I pulled a pile of boxes out of storage today and started the packing process. I don’t technically have to be out of my apartment until the end of November, but my plan is to have a storage facility rented for November 1st. At that point, there’s no reason why I can’t load it up and get most of the big stuff done. I’m also going to be pretty busy in November (I’ll be in Mexico for a week, and have a few weekend activities going on), so I’m not sure how much time I’ll have then to get it all done. I packed up about 50% of my office today, and the majority of the electronics in my ...

I pulled a pile of boxes out of storage today and started the packing process. I don’t technically have to be out of my apartment until the end of November, but my plan is to have a storage facility rented for November 1st. At that point, there’s no reason why I can’t load it up and get most of the big stuff done. I’m also going to be pretty busy in November (I’ll be in Mexico for a week, and have a few weekend activities going on), so I’m not sure how much time I’ll have then to get it all done. I packed up about 50% of my office today, and the majority of the electronics in my ...

Well, I cooked my first thanksgiving dinner tonight, and for the most part it went off without a hitch. First, based on suggestions people made on this site, I decided to brine the turkey before hand. Brining involves soaking the turkey in a salt/water solution for 12 hours or so before cooking it, and ultimately forces moisture into the turkey, keeping it nice and juicy. My grandma hates dry turkey, and she couldn’t believe how moist the one was that came out of my oven, so definitely mission accomplished. I was a bit worried the meat would taste too salty, but that wasn’t the case at all. On ...

Well, according to my little Excel spreadsheet, my trip begins in 96 days now. Depending on whether or not you’re a glass is half full or half empty kind of person, that will seem like a lot of time or not very much. It doesn’t seem like very much time to me, considering how much I need to still do before taking off. First, I gave notice on my apartment the other day. My landlord confirmed it today, which basically means the clock is ticking on this place. I’ve been waiting for October to officially arrive before starting the mad craigslist dash to sell pretty much everything that isn’t ...

This morning I put a deposit down on a nice apartment right in the heart of the trendy area in Buenos Aires, Palermo Soho. Soho, of course, is a reference to a hip, upbeat area in New York City. Given that I’m only staying for three months, I thought I would spend my time in the cool part of the city. Palmero Soho is extremely green, with lots of parks and trees. In addition, it’s also full of great restaurants, pubs, patios, and shopping. In Buenos Aires it’s next to impossible to get a super cheap apartment unless you have a local guarantor. That said, the place I’m renting is a pretty ...

This morning I put a deposit down on a nice apartment right in the heart of the trendy area in Buenos Aires, Palermo Soho. Soho, of course, is a reference to a hip, upbeat area in New York City. Given that I’m only staying for three months, I thought I would spend my time in the cool part of the city. Palmero Soho is extremely green, with lots of parks and trees. In addition, it’s also full of great restaurants, pubs, patios, and shopping. In Buenos Aires it’s next to impossible to get a super cheap apartment unless you have a local guarantor. That said, the place I’m renting is a pretty ...

Last week I went over to my grandmas house to finally organize some boxes that had been there since my university days. At the bottom of one such box was the majority of my hockey and baseball card collection from the late 80s and early 90s. In fact, I probably have around 5 or 6 smaller boxes of cards, many of which come close to being a complete set. If you were around in those days, you probably remember how hockey cards went from being considered little cardboard things that came with gum to investments basically overnight. Most of us starting selling transformers and whatever else we could ...

Given that I’m hitting the open skies in a matter of months, I’ve been trying to spend more time with the family. For easter of this year I went out and bought a pretty nice organic turkey from JD Farms in Langley, but never got around to cooking it. Since I’ve always been an eater of turkey and never a cooker of it, I offered to do thanksgiving dinner for my mom’s side of the family this year. I have to say, I can cook a pretty mean chicken these days. So I’m hoping I can pull off a turkey. If anyone has any suggestions, then by all means, drop them here. I’m hoping to turn the awesome ...

I won’t lie: I hate banks. Other than PC Financial (which has been my main bank since I was about 20 years old), the major banks absolutely gouge their customers. I remember once going into TD when I was in university and asking to open a savings account. Once they showed me their fee structure, I realized there was absolutely no way I’d actually be able to save money using that account, since the costs each month were greater than the interest they paid. Consequently I have been a member of PC Financial since that time, and haven’t paid a single fee. That said, I’ve been strongly considering ...

A few days ago I pulled the trigger on a trip to the Mayan Riviera in Mexico. I’ll actually be heading down there with Dale, mostly so we can drink a few beers and also strategize a bit about the next year before I head off on my little adventure. While we sometimes meet in Hamilton or Chilliwack, it’s obviously much nicer to be able to have those kind of meetings around a pool in Mexico with some nachos and beers. And truthfully, it’s really not much more money to meet down there: a typical trip to Hamilton during high season probably runs $700-$800 for the flight, plus all the expenses ...

About a month ago I was in my room moving some stuff around when I heard a big thump. Looking down, my SLR had taken a small dive off of my bed and landed directly on my Flash unit. Unfortunately, being that the mount is this flimsy plastic thing, it immediately snapped, rendering the 430EX Flash pretty much useless. I spent a little time investigating whether or not it may be fixable. Not only is it fixable, but it can be done at home for relatively cheap. The first step is to order the part online. I actually found a store in San Diego that carries all the Canon parts. Here’s a whole section ...

Well, according to my little Excel spreadsheet, my trip begins in 96 days now. Depending on whether or not you’re a glass is half full or half empty kind of person, that will seem like a lot of time or not very much. It doesn’t seem like very much time to me, considering how much I need to still do before taking off. First, I gave notice on my apartment the other day. My landlord confirmed it today, which basically means the clock is ticking on this place. I’ve been waiting for October to officially arrive before starting the mad craigslist dash to sell pretty much everything that isn’t ...

I just sent an email which effectively gives my landlord my 60 day’s notice for leaving my apartment. I’ll probably drop one off in person in a few days just to cover my butt, but assuming I get a reply tomorrow, I’ll officially start packing this week. My goal over the next two months is to get rid of as much stuff as humanly possible. Books, clothes, furniture, you name it. If I get my whole life down to just a few boxes, that would be ideal. Probably not possible, but I’m going to do my best. The unfortunate part of this process is that as my furniture starts to sell, it’s going to ...

Hard to believe that less than 30 years ago gold was trading at $35/ounce. At that time, the US Dollar was fixed to the price of gold due to an agreement called the Bretton Woods Agreement. That agreement effectively forced countries to back their currencies with gold, which ultimately enforced sound fiscal policies on the participating countries (you can’t spend money you don’t have). Unfortunately the inability to spend money they didn’t have eventually caused the United States to break out of the BWA: In 1971 Nixon decided to end the convertibility of the US Dollar into gold, which effectively ...

As I mentioned before, I have tons of engineering and science books here, most of which I’m looking to get rid of. I could of course just drop them all off at the library, but I’m aware that some libraries actually give receipts for charitable donations, and I would prefer to use one of those (for obvious tax purposes). Can anyone recommend any library in the Fraser Valley or Greater Vancouver Area that might offer something like that? Thanks. ...

Without a doubt, probably the best book I’ve read on food, nutrition, and the ongoing obesity epidemic raging through the world is a book called Good Calories, Bad Calories by Gary Taubes. Gary Taubes is a New York Times best selling author, and has been featured on quite a few TV programs, including Larry King Live. I’ve probably read Good Calories, Bad Calories in its entirety around four or five times now, each time managing to soak up a little more of the content. Shortly after returning from Cancun last year, I went searching for Gary Taube’s website, only to find that he didn’t ...

Air New Zealand is having a contest now where they’ll fly the winner from Canada to New Zealand. I think I’m the perfect guy to go, so I wanted to detail a few of the reasons why. I have a good friend in New Zealand (Belinda) that I haven’t seen since high school! I’ve had a few photos published by other airlines, namely Air Transat, and would love to take some photos of New Zealand I can work from anywhere, even a New Zealand pub. People need to know what the WiFi is like, and I can share it with them I’m a 5’9″ tall hobbit, three times removed from Frodo After reading Lord of ...

Last week I pointed out that I was down 11 lbs or so I believe, which is a fair distance along my goal of being quite a bit skinnier before I take off for South America. I still have three months, so I can still do a lot more damage to my fat cells before I leave. Last month I decided to take an engineering approach to things, so I went out and bought a digital scale. Weighing food is obviously kind of a pain in the ass, but I thought it would be a good spot check to make sure I was actually eating as much food as I thought I was. Surprisingly, I was actually underestimating some food by as much ...

Unless you’ve been living in a cave, you’ve probably heard about BC’s New Drinking and Driving Laws, which are now in affect. Here are the bullet points: Warning range 0.05-0.08 (1-4 drinks): 3-day ban + $200 fine… additional fees make total $600 Greater than 0.08 (2-5 drinks): 90-day ban + 30-day car impound + $500 fine + possible criminal charge… additional fees of towing, interlock ignition device, responsible driver program, etc make total up to $4,060 I fully recognize that drinking and driving kills people every year, but these changes seem like they are completely targeted at ...

I’ve been meaning to do a posting about the Garth Turner event the other day, but haven’t gotten around to it. While Garth is a good public speaker, I didn’t really learn anything at the event that I didn’t already know or believe. Yes, Garth believes real estate in Canada is in for a rocky ride, as do I. Yes, we are about to head into a period of asset deflation following by price inflation. I’ve spent the last six months reading tons of books on investing and retirement, partially because I’m interesting in the subject, and partially because I’ve been a bit bored and felt like ...