I’m not a huge curling fan, but whenever the world’s best teams assemble in Yorkton, my interest is peaked. I had the opportunity to catch a draw over the weekend and we are lucky to have this in our city. By all accounts, attendance was brisk for all draws and I think we all deserve a pat on the back. Hopefully, it comes back again next year. It brings a pretty good buzz to our local area.
Edmonton Sun sports writer Graham Hicks doesn’t pay attention to the news. He’s plugged in to his beat, which is the Edmonton Eskimos, but he’s completely out to lunch on the news. In recent weeks, Bell Media has slashed hundreds of jobs despite a 4% increase in profits. CHCH in Hamilton closed its doors entirely last weekend, although they do plan to reopen with a slimmer workforce in the coming days (and maybe already have). Hicks, in a recent article, is sour about Chris Jones leaving his job as coach of the Esks to accept double the money and more power with the Saskatchewan Roughriders. Hicks feels Jones is a terrible human being for expanding his personal portfolio at the expense of his employer. Yet, Hicks hasn’t noticed that in his own industry, there are employers everywhere tossing its workers aside as if they are nothing more than foam coffee cups. Some day it may come to pass that Hicks’ own employer decides to cut costs by lopping off part of its work force and if Hicks is a victim to that, at least he will be known by all of us as a loyal soldier. He will also have been known as incredibly gullible and dumb. This is 2015 (thank you Justin Trudeau). If you don’t look out for number one, nobody else will. I hope Hicks learns from the story he recently wrote and should another media outlet offer him a better gig, I would advise him to grab it. You just never know when your career will come to a crashing halt.
Global News reported last week on a Canadian couple who are millionaires and have retired despite being in their early 30’s. In the interview, the couple spoke of how they were able to sock away so much money in a short period of time and described some of the measures they continue to employ to maintain their riches. They don’t really have a home, but recently lived in a tropical area and ‘get by’ on $40 000 a year. They use a clothesline rather than a dryer. Their vehicle is a 2000 Toyota 4Runner, which they, pretty much, live out of. They have no kids, but are considering one, possibly two, in the future. They also never eat out at restaurants. But, hey, they are millionaires. I’m no millionaire, but somehow I think I’m much happier knowing I can head out for a pound of chicken wings whenever I want (usually when my clothes are in the dryer). I prefer my newer model truck and I’m quite okay having a building I can call home on a nightly basis. Â
From the ‘we can all sleep better at night’ file, Lucky Bastard Distillers in Saskatoon has been denied the trademark to its name because it’s ‘obscene’. It seems the people who are in charge of making these decisions don’t understand the meaning of the term. I don’t think I need to conduct an interview with the business owner to know that the meaning behind the name is that anyone who drinks the product is one lucky human being, rather than a lucky person who is obnoxious and despicable or a lucky person born to unmarried parents, or a lucky person who is also illegitimate. You can only laugh at the silliness, but this is no joke. Lucky Bastard Distillers has spent a ton of cash fighting the government to protect its brand. I think any decently educated person understands the spirit of the law, but this is ridiculous. Just another example of a bureaucrat justifying a needless job. I’m willing to bet if you grabbed 100 or so random people off the street, it would be overwhelming the number of folks who would be supporting Lucky Bastard.
The issue of ‘carding’ has hit Saskatchewan police forces. In Saskatoon, there is a movement to prevent an officer from stopping a suspicious person. In this day and age, there are those that consider it discrimination. I don’t know how we can expect police to do their jobs. To me, if you are wondering the streets at three in the morning, police have a right to ask you a couple of questions. But, people are paranoid that a police officer they’ve never met will frame them with a crime for no reason at all. I’ve never committed a crime, but I have been guilty of a laundry list of traffic offences and I can tell you that in every single case, the attitude I gave off was also the attitude used by the officer. Be nice people. I think you will find that, guilty or innocent, you will be given the same courtesy in return.
Nice person mentions this week to Dan Szwaluk, Shannon Leson, Jennifer Bruce, Janet Phair, and Gord Lees.
