Although the holes are rather small
OK, I just could not resist putting that up as the title for today, given the complete mess Europe’s air travel is now in, thanks to a simple Volcanic Eruption in Iceland. I don’t remember Mount St. Helen’s causing this much of a hullabaloo, but then again, maybe that was different. This isn’t like Pompeii where the hole city was engulfed by a Pyroclastic Cloud, but it is the financial equivalent of it, with Airlines immobile and travelers stuck or worse forced to take $5000 taxi rides to then take an over-packed Ferry across the English Channel (which is the story of John Cleese this past week).
Amazing how Mother Nature occasionally flexes her muscles and shows we really are insignificant biological entities that can easily be wiped out by a few simple natural disasters. By the way, if I had travel insurance would a volcano erupting in Iceland be covered? My bet might be NO! but I am only guessing (opinions welcome).
Yes it’s the Tax Man
In Canada it is coming down to the wire and you should be putting in your tax returns very soon now (even if you don’t owe money, might be a good idea to submit any how). If you owe money, the CRA is not like the IRS in their ability to take your life and run it through their version of the Slap Chop (but you’ll love their nuts), but they can still make your life miserable if you owe them money. Better to come clean now and ask for mercy, you might be surprised what could happen.
I have already paid my wife’s owing taxes (it wasn’t in fact taxes it was CPP premiums as she is self employed). Interesting, but it will mean she can get CPP when she retires too, so I guess that is cool.
For Rent or Purchase
For those who missed it, the Nortel Carling campus (which was effectively home base for BNR and then Nortel) is up for sale. Almost 10,000 folks worked there in it’s hay day, I believe the number is significantly less now (and more importantly is someone still cleaning up the goose poop?). Rumors have it that the Federal Government “machine” may inhale this property, or it may become an excellent set for futuristic movies about Technology Companies Gone Mad (just a guess on my part). Maybe they can film a remake of “The Omega Man” there, and rename it “Omega DMS Man”?
Remember it is Administrative Professionals Day on Wednesday (used to be called Secretary’s Day, but that was deemed very non-PC, so we have gone with this quizical name now). So does this mean I have to buy my Computer Sys Admins roses? Hopefully I won’t have to get my School Administrators some daffodils? I alwasy appreciate it when folks change commonly used terms into something much more obfuscated, makes life that much more interesting.
Good God, when did I turn into Andy Rooney ?
Some insurance policies include “acts of god,” while others do not. It’s why reading the fine print is always good.
The catch is that there’s usually a maximum combined payout for all claims due to the same incident, so you get screwed that way.
Minimally the airline should allow you to cancel or reschedule, though.