Fall 2004 - Trailcon

FOR YOUR INFOFYIThe quirks of perksAn article in The Toronto Starpoints out that the pay forCanadian CEOs of large publiccompanies is generally 21 timesthat of the average worker. Thatcompares with 17 times forhead honchos in Europe, and 10times for those in Japan.However, those figures pale incomparison with the U.S., whichwriter David Olive calls “groundzero in the latest epidemic ofcorporate malfeasance.” UncleSam’s CEOs are paid a whopping531 times what the averageworker earns.SITE-SEEINGwww.GasBuddy.comTired of paying exorbitant prices atthe pump?Check out GasBuddy.com to find the cheapestgas prices in your city. As prices change frequently, and may vary byas much as 20 per cent within only a few blocks, this site provides alive forum for consumers to post local recent low and high prices.The brainchild of a couple of guys from Saskatchewan who were fedup with price gouging, GasBuddy relies on a vast network of volunteersto keep an eye on prices in major cities across Canada, as wellas almost 200 cities in the U.S.We checked Toronto gas prices in a given 24-hour period, and foundthey ranged from a low of 75.4 cents a litre up to a high of 84.9cents – reason enough to patronize one of the lower-priced stations.There's plenty of other interesting information on the site as well,including a rather painful comparison of average prices today, bothin Canada and in your selected city, with those of a year ago. It'senough to give you a bad case of gas!33 broken promises – and countingWhile Frank Klees did not winthe Progressive ConservativeParty leadership – that dubioushonour went to John Tory – hiscampaign team did come upwith one of the more originalWeb sites. The site www.stopdalton.comoutlines 33 promisesthat beleaguered Ontariopremier Dalton McGuinty madewhile campaigning – andpromptly broke. These includeeverything from balancing thebudget, to capping hydro ratesuntil 2006, to the infamous “notax increases” (shades of thatnotorious line from then-presidentialcandidate Bush Senior –“Read my lips – no new taxes”– that played a part in hisdefeat four years later by BillClinton).The broken promises have ledsome wags to dub the partythe Fiberals.A stinker of a jobAnd you thought YOU had a bad dayat the office!While poking around for interestingtidbits, we came across an articlefrom The Globe and Mail aboutPopular Science magazine’s quest tofind the “worst job” in the scienceworld.The hands-down winner was “flatusodour judge,” two scientists whowork for a gastroenterologistresearcher and spend their daysinhaling “episodes of flatulence”from 16 research subjects who arefed quantities of beans.The runner-up was “stool sampleanalyzers,” who work on a researchproject on treatment for diarrhea.The third-place job entailed collectingbull sperm (don’t ask!).The 11th place winner will strike achord with Canadians. Ever since1975, the article points out, whenthe U.S. passed a bill to adopt themetric system, it has been the jobof “metric system advocators” tosell metric conversion to a countrywho has no interest in it.For some weird and wacky entriesfrom beyond the field of science,check outwww.worstjob.com.Wal-Mart cartpusher,anyone?12REPORT ON TRANSPORTATION