My friend Christine is one-up on all those people who got their wealth through divorce settlements. They only got half of the wealth of their Ex, and they had to marry them and presumably put up with years of unhappy relationship to get it.
I just signed over a “Power of Attorney” document for Christine and she now has unlimited power over all my possessions (not just half). She could sell my house and my motorbike and whatever else I have, and with the money she gets from that and any other money in my bank accounts, again, she can do whatever she wants!
She could go blow it all in Vegas on the Black-Jack tables and I couldnt do a thing about it!
And she didn’t even have to marry me to get it! I just gave it to her…
Admittedly though, she has had to put up with me as a friend for nearly fifteen years…
Even I have to admit that thats a rather demanding qualification. I guess that makes up for the “not having to marry” thing though :)
It’s a good thing that I trust her implicitly not to "screw me over" while Im out of the country :)
Wednesday, December 31, 2008
Sunday, December 21, 2008
Baking day?
Here in Vancouver, the snow continues to fall.
A white Christmas will certainly be had!
There were a couple of nice weather days since the last dump and I decided to brave the roads and see what it was like to ride my motorbike around....
Answer... Not Good!
The type of heavy wet snow we get down here on the coast rapidly turns into wet ice when compressed by car wheels and it is very treacherous.
It took me fifteen minutes to get my bike across the fifty metres to the road (driveway and slightly uphill back lane). The surface is not that bad to walk on but with the big heavy bike, it was VERY slippery. I made it out to the road and rode around as I needed for a day and a half, but I had to use EXTREME caution to avoid snow and ice.
I survived and didnt drop the bike but I really dont recommend it. It would be a different story with a smaller/lighter machine like a 250cc off-road bike, but its just a no go with the big bike.
Anyway, that experiment didnt last more than a couple of days because another snow storm has now arrived and the bike is back in the garage where it will stay till the roads are clear of snow and ice!
In the mean time however, my friend I-Fan came over for the day and we "ran amok" in the kitchen... It was "COOKIE fest"... Five different batches of cookies in large quantities were prepared and packaged and have since been dispatched in gift boxes to assorted friends.
The day was quite fun :)))
But now the snow is dumping down again, and Im hunkered down alone listening to music and watching candles :)
Christmas blessings to you all :)))
Wednesday, December 17, 2008
Snow Day
Nothing too extraordinary, but its very definitely a "snow day" here in Vancouver.
It happens a few times each winter here, but this is the first time that it has happened this year and the first time my only form of transport has been a motorbike.
As you might imagine, this has rather drastically limited my activities for the present!
... and guess which day I had arranged three different appointments for.... Yep, today!
They were, a meeting at the bank to sign off my mortgage, a dental appointment to have my teeth cleaned and checked before I head off to live in the developing world for an indefinite period, and finally, dinner with a friend.
Now, my motorbike runs fine in this weather of course, and it has some "off-road" type tires on it too, but it does only have two wheels and that makes it rather prone to"assuming a horizontal aspect" when things get slippery. Thats not too much of a problem if I just go slow and be careful. The problem is that in the area around my house, its very hilly and the roads are very steep. The lot that my house is on drops 15 meters in a length of 50 meters... thats over a 20% grade!
So, I really dont think its a good idea for me to try to ride my bike around while the snow is dumping down (which it has been for most of the night and all of today). There's about 25cm of snow everywhere at present (it usually melts quite quickly but for the moment it is building up faster than it is melting).
The other really good reason for not trying to ride it is the "Vancouver Drivers" who really dont have much clue about how to deal with these conditions - particularly on hills!
So, after a rather short period of consideration, I canceled my dental appointment and decided to walk/bus to my bank appointment.
It all went well, and I now have a renewed mortgage for five years with a variable interest rate of "prime + 0.85%". The mortgage is for a "huge amount of money" that is over double the amount outstanding on the last mortgage. This is so that I can use the equity in the property to fund "other things" if I want to. I only pay interest on the extra if I draw it out.
This seems like a good plan and gives me lots of flexibility but also gives me plenty of leeway to "hang myself" if I make foolish choices... I guess I'll try to avoid doing that :))))
It feels really good to have locked this all down now.
Another step closer to my unknown future!
On the way home from the bank, I walked past a business that makes concrete statues and garden ornaments. It was rather amusing to see all the naked Greek statues standing around in the snow.
The Budha and Adam were looking (as always) detached and self confident respectively, but the women were faring less well... Three of them had got together in a huddle to try to stay warm but one who was by herself looked very forlorn and cold in the snow...
As for that dinner, I'll see if its still snowing later this afternoon.... maybe I'll use the bus again :)
Monday, December 8, 2008
Judgement.
I had an interesting personal experience this past week... and I admit, I thought twice about writing this post! ... But I decided to just go ahead and let it all show :))
I have no idea what caused it, but for over three days there I had significant problems with my digestive system! What that means is this...
One evening I ate a moderate sized meal and later went to bed.
After a couple of hours I began to feel very bloated but was unable to relieve the problem with a visit to the bathroom. The situation was the same for the next three days!
I did not feel nauseous, and I could eat if I wanted, but there was no room for more food inside me, and nothing I tried made any difference (and I tried a bunch of options!). There were no other real symptoms. After a day, it turned to steady "low grade" intestinal cramps and a slowly increasing headache as well...
Now, I have never experienced anything like this before, and I tend to have a very robust GI system so this was "unprecedented" as well as being uncomfortable and after a few days, quite unnerving!
The later stages of this were on a weekend when doctors offices were closed (or I would have used them) but fortunately it "resolved" its self on Sunday evening... and I have now "moved" on. - and again I do not know what caused things to stop.
So, thats all rather more information than Im sure you would care to know about, but its really only the background to this post.
It was what went on in my mind that matters...
I really dont know what goes on in other peoples minds but I figure that for the most part, I am the same as everyone else. That said, I will now share my hypochondria :)
As I said, it was quite unnerving after a few days, and my little mind was running rings around its self trying to figure out what was going on (since as I said, this had never happend to me befor and there was no precipitating event that I could detect), what could have caused it, and how to make it stop. I didnt do it all by myself though, I consulted a couple of knowledgeable people I knew and listened to suggestions and responded with a logical analysis etc. and basically tried not to blow it out of proportion, - It was definitely a constriction or blockage in the upper colon or the lower duodenum (small intestine) - everyone agreed. And after three days with no apparent cause, and absolutely no progress, and slowly increasing discomfort, my mind (perhaps minorly addled at that!) decided to confront some of those darker possibilities...
What can cause a blockage in the small intestine.... Very little!
But if thats where the problem was then a very strong candidate for the cause is "The Big C"
Yes... Cancer! Nobody, but Nobody likes to think about that possibility!
But I think that through one thing and another, at some time in our past, many of us have had some personal experience that has made us consider the possibility that we have it...
For myself, the last such incident was a few years ago when I had a small skin "feature" suddenly and without cause, decided to flare up and become irritated, and enlarging, and not healing... I went to the doctor and he agreed it was "not good", so we cut it out and did a biopsy - Result: Not malignant... phew!
That time I got away with it but I also went through the same mental process as I did this weekend while waiting for the result. When I thought about the possibility of a "positive" test result, my pulse would quicken, my blood pressure would rise, and with a rising sense of panic my thoughts would go something like ...
NOOO... IM NOT READY!, THATS SO UNFAIR... HOW THE HELL DO I AVOID THIS!........etc.
Then Id have to get a hold of my thoughts and crank the control back on....
Im guessing you know how it goes!
The point is that you have the very real possibility of dying in a none too pleasant way over a probably drawn out time, and in the very near future!
Its a very real very personal and unavoidable threat to your life!
I can think of virtually nothing other than cancer or a degenerative terminal disease that has this effect.
I think my response described above is probably a pretty normal one for most people.
I'll leave it to you to think about, but dont kid your self; You cant sit there and think "nah I wouldn't have got worked up, I would have thought like this instead...".
There is just no way you can fake that kind of set-up on your mind to see how you will respond.
Its either a real threat or its not!
And you are facing your imminent, unpleasant death - but with time to think about it....
JUDGEMENT!
So I had myself one of those hypochondria induced experiences.... but this one was different for me...
This time, my response was more along the lines of:
"Oh...thats a bit disappointing...bugger!..... Oh well, I guess we'll just see what happens..."
And that was it!
I dont know what you think, but I found my own response to be quite unexpected!
Now, it was far from impassive!; my pulse did quicken, but it was very composed and accepting and open. There are things I would rather I had the opportunity to yet do in this life, and I would certainly prefer not to have an unpleasant death; But it also seems that I am not as strongly attached to most of my future desires as I used to be, and Im also way more able to deal with an unpleasant future!
I think this is a very good thing.
I think I am making progress!
I wonder where it goes from here?
Oh well, I guess we'll just see what happens :)))
I have no idea what caused it, but for over three days there I had significant problems with my digestive system! What that means is this...
One evening I ate a moderate sized meal and later went to bed.
After a couple of hours I began to feel very bloated but was unable to relieve the problem with a visit to the bathroom. The situation was the same for the next three days!
I did not feel nauseous, and I could eat if I wanted, but there was no room for more food inside me, and nothing I tried made any difference (and I tried a bunch of options!). There were no other real symptoms. After a day, it turned to steady "low grade" intestinal cramps and a slowly increasing headache as well...
Now, I have never experienced anything like this before, and I tend to have a very robust GI system so this was "unprecedented" as well as being uncomfortable and after a few days, quite unnerving!
The later stages of this were on a weekend when doctors offices were closed (or I would have used them) but fortunately it "resolved" its self on Sunday evening... and I have now "moved" on. - and again I do not know what caused things to stop.
So, thats all rather more information than Im sure you would care to know about, but its really only the background to this post.
It was what went on in my mind that matters...
I really dont know what goes on in other peoples minds but I figure that for the most part, I am the same as everyone else. That said, I will now share my hypochondria :)
As I said, it was quite unnerving after a few days, and my little mind was running rings around its self trying to figure out what was going on (since as I said, this had never happend to me befor and there was no precipitating event that I could detect), what could have caused it, and how to make it stop. I didnt do it all by myself though, I consulted a couple of knowledgeable people I knew and listened to suggestions and responded with a logical analysis etc. and basically tried not to blow it out of proportion, - It was definitely a constriction or blockage in the upper colon or the lower duodenum (small intestine) - everyone agreed. And after three days with no apparent cause, and absolutely no progress, and slowly increasing discomfort, my mind (perhaps minorly addled at that!) decided to confront some of those darker possibilities...
What can cause a blockage in the small intestine.... Very little!
But if thats where the problem was then a very strong candidate for the cause is "The Big C"
Yes... Cancer! Nobody, but Nobody likes to think about that possibility!
But I think that through one thing and another, at some time in our past, many of us have had some personal experience that has made us consider the possibility that we have it...
For myself, the last such incident was a few years ago when I had a small skin "feature" suddenly and without cause, decided to flare up and become irritated, and enlarging, and not healing... I went to the doctor and he agreed it was "not good", so we cut it out and did a biopsy - Result: Not malignant... phew!
That time I got away with it but I also went through the same mental process as I did this weekend while waiting for the result. When I thought about the possibility of a "positive" test result, my pulse would quicken, my blood pressure would rise, and with a rising sense of panic my thoughts would go something like ...
NOOO... IM NOT READY!, THATS SO UNFAIR... HOW THE HELL DO I AVOID THIS!........etc.
Then Id have to get a hold of my thoughts and crank the control back on....
Im guessing you know how it goes!
The point is that you have the very real possibility of dying in a none too pleasant way over a probably drawn out time, and in the very near future!
Its a very real very personal and unavoidable threat to your life!
I can think of virtually nothing other than cancer or a degenerative terminal disease that has this effect.
I think my response described above is probably a pretty normal one for most people.
I'll leave it to you to think about, but dont kid your self; You cant sit there and think "nah I wouldn't have got worked up, I would have thought like this instead...".
There is just no way you can fake that kind of set-up on your mind to see how you will respond.
Its either a real threat or its not!
And you are facing your imminent, unpleasant death - but with time to think about it....
JUDGEMENT!
So I had myself one of those hypochondria induced experiences.... but this one was different for me...
This time, my response was more along the lines of:
"Oh...thats a bit disappointing...bugger!..... Oh well, I guess we'll just see what happens..."
And that was it!
I dont know what you think, but I found my own response to be quite unexpected!
Now, it was far from impassive!; my pulse did quicken, but it was very composed and accepting and open. There are things I would rather I had the opportunity to yet do in this life, and I would certainly prefer not to have an unpleasant death; But it also seems that I am not as strongly attached to most of my future desires as I used to be, and Im also way more able to deal with an unpleasant future!
I think this is a very good thing.
I think I am making progress!
I wonder where it goes from here?
Oh well, I guess we'll just see what happens :)))
Saturday, December 6, 2008
On with the Plan....What Plan?
Yesterday was my last day of work... Again!
I have finished my contract with PMC. I was there for about three months in total. Although it was not what I "wanted" to be doing, it was not unpleasant either. It brought in some good money, the work was not stressful, and the people were nice enough to work with.
The truth of it though, is that I was only able to do it happily because I knew it was only short term. I have to admit that if there had not been an end date and/or if I had any sort of career or personal aspirations attached to the work, then I would have found it frustrating and disappointing. But thats a bit of an unfair statement too, since if I had had those ideals then it would not have been a job that I would have accepted.
But as things are, it was perfect :)
The down side, has been that it has meant that while I was working, I was moving very slowly on getting the other stuff I want to do done. But now, I can get back to that other stuff...
And that other stuff is "mobilizing".
I dont actually have that much left to do here in Vancouver before I am "free". The mortgage details for the house are just about done, and I only have to "get rid of" a few largish items of furniture and my marine aquarium (and its livestock). Then I have to find a long term lease tenant for the house, and pack up my remaining stuff into the storage container..... and Im off! :))))
Off to where?
Well, there is a "where", but "the plan" does not go beyond that, so I dont really know where the big picture leads at all!
The whole of the plan at present is to get "free" and then to go back to Guatemala and see what happens...
I dont know the date,
I dont know how I will be traveling there,
I dont know what I will be bringing with me,
I dont know what I will be doing there,
I dont know how long I'll be staying...
All I know is that it'll be a start point for whatever comes next..
And I have no idea what that will be :)))))
And while that sounds very bold and exciting and "free", Im sure that most people reading this will immediately sense their own feelings about doing something like this and you'll all feel the "Oooh, that could lead to trouble!" and "Id need a bit more of a plan to do that" or "I'll be happy enough to just read about it" etc - And I dont blame you one bit! :)
And I can assure you that those "instinctive responses" are WAY STRONGER when you are sitting here in my shoes, on the brink of actually doing it!!
Yes, the work I just did brought me in some money to last a year or so of very cheap living (only in a "developing world" country). But No, (not least, after the recent economic changes in the world) there is no way that I have enough financial resources to "retire" as most of us would normally imagine it. And I'll be leaving behind my support network and many friends and a whole world of possibilities that could be as exciting and open as anyone could want!..... So why do it?
Hmmm, well, something deeper is overriding those "instinctive responses".
Those responses are made up of practical rational thinking and surface emotions and deeper primitive emotions as well - finances, health, love, friendship, fear, security, excitement, novelty etc. etc. - All of it!
Sure, its fine to take a holiday and go travel. Sure its fine to make that holiday a year or two long if you have the resources to do it. Sure its fine to "pick up and go" and start again somewhere new. But I think there are very few of us (particularly those with good successful, professional background like mine) who would do it without any sort of a plan... And Ive always been like that too... Our whole social upbringing is based on "having a plan" - At least some sort of forward looking strategy/safety net - more or less, from "cradle to grave".
And that is exactly what I am very deliberately NOT doing!
Something deeper is telling me to "ignore the worries" - After all, there are infinite possibilities in that department, and I could make as many reasons to "Not go" as my heart desires - all based on fear. And I assure you, it takes quite a bit of Will to override those concerns.
But Im also Not choosing to hold onto the other set of responses that I'll collectively say are based on "excitement and novelty". These are the things that we can use to pull us forward in these kind of situations, and Ive used them plenty of times in the past with climbing mountains and other such expeditions. The truth would be that this was the main method I used to propel myself into going on the motorbike tour to Ecuador and back eighteen months ago - That trip was really only ever thought of as an extended holiday. I always expected to be back to some sort of a "regular life" in a city eventually.
This time though, Im trying to let the future look after its self as much as possible. Yes, Im using positive emotions to do it, but they are deeper concepts of (for want of better words) "undirected hope/trust" rather than the more surface concepts of excitement and novelty. And this time there is no pre-concept of where life goes after... I'll just have to wait and see
Hmm, Im getting a bit ahead of myself here... Im still sitting here in Vancouver at the moment...
We'll just have to wait and see what happens yet.
But we are getting significantly closer to the "end of the plan" :)))
I have finished my contract with PMC. I was there for about three months in total. Although it was not what I "wanted" to be doing, it was not unpleasant either. It brought in some good money, the work was not stressful, and the people were nice enough to work with.
The truth of it though, is that I was only able to do it happily because I knew it was only short term. I have to admit that if there had not been an end date and/or if I had any sort of career or personal aspirations attached to the work, then I would have found it frustrating and disappointing. But thats a bit of an unfair statement too, since if I had had those ideals then it would not have been a job that I would have accepted.
But as things are, it was perfect :)
The down side, has been that it has meant that while I was working, I was moving very slowly on getting the other stuff I want to do done. But now, I can get back to that other stuff...
And that other stuff is "mobilizing".
I dont actually have that much left to do here in Vancouver before I am "free". The mortgage details for the house are just about done, and I only have to "get rid of" a few largish items of furniture and my marine aquarium (and its livestock). Then I have to find a long term lease tenant for the house, and pack up my remaining stuff into the storage container..... and Im off! :))))
Off to where?
Well, there is a "where", but "the plan" does not go beyond that, so I dont really know where the big picture leads at all!
The whole of the plan at present is to get "free" and then to go back to Guatemala and see what happens...
I dont know the date,
I dont know how I will be traveling there,
I dont know what I will be bringing with me,
I dont know what I will be doing there,
I dont know how long I'll be staying...
All I know is that it'll be a start point for whatever comes next..
And I have no idea what that will be :)))))
And while that sounds very bold and exciting and "free", Im sure that most people reading this will immediately sense their own feelings about doing something like this and you'll all feel the "Oooh, that could lead to trouble!" and "Id need a bit more of a plan to do that" or "I'll be happy enough to just read about it" etc - And I dont blame you one bit! :)
And I can assure you that those "instinctive responses" are WAY STRONGER when you are sitting here in my shoes, on the brink of actually doing it!!
Yes, the work I just did brought me in some money to last a year or so of very cheap living (only in a "developing world" country). But No, (not least, after the recent economic changes in the world) there is no way that I have enough financial resources to "retire" as most of us would normally imagine it. And I'll be leaving behind my support network and many friends and a whole world of possibilities that could be as exciting and open as anyone could want!..... So why do it?
Hmmm, well, something deeper is overriding those "instinctive responses".
Those responses are made up of practical rational thinking and surface emotions and deeper primitive emotions as well - finances, health, love, friendship, fear, security, excitement, novelty etc. etc. - All of it!
Sure, its fine to take a holiday and go travel. Sure its fine to make that holiday a year or two long if you have the resources to do it. Sure its fine to "pick up and go" and start again somewhere new. But I think there are very few of us (particularly those with good successful, professional background like mine) who would do it without any sort of a plan... And Ive always been like that too... Our whole social upbringing is based on "having a plan" - At least some sort of forward looking strategy/safety net - more or less, from "cradle to grave".
And that is exactly what I am very deliberately NOT doing!
Something deeper is telling me to "ignore the worries" - After all, there are infinite possibilities in that department, and I could make as many reasons to "Not go" as my heart desires - all based on fear. And I assure you, it takes quite a bit of Will to override those concerns.
But Im also Not choosing to hold onto the other set of responses that I'll collectively say are based on "excitement and novelty". These are the things that we can use to pull us forward in these kind of situations, and Ive used them plenty of times in the past with climbing mountains and other such expeditions. The truth would be that this was the main method I used to propel myself into going on the motorbike tour to Ecuador and back eighteen months ago - That trip was really only ever thought of as an extended holiday. I always expected to be back to some sort of a "regular life" in a city eventually.
This time though, Im trying to let the future look after its self as much as possible. Yes, Im using positive emotions to do it, but they are deeper concepts of (for want of better words) "undirected hope/trust" rather than the more surface concepts of excitement and novelty. And this time there is no pre-concept of where life goes after... I'll just have to wait and see
Hmm, Im getting a bit ahead of myself here... Im still sitting here in Vancouver at the moment...
We'll just have to wait and see what happens yet.
But we are getting significantly closer to the "end of the plan" :)))
Tuesday, November 25, 2008
Taking my Medicine!
Financial Choices...
Over the past 13 odd years of working in Canada I've been contributing a chunk of my earnings each year into a tax sheltered account to fund my retirement - whenever and whatever that might be.
Over the last year or so it has increasingly seemed like "retirement" (of a sort) might be now!
Unfortunately, also over the last year or so, the mutual fund investments that the money has been in have been having a really hard time...
And the "down side" has been accelerating rapidly over the last few months!
Unfortunately also, over the last year of my travels, I had not been paying that much attention to this area of my finances - and so it has taken me a while to get a handle on "the big picture" and how it effects me personally.
So, where am I now?
Well, for a start, all these numbers are in a way "fictitious" because I'm not actually using the money at the moment, so it doesn't effect anything in my life at the moment.
However, The money I put into this account was/is indeed "real money" and I foresee that I will truly be using it in the near future.
The current standing of those monies is that I am down about 40% in "value" compared to about a year ago!
Further, if I exclude theoretical gains (growth in fund values) from the equation and just consider the actual value of money that I contributed, then I am down about 20% of the value - That's real money that is "GONE"!
So, whats done is done.... All I can do at present is decide what I will do in the future...
And that depends on what I think will happen with the "economy" in the future...
Big Question!.... and its on many peoples minds at present.
So, I spent a week or so pondering this and while many people would have huge "angst" over the subject, I have suffered relatively little in this decision process. I have just thought about what I think is happening and what likely will happen ... and have made choices accordingly...
So, What were the options?
The choices for action were threefold:
1) Leave the money invested as it was - Do nothing.
2) Cash-out the existing investments and just hold cash - Like a bank account.
3) Cash-out the existing investments and then reinvest into different funds/stocks.
The choice here is of course defined by what I think will happen in the Global, North American, and finally Canadian economies, and perhaps even more importantly...When it happens!.
What do I think is going to happen? ... Well, in a nutshell; I think this:
All those economies I mentioned have taken very large declines in the last two months (precipitous!) . There is no doubt that we are in a very significant recession (Right Now!)
OK, so things are down, but perhaps we are near the bottom and things will come back up from say early next year :)
Sorry to say but I dont think it will be like that. As far as I can tell, there is absolutely no reason why things will get better... In fact I think we have only just started to see the negative effects triggered by the economic down turn. In days of old, the stock market was tied to actual gold bullion being moved around in banks, but they stopped doing that a long time ago, and now there is no "inherent lower limit" on the value of stocks..... There is no known bottom!!!
To date, we have seen a financial crisis. Particularly in North America (Though I understand Europe is bad too) due to foolish lending practices - particularly in the real-estate space.
So, we have seen foreclosures on the "bottom edge" of the mortgage market - These people should never have been given loans in the first place, but we've only seen some of them defaulting ... I believe there are plenty more yet to come!
We've also seen that companies are having a really hard time getting loans and are thus cutting back on everything they can. The western governments are actively trying to help solve this problem but the effect is still there.
We've seen that consumer confidence is plunging and people are not spending money the way they were just a few months ago. We also see that this trend is increasing as we go into Christmas and it appears that it is not being turned around by the government intervention.... very bad sign!
It means that all those companies (basically any company at all) will not only have a hard time getting loans but they wont have the revenues that they used to either!
And that means that they will have to take much more aggressive steps.... Reducing their employee counts!
We are only just starting to see this happen now, but I believe that it will get far worse... The only reliable employer in the near future that I see will be the public service or government contractors as Governments try to "help" the situation by creating jobs and civic projects.
So, as we see unemployment increase (and I think it could get to 10 - 15% here in North America) there are going to be a whole lot more people who had mortgages that they were just able to keep the payments up on who are now suddenly out of work.... and they will have to sell their houses.... but no one will buy... and so foreclosures will get another large increase.... another chunk of the population will stop spending money.... etc.
And we have heard all about the "stupid" levels of credit card debt that people are carrying. But I dont think we have seen this surface yet. I think we wont see it till after Christmas (how long after...who knows?)... and it will be big.... and it will hit the financial sector again!....
On the real-estate front, all these forced sales will I think, really deflate prices. I would not be surprised if prices dropped a third or even a half of their current values (particularly in "hot spots").
So, If money was what I cared about, then I would sell my house right now and take the 10% lower sell price just to get it done fast!
But money is not what my life is about, and I'd rather have a "home" which is what my house represents for me (even though I dont plan to be using it for the next year or two). It may turn out that I dont even feel the need for a home in a year or twos time, (non-attachment being the ultimate goal - or so we are told!) But right now, I still feel like keeping the house is a good thing :)
Then there is the price of Oil. Its plunged recently - which you would think is a good thing since it helps the consumer as well as industry in the short term and should help out the North American car makers (big inefficient cars).
But I had a look at the price of oil over the last several decades, and as far as I can tell, the recent price increases were completely artificial... I dont see the need for the price of oil to go back above $50 a barrel...(Other than the greed of OPEC) I think it could stay low for quite a while...
Note: I have no problem myself with the price being high...in fact I think it should be deliberately held high by governments taxing it - and using the revenue for environmental purposes. But I think the price will stay low, and the down side of this is that the Canadian economy gets a lot of money from oil/gas - so this is a downer for the Canadian economy and thus my money.
And what about the Chinese economy pulling us up....
I really dont think so! In fact, I think it will be even worse there in China... Their sales of goods are to the West. But we have really just "shut off" the spending... This will really hit their manufacturing sector and competition will be incredibly harsh. They already have tight competition because they are in that "bottom end" of the manufacturing market.... I think it will be ugly in China and we have just not seen the effect yet! But then again, the Chinese government have the power to "artificially" hold the value of their currency at what-ever point they want regardless of how it effects their people... Hard to say what will actually happen there!
I'm having a really hard time finding any financial "good news" or bright prospect!
If there is one then it would be that Governments will be spending more to try to help out their populations in hard times.
So, what does this mean for my money?
I was largely holding "Canadian Equity" which is a largely resource based economy that is directly linked to the US economy.
I think the stock market will devalue Canadian equity significantly (possibly as much as half current values) due to the US economy, Oil prices, other Resource devaluation, and overall economic slow down.
I dont think I should hold my investments as they are!
What should I invest in instead? - Right now, I cant tell what is going to happen (like most people).
Although Im sure if you know what you are doing, there are some good possible investments, I think it is dumb for me to speculate at present!
I think I should just hold Cash! (like lots of people)
Thats all just speculation of course;
But its not "Idle Speculation" - Im taking action...
I have acted on my words and Ive liquidated my retirement holdings - Ive taken a big loss in doing so (and consequently given up on regaining my losses), but as I said, I think it will get worse for a while yet... significantly!... But the real trick that I just cant anticipate is how long these "probable" effects will each take to happen... and if they happen fast and close together or slow and spread out??
But if it turns out that Im wrong and things get better, then I can just buy back in later when I feel I can see further ahead...
So for me; Even though the medicine tastes pretty bad and I dont want to swallow it; Im pretty sure that its better than just letting the significant risk of the "sickness" proceed further along its current path.
So, I'll take my medicine now thank you!
Nothing but doom and gloom? ... Not so!
Actually, I am personally feeling fine about it.
I do think there are some very hard financial times for many people in the near future...
But, I dont think finances make people happy - mostly just unhappy!
I think we Canadians on the whole are incredibly spoiled and many of us can make do with far less than we currently have and be very happy. I think we are just heading in to a huge opportunity to reset our personal and social values.
And I think it could be a "step forward" for many... though not one we would take willingly! :)
So now we will wait and see what the future brings :)
Over the past 13 odd years of working in Canada I've been contributing a chunk of my earnings each year into a tax sheltered account to fund my retirement - whenever and whatever that might be.
Over the last year or so it has increasingly seemed like "retirement" (of a sort) might be now!
Unfortunately, also over the last year or so, the mutual fund investments that the money has been in have been having a really hard time...
And the "down side" has been accelerating rapidly over the last few months!
Unfortunately also, over the last year of my travels, I had not been paying that much attention to this area of my finances - and so it has taken me a while to get a handle on "the big picture" and how it effects me personally.
So, where am I now?
Well, for a start, all these numbers are in a way "fictitious" because I'm not actually using the money at the moment, so it doesn't effect anything in my life at the moment.
However, The money I put into this account was/is indeed "real money" and I foresee that I will truly be using it in the near future.
The current standing of those monies is that I am down about 40% in "value" compared to about a year ago!
Further, if I exclude theoretical gains (growth in fund values) from the equation and just consider the actual value of money that I contributed, then I am down about 20% of the value - That's real money that is "GONE"!
So, whats done is done.... All I can do at present is decide what I will do in the future...
And that depends on what I think will happen with the "economy" in the future...
Big Question!.... and its on many peoples minds at present.
So, I spent a week or so pondering this and while many people would have huge "angst" over the subject, I have suffered relatively little in this decision process. I have just thought about what I think is happening and what likely will happen ... and have made choices accordingly...
So, What were the options?
The choices for action were threefold:
1) Leave the money invested as it was - Do nothing.
2) Cash-out the existing investments and just hold cash - Like a bank account.
3) Cash-out the existing investments and then reinvest into different funds/stocks.
The choice here is of course defined by what I think will happen in the Global, North American, and finally Canadian economies, and perhaps even more importantly...When it happens!.
What do I think is going to happen? ... Well, in a nutshell; I think this:
All those economies I mentioned have taken very large declines in the last two months (precipitous!) . There is no doubt that we are in a very significant recession (Right Now!)
OK, so things are down, but perhaps we are near the bottom and things will come back up from say early next year :)
Sorry to say but I dont think it will be like that. As far as I can tell, there is absolutely no reason why things will get better... In fact I think we have only just started to see the negative effects triggered by the economic down turn. In days of old, the stock market was tied to actual gold bullion being moved around in banks, but they stopped doing that a long time ago, and now there is no "inherent lower limit" on the value of stocks..... There is no known bottom!!!
To date, we have seen a financial crisis. Particularly in North America (Though I understand Europe is bad too) due to foolish lending practices - particularly in the real-estate space.
So, we have seen foreclosures on the "bottom edge" of the mortgage market - These people should never have been given loans in the first place, but we've only seen some of them defaulting ... I believe there are plenty more yet to come!
We've also seen that companies are having a really hard time getting loans and are thus cutting back on everything they can. The western governments are actively trying to help solve this problem but the effect is still there.
We've seen that consumer confidence is plunging and people are not spending money the way they were just a few months ago. We also see that this trend is increasing as we go into Christmas and it appears that it is not being turned around by the government intervention.... very bad sign!
It means that all those companies (basically any company at all) will not only have a hard time getting loans but they wont have the revenues that they used to either!
And that means that they will have to take much more aggressive steps.... Reducing their employee counts!
We are only just starting to see this happen now, but I believe that it will get far worse... The only reliable employer in the near future that I see will be the public service or government contractors as Governments try to "help" the situation by creating jobs and civic projects.
So, as we see unemployment increase (and I think it could get to 10 - 15% here in North America) there are going to be a whole lot more people who had mortgages that they were just able to keep the payments up on who are now suddenly out of work.... and they will have to sell their houses.... but no one will buy... and so foreclosures will get another large increase.... another chunk of the population will stop spending money.... etc.
And we have heard all about the "stupid" levels of credit card debt that people are carrying. But I dont think we have seen this surface yet. I think we wont see it till after Christmas (how long after...who knows?)... and it will be big.... and it will hit the financial sector again!....
On the real-estate front, all these forced sales will I think, really deflate prices. I would not be surprised if prices dropped a third or even a half of their current values (particularly in "hot spots").
So, If money was what I cared about, then I would sell my house right now and take the 10% lower sell price just to get it done fast!
But money is not what my life is about, and I'd rather have a "home" which is what my house represents for me (even though I dont plan to be using it for the next year or two). It may turn out that I dont even feel the need for a home in a year or twos time, (non-attachment being the ultimate goal - or so we are told!) But right now, I still feel like keeping the house is a good thing :)
Then there is the price of Oil. Its plunged recently - which you would think is a good thing since it helps the consumer as well as industry in the short term and should help out the North American car makers (big inefficient cars).
But I had a look at the price of oil over the last several decades, and as far as I can tell, the recent price increases were completely artificial... I dont see the need for the price of oil to go back above $50 a barrel...(Other than the greed of OPEC) I think it could stay low for quite a while...
Note: I have no problem myself with the price being high...in fact I think it should be deliberately held high by governments taxing it - and using the revenue for environmental purposes. But I think the price will stay low, and the down side of this is that the Canadian economy gets a lot of money from oil/gas - so this is a downer for the Canadian economy and thus my money.
And what about the Chinese economy pulling us up....
I really dont think so! In fact, I think it will be even worse there in China... Their sales of goods are to the West. But we have really just "shut off" the spending... This will really hit their manufacturing sector and competition will be incredibly harsh. They already have tight competition because they are in that "bottom end" of the manufacturing market.... I think it will be ugly in China and we have just not seen the effect yet! But then again, the Chinese government have the power to "artificially" hold the value of their currency at what-ever point they want regardless of how it effects their people... Hard to say what will actually happen there!
I'm having a really hard time finding any financial "good news" or bright prospect!
If there is one then it would be that Governments will be spending more to try to help out their populations in hard times.
So, what does this mean for my money?
I was largely holding "Canadian Equity" which is a largely resource based economy that is directly linked to the US economy.
I think the stock market will devalue Canadian equity significantly (possibly as much as half current values) due to the US economy, Oil prices, other Resource devaluation, and overall economic slow down.
I dont think I should hold my investments as they are!
What should I invest in instead? - Right now, I cant tell what is going to happen (like most people).
Although Im sure if you know what you are doing, there are some good possible investments, I think it is dumb for me to speculate at present!
I think I should just hold Cash! (like lots of people)
Thats all just speculation of course;
But its not "Idle Speculation" - Im taking action...
I have acted on my words and Ive liquidated my retirement holdings - Ive taken a big loss in doing so (and consequently given up on regaining my losses), but as I said, I think it will get worse for a while yet... significantly!... But the real trick that I just cant anticipate is how long these "probable" effects will each take to happen... and if they happen fast and close together or slow and spread out??
But if it turns out that Im wrong and things get better, then I can just buy back in later when I feel I can see further ahead...
So for me; Even though the medicine tastes pretty bad and I dont want to swallow it; Im pretty sure that its better than just letting the significant risk of the "sickness" proceed further along its current path.
So, I'll take my medicine now thank you!
Nothing but doom and gloom? ... Not so!
Actually, I am personally feeling fine about it.
I do think there are some very hard financial times for many people in the near future...
But, I dont think finances make people happy - mostly just unhappy!
I think we Canadians on the whole are incredibly spoiled and many of us can make do with far less than we currently have and be very happy. I think we are just heading in to a huge opportunity to reset our personal and social values.
And I think it could be a "step forward" for many... though not one we would take willingly! :)
So now we will wait and see what the future brings :)
Friday, November 21, 2008
No Picnic in the "Woods" Today
I was riding to work this morning with thoughts about selling up a whole bunch of my RRSP mutual funds - The losses just keep growing!!!
As I rode over the hill through the now bare branched forest I saw a black lump on the side of the road that didn't look right.
I slowed down and did a U-turn to get back to it; parked and got off to have a look.
Sadly, it was a dead Black bear. I could see no obvious injuries, but I strongly suspect it was hit by a car some time in the night.
(Alternately, it may have eaten something that was bad for it - Like a Mtn Bike rider perhaps!)
It was I think a mature adult, and it had a blue tag in its ear.
Its sad but not surprising. Black bears are quite common in the area, and about once a year I see one in my back yard (just on the other side of the hill from where I found this one).
There wasn't much else to do though, so I continued on to work.
As I rode on, I had a related thought from my lateral thinking brain - Perhaps I could look at it as a symbol of the death of the "Bear market" that is really starting to effect everyone here in North America now...
Sadly again, I dont think that is the case and that the "Bear Market" will continue and get worse for a while yet...
When I got to work, I phoned it in to the local police who passed me over to the conservation office, etc.
No picnic indeed!
As I rode over the hill through the now bare branched forest I saw a black lump on the side of the road that didn't look right.
I slowed down and did a U-turn to get back to it; parked and got off to have a look.
Sadly, it was a dead Black bear. I could see no obvious injuries, but I strongly suspect it was hit by a car some time in the night.
(Alternately, it may have eaten something that was bad for it - Like a Mtn Bike rider perhaps!)
It was I think a mature adult, and it had a blue tag in its ear.
Its sad but not surprising. Black bears are quite common in the area, and about once a year I see one in my back yard (just on the other side of the hill from where I found this one).
There wasn't much else to do though, so I continued on to work.
As I rode on, I had a related thought from my lateral thinking brain - Perhaps I could look at it as a symbol of the death of the "Bear market" that is really starting to effect everyone here in North America now...
Sadly again, I dont think that is the case and that the "Bear Market" will continue and get worse for a while yet...
When I got to work, I phoned it in to the local police who passed me over to the conservation office, etc.
No picnic indeed!
Wednesday, November 19, 2008
I am a River to my People!
... Though the river is small...
... And my people are few...
... and scattered...
I always liked that title line from the film "Lawrence of Arabia".
I decided that I should disabuse myself of any delusions as to how many (or few) people actually read my Blog.
So, I consulted my good friend Janine (who knows about these things from her own web site stuff - she also suggested using the blogger site... and doing a blog in the first place for that matter!) about how to do this and was duly directed to a web site that basically does it for you and for free too :)
I clicked through the options and then followed the instructions to add it to my site, and voila! We have a hit counter that seems to work.
And what does it tell me...
Well, it tells me that I have somewhere between ten and twenty regular visitors (after a week of operation) and most of the visiting is on the weekend. - No big surprises there.
Thats actually more than I had expected which is I guess a good thing, though knowing the readership (which prior to this I did not) doesnt really change how I feel about writing in the blog.
I started doing it as a bit of a trip log and a place to safely save some pictures while I was on my motorbike trip. It developed from there into a place for me to write down some of my thinking, and over time I have found this aspect to be by far the more valuable one for me. And it remains that - a valuable personal "thinking" space.
What is it for you? I dont really know... but it doesnt really matter, If you get something out of my ramblings then thats great, and Im happy to share myself :)
I figure my readership includes a few people from other cities and countries but for the most part you are my friends who live in Vancouver. That said, most of you already have my email and can contact me whenever you feel like it. But I think there are couple of you out there who dont have my contact details.
So, given that Im not opening myself up to large amounts of unwanted "backchat", for those few who dont already have it, my email is "grant_else" and I'm on the "@hotmail.com" service.
For you all:
You can write to me and comment on the blog at any time you feel like it :)
I do however, reserve the right to simply ignore you or to respond at my discretion - as I said, my blog remains primarily for my own purposes.
... and may the river keep flowing :)
... And my people are few...
... and scattered...
I always liked that title line from the film "Lawrence of Arabia".
I decided that I should disabuse myself of any delusions as to how many (or few) people actually read my Blog.
So, I consulted my good friend Janine (who knows about these things from her own web site stuff - she also suggested using the blogger site... and doing a blog in the first place for that matter!) about how to do this and was duly directed to a web site that basically does it for you and for free too :)
I clicked through the options and then followed the instructions to add it to my site, and voila! We have a hit counter that seems to work.
And what does it tell me...
Well, it tells me that I have somewhere between ten and twenty regular visitors (after a week of operation) and most of the visiting is on the weekend. - No big surprises there.
Thats actually more than I had expected which is I guess a good thing, though knowing the readership (which prior to this I did not) doesnt really change how I feel about writing in the blog.
I started doing it as a bit of a trip log and a place to safely save some pictures while I was on my motorbike trip. It developed from there into a place for me to write down some of my thinking, and over time I have found this aspect to be by far the more valuable one for me. And it remains that - a valuable personal "thinking" space.
What is it for you? I dont really know... but it doesnt really matter, If you get something out of my ramblings then thats great, and Im happy to share myself :)
I figure my readership includes a few people from other cities and countries but for the most part you are my friends who live in Vancouver. That said, most of you already have my email and can contact me whenever you feel like it. But I think there are couple of you out there who dont have my contact details.
So, given that Im not opening myself up to large amounts of unwanted "backchat", for those few who dont already have it, my email is "grant_else" and I'm on the "@hotmail.com" service.
For you all:
You can write to me and comment on the blog at any time you feel like it :)
I do however, reserve the right to simply ignore you or to respond at my discretion - as I said, my blog remains primarily for my own purposes.
... and may the river keep flowing :)
Saturday, November 15, 2008
Certain Death!
No, not really some new adventure of mine but it seems to me that it’s the likely outcome of the way lots of pedestrians around here are behaving…
I was riding my motorbike home from work on Friday evening. It was about 5:30pm and it was as is usual at this time of year, both very dark (the sun having well and truly set by this time) and a bit rainy.
When the roads are wet around here, they become far less visible for drivers. They are all paved by big automated machines these days and the result is a very nice smooth driving surface its true. The down side though is that the same smooth surface behaves just like a mirror when it gets wet. The film of water just reflects things, and on a rainy night, this means that you get reflections of lights and the black sky…. Even the white lines marking lanes seem to disappear and driving does get significantly more dangerous.
This is all pretty normal, and the traffic slows down and drivers seem to pay at least a little more attention between their cell phone conversations and adjusting their hair or eating their fast food … or whatever else they are usually doing while driving.
Like I said, this is normal and life goes on…
So, I was driving home in the light rain and being quite cautious when all of a sudden I realize there is a pedestrian strolling out onto the road directly in front of me and I had to break and swerve quite a bit to miss him.
Where on earth did he come from so quickly?
He was near to an intersection (15m past) but he was not on a pedestrian crossing. There are streetlights on the side of the road but it is near a park and the lights are more spaced out than usual.
This is normal and does not explain why I didn’t see him sooner.
The answer is that he wasn’t that quick, just very well camouflaged!
He was (as seems to be a common habit these days) wearing completely black clothing. His outer garment of choice this evening was a “hoodie” and he had the hood up and was strolling along with his hands in his pockets because it was raining.
So I didn’t even get the minimally reflective face or hands to see.
And he was just strolling along barely even looking at the traffic – This is pretty normal around here too (though I have no idea why) – if a pedestrian even looks sideways at the road in this city, most cars will immediately give way for them. The local pedestrians seem to have pretty minimal self-preservation instincts it seems to me. In virtually any other city I have been in these pedestrians would all get squished!
So, I avoided the unpleasant experience of running someone over and I gave him a good toot with my horn just after I went past him… to which, I noted in my rear view mirrors, he gave me the universal “hands slightly raised” and “whats your problem” expression…
Oh well, I guess he’ll figure it out the painful way!
This was the closest call like this that I have had but, sadly, Ive seen several other pedestrians dressed and behaving just the same in the last month or so…I guess its just that “in between” weather we have at the moment that is encouraging it.
Why do city people like to wear so much black stuff anyway????
I was riding my motorbike home from work on Friday evening. It was about 5:30pm and it was as is usual at this time of year, both very dark (the sun having well and truly set by this time) and a bit rainy.
When the roads are wet around here, they become far less visible for drivers. They are all paved by big automated machines these days and the result is a very nice smooth driving surface its true. The down side though is that the same smooth surface behaves just like a mirror when it gets wet. The film of water just reflects things, and on a rainy night, this means that you get reflections of lights and the black sky…. Even the white lines marking lanes seem to disappear and driving does get significantly more dangerous.
This is all pretty normal, and the traffic slows down and drivers seem to pay at least a little more attention between their cell phone conversations and adjusting their hair or eating their fast food … or whatever else they are usually doing while driving.
Like I said, this is normal and life goes on…
So, I was driving home in the light rain and being quite cautious when all of a sudden I realize there is a pedestrian strolling out onto the road directly in front of me and I had to break and swerve quite a bit to miss him.
Where on earth did he come from so quickly?
He was near to an intersection (15m past) but he was not on a pedestrian crossing. There are streetlights on the side of the road but it is near a park and the lights are more spaced out than usual.
This is normal and does not explain why I didn’t see him sooner.
The answer is that he wasn’t that quick, just very well camouflaged!
He was (as seems to be a common habit these days) wearing completely black clothing. His outer garment of choice this evening was a “hoodie” and he had the hood up and was strolling along with his hands in his pockets because it was raining.
So I didn’t even get the minimally reflective face or hands to see.
And he was just strolling along barely even looking at the traffic – This is pretty normal around here too (though I have no idea why) – if a pedestrian even looks sideways at the road in this city, most cars will immediately give way for them. The local pedestrians seem to have pretty minimal self-preservation instincts it seems to me. In virtually any other city I have been in these pedestrians would all get squished!
So, I avoided the unpleasant experience of running someone over and I gave him a good toot with my horn just after I went past him… to which, I noted in my rear view mirrors, he gave me the universal “hands slightly raised” and “whats your problem” expression…
Oh well, I guess he’ll figure it out the painful way!
This was the closest call like this that I have had but, sadly, Ive seen several other pedestrians dressed and behaving just the same in the last month or so…I guess its just that “in between” weather we have at the moment that is encouraging it.
Why do city people like to wear so much black stuff anyway????
Sunday, November 9, 2008
Big Fish
My good friend Rick whom Ive known for about fourteen years now (basically since I came to Canada) is a dedicated fisherman.
Im not much of a fisherman myself and its not a sport that Im likely to take up seriously but from time to time I go fishing with him and Ive had some great experiences doing this - from Trout fishing in the inland lakes, to Salmon fishing in the local coastal waters to Sailfish fishing off the coast of Mexico.
This last weekend, was another of those occasions that I went fishing with Rick... and it was good!
The quarry of choice this time was a estuarine fish called Sturgeon. They are a bottom feeding fish that can live for over a hundred years and in days of old they have been recorded at over 20 feet long!
These days though, they are rarely caught at lengths over seven or eight feet (about 2 metres) and they are completely protected here in Canada (Catch and release only - not allowed to keep them).
Im happy with that and if it was not that way, I would not have agreed to go fish for them in the first place... back to the story...
When Rick made the offer to go fishing, I have to admit that I was a little unsure about going. The weather here had been really raining all week and it looked like it would continue. The prospect of being out on a small boat sitting in the middle of a river in the rain for a whole day did not sound that attractive to me.
But, Rick knows his fish and this was an opportunity that I would not likely get again, ... and Im trying very hard these days not to turn down opportunities that come my way - even though I may not see them as very attractive at the time!
So, I said yes, and I was up and ready to go at 5:30am on a cold rainy Saturday morning.
Rick and his brother Eddy came and collected me and we drove fourty five minutes out to the river where the guide (he knows where the right places to fish are and more importantly has a very nice jet boat all set up for fishing) was ready with the boat.
We cast off and zoomed off down the river to the first good "spot" where we stopped and dropped anchor.
The guide then set about baiting and casting out four rods (the bait was salmon roe... The rivers around here are full of Salmon heading inland up the rivers and streams to spawn.).
As I said, Sturgeon are bottom feeders and the technique for catching them is to put a chunk of lead on your line and some strongly flavoured bait on the hook (which is barbless so the fish are not overly hurt by being caught).
Once the bait is out, everyone just sits there and watches the ends of the rods..... thats it!.... Thats what you do for the whole day!....and for fishermen this is a really great way to spend your time....
Actually its not that bad :) In fact, we didnt have to wait long before the end of a rod was making the right sorts of motion and then someone grabs the rod and with a strong and fluid motion jerks back hard on the rod to "set" the hook in the fish's mouth.
In fact this is quite a skill to do well, and needs to be done well if you are going to land the fish. because the hook does not have a barb, the fish can effectively "spit out" the hook and bait at any time. The fisherman's job therefore is to ALWAYS keep tension on the line no mater what direction the fish or the boat are going or how fast.
Anyway, The morning went by with quite a lot of action and about ten or twelve fish of assorted sizes were caught and brought onto the boat for pictures and measuring and then released again. They ranged from less than three feet long (nice one Eddy!) to just over 6 feet long (that one was mine :) ) .. and a good time was being had by all.
By about mid day though, the bites had slowed down and there was a lot more waiting and watching than reeling... So out came all the old fishing stories and discussions about equipment and techniques etc. Im sure you can imagine... fisherman live and breath this stuff.
We had been taking turns on reeling the fish in and everyone but me was an experienced fisherman, so they were all setting their own hooks (it wasnt till later that I was allowed to try this - I had limited success but my technique did improve).
Anyway, when it was quieter, we each got allocated a rod number and if there was a bite on your rod then you got to reel it in. If you got a fish over three feet long then you were "out of the rotation" for about a half hour and the other guys got your rod as well as theirs... It all seemed quite fair really.
And so the afternoon passed slower than the morning and the fish got smaller too (probably to do with the tides.). We moved from place to place along the river and slowly worked our way back up to where we had launched the boat that morning.
Last stop for the day was about a hundred meters from the dock and the guide assured us that even though it was very close to the dock and right between two very large bridges, that it was a good spot.
This proved to be very true as we got the largest fish of the day here.
It was nine feet four inches long and weighed around 600lb! (I dont know why they use the old imperial system but that equates to about 3 metres long and 300Kg).
It was on Rick's rod and he did the whole fight which took about three quarters of an hour (and left Rick extremely happy but extremely worn out too).
This is the largest fish I have ever seen! (and I think so for Rick too). It beat the near- record Sailfish we caught in Mexico several years ago that was just over 9 feet long and weighed 220lb. It was also the largest Sturgeon that our guide had ever caught.
So the fish was brought to shore (no way we would be able to get it into the boat) and then we took lots of pictures with the big guy before spending about 15 minutes reviving it and then sending it on its way back into the murky depths...
definitely an experience!
Actually, I think I am now officially Rick's lucky fishing talisman.... thats twice we have got huge fish together... :))
On Fire
For the last few weeks here in Vancouver, the weather has been really swinging toward winter. We are now solidly in the rainy season and there is snow on the local mountain tops. When the weather is cloudy (most of the time) the temperatures are around 10-12 degC in the day and 6-7 degC over night. When the skies are clear, its more like 3-4 degC overnight and in the teens if you are in the sun.
I was really enjoying riding around the place on my motorbike with all the fall colours on the trees. I found it very peaceful :)
Ive also been clearing out my garage of accumulated off-cuts of wood. Ive been sawing them up into smaller pieces and burning them off on my BBQ. My friend I-Fan is a bit of a Pyromaniac it seems and I barely got to play with the fire at all... Once she had the tongs it was impossible to get them back :)
I didnt burn all of the wood though. I decided I needed a guitar stand and I figured Id make one myself out of some of the wood. I wanted it to fit inside the guitar case with the guitar for easy transport. I turns out that this is quite a constraint since there is not that much spare space in the case. It took me a little while but I came up with a design that seems very functional and effective; Is attractive to my eye; And has no hinges or pins or clasps.
Its just four pieces of ply wood that slip together and it holds its shape by virtue of the flexed pieces of wood :)
Its good enough for public consumption in my opinion, so I plan to make one for my friend Marie in Guatemala too if she ever manages to send me the dimensions of her guitar....
Friday, October 10, 2008
Kitchen Work
Boring update but this is what Ive been doing ... so there!
As threatened I have now installed a dishwasher in my kitchen :)
A couple of weeks ago, I searched around in the local appliance stores and found a quiet and not too expensive dishwasher on sale. So I bought it and figured Id sort out all the installation issues later.
I got it delivered mid last week and promptly started making a big mess in my kitchen...
The dishwasher was plonked on the floor in the kitchen and I was initially confronted with the spacial geometry problem of figuring out where to fit it in.
No huge problem, but my house was built over fifty years ago by someone who was not really a builder, and there are all sorts of "not quit standard" little surprises I find when I get down below the surface details on a maintenance job...
Right, well, I measured things up and selected a section of the counter where I wanted the dishwasher to go. I removed the two cabinet doors and the drawer that would be replaced. I measured the height of the counter and found that there is only just enough vertical height for the dishwasher - phew!
OK, So I inspected the cabinet frame to see what I have to cut to get it out of there - Hmmm Its all made of 2x4 timbers which are about twice the thickness of regular cabinet wood - some work but manageable.
So, then I spent an hour or two cutting out the shelf and the timbers and its a pretty good job :)
Now for the floor - well, I made the same cuts as for the rest of the space and the bottom shelf of the cupboard came out fine, but there was no sub-floor under the cabinets...just the joists for the floor! ...This is the sort of thing that I always find. It would be normal to have a subfloor under the cabinets but the guy who built this house installed his cabinets before he put down his subfloor (OK, whatever...)
So then I spent another hour building the subfloor. Then I cover over the side of the shelf I have cut through and I have a more or less finished space for the dishwasher.
Trial fitting of the dishwasher is good - just enough space for everything.
One more session of wood cutting and trim painting and the "hole" is finished.
Now for the hook-up : waste water, hot water and electrical power .
This is a nice potentially fatal combination of utilities if I get it wrong :)
Technically not challenging but access wise - difficult.... A few more hours of fiddling around with things and Im done - move the dishwasher in front of the hole, hook-up the utilities, push it into the hole and Voila! Now I have a dishwasher - And it even works :)
Whats next? New counter tops or new paint? - Paint is cheaper, so I'll probably start there :)
As threatened I have now installed a dishwasher in my kitchen :)
A couple of weeks ago, I searched around in the local appliance stores and found a quiet and not too expensive dishwasher on sale. So I bought it and figured Id sort out all the installation issues later.
I got it delivered mid last week and promptly started making a big mess in my kitchen...
The dishwasher was plonked on the floor in the kitchen and I was initially confronted with the spacial geometry problem of figuring out where to fit it in.
No huge problem, but my house was built over fifty years ago by someone who was not really a builder, and there are all sorts of "not quit standard" little surprises I find when I get down below the surface details on a maintenance job...
Right, well, I measured things up and selected a section of the counter where I wanted the dishwasher to go. I removed the two cabinet doors and the drawer that would be replaced. I measured the height of the counter and found that there is only just enough vertical height for the dishwasher - phew!
OK, So I inspected the cabinet frame to see what I have to cut to get it out of there - Hmmm Its all made of 2x4 timbers which are about twice the thickness of regular cabinet wood - some work but manageable.
So, then I spent an hour or two cutting out the shelf and the timbers and its a pretty good job :)
Now for the floor - well, I made the same cuts as for the rest of the space and the bottom shelf of the cupboard came out fine, but there was no sub-floor under the cabinets...just the joists for the floor! ...This is the sort of thing that I always find. It would be normal to have a subfloor under the cabinets but the guy who built this house installed his cabinets before he put down his subfloor (OK, whatever...)
So then I spent another hour building the subfloor. Then I cover over the side of the shelf I have cut through and I have a more or less finished space for the dishwasher.
Trial fitting of the dishwasher is good - just enough space for everything.
One more session of wood cutting and trim painting and the "hole" is finished.
Now for the hook-up : waste water, hot water and electrical power .
This is a nice potentially fatal combination of utilities if I get it wrong :)
Technically not challenging but access wise - difficult.... A few more hours of fiddling around with things and Im done - move the dishwasher in front of the hole, hook-up the utilities, push it into the hole and Voila! Now I have a dishwasher - And it even works :)
Whats next? New counter tops or new paint? - Paint is cheaper, so I'll probably start there :)
Tuesday, October 7, 2008
Whats been goin on (again)?
Whats new with me... not that much but here's an update:
1) The little yellow motorbike.
Well, it seems the insurance people feel it is a write-off. However, they of course do not want to pay me what it would cost me to replace it as it was - only what they feel market value was worth. So, it seems that I will have some haggling to do with them and this will likely take some time to sort out. Fortunately, this is not too much of a problem since I have my touring bike to get around on, and the weather here has turned rather wet...(so riding the little sport bike was less fun anyway).
I have been seriously considdering rebuilding the bike with the insurance money, but the more time that passes, the less attached to this idea I am... so I suspect not but we'll wait and see.
2) My health after the accident.
I seem to be basically fine. I have some stiffness still but I think that's not unusual. Normally when I do heavy exercise (say a sporting event or a big hike) I get stiff for a few days and then I'm back to normal. But that stiffness is self inflicted by my own body's muscles.
The "rag-doll" effect of being tossed off a motorbike at traffic speed and into and over a car are a completely different set of forces. So, I'm not surprised that its taking a couple of weeks to get over it.
Initially I had some VERY nasty bruising in the groin and a limp to go with it. However, after about a week, the "turgid tissue" colour, pain, and stiffness associated with that was pretty much gone. The longer lasting stiffness is in my upper body (ribs, shoulders and neck) but it is very generalized and not stopping me doing anything I usually do. I'm getting some massage (no, not for the groin!!) and we'll just see how things progress.
3) Work
Ticking along quite nicely now. I'm happy with the situation at work and happy with the current planned end date of the contract. The biggest down side is that I now have very limited time at home to get done all the stuff that I want to get done (selling things and fixing the house etc...)
4) Home
I'm still on my plan to mobilize as quickly as I can so that I can be free to do whatever life puts in my path. I have so far got rid of about half the stuff I had planned to, but it was the easier half, so it gets a bit harder now. The remaining larger items are a few pieces of furniture, my smaller aquarium, and my woodwork machine tools in the garage.
There is too much stuff for me to store but its now far more manageable... I'll keep at it :)
I did successfully finish the storage container in the back yard and it was just in time since the rains seem to really have started up here.
Upcomming projects are to install a dishwasher (already purchased) and replace kitchen counter tops...
5) Other stuff
Well, I managed to get a nasty virus on my home computer that took me a while to get rid of (took it to a more computer savvy friend at work)... that's fixed now.
I also managed to misplace my passport and have had to declare it "lost" (police report and notarized statement etc) so that I can apply for a new one - since the old one only had another seven months validity... but that's done now too:)
I'm busy scanning thousands of my old slide photos into my computer but its a huge task and I may not complete it before I "transition" to the new life... oh well, back into storage they go :)
Ive also been looking at alternate motorbikes for a future adventure and have compiled all sorts of specs from the web. At present it looks like the just released BMW F800GS is the pick of the litter but at about $15000 it costs about twice as much as other candidates!! - Im still thinking about it though...
Saturday, October 4, 2008
DL650 "Giraffe" Edition !
Ive been working on Bertha!
Bertha is the name that I randomly used at one point to describe my motorbike while on my trip. It was at some point while I was traveling with Marie and I was being a little disparaging... The actual phrase was "big Bertha" since my bike was far heavier than Marie's smaller KLR.
Anyway, the name seemed to stick (at least in Marie's mind) and thats what the bike has been called since...
When I got back from my trip I had a wealth of experience about using this particular model of motorbike for this type of overland trip and I even wrote up my assessment in an earlier Blog entry.
There were a couple of things that really made the bike hard to live with that had been on my mind for many months and now that Im back and have done some clean-up work on the bike, Id had some more time to think about things.
The first thing that I already knew was that due to all the rust (from the crossing of the Darrien Gap) and the scratches and scrapes (from the crashes and off roading I did), the bike was NEVER going to look like a pretty road touring machine again. So there was no point in me spending money on trying to make it look like new before I sell it - I would fail...
So, the alternative is to leave it as is, or make it better at the adventure touring job.
So reallizing that I will never get back any further money that I decide to invest in it, I decided I would try to make some of the changes I wanted anyway...
Number one on the list is better ground clearance!
Then fix the handle bars (they were bent from a crash and were way too flexible)
Then a more comfortable seat....
So I thought about it and I figured out how to do what I wanted and then I had a bike shop do the machining and suspension work and I have been doing the rest.
The result is that I have spent about a thousand dollars and I have a much better adventure touring bike!! Though, I expect I will still sell it and get something else for my next big trip. In the mean time however, since my little city bike got written off in an accident a couple of weeks ago, I am riding "Bertha" (I actually really dont like that name... I think I preffer Bess!) around and really liking the feel of the new machine :)))
Suspension:
I had the rear suspension links replaced with shorter ones which means the rear wheel is now 50mm lower than before.
I had the front shock absorbers lengthened by machining new extended end caps (complete with the pre-load adjustment bolts) so the front wheel is now also 50mm lower (and can be 15mm lower again if I want).
This changes the ground clearance from 15cm to 20cm which is great :)
But this meant that the old side stand and centre stand wouldnt work, so I also had them cut and extended to compensate.
Handle Bars:
Well the old steel ones were flexible and bent and rusty, so I got some new alloy ones with a good brace (no more flexibility) and spent a few hours swapping over all the fittings. I also installed a front fork brace to add stiffness to the now even longer front forks (even better feel of the steering and front end).
Bash Plate:
The one I had used on the trip took a real beating and I had to straighten it out several times - It was not strong enough, so I replaced it with a new one made of thicker alloy :)
Seat:
Well the bike is 50mm taller than before and I can only just stand over it now with my feet flat on the ground (called "flat footing" the bike). So this is OK, but in rough terain this can be difficult. So I got a second seat from my friend Mike who I bought the bike from (he had replaced the original seat) and I took off the vynle covering and I got some high density foam and then I took to it with a carving knife! :)
I'm not finished with it yet, but I have a seat that is now about 20mm lower (improving the stand-over height that I lost with the suspension lift) and far more comfortable for me.
Other:
Then, I had to replace the tires since the ones I had on it were completely bald... and last but not least I will replace the front sproket. The one currently on the bike has done 60 000Km and is baddly worn. When I replace it I will put on a 14 tooth one instead of a 15 tooth one so that the bike will be lower geared and better at off road manouvering (more powerfull, less jumpy on throttle, and less dependent on subtler clutch work).
So, here it is, the "Giraffe" edition of the DL650:
Bertha is the name that I randomly used at one point to describe my motorbike while on my trip. It was at some point while I was traveling with Marie and I was being a little disparaging... The actual phrase was "big Bertha" since my bike was far heavier than Marie's smaller KLR.
Anyway, the name seemed to stick (at least in Marie's mind) and thats what the bike has been called since...
When I got back from my trip I had a wealth of experience about using this particular model of motorbike for this type of overland trip and I even wrote up my assessment in an earlier Blog entry.
There were a couple of things that really made the bike hard to live with that had been on my mind for many months and now that Im back and have done some clean-up work on the bike, Id had some more time to think about things.
The first thing that I already knew was that due to all the rust (from the crossing of the Darrien Gap) and the scratches and scrapes (from the crashes and off roading I did), the bike was NEVER going to look like a pretty road touring machine again. So there was no point in me spending money on trying to make it look like new before I sell it - I would fail...
So, the alternative is to leave it as is, or make it better at the adventure touring job.
So reallizing that I will never get back any further money that I decide to invest in it, I decided I would try to make some of the changes I wanted anyway...
Number one on the list is better ground clearance!
Then fix the handle bars (they were bent from a crash and were way too flexible)
Then a more comfortable seat....
So I thought about it and I figured out how to do what I wanted and then I had a bike shop do the machining and suspension work and I have been doing the rest.
The result is that I have spent about a thousand dollars and I have a much better adventure touring bike!! Though, I expect I will still sell it and get something else for my next big trip. In the mean time however, since my little city bike got written off in an accident a couple of weeks ago, I am riding "Bertha" (I actually really dont like that name... I think I preffer Bess!) around and really liking the feel of the new machine :)))
Suspension:
I had the rear suspension links replaced with shorter ones which means the rear wheel is now 50mm lower than before.
I had the front shock absorbers lengthened by machining new extended end caps (complete with the pre-load adjustment bolts) so the front wheel is now also 50mm lower (and can be 15mm lower again if I want).
This changes the ground clearance from 15cm to 20cm which is great :)
But this meant that the old side stand and centre stand wouldnt work, so I also had them cut and extended to compensate.
Handle Bars:
Well the old steel ones were flexible and bent and rusty, so I got some new alloy ones with a good brace (no more flexibility) and spent a few hours swapping over all the fittings. I also installed a front fork brace to add stiffness to the now even longer front forks (even better feel of the steering and front end).
Bash Plate:
The one I had used on the trip took a real beating and I had to straighten it out several times - It was not strong enough, so I replaced it with a new one made of thicker alloy :)
Seat:
Well the bike is 50mm taller than before and I can only just stand over it now with my feet flat on the ground (called "flat footing" the bike). So this is OK, but in rough terain this can be difficult. So I got a second seat from my friend Mike who I bought the bike from (he had replaced the original seat) and I took off the vynle covering and I got some high density foam and then I took to it with a carving knife! :)
I'm not finished with it yet, but I have a seat that is now about 20mm lower (improving the stand-over height that I lost with the suspension lift) and far more comfortable for me.
Other:
Then, I had to replace the tires since the ones I had on it were completely bald... and last but not least I will replace the front sproket. The one currently on the bike has done 60 000Km and is baddly worn. When I replace it I will put on a 14 tooth one instead of a 15 tooth one so that the bike will be lower geared and better at off road manouvering (more powerfull, less jumpy on throttle, and less dependent on subtler clutch work).
So, here it is, the "Giraffe" edition of the DL650:
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