As if having the forest industry nearly shut down isn't enough, we have mills starting up only to crash before they make their first sale, taking small business with them. An employee of Thunder Bay Fine Papers stopped in this morning at the shop. He feels horrible as it was his name and familiarity with most of the suppliers around town that got them to fix or sell anything to the 'new' mill. We did a bit of business with them but most of the inventory was old stock and my time in the shop. He told us there are others on the brink as a result of not being paid for anywhere from $600k to nearly $1 million. We got an email from the mill last week asking suppliers to quit calling as any available money is going to the government loans. It's funny the paper has reported what the mess has done to the employees (the fellow that stopped in is out of work also) but not to the business community. I've heard of 2 that won't survive if they don't get paid. We all jumped on the bandwagon to sell to them with thin reassurances that all was well. He also told us that even if a deal was reached they would never get back up and running as most of the re-trained employees have left town for other work in desperation. Would they risk leaving another job a second time to be laid off in a matter of weeks? The whole thing smells rotten.
I changed bikes at noon today, something I rarely do unless I have something planned. I didn't have anthing on the agenda other than a nice leisurely ride home with Jill, but she had other ideas. When it came time to turn towards home we turned in the opposite direction and ended up in Parkdale. My normal 5 miles home got to be 10. She was right, it was a good day for a longer ride even if I was wearing jeans and 3 layers.
280 miles to 4000
October:55 miles10-03, Cecelia:8 miles, Jill:14 miles, 62 push ups
10-02, Cecelia:17 Miles, 33 sit ups
10-01, Ceclia:16 miles, 55 push ups
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