Boxing Day Specials

Yikes!!  Me along with every other Islander seemed to be sniffing out the specials today at all of the stores boxing day specials.  I maxed out two credit cards in an hour and a half (I will let you guess my limits).  I currently have 3 laptops purchased one my MasterCard.  On the Visa there are number of gadgets along with a digital camera and a camcorder.  I would have to say I am embarrassed.  However, in my own defence, I will be taking back a number of items so my overburdened credit cards won't feel as heavy in my pockets. 

One year ago this was me hitting up the slopes in the Rockies. Memories of Powder, Coldness and Fun.

The Big Monkey

People seriously, what's up?  I have read a number of good reviews about King Kong so I decided, OK, I'll give it a go.  It is 3 hours and 9 minutes long!!  If it was cut down to about 110 minutes then I would have really enjoyed it.  On the Island there was too much effort in trying to show off the CG (computer generated) effects along with some scenes that were drawn out way too long.  It could have been such a great movie.  Instead it passes as an enjoyable flick and I will leave it at that.

Motor Vehicle Inspection

I find it interesting how different provinces have differing rules on Motor Vehicle Inspection (MVI).  I know for the maritimes vehicles need to be inspected every year for road worthiness.  However in provinces such as Alberta (and several others) the only time a vehicle needs to be inspected is when it is purchased (at least this is what I have been told).  Both systems have their advantages.  In the maritimes it helps to keep the roads a little bit safer as well as keeping everyone on top of their vehicle repairs.  In places such as Alberta it saves the driving public the time, hassle and cost of annual inspections.  What is better... I couldn't say.  What I would prefer... is less hassle, cost and time.

Oblivious

Oblivious, Not aware or informed: ignorant, unacquainted, unaware, unconscious, unenlightened, unfamiliar, uninformed, unknowing, unwitting.  I have to say some parents out there must be absolutely OBLIVIOUS.  Here is why I say this.  A couple days ago I was walking through the parking lot of a local supermarket when I caught a strong "aroma".  I turned to look at where this "aroma" was coming from and there was this 12-14 year old kid smoking some dope in the passenger seat of a car.  As I glanced over the second time I saw that he had a younger sister of 8-10 years old in the back seat.  From what I can deduct one of his parents must have left them for a couple minutes to get some milk or something quickly, so he lit up.  What I can not understand is how in the world would the parent not smell the weed the second they got back into the car, unless they already know or they are completely oblivious.

Recent Comments Again

I have been playing around with Recent Comments again.  This time I have found a better (at least different) way to display them using Blogger.  It's still not perfect but as good as I can do for now.  For instance to view the comment click on the Time.  Also they are not displayed in order of the most recent.  Finally I can't control how many to display.  If anyone finds a good way to manipulate Blogger's template in this manner let me know.

Canadian Humanitarian Trust

I was introduced to this scheme to save huge amounts of tax money by a friend back a few days ago.  When I first heard about it I thought man sounds like a sweet deal (basically too good to be true type of thing).  As I have done a bit of research I have to say my logical feeling of it being too good to be true has been confirmed by the tax laws I have look into (despite people who will dispute otherwise it till they are red in the face).  The scheme is that you give this "non-profit" organization (Canadian Humanitarian Trust) a donation and you get a tax receipt for it.  That part is simple enough. They then buy humanitarian aid drugs for people in Africa at very cheep prices.   This also sounds very good.  The scheme part comes in when they donate these drugs to Africa they re-evaluate the price of the gift to many times more than what was originally paid and you get another tax receipt for this new amount that is many times more than the original monetary gift.  Here is an example.  Give $1,000 to CHT they take their "unspecified" cut then buy some medical drugs.  These drugs are donated to Africa at a stated value of $5,000(or more).  So you get a total of $6,000 worth of donation receipts for the cost of $1,000.  Donations receive a credit of around 50% so you get $3,000 dollars in taxes back.  So overall you come ahead with $2,000 in your pocket. If you give more such as $10,000 receive $30,000 in taxes back, you get the idea.  However in December 2003 the Canadian Government implemented new tax laws to stop people from doing this.   allowable charitable donation amount will be limited to the taxpayer's cost of the property.  I'm no tax lawyer, but this along with a few other laws that I read about concerning knowingly deceiving the taxation system were serious offences.  I am sure some people will most likely get away with this if they do not get audited, but is it worth the risk.  Many people I have read about justified joining this very shady deal because they want to help people in Africa by getting them the much needed drugs (CHT has played this angle very well). I say give your donation to a well known organization that gives all the money toward this cause (so they may buys drugs that are needed, not just that have the greatest markup) and that does not take their own "unspecified cuts" such as CHT does. 

12 Hours

In 12 hours I hopefully should be finishing off my last official exam of the term.  Man, I better get studying I should get a couple hours of sleep in there someplace also.

Exams

Exams, every students favorite time of the season! Likely...  1 down 5 to go then Christmas break.

Recent Comment

I have seen blogs with "Recent Comment" modules that I have always enjoyed.  This is one thing that blogger does not have that is quite disappointing.  However I am testing a method of using the Blogs atom.xml feed to try to generate the "Recent Comment" feature. I am hopeful that it will work.

Picture Gallery

I have been playing around and uploading a few picts to a picture gallery that I am testing out.  You can find it here.  If I find this program does what I want it to I will continue to post a few more picts there once in a while.

London

 


A picture of Big Ben that I took one eveing as I was randomly walking around London back a couple of years ago. 

Chapters

I, along with most other people, really enjoy going to Chapters and skimming over a few titles.  Especially while enjoying a wonderful hot liquid from Starbucks.  A couple days ago while I was randomly walking around the store looking at some architectural books I suddenly noticed something for the first time this year.  Christmas Music!  My first reaction was that it was not December 1st yet (my unofficial start of the Christmas Season).  However as I gave it a couple minutes (didn't really have a choice, since I was enjoying the book I was looking at), it finally hit me that, yes, the Christmas season has started.