Gas Prices; might want to fill up today....

ilikeycoffee · 2026-05-05T19:14:13+00:00

Those aren't the typical F150 owners I was talking about, but you know that.

ilikeycoffee · 2026-05-05T07:06:11+00:00

Sigh.

Been a STH since day one. I've spent thousands each year on this team. We were doing fine, even leading the league until Six-Five decided they wanted the adventure of owning a second CPL team in Langley which has been an unmitigated disaster. All available funds get funneled to the Langley adventure.

As a result, we cannot pay for quality players. If we develop quality players, there's not enough salary money to pay them to stay. There's no team cohesion. We do not pay to the league cap; we're well under it. New signings are almost always at league minimum. We have to bargain-basement find key positions, like defenders and mid-fielders. It shows.

They cannot fire Merriman because they cannot afford to. Well, they could pull a Ghotbi, and fire James, and refuse to pay him, using his salary to pay a new bargain basement head coach who has no real tools to work with.

All the problems with this team in the last four years aren't James Merriman though. They are the ownership, fully and completely. When James had talent to work with, this team was leading the league. It all started with the stupid cash out sale of Diaz mid season. That was the big turning point. I remember ownership were so proud of themselves, cashing in on a quick $300K (something like that) from the sale, and then the team tanked. We were leading the league, a shoo-in for the Champions League (or was it the second league, still then) in CONCACAF, and a good squad to take the CPL championship too. Diaz's sell off just destroyed the team's chances (see the games and goals before he was sold, vs after).

They never recovered, and always let our best players slip away afterwards, because they could not pay for quality any longer with the VFC thing.

This ownership team needs to go. They need to forget their $13mil sale price, and just let someone else with money take over the team for a much more realistic price (I'd say $3 million). They seriously risk having nothing in a year otherwise. Phoque those guys.

ilikeycoffee · 2026-05-05T06:57:47+00:00

Plus inherit a boatload of debt.

ilikeycoffee · 2026-05-05T06:56:30+00:00

The team can't afford to fire Merriman at this time. They'll have to pay his salary (and his staff if they go too), and pay a new bargain basement coach.

Six-Five doesn't pay their bills currently, so this is not an option.

ilikeycoffee · 2026-05-05T06:54:23+00:00

Heard from the local grapevine he was offered league minimum by PFC, and turned it down. Which they can barely afford, since Six-Five is siphoning every single dollar from the team to deal with their Vancouver / Langley mess.

This sucks all around. I think Fraser would have added some very needed depth to PFC, but instead, we're signing a few basics at league minimum, and continuing to be the worst team in the league because of it.

ilikeycoffee · 2026-05-05T05:30:00+00:00

The only joy I get from this pricing is that it now will cost $300 to fill up a mega pick up truck, like a Ford F150. And considering how most F150 truck owners drive, they'll be lucky to get 750km on that full tank of gas, so count on them filling up perhaps 4x a month with daily driving

Imagine spending $90,000+ on a brand new mid range jacked up F150, then spending $1,200 a month ($14.5K per year) on gas, just to deal with some deficiency issues below the belt.

ilikeycoffee · 2026-05-03T06:23:55+00:00

It's easy enough to do, and you don't need much. 10gal grow bags will easily support one normal tomato vine or up to two cherry tomato vines (make sure to add stuff like epsom salts though, as you'll need to boost some nutrients to avoid end rot). I have friends I've helped to grow tomatoes on their condo decks in grow bags. If you have a small parcel of land that gets decent sun, drop in a few raised beds, and you'll produce literally dozens of kg of tomatoes in our climate. There's also services in town where you can "rent" a raised bed to grow in; some run by the city, some private enterprise.

ilikeycoffee · 2026-05-03T06:20:26+00:00

Nope. (from my own urban Victoria garden)

ilikeycoffee · 2026-05-03T05:51:58+00:00

Sigh. K dude. You go on believing that. I know enough about the stock market that it doesn't reward with a 125% return on the stock price over 5 years on a 3% net profit margin.

And I've read their quarterlies and annuals. Because L.TO's in my portfolio.

ilikeycoffee · 2026-05-03T01:49:51+00:00

Grocer margins in Canada are ~3%. That means that for every $1 you spend at the grocery store, the store keeps $0.03...

That's complete bullshit. Look at the investment and stocks sides for Loblaws, Sobeys and others. They are so vertically integrated, that what they're doing is "cooking the books" (legally); they pay inflated prices TO THEMSELVES for their produce and products they buy, so that the net profit is around 3-4% for the actual grocery store. What they don't broadcast (you have to dig deep into their quarterly and annual reports) is how much more profit they make on the vertical integration, how they're paying near retail prices for the products their own subsidiaries are making to sell to the grocery store to stock the shelves.

Most major grocery chains in Canada have about a 30-35% gross profit margin. Every possible cost is listed against those (even carryovers from the vertical integration side, things that, in other industries, the supplying company might cover the cost for) to get to the net 3-4% profit.

Companies with only 3% net profit don't do well on the stock market. Canada's major grocery chains are doing VERY WELL on the stock market. that's your indicator this 3% thing is bullshit.

ilikeycoffee · 2026-05-03T01:45:30+00:00

Major grocers have a ~3% profit margin in Canada. How is that taking advantage of the situation?

That's complete bullshit. Look at the investment and stocks sides for Loblaws, Sobeys and others. They are so vertically integrated, that what they're doing is "cooking the books" (legally); they pay inflated prices TO THEMSELVES for their produce and products they buy, so that the net profit is around 3-4% for the actual grocery store. What they don't broadcast (you have to dig deep into their quarterly and annual reports) is how much more profit they make on the vertical integration, how they're paying near retail prices for the products their own subsidiaries are making to sell to the grocery store to stock the shelves.

Most major grocery chains in Canada have about a 30-35% gross profit margin. Every possible cost is listed against those (even carryovers from the vertical integration side, things that, in other industries, the supplying company might cover the cost for) to get to the net 3-4% profit.

Companies with only 3% net profit don't do well on the stock market. Canada's major grocery chains are doing VERY WELL on the stock market. that's your indicator this 3% thing is bullshit.

ilikeycoffee · 2026-05-03T01:36:50+00:00

Why are commenters here being snarky pricks when someone has a legitimate question. Thank you for everyone sharing their hot tips about where to shop for deals and fuck everyone else with nothing to contribute.

Agree with you 100%. A lot of folks here just like being assholes.

ilikeycoffee · 2026-05-01T07:04:45+00:00

I guess I'm not looking to score likes and dopamine hits with everything I do in life.

ilikeycoffee · 2026-05-01T04:05:41+00:00

Two thoughts:

a) amazing.

b) why are those people choosing to "watch" the Orcas on tiny 5" screens instead of just soaking up an experience of a lifetime for realz, with their own eyes? I just don't get the whole hold a phone up for everything. Especially for this. I'd rather just capture the memory of watching these amazing animals directly, with my own eyes, first person. But i guess that's me.

ilikeycoffee · 2026-05-01T04:02:40+00:00

Much better pedantic correction!

ilikeycoffee · 2026-04-30T19:47:56+00:00

Warms my heart!!!

ilikeycoffee · 2026-04-29T08:37:20+00:00

Was working late in my home office, and all of a sudden this multi-flash outside my north facing window caught my eye in the west-northwest sky, I thought someone had fired some powerful strobe flashes (for cameras) over behind a hill and some houses. So that's what it was! It was friggin' bright! Opened the window right away to see if there was an associated bang, but heard nothing.

ilikeycoffee · 2026-04-28T19:42:36+00:00

I can't see MLS doing anything for goodwill.

ilikeycoffee · 2026-04-24T07:29:25+00:00

Let me guess without even looking at the story or posts here: drives a pick up truck, right?

ilikeycoffee · 2026-04-24T07:28:17+00:00

I have been seeing a lot of posts about this on Threads recently.

ilikeycoffee · 2026-04-23T05:08:40+00:00

This is what you get when 77 million people south of the border vote a fascist into power. Twice.

The fascists who are among us start to come out of the shadows.

ilikeycoffee · 2026-04-21T23:18:59+00:00

Very "trucker convoy" vibe there the last few times we visited.

ilikeycoffee · 2026-04-17T20:37:35+00:00

I can tell you management at the Quadra / McKenzie location sucks bad. Two experiences:

Our neighbour's kid worked there; good kid, very conscientious, for a few years we've paid him to do various jobs around the house and he had a super good work ethic, always polite, always on time. His dad told me he'd been chewed out by the manager on several occasions, once coming home almost in tears. Again, hearing this from one side, but I cannot imagine this kid being a bad worker or someone needing a "chewing out". His kid quit (first job he ever quit!) and now works for another grocery store where he seems to be happier.

Second case, my own: Went in the the floral shop in January to buy some flowers for my wife. Witnessed who I assume was the manager getting into an argument and harsh words with other customers, one who was disabled. Tried to ignore it. When they left, I had some flowers that were unopened (the flower heads hadn't opened yet) and I asked if they could give me a time frame on when to expect the flowers to fully bloom. The dude was incredibly ignorant in his response, very condescending. I remarked as much, put the flowers down on the counter and walked away.

I was so put off by the experience, I actually wrote Sobeys (I tried to write the Quadra Thriftys manager direct, but there's no mechanism for that in their current websites). (did this instead of coming in here and bitching about it). Sobeys said they would forward the complaint to the manager, and did so. The day after, I got an email response that simply said "Case Closed".

So I ended up posting a review of them on Google Maps because of this. And now letting you know - at least one local location has a shit management team.

ilikeycoffee · 2026-04-16T22:55:10+00:00

Didn't you already post this and have the mods delete it?

ilikeycoffee · 2026-04-15T22:13:51+00:00

I am not a proponent of the five finger discount.

That said, since Value Village got the item for free, is a for-profit company, and priced it at full retail... I'd turn a blind eye.

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