Mike Pearson's Adventures on a Pale Blue Dot

So here we are, I've been approached by a developer who wants me to do his blasting work on a new subdivision. Don, the fellow schooling me in the art of blasting for whatever reason at this time, decides not to part with his company at the moment. Now I'm a bit surprised because I thought the whole point of this exercise was to pay a fair price for the existing business and hit the ground running. I tried a few more times to get a commitment, but on each occasion a vague answer would be the only thing that came back. Now to be fair, Don had his hands full with other things going on in his life and maybe this deal wasn't at the top of his agenda.  The time came to piss or get off the pot, so I met with the business man who offered me the partnership deal in the marina parking lot. We decided to move ahead on starting a brand new blasting company instead of purchasing the existing one. The upside is that it was actually cheaper to fire up a new biz than it was to pay for T...

How on Earth do you go from working as a dock builder in Secret Cove to supervising the blasting on the hairiest section of the Sea to Sky Highway? I'm not really sure myself, and I'm the guy who did it. Building the curved sections of main dock at Secret Cove Marina Part way through the construction of Dick Clayton's boathouse for his 53' Fleming  It began innocently enough with a need for more income. My prized gig in the marine construction business was slowing down due to a bump in the economy and I had four kids, a wife and a house to support. As fate would have it, one of the customers at Secret Cove Marina, was in the blasting business and wanted out. Don Fowler owned Thunderbird Drilling and Blasting, based on the Sunshine Coast. Don did mostly residential work, that is working close to houses and other structures, it requires a high level of skill to successfully work in this end of the game. He had enough of the drill and dynamite business and was loo...