Early Birds Minutes AND News January 18th, 2024

Gentlemen,

2024 will be a transformative year for Early Birds.

2023 was another year in which attrition played a role in the number of active Birds.

In December, after an eminently qualified prospective female member was proposed and then denied a seat at the Birds table, the Birds had a candid discussion that revealed that the Club was split at the possible change to the Club that female members might bring.

To help facilitate change, a majority of Birds voted to amend the Club’s “constitution.” There were two changes: the word “men” was changed to “members,” and new members no longer required a unanimous vote to be let into the Club. The threshold is now 66%.

Unrelated to the female membership issue, Don Doolan was the first to announce that a more fulsome retirement was calling to him, and he opted to leave the Club after the Christmas meeting. 

Other members who voted for varying reasons to sleep in on Thursday mornings included Dan Kennelly, JD MacDonald, and possibly Todd Dean. I’m almost positive I’m omitting someone else.

Our existing membership is a dynamic group, BUT there should be no mistake; we need to add to the roster, or the Club will eventually reach a tipping point from which it won’t return. 

2024 should be a year of filling vacant positions sooner rather than later. Among the professions lost in 2023 were plumbing, homebuilder, and IT professional. Those are just some of the professional positions we could look to refill. A lawyer is one professional presence absent from the Birds since Randy Kott passed away.

So, keep new prospective members at the top of your agenda, and let’s see if we can fill a few seats around the table before the end of March. That’s purely my suggestion, but I figure if we don’t give this some sort of timeline, it will remain wishful thinking. 

Now….in other news:

Bob Wiggins injured himself curling. There’s probably an “old stones” joke in there somewhere, but we wish Bob all the best with recovery.

Paul Boucher thanked Ian Campbell for his clinic’s fine audiologists and analysis during his annual hearing test. Of note in this visit was information shared by the audiologist on ongoing research into hearing loss and cognitive decline. In essence, what your brain no longer perceives results in that part of the brain “wasting away.” The research was corroborated indirectly by the information gained about people losing their sense of smell during the pandemic after having had COVID. Essentially, the part of the brain responsible for olfactory function shrank. Growth in the visual cortex was observed as the brain tried to compensate for the loss of smell. 

 With hearing, as you grow older and experience average high-frequency hearing loss, your brain “forgets” how to hear that sound. It’s not as if hearing loss triggers dementia or anything that dramatic. However, it’s another piece of the brain puzzle that contributes to cognitive decline as your brain forgets about those sounds, and then other consequences of that hearing loss, including social withdrawal, etc., kick in.

Besides that, be ready to hear Paul’s voice on Alberta’s current STARS Lottery radio, TV, and web campaign. Don’t think you’ll get away from him next door in Saskatchewan because he’ll be voicing that campaign as well, just as Alberta’s finished.

Also - if you enjoy Lavazza Italian coffee, Paul will record commercials for that brand right after Breakfast Club this week.

Sean Baylis - started by not really knowing where to start.

It’s been an emotional roller coaster for Sean and his family. 

They came back from Mexico over the holidays when they were hit with a mild-ish case of *Montuzuma’s revenge.

Then, the next “surprise” also happened in a bathroom when his wife Dianna screamed from upstairs. She’d been violently ill and throwing up when she experienced a searing head pain, which prompted the scream. At the hospital, it appeared that they discovered a brain aneurysm.

The family was presented with three options for Dianna: open brain surgery, go in arthroscopically through an artery, or simply go and possibly discover something entirely unexpected.

After an angiogram, however, the medical staff discovered that Dianna was a one-in-10 case when it turned out not to be an aneurysm. It was still a brain bleed, however, and as of last Thursday, she’d been at Foothills for 10 days. Hopefully, home as you read this. 

Sean’s reflection on the care they received was good. Speedy. 

Many of us discovered one of Sean’s favourite ways to pass the time last week: poker. It turns out this Bird is headed for the World Series of Poker. Sean decided to join thousands of guys at Deerfoot Casino competing to get into the World Series games, which feature a $300k grand prize. He managed to play his way into the series and played through last weekend and into Monday. We’ll learn tomorrow what happened!

As for the markets, Sean noted their inverse relationship to good news. If interest rates stay steady or drop, the market will be good. If good news affects the market to the point the rates go up, the market will be less predictable.

 But - you can hear more about the market TOMORROW - January 25th, at the RBC Market Outlook featuring Portfolio Strategist Jim Allworth and Portfolio Manager Sam Acton. Attendance is complimentary, but space is limited. Kindly RSVP to Roople Virmani at roople.virmani@rbc.com. The event will be from 5:30pm to 8 at West Island College, 7410 Blackfoot Trail SE.

 *BTW, if you’ve ever wondered about the history behind Montezuma’s revenge, here you go:

 “Moctezuma’s Revenge is a colloquial term for travelers’ diarrhea contracted in Mexico. The name refers to Moctezuma II (1466–1520), the Tlatoani (ruler) of the Aztec civilization who was overthrown by the Spanish conquistador Hernán Cortés in the early 16th century, thereby bringing large portions of what is now Mexico and Central America under the rule of the Spanish crown. The relevance being that Cortés and his soldiers carried the smallpox virus. The Mexicans had never been exposed to the virus. The resulting infection reduced the population of Tenochtitlan by 40 percent in the single year of 1520.”

 Travelers’ diarrhea. (2023, November 29th). In Wikipedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Travelers%27_diarrhea

Andy Lockhart - picked up on the theme of prolonged hospital stays by a spouse. In his case, a long while ago, Susan came home to, ah, a “hunting mess.” It’s not a euphemism for anything -it was literally the cleanup left over from a hunt Andy had been on. There might have been blood smears.

 Andy also had a terrific joke last week:

 “A man returns home a day early from a business trip. It’s after

 midnight.

 While en route home, he asks the cabbie if he would be a witness.

 The man suspects his wife is having an affair and he wants to catch her in

 the act. For $100 tip, in addition to the cab fare from the Toronto

 airport, the cabbie agrees.

 Quietly arriving home, the husband and cabbie tiptoe into the bedroom. The

 husband switches on the lights, yanks the blanket back and there is his

 wife in bed with another man! The husband puts a gun to the naked man’s

 head.

 The wife shouts, ‘Don’t do it! I lied when I told you I inherited money.

 HE paid for the Corvette I gave you.

 HE paid for our new Mercedes Benz convertible.

 HE paid for your Maple Leafs season tickets.

 HE paid for your Argo season tickets.

 HE paid for our cottage in the Muskoka’s.

 HE paid for our speed boat.

 HE paid for your country club membership and HE even pays for your monthly

 dues!’

Shaking his head from side-to-side, the husband lowers the gun. He looks over at the cabbie and says, ‘What would you do?’

 The cabbie replies, ‘I’d cover his ass with that blanket before he catches

 a cold, and give him back the Leafs tickets.’”

Dave Hicks - was in Paris with his family over the holidays. Foind it beautiful, but crowded.

After Paris, France, he visited the Paris of the Prairies, Winnipeg, last week for an outdoor speed skating competition. He managed ONE video before his phone froze.

He’s busy with work again, including more work up in the mountains, possibly in Banff. He’s also likely to be involved in development work resulting from the plans for the land around Glenmore Landing.

Rob Beasant - opened by announcing that the folks in his office anticipate a very strong market in 2024. He also has a video prepared discussing the Calgary Real Estate Board’s (CREB) forecast for 2024.