Fat Cats, Alley Cats...whatever

(Warning. I’m not sure if I make any sense in the post)

Yesterday Richard Branson, was in town pimping the Virgin Music Festival, which is cool I guess having a non oil mega rich guy in town. On Saturday, Donald Trump was in town doing to spiel about Real Estate for the Learning Annex. So it appears that Calgary is a city that attracts Billionaires. If only I could hang around with these guys get some “funding” for my projects. Then again, I’m sure there are a lot of people in far greater need than me who could use some “funding”.

Calgary is quickly becoming a city of haves and have not’s; city where the rich enjoy life and others just scrape by. Personally I’m getting tired of this cycle, and I’m sure that I’m not the only one. Everyday I see people coming and going to and from the downtown core. At the same time I see people wandering around like they have no place to go. How this so called city of countless jobs have failed them.

I believed I’ve blogged about how dangerous this city is getting in the past. How there are places that normal people should not go. Either it’s aggressive homeless people, Asian street gangs or just people with no respect for others. Either way, they are fighting to get what they want and they don’t care who gets hurt in the process. My feeling is on that, this is Canada and it’s not supposed to be that ugly here, isn’t it?

Earlier this week I was chatting with HRLady and she was telling me about some 50 something guy who was going on and on about how he couldn’t imagine anyone living on less than $70,000 and how she was fighting the urge the beat this guy within an inch of his life with her laptop so she would get the satisfaction of shutting the guy up, but also breaking her laptop so she would need to have a new one ordered (and possibility get a pink one). (Ok I might have exaggerated a bit on her anger but she was not happy).(Oh and this isn’t a commentary on how cheap the forever unnamed (at least until I quit) company that I work for). It’s the reality of this city, cost of living goes through the roof, wages not following with rate of inflation, and you have more people on the streets while you have the “elite” enjoying wine and cheese from they big ass homes.

Calgary has become a city of Fat Cats and people are paying the price for it. Paying for it with their dignity, their pride, and in some cases their lives. Our police force is undermanned and overworked, and something needs to be done. Maybe the Fat Cat can do something about it. A few years ago there was a fundraising drive (including a lottery) to help purchase a second Police helicopter for the city, so why can’t they something to help the city out (other than paying for security in their gated communities).

Now I’d be a liar if I didn’t say that I want to be a fat cat, but at least I have enough sense to remember where I came from and that you need to give back, but not like a friend on mine who’s part of the Calgary Chapter of the Guardian Angels, but perhaps support them financially. Let’s face it, the days of leaving your door unlocked are over. If they ever actually existed.

My 2 Bytes.

This city is starting to suck big time.

Last night I went to look at a place that was $925 a month. All I have to say is, “ARE YOU SHITTING ME?” The thing turned out to be a Bachelor, which meant there was no bedroom, just some half wall thingy (Wouldn’t it have killed them to put in a full wall and a door?), and only a shower instead of full bath. This crappy hole for $925 a month? I would have taken some pictures with my new camera phone (just arrived yesterday) but I didn’t want to offend the landlord, since she was polite, and I think she also knew that this unit was a piece of crap. Actually someone was using it for an office and there were box and box of cigarettes. It’s was pretty bad, but on the positive side, the stove and the dishwasher were never used.

I used to tell people that Calgary was the place to be. I would tell them that the grass was indeed greener, but now I’m officially telling people to STAY AWAY. There are lots of good jobs in Calgary, but right now the cost of living is out of control. I’m now stuck finding a new place and I can see myself paying $1000 a month. I know people with mortgages that are less than that. It is now coming to the point that a company wants to put up a work camp, because of the cost of living.

I’m now at the point where I’m considering moving to Regina. Regina is a lot smaller than Calgary but it cost of living is also manageable. Oh, when I mean manageable, I mean the rent is HALF of Calgary. I need to find a place to live either way and for now I’m now stuck in Calgary for now.

The big issue right now is that Real Estate developers are buying apartment building and converting them to condos and no one is building new apartment building in the city right now, so the supply goes down and demand goes up and……someone can charge $900 for a shitty hole in the ground.

I used to like this city, but right now I think that it’s starting to suck. Sure there are a lot of nice things in the city what’s the point if you cannot afford to do anything,

Oh don’t worry about me. I do have a plan and I can afford $1000 a month, but just barely. That’s why the job hunt is in order after.

My 2 Bytes

Good Job

I was going to write some bullshit post about how I hate waiting for the people behind the counter at McDonalds to put my food in a bag so I can it to work. I watched my Breakfast Burritos sit under the heat lamp for 2 minutes before someone bothered to put them in a bag and give them to me. I was going to write about how I should be able to charge the damn place a dollar for every minute they make me wait, but then a coworker told me some good news. She’s leaving. She gave her 24 hour notice today. Now normally I’m a firm believer of the 2 weeks notice policy, but they have been piling the more and more work onto her and they refused to give her a pay raise. Well C’est la vie.

I really don’t want to do an anti my company post but there are some things that this company has to realize that the Calgary job market is not like Toronto, Moncton or anywhere else in the country. Calgary is a place where KFC offers medical and dental benefits. Calgary is a place where McDonalds advertises that they are hiring ion the side of buses, and in an ads in the movie theatre before the movie starts. Calgary is a place where Tim Horton’s is offering scholarships to its employee to go back to school. In Calgary, it’s an employee’s market. There’s a store in Chinook Center that’s offering $12.00 to start (in sales). Heck, you go into the mall and the sign on the door says that they’re hiring. This is the mall, not the stores in the mall.

The whole province is short staffed right now. I remember reading a few months ago about how a lot of the admin people at City hall got recruited by the oil companies and some people just don’t want to understand that. Some companies are content to think that they are the ones to who get to pick and choose, not realizing that it’s the other way and they’re going to suffer for it. Company loyalty will only last for far when another company offers you over $20,000 more a year right after they refused to give you a dollar raise.

So my friend will now be earning $27.00/hr. While I’m happy for her, there’s one little problem. SHE’S MAKING MORE MONEY THAN ME !!!!!

There are some projects going on around here that I want in my resume so I’ll probably stick around, but I might have to move on soon as well. Unless the company realizes what is really going on in Calgary.

My 2 Bytes.