john_kidder
Senior Member
Graham said:
That's a joke, of course? We're obscenely rich by any standards except those of North Americans and western Europeans.
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That's a joke, of course? We're obscenely rich by any standards except those of North Americans and western Europeans.
The influx and absorption of immigrants, legal or illegal, would go better in the US and I guess Canada too if the number of middle income jobs was expanding or, alternatively, if the total # of better-paying jobs being created wasn't being simultaneously eroded by the exportation of jobs.
The US gummint / State of Florida / Palm Beach County have invested nearly $1 bil to import several players in the Bio/Life Sciences industry, including the Scripps Research Institute, in an effort to attract good paying jobs and end at least the county's dependence on home construction as its major industry. Thousands of electricians, masons, plumbers, and so on earn their livings messing w/ tract housing. You can make a living at it, but that's about all. The downward push on wages is such that, without going into business for themselves, they could all be looking at the same hourly wages 10 years from now or, about the same as what it was 10 years ago.
Hey John; out of curiosity and being a little provocative, who does all the bull-work in BC/Vancouver? Washing dishes, humping concrete, making beds in the hotels? cj
The US gummint / State of Florida / Palm Beach County have invested nearly $1 bil to import several players in the Bio/Life Sciences industry, including the Scripps Research Institute, in an effort to attract good paying jobs and end at least the county's dependence on home construction as its major industry. Thousands of electricians, masons, plumbers, and so on earn their livings messing w/ tract housing. You can make a living at it, but that's about all. The downward push on wages is such that, without going into business for themselves, they could all be looking at the same hourly wages 10 years from now or, about the same as what it was 10 years ago.
Hey John; out of curiosity and being a little provocative, who does all the bull-work in BC/Vancouver? Washing dishes, humping concrete, making beds in the hotels? cj
Bing k
Senior Member
john_kidder said:
We are just receiving the new price schedules over the next few weeks but it looks initially like some lines are going to see a small percentage increase. The Guild GADs have not increased since their introduction so it's to be expected there will be at least a small change. Just looking at the numbers it's pretty close to 12% over 07.
Some lines of quality entry level acoustics (some of the laminates and even solid tops ) actually went down in 07. Not previous models mind you but new squs were introduced into the market that were very attractively priced and sold well.
I get the feeling there is good demand for the Guilds both GAD and American as I study the supply available and hopefully the line will begin to make money for the dealers soon so they feel the line is worth stocking substantial numbers of.
Bing k said:
We are just receiving the new price schedules over the next few weeks but it looks initially like some lines are going to see a small percentage increase. The Guild GADs have not increased since their introduction so it's to be expected there will be at least a small change. Just looking at the numbers it's pretty close to 12% over 07.
Some lines of quality entry level acoustics (some of the laminates and even solid tops ) actually went down in 07. Not previous models mind you but new squs were introduced into the market that were very attractively priced and sold well.
I get the feeling there is good demand for the Guilds both GAD and American as I study the supply available and hopefully the line will begin to make money for the dealers soon so they feel the line is worth stocking substantial numbers of.[/quote:ee28b]
By the way, I apologize if my questions about Chinese debt ownership veered this thread off topic. Interesting conversation though, folks.
Does FMIC publish a brand-by-brand breakdown of annual / monthly sales, Bing? Do you have that info? I'd really like to know how Guild is doing, as a whole, as a piece of FMIC. I know there wasn't much fuss at NAMM in the Guild acoustic world (well, *zero* fuss is perhaps more accurate), and that disturbs me.
People raised interesting questions about the value of their collections years down the road. In my opinion, a big part of that depends on whether or not the Guild name survives. And now, with FMIC inking the deal to distribute Taylors in Europe, one has to wonder whether FMIC will continue to build Guilds if they can resell Taylors and make a profit.
Just thinking out loud. I don't think Taylor's stuff will compete as much with the GAD line... it's more the Tacoma-built stuff I'm worried about.
john_kidder
Senior Member
capnjuan said:
The "domestic" service side (dishes in hotels, nannies, and the like) has a lot of Filipanas working here on temporary visas. They are truly exploited - it's very difficult for them to get "landed immigrant" status after their work visas expire. Agricultural labour (picking vegetables, etc) and lots of other physical labour tends to get done by contractors who employ Indian or Pakistani immigrants - they get here (mostly) as legitimate immigrants who are sponsored by family members already here - then they find that the promised land is one of no work, hostility (not least from members of the same groups who are already here), etc. The night security guards who stand around jobsites at all hours are often also Indian or Pakistani. There are tons of Chineses (both mainland and Taiwan) here, but they generally come with money, and meet what's called the "immigrant investor" category - they get screwed by being sold "dollar" stores that have no chance, restaurants without locations or clientele, specialty chocolate shoppes and others that look good unless you know the neighbourhoods, and on and on.
We're also now seeing some labour contractors going to Mexico and Guatemala, selecting people from hordes of applicants, and bringing them up on short visas to meet the enormous demand for labour in the oilpatch and the tarsands up north - hard work, no accomodation, no place to go to spend your money, just too tough for us Canadians, I guess. Energy, you know - you guys just keep on buying it, we keep on digging it up and shipping it to you. Foreign Affairs says: "Canada supplied 16 percent of U.S. imports of crude and refined oil products - more than any other country at over two million barrels a day. Canada provided 85 percent of all U.S. natural gas imports and approximately 27 percent of the uranium used in U.S. nuclear power plants." We surely like the money, but we surely don't want to get our hands dirty. And we surely like to sound holier-than-though on environmental issues, while our economy is supported by Americans driving Hummers. Enough hypocrisy to go around, I Guess.
Graham
Venerated Member
john_kidder said:
I'm going to try and do my part.
Thank you; every country and every area apparently has its own version of immigrant stew. Did not realize the scope / scale of energy co-dependence ... sounds like something Mao might have said. Some discussion here in Congress about bumping Federal gas taxes to abate demand and raise some money. Given the current gloom and doom outlook, probably not going to happen whether it's a good idea or not.
Yeah; it's a problem - vacariously benefit from the exploitation of natural resources while looking the other way or ... without looking the other way. Either way, it's still no good. Maybe in another few years, you'll have good Paki, Indian, or Phillipino restaurants ... how's the local Curry?
And see that you do G-Man!
John
Yeah; it's a problem - vacariously benefit from the exploitation of natural resources while looking the other way or ... without looking the other way. Either way, it's still no good. Maybe in another few years, you'll have good Paki, Indian, or Phillipino restaurants ... how's the local Curry?
And see that you do G-Man!
John
Graham
Venerated Member
capnjuan said:
A definite upside in Canada, IMO, is the variety of food from around the world. Vietnamese, Egyptian, Afghani, Caribbean, are just a few of my favorites.
I'm here all week, try the falafel. :mrgreen:
FNG
Enlightened Member
Granted, the data is a little old, but Canada is not that far behind the US as far as oil usage per person.
http://www.nationmaster.com/graph/ene_o ... per-capita
http://www.nationmaster.com/graph/ene_o ... per-capita
Graham
Venerated Member
FNG said:
We love our vehicles as much as you do. We have such a beautiful country to explore and I love driving for hours to see it. I guess I could get out the snow shoes or x-country skis, but it'll be hell in July. :shock:
We do not have mass transit in place to support a move away from the auto yet, and the way the politicians toss money around at everything that will get them the vote du jour, we're not likely to see it for a while.
So I fill up my car and pay all applicable taxes, drive where I want to go, and sleep very well at night.
West R Lee
Venerated Member
John,
You know I have to comment on issues that I find interesting, what's rare are those instances when I actually know a bit about a topic ( Remember, 15 miles north of Kilgore). Having lived in the East Texas Oil and Gas field all of my life, and having worked in the field, both literally and figuratively, I had to do some research and make a comment or two. Please forgive me.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_co ... production
The United States' natural gas production is approximately 3 times that of Canada. We happen to have one the largest underground salt domes in the world about 5 miles north of where I sit as I write this. In fact, I have just interviewed for a job with the company that owns, operates and maintains that dome and three 30" lines which run from Corpus Christi to Chicago. A few weeks ago, I could have told you exactly how many billion SCF are stored in our neighboring salt dome, but it's a mind blowing amount. Area production is injected into the dome, used as a gigantic storage tank, then sent under pressure to suppliment the supply sent up north through the 3 30" lines running from Corpus. Now I suppose it's possible that of the natural gas imported by the U.S., Canada could have provided 85%, but that merely means that U.S. consumption is that enormous.
Now I can only speak for the companies which I have spoken to lately about employment. Kinder Morgan owns, operates and maintains the dome and the lines running up north. The other company I've spoken with is an obscure outfit sometimes known as Exxon. I'm delighted to say that as we speak, I have job offers on the table from both. Neither company is at all interested in unskilled labor like that offered by illegals. To the contrary, with energy costs and profit margins at record highs, they are in dire need of highly skilled technical people to monitor, operate and maintain production.
Now that is not to say that they don't hire some illegals from time to time to do menial task such as digging, etc., but if they do, I haven't seen that practice.
Sorry John, I couldn't resist,
West
You know I have to comment on issues that I find interesting, what's rare are those instances when I actually know a bit about a topic ( Remember, 15 miles north of Kilgore). Having lived in the East Texas Oil and Gas field all of my life, and having worked in the field, both literally and figuratively, I had to do some research and make a comment or two. Please forgive me.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_co ... production
The United States' natural gas production is approximately 3 times that of Canada. We happen to have one the largest underground salt domes in the world about 5 miles north of where I sit as I write this. In fact, I have just interviewed for a job with the company that owns, operates and maintains that dome and three 30" lines which run from Corpus Christi to Chicago. A few weeks ago, I could have told you exactly how many billion SCF are stored in our neighboring salt dome, but it's a mind blowing amount. Area production is injected into the dome, used as a gigantic storage tank, then sent under pressure to suppliment the supply sent up north through the 3 30" lines running from Corpus. Now I suppose it's possible that of the natural gas imported by the U.S., Canada could have provided 85%, but that merely means that U.S. consumption is that enormous.
Now I can only speak for the companies which I have spoken to lately about employment. Kinder Morgan owns, operates and maintains the dome and the lines running up north. The other company I've spoken with is an obscure outfit sometimes known as Exxon. I'm delighted to say that as we speak, I have job offers on the table from both. Neither company is at all interested in unskilled labor like that offered by illegals. To the contrary, with energy costs and profit margins at record highs, they are in dire need of highly skilled technical people to monitor, operate and maintain production.
Now that is not to say that they don't hire some illegals from time to time to do menial task such as digging, etc., but if they do, I haven't seen that practice.
Sorry John, I couldn't resist,
West
FNG
Enlightened Member
Tell you what, if I was a younger man, I would head up to Canada to work the oil fields. Guy could work a couple years, make a killing.
West R Lee
Venerated Member
You could do the same down here Effin, just have to know a bit about pressure, flow, flanges, pumps, piping systems, instrumentation, level controllers, bearings, seals, tubing, lubricators, filtration, compressors, pressure vessels, heat, liquid knockout, compression materials, valves, etc. Some companies, like the one I work for, can't discriminate based on age.....the government says so! :roll:
West
West
FNG
Enlightened Member
West R Lee said:You could do the same down here Effin, just have to know a bit about pressure, flow, flanges, pumps, piping systems, instrumentation, level controllers, bearings, seals, tubing, lubricators, filtration, compressors, pressure vessels, heat, liquid knockout, compression materials, valves, etc. Some companies, like the one I work for, can't discriminate based on age.....the government says so! :roll:
West
My dad was an oilman, one of the last Southern Indiana independents. I used to out with him to the field when I was younger, and one cold winter day I was watching some old roughnecks pound in some stakes. One of the guys looks at me and says...Kid, you want some advice? I said Sure. He said get back in your Dad's car, and never come out to the oil patch again. I always wanted to work in the patch, good money on a pulling unit, whatever, but the old man said I got different plans for you.
Good advice, I think. I wish my Dad was alive to see 100 dollar oil. He used to get giddy at 35 dollars. The 10 dollar days just about killed him in the early 90s.
guildzilla
Senior Member
And it was a huge and stupid mistake by the US government to allow $10 per barrel for domestic producers in the 1990's. That production should have been subsidized, like farm prices. A major reason why the energy mess is as bad as it is now in the US is because there was never a consistent approach toward relative energy independence. The free market has its moments, but in this case, it stifled innovation and investment in alternative sources and in more efficient technology for consuming energy. It helped us not act in our own best interest.
And after the late-70's, early-80's experience, we just should have known better.
And after the late-70's, early-80's experience, we just should have known better.
West R Lee
Venerated Member
There are still many, many independents here. One of my best friends is one of them. He plays a Guild too! :lol:.
West
West
john_kidder said:
Mr. Kidder,
I don't know where you get your information regarding the immigrants in the oil patch, or at the tar sands, but you should closely review what you have been told. It is difficult for Albertans to get into the oil and gas business, any part of it, and for all intents and purposes, impossible for immigrants unless there is a specific, very specialized skill that they have that is unavailable within Alberta. There is even a language competency test for people from out of province, since we had an incident where somebody came in from Quebec to work on pipelines, and somebody got hurt because he didn't understand enough English to understand what people were yelling at him. Good luck in that environment if you are not Albertan, or Canadian.
In a few years, the US won't even be the biggest buyer of tar sands oil; the Chinese will, possibly followed by India. We have a vast commodity that is in demand. Should it be left in the ground while the world price of oil goes to $200 a barrel? Why don't we just take a strong dose of reality, and work from there. There has already been requests from the US government directly to the Alberta government regarding the doubling or tripling oil exports to the US. My assumption would be that the US would lik all of its oil imports coming from a stable, on continent source, vs. getting from Moslem nations or Venezuela, both seen as less stable than Canada/Alberta.
At last estimate, there are 340 billion barrels in the tar sands, and the total keeps going up, as the recovery rate is improving, and there is a better assessment of the total volume of tar sand volume as time goes on. Right now, strip mining gets about 40% of the oil, Steam Assisted Gravity Drainage is approximately 60%. There is an expectation that the ultimate size could end up at around 1.8-2.0 trillion barrels of oil (yes, that is trillion).
Kostas
P.S. The two greatest undeveloped oil sources are the Shale Oil deposits in the US, and the heavy oil deposits in Venezuela. Environmentalist better keep their fingers crossed that the oil sands production goes up quickly to meet the demand, as these two untapped resources will be far more damaging to the environment than the tar sands if/when they are developed.
john_kidder
Senior Member
kostask said:
Thanks, Kostak - always good to get new information. I got the previous bit from the Globe and Mail (eastern bastards) and the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (commies all) - most of the story on the CBC was actually about the construction business in Calgary, but there was a pretty solid story with interviews and footage and all of a contractor hiring for the oil patch. I suppose it's possible that the Mexican guys in question (who did speak English) had prior experience in the Gulf or some other trade skill, but if so it wasn't mentioned. And I have a young, strong, and heretofore completely unskilled nephew from Abbotsford who's working in Fort MacMurray making very fine money indeed.
I think one of the big differences here is that we have very few "illegals", really. A few who file fraudulent refugee claims, but nearly all the foreign workers in Canada are here on visas, having met some qualifications, which generally include a willingness to do work for which an employer has shown that people in Canada aren't available (read "willing").
Couldn't speak for all of Canada, however Vancouver, BC surely gives the appearance of an international city. It'd be interestting to know the offical immigration stats, significant numbers I suspect.
Cultural diversity has a more homogenous feel in Vancouver, Commerce seems less centralized than a simillar size US city, & the city's not so chopped up by 60 mph limited access arterials & shopping malls.
Cultural diversity has a more homogenous feel in Vancouver, Commerce seems less centralized than a simillar size US city, & the city's not so chopped up by 60 mph limited access arterials & shopping malls.
Back in the late 60s, IIRC the standard for legally entering Canada was meeting two of the following three criteria: promise of a job, a college degree, and/or $2,000 in cash (no Guild required). A surprising number of young American men were familiar with these requirements. The influx of immigrants threatens to permanently 'ice the [socio-economic] puck' for the existing US underclass. Although often capable of the work being done by the immigrants, at least the younger people are, like a few lackluster Canucqouis, also 'unwilling'. If I knew any Communists who had some ideas on this problem, I'd talk to them.john_kidder said:
Lane and I went up the coast today; about an hours drive north to Ft Pierce Fl and then drove back down the highway on the coastal barrier island .... past Florida Power & Light's nuclear station. Couldn't help but think of this thread, the constructive US moratorium on new US nukes and, as little as I know and except for Chernobyl and Three Mile Island, a reasonably good safety record. If I had my way, I wouldn't pay into making Dubai a playground for Euros or anyone else and regret that Les Canucquois are tearing up their country to sell energy products to us, the US, and whoever else is willing to pay.
Weird how it all works; as far as I know, I don't benefit from the Brazilians burning up their rain forest (and harvesting the remaining Braz?) but, assuming some implications on world climate, I am in line to take my share of the hit. By contrast, reluctance in the US to un-mothball the nukes or spend money on hydrogen energy means that we go elsewhere to buy the energy necessary to cover the spread between grow-our-own and consumption; so we'ez go up north and ask: "Hi John and Graham, got any energy for sale?" and the answers are: "Yes", "How much are you willing to pay" and, "Be right back, we have to go rip up the backyard".
The sound of one hand ruminating...
J