Need Feedback! A Winnipeg Business Idea....

Jul 28th/09

Hey everyone,

All this talk about business start-up and whatnot has got me thinking. In fact I've been thinking about this for quite awhile and I'm just looking for some feedback.

I want to open a comic store in the west end of the city. Seriously...

Now I know there is the "big boy" close to polo park. Comics America. And of course the one by Assiniboine Park (right by Sergent Sundae). I'm talking about opening one up right in St. James. Close to unicity. Something to service the comic nerds and geeks on the far end of the city that don't wanna travel 40 minutes to buy the newest issue of Spider-Man.

Pretty much I've just been thinking long and hard about my future. What I want to do, where I want to be and so on. And talking to my roomie Holly (I love that girl) She said "You should open a comic store!".

I'm just honestly looking for some feedback here. I'm not only talking comics. Collectibles, rare movies (VHS or DVD), certain clothing lines. Stuff like that. A store that I could walk into and wanna buy stuff pretty much.

Keep in mind, this is just an idea. Well more than an idea actually, it's kind of a dream. It's either that or become a director in porn or other film mediums.

So yeah, hit me back! Do you think the 'Peg needs another comic store? Should I not think about this at all and just focus on my "career" at EECOL.

Quite honestly, that scares me....

Looking For A Place To Happen

Jul 21st/09

So it's officially been a year since I've come to this little slice of paradise known as Fort McMurray. Just a few thoughts and revelations that I've learned this past year.

1) If you own a fast, expensive car. The regular rules of the road do NOT apply to you. You are allowed to drive as fast an as crazy as you wish! (Note to self: Buy fast, expensive car)

2) Price gouging is eminent. Do not try to haggle, and do not bother searching around for any cheaper prices. You will not find them. Walmart will become your best friend.

3) Line ups are also eminent. If you are shopping, plan ahead and add another 20 minutes for the wait. This applies at Walmart, Canadian Tire and 7-11.

4) Crack heads are abundant, do not carry loose change. They can hear the sound from over a mile away and will converge.

5) Guys, do not trust an attractive woman who approaches you in a bar. They are after one thing and one thing only....think about it.

6) Girls, do not trust attractive guys who approach you in a bar. They are also after one thing and one thing only...realize that they've been with alot of number 5's though.

7) Spruce beetles are evil and they will attack you. Be vigilant and do not back down. That will only encourage them.

8) Newfies are abundant in Fort Mac. You will have to learn new what part of the island they are from in order to properly communicate with them. Trust me, they all have their own way of talking.

9) Bomber fans are not welcomed at Longshots. I'll just leave it at that.

10) And last but not least, do not get attached to people. They are just gonna leave anyways.

Anyways life is going great here. I'm hoping the "Ryan Anderson MB Tour 09" still goes thru like planned. We'll see what happens.

Stay tuned for next time...pictures!!

The price of ducks has dropped....but the cost has gone up!

Apr 02nd/09

So the Syncrude or Suncor was in court this past week. Actually they both were in court for horrible offenses.

Now you may have ready my previous article on the 500 ducks that were found dead in a tailings pond. Now this week Syncrude was in court to answer for those charges and guess what. The duck total has jumped up! To 1600 ducks!!! And here is the kicker...

The Alberta government has known this for 9 months.

Yeah, way to hide that!

And Suncor was in court today answering charges on an accidental dumping into the athabasca! Seems that one of their plants broke down last year that regulates this, and a shitload of polluted water dumped into the athabasca! So the guy responsible for it was fired, syncrude was fined $150000 bucks, and there was a couple more things.

So that's northern Alberta for ya, destroying the world one duck at a time!

A story I forgot to add...

Feb 11th/09

Just wanted to also share a short story written by one of my co-workers. He sent it out to me here on site. Kinda an interesting tale so to speak.

There once was a small blade of grass who would have liked to have been taller. He did everything he could, steroids, growth hormones and even tried working out, but he had no arms. :( So he slipped into depression, getting caught in the grooves of people's shoes. One day, the pain was too much and he started secreting a scent that was extra-special to caterpillars and the like. And just as a horde of plant-loving insects came barreling at him on the horizon, a small blade of grass, quite like him spoke up. "Why do you do this to yourself? We could have been so happy! I love you, Timmy!" Timmy was flabbergasted!! He then was infuriated! "You waited now to tell me?! You bitch, why would you do this?"

Timmy spent his last moments cussing out his only true love.

Yeah...my co-worker is kinda messed up.

How much for 500 ducks?

Feb 10th/09

So I've been on site for about a week now, and I've got to say...it's big.

Suncor is Alberta's first oil sand processing plant. They are also the largest. And I'm pretty sure if there is a hole in the ozone layer, it's right above Suncor or even Fort Mac. The main plant looks like something out of Lord of the Rings. Black with alot of smoke, flaming towers, and bright orange lights. I half expect black dragons to circle around here.

So how much for 500 ducks you ask? Well according to the provincial and federal government, up to $800000 dollars. You see 9 months ago, over 500 ducks were found dead in suncors trailing pond. What is a trailing pond? No idea! Guess that's where all the toxic waste gets dumped into. And it's more of a lake than a pond according to a specialist. This specialist also goes on by saying ducks die there every year, it's just that this past year someone forgot to turn on the duck deterrent system. This "pond" happens to be on their migratory path.

So now the governments have decided to lay charges on suncor, which could amount to like I said before $800000 in fines AND 6 months in jail. So the question is who is gonna be the poor bastard who goes to jail for this? Surely not the CEO of Suncor. That's preposterous. I honestly have no idea who the poor sucker will be...highly doubt anyone will go to jail for this. It's actually speculated that the only reason Suncor is being charged is just to look good for Obama and show that Canada does care about it's ducks and all wildlife.

So yeah, pretty much I feel that I work for an evil corporation who's only intent is the exploitation of this planet for financial gains. Well...who isn't now a days.

More to come in the coming weeks. After all I am stuck out here for a while!

Cheers!

A new year, a new outlook and a new sensation!

Jan 12th/09

Well it's a new year and I thought now would be an awesome time to write about how life in Fort Mac is.

It's different, I'll give ya that much. I honestly don't think I've consumed so much booze in such a short period of time. Nothing else up here to do on weekends. Seriously, it's like living back up in northern Manitoba. Nothing to do during winter. It's horrible!

On the plus side, I have acquired a video camera! I plan on using this camera for good...not evil! I plan on taking a walk sometime and getting a few shots of the bridge they are building. They've started a 5 lane bridge to help with things going on site. You see, in order to get really big parts onto site, they gotta fly em in. It's kinda kewl seeing a helicopter carrying a huge...whatever they need.

When this bridge is done, that kinda takes care of the need to fly. They are also building a couple new overpasses in the area because traffic is HELL here! Don't know if you've heard my rants, but the traffic is BAD!

So this bridge should be done by the time I have to leave. Same with the overpasses and stuff. I wanna get some footage of it in the next couple years so I can watch this monstrosity being built. Right now all they have up is a couple of the supports...we'll see how far they get in winter!

In work related news, I got asked if I wanna work on site for a couple months. Yup, they wanna stick me in a trailer in the middle of nowhere totally isolated with nothing to do. It has it's busy moments, but it's also pretty dead at some times. It's about an hour drive (more of that HORRIBLE traffic) there and back! On the plus side, I get 10 hours of overtime a week!! So that pretty much gives me an extra week a month of pay.

So total isolation, horrible drive, and possibility of going a little stir-crazy. Well, it'll be interesting to actually check the site out. That and I also get a company truck! Sweet!

Anyways, if I can think of more stuff...I'll write it down!

Cheers all, happy new year and keep on rocking!

Ryan

Welcome, Ryan!

Dec 08th/08

This is Ryan's new blog. He will do with it as he may.

Among other things, Ryan is BFP's new Official Correspondent to the Western Region, and is currently reporting from Fort McMurray, Alberta.

Welcome to the bigflamingpile.com team, Ryan.