According to this study, only 1/3 of projects on the lower Fraser River in BC’s lower mainland achieve the habitat preservation standard of “no net loss.”
Category Archives: Business
Green Talks with Burnaby Board of Trade, City of Burnaby
I enjoyed the Green Talks this morning sponsored by the Burnaby Board of Trade.
The City of Burnaby was also at the event to solicit input into its Environmental Sustainability Strategy (ESS).
I had the pleasure of being a member of the ESS Steering Committee, and am also a former member of the BBOT’s Environmental Sustainability Committee, so it was great to see ongoing progress in such initiatives.
The Green Talks included several speakers in a rapid-fire format, sharing sustainability programs from their organizations.
Folks checking out ESS panels and providing feedback
Super Creative Ink Festival
Had a fun time at the three-day Creative Ink Festival in Burnaby the last three days. Lots of good, inspirational speakers, who really got into the nuts and bolts of the writing life. While I’m more of an editor than a writer, I found all the sessions that I attended valuable.
Let’s refresh that daily word count target, and get writing!
Never Work for Free
Cleaning my office today I ran across some words of wisdom posted to the Society of Writers, Editors, and Translators (Japan) mail list back in 1996 by Fred Uleman, quoting “Hugh Gigante of MktgMavens”:
1. I never work free of charge
2. I never work cheap
3. I charge more than others because I am better than them
4. I never get paid based on performance, only deliverables
5. I define deliverables
6. I always have more of the client’s money than he has of my time
7. Rates go up every six months
8. People who want work free or on spec must first show that they are working on the same basis, and are a legal charity
9. Every client can be fired, any day
10. Repeat number 1.
Vancouver Camera Show & Swap Meet
Just saw this on Twitter, and it looks like fun.
Sunday, April 24 from 10:00 am at the Cameron Recreation Centre in Burnaby, Bc.
If ‘CRA’ Calls and Yells at You, Hang Up
Lots of folks have been getting the CRA SCAM phone call. I reported it to the Burnaby RCMP crime prevention folks, and here’s their response:
Thank for the information. The Canada Revenue Agency Tax Scam is quite prevalent during this time of year. You did the right thing and it is awesome that you have informed others about it. Please share this link to a useful video. CRA VIDEO - http://www.cra-arc.gc.ca/scrty/frdprvntn/menu-eng.html You can also report this information to the Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre (CAFC) as they collect data for investigations. CAFC - http://www.antifraudcentre-centreantifraude.ca/index-eng.htm TAX SCAMS - http://www.antifraudcentre-centreantifraude.ca/fraud-escroquerie/types/tax-contribuable/index-eng.htm Please let us know if you have any other concerns.
US Charging Ahead on Enviro Issues, Canada Stuck in the 50s
I’ve been attending the Salish Sea Ecosystem Conference, and as at previous ones, I am yet again in awe of coordinated volunteer – municipal – tribal (in Canada First Nations) – state – federal conservation efforts in the US.
Yes, we like to slag our southern neighbours for many things, but they are way ahead of us on many others.
Canada? We’re doing good here and there, but we suck at coordinated action. And in Canada, for the last decade at least, the burden has increasingly fallen on volunteers, with federal and provincial governments abdicating their responsibilities, and slashing enviro-related staff and funding.
A major hurt is that Canada is still so 20th century. To see the ruling-party hydroelectric dam platform in BC is to read something from the 1950s.
The US is demolishing dams, setting rivers, wildlife and salmon free, unleashing renewable, long-term natural and economic potential along the way.
Here in Canada, our governments still want to pour concrete in pristine rivers and flood massive areas of our most productive farmland and traditional First Nations hunting and fishing territories.
Shame.
Green/Blue initiatives will provide jobs.
I used to be a car guy – Vancouver Auto Show beckons
In the days of my youth (sorry, no Led Zep here : -), I used to be a car nut. I did all my own servicing until solid state and computertronics put much of that out of reach for backyard mechanics.
I bought, drove, and sold nearly a dozen used vehicles between age 16 and 25 or so…
An AMC or two (anyone remember those? Think Hornets and Matadors — relatively smaller cars for that era with punchy V-8s : -), a couple of Euro Ford Capris both 4- and 6-bangers…
A rusting-out Jaguar saloon… A Pontiac Grand Am with a 400-4 V-8 and RTS that I drove across Canada and back once, if not twice. A superb highway cruiser… A couple of trucks and vans (yes, the van was soon accessorized with big speakers and shag carpet, blush….)
Then I didn’t own a vehicle at all for the 14+ years I lived in Tokyo. We rented for weekend trips a few times, and drove my wife’s family vehicles when we visited up north in Aomori prefecture.
And when I returned to Canada, I matured into a so-called “environmental activist.”
So I/we have had one vehicle for the last 18 years, a solid, rather staid ’98 Subaru Outback.
But I feel myself wanting to go to the Vancouver Auto Show. I can check out the fantasy vehicles, the sports cars, the super trucks, and then bring home a few brochures on hybrids.
At this point in my life, I listen to my wife a lot. Wife wants a hybrid when we get our next ride. I won’t argue with that.
But I also want a truck for camping, fishing, canoeing, photography journeys, etc. A midsize one. A Tacoma would be nice…
Why Delete Email?
I often come across folks who seem to delete nearly every email after they’ve read it. I’m not talking spam here, I’m talking about all email they receive.
I do not understand why people do this. My email archive is a treasure trove dating back to the mid-1990s. Family, business, volunteer work… It’s all there.
But it takes up so much disk space!
Balderdash.
In over 20 years of archiving nearly all non-spam messages, my Thunderbird master email directory and all sub-directories total a measly 7 GB. I’ll leave you to figure out what a minuscule portion that is of my main 3 TB hard drive. Or, say, a modest slice of a 500 GB hard drive on a notebook.
Email is just text folks, and text is compact.
I have delved into my email archive many times to great effect.
You claim this, I claim that? I can provide you with a copy of our email trail. When did we agree to X? I can tell you it was July 21, 2005.
When did message board Y die? I can tell you that I was getting daily updates from it until Nov. 5, 2009.
But it’s such a mess!
I’ll hit you with another big Balderdash.
Search. Use search.
Folders. Use folders to file messages into.
Filters. Use filters to do filing automagically.
Computers are supposed to make our lives simpler, and they can, if we are willing to learn.
For many years, I’ve kept double archives, because I’ve set up my email in a way that all my addresses route through Gmail first, and are then forwarded to my host.
Gmail’s search is awesome. Gmail has tons of space, and if you run out, adding more is cheap.
LL Bean Customer Service Outstanding
I was disappointed that my new LL Bean cargo pants have developed a tear on a seam after just four or five wears.
But I am impressed with LL Bean customer service: a new pair will arrive in three to four days, along with a prepaid label to send the faulty pair back.
Thanks!
Oh, yeah, and it took less than two minutes to get through to a customer service representative on the phone. Impressive.
I like the Bean because they have a wide variety of men’s clothing with long inseams and arm lengths.