Thanks Hummer. I will check that out and no worries about swear words. I can curse with the best of them.

I am of the opinion that any councilor or mayor who owns any type of business/s is in a conflict of interest. I don’t understand why we allow this charade to happen. It is not allowed in other goverment bodies in Canada They are privy to confidential information that is very useful in the business world and they are just as greedy as everyone else.

Actually Big Bore, there is an alternative to your message; as taxpayers as well as the folks whose money keeps the retail and service industries fed in our communities…take note of the businesses owned by certain individuals – individuals that you do not feel are deserving of your money, time and investment and simply do not spend a dime there….encourage your friends and family members to consider the same (always encourage research and free thinking – don’t have to play their game).

IMO, you play fire with fire and hit ’em where it hurts. And it will eventually. Take your dollars out of town if need be. No sense supporting “local” when the principles of such don’t mind stickn’ in YOUR tailpipe and screwing with YOUR livelihoods.

Global news tonight had an interesting comment about the judge that gave a habitual criminal a reduced sentence after a high speed chase where his so called buddy was killed by police while using the vehicle as a weapon. On a home made video this loser criminal thanked the judge for the reduced sentence. He is the one that grabbed the young lady in Maple Ridge.

Judges are going to have their collective noses out of joint against Global. I was very surprised by the criticism given out by Global, right out of character for a liberal news outlet.