A & A spends a lot of time at various car shows, automotive events, drag strips, etc.
Many people ask about our connection to all things vehicle related. So, we decided to update our Racing web page a bit and add some more information about the history all the way to the most current events that we are involved with.
Check it out here - http://www.aacb.com/racing/
Monday, October 06, 2008
Friday, September 12, 2008
BlackBerry Tip - Phone Directory / Voice Mail Dialing -
Phone directory / Voice Mail dialing – You’ll notice that the BlackBerry doesn’t have any letters over the numbers on the phone keypad. So, if you want to dial 1-800-GOT-JUNK, or search for “Graham” in a company voicemail directory, you have to either be staring at a regular phone – or try to guess which Letters correspond with the Numbers. This can be quite difficult.
There IS a solution for this.
Just use the regular keypad for the numbers, but you have to use the Alt key for the letters. So, in the example of dialing 1-800-GOT-JUNK. You would simply dial the regular 1 800 but then press Alt G Alt O Alt T Alt J Alt U Alt N Alt K – and the phone will translate that for you. In the voicemail directory scenario, you can be asked “Please type the first 3 letters of the person’s first name to search the company directory..”, and if it is “Graham” that you are looking for, you would dial Alt G Alt R Alt A and it will translate that for you.
There IS a solution for this.
Just use the regular keypad for the numbers, but you have to use the Alt key for the letters. So, in the example of dialing 1-800-GOT-JUNK. You would simply dial the regular 1 800 but then press Alt G Alt O Alt T Alt J Alt U Alt N Alt K – and the phone will translate that for you. In the voicemail directory scenario, you can be asked “Please type the first 3 letters of the person’s first name to search the company directory..”, and if it is “Graham” that you are looking for, you would dial Alt G Alt R Alt A and it will translate that for you.
Tuesday, August 26, 2008
Canada Concludes Free Trade Negotiations with Jordan and Colombia, Peru
On August 25, 2008, the Government of Canada concluded negotiations on a free trade agreement (FTA) with Jordan, as well as on parallel agreements on labour cooperation and the environment. This year, the Government of Canada has also concluded FTA negotiations with Colombia and Peru.
“We welcome this opportunity to expand Canada-Jordan trade relations,” said the Honourable Michael M Fortier, Minister of International Trade. “This bilateral free trade agreement will open up significant opportunities for Canadian companies in this growing economy, as well as elsewhere in the Middle East and North Africa. It demonstrates our government’s continuing commitment to expand opportunities for Canadian exporters.”
An FTA with Jordan will improve market access for both agricultural products and industrial goods, and help to ensure a level playing field for Canadian exporters vis-à-vis competitors that already have preferential access to Jordan’s markets. Trade between the two countries totalled $76 million last year.
Upon implementation, this FTA will eliminate tariffs on the vast majority of current Canadian exports to Jordan, directly benefiting Canadian exporters. For example, in 2007, electrical machinery was subject to roughly $293,000 in duties (up to 30 percent on some products) on exports of $3 million to Jordan.
The parallel labour and environment agreements will help to ensure progress on labour rights and environmental protection.
“This labour cooperation agreement between Canada and Jordan will ensure that economic progress goes hand in hand with the rights of workers,” said the Honourable Jean-Pierre Blackburn, Minister of Labour and Minister of the Economic Development Agency of Canada for the Regions of Quebec. “The successful conclusion of these negotiations marks the beginning of a long-term cooperative relationship between our two countries.”
“The Canada-Jordan Agreement on the Environment marks another milestone in our two countries’ joint commitment to protecting our most vital of assets, our shared environment,” said the Honourable John Baird, Minister of the Environment. “We see this partnership as an opportunity to create and strengthen environmental laws and policies as a legacy for future generations.”
This FTA also demonstrates Canada’s support for a key partner in the pursuit of regional peace, security and stability. These negotiations follow on the successful conclusion of negotiations for a new bilateral air services agreement and a foreign investment promotion and protection agreement with Jordan.
Prime Minister Stephen Harper committed Canada to exploring the possibility of an FTA with Jordan when he met King Abdullah II in July 2007.
Before signing the agreements and making them public, Canada and Jordan will undertake a detailed legal review of the FTA texts in English, French and Arabic. Following formal signature, the treaties will be tabled in the House of Commons for a period of 21 sitting days for Members of Parliament to review and debate. Following the 21-day period, the Canadian government will introduce draft legislation to implement the agreements.
More information can be found here -
“We welcome this opportunity to expand Canada-Jordan trade relations,” said the Honourable Michael M Fortier, Minister of International Trade. “This bilateral free trade agreement will open up significant opportunities for Canadian companies in this growing economy, as well as elsewhere in the Middle East and North Africa. It demonstrates our government’s continuing commitment to expand opportunities for Canadian exporters.”
An FTA with Jordan will improve market access for both agricultural products and industrial goods, and help to ensure a level playing field for Canadian exporters vis-à-vis competitors that already have preferential access to Jordan’s markets. Trade between the two countries totalled $76 million last year.
Upon implementation, this FTA will eliminate tariffs on the vast majority of current Canadian exports to Jordan, directly benefiting Canadian exporters. For example, in 2007, electrical machinery was subject to roughly $293,000 in duties (up to 30 percent on some products) on exports of $3 million to Jordan.
The parallel labour and environment agreements will help to ensure progress on labour rights and environmental protection.
“This labour cooperation agreement between Canada and Jordan will ensure that economic progress goes hand in hand with the rights of workers,” said the Honourable Jean-Pierre Blackburn, Minister of Labour and Minister of the Economic Development Agency of Canada for the Regions of Quebec. “The successful conclusion of these negotiations marks the beginning of a long-term cooperative relationship between our two countries.”
“The Canada-Jordan Agreement on the Environment marks another milestone in our two countries’ joint commitment to protecting our most vital of assets, our shared environment,” said the Honourable John Baird, Minister of the Environment. “We see this partnership as an opportunity to create and strengthen environmental laws and policies as a legacy for future generations.”
This FTA also demonstrates Canada’s support for a key partner in the pursuit of regional peace, security and stability. These negotiations follow on the successful conclusion of negotiations for a new bilateral air services agreement and a foreign investment promotion and protection agreement with Jordan.
Prime Minister Stephen Harper committed Canada to exploring the possibility of an FTA with Jordan when he met King Abdullah II in July 2007.
Before signing the agreements and making them public, Canada and Jordan will undertake a detailed legal review of the FTA texts in English, French and Arabic. Following formal signature, the treaties will be tabled in the House of Commons for a period of 21 sitting days for Members of Parliament to review and debate. Following the 21-day period, the Canadian government will introduce draft legislation to implement the agreements.
More information can be found here -
Wednesday, July 23, 2008
New border-crossing cards to improve, speed-up security process
I would estimate that the NEXUS system has saved me personally from over 100 hours of border line ups in my car, waiting in line to pay Customs Duties & Taxes and bypassing long security line ups at the airport.
I tell everyone I know to Get NEXUS! It saves so much time. So, I was happy to hear that they are improving the cards and the processing at the borders. I have found that because so many people are signing up for the program - there are many more cars in the NEXUS lane, and that means longer lines. However, they are still much shorter than the regular lanes and from what I understand - the newer facilities being built will have multiple NEXUS lanes rather than just one.
Here is the full article -
New border-crossing cards to improve, speed-up security process
Craig Pearson, Canwest News Service
Published: Wednesday, July 23, 2008
WINDSOR, Ont. - NEXUS border-crossing cards are changing to improve security, though a U.S. government official says the changes also should help speed the process.
Sometime in the fall, current NEXUS cards - in use for five years to help regular commuters move quickly across the border - will be swapped for second-generation NEXUS cards.
Chief Ron Smith of U.S. Customs and Border Protection said the new cards will be issued in conjunction with the introduction of new card readers that improve the radio-frequency-identification-device technology, which can read nearby cards without having to swipe them.
The chip in the old NEXUS cards sent information 15 feet (4.5 metres). The new card will send it only 10 feet (three metres), which lessens the chance someone can intercept the information. As well, the new cards are harder to counterfeit or to alter.
The new U.S. card readers can also handle more information, making them faster.
With the previous system, the card readers could only identify one or two people at the same time. With the updated system, the readers will be able to identify four NEXUS commuters in one car, at once.
"It's an all-around better system," Smith said. "It should also help us increase our NEXUS usage."
About 355,000 people currently hold NEXUS cards. Both Canadian and American officials hope that number will climb significantly, since NEXUS cardholders typically cross land borders with less delay than those using other government-issued ID.
Smith also noted that the Western Hemisphere Travel Initiative will require all Canadians and Americans to use passports to enter the United States, including through land borders, starting June 1, 2009. "NEXUS cards can be used as a passport at the border," Smith said. "It's simple."
NEXUS is a partnership program between the Canada Border Services Agency and U.S. Customs and Border Protection.
© Windsor Star 2008
I tell everyone I know to Get NEXUS! It saves so much time. So, I was happy to hear that they are improving the cards and the processing at the borders. I have found that because so many people are signing up for the program - there are many more cars in the NEXUS lane, and that means longer lines. However, they are still much shorter than the regular lanes and from what I understand - the newer facilities being built will have multiple NEXUS lanes rather than just one.
Here is the full article -
New border-crossing cards to improve, speed-up security process
Craig Pearson, Canwest News Service
Published: Wednesday, July 23, 2008
WINDSOR, Ont. - NEXUS border-crossing cards are changing to improve security, though a U.S. government official says the changes also should help speed the process.
Sometime in the fall, current NEXUS cards - in use for five years to help regular commuters move quickly across the border - will be swapped for second-generation NEXUS cards.
Chief Ron Smith of U.S. Customs and Border Protection said the new cards will be issued in conjunction with the introduction of new card readers that improve the radio-frequency-identification-device technology, which can read nearby cards without having to swipe them.
The chip in the old NEXUS cards sent information 15 feet (4.5 metres). The new card will send it only 10 feet (three metres), which lessens the chance someone can intercept the information. As well, the new cards are harder to counterfeit or to alter.
The new U.S. card readers can also handle more information, making them faster.
With the previous system, the card readers could only identify one or two people at the same time. With the updated system, the readers will be able to identify four NEXUS commuters in one car, at once.
"It's an all-around better system," Smith said. "It should also help us increase our NEXUS usage."
About 355,000 people currently hold NEXUS cards. Both Canadian and American officials hope that number will climb significantly, since NEXUS cardholders typically cross land borders with less delay than those using other government-issued ID.
Smith also noted that the Western Hemisphere Travel Initiative will require all Canadians and Americans to use passports to enter the United States, including through land borders, starting June 1, 2009. "NEXUS cards can be used as a passport at the border," Smith said. "It's simple."
NEXUS is a partnership program between the Canada Border Services Agency and U.S. Customs and Border Protection.
© Windsor Star 2008
Tuesday, July 08, 2008
The Eagle has landed
In March, I let you know that A & A was sponsoring an eagle for "Eagles in the City" in Vancouver.
Well, the Eagle has landed!
Our artist, Barbara Roden, received her blank canvas eagle today.
Barbara will start work on the eagle shortly.
Here is a picture of it outside of her studio -
Stay tuned for more updates.
Well, the Eagle has landed!
Our artist, Barbara Roden, received her blank canvas eagle today.
Barbara will start work on the eagle shortly.
Here is a picture of it outside of her studio -
Stay tuned for more updates.
Saturday, June 28, 2008
Electronic Data Interchange (EDI) - It's our future
We have over 200 employees and many of them spend a lot of their time keying in information that has been keyed once, twice, even three times before we have keyed it.
This adds costs to the supply chain in a number of ways - time to key the information. Human error. Mistakes. Fines and penalties.
Many, many orders are keyed electronically these days and I am still amazed that at the end of the line - somehow that data 'gives birth' to a piece of paper - or many, many pieces of paper.
We encourage our customers to transmit data to us as much as possible to avoid extra time and expense. (If we do not have to key in the data, our fees go down because there is less work involved for us.)
For more information on how to speed up your shipments using EDI, please contact us.
This adds costs to the supply chain in a number of ways - time to key the information. Human error. Mistakes. Fines and penalties.
Many, many orders are keyed electronically these days and I am still amazed that at the end of the line - somehow that data 'gives birth' to a piece of paper - or many, many pieces of paper.
We encourage our customers to transmit data to us as much as possible to avoid extra time and expense. (If we do not have to key in the data, our fees go down because there is less work involved for us.)
For more information on how to speed up your shipments using EDI, please contact us.
Thursday, May 15, 2008
Canadian Customs Broker in the news..
You may have read an article about a Canadian Customs Broker being sentenced to jail after being convicted of evading more than $4.7 million in duties and taxes.
According to the CBSA - "What he did was submit accounting documents claiming a GST exemption code - so no GST was charged even though the goods did not qualify for the exemption," Giolti said. "In addition, rather than account for the goods in the correct currency such as. U. S. dollars, he would claim other currencies so the values would be less.
”However, when he billed the client, he would then bill the right amounts owing: GST and the right currency rate."
This may be unsettling for our customers and I thought I would address our process and systems should you have any questions. There are 2 main things we to do make sure we are compliant -
1) We have a very extensive compliance checking process where we have both the supervisors and managers of our various departments and branches check their people's work for compliance issues. We also have a compliance department that checks the supervisors and managers work for errors or omissions. We are very confident in our people's abilities to catch errors or omissions and a number of our customers have been audited with good outcomes such as this one.
2) We have what we call a "Duty Exception Report" which cross references our customs entries to confirm that what was paid out was billed out. If there is an exception - it goes on this report for our people to check into and fix. It also works in both directions. So, if we paid customs $100.00 in Duty, but we billed our customer $150.00 in Duty - it immediately goes on a report to fix. And, likewise, if we paid customs $150.00 in Duty, and billed our customer $100.00 in Duty - it goes on a report to fix.
I like to keep an open line of communication on this type of issue both for our customers and for our employees.
If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact me.
According to the CBSA - "What he did was submit accounting documents claiming a GST exemption code - so no GST was charged even though the goods did not qualify for the exemption," Giolti said. "In addition, rather than account for the goods in the correct currency such as. U. S. dollars, he would claim other currencies so the values would be less.
”However, when he billed the client, he would then bill the right amounts owing: GST and the right currency rate."
This may be unsettling for our customers and I thought I would address our process and systems should you have any questions. There are 2 main things we to do make sure we are compliant -
1) We have a very extensive compliance checking process where we have both the supervisors and managers of our various departments and branches check their people's work for compliance issues. We also have a compliance department that checks the supervisors and managers work for errors or omissions. We are very confident in our people's abilities to catch errors or omissions and a number of our customers have been audited with good outcomes such as this one.
2) We have what we call a "Duty Exception Report" which cross references our customs entries to confirm that what was paid out was billed out. If there is an exception - it goes on this report for our people to check into and fix. It also works in both directions. So, if we paid customs $100.00 in Duty, but we billed our customer $150.00 in Duty - it immediately goes on a report to fix. And, likewise, if we paid customs $150.00 in Duty, and billed our customer $100.00 in Duty - it goes on a report to fix.
I like to keep an open line of communication on this type of issue both for our customers and for our employees.
If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact me.
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