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Good Morning Friends,
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today is Sunday September 20, 2009
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The above picture is me when I was eighteen years old in 1967. I am sure many of you have seen this photo before. Well, here it is again just to let you know that I really was a younger person at one time in my life. I am thinking back to those times in my life right now. The main thing that is entering my mind about that period is the uncertainty surrounding the time period. Young people did not know what the future had in store, but we knew that we had to go to school to try and advance ourselves. But, this was also the period when you really did not have to go to school to make it either. Jobs were still available that could allow a young person to make it in society without really having to acquire some big fancy education. I have some personal friends as a matter of fact who are a testimony to this reality. Some made in the business world and very successfully actually, while others made it in the so called blue collar or labour related fields. It was still possible to walk into a good paying union job and make some big dough without going through all of the hassles of studying hard and spending time and energy learning about some profession or the like. Of course, things gradually changed as the years advanced. The blue collar or industrial jobs were disappearing along with the decline in unionization and that kind of thing. The logging and mining industries would decline as opportunities to just walk into a good paying job. I suppose some opportunities still exist in the oil industry and in construction, but generally speaking there has been a shift away from these immediate opportunity-type jobs. Most jobs require some sort of education or training. Gone are the days of the on the job training and the fast buck I suppose. There are still the vast amounta of entry level jobs in retail and that kind of thing, but nobody I don't think is going to make it in society and acquire the kinds of things that a person could achieve some fifty years ago. Society has just changed that is all. New technologies have made jobs redundant and employers have found ways to keep labour costs down, relatively speaking. So, what does all this mean for me? Well, it means that I went to university and do not really have much to show for my investment if you want the truth of the matter. Is this a good or a bad thing? The question is actually irrelevant quite frankly. Irrelevant because the past is the past and the future is the future. The only thing that I have to figure out my personal situation is my analytical skills and my ability to philosophize my condition and station in life. I think that is nature's gift to man. Philosophy is one of man's survival skills actually. For with this mental attribute man can do and survive anything. He can be a winner when he is actually a loser and he can deny reality and turn a dream into a working fact of life for him if he chooses to do so. And, man's philosophy is of his own making as well and that is what makes it so special. So, did I waste my time at university given what I have just told you? Not exactly would be my response. My university education and surrounding circumstances did in fact allow me to survive and to be who I am. Carl Baydala is the product of his past and of his education and experiences. Dear friends, there is only one Carl Baydala and there is no more. Lucky you eh? What you see is what you get - a survivor who is able to pick his way through life and to know who his friends and his enemies are. This is the big survival skill dear friends. Being able to distinguish the good and the bad guys is something that a guy has to know. One needs to know who is on his side when a decision is going to be made that benefits the person knowing these things. For in knowing who your allies are allows you to navigate through this business of life in a more complete and professional way. I think my university education helps me accomplish this task more completely. But, my education needed a little help along the way of course, and that came in the form of the interaction with human beings and to learn how these creatures actually functioned in a variety of situations. That is the practical side of life of course.
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Which brings me to last night's activities. I went shopping last night at a new store that just opened up. It is a large store by our standards here and it is competing with already established stores in the area. It is a grocery store and has a furniture section and dry goods as well. I guess it is kind of like a Super Store more than anything else. You know, supplying the same kinds of goods and diversifying into other areas. It even has a little coffee shop setup as well. Well, I cruised the store and examined the prices. To be perfectly honest about the whole thing, I found nothing that would indicate superior prices over and above its competitors. I asked one of the staff on the floor as to how they were going to proceed and that kind of thing. They have a policy of maintaining generally lower prices said this clerk. I asked if they were going to have weekly fliers and that kind of thing. And, the answer was no. Well, as a shopper I need these weekly fliers to determine where the bargains are because that is how I shop. Now, this is a big store and it is not going to be cheap to run even though they say they are keeping the costs down. " We don't have any overhead " says this clerk. Well, that is fine, but you still have to get the people into the store and you have to get them to buy things. Now, I went shopping just the other day at a competitor. And, the thing that drew me into the store was the weekly specials. I talked to a clerk there and he said that they were surviving because of the weekly specials. It is the thing that is keeping them going in this tough and competitive market. And, that is why I go to that store, it is because of the special pricing on certain others. And, it is the same with the other store in the local market as well. They only get my business when they can entice me into their stores. I am wondering how this big new fancy store is going to survive in the midst of all of this competition. I did not see overall any evidence of an across the board pricing advantage. The one thing that caught my eye was the price of can milk. It was $1.39 cents a can. Relatively speaking that is not a bad deal. With the recent price in dairy prices it is very hard to get a good price on milk and the like. A good deal on can milk not too long ago was .99 cents a can. But, no more. An average price for a can of can milk is in the two dollar range now. I have seen some for $1.50 and even $1.25 cents a can. But, these are rare instances for today's pricing. So, I bought 12 cans of can milk at the price above and felt like I was getting a pretty decent deal. Who knows if I will stumble upon the $1.25 cent can in the future. So, for the moment the price of this can milk represented an opportunity and that is why I bought it. The staff at this new store though were very friendly and helpful. They helped me wheel my buggy out to my vehicle. They have some kind of a policy as well that is supposed to be aiding the community. Part of their profits will be channeled back into the community to help the down and outers. So, that is their gimmick and their method of operation. I suppose if the word gets out that they are doing good work in the community and if they can keep competitive ALL OF THE TIME then they will have a fighting chance for survival.
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I put some videos out last night onto You Tube so you might want to check them out. There are nine of them and the theme was Memories of Summer 2009. It is just some videos which I did not upload before that is all. Talk to you all later. And, I should be making another trip to the dump as well in the next couple of days. And, that is always fun for me of course.
