L E T   'E R    R I P !!!

Good article on the Montreal Gazette web site yesterday entitled "Politicians hypocritical about their expenses". The following is the link to the article:

http://www.montrealgazette.com/news/Politicians+hypocritical+about+their+expenses/2991674/story.html

I thought by purchasing a month pass at our pools I was entitled to the use of the pools, now it seems if you don't produce and swipe your card it is not so, even with proof of your purchase. I always thought it was a contract between myself and the pool once purchased, some new legal tricks I guess.

Good morning all. Not a cloud in the early morning sky, hopefully the start of a beautiful weekend. Enjoy everyone, you to Fryer! I always look forward to the comments on "FRIDAY FREE FOR ALL" Bring 'em on!!

I was downtown last night and noticed how much cleaner it looked. Hats off to the new guys on the clean patrol.

Relay for Life this weekend. Come on down and walk a few laps. The energy is amazing.
Weather looks like its going to cooperate as well!

Just something to be aware of if you need a tow. There is a tow company in PG that gives your credit card information over the air on VHF radio. I'd make sure they use a different way to pass that info off to their office.

The wife is walking tonight, a great cause.

okay first post with some answers that are neede from the public. I know that the city has just purchased the property on the north west side of the highway 16 sintich road intersection, they also just purchased a strip of land through the "farmer's" field towards the boundary road light industrial area. Is there an official plan for the city bypass yet or is the city purchasing land to "create" a plan and then spring on us that the land is purchased and therefore this is the route?

I see the price of oil is down,lets see if the local gas stations reflect on this!

A good read on politicians and their expenses, charles!
"You can trust us" they say.
Ya right.
We may be stupid,but we are not STOOPID!
The fact that they DO NOT show what they are spending is a damn good reason to question that!
We have a right to know,and we need to know.
That's what keeps them honest!

I really do think we should stop adding poison, (fluoride), to our drinking water.

http://www.fluoridealert.org/fluoride-facts.htm

FYI Does anyone realise, when you use your credit card at the pump, at a Husky or Mohawk station, they hold $125.00 on your card for about 48 hours or more? YES they do, and they do that to every credit card swiped at the pump across Canada. How much interest do they make on the money they hold, for this scam per day. They rob us at the pumps, and then they steal from our credit cards! What will be next?

OIL RULES????????? What a bunch of frikken crooks!!

Hey Super, I hear yah. It'd be nice to live in Mackenzie where they voted down fluoride so many years ago. Read a letter in the Citizen from Bill Storness Bliss on this subject. Man, did he hit the nail on the head! Fluoride is a poison like so many other things gov't thinks is good for us.
And Bill, still laugh with you at your days at CN. Thanks for the info, buddy.

My contempt for the world financial system grew yesterday, with one misplaced keystroke, a 'B' instead of an 'M' the entire system panicked. Why would I put my faith, and savings, into something that is so volatile? And decades of mismanagement by Greek politicians threatens to bring down not only Greece' economy, but those of her trading partners, and possibly many others as well. Sad to see so many Grecians who seem to think they are entitled to the comfortable lifestyle the system has thus far provided. And the looming tragedy that is the mistakes made by BP and the resulting oil slick. These events that happen half a world away used to seem so distant and are now so close.
Globalization is not salvation, it is ruin.
I fear for our future.
Other than that, happy Friday everyone!
metalman.

szd ...... that proposal has been on the City's plans for several decades, at least 3 if not 4 or more.

Go to the city site and look at PGMap which has all the planned roads on it so people do not get too upset when the City does what it is supposed to do.

The land was likely purchased to endure they have enough space for a proper intersection. Hopefully they will be doing a grade separation there with at least a T cloverleaf.

The strip of land you are talking about is required to provide a straighter line than the present Sintich Rd. has to reach the Boundary Rd at the river.

http://pgmap.princegeorge.ca/pgmap.html

When that is tied to a bridge crossing the river, it will become an effective by-pass of the city for traffic from HWY16 east to HWY16 west.

It will actually be part of the Yellowhead, which is TC Highway North and will get a share of Federal as well as provincial dollars. It will no longer be a City road.

BTW, the City map shows it connecting with HWY 16 West just northeast of Haldi Road to the south west of the golf course.

Your Federal and Provincial future dollars at work.

"I see the price of oil is down,lets see if the local gas stations reflect on this!"

The Canuck dollar is down as well by about 4%. So the two may cancel each other out.

"How much interest do they make on the money they hold". None!!! There is no transfer of funds.

That is a common situation. They do that at most hotels, car rentals, etc., etc. they hold the money that you are likely to spend but do not transfer the money until you sign at the completion of the transaction when services have been received.

Of course, at most small hotels they take the money on registration rather than on check out unless you ask them not to do that.

And when the dollar was up a few weeks ago there Gus,it cancelled out then too hey!

I think you missed my point Gus. I swiped my card at the pump, it said "Transaction incomplete" I went inside, and told them the pump computer did not like my card. They put it on the shelf, and I went out an pumped the fuel. I went in, signed a slip for $50.40 and went on my way. When I looked on line, the "incomplete" transaction, had taken $125.00 off my credit card. On top of that, I paid for my fuel. Yes on top of the $125.00 I paid $50.40. Get my drift. This money ($125.00) was not put back on my credit card for nearly 48 hours........HELLO!!! The Oil companies are thieves, plane and simple!

speaking of thievery:
Went to pick up my daughter at the airport last Tuesday. I was only supposed to be there about ten minutes to go in to let her know her ride was there, so I parked on the curb, went in and greeted her, then went back out to the car. There was a security person standing behind my car writing a parking ticket.

He said that I was in the bus parking spot. I asked where that reserved space ended, and he indicated about 10 feet forward of my car. So for 10 feet, I got a $40 ticket.

Of course I could have parked in their pay parking, $1 per half hour to park for 15 minutes. Who carries coins or cash now a days?

"And when the dollar was up a few weeks ago there Gus,it cancelled out then too hey!

Probably. Remember it went down to below a dollar, then up when the second increment of the carbon tax came on and then up again to 1.099 likely after the oil rig sinking.

I know, too many things to keep track of. I have the same problem. :-)

In the final analysis, what are we going to do about it anyway other than bitch?????

"Of course I could have parked in their pay parking, $1 per half hour to park for 15 minutes. Who carries coins or cash now a days?"

I believe you can pay by inserting a credit car as well. Most such pay kiosks have that option these days.

I have been at the airport when they warn people who have parked in that bus area, over the PA.

taxi .... I do not think I missed the point you had made in your original post. Your second post is much more explicit.

You are obviously very upset about this and you should be. If you have a paper trail, as you likely do, get on the blower and complain to the company. Tell them you will take your business to another company. See how their customer service is.

Re - airport parking: Why is it that 1/2 hour is the only option? Why can't I park for 10 or 15 minutes and use the ridiculous numbers of quarters, nickels, dimes, etc. sitting in my ashtray? Most of the time I am there for less than 5 or 10 minutes. It's a total rip off!

Does anyone know what the bylaw services do? A fellow down the street raked his lawn and left a mess on the street. This mess has been there for a couple of weeks. I phoned bylaw services but they will not do anything unless I identify myself which I will not do. I mentioned if they just drove by they can see the mess so feel I do not have to identify myself. So just what do these people do?

The mess is on the corner of Southridge and St. Lawerence.

swimming,

You need to bring the card because it sort of holds you to only having one person use it. Proof of purchase can be used by multiple people. Your part of the contract is to bring the card to get let in. It would be like going to Save on and wanting to use your credit card and having a statement instead of the actual card.

Parking:

Don't park in the bus lane, its for buses, you won't get a ticket if you park where cars are supposed to park. And really, you guys are complaining about a buck for parking? Go try parking at the airport in Vancouver, see how far you buck gets you there.

Taxi,

I am willing to bet in the transaction you talk about the 1st time you swiped your card it was at the pump. As soon as you swipe the card at a pump at any station they immediately "hold" a deposit anywhere from 100 to 150 dollars, what they deem to be your max transaction.

When they take this hold they do not receive any cash and no cash is taken from your card, what it does is it lowers your credit limit by the amount of the "hold". The computer then has to release the "hold" after you have paid and that is where the delay is. I know, they can take their money the second you sign the card receipt, but it takes 48 to 72 hours to release the hold. Go figure. A good job covering their ass's I guess.

seamutt,

they need your name so you can be a witness to the "crime". Otherwise they can fight the ticket, who's to say somebody else, maybe a neighbor who doesnt like them, may have put the mess there.

All bylaw services can do is assume, and you cant write a ticket on an assumption.

Speaking of parking, I would like to see the lazy people who park in the fire lane in front of Superstore towed.

Really, how hard is it to park a little way away and walk?

Seamutt - I have seen the "mess" as well and I wondered why the City decided to sweep the streets before all of the snow was gone. Some of the cul-de-sacs in that area still have sand/gravel where the snow was piled.

Will the City sweepers make another trip and do another cleanup? Seems like poor planning and a waste of "snow-budget" money.

porter: perhaps I was not clear in that I did not intend to park in a designated bus slot or even a taxi slot. A sign said 15 minutes, so I parked.

Once the bus sign was pointed out to me, I moved my car. Why does the bus have to park right by the door?

I have never paid to pick up someone from the Vancouver airport, they have an adequate drop off zone.

Another example of how things cannot seem to be done right in PG.

Just because something might be more expensive elsewhere doesn't make it right to gouge us here.

I go up there several times a month and have to pay a dollar every time to park for 1/2 hour when I am only there for 10 minutes.

I could easily save a minimum of 2.50 per month - $30 per year and that is just the bare minimum.

No, I'm not complaining about a dollar, I'm complaining several dollars!

To the airport parkers, why not file your suggestions / complaints with YVR directly? I'm sure the suggestions will be put in the appropriate folder.

Yes, parking at YVR is generally overpriced considering the size of the airport, but it is a revenue generator... and money talks.

To the Opinion250 staff, where does it get its web traffic info? I see banner ads proclaiming that Opinion250 gets 10 million hits a month. There are many major websites that don't get that kind of traffic.

The traffic analysis site I used says that Opinion250 gets more in the order of 12,000 hits. A huge disparity. I would tend to think that O250 gets closer to 12,000 than 10 million, but that's just my gut feeling.

mr pG:
Have a smile and a nice day.
:)

MrPG,

is that unique hits or total hits?

Not sure. What I was sure of was that somebody would make some sort of comment because I asked the question.

Having a great day. :)

Why do people insist on piling/pushing/sweeping all of the winter debris from their lawns on to the street? PICK IT UP!

Who carries coins or cash now a days?

People who don't want a $40 ticket obviously.

ia sick and tired of the people who have a hanicap badge and clinb out with their friends and none of them need look like they need it !!! come out carrying bags of crap !! i need a cane and not happy but it helps me these others make me sick

StompinTom: "MrPG,

is that unique hits or total hits?"

According to trafficestimate.com, it says "12,000 monthly visits". Not sure if that means unique visitors or total 'hits'.

Again, don't shoot the messenger. Just putting it out there.

"Just because something might be more expensive elsewhere doesn't make it right to gouge us here."

How is it gouging when it is cheaper than other places? Also it is either user fees or more taxes, and we know how people on this site respond to taxes.

Remember Shane Mills? He was the editor of the PG Free Press in 2001 during the election. If you recall, he was the reporter covering the election who magically took a job as one of the Liberal Propaganda Spincasters immediately after the election ended. What with all the concern about ethics and conflict of interest lately, you really do have to wonder about that.

So why talk about a Liberal Spin Doctor? Well, a short time ago he sent out a Twitter Comment in which he lies about what Leonard Krog said in a speech. You can read it here [twitter.com/Shane_Mills/status/12529200169].

If you are interested in checking, you can read Leonard Krog's actual speech here [http://www.leg.bc.ca/hansard/39th2nd/H0420am-01.pdf], and check for yourself what was actually said - that the Liberals didn't give a damn about what the electorate wants but rammed HST through. That was the context of the use of "popular". As we have come to expect, the Liberal Spin Doctors have absolutely no compunction whatsoever about twisting and distorting anything to try and save their masters' and their own necks.

I always thought Shane Mills had some ethics, but his lightening hop onto the Liberal Propaganda gravy train and his snide twisting of what Leonard said in the Legislature make it clear his ethics are slimier than a slug in heat.

Mills' comment is at [twitter.com/Shane_Mills/status/12529200169]

and

Krog's speech is at http://www.leg.bc.ca/hansard/39th2nd/H0420am-01.pdf

Sorry.

Latest cellphone shenanigans:

Observed twice today. A car pulls up to the red light at the intersection. Out comes the cellphone. Yak, yak, yak.

Other cars are waiting behind the first car.

The light changes to green. The person on the cellphone is too busy to notice the light has changed.

Cars start to honk their horns. Finally, after holding up the traffic for quite a few seconds the offender gets the message and gets moving.

Multi-tasking geniuses at work.

"ia sick and tired of the people who have a hanicap badge and clinb out with their friends and none of them need look like they need it !!! come out carrying bags of crap !! i need a cane and not happy but it helps me these others make me sick"

It's nice to have a doctor on this site that can tell whether or not a person in handicapped or not just by looking at them. My wife has a "badge", and would happily give it up if there was a cure for her condition.

"Posted by: BATMAN on May 7 2010 2:18 PMWhy do people insist on piling/pushing/sweeping all of the winter debris from their lawns on to the street? PICK IT UP!"

So dopes like you and Seamutt can come on here and cry about it, LOL.

That pre-fab building next to Mr'Gs on Range Road sure went up in a nano second as compared to the potential sporting goods store near Shoppers Drug Mart near O'Grady. Some palms get greased down at city hall? Not accusing anyone at city hall, ya know. Sure is a lack of usable retail space in this town. Next to Rona there is a tile store. The next door is vacant. The guy wants over $3000 a month rent. The vacant doctors office next to where the old Home Hardware store was in College Heights is going for $1500 a month. Good luck to these guys.

"Who carries coins or cash now a days?"

Those people who have cars that are newer than 20 or 30 years which are most likely to have a coin holder. Why?

Shopping carts ... $1 coin or quarters

Downtown parking meters .... defunct at the moment...
...

Parking on downtown lots, hospital, CNC, UNBC, etc. etc.

The airport is not unique. The only way it is unique is that I believe it is the most expensive parking in town. I agree the half hour is too long for some people.

So, I suggest they make it 15 minutes for $1 ... :-)