One Hundred Years Ago

As we approach 2016, let's jump back in time to the year 1916 and see how much things have changed in a hundred years.

Alberta ranchers 1916

Women fight for and earn the right to vote for the first time in Alberta.

The tallest structure in the world was the Eiffel Tower.

The 'Great War' (World War One) is in it's second of a four year campaign. There is an anti-German riot in Calgary. On the day of the riot, Calgary’s city council voted to have all people born in enemy countries “immediately discharged from the city service” and replaced with returned soldiers. Berlin, Ontario, changed it's name to Kitchener because they did not want to appear as supporters of Germany.

World War One also saw the introduction of income tax by The Dominion Government as a 'temporary' measure to help fund the war effort.

Part of the war effort...sending socks to Canadian troops.

A telegraph operator made approximately $825.00 per year. A steam railway conductor could expect to earn $1225.00 per year, while a farm labourer made about $35.00 a month during the farming season. Interestingly, female farm labourers only made about $18.00 a month for the same work, so things have only changed a little considering women still only earn 79 cents on the dollar compared to men today.

Canadians sent 7,500,000 pieces of mail and the major mode of transportation was by train, with citizens taking 6,610,000 rides.

Canada was experimenting with 'Daylight Savings Time' and eventually made it official with legislation.

52% of the population of Canada was under 25, and only 4.3% were over 65. The ratio of men to women 1.3:1

Approximately 90% of all births took place at home

A loaf of bread cost 6 cents.
Eggs were 34 cents a dozen.
It cost 49 cents for a 2 lb sirloin steak.

Most women only washed their hair once a month, and used Borax or egg yolks for shampoo.

Canada passed a law that prohibited poor people from entering into the country for any reason.

The leading cause of death was pneumonia and influenza, followed by tuberculosis and diarrhea.

Edmonton 1916

The population of the entire province of Alberta was 495,351, as gathered in a census, some of which was conducted by members of the Northwest Mounted Police. Calgary boasted a population of 43,700 and Edmonton had almost 25,000. Just as interesting was that this was part of a population boom which took place over a 15 year span, with the provincial population being just 73,000 people in 1901.

Two out of every 10 adults couldn't read or write and literacy was often defined by the simple ability to write your own name.

Rodeo's first side-delivery chute is designed and made by the Bascom brothers on their Bar-B-3 Ranch at Welling, Alberta.

There was no such things as "Mother's Day" or "Father's Day".

Laudanum is an opiate derivative!

Marijuana, cocaine, and various forms of opiates, such as Laudanum, were becoming regulated but still available over the counter at many local drugstores.

Back then pharmacists said, "Heroin clears the complexion, gives buoyancy to the mind, regulates the stomach, bowels, and is a perfect guardian of health!"

The Low Canadian Dollar V.S. Motorcycle Imports

Me, at our booth at the Motorcycle Show(s)

The Calgary and Edmonton Motorcycle Shows are just 8 and 15 days away, respectively, and I'm gearing up for the events. The insurance company I work for, BlueCircle, is one of, if not THE, largest, insurers of motorcycles in Alberta and we always have a large presence at the shows. It's a great chance to see a lot of our clients and chat, plus meet some new riders and explain our philosophy on why you need to be properly insured on your special ride with our unique policies.
Of course, the other beauty of these two events is that all of our friends at the many motorcycle dealerships of Alberta are also there, all in one place, and we can stop in and say hello and find out what's going on in the industry. Usually I spend a lot of time on the road, visiting the dealerships one at a time, and don't always get to see every individual, what with different work schedules and there being just me in my capacity of marketing and promotions.
And, speaking of 'the industry', the point of this post is about how the exchange rate is affecting new motorcycle sales, as well as parts sales, in Canada. As an example, at 30 cents on the American dollar, you can add a a whopping $6000.00 to a typical $20,000.00 Harley! Ouch!
I read an article which quoted Bob Ramsay, president of the Motorcycle and Moped Industry Council, who are also the promoters of all 7 of the motorcycle shows across Canada. Mr. Ramsay says "If it's at par, it's good for the Canadian importer. But where it is now, you need to try to find every advantage you can," He also states that the big names in the motorcycle industry, Harley-Davidson, Honda, Yamaha, Kawasaki, Suzuki and BMW, compete globally and have strategies to cope with currency fluctuations. 
"You're going to see a very interesting market in the new year because all companies are going to be trying to ensure that they can compete on price, but also on the quality of products. As an example, Harley-Davidson recently replaced Deeley, a longtime distributor, with a new Canadian subsidiary more closely integrated into the company's global operations. The head of the new subsiduary, Anoop Prakash, says Harley-Davidson can use its global reach and currency hedging to offset the loonie's increasingly weak buying power, something the former distributor couldn't accomplish.
So, click on The Motorcycle Shows to follow the link and see where your local show is being held. And, if you're planning to attend in Edmonton or Calgary, be sure to pop by the BlueCircle booth, say hello, and I'll give you some our great swag. And,  just a little blurb about our great insurance packages! LOL

I always enjoy our booth location, possibly to do with who's our neighbour :)

Green Inititiatives

BlueCircle likes 'green' initiatives. That's why we went to our Docu-Sign program and cut our paper use by 60%, and we'll do even more when we fully utilize EPIC, our new Broker Management System.

Of course, with a slump in the traditional energy sector, perhaps partially driven by the public's interest in reducing our carbon footprint, it's great to see some fresh ideas about how best to provide us the power we need without killing the planet.

To that end,Steeper Energy Canada Ltd. has developed a technology to turn biomass – plant matter – into heavy fuel that burns like diesel. The initiative is to produce liquid fuels and chemicals that would be equivalent to petroleum products but using this biomass, typically made up of forestry and agricultural waste, and sometimes crops which are grown specifically for use in the process.

Calgary has in recent years become a small but increasingly vibrant hub for the development of technologies that use biomass to replace fossil fuels. It can also be used as a carbon sink for removing CO2 from the atmosphere.As the oil and gas industry sheds jobs, companies and the city itself must look to innovation and research to develop more sustainable solutions that would also be in line with the province’s new climate-change policy and planned tax on carbon emissions.

The big difference between oil and biomass is that true biomass is plant matter already part of the natural carbon cycle. Trees and tall grasses, for example, remove carbon dioxide from the atmosphere while they grow. Upon death, they decompose, returning some of the carbon back to the environment. As an energy source, biomass is considered carbon-neutral because its combustion adds no new carbon to the natural cycle.

Specialty Insurance

Since I work for an insurance brokerage, I received this funny little piece on 'specialty insurance' from our friends and colleagues over at April Insurance, who specialize in niches of expert know-how insurance. They have developed and offer a wide range of tailor made products for commercial and personal lines, and we're talking big boats, trucking companies, travel and expatriation insurance, and non-standard auto, amongst other things.
With Christmas in mind, the team at April decided they would take on Santa as a client and cover him for his specialized business operation. Needless to say, this is quite a task and has some very interesting criteria, like all of Santa's 'merchandise' being shipped all together, in one lot, world wide. That's quite the risk, I can tell you! Then consider the fact that Santa enters the premises of over 1.85 billion different children and what potential there is for an accident, like damaging a roof top or chimney. And, don't even start thinking about the immense cyber risk, as Santa does keep personal info on all of those children!!
Here are the graphics on how the math works out, and though it is a pretty big price tag, Santa must be considerate of the fact that his assumed revenue is in the billions!!

Holiday Chuckles

A few more laughs with a Christmas angle.

Since I previously had a post with photos of cats and Christmas trees, here's one for the dog owners! haha

Got pranked maybe?

Maybe these are the guys that pulled the prank in the previous photo

The gents in the photo above would like their Christmas party date to wear this dress :)

A new 'spin' on the traditional Christmas tree.

LOL

Not Amused

The Griswolds finally got their tree!

Surf's Up Santa

This scenario is more likely than Surf's Up Santa

Santa 'pimped his ride'.

Oil Facts

There's no doubt that Canada, and Alberta, seem to be on Santa's naughty list when it comes to oil and gas production, but is it justified? We know that there is a push toward reducing green house gases and finding alternative fuel sources but why the big hate specifically for Alberta and our industry?
Here's a few facts that might make you wonder if 'opponents' have some sort of hidden agenda and fueling the fire for the negative campaign. Oooh, can you say conspiracy theory!! 

Fashion Santa

I saw this guy on the news the other night and had to check out the story a little more, since it was kind of funny. Apparently, this very svelte and handsome fellow, who is also quite stylish, now appears  as 'Fashion Santa" in a mall somewhere in Toronto. It seems he is quite popular, particularly with the ladies, and will pose for 'selfies' if you make a charitable donation to the local food bank.
His actual name is Paul Mason and it seems he's a self made model who promoted himself through Instagram, got noticed, and found himself doing some modeling gigs. Lately he used a unique promotional angle with the Fashion Santa, which is a  nice bit of self marketing and something unique, that's for sure.

A handsome fellow for sure

Santa does love velvet, especially red velvet!!

Fashion magazine spreads!

he doesn't mind posing, particularly for a good cause.

Did I mention that he was handsome, and that he was a hit with the ladies? 

Sharing Some Christmas Humour

Here's a few more funny photos I came across, with a bit of a Holiday Season twist!

Certainly a lot less work to do for neighbour two!! LOL

Maybe Buzz got sick of Christmas music starting in November.

The 'Fireplace Channel" fireplace. haha!

Maybe this is an invasion of some sort?

Water Ambassadors

Water Ambassadors Canada (WAC) is a faith-based, non-profit organization committed to providing clean, safe drinking water to desperately poor people in developing countries. Working with in-country partner organizations, they arrange for teams to go on short-term trips (7-10 days) to build and repair wells, install water filtration and chlorination systems, construct bio-sand filters, and teach health and hygiene to the locals.
I have the pleasure of working with Kolyn from Next Digital, who provide our tech support and keep the machines running properly. Kolyn just returned from a trip to Central America, where he and a crew of volunteers did some of this important work with Water Ambassadors in providing disadvantaged communities with clean, potable water. When you consider that a child dies somewhere in the world every 90 seconds due to a water related disease, and that women and children spend approximately 125 million hours per day collecting water (yes, per day) , you'll see why it is so important to do this volunteering. Kolyn stated that with the work the Water Ambassadors did, the time to collect water from a safe, clean source went from a 90 minute trip to mere minutes. Way to go Kolyn!

How fortunate are we Canadians to have such an abundance of clean, fresh water, and to have amazing volunteer 'world citizens' like Kolyn?

Time Flies!

Wow! It's been almost a month since writing anything on the blog, proof that time flies. I've been busy with all sorts of things, many which could be lumped into "Special Projects", particularly with work.  Everything from learning our new Broker Management System to helping organize and host our company Christmas Party. Speaking of which, there's been plenty to do with getting ready for that occasion, further adding to my excuses for not posting something sooner.
So, to get things rolling again, here's a little series of Xmas related photos to bring in a bit of humour and start back on the program.
Cat people may nod their heads at this and even though none of the photos are actually related to one another directly, they do fit together in this sequence.

Act natural

Act nonchalant 

 Cat proof