Back to school for most folks this week (although many folks already were back last week). The stores are abuzz with folks looking for loose-leaf paper, HB Pencils, and the coolest new Beatles Pencil Case (OK, maybe I am a little out of touch on this new generation).

I welcome Tim Burger King, Burger Horton’s, or whatever the new Canadian Super Fast Food monster calls itself. I am astounded to hear that it is cheaper to run a business in Canada than it is to run in the U.S., but if we become a Tax Haven for our rich cousins down south, then so be it! Maybe they will bring back the Dutchie!

Since I grew past 6 feet tall, I have never really fit into any mass transit situation (sitting at least), so when I saw the stories about the Knee Defender, I was tickled pink to hear someone was thinking about we tall folks and how we don’t fit in the tight spaces created in Airplanes. Is it rude to stop the person in front of you from reclining into your lap on an airplane? Maybe, but speaking as someone who has been at the mercy of airlines for many years (space-wise), I would buy one in a heartbeat if I travelled for more than an hour on an airplane.

I have been fiddling around with Emojis and where they might fit best. From what I can tell, they can be helpful for things like the Twitter machine, but in day to day posting, I can’t see a great need to have this or in most things I write. However, in social media I do see a use for things like: or where you are looking for quick and shorter messages. If you find them annoying, it is me simply trying to get the news to you faster and more graphically.

I gave blood last week as well and now have been selected to be a Blood Platelets donor as well.

My Writings for Week Ending September 5th

A whole week of writing this week for the first time in a few months seems I had a lot to say this week.

• It is important to always celebrate the workers control of the means of production and thus we had Happy Labour Day 2014
• Will I ever stop writing about RESPs? Not for a few more years that is for sure, and this year we have RESP Another Year of Fun, where you must remember that FUn starts with F and U
• I am relatively docile and paranoid about investing thus I keep with relatively safe(r) investment portfolios, but I never thought my Portfolio was Too Conservative
• In God We Trust is on the American dollar, but remember everyone else you should ask for proof, and that is at the core of Always Follow Up (Financially).

Read More »Back to School, Tim Burger King, Knee Defenders 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.

Read More »Broken Humerus, Ebola, Anniversaries, Blood and #theBestFin4TheWeek

It is 100 years since the “War to end all Wars” started, and I continue to learn more about this period in history. I had not realized the number of men (and women) that died in the war, and didn’t really comprehend the horrendous conditions that the soldiers (on all sides) fought under. I seem to know a great deal more about the 2nd World War, however, I am embarrassed about how little I know about a war that devastated an entire generation (over 16 million soldiers and civilians died). The fact that 21 years after it, another “War to End All Wars” erupted only strengthens my view that humans are a dumb species (myself included).

Evidently, the Russian Mob (or Russian hackers) most likely now have one of your e-mail passwords, it might be time to think up a new one, and maybe a heuristic to change your password more than once every time someone hacks the entire web.

Ebola continues to be in the news. I am not sure if I am in full panic about it yet, but I do wonder if this is worse than we are being told, and things are starting to get a little out of control. The fact that a major US City (Toledo) had a toxic water supply, is another interesting environmental episode this week as well. Wonder if this is Mother Nature finally saying, “You know Homo Sapiens, you have been around long enough”?

My Writings for Week Ending August 8th

It was a shorter week this week, in Ontario we celebrated the Anonymous Long Weekend, next long weekend has a name at least (i.e. Labour Day).

• The Long Weekend with no Name, Defaults, and #BestFinancialForTheWeek some of the best stories from last week.
• How do you celebrate a holiday with no name? Who knows, but I did poke fun at it with Happy Civic Holiday.
• Mike Tyson seems like an odd foil for Financial Advice, but his statement is prophetic especially for finances, “Everybody got a plan … until they get hit“
• Living beyond your means seems to be the raison d’etre of an entire generation, so Lifestyle Creep really is aimed at the new lost (money) generation.

Read More »WW1 Centenery, More Hacked Passwords and #theBestFin4TheWeek