Early Birds, October 12, 2023
Early Birds, October 12, 2023
Attendance was a little light last week, but that allowed for various business and personal tips to come forward and be discussed.
Among the highlights:
Ross Mikkelsen (seconded by Jim Bladon): Tuxedo Cycle and Sports. Ross happened to go in looking for an inexpensive hockey bag to ship his daughter's equipment to her. After pointing Ross in one direction, the service person behind the counter pointed out used bags, and in the end, if I remember correctly, he wound up essentially GIVING Ross a bag and one other thing he'd been looking for. Well past above and beyond.
Then Paul Boucher mentioned Ross' shop Barbecues Galore for their continuing excellent work in annual visits to keep his studio fireplace in tip-top shape. They ordered and replaced a part for a 10-year-old fireplace to keep the place heated for the winter.
Paul also mentioned the trail Tire location across from Northill Mall. Their service resulted in a saving of over $200 on a recent visit.
At that point, Andy Lockhart mentioned Specialty Tires as a favourite tire spot in the city's south. They're at 421 53rd Ave SE.
This was followed by Dan Kennelly (I believe) mentioning Tire Pirates, who replaced Harper's Tires in one location. Excellent service and quick to get you in, which is not always the case during seasonal tire change season.
Staying with cars, National Glass was recommended as great for windshields.
Cal-Alta auto glass was also recommended. They already have reasonable, fair pricing and will give you $100 off for a donation to veterans.
In that flurry of recommendations came one “warning" about a solar energy installer/provider named Fluent Solar. Their BBB profile reflects the complaint record against the business. Paul Boucher mentioned he'd dig up the contact who had been the installer of record for Enmax when they were running a subsidized solar installation program. He'd been impressed. Here it is:
Adam Spouse
Partner
Water Valley Electrical Ltd
403-880-5140
wvelectrical.ca
Garry Friedrichsen - had a terrific line about a business “…that should open a bakery – they have so many turnovers.”
Then another recommendation, this time for a travel tour company called Collette Tours. They're looking at Portugal and the Azores next year. Roughly $5k for next September after adding a few extra nights in Lisbon, Portugal. More details on the company and the specific tour can be found here: https://www.gocollette.com/en/tours/europe/portugal/the-azores?packagedateid=94620&packageid=14779. Hey, if you time it right, you could visit Bird Michael McLennan!
Jim Bladon - spoke of a different area of interest in faraway places - specifically in the Israeli/Palestinian/Hamas conflict. It turns out that some of the barbers at Jim's barber of choice are of Palestinian descent. They definitely had an eye-opening version of events.
Kim is good after surgery. This operation has in the past needed to be handled in steps, as many as 5 different surgeries. This time, everything was done in one! Now Jim has to manage another impatient person in his house: Kim. (HE'S the other one! 😂 )
The potential Servus/Connect First credit union merger has a new end date after the earlier software snafu prevented the Connect First portion of the shareholder vote. November 9 is the date - and it will not be a digital/remote vote this time. It will be an in-person affair.
A few members of Jim and Tony's Rotary Club run a "glamping" facility, Glamping Alberta, at Castle Provincial Park. In case you're unfamiliar with Gamping, Andy Lockhart described it succinctly: "...when you pay a LOT of money to live like a homeless person." That being said, if your body's developed an aversion to camping "old-school" (i.e., sleeping on the ground), then these sorts of things might be a terrific getaway. They're planning an information session at Calgary's "big smoke," Grey Eagle Casino on November 23. You can see the accommodation here: https://glampingresorts.com/locations/castle-provincial-park-alberta/. And as to what glamping can look like, there’s this photo:
Brad Pachal - was looking forward to their water supply issue being resolved this week. Weather delayed things a bit, but everything should have been set right by the time we meet again this Thursday.
Don Davis - was out in Bragg Creek and again enjoyed the Italian farmhouse. Not cheap, but the food was superb. He and Pat drove around a bit and admired some of the beautiful places on acreages.
Don also wished Sean Baylis had been at least week's meeting. He could have addressed the sudden uptick in Costco shares after Don introduced his brother to their liquor stores.
Don also mentioned their "Malbec in a Box," which is a good wine that works out to be roughly $8.95 a bottle.
Another note from the "It's good to be Don" restaurant file - although, to be fair, this wasn't a first-hand experience. Don noted that Big Rock has turned the brewery restaurant into a smokehouse and that it's supposed to be terrific.
Ross Mikkelsen - followed Don's Costco story with another recommendation: Kirkland-branded scotches.
In business, Ross tried the recently added Zoom software AI feature. The software provides a roughly annotated call transcript, including who said what. After looking at it, Ross figured it was accurate roughly 80% of the time. He was suitably impressed.
Ross also mentioned the current villain/hero/scapegoat in all news AI: ChatGPT. He found it a real timesaver when working to come up with descriptions for the Barbecues Galore catalog.
If you haven't tried it yet, he added his voice to the chorus of folks urging you to play a bit to understand what it can do.
Andy Lockhart - closed the curtain on the golf season at Priddis.
He managed more rounds than his back surgeon had recommended: zero. Andy chose to follow the physio's advice instead.
Now that golf season 2023 is in the books, he can turn his attention back to the PHD. That'd be Projects Half Done in Andy-speak.
Tony Fisher - fresh from a Rotary club meeting last week, noted the work of their "World Services committee." Tony was struck again that there was SO much need.
Steve Price - picked up on the AI theme - but from an energy perspective. The latest estimate on the electrical power required to keep AI going at its current rate will be in the terawatts!
He also noted that many companies/institutions are starting to use AI to detect AI. What could possibly go wrong?
In business, Steve reminded us of the complexity that Dwayne Vinck has described in the journey to get listed and approved on the TSX. Expander Energy heard back from the TSX. They have to alter the voting structure of the blocks of stock. They're working on it.
And that’s all until Thursday! See you at Inglewood.
