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ABNuck

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Posts posted by ABNuck

  1. I recently got to put the "screws" to an Infiniti dealer here in Alberta. They brought in a low km (75000) 2017 QX60 for a higher than normal cost, due the low availability of SUV's about 4 months ago. I was first able to engage the GM himself since he was the only one available to take my call that day. The vehicle had a deal written on it with a trade in (the GM wanted a trade so that he could disperse the slight loss they're going to take since they paid too much for the SUV months ago). That deal fell through, and my deal (a cash deal) was the back up deal. The GM put me with the same salesman so that he would still get a sale (even though his previous one fell through). They started higher than I wanted (around $35,000)...we went back and forth (I started about 2k lower than I was willing to spend). By the end of the negotiation (about 2 hours) they ended up getting approval from the VP of the autogroup to approve my deal. Once said and done I drove away with my QX60 at $28,000...after the deal was done the GM showed me the file on the vehicle, they paid $32,000 for it so that's why they wanted a trade (to bury the loss in the next one) but I stood my ground and got the vehicle for the price I was comfortable with...so...STAND YOUR GROUND.

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  2. I think the biggest disappointment for me was Loui. We were on the recovery upswing and had a few pieces that we could spread out through the lineup to make us tougher to play against...but, alas...the chemistry that we were all so enamored with at the World Hockey Championship level never materialized in the day-to-day NHL grind, and we ended up without much depth. It really did set the tone for the next half decade, where complacency and lower expectations replaced our joy and hope. Some poor decisions can be buried, traded or fixed with a better next pick or trade, but not so in this case...there was no fixing it and no golden parachute to bail us out...we just had to suck and live with it.

  3. My wife and I are foster parents to so many pups and kittens in Alberta...I believe our current foster (a cute little Pittie cross) is our 53rd foster so far. We have 2 of our own...Frankie is our first rescue and she's a Pointer-Pittie cross, and Harriet (Sweet Harriet) is what we call a "foster fail"...she came to us as a foster and we just fell in love with her and adopted her...she's a Shepherd / Border Collie / Husky cross and she has the most hilarious personality (which I think is the Husky part). When we speak for them we give Frankie a "Brooklyn" accent, and Harriet of course is an Aussie.

     

    Have to agree 100% that a lot of pets (and fosters) are better than some of the people I know. The loyalty is uncompromised, the love...genuine. I do love bunnies as well. We had 2 bunnies at the same time and it was a constant porn show...they were both boy bunnies...they couldn't figure it out...hours of entertainment.

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  4. Not feeling much love in here for Willander. In my opinion this was a home run, not a grand slam but a home run. We absolutely had to address the RHD situation. Centres, wingers and backup goalies can be plucked from F/A and can typically be had in trades MUCH easier than can a top 4 RHD. Of course I wanted Rhino, but Willander is the 2nd best RHD in this draft and overall the 4th best in the past 2 drafts (behind Nemec and Jiricek from last year). If we weren't in the right draft position, and without spending additional capital to move up to acquire the pick for one of those 3, then this is absolutely the best case scenario. Any comparisons to the swing and miss with Juolevi are redundant...2 completely different personalities. Willander is a serious competitor and completely committed to being a top4 RHD in the NHL, no distractions. This was 100% the correct pick for our organization.

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  5. 2 hours ago, J.I.A.H.N said:

    Well, IMO.............Calgary is in a tight spot......If they start moving guys like Lindholm for picks and prospects, first the team will rebell, secondly, teams will offer crap. But if they can make a player for player deal. or players for players deal, they can continue to compete until they age out.

     

    Miller is better than Lindholm, and Lindholm wants out.............advantage Canucks!

     

    I would like to see a 2 for 2 deal................

     

    Miller ($8,000,000), and Boeser ($6,650,000) for Lindholm ($4,850,000) , Weegar ($6,250,000)  

     

    Understanding that the caps equal out well pretty well and Calgary has 3 RHD in Anderson, Tanev and Weegar

     

    Maybe we retain on Boeser to even it out completely 

    This is where Calgary makes a good trading partner for teams who have contracts to move (with term). They've got a few players (Lindholm & Hanifin) that they absolutely MUST move in the next 8 months. Players like Garland and Klimovich may be of interest but of course would require sweeteners, but I think only small sweeteners since they're in tough with those players wanting out...I'd say a 3rd and 4th in 2023 and a 3rd in 2025...it would be worth it to get 2 players like Lindholm and Hanifin (as long as we get the commitment from them to re-sign prior to trading for them).

     

    Of course the problem is, there may be buyers / contenders willing to move their 1st's to acquire either so we may be on the outside looking in on either of them.

  6. Worst trade in Canucks history was Naslund for Stojanov...so one-sided it's laughable. Second worse was the Luongo trade...I know Bert had to go, but, man did we fleece Florida on that one.

     

    Worst trade that affected US the most (which I assume is what the thread is more about)...hmmm...I know the Neely traded eventually worked out pretty one-sided (like the 2 mentioned above), but for immediate impact I'd have the say the OEL trade is bad simply because Benning couldn't convince AZ to keep more of his salary...made the trade based on a feeling and on emotion rather than stats and facts. It was right there for him. OEL was playing at a #3 Dman level worth about 4 - 4.5 mil a year. The cap hit was the stupid part, not necessarily the player.

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  7. 1 hour ago, Quantum said:

    Honestly, I'm shocked that the Flames didn't hire Mitch Love. Seemed like the obvious fit. I won't be shocked if Mitch Love moves to another team next season but I guess good on Ryan Huska for getting the job seemingly out of nowhere.

    - DELETED -

     

    Just realized he was already in the Flames organization as an assistant.

  8. I think this top 6 would be under-whelming unless a bigger change is made there. We really only have 3-4 legit top 6 forwards...true that most teams run similar but the top teams run a true 5-6 top 6 forwards and spread them out over 3 lines making them more difficult to play against. I just don't think that Myers, Garland and/or Boeser will draw us another top 6 forward, considering we also need to plug a RHD hole as well. I think we need more first round picks, and more top (1sts and 2nds) to hit as top 6 forwards. If Hronek and Bear can fill the top 4 RHD roles (for now) then we can focus on the 1-2 missing top 6 players. Once we are ready with our top 6 to top 9, then we can shed some salary and pitch a high-end RHD. It will probably take 2-3 years using this path so there might not be an appetite for that. But if we develop our own RHD then it might take all of that time frame anyways.

  9. On 4/8/2023 at 6:04 PM, TheQuietQuitter said:

    I like Michael Chiklis and have been wanting to watch The Shield for awhile.  

     

    I was never a big Samberg fan but 99 changed my opinion of him.  I never would have thought that Brooklyn 99 was a show I needed in my life.

    There's a reason it won a boatload of Emmy's. It has so many stars in it besides Chiklis...Walton Goggins, CCH Pounder, Benito Martinez, Catherine Dent and, in a strange twist of fate, Kenny Johnson who now stars in the show that started this whole thread SWAT. Man, it's like he went from the NHL to 3rd division in Northern China...so talented and stuck with writers now on SWAT that would have trouble writing a decent limerick...tragic...thread=full circle.

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  10. On 4/5/2023 at 7:54 PM, TheQuietQuitter said:

    Those shows about Doctors and Firefighters look cookie cutter and absolutely pointless.  Same with the NCIS series and other Cop shows outside of The Wire and Brooklyn 99.

     

    I found some of the Marvel shows to be pretty bad.  Wandavision and Loki were ok, but I did not like Falcon and Winter Soldier or Moonknight, didn't finish Hawkeye, and couldn't be bothered to watch the rest of them.

     

    The majority of my TV viewing revolves around Star Wars content at the moment.  Nothing amazing, just comfort viewing stuff.

     

     

     

     

    You gotta add Southland and The Shield to that list I think...they were both incredibly well written and more true to life than so many others.

     

    The NCIS series was good before (not the spin-offs LA and NOLA...they were crap), but it has recently become too sappy and juvenile as well.

     

    And I agree with Brooklyn 99, incredibly well-written. Each character's development was so over the top, with the best being Capt. Holt, and of course Det Pimento, he took me back to the right Rev Jim Ignatowski (Christopher Lloyd) from Taxi...so bizarre and self un-aware...loved it!

  11. On 4/3/2023 at 9:37 AM, Angry Goose said:

    Sons of Anarchy 

    I made it through about 2-1/2 seasons. It reminded me of the show Scorpion. The Scorpion team was supposed to be this group of super intelligent geniuses, except that most of the trouble they found themselves in was of their own making...it was ridiculous squared.

     

    Overall I can't stand any show that has silly sub-plots or actions by individuals that if they just had a slight modicum of average intelligence they would never engage in such antics or tactics. I swear, if I ever see another hostage taking incident where the bad guy faces off against the cop with only a human shield of a hostage...I'm gonna lose it, my shoe is going through the TV. Just shoot the cop, shoot the hostage and walk away! It's about as predictable an outcome as "Red Shirt Ensign Smith" heading down to the planet...news flash...he ain't coming back.

  12. I'm just watching the new version of SWAT (not the old TV show, the newer version)...and...can't think of a more juvenile, un-intelligent show on TV right now. Every week we are subjected to some grade school moral lesson (don't do drugs, don't be a racist, don't lie to the police etc etc etc)...it's about as deep-thinking as watching an episode of Barney the Dinosaur goof. Does anyone know how any self-respecting writer could work on a show like this? Next to zero research into actual police procedures, every single cliche known to police procedurals (including the "incompetent boss" cliche and the one that builds up the "hero" of the show to be almost super-human). It's total drama crap. I know that opinions about TV entertainment can be varied, but I'm just wondering if anyone else has seen any shows lately that we could all save time by not bothering to even click on?

    • Vintage 1
  13. 41 minutes ago, Kragar said:

    How different is this than buying food at the grocery store. Or buying electronics from a store or Amazon, or whatever.  Or basically any other product we buy? Someone is a wholesaler, buying in bulk and getting a better deal than small fry like us can get, even if we can deal direct with the source? If they're successful, they earn a good living and they can buy their Porsche.  If they aren't, they don't.

     

    It is far more efficient for Enbridge, or any other company, to sell their stock in bulk to brokerages. Nothing to see here, IMO.

     

     

    Bingo! The topic is "Inflation is at a 40 year high"...soooo...you nailed it bro. Mind...blown...

     

    Once we the people accept this, the easier it is for it to happen. Ask these major corporations why their prices have escalated and they always say that the cost of labour has risen...yet the workers don't seem to be getting the raises...soooo...

  14. 9 hours ago, Boudrias said:

    Not sure what you mean by 'sub trading'?

    You know those little fish that live by cleaning the teeth of sharks? Those guys. You didn't buy your stocks directly from Enbridge...you went through a trader who works for a brokerage. And when you add in cooperative pooling you then add a third layer of parasite. I think if you were able to purchase stock in a company direct from them, then the profits wouldn't be so diluted by everyone else taking a cut.

     

    I liken it to those car dealerships that lure suckers in with their marketing promotions. We have a local one here that enters your name into a monthly draw for $10,000. Guess where the $10,000 dollars comes from...each buyer that month. The dealership simply increases the cost of each car to pay all the middle peeps (in this case the promo for 10k + the cost of the promotion itself), just for each customer to have only a "chance" at the 10k...1 customer wins, all the rest lose. Your stocks may end up a winner, could be a loser. But the middle guy is getting his regardless. My financial guy in Calgary drives a 911...I don't, yet it's my money that he's investing.

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  15. 8 hours ago, Boudrias said:

    Excellent summation of many problems in Canadian economy. A couple of comments;

    1) "is just profit for shareholders": I am a shareholder in many companies. Why should I invest my money without a return? You seem to suggest that shareholder payouts are not a legitimate corporate (COGS). Yet when corporations borrow money from banks the interest they pay is? If I buy Enbridge I receive about 6.5% dividend. The corporate growth is lucky to hit 3%. Basically I am in that stock for the dividend return. The risk I take is the share price declines as the shift from hydro carbons accelerate, a pipeline bursts or their +$60 billion in debt overwhelms them. No, I don't think my 6.5% dividend is excessive.

    2)  the Only ones who gain from raised interest rates is the major banks: Interest rates are a somewhat blunt instrument used by government to dampen capital demand and thusly lower inflation. The fact that inflation is often caused by government spending escapes most people. Yes, banks benefit in some of their activities but are hurt in other departments. Loan demand drops, defaults grow, corporate growth usually flatlines. internal costs of operation escalate. 

     

    Your earlier points about the size of government, measuring personal wealth and greed are bang on.      

    1) You are absolutely 100% entitled to your ROI. But what about all of the parasitic sub trading ventures that dilute the pool of investors? If the Enbridge pool got so diluted that share value dropped you would not be too happy with a reduced ROI. So to keep you happy (and the massive pool of other investors including - cringe - cooperatives) Enbridge would need to prop up their share value...what better way than with increased profits? Enbridge (and other listed commodity PO's) is actually a poor example as much of their trade is commodity based. I'm thinking more of manufacturing and service based providers (why do we pay so much for our cell phones and internet anyways...just because that's what we're used to paying?)...those companies base their products and services (and hence their share value) off of the going "market price". And when their shareholder pool becomes wide instead of deep, well, up go the prices.

     

    2) Yes I suppose ultimately that their strategy will curb inflation but my goodness, the damage done in the meantime. We'll see if this current tactic has the desired effect. I just might bail out of my real estate holdings now, wait for the market to drop and re-enter the market at the lower value and realize a small profit...but then, that just makes me part of the problem. Some poor schmuk who only has 5% down will pick up one of my properties at an inflated value only to lose equity...feels like 2008 all over again.

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