Birds Minutes July 26th and 12th

Gentlemen,

In George’s absence, I am a sorry excuse for a minute-gatherer and poster, but starting with the most recent, here are notes from the Birds Meetings noted in the title.

Starting with the 26th, the most important tip of the day award….goes to Bob Wiggins, who provided us all with an excellent resource via Ernst & Young. Bob had given me a detailed set of instructions that I’m happy to report can all be boiled down to this link  https://www.ey.com/ca/en/services/tax/tax-calculators.

What that link gives you access to is various tax calculators permitting you to view different scenarios in your personal taxes and much, much more. This is going to be a rabbit hole for many!

Around the table we go….

Tony : 100 thousand people went through the dream home. The winner will move whole, WHOLE family in. Someone will end up sleeping on the pool table from the sound of it.

Dwayne : away the past couple of weeks. One reason was his In-laws’ 60th anniversary in Big Sky, Montana. Basically a family reunion terrific fun. Great Jack Nicklaus golf course just out of town, but also a great course in town (won’t lose as many balls). Right now, he’s busy with a proposed merger. He’s passionate and fascinated by that kind of work. One other thing he’s juggling: consulting on a project with a client to convert marijuana oil into a vaping product.

Matt Dart : Concept electric was a competitor so not “sad” they went under. Wish they could poach some of their good people though. In a separate business note, he was surprised to discover that piping ( for sprinkler systems in this case) is 50% more expensive in Calgary than Vancouver. In other news, he’s looking at a new car: Nissan Armada or Honda Pilot. His wife thinks the Armada is “pretty”. Hmm. Taking bets on who’ll win that one.

Mel : Stress is a daily thing for pretty much anyone…but he met a paramedic from Calgary who had such difficulty coping with the stress of living in Calgary while responding to emergencies here that he actually elected to commute from Invermere to cope. Life is better. He stays with his parents during the time he’s working – and retreats to the Invermere sanctuary for the rest of his life. He and Wilma are getting acquainted with their new ‘hood, and mostly enjoying the discovery process. A final note from Mel: Water continues to be the new fire in the insurance business. Be conscious of water. Don’t wait to fix any concerns with it. Seconded by JD on that.

JD : First, he reported that it had been a good week. One anecdote revolved around a customer who’s facing an issue with his insurance company about galvanized piping. The insurance company is essentially forcing plumbing replacement to facilitate their home insurance policy getting renewed. To Mel’s point about looking after water problems, another new client experienced the aftermath of horrible renos that turned a toilet fix into a $15k job (so far).

Ian : busy and moving the Market Mall clinic from the 3rd floor to the 1st floor. His contractor will refuse ANY work from Cadillac Fairview. Ian recounted how difficult they are to deal with. Among other notes, they apply a double standard as to when work can get done, making any sort of reno/construction a significantly more expensive proposition for their tenants by forcing them to get work done at “off” hours while doing their own work whenever they want, tenants be damned.

George : Turns out that he has separated the quad muscle from his knee. They won’t fix it via surgery, but arthritis is the real culprit behind most of the pain. Good news is that with a knee brace, he can still golf – and keep using those shiny new clubs. He related the story of a neighbour with a beautiful home who had a terrible fire that was partially fuelled/made worse by the fact that she had a wooden basement (rather than concrete), something JD said was more common in places built in the 70’s.

Gregg : Property at the corner of University Drive and Shaganappi Trail NW continues to evolve in leaps and bounds. They just had a huge, successful event to promote the opening of the new dog park. Cyclist riding by – not noting that hundreds of people and their dogs at the same time might * not * be a normal aggregation of people complained that people had to “get these dogs under control”.  Finally – great tip – recommendation for an entrepreneurial young detailing guy who comes to your house and office and does a superb job. That’s a photo of his card.

Gregg’s Detailing Recommendation

Michael : His son bought him a drone for his birthday – and it’s amazing technology for all kinds of purposes. He figured there was insurance business growth possibility for Mel and the industry. Apparently you ridiculous amounts of liability insurance. Think seven or eight figures. Regulation is coming.

Matt Litke : Digital   banking is s-l-o-w-l-y eliminating cheques. Handling 200 cheques a day in Strathmore. The important tip is that as the cheque business shrinks when you pay or receive payment by cheque, expect a hold. For foreign currency holds start at 15 business days and get longer. Ed. Note: You know how “business days” in banking can go. Cheques = Meh! Other ways of receiving and making payments were mentioned by both Matt and Sean Baylis.

Sean : Coming off a busy day in earnings. Facebook was the big news experiencing the largest share and value loss in American business history, over $150 billion in a single day. he also seconded Ross’ specific note on price increases by saying that the view held is that inflation is coming on a macro level for various reasons including tariffs.

Henry : Thanks to Ian for quick service. Also….Foothills Landscaping held their company BBQ,  and in the past, it had always been steaks etc, but this year, they hired a food truck. Not only was it excellent quality, but they also had great variety and service was quick. They also had a dunk tank, bull ride (which all the “young” people did), said the man who is still climbing trees more robustly than some of his workers old enough to be his grandkids..

Gerry : Chiming in on cheques….hopes his last cheque to the government bounces when he dies.   Commented on what appears to be a bit of a crime  wave in Windermere and noted his paddle boat missing. Slowest. Getaway. Ever. Noted by Dan Kennelly.

Dan : Commented on the Fernie rink story that involved fatalities. Alledgedly, city and rink people knew about the problem years before the accident. They put the defective machinery the day before the fatality happened. I see lawsuits a-comin’.

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From July 12th :

Gord:  Unique Teaks on Aylith road worth checking out for antiques.

Ian:  found three people for interviews on LinkedIn. Good place to prospect or certain types of specifically qualified future employees.

Don Doolan: travelling by car over the border and noted that they’ve stepped up “agricultural” inspection. Potential random checks of medical. Take everything in original containers. Very strict – a little tit for tat for other cross-border irritants? Maybe so.

Michael McLennan: Adding to Ian’s comments about LinkedIn – it’s also a great place to identify prospective customers. He attributes $100k in sales to customers uncovered via the network.

Gerry: recounting tales from celebrating his and Gail’s 60th anniversary in Campbell River. Watching the world go by. Someone caught a 50lb halibut – took forever to bring in. Loved the whales jumping: beautiful.

Ross: Was talking about someone experiencing chest pain refusing to accept medical suggestions – like calling an ambulance. The staff did anyway and the guy was experiencing severe cardiac trauma. His tip – if it happens to you (speaking to all the people who identify as “male” in the group), don’t be a doofus; call 9-1-1. At the time of telling the story – the guy was still in the hospital. Ross and his family had their own trip out to the coast – the former Queen Charlotte Islands (now Haida Gwaii). Fantastic. Recommended.

George: From the inside of the SAIT circle, SAIT might be struggling financially, partially due to government funding not being 100% stable or predictable. Used to have 9 financial analysts….now 4.

JD: A terrible story about RV batteries and absolutely stinky Canadian Tire customer service. Despite their error and incompetence: no money back…just credits. Tip: don’t buy batteries at Canadian Tire.

Bob:   On the battery note: batteries from Costco, good deal and have lasted – Kirkland. Bob also reinforced Ross’ cardiac trauma story by noting his own story about “something didn’t feel right”, which turned out to be a 99% blockage. Listen to your body. Call the doctor, ambulance.  Bob also noted we s till need 3 members for a full roster of 30 full-time members – lawyer high on the list.

George:   *Important tip on generic drugs – make sure they’re Canadian vs Indian and China suppliers.

Dan: One last note shared by me on the 12th but with substance added from Dan July 26th via this document. It’s possible you may be banned from travelling to the US for life if you’re in *any* way involved with the Cannabis industry. Even remotely. This link will open a Word document if I’m right:   Canadian barred from US.  Also related is this story:  https://www.ctvnews.ca/canada/why-investing-in-pot-could-pose-problems-at-the-u-s-border-1.4011813 , and  https://globalnews.ca/news/4140898/legal-pot-data-banned-us-border/ , and finally,  https://www.theglobeandmail.com/cannabis/article-canadian-banned-from-us-for-marijuana-investments-seeks-waiver-to/  .