Baldo Minaudo’s Blog

This morning I was emailed a flyer from Suncor (Sunoco) offering half price car washes until the end of April to help reduce the financial hardship caused by the Toronto gas shortage.  For those of you that aren’t familiar with the situation, a few weeks ago there was a major problem with of the two channels that supplies the greater Toronto region with gasoline.  This caused a reduction in the supply of gasoline and therefore some stations were running out.  Of course, to take advantage of the situation gasoline station owners across the city raised their pricing to various degrees.

Well, there was a lot of media coverage (which is always good to hold anyone accountable, including the business community) and talking, well lamenting among Torontonians on a daily basis.  We are now starting to get used to the new price point, which seems to sit at $0.99 per litre.

So, when I received Suncor’s flyer it was a pleasant surprise.  It’s not a big deal, but it may save me $10 if I was my car twice.  That’s the equivalent of, let’s see at a $0.20 per litre markup on the gasoline - about 50 litres of gas or just under a tank full.  Crisis has been on now for what, 5 weeks.  I’ve filled up at least 5 times in that period.  Hmmmmm, okay so they still made lots of profit, but atleast they’re offering more than the other gasoline companies. 

Actually, what Suncor (Sunoco) is doing is quite a smart marketing ploy.  If you think about, everyone that gets e-mailed this flyer will forward it to some close friends that also drive.  The brand gets exposure because of this.  Then there is the business to be made from car washes themselves.  How much does it cost Sunoco to provide 1 car wash.  I’m sure the price is less than 50% of the retail cost.  They are also attracting those that would otherwise wash their cars at the competition.  And, while you’re there, are you going to top up your gas tank? 

I hope some gasoline executives from the competitors are reading this because they could do something similar.  It would actually add to their profitability and save us consumers some loonies as well.

Have a great day!

Baldo 

So, yesterday I looked into the eyes of a 16 foot shark.  It’s true what they say about the killer cold look of a shark.  They don’t acknowledge you other than food.  They’re fierce not even showing that they know you’re there.  But, they do, they do know you’re there.  They just don’t react until they have use for you.  And if I were in the water, they would be able to smell me and fell my vibrations.  Ironically, many people refer to these characteristics in a person as being ‘professional’.

Interestingly, they had to seperate this particular type of shark from the others because, well this shark is the kind that would eat the others.  If that happened then there would be no more sharks for people to come to the acquarium.  Well, there would be that one last shark that couldn’t eat itself.  I suppose some would come to watch the last swimming shark.

I love the acquarium.  As a child I used to bread tropical fish and at one point I had close to a dozen tanks set up with breeding aparatus.  I had quite an stock of fancy tail guppies going.  So, it was wonderful to watch the fish in an environment resembling their natural habitat.  The films were quite informative as well.  There was an 8 minute documentary on Australia and how it has six months of flooding and six months of fire season.  Did you know that the water level swells so high in Australia during the rain season that the fish move into the mainland, which is otherwise dry for 6 months of the year?

Then there was the exhibit showing that we’ve already lost half the rainforest that we had in the early 1970’s.  Scary isn’t it?

My favourite was the biosphere area they had set up where I could actually walk into the rainforest and smell and feel the plants and animals.  It’s not unlike the biosphere at the Ontario Science Centre, where I once worked.  But, if you really want an experience like that I recommend the butterfly sanctuary near Niagara Falls, Ontario.

Oh, and lets not forget the biggest attraction of all at the Acquarium - the huge main acquarium that has all kinds of stingrays mixed in with some sharks.  one of the stingrays is about 8 feet wide.  Check that out if you’re there.  And then there’s the sea turtle that was found off the coast with frostbight and they had to amputate one of its front arms.  It’s about 4 feet in diameter and still too young to tell its sex.

That’s it for this entry.  Have a great day!

Well, it was interesting flying in from Toronto.  Even though it had warmed up in Toronto I was still wearing a winter coat when I left.  So, I felt a little out of place when I arrived in Baltimore to find many at the airport wearing T-shirts.  And a pleasant surprise at that it was.

I’m thinking this trip will be much better than the last one that brought me here in January.  Hopefully, this time around I’ll get to go to the famous Aquarium and maybe even trek back to the Smithsonian Institute in Washington, which I haven’t been to in years. 

They say that Baltimore has the world’s larget per capital consumption of crack cocaine.  Yet, there are so many places of worship and meeting halls.  As soon as I got in from the aiport I went off to the local YMCA for a quick workout.  To my surprise and pleasure, the place wasn’t all that busy.  At the YMCA by my house it is usually packed solid on a Wednesday evening.  Maybe I’ll try another YMCA location tomorrow and see what I find there.

Stay tuned.

Well, I barely recovered from my snow storm travel adventures when I headed off to the Prospectors and Developers Association of Canada Conference 2007, popularly known as the PDAC Conference 2007.  The first PDAC conference took palce in 1932 and since then it has been a gathering place for people and companies involved in the search and development of new mineral deposits. Today, the PDAC International Convention, Trade Show and Investors Exchange has become the most important event in the world of exploration, bringing together players involved in the field from all over the world.

This year’s conference was one of the most high-power conferences I’ve been to in a while.  Countries from around the world were promoting their raw resources in the hope of attracting money and companies to invest in developing their resources.  Mining companies involved in everything from gold, silver, copper, zinc, uranium to diamonds were promoting themselves looking for investors.  Some companies were looking to get listed on a recognized stock exchange, while others were already listed on the TSX or some other exchange.

One would expect such activity.  Although I was impressed with the amount of money that was put into the promotions, especially with some of the gifts and packages being handed out.  No, samples of gold, but I did get an opportunity to taste authentic, imported Turkish Delight.  And let me tell you - what an experience that was.  Mmmmm, Mmmmm, Mmmmm. 

On another hand, let me tell you about the social activities sponsored or hosted by individual companies in the evenings.  On second thought, maybe I shouldn’t tell you about them.  Well, let me just say that quality and quantity of liquor was abundant, as well as a great variety of snacks.  It’s amazing just what you can find out when there is a room full of Presidents and CEOs indulging in alcohol.

In case you’re wondering why my blog is a little late this week, just read the above paragraph again. 

I highly recommend that if you want to make some high level contacts then you attend the PDAC Convention next year and network, network, network.

Have a great weekend!

 

Well, I barely recovered from my snow storm travel adventures when I headed off to the Prospectors and Developers Association of Canada Conference 2007, popularly known as the PDAC Conference 2007.  The first PDAC conference took palce in 1932 and since then it has been a gathering place for people and companies involved in the search and development of new mineral deposits. Today, the PDAC International Convention, Trade Show and Investors Exchange has become the most important event in the world of exploration, bringing together players involved in the field from all over the world.

This year’s conference was one of the most high-power conferences I’ve been to in a while.  Countries from around the world were promoting their raw resources in the hope of attracting money and companies to invest in developing their resources.  Mining companies involved in everything from gold, silver, copper, zinc, uranium to diamonds were promoting themselves looking for investors.  Some companies were looking to get listed on a recognized stock exchange, while others were already listed on the TSX or some other exchange.

One would expect such activity.  Although I was impressed with the amount of money that was put into the promotions, especially with some of the gifts and packages being handed out.  No, samples of gold, but I did get an opportunity to taste authentic, imported Turkish Delight.  And let me tell you - what an experience that was.  Mmmmm, Mmmmm, Mmmmm. 

On another hand, let me tell you about the social activities sponsored or hosted by individual companies in the evenings.  On second thought, maybe I shouldn’t tell you about them.  Well, let me just say that quality and quantity of liquor was abundant, as well as a great variety of snacks.  It’s amazing just what you can find out when there is a room full of Presidents and CEOs indulging in alcohol.

In case you’re wondering why my blog is a little late this week, just read the above paragraph again. 

I highly recommend that if you want to make some high level contacts then you attend the PDAC Convention next year and network, network, network.

Have a great weekend!