RIMs, Foot, Hand, Body and Some Random Thoughts

Life is never dull when you live in the nation’s capital. Tuesday, while at my French studies, I noticed many police cars, the bomb squad and a few other folks outside our building at 130 Albert Street; little did I know that I was sitting in the middle of the news story of the week! There were reporters swarming around like there were free lunches being given out, but they all finally went away, and I only found out later the gravity of the situation. I was happy I didn’t put my Foot in it, but I couldn’t lend a hand or even put my shoulder to the wheel (too soon?).

In other interesting stories we had an Air Canada jet make an emergency landing after one of its engines failed, and it dumped 80 tonnes of jet fuel (hopefully into Lake Ontario, but then again, the engine parts hit a bunch of cars). That is a lot of fuel to jettison in a very short time, I wonder what that does to the environment.

On the high-tech side of things, RIM announced non-inspiring numbers and the stock’s value continues to be pounded into the ground. I keep thinking I have seen a story just like this (Nortel) however I am really not sure (Nortel) where I might have seen it (NORTEL). I wish those who work there: good luck and bonne chance, I lived through it, and it is never fun in these situations.

For those who wonder what that program is that is running on their computer, it might be the Flame Malware system, which will turn your computer into a soldier in the Cyberwar going on right now. Read more about this here, but you should really have some good anti-virus software installed, or you are going to be sorry. The Flame used to be a nice song by Cheap Trick, evidently not any more.

Weekly Recap

After huge downpours in Ottawa and Montreal, you would think more than a foot would wash ashore, but luckily I shied away from those topics this week:

• I was feeling a little sorry for myself with Youth Unemployment (a parent’s lament), however it is really not easy for young folks to find jobs these days.
• I broke one of my unwritten rules and allowed a Guest Post: Savings For Students, it seems to have some good ideas for the younger folks.
• Stats Canada published a whole bunch of cool data from the 2011 Census and I encourage you to go read it on StatCan.gc.ca, but I also commented that In Canada our Younguns and Old Cogers are now equal in numbers!
• If your kids are in organized sports, you should read Case Study: Moulded Mouth Guards, and see that you can get them cheaper than at your Dentist’s office.
• The Prince of Wales, Mortgages, Facehole and Random Thoughts The Prince of Wales and his trusty steed Camilla are visiting our fair country and I am glad to see that folks are treating him with the respect that he is due.

And thanks to those who added me on Twitter. Check out my Facebook page as well.

Links for the Week

It was heartening to know that Canada Post can deliver packages even without proper mailing addresses (and regardless of the package content); what is the postage for a human foot?:

• Larry MacDonald joins in the gloom and doom sooth-sayers with When Will the Housing Armageddon Arrive? Naturally, he doesn’t give a definitive answer (since he is an Economist).
• My Own Advisor pulls out his green thumb (no not his money thumb, his gardening thumb) with Square Foot Gardening 101, a neat idea on how to garden.
• Happy Anniversary to Lou’s Land, only 1 year at this? Call me when you reach 7 years, then we’ll talk.
• Canada Mortgage News  points out that even though many doom and gloomers (like me and Larry MacD) think Canadians can’t pay their mortgages, they point out Shhhh… Interest Rates are still at Record Lows … and Canadians are making HUGE Prepayments.
• Mr. Money Mustache has a new logo but also helps us close to retirement with an explanation of the 4% rule: The Easy Answer to How Much do I Need to Retire?.
• The Blunt Bean Counter gets pragmatic about us all getting older and the dangers of losing passwords with Memory Overload, Alzheimer’s, and Death in the Digital World. I must admit I have a piece of paper with my passwords, and a Powerpoint presentation with most (if not all) my financial information (see the Financial Quarterly Plan for Details).
• Dad v. Autism has an interesting issue, with Dad v. An Annoying Trend, his son is learning how the game is played, and is getting good at it.
• Michael James takes a dim view of Gordon Pape’s Opinions on Couch Potato Investing, but Mr. Pape’s “association” with the Mutual Fund Firms it is not much of a surprise.
• Ellen Roseman tells us about a Rogers Customer that got a $1500 refund, I love Rogers and Bell it is like they want to be known as having the most pissed off customers IN THE WORLD!
• Canadian Capitalist must be enjoying a vacation this week, maybe it’s time you went and read some of his older posts?
• The Canadian Couch Potato gets Inside the DFA Global Balanced Fund , an interesting analysis from someone who knows what he is talking about.
• Echo of Boomer and Echo wonders Home Equity Line of Credit: Friend or Foe? It can be a foe if you are not diligent paying it off!
• Miranda at Planting Money Seeds, asks the hard question Are You Investing Enough? No, is always the simplest answer.
• Gail Vaz-Oxlade is proposing we all go on a Credit Card Fast next week. Sounds like a fun idea, and she is already freezing some of her cards.
• Preet has Podcast Episode 5 out (with Jon Chevreau), but also let’s TuskTrader write about How to Become a Bay Street Trader (Part II). Listen to the Jon Chevreau podcast it is interesting, and leave a good rating too (and watch for Episode 6, it should be out soon).

Famous Foot Quotes

“A severed foot is the ultimate stocking stuffer.”

Mitch Hedberg or the ultimate Christmas package!