Episode Transcript
Speaker 0 00:00:00 With Buffalo and the rest of the world, you've tuned into the Mac city morning show. I am your host, Elliot Pierre. And like every show we're going to start this one off on the same note with a moment of gratitude. Yes. I know you can be doing a million other things with your time. So the fact that you spend it with us truly does mean the world to me. So thank you on that note, Tanner hit them with the intro.
Speaker 1 00:00:18 Oh, she caught me, loves near listened to the next anymore.
Speaker 0 00:00:27 All right. And we're back. All right. Today's a special episode. As you can see, I'm not dressed in the normal t-shirt and jeans. I'm a little bit dressed up, cause we're going to be heading out here relatively soon. Um, I'm not going to introduce my guests and I'm not going to tell you where we're going because the gentlemen that I have sitting to my right is going to tell us all about that today. So on that note, sir, can you please tell everybody who you are, what you're about and where we are going
Speaker 3 00:00:49 Elliot. Thanks for having me back. Hello, Fort McMurray. Good to see all, uh, well we are going out this evening, dressed up a little, suit it up, suit up Saturdays
Speaker 0 00:00:58 As they call it. Right. Nice. I like it. Um,
Speaker 3 00:01:02 There's a story about that and we'll get to it. I hope so. But yeah, tonight we're heading down to, uh, the casino Royale gala put on by brand connect with, uh, some sponsorships of, uh DKI is helping put it on, uh, M co corporation is one of the sponsors. They helped a bunch of raffle for goods. And, um, I think there's a, there's a bunch of others that I can't think of the other one. Just
Speaker 0 00:01:27 That's okay. You're not brand connect. You're not dentist. We're just, we're just going to support. So the fact that you threw out that many sponsors off the bat is impressive as it is. So let's talk about what we're wearing. We're in suits. We did not coordinate, I didn't know you're wearing a three piece. I really like it. Thank you. Let's chat about it. Where'd you get your suit from? How do you wrap your mind around clothing when it comes to dress clothes? Let's hear it.
Speaker 3 00:01:51 Um, so I got, I got the suit from, uh, tip top tailors, uh, needed a tux, more formal attire for, um, part of the masons in town. Okay. So when we do our meetings, which formal, where once you become an officer of the lodge and, uh, so I needed one, I have a regular suit. I have a bunch of blazers, just everyday business casual. I don't own a lot of suits. I'm a gym guy. So it's you gotta buy size change, but yeah, so I ordered it off tip top tailors. Um, so it's suits separates.
Speaker 0 00:02:22 Okay. So the gentleman that is to the people at
Speaker 3 00:02:24 Home, so suit separate is buying it off the rack with measurements that are pretty standard and universal. So your take your standard jacket size 40, 42, 44. You then get it in short, regular, or taller long, whatever you want to call it, right? It's not guaranteed to fit you proper, but it's close. And then it's still alterable and you go find a tailor. So that's where I went. I don't want a formal tuxedo. I've I'm not going to wear it often enough, but like this with the satin lapels and the sat and trims on the pockets, it's the tuxedo finish. And the pants are actually for the suit and the suit jacket as well. And then you have a little
Speaker 0 00:03:01 Mixed race. So you have somebody in town that does this for
Speaker 3 00:03:04 You? Uh, well, I ordered online, uh,
Speaker 0 00:03:07 Alterations.
Speaker 3 00:03:08 Yes. Um, I honest offhand cannot remember her name. I don't want to blow it. Um, but yeah, she's on Facebook groups and that's how I found her. And she's all through a couple of my suits now in business attire and
Speaker 0 00:03:21 Well, hopefully it will tag her when the video goes out. So me personally, and I'm going to give him a shout out. I get all my suits made by a company called a suits by Curtis Elliott. And not only my suits, but like my dress jackets, which I'm not wearing it right now, but it's hanging up in the closet over there. They custom make everything that I have. They're unbelievable
Speaker 3 00:03:44 Quick, like timeframe, turnaround from start to finish.
Speaker 0 00:03:47 I go in and they measure you. And then you, they have like books and you pick out your like materials and um, like in the inside of the jacket, you pick out the everything you usually it's about three months. Give or take until like, I get the finished product with the suit. It's quick, quicker than the three month mark with a jacket. You're waiting at least three months, which I could see. Yeah. But they've been killer. I've been going to them for years now. And they actually, uh, like I'll show them a picture of something at this point. Cause they have my measurements and then they'll be like, yeah. And they'll make it and they'll send it right up here. They used to have like a satellite office up here in Fort Mac, but now they're just an Edmonton and Calgary, but big shout-out suits by Curtis Elliott. Awesome. Awesome group of guys.
Speaker 3 00:04:32 That's awesome. Yeah. My, a friend of mine in town, Tony shivers, if you know Tony by chance, Scottish guy, uh, works with United rentals. Yeah. You want to talk suits, talk with that, man. His collection is all customed. They're all embroidered. He's got a guy down in Edmonton does phenomenal work shirts, everything. Yeah.
Speaker 0 00:04:50 Awesome. There's a bunch of companies out there that do it now. Uh, back in the day when I used to be in human resources and had to wear dress clothes all the time, it was tough finding people. But now between like, like you said, you have a friend who does it, companies like suits by Curtis Elliott, even Indochino I got a few like shirts, dress shirts from them. I've never tried their suits. Not for any other reason. Other from, I don't need any more suits, but their dress shirts and their dress pants, like their chinos. Unbelievable. Well, unbelievable check. Well, yeah. And they're relatively affordable to,
Speaker 3 00:05:27 So I find the, uh, the entire essence of like dress attires coming down in price, but it's just more variety. Everything's there's more options out there. I mean, you can buy suits on Amazon now. Yeah.
Speaker 0 00:05:39 Unreal. And I think, uh, especially based on the pandemic, like how often are people wearing their dress attire nowadays? Yes. It'll be interesting to see, like if there's a switch that goes less formal in the work place, when everybody officially goes back, I
Speaker 3 00:05:55 Would, I would think you might see it. And because it will be a, I feel when everything returns to what we're going to call it normal. I think you're going to see a lot more remote working and a mixed office to home time. I know our company's a supporter of it. So
Speaker 0 00:06:11 It's a big thing. I remember when I was in human resources, I always kind of fought for it or like mentioned it in regards to having people work from home. Like the amount of cost savings you have is undeniable. Yeah. And it's like the small things, like in regards to the coffee and the tea and the water and these things that like you take for granted, but they, they add up when people go to work and coffees supplied to them, like somebody paid for that coffee, it's not free. Absolutely. So, and especially like square footage. If you look at a building, if you have 12 offices and you can shrink that down to six and not after rent out that square footage, there's a lot of benefits to having people work from home.
Speaker 3 00:06:51 There is. And I think you're going to have people enjoy what they do more. Um, I know myself during, uh, the height of the pandemic, I worked from home a little bit more way more productive. Yeah. Cause I'm like, all right, I want to get this done. I don't have the water cooler talk, which don't get me wrong. That's good stuff. Sit around and have a coffee. It builds camaraderie. But at the same point I missed the interaction. And I think that's where I think you you'll find a new balance. People will work two, three days a week in the office, but you'll have less sick days. Um, you'll just have a better all workforce, in my opinion. You might have.
Speaker 0 00:07:25 Yeah. I couldn't agree with you more. I think that's exactly what you'll have. You'll have less sick days because people will not need to call in sick as much as well as when people are going like to the dentist or getting their car fixed or doing these things. They're usually doing it through Monday to Friday and taking time off or sick time to get these things done. But if you're working remotely and you can dip out and you can coordinate those types of things around a flexible work week. Yeah. It's, it's a win for a company, but I totally do understand the mindset of some upper management to say like, well, are they really working? Are they doing this like old school thinkers? It's, it's a hard hurdle to overcome it.
Speaker 3 00:08:08 It really is. Um, and I think that's just, again, the generational change, um, you know, people are starting to hit their tenures and retirement times and they're understanding that things are changing, which is good. That's just, where does it, where does the change kind of hold up before it goes too far, one way. And then you have to reverse.
Speaker 0 00:08:26 Well, I used to cause I, I actually implemented it for some of my staff back in the day. Like, yeah, you can go home. You can work. I don't care. It's uh, it's harder for the manager because you actually have to pay attention to what's being done. And so some people would say, well, listen, if they go home, if they get their job done in like five hours and I'm paying them 40 hours for the week, I'm getting ripped off. I'm like, listen, if you're a manager and you have grossly underestimated, the amount of time it takes your employees to like finish a task. If you think something takes 40 hours and only takes five, that's a dig on you as the manager, not knowing like what they're actually doing and who you have working for you. So yeah, it's, it's a combination of both and for all of the people out there, just because somebody is in the building for 40 hours a week, definitely does not mean they're working for 40 hours while they're in there. So I know my whole thing was always based on tasks. These are the tasks I need done, how quickly you can get them done. Great. It's completely up to you. And if you get them done faster, because you want to work for 24 hours straight, so you don't have to work for the rest of the week, go nuts, but I'm not going to be like, uh, one of those teachers back in the day, Hey, miss. I finished my homework. Great. Here's some more, yeah, there's a balance, but
Speaker 3 00:09:41 Well, and I think that again is your you'll find what people's capabilities are when they're for the most part, not all people, but when people are left alone to do what they can in the mode, they wish wish to complete it. That's right. You'll see it. Now. Some will, you'll find, we'll take more on some old, do a
Speaker 0 00:09:57 Little less, right?
Speaker 3 00:09:58 It's like the movie waiting. Are you going to do the bare minimum? Right. Even when pieces of flare up
Speaker 0 00:10:03 That's right. That's office space and
Speaker 3 00:10:06 Office space space. I said waiting room,
Speaker 0 00:10:08 Office space. When I was like waiting, I know what movie
Speaker 3 00:10:10 You're talking about. I mixed them up when you said
Speaker 0 00:10:12 Flare as like that's Jennifer Aniston
Speaker 3 00:10:14 To the whole scene.
Speaker 0 00:10:17 So I can't stop looking at it. What? You got a pocket watch going on there?
Speaker 3 00:10:22 I do. Actually. It's a, it's nothing special. It's a little different, but just something for my mom. Write one of those little memorabilia and uh, yeah, just kind of a reason to pull it out and put it on. That is special. So it's one of those things you see on like, uh, the online Facebook ads, right? That's right. She saw it and she thought every time you get dressed up, you know, so make
Speaker 0 00:10:43 . How long have you been having that for?
Speaker 3 00:10:46 Uh, three years ago. My mom got it for me for Christmas.
Speaker 0 00:10:49 Nice, good shout at Vic. Shout out to your mom. That's a solid you, you don't see that very often. No
Speaker 3 00:10:55 Peaky blinders though. I mean, I would think it would be coming back because the three piece suit that just suit up Saturdays
Speaker 0 00:11:01 Saturday, let's hear about it.
Speaker 3 00:11:02 Let's suit up. Saturdays, uh, came about 37, 12, 13 years ago. Kind of a thing hanging out with the guys were going to go to the bar was young working down in America on the oil rigs. Uh, days off have a nice suit. Well, you get a suit, you know, and we'd go in and get it. Altered feels good. You look good. You'd go to a casino or it's a night out. Well, we just started coming up a ritual when the boys are together on a Saturday suit up Saturdays. That's awesome. And who cares where you're going? That's right. Like walk in. We used to go and Hooters was in Westhampton mall, walk in, in suits and go eat chicken wings. What's the event shoot up Saturdays.
Speaker 0 00:11:42 Right? I love
Speaker 3 00:11:43 It. Oh, it's just a reason to dress up. And I mean, Fort McMurray, we don't get a lot of reason to dress up. Like, I don't know about yourself. If you go out, you know, you're just going out for dinner with the misses or press up a little bit. Right. And so when you get a reason to, and that was what it was, it was just, oh, put a suit on. It's a reason to go do it.
Speaker 0 00:12:00 My business partner, Jay, him, and a group of his boys had the same kind of concept. They call themselves team tux. And so there's a group of them. And when they all combined, cause it's not always the same group. When the group that got together got together, team talks kind of formed Voltron and they would suit up as well to go. And like, like you said, no special occasion. It could be a Tuesday. If they all knew that they were getting together to have a good time. Yeah. Team talks unite and they would all get dressed up. So yeah, there's not a lot of, uh, occasion to get put on a suit and tie and get dressed up and format. I used to dress up all the time for work, dress pants and a collared shirt, but to actually put on the whole attire few and far in between. So big shout out to Dennis brand connect for creating an event this year for us to do. Cause I don't think anybody else is doing a gala this year.
Speaker 3 00:12:54 He's the only one. Now this is his second one. So they did two years ago. They did a casino gala at the thick wood golf course. Right. So this was the second one. Um, and I think it was going to become an annual thing because who doesn't like a reason to get stop and go out.
Speaker 0 00:13:10 Yeah. So we're going to have to, and we're not, we were talking about before the show started, you and I have no idea how this is going to work as far as I've never been to a charity casino before
Speaker 3 00:13:21 Don't feel bad. I don't know how anything
Speaker 0 00:13:22 Works. Yeah. Tanner asked me, he's like, is there going to be food here? I was like, man, I don't know. You probably should eat just in case. Yeah,
Speaker 3 00:13:28 I didn't do that. I think, I think there's snacks and drinks. I think I'm not a hundred percent sure. I don't know. He just, uh, just being part of that network and the, all the, all the help, all the volunteers it's like here, come on down. And so I helped them actually today got the phone call last minute. Hey, it wouldn't be a brand connect event. I'm like, what do you need that? And it's just a quick run to the house, grab a load of stuff and bring it down.
Speaker 0 00:13:52 So yeah. I don't know how this is going to work. Like I like, I like to gamble just saying poker blackjack. I play roulette once in a while, but uh, I don't know how it works when it comes to charity. Like if you win, you got to give your winnings back or is it really money exchange?
Speaker 3 00:14:08 So I think what you do is, I don't know if you're going to get some casino money or you're going to buy some casino money. And I would think you're going to, I'm going to spend a hundred bucks. Maybe that's what everybody spends or spend X. And then you get some charity chips just to see no chips. You're going to play. Maybe you get up a bunch. Maybe you lose a bunch. And then I think it goes towards prizes. And I think it's all the sponsors have helped donate prizes and goods and
Speaker 0 00:14:31 Yeah, I think it's going to be fun. I haven't been to the casino in a long time.
Speaker 3 00:14:35 You heard the casino has done their rental dude.
Speaker 0 00:14:38 We need to go. I saw it on Facebook a few days ago.
Speaker 3 00:14:40 Oh the picture it looks incredible. Looks incredible. The uh, the climate control guys shadow climate control. They actually, uh, oh, they're one of the sponsors tonight too. Of course. How could I forget? Call control
Speaker 0 00:14:50 Climate controlled McDougal. Jason
Speaker 3 00:14:52 McDougall. Yes. Okay. And then, uh, so I saw Jason and Joel at 57 north last night showed up at seven north again. Um, and yeah, they were going to the casino last night and they were saying excited. Cause it was all open up Reynolds done.
Speaker 0 00:15:07 We got to hit that up. Okay. I got a bunch of other questions just to chat about, but town has got a segment called the Mac CD minute. Tanner hit it with the Mac CD minute.
Speaker 4 00:15:16 Alrighty. Question number one for you today. What is your craziest story? You have well wearing a suit. Cool.
Speaker 0 00:15:25 I'm glad you're getting this.
Speaker 3 00:15:26 Um, in a nutshell in west Edmonton mall, back when there was like five bars in it suit up Saturday, uh, ended up in a hotel room. One of the theme rooms woke up in the morning in the hot tub in a suit. We'll just yada yada, yada
Speaker 4 00:15:44 Question number two. What is your favorite past or present festival of trees event?
Speaker 3 00:15:52 Uh, Kent. I've never been to festival of trees in Fort McMurray. Unfortunately. Really not been there. Nope. Oh,
Speaker 0 00:16:00 You gotta change out when COVID is over
Speaker 4 00:16:02 Question number three. What is your favorite part of the holiday season in Fort McMurray?
Speaker 3 00:16:10 Uh, it just the people seeing everybody smiling when they're out in a boat and just the fact that it is that little Christmas break and so many people work so hard. It's just the smiles, the people
Speaker 4 00:16:21 Question number four. What is your favorite reason to get dressed up?
Speaker 3 00:16:28 Uh, absolutely. For a wedding. There's, there's nothing better than going and celebrating somebody believing that they've discovered true love and celebrating that moment with them. And I mean, who doesn't mind a wedding with a toonie bar?
Speaker 0 00:16:38 Yeah. Or a cash bar or an open bar? Open bar. We're open bar. That's right. Yeah. Few and far between nowadays.
Speaker 4 00:16:46 And your final question. What is one thing about Fort McMurray that gets you into the Christmas spirit,
Speaker 3 00:16:56 Christmas party season up here because everybody absolutely loves to have them. And just seeing the restaurant switch over this year. Rafter, no Christmas parties last year. Absolutely. The Christmas party was just people out enjoying it. Yeah.
Speaker 4 00:17:08 Those have been your five questions.
Speaker 0 00:17:10 So I like to give a praise and shout outs organizations that, uh, you spend a lot of time in. So myself and Tanner, we go eat a lot of places. We have no problem shouting out at me. I want a pair of Nike air dunks, the Ben and Jerry's we say it on the show quite often. You and I went to play or we went to watch volleyball, the candle Huskies a few weekends ago.
Speaker 3 00:17:32 Absolutely. Great. Thank you again. No
Speaker 0 00:17:34 Problem. Thanks Carol Huskies for the invite. That guy chirping was unbelievable, legendary, but after we left there, we went to a local establishment where it might as well have been cheers for you because everybody knew your name. And we're not about like just the servers and the management staff patrons were coming up and chatting with you all night long. Let's talk about this restaurant and obviously is your local watering hole. So let's give them some shine.
Speaker 3 00:18:02 Yeah, absolutely. I'm 57 north shoutout. Um, for, for a small privately held entity at really vested in the community opening right at COVID tough time. Um, phenomenal service. Uh, I can't say enough. I live in Afghanistan, it's cloaks, but it's the best food in town. Um, the servers are great. They're friendly. They got the right mix of attitude, friendliness, smiles, um, and all locally crafted beer. You know, I'm not a craft beer guy and I became one after learning about and spending more time. So I've actually influenced a beer there. Nice. Uh, the Northern light. Yeah. 57 Northern light sport, Northern lights, hospital foundation. Um, yeah, that was just a afternoon chatting at the bar about it, but uh, yeah, I'm there, there quite frequently.
Speaker 0 00:18:49 It was awesome. I like when I go out, people notice me every once in a while and it's a thing and I enjoy it, whatever. Uh it's, it's nice to be recognized. Um, but it's nothing in comparison to what I encountered when we, you and I walked in literally like there was tables and be like, Hey man, what's going on? Like, and these were people who like, they didn't know you were coming down. They were obviously just regulars of the establishment as well. So it was cool to see like it literally was an episode of cheers. Yes.
Speaker 3 00:19:22 Yeah. Um, yeah, can't say enough. I was there last night. Uh, shut off 57 north. Yeah. Was loving. They, they give so much back to the community in St. Amounts. If anybody goes down, checks him out, just ask about all their beers and what each beer is, charitable causes. Cause it'll overwhelm you that a business has taken on that initiative in this city.
Speaker 0 00:19:41 Yeah, there we go. Well, listen, man, I know we blew by the 20 minute Mark Tanner hit his watch a long time ago. Um, but now he was, it happens. It is what it is. Uh, but before we cut you loose, everybody gets a shameless shout out or plug. So the Mike's on you, the camera's on you.
Speaker 3 00:19:56 Uh, just a shout out to everybody out there. That's in the restaurants, the rest of the grocery stores, everybody that's putting up with people fighting their own struggles. Um, people are short temper, they're short fused purple and teal suicide, mental health awareness. Um, absolutely. Just, just thanks to everybody out there. Just be patient it's. It's getting better. Just understand somebody may be having a bad day and it's not your fault, but just shout out to everybody out there in the service industry alone.
Speaker 0 00:20:25 Love it. Great. Shout out. All right. Fort McMurray, wood, Buffalo. Thank you for tuning into a very special episode of the max city morning show suit edition. Hopefully next time you see me in this gentlemen together, it'll be the Winston Churchill edition. And on that note, hopefully you're having a great day and we'll see you tomorrow. Peace
Speaker 1 00:20:45 And Daniel Wade, and another morning
Speaker 2 00:20:47 Shows.
Speaker 5 00:21:02 Talk about quenching your ugly thirst.
