Sinkholes, Gas Prices, No Hockey and Friday #Shoutouts

The Infamous Ottawa Sinkhole continues to make news in the nation’s capital (as make all big holes that suck the life out of us (not a reference to the Federal Government or the Civil Service)). I smell a large lawsuit coming because the City was aware of the problem but was hoping they could fix it later; the lucky chap who got entrapped by the sinkhole most likely has lawyers banging down his door!

Gas Prices in Ottawa soared by 7 cents to $1.34 per litre on Thursday, for no real reason, simply seemed like a good time to gouge the life out of the public (in my opinion). I am still running on the gas I got in Peterborough for $1.20 a litre, but I may have to break down and buy some of this overpriced gasoline. It could be worse, I could be in Montreal where gas is now $1.54 a litre (yikes).

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So the Millionaires can't agree with the Multi-Millionaires, and thanks to that, the start of the NHL season may be in jeopardy. All of this does not surprise me. Still, it keeps making me wonder about the good old days of Clarence Campbell and John Ziegler when Hockey seemed to be the most important thing on the ice, not salaries and income for owners (also beer was only $2 at a game and your game ticket was usually less than $20, so yes I am showing my age). I, as a parent, cannot afford to take my kid to a game (even if he wants to go). It doesn't sound like this is being addressed in these negotiations, so I guess I'll just wait until they agree.

Back to work and back to school continues on for everyone around my house, yee haw!

Weekly Recap

There is little danger of me going on strike (I may walk away from disinterest, but I will not go on strike):

• Summer is Over but I also included some of the best Tweets from my Twitter feed as well
• More jobs in August 2012 in Canada, Hot Dang which is great news from our friends at Statistics Canada.
• September 11th certainly has become Another Day the World Changed and many would argue, not for the better, only time will tell what the final ramifications of this day will be.
• Let's Define Retirement is borrowed from a TD investing contest, but it is my philosophy on what I think retirement should be (and hopefully will be for me).
• Replacing old Windows is not something cheap to do for your house, but in my case the job really did need to be done (bad insulation was the major factor).
• Quebec, Democrats, Sinkholes and Friday #Shoutouts The best phony headline of the week, “Quebec roads invade Ontario!“, and with the discovery (by a driver who didn’t see it until he was in it (luckily he is fine)) the Ottawa Pothole season.

And thanks to those who added me on Twitter .

Links for the Week

Things are looking much more interesting in the Middle East with the murder of the American Ambassador to Libya (and 3 others), how is this all going to play out, and how will it affect us in terms of money, is a very good question:

• I am not Smart enough to work at Google, although in 1985 I did interview at Microsoft (I wasn't smart enough to work there either), but I think Michael James could.
• Preet thinks The good news? Almost half of students graduate debt free , but how many parents are in the hole after this? Also, why are kids getting INTO debt if they graduate without debt?
• The Blunt Bean Counter pointed out that Canadians continue to break TFSA rules - so why not help them? What a government that helps the population? What are you some kind of pinko socialist?
• Canadian Capitalist seems to be coming back on-line with Vanguard's Dividend, REIT and S&P 500 ETFs are great news for ETF investors , I concur, but I already am kind of covered in those areas, but go read it over any how.
• Want to read more about ETFs? Canadian Couch Potato gives us An ETF Pricing Puzzle, wondering how ETFs track the indeces they claim to be based on, technical article, but still very interesting.
• Our consumer advocate Ellen Roseman gives us another worrying tale of insurance woes with He's denied insurance after two late payments , it is important to keep your insurance payments current and up to date, they try to find many different excuses not to pay out read The Rainmaker if you don't believe her.
• Mr. Money Mustache wonders Electric Cars are they For Real? I think they can serve a niche for local commuting, and with that will come the needed breakthroughs in battery technology to expand the range enough (and charge much faster) over time.
• The Physics of Finance which is a better way to look at the future of humanity in Optimism vs. Pessimism , I am trying to be less pessimistic in my life, as constantly looking for bad things is far too easy, hoping for good things is more pleasurable (but it will take a lot of work on my part to live that way, as I am a life time pessimist).
• My Own Advisor gives us his Take on the Little Book of Bull Moves in Bear Markets an interesting title, anywhere else a Bull move might be construed in not a positive way, but in investing, it's all good.
• Jeremy at Modest Money talks about Guilt Induced Frugality, but if it were not for guilt a lot of folks would spend a lot more money frivolously.
• Money Beagle moves into the world of High Tech with Rest Assured, PCs and Laptops are NOT going to die, which may be true, but given the lowering prices of SSD's the concept of a Laptop is going to change dramatically.
• Gail Vaz-Oxlade wonders Still No RESPs? Really? Good question on her part, if you have kids and you think they are going to University and you may want to help them, the RESP is the way to go.