J.P. is the man!!

Those of you who like baseball, and live in Ontario (or Canada for that matter) might like the Blue Jays. And, if you do, what do you think about what J.P. Riccardi (the general manager) is doing.

Personally, I think it is awesome. The Jays now have a quality starting rotation headed up by Roy Halladay, and the recently acquired A.J. Burnett. To back up the starting rotation there is now a quality bullpen, with the newly obtained closer, B.J. Ryan. Also, it was great to see J.P. get Lyle Overbay (maybe now they can get rid of that dead weight they had at 1st base last season a.k.a Eric Hinske). I'm not gonna say that we are gonna have another world series this coming season, but I might like to suggest that the Jays may not finish behind the Red Sox and Yankees this year, and they may even win the wild card.

Whatever the coming season brings, I'm pretty pumped for baseball to start...can't wait to see these new guys in the Jays uniform.

An update for those who are interested

I've been a bit absent lately...but here I am again. Just as an update on my work situation: On Dec 1st, we voted 84% in favour of turning down the contract offer from the company. The offer was the deal that was ratified by our other branches. It contained job security for them, which was good for them. BUT, for us, because we are a new facility, we don't have to worry about being shutdown...or at least we hope not, because they have so much invested in our building.

So, the union will hold elections for a negotiating committee, and they will begin talks with the company to try and get us a good deal. That's where we're at right now.

I'm on feed blitz

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Thanks for reading. :)

how 'bout those argos

I just wanted to write a quick note about the bust that the argos turned in on Sunday. After having witnessed the game, it doesn't surprise me that they are not headed to the Grey Cup this year. Watching them all season, except for a few games, it didn't seem as though they had that fight they needed to really put teams away. After all the chances the had in the first half on Sunday, and not being able to capitalize, it's no surprise that they completed the "blow-up" in the second half. Give Montreal credit...they lost their starting running back, and then their back-up (Lapointe...I think) had an amazing 2nd half in which he scored a couple of TD's...I think, I was kinda zoning out by this point. I couldn't believe how bad they were in the 2nd half after having dominated most of the 1st Quarter.

Oh well, there's always next year.

this is a test

this is a test........

well I might as well too, eh?

Hey there, everyone else is doing this blog thing, so I might as well too, eh?

Of course, those of you who know me well, will know that many of my blogs will have to do with sports. BUT, I will come up with a blog, here and there, about something that matters (my wife will be proud of me).

I will start my blogging career with a non-sport blog. It has to do with things I have been thinking about recently, and I guess I just feel like venting a bit. I have already vented about this, to people other than my wife, but now I will share it with you.

I work for Loblaw Companies East, here in Cambridge, at the distribution centre on Fountain St. N. Recently one of our DC's in the GTA (Erin Mills's) was in contract negotiations, because their contract expired in June or July or thereabouts. So, during this time we would hear about company offers, etc, etc. One of the offers, and the contract which they eventually voted in, included a few takebacks...which are huge...if you are thinking FUTURE at all. They were going to introduce a two-tier wage system in which any new hires would have a top rate of $4.50/hr (approx.) less than current employees, and instead of taking 5 years to get there it will take six. Along with that I had heard there will be no Christmas Bonus (usually we get one weeks pay) and no C.O.L.A.

So, after having heard all this, and eventually scanning a copy of the proposed agreement, I decided to do a little research on the financial well-being of Loblaw Companies Limited. So, I went to a business website and checked out the financial statement for LCL. Here is what I found:
From June '04 to June '05 - Total revenues were just under $26 bill.
- Total profit was 1.6 bill.
- Net profit was 948 mill.

After having seen this, It kinda burned me up inside. It also made me realize (maybe I just never really thought about it before) what real business is all about. I mean look how much their net profit was and then they offer their workers reduced wages, and other cuts. I mean give me a break. I don't mean you have to give us a huge raise, but share the wealth a little bit. We're the ones who have worked for you...give us a little respect. Autoworkers are making more than we are and the auto companies aren't making any money (although I guess a lot of those workers will be out of work soon) you guys are making huge profits and you offer wage reductions. WOW!

Anyhow, I will leave it at that...it feels good to vent. Thanks for reading if you got to the end.