Sailor

It was apparently because he was in management he had no contract or protection and they could do whatever they wanted. I know he was not the only one affected.

A friends father worked in Ontario for GM for about 30 years before he retired. He had been in management. A few years after he retired Gm decided they needed to make more profits so they cut his pension in half. Came as a real shock to him.

We went on an Alaska cruise a few years ago. Different cruises stop at different locations. One of our stops was at Skagway where we went on a day excursion on the White Pass railway. It was very interesting. It followed the route the miners used in the 1800's.

In school I had a job weekends and summers working in a plywood mill. On weekends I would crawl through the machinery with an air hose blowing out all the splinters and charcoal from the driers and other machines. For a while I worked in the power house. All the sawdust from the mill went into a huge storage room about 60 ft square and then was fed to the furnaces via a conveyor belt running along in the floor in the center of the room. I was given a 20ft pike pole and a hard hat. My job was to climb up and poke the sawdust so it would avalanche down onto the belt. The guy on the opposite shift from me disappeared one day, all they ever found was the hard hat and pike pole. Another job was to clean the furnaces. There were four of them and each weekend two would be shut down on Friday night. Saturday two of us would smash the bricks out of the entry way and crawl inside to shovel out the ash. It would be over 100 degrees inside and you had to stay completely covered because if the ash, which was as fine as talcum powder, came into contact with moisture it would turn to acid. You had to provide your own clothes which did not last long. I spent four years doing these jobs. Today whenever I go to the hospital or get a new doctor they demand to know how many packs of cigarettes per day I am smoking. They don't believe me when I tell them I have never smoked.

When I nearly dropped the venture three times in one day. At 75 I was starting to feel the weight. Sold it and bought a Yamaha star 1300 delux. Lighter, lower, reliable and still goes pretty good. I rented a Slingshot when we were in Sedona last October. If I were to go to three wheels I think that might be the way i would go. I do like the looks of the three wheel Ventures though but the performance of the Slingshot was hard to beat.

I built lots of car, hot rod, boat and airplane models over the years. Interesting and fun. Had a hydroplane with a model aircraft engine in it and a F1 Ferrari with an electric motor.

My wife is always thinking outside the box. For example...she bought pair of shoes she doesn't realy need but they were regularly $ 200.00 but marked down to $ 100.00 so she saved $ 100.00

Still cleaning up after the storm. Still a few places without power or water. Local people are having a pot luck lunch for all the off island workers ( all 200 of them) getting things back to normal. Getting things off to a Happy New Year for everyone.

Some places on the island still without power or water. They say there are more storms to come.

Had a huge windstorm here last Thursday. The worst I have seen in 40 years. We lost power last Thursday and water on Saturday. We were OK with the wood stove, BBQ,and propane lanterns. Had the freezer packed with ice. Got a lake full of water in front of the house. Others weren't so lucky. At least 61 telephone poles down and I don't know how many transformers. Hundreds of trees down. Mostly 60-70 footers that were uprooted due to all the rain we have had. Several houses and cars damaged or destroyed. On Vancouver island they had over 300 poles down. Some places still digging out. We have power and water back now but our neighbours don't yet. Reminds me of the old days when you never went anywhere in the winter without a chain saw to get yourself back home. We are good to go for Christmas. All the best to everyone out there, Merry Christmas and Happy New Year.

I retired at 59 and don't regret a minute of it. I have never been so busy but it is all stuff that I want to do. I will be 75 in a couple months and I spent last week taking down a big fir that I bucked, split, hauled and stacked for next year. I am busy with our Legion, Motorcycle Toy Run, Rod and Gun club, Defenders Motorcycle club, and as always the good old "Honey do " list. We also do a lot of traveling. Stay busy and you don't grow old. I don't feel a day over 40, but my body tends to disagree. If you want to keep working and you find it enjoyable then keep working. The mistake some people make is not having hobbies or interests outside of work. They are the ones that age quickly when they retire.

BCFC has had many exemptions from safety regulations. With 700 managers for 4000 employees you would think the could find someone who has a clue.......nope Eg Contract was coming up so a team of managers decided they would come over and run the ferry. It takes the engineers 20 minutes to fire up the engines. Two hours later we were still waiting. They finally gave up. A manager decided to come over and show us how to load the ship. It took him all of 5 minutes to screw it up so badly it took us over two hours to get things straitened out. A manager decided that since the year round average load on one ferry was 27 cars ( it was making a profit at that) he would replace the 65 car ferry with a 27 car ferry. He could not grasp the concept of "average load". I could go on but to be fair the current management is moving away from building colossal white elephants they can't afford to run towards smaller, cheaper and more useful ferries.

There are a number of ferries serving our gulf islands. Federal safety regulations mandate they give three blasts on the horn when backing out of the dock. They must also sound the fog horn when in deep fog which sometimes happen in the fall. Due to complaints from people who have recently built houses near the terminals they are instructed not to sound the horn. A violation of federal law. The captains usually sound the horn anyway.

I do find it rather odd that for many years I never got checked but since joining the Rod and Gun I have been singled out every time. Each time the first thing they ask about are guns. Saltspring Rod And Gun......There is no agreement with the neighbors. The multimillionaire developer, who brags about his ties to Asian money, has been suing the club for over three years now. He is backing two other neighbours in lawsuits. We estimate he has spent about $ 1,000,000.00 on lawsuits. One idiot judge decided we can not make any noise louder than a conversation. He based this on regulations in other countries where they must use silencers. Silencers are illegal in Canada. This millionaires step son is a deputy director of the Ministry of the Environment in BC. The MoE has insisted on an overwhelming number of tests, all of which are very expensive and have proved there is no pollution leaving the property. This has cost the club an incredible amount of money. The MoE has banned any movement of soil and a judge has ordered us to build berms to redirect the noise. The latest threat is that if the developer manages to shut us down then the MoE can sue the board of directors and all their heirs and relatives going back 100 years. We are a small club with about 80-100 members. We have a lot of community support but that does not help financially. We have gone from being debt free to being deep in debt and at the end of our rope. We are currently allowed to shoot trap 4 hour per week and may use the indoor range since it is soundproofed.

I think it might have something to do with firearms. I travel quite a bit and for many years have never been checked at the border. Recently a multi millionaire land developer bought the property next to our local rod and gun club. It has been a part of the community for 102 years and this guy has set out to destroy it so he can build a development next door. My wife and I both joined to support the club. I bought a couple guns to take part in events. Now whenever I go through the border I always get checked as does my wife. The RCMP notified customs so we are on their list. Several times I have bought motorcycle parts by mail order from J&P in the states. They always arrived at my door within a week with no extra charges or problems. It might also be the policy of the company you are dealing with. I have heard of American companies refusing to ship to, or accept orders from Canada.

I used to make a lot of models when I was a kid. Cars and airplanes mostly. My favorite was a F1 ferrari about 18 inches long. Everything worked on it and it had an electric motor hidden in it. Next was a hydroplane with a gas engine.

I wasn't referring to the president. I was talking about the local politicians running for election. They all seemed to be more interested in attacking each other rather than saying what they would do to make things better. Unfortunately that seems to be a trait shared by politicians on both sides of the border.

One thing I realy noticed down there is I did not see any politicians say how they would improve things, they all spent their air time slandering each other. No wonder people don't vote, there is little to vote for.

Just back from Sedona. I could not believe the lies and deceit that went on with the politicking. I thought our politicians were bad but i think you have us beat there. They would not get away with some of the dirty tricks they pulled up here. I always vote, even if I have to hold my nose while I am doing it. I think if you don't vote then you have no right to complain, which I do frequently. That being said someone once said "If you want people to vote give us someone worth voting for". We have a situation here which Kretz has put well with cynical politicians manipulating both the public (firearms control) and the political system for their own benefit. On the other hand....Sedona.....great weather, good food, wonderful scenery and I got to rent a Slingshot.

I also am mechanically challenged. I make my apple pies with a bit of brown sugar, cinnamon and brandy. I love banana cream pie. The only reason I would ever visit a big city like Cincinnati

My younger son used to call it "Pasguetti" My older son is getting realy old. He has grey hair now. He will soon be older than me.

Thanks! We do enjoy all the bronze statues in town and the fabulous art in Tlaquepaque plaza. Can't afford to buy anything but looking is free ( at least that is what I tell the boss when we go to the beach and there all those 20 somethings in their thongs). Manzanita restaurant looks interesting. Wherever we go we always have a good time. Love just driving around and exploring, you never know what you might find.

Harry's Hideaway is real small but the food is great. The owner used to have a 200 seat restaurant in Chicago and got fed up, sold it, and now has Harrys as a hobby.

The boss and I are going to Sedona this Thursday. We only have two weeks so we are flying and renting a car this time. I see there is a place in Sedona that rents slingshots...hmmmmm....how do I ditch the boss for a day? We realy enjoyed our last trip. Mogollon Plateau, Montazumas castle ( boy were those explorers lost)Jerome, Tsuzigoot. Etc. Harrys Hideaway by Cornville has the best food. The artwork in Sedona is amazing. Looking forward to the trip. Perfect motorcycle roads.

A friend had a similar problem. Turned out to be the kill switch on the kick stand.