Re: Random stuff - the anything else thread
 

In the eighties or nineties he was offered the job of nightly news anchor on one of the big US networks (CBS, ABC or NBC) but he declined iirc. It would have increased his fame and fortune but I think he said he wanted to stay in Canada and report on news here.

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When he was starting out, he practiced his "news voice" by reading an engineering manual or some equally dry text and trying to make it sound like an important event.

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Well he is now 73 years of age but one thing many forget is who he was previously married to and currently married to and neither of these ladies would be considered as gold diggers. In other words he could pull good looking women for whatever reason.

Ex Wendy Mesley and current spouse Cynthia Dale.

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Until this post I had never heard of him, but I never watch or listen to CBC news really, now I would recognize Lolyd Robertson, probably about the only Canadian news anchor I would recognize, can't tell you any of the others, but I have no idea who the anchors are on the US big 3 anymore either, I would only recognize Tom Brokaw and Dan Rather both retired now I think.

Brent Butt too, but actor of course I would recognize him, probably not a lot of famous Canadian's I would recognize if they didn't make it to the US news, TV or movies.

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.
........ and Knowlton Nash, who was the chief correspondent and anchor for CBC back then, helped by telling PM that he would be stepping down "soon" to encourage him to stay in Canada. SO PM stayed, stepped in for KN for vacation relief, etc, then, as expected, KN retired and PM was almost immediately announced as the "new" anchor.

The evening news on CBC was THE news show back then, the anchors were well-known and greatly respected. People really believed them .......... much as one or two of the news anchors on US stations were respected back in the day. No "fake news" back then!

I had to google it .............. PM became the chief correspondent in 1988, retired in 2017.

As an aside .............. I met Knowlton Nash soon after he retired when he came to Vancouver to give a talk. OH was invited to an after-talk reception for KN and allowed to take along myself and our daughter.

He was a really charming person in the flesh, no "side" to him at all., he spent a little time talking to our mid-teenage daughter, treating her with respect for everything she said.


One thing both these guys were noted for was sitting through hours long broadcasts for Royal visits, election results, etc etc, and NEVER breaking off for a "pee" break :rofl:

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Can never go wrong with Tom & Jerry they proviced me with lots of entertainment after school in the 80's along with scooby doo, flintstones and others.

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This is a really sweet layout, so detailed and realistic.


The only roller coaster I like is train themed too...ha ha


Or maybe a leisurely sail down the Bayou.



I haven't been to Disneyland since 2010, may never go again, but at least youtube lets me experience the sounds.

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Better with sound :lol:

Twitter

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I hope he wasn't hurt too badly, and good example of how one needs to ensure their decks are built properly and structurally sound.

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Or to ensure that contractors do not stack things in such a way that a huge amount of weight is placed in an area it wasn't designed to be able to cope with.

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Downside to this work from home craze, its not suitable for everyone, but too many jobs are going that way, even lower skill call center jobs.


Maybe now that more and more of the general population is struggling with mental help, the healthcare system will do something.

RBC Insurance found nearly 49% of long term disability claims in 2021 for those 18 to 35 was due to mental health.

Nearly half report their workplace benefits did not adquately address their mental health needs. (all of my extended health for example capped mental health at $300 or $500/yr with is way insufficient for most people suffering with an issue)

https://www.ctvnews.ca/canada/nearly...port-1.5613084

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That time of year when you think its late, and its not even 9pm....:rofl:

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Looks like Vancouver Airport is getting back to normal, lots of jobs on indeed.

I guess the company who handles Westjet ramp is having trouble finding people, never seen ramp pay this high before, it's even higher than the $16.50 unionized Air Canada has listed as their wage, assuming they are not using fake pay range in the ad.

Ramp Agent $19-$26 / hour! Pretty much every company that operates at YVR seems to be hiring, these 2 are the more interesting ones.

If your short enough to stand in a Dash 8, Central Mountain Air is looking for part-time flight attendants.

The company that handles wildlife control at YVR is hiring too, need degree or diploma in a STEM field with preference in biological or environmental science, PAL, Hunting Permit, experience with wildlife in an airfield setting, first aid training and a bunch more stuff.

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Wait until you get to the age where you think 9pm is late :lol:

I used to have a rule about my whisky/sprite accompanying movie or TV show. Not before 9.00. Now I start about 7.30 ;)
And that's not so I can drink longer :hand:

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Do you wake up earlier? My great grandma would go to bed by 7pm, but she was always up by 4am or 5am to start the day.

I find I vary by the season, I guess the sun energizes me, but winter when it starts to to get dark earlier and earlier, and then by December before 4:30p, it leads to long evennings, so may as sleep since there is not much to do after dark anyhow, now if only going to bed early meant I would get up earlier, but left to my brain, it wont wake me naturally until 11 or so, if I have nothing to do and no need to be up at a specific time, I just let my brain do its job, I figure it knows more about sleep than I do.

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FYI: Extinction Rebellion plans mass protests in Vancouver starting October 16, bridges and major intersections are their target, in addition they plan to block access to the Vancouver Airport on October 25th, so if you have a flight on October 25 in or out of YVR keep this mind.

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Apparently a chunk of meteor decided to pay a lady in BC a visit, leaving a hold in her roof, luckily missed hitting her as she slept.

I wonder if insurance covers damage caused by out of the planet debris? The article says the insurance company will be coming to look, but has never had such a claim, but doesn't mention if its covered.

https://cimg0.ibsrv.net/gimg/british...7850b88bf6.jpg

There doesn't seem to be confirmation it indeed came from space, but seems the most plausible answer.

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I wonder how much that rock is worth? Maybe she can just walk away from the old house and buy a place in the West End.

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Yes...bit early for me but my 'sleeping' hours are about 10 to 6.30, with a bit of radio listening between 10 and 2.

And sometimes a half hour siesta/power nap early afternoon so I'm pin sharp for my executive decisions. :lol:

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I almost take take a siesta during the day, I rarely make it waking to bed without a short nap in the middle somewhere.

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I guess the Vanwives have gotten tired of van life and moving to cabin life.

I could live somewhere like that, nice and away from people. I think they are in Nova Scotia they said, anyhow still an interesting channel to watch.

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Sucks for the people in these communities, guess doctors don't want to work in rural Alberta?

2 communities without ER open over this weekend, not planning to reopen until Tuesday, another small community wont have their ER open again until November apparently.

https://globalnews.ca/news/8256406/r...ta-er-closure/

5G and airports don't mix I guess, anyhow Telus is upset.

https://www.thestar.com/business/202...g-service.html

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I heard an amusing tale this morning - CBC radio - about Cape Breton fiddler Lee Cremo.
(I'd never heard of him either but it doesn't matter and I'm telling the tale having been half awake when I heard it)

Playing a gig in Halifax he had his fee negotiated with the pub owner (or whatever venue it was) and agreed a bonus if he had the audience on its feet for his first number. The owner apparently agreed, thinking the guy wasn't known n those parts so it was probably safe.

Cremo walks on stage...picks up his fiddle...proceeds to play O Canada.

:rofl::rofl:

Apparently he got his bonus.

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Sometimes I wish I could have a small cabin in Pt. Roberts to live in the US and live in Canada and get best of both :lol:

I mean living on both sides over the course of a year so would require housing on both sides since can't be out of BC more than 6 months out of the year to maintain healthcare coverage, kind of like a snowbird but just not going very far south. :lol:

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But you would have been stuck either here or there since March last year. They're in serious trouble!

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Funny you post that, i literally just came on here to post...working from home is great but extremely socially isolating. Especially when friends are all busy with their partners and lives, so there isn't even much to look forward to on the weekends.

I love my job and don't miss going in to an office, but I miss the gossiping and carmraderie from being in an office and just stopping by a work-mate's desk for a chat, and interacting with people in person rather then always behind a screen.


Mental health care is inadequate. I pay approximately $640/month for mental health care, out of pocket. I don't have benefits.

Not if you are a dual citizen or PR like Jsmth. Hypothetically a US citizen with PR could cross the land border as often as he wanted, just before Jul 5 would have had to do the 14 day home quarantine when re-entering Canada. (And would still have to if not vax'd...but if a frequent traveler unfortunately there is no choice when it comes to vax.)

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Did you read all the news stories in the Vancouver Sun about residents of Point Roberts being unable to cross the border into Canada to shop, or to get to the land border into the US???

Did you read the stories that boat or air were the only 2 ways to enter or leave Point Roberts?

Did you read the stories of Canadians being unable to enter Point Roberts to their cabins and homes there?

Did you read the stories about how much money the businesses in Point Roberts lost beginning in March last year?


What you say is OK in theory, but not in the special circumstance of Point Roberts.

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We are hopefully not in a perpetual state of pandemic forever, but anyhow even if I had a place there, and the thought was based on the assumption things will eventually return to normal, the state of Washington has stepped in to provide funds to keep places open there, so hopefully that will tide them over until the border reopens, it was all theory anyhow since real estate prices there seem to have gone up, I was looking on zillow and asking prices are a little high, I don't know what is going on with their housing market, because certainly no way to pay tose prices working in Pt. Roberts. :lol:

It's stupid that so little mental health is covered, I would need like $1,100 a month on the low end and that isn't even with a licenced psychologists but a PhD student with a Masters, even when I had benefits through work, mental health was capped at $300 or $500 per year, so less than helpful.

And I just love how the BC government gives me this pamphlet everytime I end up in the ER, directing me to call places that can help, but then the little disclaimer at the bottom *treatment is not covered by the BC Medical Services Plan (MSP).

Oh gee thanks for reffering me to services that are not covered, so helpful. :lol:



I wouldn't mind working from home if we had a large place and there was a quiet area to make a home office, the job my wife had interviewed for was 8 hour days 3 times per week, but call center job, so on the phone all day with customers, and there is 0 chance of keeping the dog quiet for 8 hours, add in the lawmowing, landscaping, construction noise, the neighborhood kids screaming and playing outside, and well no way to have a quiet place without distractions, but it wouldn't be good if you have a proper work area and home office away from the distractions.

I would miss co-worker interaction though, really when I was working, work was the only social interaction I had, so I kind of looked forward to it just to be around other people to talk to.

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It's commonplace now to hear dogs barking, police sirens, front door bells etc. No one cares, it adds some humour to the boring meetings that we attend. Half of my companies workforce are in the lower mainland, most of them live in small apartments, it's not unusual to see them working from their kitchen table etc. Having your own room is nice, but it isn't completely necessary if you have an understanding partner.

The worst part about not having your own space is that you are in your front room all day for work, and then you get to go back at night when it's your time. Feels like there is no escape from that area of the house.

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Did you notice the part where I said dual citizens ?

I'm not debating Canadians being unable to enter Pt Roberts, i'm talking about Americans living in Canada like Jsmth.

Yes every border town on both sides has lost $ on account of the unnecessary border closure. That blood is on the hands of the Canadian and US governments.

But dual citizens, or Americans with Canadian PR, or Canadians with American LPR, were always able to cross.

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Well that should have made it easier for everyone then; just get a dual citizen to get your stuff for you. Obviously we either misunderstood or were being lied to when told that the place was essentially cut off. The press will print anything sensational in order to sell.
"Earlier this week, the Public Health Agency of Canada announced a limited, initial step of easing up. Fully vaccinated Canadian citizens, residents and other individuals who already have a right to enter Canada -- and who test negative for COVID-19 -- will be exempt from two weeks of quarantine when returning to the country after July 5. This could be somewhat helpful to Point Roberts where a good number of local residents are dual citizens. But attempting to cross the border just to make a grocery run still seems likely to end in failure."
https://www.kuow.org/stories/food-cr...ers-on-closure
I've only been there once, but thought it was a nice little place. My sister and b-i-l sold their trailer there because it was too much hassle even to drive down from Surrey for weekends. He liked it because it was handy for posting audio equipment via USPS to his American customers.

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The company was pretty specific about having a quiet workplace without background noise, some companies maybe more strict than others are, but this was a call center job so non-stop phone calls more or less, and the company required a dedicated workspace to hardwire their internet and whatever since they deal with peoples personal info so no wifi, I guess the company could use wifi but this one choosing hardwire through their own network rather than wifi through personal network.

Her mental health workers also mentioned the working from home and not being able to properly disconnect work from home when home is now work, it can cause mental health struggles for some.

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Child labor laws changed in BC today.

Minimum age from 12 to 16, although there are a few exceptions like working at a family owned businsess, school camp jobs, movie/tv industry and some others, but for most employment the minimum age is now 16.

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I swear I need to record myself sleeping one night to get an idea of what the hell happens. :rofl:

I went to bed without an injury to my finger, and I woke up to an injured finger with some dried blood and it hurts, I assume it occured in my sleep, I know I can a little movement oriented in my sleep, but I thought I moved everything far enough from the bed, only I could manage to injure myself while sleeping.

Also have to find a flipping walk in clinic, blech. I need medication refilled but the doctor cancelled the appointment today (she cancelled the one last week as well.) so 2 weeks in a row almost and I thought making an appointment 2 weeks before I ran out would work, but it did not, and now I run out Monday, and things are bad if you stop SSRI's cold turkey, hopefully I the walk in doctor in nice, some wont prescribed psychiatric medications on a walk in basis.

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Did you call and ask your doctor's office if they would fax your prescription to the pharmacy? That would seem to be easiest, and it is sort of on them because they cancelled. I'd phone on Monday morning and explain how the cancelations are leaving you without meds. My doctor is a walk-in and there's a pharmacy next door, and occasionally when I call and say I'd like to refill my prescriptions, they say it has to be renewed and they take the form next door and usually get it back in an hour or two.

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I didn't this time no, I have tried in the past before but she is one of those doctors who will not do anything without an appointment, she just isn't the most reliable at keeping appointments, if only patients could charge doctors a cancellation fee, Seinfeld has an episode on that.......:lol:

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This is good news, BC has backtracked and will be providing flu shot free of charge to anyone over 6 months, while supplies last (I added that last bit, as last year I never did manage to secure one, every-time I had an appointment they cancelled due to lack of supply, my wife got her's today at her mental health unit.)

https://globalnews.ca/news/8278788/b...u-shots-covid/

"“Last year’s low influenza rates means our immunity against influenza is lower than usual,” provincial health officer Dr. Bonnie Henry said."

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Healthcare system problems a brewing in BC.

1,500 Life Labs employees voted to strike which may led to some patient service centers to close temporarily.

Life Labs workers are paid on average 4.5 to 13.5 per cent less than the same job pays in hospitals.

Life Labs also wants the workers to take reduced sick time and reduced vacation time in the last offer the union rejected.

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If hospital lab techs could go to work at Life Labs for the same money and not have to work nights or overtime they might all go. That being said, the company has no business trying to claw back benefits. It's a successful for profit business and shouldn't be letting labour contracts lapse. If there was another lab across the street in competition they wouldn't risk job action.