Broken Humerus, Ebola, Anniversaries, Blood and #theBestFin4TheWeek

An eventful week at the C8j household, with young Master C8j breaking his humerus while playing on the Monkey Bars at camp. It was a long process to get him fixed up, Mrs. C8j carried the brunt of the load, but now Master C8j has 4 Kirschner Wires in his elbow and a while until he gets to climb on the Monkey Bars again. This is what 9-year-olds do, is what I am told by the surgeon (he says there are many of these same procedures done on kids at CHEO every year). Yesterday all I could think of was Bill Cosby’s old standup routine about the Playground (I have included it at the end of this in the Video Section), but, indeed, you never see any grownups on the monkey bars!

Here is a useful like to Donate to CHEO as well.

During stressful situations, you meet the most interesting folks, and during Master C8j’s repairs, one of the Doctors we met at CHEO, actually is a leading EBOLA doctor (why he was working in the Emergency Room of CHEO, just shows Doctors do lots of interesting things). He made one very interesting comment about the current problems in Africa, it is not as much a medical issue, as it is a Policing of Patients issue. People want to visit their family in the hospital, and don’t know why they can’t, worse still the patients don’t want to be in Hospital so they keep trying to leave! Fascinating very short chat we had.

Congrats to the Canadian Women’s Rugby 15’s team for winning the Silver Medal at the World Cup of Rugby for Women. Canadian Women are tough broads (I should know, I have 3 daughters (one that plays Rugby)).

Under the “That’s Incredible” section of things, Mrs. C8j has been married to me for 27 years today, I believe that is the “You Realize, You Are Still Wrong!” anniversary, or something like that. Mrs. C8j is a patient loving woman, who has very poor taste in choosing mates, of which I took full advantage.

I also gave blood this week and have been selected to be a Blood Platelets donor.

My Writings for the Week Ending August 22nd

Given all the excitement down at the Big C8j Hacienda, didn’t get a lot written this week (and I am on vacation next week too), but I did get a couple of good ones in, for your reading pleasure, Good Reader.

• Some of my best ideas I steal from others, so when Preet B. commented I’m an indexer. I don’t care what the indexes did today I couldn’t resist writing something around that commentary.
• I am the Big Cajun Man and I must confess that I find Financial Advice in the Oddest Places, like Cosmopolitan Magazine.
• A while ago I asked Are Canadians Financially Stupid, but it’s always a good question to keep asking.

This Week’s Finest

We still live in very troubled times, let us hope things can calm down sometime soon, but I suspect that may not be for a very long while:

• The National Post claims the Internet is Almost Full, and it may all come crashing down around us soon. The article while confusing is still entertaining, and no it isn’t going to fall over for the reasons given here, but maybe for other reasons. Remember that the SUN will one day burn out as well, so start preparing for that too.
• While still on vacation the Blunt Bean Counter asks an important question: Are Money and Success the Same Thing? The answers may surprise you.
• CBC is claiming that the Tattoo Removal Business is Booming, and after seeing all of the badly done tattoos out there I am not the least bit surprised.
• Another important Mad Men, Roger Sterling quote to ponder on, “Swimming is easy. Staying afloat is hard.”, an even more topical quote for me is Do you want to be right, or do you want to be married?
• Michael James takes a few Financial Rules of Thumb on Test Drives, to see whether they are really correct or not.
• CBC also has a very apt set of 7 tips to prevent amputations during DIY home renos, very useful tips.
• How Much Do You Pay Per Year for Your Car ? Is a good question from Mark at 2nd Career Search.
• How reliable are Tesla power units? Evidently the Tesla Model S now has infinite-mile warranty , why don’t you ask your Ford dealer for the same deal?
• Barry at Money We Have wants to help us get out of debt so he gives us 7 Ways to Pay Off Your Mortgage Faster, I am amazed he got to 7.
• “If you have more tweets than followers, you may as well be shouting down a golf hole”, ESPN LateNight > Hello Golf Hole!!!
• Mark from My Own Advisor tilts at some other Financial Advisories with Agree or Disagree – Testing 15 Financial Rules, always good to hear other folks opinions on this.

Ear Worms

This is your ear worm for the weekend, 80’s synth music.

Tattoo Removal

A new growth industry! Here is another idea, DON’T GET THE TATTOO IN THE FIRST PLACE!!!

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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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