Things started to go downhill for him in 2008 when the
American stock market crash pulled down the Canadian market
Everything's our fault, eh.
I didn't say that, but yeah! [g]
The Midwest is the breadbasket of America, and
America is the lightning rod of the world!
money for mining exploration dried up. Diamond sales and prices
dropped too and the mines went on austerity programs
I suppose that made you suffer a bit as well.
Not really. We entered into an era of super low interest rates (to
lessen the effects of the recession that hit southern Canada,
especially industrial Ontario which depends on strong American
markets) that made it easier for young people to buy their first
place sooner and to afford a better one than before. The builders
just shifted from McMansions to entry level condos to meet the needs
of the new buyer profile. Our prices stopped going up but our volume
remained high. Plus I got to go to work on resorts, hotels, B&Bs
and restaurants.
I'd assumed that commercial properties would have
sagged a bit when residentials did.
We are still feeling the effects of the mining turndown ...
a regional airline that depended on charter work recently went
into creditor protection.
Which? Hope it didn't have anything to do with your friend
Buffalo Joe.
Joe has no debt load and is still doing OK. A highly levered
holding company called Discovery Air which owns Air Tindi, Great
Slave Helicopters and Discovery Mining Services, an expediter, is
the basket case. I don't know the executives of the holding
company but I do know the three entrepreneurs who built those
companies up and then sold out in 2007. They're OK too!
Selling out can be a good thing.
The uptick in tourism doesn't begin to replace the lost mine
revenues
The diamond industry still eked out $2B in revenues and our fantastic
growth in tourism (it has doubled in recent years) is still just
bringing in $200M.
That's pretty impressive. Actually, both
numbers are pretty impressive.
he landlord subsequently locked the doors as soon as one
month's rent was past due. The LL then negotiated a buy out
fixtures with the lender. I do not and will not ever shop there.
Pretty unforgiving, that landlord - were there
difficulties between the parties before?
Not until the crisis hit. There was some ill feelings when the LL
changed the locks on the store and seized the inventory (which he is
legally allowed to do). But they had a fist fight when the LL also
tried to (totally wrongly) impound a delivery van in the parking
lot. Pierre, being younger and fitter, won that one.
Here, there would have been some kind of
agent on hand to do the actual impound.
A funnily out of character thing about
Annie (whom I'm no longer in regular
touch with) - she once went along on a
repo, because she was friends with the
bounty guy. Luckily the owners, or at
least those in possession, were too stoned
to put up much of a fuss.
How many of the revenues went up his
nose, also a question - I know people suspected
that at one time.
I thought so for a while but I now believe he ran those last two
years on just sheer nerves, determination and coffee.
Impressive; I'd have folded up, but then
I've never had a restaurant empire, either.
BTW tiny little (500 souls) Deline is getting in on the Chinese
winter tourism action. It is located on the shore of Great Bear Lake
where the Great Bear River, which flows into the Mackenzie River,
drains the lake. Deline means "Where the water goes" in the Bear
dialect of the North Slavey Dene language. It's English name is Fort Franklin, named by the Hudson Bay Company after some mad fool
explorer.
It is smaller than a village, even smaller than a hamlet. It is
called a "charter community" which means there is a collection of
homes there that get some basic government services (a fire truck,
police, a nurse, a couple of school teachers and a post office kiosk
inside the general store) but very little municipal government.
Leading to the question How remote is
too remote?
There is an 11 room hotel there which is currently adding 4 more
rooms. To get there one flies from Beijing to Vancouver, to
Yellowknife, to Norman Wells up north and then get on a North-Wright
Air Cessna or Otter to go to Deline. The airline and the hotel are
selling package deals in China, but just 24 per week. This will be
an expensive trip for some truly adventuresome tourists.
And what will be the eventual consequence
for the town, assuming of course that the
venture flies.
Roslind has been there and tells me it is very scenic.
Where has Roslind not been up in the NWT?
Roasted Garlic Marinara Braised Chicken
categories: semi-homemade, poultry
servings: 6 to 8
23 oz roasted garlic marinara sauce
6 bone-in, skin-on chicken thighs (to 8)
2 ts kosher salt
1/2 ts freshly ground black pepper
1 Tb extra-virgin olive oil
1 lb whole-wheat linguine
8 oz sliced cremini mushrooms
1/2 c small diced onion
1/4 c white wine (opt)
3 oz baby kale
parmesan cheese
Heat oven to 350F.
In 3-qt Dutch oven over medium heat, heat
sauce. Season chicken on both sides with
salt and pepper.
In large skillet over medium-high heat,
heat olive oil. Add chicken, skin-side
down, and cook 3 to 5 min, until skin is
crisp and deep golden brown. Turn chicken
over and cook until golden on second side.
Remove chicken from skillet, leaving fat
in pan. Set aside skillet to be used later.
Add chicken to sauce in Dutch oven in single
layer, skin-side up, with skin just above
surface of sauce. Cover and bake 40 min.
Begin to boil water for pasta.
Remove cover from Dutch oven and cook in oven
10 min.
Cook pasta al dente according to package
instructions. Drain.
Heat reserved skillet and fat over medium-high
heat; add cremini mushrooms and onions; saute
until lightly browned. Deglaze with white wine,
if desired, and cook until dry. Add kale to
mushrooms and toss gently to wilt.
Remove Dutch oven from oven and gently transfer
chicken to large plate. Add pasta to sauce in
Dutch oven and stir gently to coat.
Place portion of pasta in pasta bowl and make
well in middle. Spoon mushroom-kale mixture
into center of well and top with one piece of
chicken.
Shave Parmesan cheese over dish to finish.
Julian Journal 3/22/2018
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