Rain, Budgets, Bloggers Meeting, May Day and #FreeFormFridays

Clearly, Ottawa is in the midst of a quagmire of mud, cold, and rain, which can only mean one thing – Spring has arrived, that magical time before the heatwave. After years of complaints about the city being too dry, it seems that the powers that be have finally heeded the call for rain. Not even the ducks seem particularly pleased with this weather.

Budget time in Ontario, and all you rich buggers are gonna pay! Yes if you make over $15oK, you will get taxed higher, if you fly in a plane a higher tax on jet fuel, higher taxes on ciggies, and lots of spending!!! Good times, my guess is they are just trying to force an election, but then again, who knows?

The N.C.F.B.A. met on Wednesday evening, lots of interesting topics, and the usual crew was there with Michael James, Preet B., The Canadian Capitalist, Mark from My Own Advisor, Larry MacDonald, and Rob Carrick (an honorary member of the financial hot stove discussions). Topics discussed?

• Real Estate in Toronto
• Atrociously Dangerous Investment advice to Seniors
• Next generation trading ideas (robo-analysts)
• How Preet is mistaken for Peter Mansbridge a great deal
• The Poutine Festival here in Ottawa
• On Line trading sites for the banks and how some are just not trying any more (i.e. look the same and do the same as they did 10 years ago)
• Disability consulting companies and my fervent dislike of them

All in all a fun time had by me.

Belated Happy May Day salutations to my Union brother and sisters out there. I wanted to be in Red Square to celebrate appropriately, however, I couldn’t get the time off work.

My Writings for Week Ending May 2nd

Glad to hear Mayor Rob Ford is going to get some help, and in other news Jim Watson Mayor of Ottawa has admitted he has a Poutine problem:

• Google Made You an Expert Investor? sometimes you need to be careful what you view as “gospel” on the web.
• Tax Fun: Moving Costs for Students remember if you are a student and moving, or a regular folk and moving for a job, you can deduct your moving expenses too.
• Canadian Students Pay Net Zero Tuition ? I disagree with the study that, thanks to all the tax breaks and grants, Post-secondary education in Canada is a Net Zero pay out for students.

This Week’s Finest

The Financial Jabberwock has been slain but he may return one day :

• So you are planning a TV Marathon and you are wondering just how much time you should schedule for this? Here is a very helpful graph on Just How Long Is a TV Marathon? 
• The Blunt Bean Counter is revamping things and gives us a fresh new look with The Blunt Bean Counter's New Look. This look says, I am not just some boring accountant, I roll up my sleeves and get things done!
• Mark from My Own Advisor tries to help out with Help!I'm just starting to invest , some useful beginners pointers here.
• Sad to read  Al Feldstein, former Mad magazine chief, dead at 88, Mad Magazine was one of the most important things I read in my younger years.
• Barry at Money we Have asks Is debt normal and sexy? The answer is of course, For the Love of Poseidon NO!!!!
• I was unhappy to read Craig Ferguson is leaving CBS at the end of the year, what will he do with his Pantomime horse and Animated Gay Skeleton?
• Michael James gets a little saucy with The Downside of Naked Put Options, as he used the word Naked. No it’s not that kind of naked, but still quite interesting.
• The Canadian Couch Potato asked what seems to be a straight forward question, or is it?  Do Bonds Still Belong in an RRSP?
• Rob Carrick has a worrisome article about real estate in the Toronto area North Toronto 'fixer upper' Gets 72 offers and sells for 195% of asking price, you people in Toronto better stop smoking whatever is causing your insane behavior.
• Mark from 2nd Career Search continues on with this topic of  Why Toronto House Prices Are So High, an interesting spin here as well.
• What has Preet been up to lately, well he did develop this website Preet Banerjee Media God, lots of good work on that theme.

Tax Time Again

Indeed Rick Mercer deserves an award for this video:

Sportsmanship

A young lady broke her ankle rounding first on a home run, so the opposing team carried her the rest of the way around the basepath.

For the Meccano Lovers Out there

A fun clip was done by yours truly from the Ottawa Model Train Expo 2014, with some amazing Meccano creations

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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.

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