I remember back in late 2007 how I could drive just about anywhere and pass at least one semi unit pulling a fully stocked trailer of new vehicles. This spring I’ve been keeping an eye out for the same. I decided to keep track of them. I saw one on April 3rd, half full. Yesterday morning I finally saw another one and it only had two vehicles on the back, both used. I’ve gone from seeing one or two a day to over a month between sightings, and even then you know the trip probably wasn’t a revenue generator for the poor sod operating the truck.

The layoffs in the oil patch are legion. The PennWest office in Consort, Alberta has closed. The Apache office in Monitor has shed a bunch of staff. There are ugly rumours circulating about the other oil companies. I know some people who drive truck for the oil patch and they’re lucky if they can get enough loads to cover their operating costs.

Oil patch traffic is down on the highway, that’s for sure. The good news is that the roads are halfway safe again for a change. It’s been a while since I’ve popped over a hill to find some asshat roaring towards me on the wrong side of the road while making the customary illegal lane change. I suppose that’s something.

I’ve been fortunate not to have seen much of the downturn in my computer repair business (yet), but my poor wife’s gift basket biz is noticeably slower. Good thing we don’t depend on it for an income. We’re going to go out this afternoon and work on planting a very large garden. We’re hoping it will keep us afloat if the same economic blight that is hitting everyone else spreads to us next.

Some days it’s just not fun to be a grown-up.