#driving classes calgary

[trukademy-canada]

Join Trukademy class 1 driver training in Calgary and get licensed by industry professionals. Our program offers practical, hands-on experience with modern trucks, flexible training schedules, and expert guidance to prepare you for the road. Whether you're new or looking to upgrade, our Calgary-based training ensures you’re ready for a rewarding trucking career. Enroll today and experience the best class 1 driver training Calgary has to offer.

[idrivealbertacalgary]

Winter Driving And Class 4 Road Test in Calgary with iDrive Alberta

Winter in Calgary, Alberta, can be a beautiful yet challenging season on the road. But fear not! iDrive Alberta is here to help you conquer the icy streets and ace your Winter Driving And Class 4 Road Test Calgary Alberta. 

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Don't let winter driving intimidate you! Join iDrive Alberta today, and let's navigate the snowy roads together. Safety, skills, and success – that's the iDrive Alberta way!

[mostlysignssomeportents]

“Humans in the loop” must detect the hardest-to-spot errors, at superhuman speed

I'm touring my new, nationally bestselling novel The Bezzle! Catch me SATURDAY (Apr 27) in MARIN COUNTY, then Winnipeg (May 2), Calgary (May 3), Vancouver (May 4), and beyond!

If AI has a future (a big if), it will have to be economically viable. An industry can't spend 1,700% more on Nvidia chips than it earns indefinitely – not even with Nvidia being a principle investor in its largest customers:

https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=39883571

A company that pays 0.36-1 cents/query for electricity and (scarce, fresh) water can't indefinitely give those queries away by the millions to people who are expected to revise those queries dozens of times before eliciting the perfect botshit rendition of "instructions for removing a grilled cheese sandwich from a VCR in the style of the King James Bible":

https://www.semianalysis.com/p/the-inference-cost-of-search-disruption

Eventually, the industry will have to uncover some mix of applications that will cover its operating costs, if only to keep the lights on in the face of investor disillusionment (this isn't optional – investor disillusionment is an inevitable part of every bubble).

Now, there are lots of low-stakes applications for AI that can run just fine on the current AI technology, despite its many – and seemingly inescapable - errors ("hallucinations"). People who use AI to generate illustrations of their D&D characters engaged in epic adventures from their previous gaming session don't care about the odd extra finger. If the chatbot powering a tourist's automatic text-to-translation-to-speech phone tool gets a few words wrong, it's still much better than the alternative of speaking slowly and loudly in your own language while making emphatic hand-gestures.

There are lots of these applications, and many of the people who benefit from them would doubtless pay something for them. The problem – from an AI company's perspective – is that these aren't just low-stakes, they're also low-value. Their users would pay something for them, but not very much.

For AI to keep its servers on through the coming trough of disillusionment, it will have to locate high-value applications, too. Economically speaking, the function of low-value applications is to soak up excess capacity and produce value at the margins after the high-value applications pay the bills. Low-value applications are a side-dish, like the coach seats on an airplane whose total operating expenses are paid by the business class passengers up front. Without the principle income from high-value applications, the servers shut down, and the low-value applications disappear:

https://locusmag.com/2023/12/commentary-cory-doctorow-what-kind-of-bubble-is-ai/

Now, there are lots of high-value applications the AI industry has identified for its products. Broadly speaking, these high-value applications share the same problem: they are all high-stakes, which means they are very sensitive to errors. Mistakes made by apps that produce code, drive cars, or identify cancerous masses on chest X-rays are extremely consequential.

Some businesses may be insensitive to those consequences. Air Canada replaced its human customer service staff with chatbots that just lied to passengers, stealing hundreds of dollars from them in the process. But the process for getting your money back after you are defrauded by Air Canada's chatbot is so onerous that only one passenger has bothered to go through it, spending ten weeks exhausting all of Air Canada's internal review mechanisms before fighting his case for weeks more at the regulator:

https://bc.ctvnews.ca/air-canada-s-chatbot-gave-a-b-c-man-the-wrong-information-now-the-airline-has-to-pay-for-the-mistake-1.6769454

There's never just one ant. If this guy was defrauded by an AC chatbot, so were hundreds or thousands of other fliers. Air Canada doesn't have to pay them back. Air Canada is tacitly asserting that, as the country's flagship carrier and near-monopolist, it is too big to fail and too big to jail, which means it's too big to care.

Air Canada shows that for some business customers, AI doesn't need to be able to do a worker's job in order to be a smart purchase: a chatbot can replace a worker, fail to their worker's job, and still save the company money on balance.

I can't predict whether the world's sociopathic monopolists are numerous and powerful enough to keep the lights on for AI companies through leases for automation systems that let them commit consequence-free free fraud by replacing workers with chatbots that serve as moral crumple-zones for furious customers:

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0747563219304029

But even stipulating that this is sufficient, it's intrinsically unstable. Anything that can't go on forever eventually stops, and the mass replacement of humans with high-speed fraud software seems likely to stoke the already blazing furnace of modern antitrust:

https://www.eff.org/de/deeplinks/2021/08/party-its-1979-og-antitrust-back-baby

Of course, the AI companies have their own answer to this conundrum. A high-stakes/high-value customer can still fire workers and replace them with AI – they just need to hire fewer, cheaper workers to supervise the AI and monitor it for "hallucinations." This is called the "human in the loop" solution.

The human in the loop story has some glaring holes. From a worker's perspective, serving as the human in the loop in a scheme that cuts wage bills through AI is a nightmare – the worst possible kind of automation.

Let's pause for a little detour through automation theory here. Automation can augment a worker. We can call this a "centaur" – the worker offloads a repetitive task, or one that requires a high degree of vigilance, or (worst of all) both. They're a human head on a robot body (hence "centaur"). Think of the sensor/vision system in your car that beeps if you activate your turn-signal while a car is in your blind spot. You're in charge, but you're getting a second opinion from the robot.

Likewise, consider an AI tool that double-checks a radiologist's diagnosis of your chest X-ray and suggests a second look when its assessment doesn't match the radiologist's. Again, the human is in charge, but the robot is serving as a backstop and helpmeet, using its inexhaustible robotic vigilance to augment human skill.

That's centaurs. They're the good automation. Then there's the bad automation: the reverse-centaur, when the human is used to augment the robot.

Amazon warehouse pickers stand in one place while robotic shelving units trundle up to them at speed; then, the haptic bracelets shackled around their wrists buzz at them, directing them pick up specific items and move them to a basket, while a third automation system penalizes them for taking toilet breaks or even just walking around and shaking out their limbs to avoid a repetitive strain injury. This is a robotic head using a human body – and destroying it in the process.

An AI-assisted radiologist processes fewer chest X-rays every day, costing their employer more, on top of the cost of the AI. That's not what AI companies are selling. They're offering hospitals the power to create reverse centaurs: radiologist-assisted AIs. That's what "human in the loop" means.

This is a problem for workers, but it's also a problem for their bosses (assuming those bosses actually care about correcting AI hallucinations, rather than providing a figleaf that lets them commit fraud or kill people and shift the blame to an unpunishable AI).

Humans are good at a lot of things, but they're not good at eternal, perfect vigilance. Writing code is hard, but performing code-review (where you check someone else's code for errors) is much harder – and it gets even harder if the code you're reviewing is usually fine, because this requires that you maintain your vigilance for something that only occurs at rare and unpredictable intervals:

https://twitter.com/qntm/status/1773779967521780169

But for a coding shop to make the cost of an AI pencil out, the human in the loop needs to be able to process a lot of AI-generated code. Replacing a human with an AI doesn't produce any savings if you need to hire two more humans to take turns doing close reads of the AI's code.

This is the fatal flaw in robo-taxi schemes. The "human in the loop" who is supposed to keep the murderbot from smashing into other cars, steering into oncoming traffic, or running down pedestrians isn't a driver, they're a driving instructor. This is a much harder job than being a driver, even when the student driver you're monitoring is a human, making human mistakes at human speed. It's even harder when the student driver is a robot, making errors at computer speed:

https://pluralistic.net/2024/04/01/human-in-the-loop/#monkey-in-the-middle

This is why the doomed robo-taxi company Cruise had to deploy 1.5 skilled, high-paid human monitors to oversee each of its murderbots, while traditional taxis operate at a fraction of the cost with a single, precaratized, low-paid human driver:

https://pluralistic.net/2024/01/11/robots-stole-my-jerb/#computer-says-no

The vigilance problem is pretty fatal for the human-in-the-loop gambit, but there's another problem that is, if anything, even more fatal: the kinds of errors that AIs make.

Foundationally, AI is applied statistics. An AI company trains its AI by feeding it a lot of data about the real world. The program processes this data, looking for statistical correlations in that data, and makes a model of the world based on those correlations. A chatbot is a next-word-guessing program, and an AI "art" generator is a next-pixel-guessing program. They're drawing on billions of documents to find the most statistically likely way of finishing a sentence or a line of pixels in a bitmap:

https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1145/3442188.3445922

This means that AI doesn't just make errors – it makes subtle errors, the kinds of errors that are the hardest for a human in the loop to spot, because they are the most statistically probable ways of being wrong. Sure, we notice the gross errors in AI output, like confidently claiming that a living human is dead:

https://www.tomsguide.com/opinion/according-to-chatgpt-im-dead

But the most common errors that AIs make are the ones we don't notice, because they're perfectly camouflaged as the truth. Think of the recurring AI programming error that inserts a call to a nonexistent library called "huggingface-cli," which is what the library would be called if developers reliably followed naming conventions. But due to a human inconsistency, the real library has a slightly different name. The fact that AIs repeatedly inserted references to the nonexistent library opened up a vulnerability – a security researcher created a (inert) malicious library with that name and tricked numerous companies into compiling it into their code because their human reviewers missed the chatbot's (statistically indistinguishable from the the truth) lie:

https://www.theregister.com/2024/03/28/ai_bots_hallucinate_software_packages/

For a driving instructor or a code reviewer overseeing a human subject, the majority of errors are comparatively easy to spot, because they're the kinds of errors that lead to inconsistent library naming – places where a human behaved erratically or irregularly. But when reality is irregular or erratic, the AI will make errors by presuming that things are statistically normal.

These are the hardest kinds of errors to spot. They couldn't be harder for a human to detect if they were specifically designed to go undetected. The human in the loop isn't just being asked to spot mistakes – they're being actively deceived. The AI isn't merely wrong, it's constructing a subtle "what's wrong with this picture"-style puzzle. Not just one such puzzle, either: millions of them, at speed, which must be solved by the human in the loop, who must remain perfectly vigilant for things that are, by definition, almost totally unnoticeable.

This is a special new torment for reverse centaurs – and a significant problem for AI companies hoping to accumulate and keep enough high-value, high-stakes customers on their books to weather the coming trough of disillusionment.

This is pretty grim, but it gets grimmer. AI companies have argued that they have a third line of business, a way to make money for their customers beyond automation's gifts to their payrolls: they claim that they can perform difficult scientific tasks at superhuman speed, producing billion-dollar insights (new materials, new drugs, new proteins) at unimaginable speed.

However, these claims – credulously amplified by the non-technical press – keep on shattering when they are tested by experts who understand the esoteric domains in which AI is said to have an unbeatable advantage. For example, Google claimed that its Deepmind AI had discovered "millions of new materials," "equivalent to nearly 800 years’ worth of knowledge," constituting "an order-of-magnitude expansion in stable materials known to humanity":

https://deepmind.google/discover/blog/millions-of-new-materials-discovered-with-deep-learning/

It was a hoax. When independent material scientists reviewed representative samples of these "new materials," they concluded that "no new materials have been discovered" and that not one of these materials was "credible, useful and novel":

https://www.404media.co/google-says-it-discovered-millions-of-new-materials-with-ai-human-researchers/

As Brian Merchant writes, AI claims are eerily similar to "smoke and mirrors" – the dazzling reality-distortion field thrown up by 17th century magic lantern technology, which millions of people ascribed wild capabilities to, thanks to the outlandish claims of the technology's promoters:

https://www.bloodinthemachine.com/p/ai-really-is-smoke-and-mirrors

The fact that we have a four-hundred-year-old name for this phenomenon, and yet we're still falling prey to it is frankly a little depressing. And, unlucky for us, it turns out that AI therapybots can't help us with this – rather, they're apt to literally convince us to kill ourselves:

https://www.vice.com/en/article/pkadgm/man-dies-by-suicide-after-talking-with-ai-chatbot-widow-says

If you'd like an essay-formatted version of this post to read or share, here's a link to it on pluralistic.net, my surveillance-free, ad-free, tracker-free blog:

https://pluralistic.net/2024/04/23/maximal-plausibility/#reverse-centaurs

Image: Cryteria (modified) https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:HAL9000.svg

CC BY 3.0 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/deed.en

[tkachuktkaching]

A few of the highlights

After he threw the pitch in the Marlins game in Miami which he was still recovering from a shoulder injury (right after he got traded) he went into his back yard and and practiced and threw 5 pitches to prepare but he's much healthier than two years ago.

Some talk on Jayson Tatum and how he makes 6 times as much as him and he always knew he was destined for the big time in the NBA and he was always a stud.

They always talked as kids about making the nba and nhl respectively.

The video was technology class in 7th grade before high school.

His dad wanted to go with him to the baseball pitch and his mum was out of town.

He loved hanging out with jayson and catching up for a few hours.

He talked about Sherwood in 2020 he tried a few brands, he helped with the design process and was their first hockey player since their rebrand.

He talked going to Raising Cains, he was partying and going to eleven and without sleep and he had agreed to do things prior to the final. He talked about all the opportunities to do extra signings and things.

He decided to a interview with sports net and decide to give a shout out, he loves the people in Calgary and hates the people in Edmonton and he got family in Winapeg including his Grandpa.

He was excited to play in the charity golf tournament, he loves Charles Barkely and playing with TJ Oshie and the Kelcie brothers were cool.

And how he ended up singing We Are The Champions with Charles Barkley.

He was excited to meet the different people from the different sports.

He got engaged on the Thursday before game 1 in the playoffs and flew in his parents and fiancé's parents had a big celebration then went no booze for the whole playoffs and plans to do that again.

His special memories of the playoffs were the off ice stuff playing poker the comradeship with the guys.

He's sad the teammates that left but excited they got the offersheet and got paid and set for life and is excited to see them for dinner when they see them.

He was pissed after game 5 because he didn't want to go to Edmonton but he was so confident ahead of game 7 he wanted to do it for his family that got him there, he talked how his dad and Brady walked him to his car and wanted to do it especially for them.

He drives to the arena on his own he goes early getting there 4 hours early. Sam Bennet got a mention for liking to sleep and goes much later.

How incredible the emotions of his family and being the first tkachuk to win the cup,

Bringing his dad into the lockeroom was what it meant to him and his whole family.

Singing Brady praises for being so supportive and believes Brady will win it, he's too good not to, he's built for the play offs, and wants to be there when he does.

Literally everybody from Calgary reached out to him after the cup win even Darrell (Sutter).

Praising his old youth team London Knights and what they did for him and other players.

He heard from players he heard from or know and Robbie Thomas and people that won before Vllady got a special mentions he was a great veteran presence and okie too.

He talked the Paternark fight, and how it happened and Monty's involvement. He says there's no rules just beat the shit out of each other.

He'll never forget this year for the rest of his life.

He confirmed Brady did not touch the cup though there were a few close calls due to being drunk.

He says he's so much better health than this time last year, he's excited about this year.

He his fiancee and Brady are going to visit Taryn this Friday he says she won't listen to his interview so it won't ruin the surprise and talks how good she is a field hockey. Her preseason has started.

He loves to watch Barky in practice and is learning to do things and a special mention of Kucherov of Tampa one of his favorite players.

He wants to improve scoring from further out like Brady.

He's getting more recognised now but it's good and he's enjoying it.

He's being working on jumps, working on his skating, sprints and being strong weights but jumps.

He got in trouble for putting the cup in the ocean but the cup caretakers only told him afterwards but they understood but he got great memories.

The whole family sacrifices so much for hockey players and the Tkachuk name is on the cup forever it's forever.

[prototypesteve]

Solo Travel: Find Magic.

Venturing out on a solo vacation can be daunting. There’s a shit-ton of adulting you’ll need to do:

It’s up to you to make your flight. It’s up to you to not lose anything. It’s up to you to stay hydrated and healthy and mindful and motivated.

It can be easy to give in and say “hard nope” and stay home, even if you really want to start travelling solo.

How do you get past all that, and find the will to save up, plan, gear-up, get a passport or a reliable road-trip vehicle, and go? Magic. You believe in magic and you let yourself want it.

When I was in my late teens I was in a waiting room and idly flipping through a magazine (it was the late 80s). I turned the page and there was a two-page tourism ad with a massive photo of Lake Louise, in Banff National Park. Supernaturally milky blue water, tiny red canoes, backed by a colossal wall of mountain capped by an ancient glacier. I remember murmuring aloud, “I want that.” I wanted to feel what that photographer felt. I wanted awe. I wanted magic.

Years later, I finally had enough of my shit together to go there, and it was everything I expected, and it made all the hard adulting worth it. (I wound up moving to Calgary so I could go to Lake Louise any time I wanted to.)

Photo 1: Lake Louise, Alberta. (This is from 2012, and taken with an old iPhone 4S, but it most closely resembles the view I saw in the magazine ad.)

In 2003, I saw a video about Tofino and Pacific Rim National Park. By 2003 I had plenty of experience going on budged-friendly road trips to Vancouver, where I’d stay in the (at the time, affordable) Jericho Beach Hostel. But Tofino would cost more, require a longer vacation, and take me way out of my “there’s always a city close by” comfort zone. But I wanted to see real waves, walk through a real coastal rain forest, and see the ocean fog roll in. I wanted magic,

Photo 2: My (used) 1998 Pontiac Sunfire, and a budget kayak, and my mediocre Norco mountain bike, somewhere at a rest stop along the trans Canada Highway, in British Columbia

By 2005 I had the right gear, a decent budget, and enough self-confidence to drive out and hike down sketchy wooden stairs to Half Moon Bay near Uclulet and see the actual Pacific Ocean—not the Salish Sea between Vancouver and Vancouver Island—for the first time. That week I felt the magic of being at the edge of my world. It made all the adulting easy.

Photos 3 & 4: The first time I saw the Pacific Ocean without Vancouver Island or the Olympic Peninsula lining the horizon, and the first time I saw fog move in over Vancouver island from the Pacific Ocean,

Ever since my 8th and 9th grade teachers told us stories about the old Globe theatre, I’ve dreamt of seeing a play in the rebuilt Globe in London (back then, even rebuilding the Globe was still a dream that wouldn’t be finished until the late 90s). But I live an ocean away, in Canada, I’m introverted, and no matter how much money I make, I have always felt like I’m out of my class-depth at any social gathering. Wrong childhood neighbourhoods, wrong schools, wrong career field. It took me until my 2nd trip to England to work up the nerve to buy a ticket to see a play at the Globe. I wanted to be there like one of the people I imagined during English class as we studied Romeo & Juliet, Julius Caesar, and The Scottish Play. I wanted the magic.

Friday night, August 23, 2024, I spent two hours almost dizzy with a flood of feelings I’m going to need months to process, because I sat in Bay H, Row C, Seat 29, at Shakespeare’s Globe, in London, and watched a beautiful, perfect, magical performance of Much Ado about Nothing, and like I said, I’m going to be sorting out my feelings about this for months.

Yes there’s the Osemanverse overlap, Much Ado appears in Loveless. There’s the Aroace angle, watching two seemingly aro characters get shipped by their friends and family, bla bla bla. There’s a lot. But whatever. For me the magic was being the adult who teenage-me grew up into, sitting there in my seat that I absolutely belonged in, on my trip that I put together for myself, to chase down dozens of my other lifelong dreams, sitting there, and feeling that I was allowed to be there, and then delighting in the magic of live theatre, compounded by the magic of loving myself enough to push through every excuse not to be there.

Photos 5, 6, and 7: The Globe Theatre (there’s no photography during the performance, and I don’t think I’d have bothered, if there was.

Find your magic. Thrive. It doesn’t have to cost a lot: My first solo trips cost me a tank of gas and a tenting campground fee, or a night’s stay at a hostel. It doesn’t need to be risky: Backpacker hostels and modern hotels often have more sophisticated security than your home or workplace. It doesn’t have to be ambitious: Maybe it’s lunch at a diner in a small farm town nearby, maybe it’s a low-key late summer concert in a park, maybe it’s building that sandcastle you never got to build because you grew up far away from water. Whatever it is, go find it! Let it change you.

[tomorrowusa]

Canada's Conservative party created a video as a backdrop to a speech given by Conservative leader Pierre Poilievre. The video purported to show an idealized version of Canada which illustrated points in Poilievre's speech.

A much closer look revealed that images in the vid were of Russian fighter jets, a British royal park, an Italian hunter, California cattle, a Venezuelan sunset, Indonesian mountains, a Slovenian construction site, a Ukrainian student, a North Dakota suburb, and a Serbian classroom.

No information is available on the country of origin for Pierre Poilievre's cowboy hat.

In terms of depicting Canada, the vid was an enormous fail. They did somehow manage to correctly depict a Canadian gas station and a Canadian flag.

BTW, any amateur astronomer beyond the novice level would quickly notice that the sunset in the vid could not have taken place north of the Tropic of Cancer which is at 23.44° N latitude; the Tropic is between Florida and Cuba. The southernmost point in Canada is Middle Island, Ontario in Lake Erie (41.68° N).

Canada’s Conservative party has deleted a social media campaign video with a heavily nationalist message after much of the video featured scenes from other countries, including Ukrainian farmers, Slovenian homes, London’s Richmond Park and a pair of Russian fighter jets. The video, titled “Canada. Our Home” was initially posted to X on Saturday, with various scenes overlaid by a speech from the party leader, Pierre Poilievre. The Conservatives, who lead the governing Liberals in the polls, are preparing for what is widely expected to be a bitterly contested federal election. Soon after the video was posted online, viewers pointed out much of the footage depicted as “Canadian” was easily traced to places outside the country. A thread on X by the Calgary-based user @disorderedyyc compiled at least 13 inconsistencies, adding: “If you’re making a video about the Canada ‘we know and love’, you should be using actual Canadian footage.” Among the gaffes: a “Canadian dad” driving through the suburbs was actually stock footage from North Dakota in the United States, a clip of children attending class was shot in Serbia, the “Canadian-built” homes were under construction in Slovenia, and a university student “late for class” was filmed at a post-secondary institution in Ukraine.

Here's the vid, preserved before the Conservatives could remove it.

The party deleted the video soon after the wave of criticism, but users preserved it online. A Conservative party spokeswoman, Sarah Fischer, confirmed it had been removed. “Mistakes happen, as you can see here,” she said. The New Democratic party deputy ethics critic, Charlie Angus, derided the video. “I’m calling on Conservative leader Pierre Poilievre to clearly and publicly commit to ending the use of phony, fake, manufactured digital content to support his campaign and denounce any external efforts to do the same,” he said in a statement.

[sparkleplatypuswriter]

Ok now that my squee has calmed down, and I got verified — some thoughts.

The rest of the world (and quite frankly, the average Torontonian) really does not understand how utterly limiting it is to the Canadian public for artists to play a handful of shows in only Toronto.

Canadian geography is epic. We’re 1.6 percent larger in land mass than the U.S. with a tenth of its population strewn about. We do not have the means for affordable or sustainable transportation throughout our country (or rather, politicians do not prioritize this). There is a failing rail system that takes over a week to traverse the country at quadruple the price of flying. And our bus service? That died a few years back.

So that leaves flights.

Flying in Canada is brutally expensive and mostly unattainable for any working class (or hell at this point, middle class) person or family.

I grew up on the West Coast of Canada, and I never flew within Canada. My family could not afford it. We only ever visited our neighbouring province a handful of times. That drive was nearly 20 (!) hours, and the town we visited was on the border of the neighbouring province (that is, the closest you could get to my home province while still being in another province). Going to Toronto may as well have been the equivalent of going to the moon. As I got older, I went to Asia twice at a fraction of the price it would have cost to go to Toronto. Why? Canada doesn’t have the population to sustain cheap flights within our own country EVEN WITH a heavily government subsidized airline.

On top of all this, flights are long. Toronto is a five hour flight from Vancouver *if* you have no layovers. It can be upwards of 10-12 hours otherwise. Factor in the time difference of going that far west to east and you lose an entire day or more.

Now, I’m not saying Taylor (or other artists in her range) should play every provincial and territorial capital (but oh it would be great if they did!). But at the very least, Montreal, Calgary, and Vancouver definitely have the demand and infrastructure for stadium shows (all are former Olympic host cities — you know who is not? TORONTO). Even then, there are so many folks who are too far from even those places, but it would be a (humble) start.

I know this is a post about Taylor Swift but it really does come down to concepts much bigger than this including the accessibility of art (which lets be real the Eras tour isn’t financially accessible anyways), urban-rural divides, Western alienation, and a sense of identity we cannot have as a country when a “Canadian” leg of a tour is considered a handful of dates in Toronto (but hey, don’t get me started on the problematic concept of national identity in a colonial country on unceded Indigenous territory — or do, but that will be unpacked in another post).

YoU cAn JuSt Go To A bOrDeR cItY sHoW iN tHe U.S. — Sorry no. Our dollar is much lower than the American dollar. Tickets with the exchange rate would be more horrendous than they already are AND not everyone feels comfortable visiting the the U.S. right now.

*end rant*

[raccoon-robyn]

I'm gonna add some more explanations of our slang that I can think of! And all of these are coming from an autistic person who lives in a small town in the middle of nowhere, so take it with a grain of salt unless you want your character to come from southern Alberta (aka, basically Canadian Texas where the biggest event of the year is a giant rodeo in Calgary)

Double double: a coffee with two sugar and two cream packets. Usually from tim Hortons since they're probably within a 5km drive anywhere you go in a city

Yeah no: means "no, I don't wanna do that." Can come across as rude depending on your tone

Yeah no yeah: means "yes, I heard you, I agree" and it can be used in most contexts

Yeah yeah yeah: usually a derogatory "no" and (in my experience) used to slightly be grumpy with someone's nagging or if they're being a jerk

No yeah no: also a "yes" but can used in a consoling manner or trying to reassure someone of something. Like saying, "Yeah, I totally get it, that really sucked" or "yeah, I'll get this done for you, don't worry!"

"Sneakers" or "runners": they refer to the type of shoe you would wear to gym class or a sports event that doesn't require cleats or other types of specialty shoes (dance shoes, bowling shoes, etc.). I think they can be called tennis shoes in some parts of the world.

"Quad" or "four by four": image below

I can't think of anything else, so other Canadian people should add to this!

Dammit, people, if you’re going to write a Canadian character, you can’t just throw “eh” in wherever. It’s not a verbal tic - it has a very specific semantic role.

In brief, “eh” does one of two things:

Turn an imperative into a request. e.g., “Pass me that wrench, eh?”

Turn a statement into a question. e.g., “Cold out there, eh?”

In the latter case, there are several situations where it’s commonly used:

The speaker is not sure that the statement she’s just made is correct, and is asking the listener to confirm. e.g., “That’s about forty kilometers West of here, eh?”

The speaker is checking that the listener is still interested and wishes for her to continue, but does not expect any specific response. e.g., “So then this freakin’ moose shows up, eh?”

The speaker is being sarcastic. e.g., “You really thought that one through, eh?”

When used in this way, “eh” is roughly equivalent to appending “isn’t it?” (“doesn’t it?”, “didn’t you?”, etc.) to the end of a sentence; interestingly, it also functions very much like the Japanese “ne”, which has a nearly identical effect when appended to a statement.

Now you know.

[buffalomountainlodge]

Experience Elevated Events at Hotels in Banff with Conference Facilities Designed for Impact

Hosting a corporate event in a setting that inspires can dramatically shift the tone and outcome of your meetings. Business leaders and event planners alike are moving away from generic city venues and toward locations that energize and engage. That’s why hotels in Banff with conference facilities are gaining recognition as some of the most distinctive and effective venues in Canada.

These hotels offer more than convenience—they provide a complete experience. Set within Banff National Park’s breathtaking scenery, they pair world-class service with awe-inspiring views of the Canadian Rockies. The surrounding nature not only provides a relaxing atmosphere but also enhances focus, making it easier for teams to think clearly and work collaboratively. Whether it’s a leadership summit, annual sales kickoff, or team-building retreat, Banff provides the perfect backdrop.

Midway through your planning journey, you’ll likely explore a variety of Banff meeting rooms within these hotels—each one equipped to meet the demands of modern business. From large ballrooms with theatre seating to cozy breakout rooms with fireplaces and natural lighting, the variety allows you to tailor your event to your team’s needs. High-speed Wi-Fi, projection equipment, sound systems, and hybrid meeting capabilities are standard features in many of these spaces, ensuring nothing is left to chance.

But the real advantage goes beyond equipment. Hotels such as the Fairmont Banff Springs, Moose Hotel & Suites, and the Rimrock Resort Hotel seamlessly integrate their conference facilities with luxury accommodations, on-site dining, wellness services, and recreational activities. Attendees don’t just show up for a meeting—they experience a retreat where productivity and relaxation coexist.

Between sessions, teams can enjoy locally inspired cuisine, spa treatments, or explore Banff’s extensive network of scenic trails and lakes. This added layer of experience strengthens team dynamics and fosters better engagement. It’s not uncommon for businesses to report increased morale and innovation after hosting an offsite in Banff. That’s the power of blending environment with agenda.

Inside many of these Banff meeting rooms, the design reflects the region’s natural charm. Timber beams, stone accents, and mountain views give every room a calm, grounded atmosphere. Even the most intense strategy sessions feel more manageable in a setting like this. And with expert event staff handling the details—setup, tech support, catering—you’re free to focus on your goals.

Accessibility is also a key benefit. Banff is just a 90-minute drive from Calgary International Airport, making it surprisingly easy to reach while still offering the feeling of complete escape. This balance makes it ideal for national and international corporate groups.

Ultimately, choosing hotels in Banff with conference facilities is about more than logistics. It’s about investing in an experience where business goals are met with creativity, energy, and perspective. In this setting, surrounded by natural grandeur and supported by expert hospitality, your next meeting won’t just be successful—it will be unforgettable.

[trukademy-canada]

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[showhomefurnitures-blog]

Mountain Views and City Lights: Why Calgary Is the Perfect New Home

Thinking of starting a new chapter? Calgary combines stunning mountain views with the energy of city life, creating a lifestyle that’s hard to match anywhere else in Canada. From thriving job opportunities to a warm community spirit, there are countless reasons why Calgary is the perfect new home for your family.

Let’s dive into what makes this city shine—and why now is the perfect time to make the move.

1️⃣ The View: Nature at Your Doorstep

Imagine sipping your morning coffee while the sunrise glows over the Rockies. Calgary’s proximity to Banff, Kananaskis, and Canmore means you’re only a short drive from hiking, skiing, and mountain adventures.

Love biking or long walks? Calgary boasts over 1,000 km of pathways, making it easy to stay active while enjoying views of the Bow River and the distant peaks. For families, parks like Fish Creek and Nose Hill offer space to explore and unwind.

2️⃣ A Thriving Job Market

Calgary is known for its energy sector, but the city is also rapidly expanding in technology, healthcare, education, and construction. The tech industry has grown steadily, attracting startups and established firms alike.

Job seekers will find a variety of opportunities while enjoying a lower cost of living than in cities like Toronto and Vancouver. For entrepreneurs, Calgary’s supportive business environment and vibrant networking scene make it a promising place to launch your next venture.

3️⃣ Affordable Cost of Living

Compared to other major Canadian cities, Calgary offers affordable housing options in both suburban and urban areas. Whether you prefer the family-friendly communities of Tuscany, Evanston, or Auburn Bay, or the trendy downtown living of Beltline and Kensington, there’s a neighbourhood for every lifestyle and budget.

Calgary also has no provincial sales tax, helping your budget stretch further.

4️⃣ A Family-Friendly City

Calgary is designed with families in mind. Safe neighbourhoods, excellent schools, and endless activities for kids make it a welcoming city for those raising children.

Top-rated schools, both public and private, and post-secondary institutions like the University of Calgary and SAIT provide quality education from kindergarten to career.

Weekend family activities abound, from the Calgary Zoo and Telus Spark Science Centre to community festivals and farmers’ markets. Plus, winter sports are a way of life, and you’ll be just an hour away from some of the best skiing and snowboarding in Canada.

5️⃣ Four Beautiful Seasons

Calgary’s four-season climate is a major draw. Winters are bright and dry, with Chinooks bringing sudden warm spells that melt away the snow. Summers are warm and sunny, perfect for exploring patios, outdoor concerts, and weekend trips to the mountains.

Spring and fall bring crisp, clear days, ideal for strolls through local parks or along the river pathways.

6️⃣ A Vibrant Arts and Food Scene

Calgary’s arts and culture community is thriving. From live music at local venues to world-class performances at Arts Commons, there’s always something happening.

The Calgary Stampede brings the city alive every July, showcasing rodeos, concerts, and cultural celebrations.

Foodies will love the growing culinary scene, from local breweries and coffee shops to fine dining with farm-to-table ingredients. Local farmers’ markets, including the Calgary Farmers’ Market and Crossroads Market, let you shop fresh while supporting local producers.

7️⃣ An Easy City to Navigate

Calgary’s grid street system and efficient CTrain network make getting around straightforward. Whether you’re commuting downtown or exploring local neighbourhoods, travel is convenient and accessible.

The city’s bike-friendly paths and pedestrian-friendly areas, particularly in Beltline and Kensington, encourage an active lifestyle while reducing the need for a car for many residents.

Settling In: Furnishing Your New Calgary Home

Relocating to a new city is exciting, and creating a comfortable home helps you settle in faster. Showhome Furniture at North Hill Centre is Calgary’s go-to for high-quality, Canadian-made furniture to style your new space.

Why Choose Showhome Furniture?

70,000 sq. ft. showroom with sofas, dining sets, bedroom furniture, lighting, and décor.

Custom couch options to fit your space and design needs.

Free interior design consultations to make your vision a reality.

A focus on Canadian craftsmanship and lasting quality.

Loyalty perks for repeat customers.

Whether you’re looking for a cozy sectional to enjoy family movie nights or a statement dining set for entertaining new friends, Showhome Furniture will help transform your new house into a welcoming Calgary home.

Community Connection: Getting Involved in Calgary

To truly settle in, getting involved is key. Here’s how to connect with your new community:

🌻 Join local clubs and hobby groups to meet like-minded people. 🎨 Attend neighbourhood festivals and markets. 🤝 Volunteer to give back while building relationships. 🚴‍♀️ Explore Calgary’s parks, trails, and recreation centres. 🏘️ Visit community association events in your neighbourhood.

Building connections helps you feel at home while discovering the best of what Calgary offers.

Practical Moving Tips

To ensure your move to Calgary is smooth:

✅ Book movers early, especially during peak spring and summer seasons. ✅ Label your boxes clearly for easier unpacking. ✅ Set up utilities (ENMAX, Direct Energy, Shaw, Telus) in advance. ✅ Register your vehicle and switch to an Alberta driver’s license. ✅ Update your address for health care, banking, and subscriptions. ✅ Bring essential documents and personal items with you for easy access during your move.

Conclusion: Calgary Awaits

Moving to Calgary offers a unique blend of mountain beauty, urban vibrancy, and community warmth. Whether you’re chasing career opportunities, an active outdoor lifestyle, or a welcoming place to raise your family, Calgary delivers on every front.

Create a smooth transition by planning your move and exploring your new neighbourhoods, and don’t forget to furnish your space with comfort and style. Visit Showhome Furniture in Calgary to design a space that feels like home from the moment you arrive.

[mostlysignssomeportents]

Precaratize bosses

I'm touring my new, nationally bestselling novel The Bezzle! Catch me SUNDAY (Apr 21) in TORINO, then Marin County (Apr 27), Winnipeg (May 2), Calgary (May 3), Vancouver (May 4), and beyond!

Combine Angelou's "When someone shows you who they are, believe them" with the truism that in politics, "every accusation is a confession" and you get: "Every time someone accuses you of a vice, they're showing you who they are and you should believe them."

Let's talk about some of those accusations. Remember the moral panic over the CARES Act covid stimulus checks? Hyperventilating mouthpieces for the ruling class were on every cable network, complaining that "no one wants to work anymore." The barely-submerged subtext was their belief that the only reason people show up for work is that they're afraid of losing everything – their homes, their kids, the groceries in their fridge.

This isn't a new development. Back when Clinton destroyed welfare, his justification was that "handouts" make workers lazy. The way to goad workers off their sofas (and the welfare rolls) and into jobs was to instill fear in them:

https://www.theatlantic.com/business/archive/2018/03/welfare-childhood/555119/

This is also the firm belief of tech bosses: for them, mass tech layoffs are great news, because they terrorize the workers you don't fire, so that they'll be "extremely hardcore" and put in as many extra hours as the company demands, without even requiring any extra pay in return:

https://fortune.com/2022/10/06/elon-musk-jason-calacanis-return-to-office-gentlemens-layoffs-twitter/

Now, there's an obvious answer to the problem of no one taking a job at the wage being offered: just increase the offer. Capitalists claim to understand this. Uber will tell you that surge pricing "incentivizes drivers" to take to the streets by offering them more money to drive during busy times:

https://www.uber.com/blog/austin/providing-rides-when-they-are-most-needed/

(Note that while Uber once handed the lion's share of surge price premiums to drivers, these days, Uber just keeps the money, because they've entered the enshittification stage where drivers are so scared of being blacklisted that Uber can push them around instead of dangling carrots.)

(Also note that this logic completely fails when it comes to other businesses, like Wendy's, who briefly promised surge-priced hamburgers during busy times, but without even the pretense that the surge premium would be used to pay additional workers to rush to the restaurant and increase the capacity:)

https://www.theguardian.com/food/2024/feb/27/wendys-dynamic-surge-pricing

So bosses knew how to address their worker shortage: higher wages. You know: supply and demand. For bosses, the issue wasn't supply, it was price. A worker who earns $10/hour but makes the company $20 profit every hour is splitting the surplus 50:50 with their employer. The employer has overheads (rent on the shop, inventory, advertising and administration) that they have to pay out of their end of that surplus. But workers also have overheads: commuting costs, child-care, a professional wardrobe, and other expenses the worker incurs just so they can make money for their boss.

There's no iron law of economics that says the worker/boss split should be 50/50. Depending on the bargaining power of workers and their bosses, that split can move around a lot. Think of McDonald's and Walmart workers who work for wildly profitable corporate empires, but are so badly paid that they have to rely on food stamps. The split there is more like 10/90, in the boss's favor.

The pandemic changed the bargaining power. Sure, workers got a small cushion from stimulus checks, but they also benefited from changes in the fundamentals of the labor market. For example, millions of boomers just noped out of their jobs, forever, unwilling to risk catching a fatal illness and furious to realize that their bosses viewed that as an acceptable risk.

Bosses' willingness to risk their workers' lives backfired in another way: killing hundreds of thousands of workers and permanently disabling millions more. Combine the boomer exodus with the workers who sickened or died, and there's just fewer workers to go around, and so now those workers enjoy more bargaining power. They can demand a better split: say, 75/25, in their favor.

Remember the 2015 American Airlines strike, where pilots and flight attendants got a raise? The eminently guillotineable Citibank analyst Kevin Crissey declared: "This is frustrating. Labor is being paid first again. Shareholders get leftovers":

https://www.thestreet.com/investing/american-airlines-flight-attendants-bash-citi-analyst-who-put-shareholders-before-workers-14134309

Now, obviously, the corporation doesn't want to offer a greater share of its surplus to its workforce, but it certainly can do so. The more it pays its workers, the less profitable it will be, but that's capitalism, right? Corporations try to become as profitable as they can be, but they can't just decree that their workers must work for whatever pay they want to offer (that's serfdom).

Companies also don't get to dictate that we must buy their goods at whatever price they set (the would be a planned economy, not a market economy). There's no law that says that when the cost of making something goes up, its price should go up, too. A business that spends $10 to make a widget you pay $15 for has a $5 margin to play with. If the business's costs go up to $11, they can still charge $15 and take $1 less in profits. Or they can raise the price to $15.50 and split the difference.

But when businesses don't face competition, they can make you eat their increased costs. Take Verizon. They made $79b in profit last year, and also just imposed a $4/month service charge on their mobile customers due to "rising operational costs":

https://www.reddit.com/r/LateStageCapitalism/comments/1c53c4p/79bn_in_profits_last_year_but_you_need_an_extra/

Now, Verizon is very possibly lying about these rising costs. Excuseflation is rampant and rising, as one CEO told his investors, when the news is full of inflation-talk, "it’s an opportunity to increase the prices without getting a whole bunch of complaining from the customers":

https://pluralistic.net/2023/03/11/price-over-volume/#pepsi-pricing-power

But even stipulating that Verizon is telling the truth about these "rising costs," why should we eat those costs? There's $79b worth of surplus between Verizon's operating costs and its gross revenue. Why not take it out of Verizon's bottom line?

For 40 years, neoliberal economists have emphasized our role as "consumers" (as though consumers weren't also workers!). This let them play us off against one-another: "Sure, you don't want the person who rings up your groceries to get evicted because they can't pay their rent, but do you care about it enough to pay an extra nickel for these eggs?"

But again, there's no obvious reason why you should pay that extra nickel. If you have the buying power to hold prices down, and workers have the labor power to keep wages up, then the business has to absorb that nickel. We can have a world where workers can pay their rent and you can afford your groceries.

So how do we get bosses to agree to take less so we can have more? They've told us how: for bosses, the thing that motivates workers to show up for shitty jobs is fear – fear of losing their homes, fear of going hungry.

When your boss says, "If you don't want to do this job for minimum wage, there's someone else who will," they're telling you that the way to get a raise out of them is to engineer things so that you can say, "If you don't want to pay me a living wage for this job, there's someone else who will."

Their accusation – that you only give someone else a fair shake when you're afraid of losing out – is a confession: to get them to give you a fair shake, we have to make them afraid. They're showing us who they are, and we should believe them.

In her Daily Show appearance, FTC chair Lina Khan quipped that monopolies are too big to care:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oaDTiWaYfcM

Philosophers of capitalism are forever praising its ability to transform greed into public benefit. As Adam Smith put it, "It is not from the benevolence of the butcher, the brewer, or the baker, that we expect our dinner, but from their regard to their own interest." The desire to make as much money as possible, on its own, doesn't produce our dinner, but when the butcher, the brewer and the baker are afraid that you will take your labor or your wallet elsewhere, they pay more and charge less.

Capitalists don't want market economies, where they have to compete with one another, eroding their margins and profits – they want a planned economy, like Amazon, where Party Secretary Bezos and his commissars tell merchants what they can sell and tell us what we must pay:

https://pluralistic.net/2024/03/01/managerial-discretion/#junk-fees

Capitalists don't want free labor, where they have to compete with rival capitalists to bid on their workers' labor – they want noncompetes, bondage fees, and "training repayment agreement provisions" (TRAPs) that force their workers to stay in dead-end jobs rather than shopping for a better wage:

\https://pluralistic.net/2022/08/04/its-a-trap/#a-little-on-the-nose

Capitalists hate capitalism, because capitalism only works if the capitalists are in a constant state of terror inspired by the knowledge that tomorrow, someone smarter could come along and open a better business, poaching their customers and workers, and putting the capitalist on the breadline.

https://pluralistic.net/2024/04/18/in-extremis-veritas/#the-winnah

Being in a constant precarious state makes people lose their minds, and capitalists know it. That's why they work so hard to precaratize the rest of us, saddling us with health debt, education debt, housing debt, stagnating wages and rising prices. It's not just because that makes them more money in the short term from our interest payments and penalties. It's because it de-risks their lives: monopolies and cartels can pass on any extra costs to consumers, who'll eat shit and take it:

https://pluralistic.net/2022/02/02/its-the-economy-stupid/#overinflated

A workforce that goes to bed every night worrying about making the rent is a workforce that put in unpaid overtime and thank you for it.

Capitalists hate capitalism. You know who didn't hate capitalism? Karl Marx and Freidrich Engels. The first chapter of The Communist Manifesto is just these two guys totally geeking out about how much cool stuff we get when capitalists are afraid and therefore productive:

https://pluralistic.net/SpectreHaunting

But when capitalists escape their fears, the alchemical reaction that converts greed to prosperity fizzles, leaving nothing behind but greed and its handmaiden, enshittification. Google search is in the toilet, getting worse every year, but rather than taking reduced margins and spending more fighting spam, the company did a $80b stock-buyback and fired 12,000 skilled technologists, rather than using that 80 bil to pay their wages for the next twenty-seven years:

https://pluralistic.net/2024/02/21/im-feeling-unlucky/#not-up-to-the-task

Monopoly apologists like to argue that monopolists can rake in the giant profits necessary to fund big, ambitious projects the produce better products at lower prices and make us all better off. But even if monopolists can spend their monopoly windfalls on big, ambitious projects, they don't. Why would they?

If you're Google, you can either spend tens of billions on R&D to keep up with spam and SEO scumbags, or you can spend less money buying the default search spot on every platform, so no one ever tries another search engine and switches:

https://pluralistic.net/2024/04/04/teach-me-how-to-shruggie/#kagi

Compared to its monopoly earnings, the tech sector's R&D spending is infinitesimal:

https://pluralistic.net/2020/08/11/nor-glom-of-nit/#capitalists-hate-competition

How do we get capitalists to work harder to make their workers and customers better off? Capitalists tell us how, every day. We need to make them afraid.

If you'd like an essay-formatted version of this post to read or share, here's a link to it on pluralistic.net, my surveillance-free, ad-free, tracker-free blog:

https://pluralistic.net/2024/04/19/make-them-afraid/#fear-is-their-mind-killer

Image: Vlad Lazarenko (modified) https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Wall_Street_Sign_%281-9%29.jpg CC BY-SA 3.0 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/deed.en

[readmypost]

Comfortable and Convenient: Taking the Bus from Calgary to Edmonton

If you’re planning a trip between Alberta’s two largest cities, taking the bus from Calgary to Edmonton is one of the most convenient and affordable options available. Whether you’re heading north for business, visiting family, or exploring new sights, traveling Calgary to Edmonton by bus offers flexibility, comfort, and value for money.

Why Choose a Bus Ride from Calgary to Edmonton?

A bus ride from Calgary to Edmonton is ideal for travelers who prefer a stress-free journey. Unlike driving yourself, you won’t need to worry about traffic, gas costs, or parking. Instead, you can sit back, relax, and enjoy the scenic route through Alberta. Buses are typically equipped with comfortable seating, Wi-Fi, and restrooms, making the experience much more pleasant than other forms of public transport.

For those without access to a personal vehicle or who want to travel sustainably, buses provide a reliable alternative. Many travelers also choose this option for its safety, especially during the winter months when road conditions can be unpredictable.

Calgary to Edmonton Bus Schedule and Travel Time

When planning your journey, it’s important to check the Calgary to Edmonton bus schedule. Most operators provide multiple daily departures, giving you the flexibility to travel in the morning, afternoon, or evening. The average travel time ranges between 3 to 4 hours, depending on weather and traffic conditions.

Some popular bus service providers include Red Arrow, Ebus, and Rider Express. These companies offer convenient pick-up and drop-off locations, such as downtown terminals and major transit hubs, making it easy to connect with local transportation on either end of your trip.

Calgary to Edmonton Bus Tickets: Booking and Options

Purchasing Calgary to Edmonton bus tickets is straightforward and can be done online or at terminal counters. Online booking is highly recommended, as it often provides access to discounts and guarantees a seat, especially during weekends or holidays when buses tend to fill up quickly.

Most companies offer different ticket classes or pricing tiers. You can opt for economy fares or choose premium seats with extra legroom and additional amenities. The flexibility to modify or cancel tickets is often available, depending on the fare you select.

Calgary to Edmonton Bus Price: What to Expect

The Calgary to Edmonton bus price varies based on the operator, time of day, and how far in advance you book. On average, one-way fares range from $30 to $60. Booking early often results in lower prices, while last-minute bookings may be more expensive.

Some providers offer return-trip discounts or loyalty programs for frequent travelers. Students, seniors, and children may also be eligible for special rates. It’s a good idea to compare prices across different bus companies to find the best deal for your schedule and budget.

Tips for a Better Bus Experience

Arrive Early: Get to the terminal at least 15-30 minutes before departure to avoid any last-minute stress.

Pack Light: Most buses have limited luggage space, so pack efficiently.

Bring Entertainment: Download your favorite shows or books to enjoy during the ride.

Snacks & Water: While some buses make brief stops, having your own refreshments can be handy.

Final Thoughts

Traveling Calgary to Edmonton by bus is a smart, cost-effective choice for anyone looking to make the journey comfortably and reliably. With several operators, multiple schedules, and affordable pricing, it’s easier than ever to find the right Calgary to Edmonton bus that suits your needs.

Whether you're a student, a tourist, or a local making a routine trip, the Calgary to Edmonton bus schedule, tickets, and prices make this option a top pick for many Albertans.

[kmjtire]

Calgary’s #1 Tire Shop 2025 – KMJ TIRE Has It All ✅

245/50R20, 275/55R20, 285/60R20 & More — Calgary’s Best Tire Selection Is Here 🛞

Need truck, SUV, or performance tires in Calgary? From heavy-duty to highway-ready, KMJ TIRE delivers premium tire options with precision installs and local expertise. Check out our 5 Star Google Rating for our tire shop

🏆 Calgary's Go-To Tire Pros for Top Brands

We specialize in all major manufacturers. Whether you're after ride comfort, off-road durability, or long-lasting tread life — we stock it.

Michelin Tires in Calgary – Best-in-class performance, winter traction, and EV-ready tech.

Toyo Tires Calgary – Legendary A/T & winter grip with models like Open Country & Celsius.

BFGoodrich Calgary Tires – KO2 and Advantage series for trucks and sport utility vehicles.

Firestone Tire Dealer in Calgary – All-season and WeatherGrip solutions for local roads.

Falken Tire Calgary – Trusted for winter traction and off-road readiness.

Pirelli Tires Calgary – Premium for performance cars and high-speed driving.

Bridgestone Calgary Tires – From Blizzak winters to highway Duelers.

Hankook Tires in Calgary – Affordable, durable, and winter-certified.

Electric Vehicle Tires in Calgary – Quiet, low-resistance options built for EVs.

Explore our full lineup of all tire brands in Calgary today.

🚙 Popular Tire Sizes Always In Stock

Our Calgary location keeps all high-demand sizes ready for same-day installs:

245/50R20 SUV Tires Calgary – Great for crossovers, family SUVs & luxury rides.

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265/70R17 & 285/70R17 – Common sizes for daily drivers and weekend warriors.

Heavy-Duty Semi Tires in Calgary – 11R22.5 and 11R24.5 drive, steer, and trailer tires.

Need help finding your size? Try our Tire Calculator or book online in seconds.

❄️ All-Season, Winter & All-Weather Options for Alberta Roads

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Winter Tires Calgary – Ice-gripping traction with 3PMS certification.

All-Weather Tires Calgary – Perfect year-round versatility.

All-Season Tire Experts in Calgary – Quiet, comfortable, and long-lasting.

Seasonal Tire Swaps Calgary – Book spring and fall changeovers early.

Studded Tires Calgary – Extra bite for icy commutes.

🧰 Professional Tire Services in Calgary

We don’t just sell tires — we install, service, and protect them too:

Flat Tire Repair Calgary – Patch, plug, and reseal your tire quickly.

Wheel Balancing in Calgary – Eliminate vibrations and uneven wear.

Tire Installation Experts Calgary – FREE installs with every set purchased.

🚐 Mobile Tire Services in Calgary

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🛻 Calgary’s Leader in Commercial, Fleet & Farm Tires

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Commercial Tire Services Calgary – Semi-truck, trailer, cube van & light-duty.

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🛢️ Calgary Oil Change Services

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We’re located at 911 48 Ave SE, Calgary. Serving Calgary, Airdrie, Chestermere, Okotoks, and Cochrane.

👉 Book tires now 📞 Or call us directly to speak to an expert.

[smartstreamerp]

Best ERP Solutions for Real Estate & Property Management in Calgary

Managing real estate and property assets is a complex task. From tracking leases to managing maintenance, finances, and tenant data, property management companies have a lot on their plates. That’s why more firms are turning to ERP for Real Estate & Property Management to streamline operations, improve accuracy, and drive better decision-making.

At Smart Stream ERP, we specialize in offering robust, user-friendly, and fully integrated ERP Property Management Software designed specifically for real estate professionals. Whether you're managing residential, commercial, or mixed-use properties, our ERP solutions can help you gain full control over your operations—especially if you're looking for ERP for Real Estate & Property Management in Calgary.

Why Use ERP Software for Real Estate?

ERP software for Real Estate brings all your business functions—like accounting, leasing, facility management, and reporting—into one system. Instead of using separate tools for each task, an ERP system allows you to manage everything from a central platform.

This reduces manual errors, saves time, and gives you real-time visibility into your portfolio’s performance. Smart Stream ERP’s property management module is built with industry best practices, offering scalable solutions that grow with your business.

Key Features of Smart Stream ERP Property Management Software

1. Lease and Tenant Management

Easily manage leases, renewals, payments, and tenant communications. Our ERP Property Management Software in Calgary helps real estate firms keep track of all lease terms, rent schedules, and tenant records in one place.

2. Automated Billing and Accounting

Avoid billing errors with automated rent calculations, invoice generation, and payment tracking. The accounting module is integrated into the ERP, giving you a full financial overview.

3. Maintenance and Facility Management

Schedule, track, and manage maintenance activities. Assign tasks, monitor progress, and ensure timely completion—all within the system.

4. Real-Time Reporting and Analytics

Access customized dashboards and reports that show occupancy rates, revenue, expenses, and more. Make data-driven decisions using our advanced analytics features.

5. Regulatory Compliance

Smart Stream ERP ensures compliance with local Calgary property management regulations, offering peace of mind for businesses operating in the region.

Why Choose Smart Stream ERP in Calgary?

Calgary’s real estate market is competitive and fast-moving. Companies need modern tools to stay efficient and compliant. Our ERP software for Real Estate in Calgary is designed with local needs in mind. Whether you manage a small portfolio or hundreds of properties, our system is flexible, scalable, and secure.

We also provide full training, support, and customization services to make sure your team gets the most out of the software.

Conclusion

Smart Stream ERP offers the best-in-class ERP for Real Estate & Property Management. With all-in-one functionality, local compliance features, and a user-friendly design, it’s the ideal choice for real estate professionals in Calgary. From lease management to maintenance and reporting, we’ve got you covered.

If you're searching for reliable ERP Property Management Software in Calgary, look no further. Contact Smart Stream ERP today to schedule a demo and see how we can help streamline your property operations.

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Dreaming of a Tata Nexon? Get the Best Price and Exclusive Offers at Lakshmi Tata Chennai!

Discover the Tata Nexon – A Compact SUV That Redefines Style and Safety

The Tata Nexon has quickly become one of the most sought-after compact SUVs in India. With its bold design, five-star Global NCAP safety rating, and cutting-edge features, it’s no surprise that it has won the hearts of families and young professionals alike. Whether you're upgrading your current vehicle or buying your first SUV, the Nexon delivers the perfect balance of style, performance, and affordability.

Visit us!

At Lakshmi Tata Chennai, we take your Nexon buying experience to the next level — offering best-in-city prices, exclusive seasonal deals, and a customer-first approach that ensures you get the right car at the right value.

Why the Tata Nexon is the Right Choice for Chennai Roads

Navigating through Chennai’s bustling traffic and diverse road conditions requires a vehicle that’s both tough and nimble. Here’s why the Nexon stands out:

1. Elevated Ground Clearance and Rugged Build

The Nexon is designed to handle potholes, flyovers, and rain-soaked roads with ease, thanks to its high ground clearance and strong suspension system.

2. Turbocharged Performance

Available in petrol and diesel options, the Nexon’s turbocharged engines offer smooth acceleration and efficient mileage — perfect for both city driving and weekend getaways.

3. Premium Cabin Experience

Step inside and enjoy a dual-tone interior, advanced touchscreen infotainment, wireless connectivity, rear AC vents, and premium finishes that make every drive comfortable and connected.

4. 5-Star Safety Rating

With dual airbags, ABS with EBD, electronic stability control, hill hold assist, and ISOFIX seats, the Nexon ensures peace of mind for you and your loved ones.

Why Buy from Lakshmi Tata in Chennai?

Unmatched Offers and Best Price Guarantee

Lakshmi Tata is known for providing some of the most competitive prices in Chennai. Whether you're eyeing the Tata Nexon,Tata Nexon EV, or the top-end Fearless+, we’ll match you with exclusive discounts, exchange bonuses, and flexible finance plans.

Tailored Financing Options

Our in-house finance experts will help you find the best EMI plans, down payment assistance, and loan approvals from leading banks and NBFCs — all under one roof.

Fast Delivery and Hassle-Free Experience

We prioritize your convenience. Our efficient booking and delivery process means minimal wait time and maximum satisfaction.

After-Sales Support You Can Count On

From regular servicing to warranty support, Lakshmi Tata’s authorized service center ensures your Nexon stays in peak condition long after your purchase.

Variants and Colors Available at Lakshmi Tata Chennai

We have the full range of Nexon variants, including:

Nexon

Nexon Ev

Choose from exciting color options like:

Calgary White

Flame Red

Daytona Grey

Pristine White with Black Roof

Fearless Purple

Intensi Teal

Creative Ocean

Our team is ready to help you compare features and test drive your favorite model.

A Trusted Tata Motors Dealership in Chennai

Serving areas across Chennai — including Anna Nagar, Velachery, T. Nagar, Tambaram, and beyond — Lakshmi Tata is recognized for its transparent pricing, genuine deals, and customer-first approach.

We are a preferred Tata dealership for many repeat buyers, thanks to our focus on satisfaction, after-sales service, and trade-in value.

Book Your Test Drive Today

Experience the Tata Nexon firsthand. Take a test drive at our state-of-the-art showroom and see why so many Chennai residents are making the switch to this feature-packed SUV.

Conclusion: Drive Home Your Dream Tata Nexon Today

If you’ve been dreaming about owning a Tata Nexon, there’s no better time or place than now at Lakshmi Tata Chennai. With best-in-class offers, exclusive discounts, and expert guidance, you’re one step closer to getting the keys to your dream SUV.

BOOK NOW !