The Olympics have already started, even though the “Opening Ceremonies” are today. Should be interesting to see how this all works, but I am still puzzled as to why the Soshi Olympic Stadium seems to resemble the Big Owe in Montreal? A leaning mast and a bowl stadium is so avant garde now? Lots of interesting stories of corruption, and things not being built on time and such, which also sounds a lot like the 1976 Olympic Games in Montreal as well, interesting the parallels.
The Super Bowl game was a yawner, which no one seemed to think would happen, but I remember some real crappy games in the 80’s and 90’s so not a big surprise, for me. When I miss the first score of the game because I was chatting with Mrs. C8j, you know the game is going to be a snoozer. On the positive side, there was one of Michael James’ favourite plays where the Denver centre did indeed, SNAP IT OVER HIS HEAD!!!
Bill Nye has been in the news a lot these days, but this week he debated noted creationist Ken Ham. Now I must preface this with the statement that I am a Church going Anglican, but I find the creationist argument flawed at best (completely nutty in it’s worst interpretations). I believe in God, yet I also think the Bible is an interesting story written by many different folks, and then revised in the 1500’s, it is important, but I don’t view it as the “Dummies Guide to All Things”â„¢, either. I will include the debate video from NPR at the end of this post.
My hunt for a quieter laptop computer continues. I have an HP furnace currently, that overheats and runs its fans constantly, so if anyone has any suggestions for a quiet laptop computer (or Tablet/Keyboard combination), feel free to chime in here.
My Weekly Recap
My Writings for Week Ending February 7th Winterlude is Here in Ottawa | |||
Adapt Your Financial GoalsAll plans are out of date, or flawed 5 minutes after they are written, so keep this in mind with your financial life plans, as well. |
I did my RRSP and TFSA Now What?A cry in the dark for more financial literacy in Canada. Simply saying the words, doesn’t mean you did it right. |  Wow, I took another day off |
TFSA Now and ThenAn actual photo of me and my son’s bum, what else do you need in a great post? |
Swiss Army Knife Section
Not a great deal of Olympic chat out there just yet, but some other interesting topics mentioned this week:
- Who says that Popular Science is boring? A High-Tech Bra That Unhooks Only For ‘True Love’ is an interesting concept that I want to know more about!
- How about a handbag that stops you from spending? Introducing the iBag, a concept for now, but I’d like to get one, myself. Demo video after the Creationism debate.
- Mark at the Blunt Bean Counter gives us How Much Money do I Need to Retire? Heck if I Know or Anyone Else Does! – Part 1 a very interesting topic.
- But how do you Work Out Your Retirement Magic Number ? Michael James gives it a try, he seems to differ from Mark.
- Given Homer Simpson owns the Denver Broncos, if they had won would he have retired from the Power Plant?
- Ellen Roseman tweeted about how Group Purchase sites are not covered under by The Gift Card Laws in Ontario, loverly.
- Robb from Boomer & Echo points out that TD e-Series Funds: Not Just For Beginners, and that simple does not mean stupid, in terms of Index Funds at least.
- You are never married to one bank or trading company and the Canadian Capitalist brings us How to Painlessly Transfer your Account from one Broker to Another useful advice.
- In U.S. Colleges NCAA Athletes play in Indentured Servitude but that may be changing College football players want to join union
- If you watch closely in the next few weeks you will see the massive celebrations I will be having for my 2500th post !
- Anybody need a free copy of TurboTax? Mark from My Own Advisor gives us 2013 Tax Tips and TurboTax Canada giveaway.
- The Huffington Post reported TD Bank CEO Ed Clark: Soaring Debt Loads Making Canada’s Economy ‘Fragile’, no kidding?
- Second Career Search takes an interesting philosophical tact The Rich Need to Reduce Income Inequality
- Evidently during the Super Bowl if you Ordered a Pizza from Papa John’s and used the Phrase, “Peyton“, your pizza was delivered to your door, and then a Seahawk Defensive back appears, steals it and eats it in front of you.
- Luke Landes writes about The Cost of Raising a Child With Autism , and as you can guess it is not cheap, and just think about having to save for when you are not around.
- Let’s stuff the ballot box at Top Canadian Finance Blogs Poll 2014 vote for ME THE Canadian Personal Finance Site
- What is the future of television? Netflix and the future of television.by Ken Auletta in the New Yorker gives us an interesting view on that.
- A really interesting animation on Bill Gates on Vaccines: An RSA Animation well worth watching (I included that after the high tech handbag too).
Creationism vs. Evolution
Interesting discussions
Vaccination What is it Good For?
Watch this and learn from Bill Gates
Random Thoughts for 2014
Lots of these kinds of Best of articles in 2014. Here is a list of them.
- World Cup Side-Effects, Seinfeld Cars, and #BestofFinancial What happens around the World at half time of the World Cup Final? Is it like Flushed away? Is there a sudden tsunami? Who knows?
- Cuba, Rubles, Christmas and #BestThisWeek – getting close to Christmas but Ian McKellen can teach us about impulse control.
- Snow, Christmas, Enhanced and #BestThisWeek talk of more festive ideas, like how to save money at Christmas.
- A Gentleman, Day of Disability, Christmas, Rugby and #BestThisWeek noted the passing of Jean Beliveau and John Oliver’s views on Lotteries.
- Black Friday is Here, Advent, and #BestThisWeek speaks of the blessed Black Friday and associated sales but also includes a Fanfare for the Common Man.
- Lake Effect Snow, Web Cameras, Travel Insurance and #BestThisWeek November brings snow in Toronto, as we see, and other financial ideas.
- Asteroids, Tax Cuts, Lemurs and #BestThisWeek how many times has the Earth almost been hit by an asteroid? Too often to remember.
- Lame Ducks, Financial Literacy, Working for Free and #BestThisWeek lame duck leaders never really get that much done, no matter how they negotiate.
- Happy Halloween, Income Splitting and #BestThisWeek a wonderful financial time of the year is Halloween? Maybe income splitting is a better subject.
- Ottawa We Shall Remember, Bank of Canada and #BestThisWeek after a bad week in Ottawa, with senseless violence.
- Crashing Markets, Ebola, Low Loonie, Cheap Gas and #BestThisWeek even in 2014 the markets were a little volatile.
- Hockey, Turkey, Leaves, Carry On Bags and #theBestFin4TheWeek is it right that the hockey season starts before Thanksgiving?
- October, Hello Ebola, Give Blood and #theBestFin4TheWeek October arrived unexpectedly this week, almost unnoticed. As we have entered the final (calendar) quarter of the year 2014, it may be time to start considering a year-end review of your financial plans.
- Autumn , United Kingdom, Beer Money, and #theBestFin4TheWeek the colours in Ottawa during Autumn are truly spectacular.
- Pins, Alibaba , Apple Pay , Lecosse , and #theBestFin4TheWeek remember when Alibaba the IPO happened, those were heady days.
- Home Despot, iPhones, and #theBestFin4TheWeek
- Back to School, Tim Burger King, Knee Defenders and #theBestFin4TheWeek will the dutchie ever come back? I can only hope.
- Broken Humerus, Ebola, Anniversaries, Blood and #theBestFin4TheWeek remember when we thought Ebola was going to wipe us out?
- It is Done, Ice Bucket Challenge, Media Perceptions and #theBestFin4TheWeek
- WW1 Centenery, More Hacked Passwords and #theBestFin4TheWeek
- The Long Weekend with no Name, Defaults, and #BestFinancialForTheWeek
- Unmasking Super Heroes, Dogs of Summer and #BestOfFinancialForThisWeek
- All Stars, Al Stars and the #BestOfFinancialForWeek the world cup was a big thing in 2014 as was Bastille day too.
- Brazilian Defeats, Tour De Chunnel, and #BestOfFinancialForWeek you mean Brazil can lose at the world cup?
- Tennis, Racing, Inflation and #BestofFinancial Canada Day is the start of the summer for most Canadians, and financial stories too.
- The Stand, Football Biting, Naughty Banks and #BestofFinancial even in 2014 the banks were misbehaving with shenanigans.
- Elections, Dad’s Day, World Cup, Friday the 13th and #BestofFinancial somehow the Liberals won the 2014 Ontario Provincial Election
- No Rate Hike, Better Performance, Montreal Grand Prix and #Bestof-Financial back in 2014 we were worried about rates, but they were already pretty low.
- Elections, Farewell Knowlton, May Done, and #Bestof-Financial Knowlton Nash was the voice of news for Canada for a while.
- Internet Memory, Grand Prix of Monaco and #FreeFormFridays the Internet has memory?
- Time Off, Elections, Victoria Day and #FreeFormFridays Victoria Day is always a fun weekend.
- Frosts, Elections, Farley Mowat and #FreeFormFridays it does get cold in May!
- Rain, Budgets, Bloggers Meeting, May Day and #FreeFormFridays When financial bloggers meet what happens?
- Beware the Financial Jabberwock, Netflix Expansion, Model Trains, Backups and #FreeFormFridays a thematically odd article.
- Easter is Here and a Saturday #BestOf for the Weekend a time of renewal, new beginnings in life and financially as well.
- RIP Flaherty, Heartbleed, Tax Time, Quebec Elections and #FreeFormFridays the former finance minister did a lot of good for the economy.
- #Selfies, Quebec Election, Big Joe, Awareness, and #FreeFormFridays would Big Joe Mufferaw have been a good fit for the Redblacks? We’ll never know.
- Don Quixote, Tax Time, Cheap Mortgages and #FreeFormFridays gotta hate tax time.
- Spring Has Sprung, March Madness, Celebrity Blogger and #FreeFormFridays talking about Spring in March in Ottawa can be a bit early.
- Pi Day, March Break, Two Ferns, Snow and #FreeFormFridays given pi is infinite, how much pie can we expect?
- Quebec Elections, Eating Sugar, Suing Parents, Big Rocks and #FreeFormFridays those elections in Quebec are never dull.
- Saint David’s Day, Big Posts, RRSP Time, the Dating Game and #FreeFormFridays always a good time to put a Welsh Choir Clip in an article.
- Hockey Day, Tax & RRSP Time and #FreeFormFridays Hockey day in Canada? Well it does happen, right around RRSP time too.
- More Olympics, Budgets, Love Day and #FreeFormFridays Valentine’s Day: Celebrating Love and Dealing with Financial Whining.
- Olympics, Not Super Bowls, Creationism and #FreeFormFridays 2014 Olympics Opening Ceremonies and Soshi Stadium’s Doppleganger: The Super Bowl.
- Senators, Weak Loonie, Superb Owls and #FreeFormFridays Rugby is a Hooligan’s game played by a Gentleman.
- Polar Vorteces, Olympics, Mayors and #FreeFormFridays The Polar Vortex brings Winter in Canada. But don’t worry – -30C highs in Ottawa in January are normal.
- Giveaways, Oil tanks, Eagles and #FreeFormFriday Have you checked your oil tank if you heat with Oil? What will your insurance do if the tank ruptures?
- Truly Canadian Issues, Ultra HD TV, Car Loans and #FreeFormFriday Get your lock de-icer and unlock your Super Mailbox cubicle like I did – Canadian Tire to the rescue!
- Some #RandomThoughts from 2014 Some of the best of, best of posts on my random thoughts weekly post.
- CPP Reform, Snow, Christmas, Boxing day and #FreeFormFriday Did the CPP reform of 2013 fix much? Kind of, but Christmas was coming too.
Thanks for the mention my friend!
Mark
Snap it over his head! It was actually kind of to the side, but good enough. Thanks for the mention.
I have voted for my favourite personal finance blog(s). You appear to be in a dead heat with Preet…
Yea me!!! Vote for me, and I’ll set you free!!!
The Super bowl yawner was simply a gravitational pull back to the norm, ie: usual boring Superbore game. I imagine your neck of the woods is getting pretty excited about getting the CFL back in Ottawa this year after being out of the loop for several years!
Should be interesting, not sure about the new name, but should be fun freezing my arse off on Bank Street again (in November hopefully).
Creationism is a cancer on education here in the USA. It is not Science but it is taught as such. I would not mind if we taught religion in schools and covered the bible’s version of creation there, but it is not Science. My question to those who believe that creationism is Science: “How do you explain the recent evolution of weeds to resist Roundup, bacteria to resist antibiotics, and extinction of animals whose environment was changed?” Has God suddenly changed from creating the world a la bible to supporting evolution?
Yeh, but I am sure I could find a “bible thumper” who might argue that as well. Claiming the bible is science is beyond reasonable in my opinion as an Anglican.
That there is what I call a 10ft pole topic… Too many extremists on either side. I’ll keep my beliefs to myself thanks. – Cheers.
Not a bad idea, the old idiom about not discussing Money, Politics or Religion does fit quite well here.
I have a 10′ pole. Why does it have to be extremes, it’s one OR the other. When did I become a bad Christian for not believing every word in the bible as it’s written.
Good article on this subject from the Episcopal Church.
http://www.ecfvp.org/posts/and-instead-of-or/
Mrs.C8j.
Thanks for the mention Alan! My suggestion for a laptop is Macbook Air, refurbished from the Apple Store. Cheers!
suggestions for a quiet laptop computer (or Tablet/Keyboard combination)
I own a Lenovo ThinkPad, and run a solid state drive (SSD) fan hardly runs and laptop is on most of the day. I have had it now 2-1/2 yrs, with NO issues. Paid a little more for it but the quality was worth it. – Cheers.
That’s a good recommendation. I am assuming I am going to have to pay a little more, for this feature, but I am sick of sitting something that sounds like a 767 taking off (that sometimes shuts down due to over-heating). I have said before, but HP Laptops are not a good value (in my opinion).
I’m late to the party….. Get the business class ThinkPad from Lenovo. My last one lasted 6 years. It was replaced by a HP which was quickly replaced by another ThinkPad. My current one is the Edge series – it’s pretty good….but I would strongly recommend going with the business class series. (My husband has a T420 that was on for 7 months before he did a restart — yes, he leaves it running 24/7 — it’s quiet and cool to touch. My Edge can’t do that!)
BCM, thx for the link. Your comment that all financial plans are flawed or out of date 5 minutes later ties into my retirement series. Who the heck knows what that number is and 5 minutes later an economic or personal event can change that number even if you somehow came close to determining that number. All plans must be revised and flexible
Precisely, having been a “planner” for High Tech for 25 years I have learned that all “plans” evolve, and if they don’t they just disappear.