Major–General Lewis Mackenzie retired Canadian forces, was a guest on Christi Clark’s interview show and she asked him how many people there were in the Canadian forces. His answer was, “Take Maple Leaf Gardens in Toronto and put them all in seats and there would be three thousand seats that would not be filled.”...

September 30th sees the beginning of the “do not call” national list. Telemarketers, financial, cell phones, and all the outbound call centres are getting ready for Canada’s try at the list that the United States introduced in 2005. Telemarketing could become a thing of the past, or will they figure out another way to bother you while your having dinner?...

I have never heard of anything like this before. A golfer in Vancouver is suing Simon Fraser University after he hit a hole–in-one in a golf tournament with the prize advertised as a Jeep Cherokee. The golfer James A. Brown has taken it to court. For some reason the University has refused to transfer the ownership to Brown. I don’t know why...

Okanagan Spring Brewery of Vernon is listed as the third largest brewer in the province. Labatt Breweries in Creston is still number two with Molson number one in the province...

The Regina Leader Post newspaper did an outstanding job in honouring the Little General, Ron Lancaster. The football hero was number one in that province and deservedly so. You can probably buy a souvenir copy of the special edition...

The battle among Canada's movie channels is getting more competitive everyday with news that HBO, or at least its name, is coming north. The Movie Network and Movie Central have plans to launch HBO Canada at the end of October, renaming two of their existing channels for the very special broadcaster. The deal brings the "full slate" of programming into Canada. Both TMN and MC already carry a great deal of HBO programming, but Canadians still wanted more. We all wanted the comedy series, the live specials, the sporting events and the behind-the-scenes content.
M More, one of the five channels operated by TMN, will be branded as HBO Canada, according to a company spokesperson, noting that the channel has tended to overlap with the main TMN channel. Likewise, a channel in the MC group will also be renamed...

With the new credit cards being distributed by the card companies in Canada you soon will have a card with a special computer chip that allows you to control the payment process. You place the card in the machine, you put in your PIN number punch OK and the transaction is completed. But the merchants don’t want you to leave without signing. I can’t figure out what that is for. They just don’t trust the new system I guess. Here is what it says in the new guide to security you receive with the new card. “Enter your PIN instead of validating the transaction with your signature.” The signature is not required. That seems to have them baffled. In the States if the transaction is $25 or less, you don’t sign, you just pay the bill and leave...

Future Shop is getting ready to enter a new world of retail. The owner Best Buy is making some changes. A new store format is being tried out in Edmonton that should be open in early December. If it all works it will be the master plan for Future Shops around the country. They will be twice the size of traditional Future Shops as well as more open and more airy. The reason the store needs to be larger is because of the merchandise it will be carrying. How about this, home automation systems that dim the lights, close the blinds, lock the doors. Exercise equipment with a TV built into it. Electronic music instruments and equipment like 100 guitars in the store. Best Buy bought Future Shop in 2001...

The new project proposed for downtown Penticton is for two thirty-story buildings on the site of the old Super-Valu store on Martin. I do get a number of emails on when a new grocery outlet is going to be built downtown. The public misses it. This is supposed to be a Vancouver developer who expects if everything is approved to be able to start the construction in a couple of years. He has appointed two project managers Tom and Elaine McGrath of Oliver to run the local show. Yes, there is a grocery store included...

Speaking of grocery stores we went over to the new Wal-Mart early on Sunday morning to look around and of course ended up shopping for a few things. It has a spectacular grocery section in the new Supercentre. A good presentation of products. I like the way they have set up the produce department. It would be interesting to know who packages their fresh meat. It is huge and it was getting busy. The opening, according to the staff has been hectic...

Just one final note on the what happened to gasoline prices when the horrible weather in the Gulf was heading towards the United States. Word came that because of what “might” happen the prices at the pumps would rise immediately and they did. Are you still asking why? It was a straight cash grab and when “big oil” came back after that weekend and found out there hadn’t been a big hit to gasoline production in the Gulf they had to back track. But that is never easy for “big oil” profits on the weekend were in the millions of dollars. It took them days to creep back when we really should have been putting an extra thirty cents in our pockets because that is how much they raised the pump prices since February. The gulf by the way produces 1.3 million barrels or 24 per cent of the U.S. domestic supply. Alberta produces 2.5 million barrels a day for the U.S. market daily.