I just came back from visiting a friend who farms in SW Saskatchewan and I heard a very interesting radio show on CBC's Spark about the binary system (listen to the post dated June 22, 2012). My dad remembered seeing a shirt that said: THERE ARE ONLY 10 TYPES OF PEOPLE, THOSE WHO LOVE BINARY AND THOSE WHO DON'T. I loved the idea that those of us without the math brain can see binary examples everywhere in life. I even thought, out of respect for my binary man, that we would post our address in binary after the Roman Numerals stolen from my brother's friend Skip, but haven't found the numerals small enough to read 120.
The area around Eastend have some beautiful views with coulees and hills, but boy has the landscape changed even over the last 3 years since I last visited. There are loads more oil derricks, some very close to the living quarters of my friend's farmhouse and a constant burn off at a nearby station, both of which are more strictly enforced in Alberta to have a safer distance and prohibition of the burning of fuel in the later case. The farmer's rent to the companies at a fairly basic rate because they don't own the mineral rights and if on their land they have some control, but really they have little choice- if not them it will be their neighbour, and they literally have to work around these eyesores to plant and harvest. Why does Saskatchewan not have tighter conditions, and why do the oil companies, who rut the roads, and kick up dust with their trucks and installations, pay so little for the inconvenience of tramping on farm property?
