Spectacular sliver of the Moon, low in the eastern sky this morning... gonna be an early, long winter... get your snow shovels ready !!!

:-)

V.

On Monday Sept. 01, 2008 the local TV station known as CKPG or PGTV changes its stipes and is no longer a CBC affiliate station.

As such, CBC television service will disappear to cable subscribers and on air reception customers in the Prince George area.

A call to Shaw cable, reveals that they know nothing about this change and currently have no channel allocation to provide CBC television service to Prince George customers other than providing Newsworld and CBC French.

Have a great Labour Day weekend.

WHAT?? does this mean no HNIC? if this is true I am moving....

Yes apache, that will be true. PGTV web site suggests that customers call their cable provider to have the provider confirm the channel allocation where full CBC service will be provided effective Monday Sept. 01.

At this point, a customer service rep named Nathan, at shaw cable, is researching the situation for me. So far, he has called twice and I am waitng for another call regarding the loss of CBC service on Shaw cable effective Monday Sept. 01, 2008.

Please call shaw at 250-562-1345 if you share my concern.

Press 0 for a human. Leave a contact number and name and they call back promptly.

RANT; (bad)
drug dealers at every one of their scummy lice infested levels, our anemic justice system, laws against normal honest gun owners, fuel price gouging, potholes, idiot drivers on the road, rain, unions, banks, insurance companies, government in any form, big business, divorce lawyers, litter bugs, inconsiderate people
RAVE: (good)
fishing, hunting, boating, peace, solitude, a paid off mortgage, a full tank of gas + a long week end, beer, good friends, unions, small business, good people, a thick juicy steak with potatos out of your own garden,
SUM:
Life is pretty good, overall.
Keep your chin up.
metalman.

In todays Citizen newspaper it was stated that the CBC channel will be moving to channel 5 (currently the French channel) and the French Channel will be moving to channel 12.

There was no mention of where the current channel 12 will be relocated too.


Hope you're having a great day!

NTG

So now there is no peasantvision!
That is a shame. Shame on BCTV/Global for abandoning loyal viewers.
Shame for forgetting that three quarters of this province is not and will not be serviced by cable.
Shame for forcing every one to get another damn service to reach into our pockets again.
Shame for removing a safety notification system. Now if there is a catastrophic event how will word get out.
I know Global programming did not have all the cool shows like NBC/CBS/FOX etc. but it had more worth watching than PGTV most of the time.
Now we are down to the one lame channel available by antenna.
We cannot afford cable of satellite so I guess we will be forced to illegally download copyrighted material now or use the websites that stream said materials. We will have to get our news from sources that are not local. If a major building burns down we will hear about in a few days. When volunteers and support are required, we will know about it when fox news finally decides they can fit it in between the world news and the celebrity news.

So sad.

I don't see how BCTV/Global is the problem.

CKPGTV will still provide local news and still be on the same channel.

The only thing affecting you (Loki) will be when all TV channels switch to digital, forcing cable subscribers to purchase a digital receiver.

hey LOKI...the 3/4 of BC that isnt serviced by cable has two options for satellite TV. dont put the blame on Global...buck up and pay the bill if you want the programing

"We cannot afford cable of satellite so I guess we will be forced to illegally download copyrighted material now or use the websites that stream said materials."

I cant afford a Ferrari. Does that mean I am forced to go steal one?

Canada doesn't switch to digital only until Aug 2011.

The CBC sucks. PGTV sucks. 'nuf said.

As far as cable goes, technology changes. We are now in a digital world. It doesn't make sense for Shaw to maintain two systems. All cable providers are upgrading their service, so it's not just a Shaw thing.

The PG Citizen website is available for local news if you need it. If there's a 'catastophic event' and you don't have a digital TV receiver, tune into local radio, that's still free from what I understand.

Thanks, newtechguy, for the update. People at shaw cabe are not savy to such information. My last call from shaw said that the info that they have is that global is rebranding to etv(???) and call back on monday if cbc service is not available.

I, like you, would have found the info in the citizen, except the citizen is reported to be running 5 hours late and as yet has not been delivered.


Isn't life cruel.

hey LOKI...the 3/4 of BC that isnt serviced by cable has two options for satellite TV. dont put the blame on Global...buck up and pay the bill if you want the programing

cant afford cable or satellite but ALWAYS hve money for smokes

Now everyone is always bitchin about the high price of gas, but what about the high price of glasses. Frames, a stamped piece of metal, price wow. Lenses, double wow for a little piece of plastic ejected by a machine. Can anyone out there explain the cost. I know some people making good coin off this business. Nice house great cars and toys. Free enterprise at its best hey Yama, a captive market.

About the television situation thats coming up, we may not want any television with all the elections on the horizon. The airways will be full of more BS than they already are.

seamutt, read this very interesting post that I found a few years back: http://3mew.wordpress.com/2006/11/10/eyeglasses-stores-are-for-suckers/

Its a really good write-up on cheap glasses that some dude bought online - it includes a response from an optician that he responded to.

Did you all not read in my post that I have no more room in our household budget.
We live paycheque to paycheque.
I work.
She works.
We do not party all the time or any of the time.
Get up and go to work, go home and get ready to do it again.
We staycation because we have no funds to travel. It has been years since taking a real vacation and it will likely not be until we win the lottery.
We are just getting through the month.
So suggesting that we "buck up" and add another bill is absurd.
What I am hearing is that if we cannot pay for another service that we should not expect to be informed or entertained, That we are truly second class citizens because we have chosen the straight and narrow.

We are not alone in this, the majority are the working poor.

Loki, I did read your post. You obviously have internet access which must be of a decent speed for you to talk about streaming online video. Your access to this site along with that of the Prince George Citizen and the CBC is enough to keep you informed.

As for entertainment, I too wish that I could afford more varied forms of entertainment, but I cannot. Instead, I do without. If a person cannot afford a product or service, then that person is not suddenly entitled to go steal it.

Is it stealing if its wired into your home? If its in my home am I not entitled to it? Finders keepers?

If you request that a car thief steal a vehicle for you from a dealership then park the vehicle in your garage and hand you the keys, are you entitled to drive the car?

Loki.. you said "Did you all not read in my post that I have no more room in our household budget.
We live paycheque to paycheque."

I've been in your position with finances being tight, and lived paycheck to paycheck. My wife restructured our "budget" (on paper) and we found out we we're spending money in places that we did not count. Things like rentings videos, restaurants (once every 2 weeks), and other things really surprised us when we saw it on paper. So we changed our ways and are now saving money. At one time there was NO WAY you could have told me that I could have saved so much as a dime. Not a chance. I suggest you go to a professional and let them scrutinize your budget and I'm sure you'll be surprised at where some of the money goes. (I thought I knew).

The biggest problem that a lot of people have is that they take a bunch of money out of the bank (say... about 250 dollars) and then spend it as time goes by. Spending money like this is very deceiving and does not allow a person to see exactly where their money is going. I THOUGHT I KNEW and could remember. Not true.

So don't feel bad about going to see someone about this. You'll be pleasantly surprised.

Good luck.

NTG

Posted by: govsux on August 29 2008 10:11 AM
Is it stealing if its wired into your home? If its in my home am I not entitled to it? Finders keepers?
--------------------------------------

Hey govsux,

Federal law tends to disagree with you on your statement.

Oh and... feel free to park your car in my driveway today. I need a second one.

Finders keepers right?

NTG

seamutt, read this very interesting post that I found a few years back: http://3mew.wordpress.com/2006/11/10/eyeglasses-stores-are-for-suckers/

Its a really good write-up on cheap glasses that some dude bought online - it includes a response from an optician that he responded to.

Seamutt I'm with you. Glasses are much to expensive. I had to purchase a pair for my toddler and paid $550 for them. Then because he can't see with out them I had to buy a backup pair. Another chunk of change. It's incredibly frustrating. I did read the link regarding the childrens glasses. Intersting for sure.

wow thats an odd double post....

Went to get new glasses. They asked if I had insurance coverage and I told them I did. I did not tel them how much. They asked where I worked (in casual conversation). I happen to have $500 coverage (lucky for me. Interestingly, my total bill came to $497.

Another time I went to a different place. My bill came to $499.

My Rx is not a complicated one. Very basic. I have a hard time believing it costs $200-$300 for the lenses alone (as I always opt for the less expensive frames).

Coincidence? I think not. It is a rip off and thankfully I have coverage.

My senior citizen father, who is retired and on a very limited pension, no longer has coverage for such things and simply cannot afford these astronomical prices. His Rx has changed but he is hanging on to his older ones until I am in a position to be able to help out with this. It's really too bad.

PGTV Changes to CKPGTV. What everyone is really missing here is the BIGGEST change of all for the station. FINALLY they will have a VERY visually pleasing, new on air news anchor in the visually pleasing form of Sandra Claremont,used to be Sandra Meirhoffer (sp?) from Shaw cable. Nice move folks, and a long overdue upgrade. OK OK go ahead and flame me for being sexist. Let er' rip :) To quote Don Henley "The bubble headed bleached blonde comes on at 5:00 to tell us 'bout the plane crash with a gleam in her eye, it's interesting when people die, we need dirty laundry" Maybe she's not a blonde anymore, but the lyric is thought provoking just the same.

Hey Newtechguy
It wasn't a statement. Those are question marks.

newtechguy
You are correct in that many of us piss away our money. The however on this one is we have done as you are suggesting only with a software tool called Quicken.
We did discover many places we were financially leaking and closed those holes.

Can someone explain to me how it could be that Shaw Cable was "unaware" that this change was occurring???? For the sake of their customers who would care that CBC was being "displaced".....shouldn't PGTV or CBC itself...have notified all interested parties??? Maybe I'm being naive....but whatever happened to putting the customer first????

Hey rayban68,

Double posts are caused when you post an article then "refresh" your browser to see if there are any newer posts.

To avoid this either leave the page and come back, or close your browser and reload it again.

Hope this helps.

NTG

Loki,

I must be blind cause the post I'm referring to has NO questions marks.

I recently applied to have my drivers license re-newed.As it had been expired for 3 years, I was required to take the signs test and a drivers road test.Perfectly acceptable. However,when I went to the office to apply,they took my old ddrivers license and told me I could not use it for ID.The only thing they would accept was birth certificat and "marriage certificate" I have lived in BC for 70 years.Married for 48yrs. I am acceptable to receive canada pension,medical care,pay taxes, but I am not acceptable to apply for drivers license
To purchase marriage certificate through vital statistics $63.75
road test $50.00
license $17.00 {we got a break }
Not easy to come up with when you live on pension

I recently applied to have my drivers license re-newed.As it had been expired for 3 years, I was required to take the signs test and a drivers road test.Perfectly acceptable. However,when I went to the office to apply,they took my old drivers license and told me I could not use it for ID.The only thing they would accept was birth certificate and "marriage certificate" I have lived in BC for 70 years.Married for 48yrs. I am acceptable to receive canada pension,medical care,pay taxes, but I am not acceptable to apply for drivers license without a marriage certificate?
To purchase marriage certificate through vital statistics $63.75
road test $50.00
license $17.00 {we got a break }
Not easy to come up with when you live on pension. Seems rediculous to me.

Yes glasses are expensive. I would take a look at Costco to save a few bucks.

Heres what you should do if something is being sold at to high a margin. Open an optical store and sell for less. Everyone would buy from you. BUT I have a sneaky suspicion that you would find that you have to sell for these prices to make money and stay in business.

"I know some people making good coin off this business."

Yea, its called capitalism. Anyone can do it if they want to risk everything they have. You could always move to Russia and see how they are living over there. It drives me crazy when people critisize other peoples success, likely the product of risk and hard work, while they sit on their buts and expect to be handed more.

Anne, I can feel for your situation, but it makes perfect sense that expired ID isn't valid. The DMV likely doesn't care how long you've lived in BC or how long you've been married or what your pension situation is. They don't have access to that information to verify it.

They have their own policies and procedures that they have to follow. If they accept your 3-years expired drivers license as valid ID then where do they draw the line?

It's always a good idea to keep your ID and personal records up to date. It's inconvenient, but unfortunately, it's necessary.

Hokay..

As for Sandra Clermont being the new news anchor for CKPG. She has the credentials and ability to do the station proud.

Don Henley's lyrics may be thought provoking on some other plain but to infer that they have anything to do with Ms. Clermont's personality, abilities or CKPG's news department is just mean spirited and rude..

Ms. Clermont is a professional broadcaster, is intelligent and well spoken. She will be an excellent addition to the CKPG team...

Born in BC, I don't mind paying a fair price for services rendered but in this case I feel I'm being taken for a ride unless I see justification for the high prices. Ah Russia, nice example, there are lots of billionares over there exploiting the common man. A capitalists wet dream.

Posted by: shamrock girl on August 29 2008 12:07 PM
Can someone explain to me how it could be that Shaw Cable was "unaware" that this change was occurring???? For the sake of their customers who would care that CBC was being "displaced".....shouldn't PGTV or CBC itself...have notified all interested parties??? Maybe I'm being naive....but whatever happened to putting the customer first????
-----------------------------------------

Very simple
Shaw cable has no say in what you get to watch on your television.
CKPG is the almighty television god in these parts. Shaw supplies CKPG with satellite signals with which CKPG gets to do with what they like.
I have been having trouble with both of them for three years over a reception problem. They blame each other for the problem and they blame other stations for the problem and the CRTC can do nothing about it. I no longer pay shaw for their nonservice and have gone to Bell.
Starchoice is owned by shaw and will never see another dollar of mine for television service. CKPG will never get any of my money or support in any form due to their nonservice as well.

Sandra Clermont is the total professional. She will add grace and class to the news and you can be sure her delivery will be ban on.
Dave Barry as news director is also a very smart move.He's bright as well as also being the total pro.

They still haven't rented the ground floor at the PGTV building on Third Ave. How come? Too much dough? Anyone got any dirt on this? Just curious. Especially when I drive by almost daily.

Nice day today, that carbon tax is really working!

The reason why the main floor hasn't been rented out is who would want the place when there is all these huge TV/ Radio signs all over the front of the building. Your business sign would never been seen and the building would never be known by your business name. Only company that would move in there is one that compliments the TV/Radio company.

I read in the paper today that the Chief of Police in Prince George gets to keep his job and that the boys club in vancouver have total faith in him. I'm surprized Mr. Meisner hasn't weighed in on this one? How come? At any rate, this guy may be capable of running a detachment but it shouldn't be in prince george. I personally know that this issue isn't over and there is the matter of remark made to a first nation's constable that still has to be dealt with. New blood is needed at the Prince George detachment, an officer in charge who the boys want to work for, not fear.