Alberta BS Thread

Well given that there are now a few active Albertans on the Canada BS thread I think maybe an Albertan BS thread is in order. It should help to avoid clogging up the rest of the countries thinking with what's going on in our own backyards.

To start us off, if anyone joins in, how are gas prices moving in your area? Here gas was below 70 cents a liter at the beginning of the month but it's now over 80 cents for whatever reason. Has that phenomena made it's way north yet?

BTW other Canadians are perfectly welcome to post here here. Much like how we treat the people who move here.

 

I paid $0.779 in Devon, and $0.869 in Grande Prairie last week, for Supreme both times. Haven't fueled up since the 16th, as I've been out in the bush since, so not sure what fuel costs up here more recently.

 

Yeah, I just found it interesting that fuel moved 15 cents in a short time here. Usually they excuse such a move with a failure somewhere in the supply chain but I didn't hear of anything in the paper so I was wondering if someone had an inside track.

Anyone going to the Ghost Trail rehab program open house tonight from here?

 

In Calgary the prices seem to fluctuate depending on where you are in the city. I usually do my weekly shopping in Okotoks where the gas is 6 to 10 cents cheaper (68 cents) than the stations along MacLeod Trail (78 cents).

I make sure to fill up at Costco or Superstore for an additional discount.

In addition to gas moving, maybe we should talk about house prices moving

 

Are prices dropping much yet on houses in calgary? I wonder how the new lambo dealer is doing lol.

 

I would say no in the low to middle end (where most people are) but in the luxury end the prices have dropped noticeably. Looked at a few show homes this weekend and what we saw were the house flippers who still want to recoup well beyond their input costs for shoddy workmanship in a bad economy....good luck.....I'm sure some sucker will buy it.

The Lambo dealership - LOL. The 10 times I've driven past it there has been nobody on the lot/inside (very small area) 8 times, and the other 2 there were guys in jeans, t shirts and ball caps driving beat up 1990's era Corolla's and Lancers gawking/walking around the lot with no salesmen wanting to serve them....

I hope they are diversifying their market somehow - I don't see a lot of of those things flying off the lot.

 

Yeah I passed it yesterday. Brand bee building full of cars with no customers lol.

 

I agree that the lower middle price houses are holding, but I bet they will start to dip over the next year. doesnt really bother me, im not going anywhere, I love Calgary.
This city needed a correction, too many people making and expecting too $$$ for their average jobs and average houses.

 

Agreed, there needs to be a correction in the wages in the oil sector.

Long story short I used to be in environmental consulting (hydrogeology), had a headhunter get me an interview for a closely related job with a large oil company - for the essentially the same work (I would say easier from the job description) they were over double the wage I was getting working for the consulting company not including a big bump in benefits and less hours. I didn't get the job and have subsequently moved into education (which I love). I think there are a lot of people who have jobs in the industry who are out of touch with what reality is and what similar type of work in other industries pay. I always laughed when I heard my friends working in their office jobs with some of these oil companies complaining that some government workers have it too good and are getting overpaid.

I think the economy in Alberta is just going to get worst - the Saudi oil minister just said high cost producers (like in Alberta) should just "get out of the market" and that they are not going to decrease production. http://www.cbc.ca/news/business/saudi-oil-minister-in-houston-1.3459539



Them keeping prices down has just as much to do with putting unconventional oil producers out of business as it does keeping their regional rival/enemy (Iran) in check since they can now sell on the world market.

I heard its bad in Grande Prairie and Fort Mac now, at the end of 2016 with low prices continuing it's really going to hit Calgary and Edmonton hard and you will see prices of low to middle end houses dropping because people will have no choice to sell at those prices. Can't find high paying work (oil and related industries), pogie runs out........all it will take is a critical mass of Calgarians dropping the price on their homes (because they have no choice) to get the ball rolling downhill.

 

I was reffing hockey this weekend with a bunch of guys between the ages of 18-22. They all expect to be able to make 60K-80K the moment they get out of school. By the time they are my age they expect to make 100K. It's crazy. One of them holds a town job that pays 62K a year and he says that's not enough for a normal person to get by on. WTF? I started off making 42K my first year out of school and most of the people I know still aren't making 80K base wage unless they are in oil. Well, I should say they used to make that. Now they are all waiting to be called back in for work.

I even know one lady, in environmental reclamation, who has her P.Ag. like I do so she decided to test the market on the agriculture side while she is layed off. As I expected, she was offered a job with a few K above base rate starting pay because she has little to no agricultural experience but solid credentials. It was darn near 60K guaranteed a year with a bonus and overtime payout on top of that. She turned it down. When I talked to her about it her attitude was basically that she was worth 100K a year in the patch, so she must be worth that in any related position

Yeah. I wonder when we will see the foreclosure rush start.

 

Totally, people need to give their heads a shake. I get by on my $60k a year. Took a pay cut for a job I really like. Just have to be realistic about what you can do. I drive older vehicles (06 tundra that I love to pieces), cook my own food, fix my own junk, make things instead of buying them and have a buddy living in my illegal suite I finished on my own. Cant be in the mountains everyweekend like I used too but thats ok, they arn't going anywhere.
We will be hurting here for the next year or two, I hope we come out of it with a more diversified province and a new attitude.

 

Anyone go to the Tacoma Town Outdoor Event in Waiparous today? I'm still out in the field and didn't make it.

 

Nah, Kyle threw me an invite but my Tacoma is still only half in commission.

 

Posted price in Whitehorse is 90.9, but you get another 3 cents off at the till. Really sucks to see the ROCs Premiers all playing pipeline politics. Only thing consistant is we all use plenty of the stuff.Dont see any nation builders out there.

 

Wow, I don't know if it's our new tax down here or what but the price here is actually more than you are paying. Most stations are at 89.9 with no discounts.

 

Since you say that i better fill up in the morning. Once the American motor homes start passing through for Alaska our local highway robbers cant resist not jackin the price way up. If i have to pay 1.25 a litre id rather be putting more Albertan to work not just buyin toys for the local bandits.

 

Pulled my truck into my garage today. Hopefully by the end of the month I can finish working on it in time to go wheeling!

 

Wild rose moto park is open in YYC, crazy weather this year.

 

Still 86.9 up in my area. Filled up for 99.9 in revy on the weekend.

 

Anybody check out (or will be checking out) the Calgary International Auto show?

I went there last night and it was a lot more impressive than I thought it would be. All the major manufacturers were there and quite a few boutique brands (e.g. Lotus, McClaren, Rolls Royce, Lambo....). I would say it's worth the $10 admission to get in.

A couple things to point out.

• Porsche's were all there and you could walk around them there but all the cars were locked
• Brands like Bentley had a roped off area and you could not look at the cars unless you were invited....
• Douche-iest looking salesman came from the Lambo, Bently, Royals Royce areas - they all looked like total slime balls with slicked back hair and shiny suits
• Lots of fake breasts among the female staff

It was nice that you could sit down in all the vehicles you were interested in and make very quick comparisons on seating position, fit and finish, quality of materials ect.

I sat in the Canyon and the seats were very comfortable and overall the cabin seemed way bigger than the Tacoma and Frontier. This goes for the back seat too - the Canyon (and I presume the Colorado had way more space in the back.

They had a 2016 Tacoma Limited (with sunroof) there and at 6 tall feet I kept on banging by head on the padded side rails (adjacent to the door). Didn't matter how far back or forward I put the seat. The only way around it is if I cranked back the seat angle which would make a very poor driving position with your elbows locked as they grasp the steering wheel. Right after I went to a Corolla with a sunroof and it's sad to say, with the height adjustment on the Corolla's power seats I could dial in a much more comfortable seating position and was not even close to banging my head on the ceiling. The Frontier with sunroof also did not have issues for me with headroom. There have been a few threads about headroom with sunroofs on the 2016's with some guys saying they have no issues with it and identifying themselves at 6'5". I can't see how they are doing this unless they are all legs and no torso.

One thing I noticed with all brands (even some luxury), the hollowness or tinniness of the hard plastics has gotten worst. I would rap my fingers on various places in each vehicle I sat in (I was there 3 hours so saw a lot of vehicles) and I can only think this is due to manufacturers trying to lose weight - they reduce plastic thickness. The Mazda's and Subaru's were not too bad.

They also had the new Ridgeline there but it was on a pedestal and you could not go inside - so basically you had to go over to the Pilot to see what it would like and feel like inside.

Crappiest fit and finish had to go to Ford - even Kia and Mitsu was way better. The plastics were real cheap and thin and there were bad gaps and flex in some of the components.

There was also a lot of plastic fake wood in some of the domestics (but even a Mercedes I sat in). This was real cheap and fake looking. Horrible.

Rant over.