Archive for May, 2009

Hollyburn Property Managers? Anyone?

May 30, 2009 at 9:03 am · Filed under Community, Vancouver

I woke up quite early this morning and as I was lying in bed, it occurred to me, “It’s the end of the month, and everyone else is asleep!” So I got up, and hopped on my scooter, and headed into the West End to hand out some fliers.

As I’m motoring around the West End, I couldn’t help but notice just how many properties are managed by Hollyburn, there’s a LOT. And a lot of signs that say, “Vacancy” or “Waiting List”, which implies there’s a lot of people moving in, and a lot of people moving out.  Moving, moving, moving….  Does anyone out here in the “blogosphere” know any Hollyburn managers? Property managers in general? In the West End?

In my daily routine as I’m out meeting people it comes up what I do, invariably, if they live in the West End they say to me, “You should come down my alleyway, there’s LOTS of junk back there“. It’s not sooo simple, I mean, someone does sort of  need to pay to have it removed.  I don’t make a habit of driving up and down alleys and picking stuff up for free, although I’ve done charitable works before, acquiring trash for fun is not a habit of mine. But, if I could meet some managers that live in that area, I could get to it and recycle it before it becomes something the neighbours discuss when they run into garbage men! Plus, the property managers I’m sure, are looking to keep their buildings and alleyways clear of clutter.

It’s altogether a good introduction.  I’d do something nice for you if you passed me the name of a willing participant!

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The Story of Stuff w/ Annie Leonard

May 29, 2009 at 10:53 am · Filed under Community, Environment, World

Talking to someone the other day, I was amazed she hadn’t see the video “The Story of Stuff”.  Many of you have, but in case you haven’t, it’s a short movie about how things come to be, what we do with them, and where they go.  Check it out, I think you’ll like it.

http://www.storyofstuff.com/

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Residential Construction Labour Markets in Good Shape

May 27, 2009 at 9:39 am · Filed under Business, Construction/Renovation, Homes, Vancouver ·Tagged , , , ,

Here’s a direct quotation from an email I received from the Canadian Home Builders Association BC.  I tried to find a link to the article, but wasn’t able to.  Regardless, here’s the email.

BURNABY, May 26, 2009 – In a report released today by the Construction Sector Council, new research and data indicate that British Columbia’s construction industry will weather the recession better than many other industries thanks to government infrastructure spending.

Industry and labour representatives, including CHBA BC Chief Executive Officer, M.J. Whitemarsh, are meeting at the BC Construction Labour Market Symposium to find ways of ensuring that our sector is ready for the next wave of construction.

“The government has committed to increased spending on key infrastructure projects which will create jobs and boost our economy over the next several years,” said Whitemarsh. “We must do our part and ensure that our skilled trades are educated and trained to meet the upcoming demand.”
 
Tied to today’s announcement from the Federal government to propose a number of changes to the Canada Pension Plan to better reflect the way Canadians live, work and retire, industry must take advantage of mobilizing our older workers and creating a mentorship highway sharing skills learned through many years.

“Training our new work force and up-skilling those already in it is becoming a crucial necessity. Mentorship opportunities must be utilized,” added Whitemarsh.

The Construction Sector Council’s “Construction Looking Forward”, a detailed forecast of labour market trends, highlights that over the short term government related construction, with strong infrastructure stimulus programs, will play an important role in creating employment opportunities. As economic conditions improve, construction activity will expand throughout the forecast period.

The report finds that 26,000 new workers will be required from now until 2017 to replace retiring baby boomers. Another 6,400 workers will be needed to meet the medium to long term rise in construction activity.

BC’s Construction Looking Forward Scenario 2009 – 2017 will be available in the coming weeks along with a summary from the BC Labour Market Symposium and all forecast scenario data at www.constructionforecasts.ca.

The Canadian Home Builders’ Association of BC, a viable industry driven organization, is the voice of the residential construction industry in BC, and is built on a vision of strong and positive roles for the housing industry. CHBA BC is committed to supporting the professionalism of our over 1700 members and providing affordability, quality and choice for consumers. CHBA BC’s voluntary membership comprises builders, developers, renovators, suppliers and other professionals who are dedicated to industry excellence. 

I’m glad they’re looking forward to ensure the mentorship is in place to foster a new wave of young, motivation construction experts!

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Wet. Oh so very wet…

May 26, 2009 at 9:02 am · Filed under Environment, Transportation

I rode the scooter in today.  And it’s WET!  Luckily I dressed for the occasion becasue I looked out my window before I came in, so overall, I’m dry. But the ride in? Wet!

Weather May 26

Me. Wet.

Me. Wet.

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Goat Canucks Goat

May 25, 2009 at 9:53 am · Filed under 15374720, Life, Vancouver

Listening to the news this morning getting ready for work, I heard a recurring story.  The boys that were sending goats to Kenya were featured yet again.  As we consider helping the “environment” to also take into consideration other things like community, I thought this was very blog worthy.

Goat Meter

Goat Meter

They were discussing ways to support and honour the Canucks on their quest to the cup (which ultimately “failed”), and I’m guessing over a few beers, Goatees became goats, and so the story goes.  I say “failed” because this movement seems like a resounding success to me!!

Here’s their website: www.goatcanucksgoat.com

On May 10th they had 500 goats destined for Africa, this morning when I heard the news and checked they had 875 goats, and now, as I right this at 9:30 they have 900.

Wow!

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Ikea revolution

May 24, 2009 at 11:33 am · Filed under Environment, Technology

I was listening to the CBC this morning, as I often do. The Sunday Edition, and there was a woman on the show that was talking about the economy and our environment, and how things are intertwined.  It was very interesting.

One thing she suggested was a paradigm shift regarding Ikea.  She was commenting on how Ikea has a reputation for furniture that is of a lesser quality, and how wouldn’t it be spectacular if Ikea would buy back all the furniture it sold and repurpose it to a different consumer.  

A lightbulb went off for me.  Isn’t that a spectacular concept? Instead of my company coming to get the pieces after a couple of years (people’s personal finacial stability changes, tastes change and so on) and taking them (more often than not)  to landfills (they usually disintegrate between your doorstep and the back of the truck rendering them impossible to donate but we donate what we can).  Wouldn’t it be cool if Ikea bought it back?

I think the odds of this are slim to none.  But my goodness would their popularity not be stratospheric if they did?  How revolutionary is that?

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Honda – The Power of Dreams documentary series

May 22, 2009 at 9:03 am · Filed under Business, Life, Technology, Transportation, World

Here’s one of my favourites:

Failure.

Awesome.  I know I’ve made collosal errors in my day, but on the whole, I really enjoy my present situation.  

Is this an ad? Maybe.  Do they want it to go viral? I don’t know.  Did I really enjoy it? Yes!  There’s a good chance you may as well.

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Sidetaker.com? Hot or Not? – HOT!

May 20, 2009 at 12:12 pm · Filed under Business, Environment

Hot!  Smokin’ Hot.

Nothing to do with the environment at all, but extremely cool nonetheless.  What is it?  It’s a site where you and the person you have a disagreement with can post your sides of the argument, and then you can let the Internet act as Jury and appoint a “winner”.

www.sidetaker.com

I suppose you could make it about the environment by posting a question like, “I think paper recycling and having separate collection for fiber is good for the environment and saves trees but my boyfriend says having all sorts of trucks driving up and down the streets adds to green house gas emissions, and we should put everything in one (garbage) can”.

That’s a debate that took place at the last Metro Vancouver Zero Waste symposium I attended. I haven’t see that question posted at the website, but I like the site. What a cool idea!  Try it out!! Try something simple though like, “Toilette paper should roll from the top…” A controversial topic to be sure!!!

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Following up on Translink Pickpockets

May 19, 2009 at 2:15 pm · Filed under Transportation, Vancouver

This morning I downloaded today’s on-line version of 24 Hours (better for the environment) and their lead story was on the pickpocketing that’s going on at Skytrain Stations and on Skytrains which I discussed very briefly a few days ago. Who are the pickpockets targeting? Women and the Elderly of course.  I’ve no idea what it’s like to be a woman, but sometimes it’s really gotta suck! You can’t even mind your own business travelling to and from work!! I have serious doubts that women are the weaker sex in fact. Women stick together, they are better at co-operation, men are often asking them permission to go out, change the channel and so on, they find it quite easy to get the aid of the largest gorilla like individual nearby to open the pickle jar or smash the face of a pickpocket and so on. Doesn’t sound particularly “weaker sex” to me. Pickpockets suck.

Keep an eye on your belongings, and stay safe.  Overall, personally, I’ve really only had positive experiences on transit (except for the obvious missed bus etc.) so these guys are likely to get caught soon – I’m willing to bet there’s not a single Nobel Laureate among them (i.e. not the brightest crayons in the box).

Here’s a link to today’s 24 Hours frontpage.

Here’s a link to download the PDF.

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At Speedy You’re a Somebody – rises from the ashes like a phoenix

May 18, 2009 at 11:58 am · Filed under Business, Life

Listening to Age of Persuasion this morning on the CBC Terry O’Riley was talking about how slogans come  from unlikely places and how many of the really successful campaigns are in fact Canadian.  Apparently Jerry Goodis (penned many, many, many popular slogans you’ll surely know, and a famous Canadian) was having a terrible time coming up with a slogan for Speedy Muffler King.  After puzzling for ages he wrote on a piece of paper, “At speedy you’re a Somebody” and promptly threw it out.  This came from the fact that while his agency had done surveys to find out what were the top 5 reasons people chose mechanics, no one could agree on #1.  There was no denying that #2 was “feeling appreciated”.

So, the boss comes in to check on his progress, grabs the crumpled up slogan out of the trash can and says, “Here’s your slogan!”.

And so from the trash, yet again, comes treasure!

Jerry Goodis

CBC’s Age of Persuasion with Terry O’Riley where you can listen to the show streaming on line.  It’s impressively interesting.

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