The Radio Girl

Wednesday Playa Pic

Playa = beach in Spanish 

This is the malecon (ocean front boardwalk) in Mazatlan, taken last December.  We usually make a Mazatlan pit stop on our way to points further south. 

Okanagan Vs. Acapulco

It's a gorgeous sunny day in my little Okanagan beach town.

But chilly.  The high today will hit only -1C.  It's also a sunny day in Acapulco where the high will be closer to 33C.

Totally off topic, our RV research continues.  Can you believe this is the interior of a motorhome?

November Numbers

Got the final portfolio numbers for November month end:

• RRSP  +8.1%
• TFSA  +0.6%
• non-reg  +5.8%
• LIRA  +10.7%

Pretty decent but I'm not making very good choices for my TFSA.  December may be the month to shake things up in there.

And I've decided to post a beach pic every day til we leave for Mexico:

Que Pasa?

My Fella and I are doing all our regular 'life' things.

But in someone else's house.  We're still house-sitting a lovely rural property on the edge of our little Okanagan beach town but we're both living more 'carefully'.  

Not sure if that makes sense. 

We feel at home, but we're not doing all the things we normally do since we're surrounded by someone else's life.  But we're making excellent use of the hot tub  :)

And a buddy of ours (who conveniently lives next door) gave us the security code to his wireless internet, so we usually have access.  Unless it's really clear out or the wind is blowing from the south...

The research continues on motorhomes vs. fifth wheels.  We're still open to either but for the past few days motorhomes have been winning.  Mainly because we don't want to buy a truck. 

And of course, nothing gets in the way of my morning biz news or following the markets. At least during the first half of the trading day.  It's an unwritten rule that the markets see the most action in the first half hour and the final thirty minutes of each business day, unless big economic news is released during the day, like retail sales figures or jobs numbers.

Quick 'bar napkin math' has the portfolio in decent shape as far as November gains:

• RRSP +6.2%
• LIRA +10.8%
• non-reg +5.3%
• TFSA 0%

But tomorrow is the final trading day of the month.  If there's a big sell-off (from the Dubai news or any other negatives) my November gains could go down the tubes.

On the bright side, we'll be here in less than a month:

Out on the Deck

This photo kinda looks like a painting to me.

 
It's actually a pic I took this morning from the back deck of the place we're house-sitting right now.  We've never had such a gorgeous neighbour. 

Horse pics always look like paintings to me.  This is a shot I took last year of a mare and colt grazing in an empty lot in Sayulita, Mexico. 

But this is my all time fave Mexico animal pic: 

The Mutt Guarding the Beer Truck.

We've seen this little guy in the very same spot (in that exact position) for the past two winters.  

Chances are he'll be there this year too.

Just Really Busy

What a long week.

Between packing, cleaning, moving, working and watching the markets, there's been no time for blogging.

We've also squeezed in:

• Several doc appointments
• Finding/booking a rental in Mexico for the winter
• Our final few sales on Craigslist (total profit around $1530)
• Address changes for everything
• A few charity drop-offs (furniture, blankets, etc.)
• Wrappings things up with the lawyer/realtor/banker

We're house-sitting for a friend right now in a lovely spot at the edge of town.  The internet connection is spotty, but the view is gorgeous.  And it's sooo quiet.

Peace out  :)

Kittens and Things

The new owners move in Saturday so this was our last weekend in the condo.

Kitty-sitting was fun but painful, since The Monster kept using me as a scratching post. 

Our condo is so empty now that we're hearing spooky sounds and constant echoes. 

The only pieces of furniture left are the bed-frame/mattress, our sectional and a coffee table (that are all going to a friend) and my desk and office chair.

 
The desk is only two years old with a nice finish and really comfy kidney shaped surface.  Our plan is to remove the top from the rest of the desk and trim eight inches from the back of the desktop.  Then we can install the desktop into whatever trailer we buy for a built-in desk. 

We'll also keep the rolling chair (lightweight and very well made) to complete a custom made office space in our trailer/RV.  To keep the chair from rolling around we'll attach two hooks under the desk and strap the chair in with a short bunji cord.  (Yes, I've been working on this plan for awhile  :)

And last night My Fella found a new place in Mexico that we may check out this winter -Teacapan.  I've been busy with the markets this morning but before I leave for work I wanna do a bit more research on that area. 

Hard to believe we're leaving for Mexico in just over a month.

My Fella and The Monster

Love this pic.

My toqued-out Fella looks like the screaming lead singer of one of those annoying rock bands he listens to.  But he's holding a kitty.

Very squishy  :)

Goofy Kitty

Look who I've been playing with all morning.

 
Our buddy Mike went away for the weekend so we're kitty-sitting.  I'm not a big cat fan, but look how freakin' adorable she is.  Her name is kind of silly so I just call her Goofy.

We've had a busy day so far, seeing My Fella off to work this morning.

Then she discovered the fluffy balls at the end of my house booties so we played for awhile.

After that it was time for breakfast.

Followed by recess.

Finally we sat down at the computer for awhile to watch Armtec CEO Chuck Phillips discuss third quarter numbers on BNN.

Apparently Goofy wasn't as interested in Armtec's results as I was.

 
And soon it was playtime again.

I don't know about the kitty, but I'm exhausted  :)

Edited to add this later: 

After another small snack and a quick trip to the litter box, the Monster finally slept.

The Best Story Ever

A couple of Ontario seniors tackle (and thwart) a young punk who tried to swipe money raised from Remembrance Day poppy sales.  Seniors rock.

Read the full story here.

Mid-November Stock Talk

 
Here's my mid-month non-reg portfolio update, in order of weighting:

• Student Transportation
• Crescent Point Energy
• Armtec Infrastructure
• Altagas
• Bonavista Energy
• Inter Pipeline
• Pembina Pipeline
• First Capital Realty
• Davis + Henderson Income Fund
• Killam Properties
• Superior Plus
• Morneau Sobeco
• Alaris Royalty Corp
• Artis REIT
• West Coast Energy preferreds
• Power Financial preferreds
• FutureMed Healthcare
• Sun Life preferreds
• Colabor

I'm a tad bit ticked off at one of the talking heads on BNN.  Three months ago I stumbled across a strong little Quebec based company, Colabor (GCL.T).  It was just converting from a trust to a corporation, keeping the same high yield upon conversion. 

The first ex-div date as a corporation isn't until the end of '09.  Not wanting to tie up my cash, I decided not to buy in until mid-December.  This stock has been hovering around the $10 mark because it's not covered by many analysts and very few investors have heard about it.

Until yesterday when someone mentioned it favorably on BNN.  The stock shot up to $10.60 within 20 minutes.  Acck.

Damn you, BNN!  Stop talking about Colabor to the masses! 

I'm not ready to buy yet :)

H1N1 at the Walk-In Clinic

Edited and reposted:  For some strange reason this particular post that I wrote two days ago completely disappeared from my blog!  My Fella thinks the H1N1 flu shot is a government conspiracy and claims this mysterious disappearance of my post is proof.  A little political tampering.  But I'm pretty sure I accidentally deleted it while traveling on my current Tylenol 3 induced carpet ride  :) 

CAUTION:  Whiney post ahead.

 
I shot out of bed at 5 this morning with a blinding jolt of pain behind my eyebrows. 

For the past few days I've been chewing over-the-counter meds like Halloween candy, hoping to clear up my sinus congestion.  It's not working.  And my voice is so hoarse from coughing that I sounded like a dude yesterday on the radio.  A couple listeners phoned to ask where I was.  They didn't realize they were talking to me. 

So it was finally time for a visit to the place I dread even more than the dentist: the Walk In Clinic. 

My head pain was so brutal this morning that it actually hurt to comb my hair so I threw down the brush, hopped in the car and drove straight to the clinic. 

Hoping to be first one in line, I was there before the doors opened.  Apparently 13 other people had the same idea cause that's how many folks were waiting outside the building.  By the time the doors opened there were 15 more patients in line behind me.

Still not sure what was worse:  waiting in a noisy clinic for ninety nine minutes before I could see the Doc-on-call, or being surrounded by a bunch of coughing-hacking-sneezing folks in a small enclosed space.   

There were several big signs lining the clinic walls that read: 

IF YOU SUSPECT YOU HAVE THE H1N1 VIRUS, ALERT RECEPTION AND GET A MASK   

And the folks with H1N1 were able to bud in to see the Doc before everyone else.  Since it is a potentially deadly virus I can certainly understand why.  But I'm not gonna lie, it was still kind of frustrating since the wait was already so long.  

As I slowly inched my way to the front of the pack I started feeling bad for the gals at reception.  The phone was ringing non-stop with panicky patients and it was clear that all the questions were about H1N1. 

It hadn't occured to me until this morning how heavily this is impacting the medical industry - clinics, hospitals, emergency rooms, etc.  The H1N1 virus is making people frantic.  There have been 15 deaths in BC so far, but I think the worst is yet to come.

One hundred twenty-two minutes later I finally got in to see the Doc.  He was outfitted in a little green face mask that he wouldn't remove until he confirmed that I had sinusitis, not H1N1. 

The Docs' muffled questions and my congested head made communication difficult, but the second I was diagnosed, he whipped out his pen and scratched out two illegible prescriptions for painkillers and antibiotics.

Then he pushed his little green mask back in place and dashed out of the room to face the next unknown patient.  And possible case of H1N1.

Remind me never* to be a doctor.

*I'm glad we have honourable souls filling that need in society, but I'd be a terrible  doctor.  My practice would be completely dysfunctional:  yelling at people for not eating vegetables.  Or lingering at my office computer trading stocks when I'm supposed to be removing a tonsil or replacing a hip.  You get the picture.

For Sale

Our cupboards are bare.

Actually, so is most of our condo.

 
First, the cupboards. 

I've had sinusitis since last week and My Fella was sick the week before that - he still has a bit of a cough.  So no big grocery purchases lately except for several boxes of chicken noodle soup, throat lozenges and fruit.  Hence the bare cupboards.

And the condo is bare because of my recent Craigslist addiction.  In the past three weeks I've sold:

• two bookcases
• a wine cooler
• our kitchen table
• a leopard bench
• my table lamp
• an IKEA chair
• the sofa bed
• four wooden chairs
• three big mirrors
• two leather stools
• and "a partridge in a peeeear treeeeee..."

Not much left to sell. 

My Fella has started moving some of our things to his parents house.  He says it's to get an early start on moving, but I think he's scared I'm gonna start selling the good stuff  :)

Speaking of the good stuff.  We did sell one really good thing. 

OUR CONDO.  Actually I signed the papers 10 days ago, but we had to wait until today for all of the conditions to be removed by the buyer.  And our realtor just called to confirm the deal is done.  We sold for less than our original list price but still made a 22.4% profit in 3 years, excluding fees. 

After the Olympic Games end in February I think BC real estate will experience another drop, so I'm happy to pull that money out now and invest it elsewhere. 

And now we're free to move forward on Project Gypsy.

(Hope I feel better soon cause I plan to make our final few weeks here complete HELL for our neighbours.  Here's the part where I wish I had eight noisy, rambunctious, screaming kids.  Who all play the drums   :)

Open Up and Say Aaaaaahhhhh

One quick post and then it's back to bed. 

I've been feeling yukky since last Wednesday.  Sore throat, head congestion, blah blah blah.  Thought I was getting better Sunday, but I woke up this morning about 3am feeling awful.  I don't have much of a voice and it hurts when I swallow or cough. 

Even more telling, I have no desire to read the biz news or play in the markets this morning.  To quote My Fella, "What???  No BNN?  You must feel lousy!"

And today is the first time I've ever called in sick for my part-time radio gig.  Not only is my voice hooped, but I shouldn't be spreading my germies around the station. 

So it's back to bed with lemon tea and lozenges.  Maybe McSteamy will make a house call  :)

Double Your Money

Bad news for US financial stocks.

 
Century old commercial lender, CIT Group, filed for bankruptcy tonight.  This isn't overly surprising but it IS a real kick in the pants to American citizens, since the US Government gave CIT $2.33 billion of TARP money (taxpayer money) in December 2008.  What a joke. 

US financials may be hit hard tomorrow.  Then again maybe not.  Who the heck knows what's driving market sentiment these days.  In the words of very smart money dude, David Rosenberg, "the stock market is divorced from economic reality".

On a totally different topic, I've been trying to remember the basic principles of compound interest, and how long it would take to double your money.  (Yes, this type of thing is fun for me  :)

After a bit of googling, I came up with this chart, which is based on a fixed annual rate of return:

• 5%: 14.4 years
• 6%: 12 years
• 7%: 10.3 years
• 8%: 9 years
• 9%: 8 years
• 10%: 7.2 years
• 11%: 6.5 years
• 12%: 6 years
• 15%: 4.8 years
• 20%: 3.6 years

So if you're earning 5% per year on your investments it will take 14.4 years to double your money, at 6% it would take 12 years, etc. etc.  Just thought you might like to know...

*And I made another $120 sale on Craigslist today.  Our house is emptying out really fast and My Fella has threatened to start duct-taping down everything he wants to keep. 

Silly Fella.  As if duct tape could stop me. 

Another Week That Wuz

Holy Cow!

 
Tomorrow is already Halloween.  And the end of October.  And the end of the first month of the 4th fiscal quarter.  (Yup, gotta sneak in the Geek sometimes :)  

The past week has been busy: 

• Got my annual general physical from Dr. Tanya. That's what I call her since I can't pronounce (never mind spell) her last name. 
• Had a few condo showings.  One looks very promising.
• Got back into the Project Gypsy mindset and found this gorgeous Airstream trailer for sale online.  
• Also found two new slow-cooker chicken recipes.  Gonna try 'em out on My unsuspecting victim Fella next week.
• Put together a few more boxes of stuff to donate to charity:  movies, books, clothes, etc.
• Listed and sold more items on Craigslist for a total of $210.  ("I am NOT addicted to Craigslist!!" the Radio Girl yelled as she furtively glanced around the room, looking for more things to sell...)

And I did some quick bar napkin math to calculate my monthly investment gains for October.

• LIRA +3%
• RRSP +5.3%
• TFSA +7.8%
• non reg +4.7%

Not as good as my mid-month calculations, but well above my 1% per month goal.  Goals, people, it's all about goals.

Best Canadian Trusts

 
Rob Carrick wrote a great article in the Globe and Mail over the weekend.

I have a slab of income trusts in my non-reg account and most investors know that the trust structure in Canada is disappearing as of 2011, when all trusts convert to a corporation. 

In Carrick's article, veteran independent analyst, Harry Levant of IncomeTrustResearch.com (who has analyzed close to 200 trusts) offers a list of the 'best of the bunch'.  The list is based on being 'strong, steady businesses that generate lots of cash'.

I am happy to say that of the 32 trusts listed, all 8 in my non-reg portfolio are considered 'best of the bunch':

• Armtec
• Altagas
• Inter Pipeline
• Pembina Pipeline
• Bonavista Energy
• Davis + Henderson
• Morneau Sobeco
• FutureMed

I'm confident in my ability to evaluate good companies/investments, but it's reassuring to get the green light from an expert like Levant.

Here's the complete Globe and Mail article including the entire list of 'best of the bunch' trusts.

Another Craigslist Sale

We sold the kitchen table and chairs last night.

 
A young couple with a new baby came to see them yesterday after I got home from my part time radio gig.  They came, they saw, they bought, and we pocketed $525.

Overall it took about 45 minutes to take pics and post (and repost) the ad on Craigslist.  And then roughly three more hours to actually email back and forth with several interested buyers and finally make the sale. 

My Strong and Rugged Fella borrowed a cube van and delivered the set last night.  I say Strong and Rugged because he made the delivery in the pouring rain.  He's such a great guy... I'm pretty lucky.  Swoon.

And I'm learning how effective Craigslist is.  If you describe your stuff honestly and price it well, you'll find a buyer. 

And they all lived happily ever after.  The end.

Until I find something else to sell  :) 

Hmmm... I just remembered my In-laws are leaving the country for five months.  They have lots of nice stuff.  And we have their keys... 

Nifty Personality Test

Otherwise known as "A Neat Way to Waste 15 minutes of Your Sunday Afternoon".

Last week I tried this Personal DNA personality test that I swiped from the blog Give Me Back My Five Bucks. 

The answers I gave defined me as a: 

Cautious Leader

Characteristics of a Cautious Leader:

• You're in touch with what is going on around you and adept at remaining down-to-earth and logical
• Although you're detail-oriented, this doesn't mean that you lose the big picture
• The intellectual curiosity that drives you leads you to seek out causes of and reasons behind things
• Your confidence gives you the potential to take your general awareness and channel it into leadership
• Your independent streak allows you to make decisions efficiently and to trust your instincts
• Generally, you believe that you control your life, and that external forces only play a limited role in determining what happens to you

How A Cautious Leader relates to others:

• Being independent, practical, and somewhat guarded with others makes you CAUTIOUS
• The values that you hold are central to your identity — you are a very principled person
• You have respect for the natural order of things, and a good sense of right and wrong
• You have an appreciation for those who have attained a certain level of accomplishment, particularly the rare few who have succeeded honestly
• You sometimes wish that others would be more like you — less hindered by their emotions, more respectful, and more private :)  

You can take the test yourself by clicking here.

All Cautious Leaders require good headgear.  Hopefully this works...

Hittin' the Road

My Fella's parents have had it...

 
...with the weather! 

Even though winter hasn't frozen our little Okanagan beach town yet, the In-Laws are making their escape early.  They've packed up their RV and they're heading out on Monday for the first (of many) annual winter getaways. 

Safe travels you two.  Hopefully we can hook up somewhere along I-5.  We'll bring the slowcooker and the crib board if you supply the cervezas  :)

(Nutty bunch.  Glad I fell into this wacky family  :)

Now onto my other fave things... 

Numbers. 

This sounds super geeky, but I usually monitor my investment account gains (or losses) throughout the month.

At least once a week I grab a pencil, whip out my calculator and get lost in the numbers.  Ever since I saw a video of Dennis Gartman (a well known US investor and author of the Gartman letter) I've been more aware of monthly changes in my accounts.  Gartman doesn't go for the big score.  Instead he tries to make small gains of 1% - 1.5% per month.  If he's successful, his small monthly gains add up to 12% or 18% per year. 

I don't agree with all his investment theories, but this strategy is very sound.  Especially when it works  :)

• LIRA +5%
• RRSP +10%
• TFSA +11.8%
• non-reg +7.6%

Of course, there's still the final week in October where things could fall apart.  Gotta stop counting my chickens, yada, yada, yada. 

(Can't seem to find any chicken pics so Mother Goose and the babies will have to do) 

Here are my current non-reg holdings in order of weighting:  Student Transportation, Crescent Point Energy, Armtec, Altagas, Inter Pipeline, Pembina Pipeline, First Capital Realty, Bonavista Energy, Davis + Henderson Income Fund, Killam Properies, Superior Plus, Morneau Sobeco, Alaris Royalty Corp, Artis REIT, Power Financial preferreds, Westcoast Energy preferreds, FutureMed, Sun Life preferreds, cash.

And the best news of all, my PIG (Passive Income Goal) is up to $26,047 a year, which is like earning $33,000/year in BC, before taxes.  

 

What's Goin' On

It's been a busy week:

• Started the Rosetta Stone Spanish language course and trying to finish at least one lesson per day.  Love it.
• Had my first eye check-up in two years and ordered a new pair of prescription sunglasses.  "All the better to see you with, my sweetpea... So I can kick your butt at tennis in Mexico this winter ... mwa ha ha ha" - evil laugh  :)
• Researched/started a position in Davis + Henderson Income Fund (DHF.UN). Purchase price was $14.10 with a yield of 13%. It's trading at $14.81 this morning.
• Went through my clothes for the third time in 6 months, looking for more charity donations.
• Started a list of furniture we want to give away to friends (our sectional, queen size bedframe, bookshelf, etc.)
• Listed a bunch of furniture on Craigslist and made my first sale.
• Did more research on RVs since we've recently discovered the beauty of Airstream trailers. Good reno project?
• Currently making 'Bean Stuff' in the slow cooker this morning. It's pouring rain in my little Okanagan beach town - a great day for 'Bean Stuff'.

And in honour of the title of this post, here's one of my fave Marvin Gaye tunes:

Craigslist Really Works

 
Project Gypsy continues.

I know I haven't been posting about it much, but My Fella and I are constantly rooting through our things and reducing our 'baggage' so that as soon as the condo sells we can move into an RV.  That we have yet to buy.  But we'll cross that bridge yada yada yada...

Anyway, today was my first online furniture sale.  I said goodbye to a lovely five year old IKEA BLOK shelf on wheels that I bought for about $110 bucks and sold for $60 on Craigslist.com. 

It was cool to complete a sale but despite what other bloggers imply about how easy it is to sell your 'stuff', it DOES take some work.  It took me roughly 45 minutes to take pics and then post the listing.  And then I wasted time replying to scammers and folks that had questions/weren't sure/had no money/wanted free long distance delivery, etc.

I also had to email back and forth and coordinate a time with the gal that finally bought the shelf, but she was super sweet and very efficient.  She saw it, she loved it and she paid in cash, so I helped load it in her truck and we both lived happily ever after. 

The sale took about 4-ish hours of my life in total, for a profit of $60.  Not a great return but it was nice to get rid of some 'stuff'. 

And now that I know Craiglist really works (and it's not just full of perverts or scammers) I'm gonna list more items in the coming weeks.

Prime Lending Rate Remains Unchanged

 
If you have a personal line of credit or variable rate mortgage, you should be celebrating.

This morning the Bank of Canada announced they were leaving the prime lending rate unchanged at 0.25%. 

The B of C also implied once again that the overnight rate would remain the same until the second quarter of next year.  Great news for homeowners :)

Here's the full story from the Financial Post.

My Pelican Buds

Pelicans are cool.

Living in the BC interior, we don't see a lot of pelicans swooping around our beaches. 

From wikipedia:

A pelican is a large water bird with a distinctive pouch under the beak, belonging to the bird family, Pelicanidae.  Modern pelicans are found on all continents except Antarctica.  They occur mostly in warm regions, though breeding ranges reach 45° south (Australian Pelican, P. conspicillatus) and 60° North (American White Pelicans, P. erythrorhynchos, in western Canada). Birds of inland and coastal waters, they are absent from polar regions, the deep ocean, oceanic islands, and inland South America.

I look forward to seeing my pelican buddies when we head south in December. 

These guys were hanging out last year on the beach at La Penita, Mexico.  I love the little one chilaxing in the bottom right hand corner of the shot.  He needs a haircut :)

 
This picture perfect guy looked like he was posing for me just before he swooped in for his lunch off the coast of Lo de Marcos.

That same afternoon My Fella and I were eating at a beachfront restaurant when this guy dropped out of the sky and sat down for lunch beside our table.  The waiter informed us that he's a regular customer and they usually serve him from a styrofoam container, in case he orders his fish 'to go'.

But my fave pelican pic of all time is this one.  

You can see it's siesta time for everyone except the rebel pelican in the center who's either yawning or enjoying a huge belly laugh.  Love it  :)

Mid-Month Stock Stuff

My blog focus has really been on stocks lately.

 
Investing is my passion. 

There's not much else that could get me out of bed every weekday morning at 5:30 ... except for maybe free beer.  And real Italian pizza straight from the pizza oven.

Or a pack of hungry velociraptors running around loose in the house, like that scene in Jurassic Park.  Let's face it - velociraptors are creepy.

When My Fella and I pack up for Mexico in December I'll have a lot more posts featuring travel and road trips, but for now it's all about stocks.  And money.

My non-reg account (the important one that's funding super-early retirement) is humming along nicely.  The top ten gainers have shot up a minimum of 10%, and I've started selling off some preferreds to lock in the profits.

Top Ten Gainers as of today: 

• Westcoast Energy preferreds +36.37%
• National Bank preferreds +28.20%
• Armtec Infrastructure +25.93%
• Power Financial preferreds +23.39%
• Sun Life Financial preferreds +23.38%
• First Capital Realty +23.29%
• Inter Pipeline +20.99%
• Bonavista Energy +14.59%
• Crescent Point Energy +12.97%
• Student Tranportation +10.70%

The TSX is still on an upswing and that's starting to get a bit spooky.  We really need a decent market correction.  Or maybe I'm just being greedy since after the condo sells, I'll have another chunk of cash to invest  :)

Greed aside, here are my non-reg holdings at mid-month:  Crescent Point Energy, Student Transportation, Armtec Infrastructure, Altagas, Inter Pipeline, Bonavista Energy, First Capital Realty, Pembina Pipeline, Killam Properties, Morneau Sobeco, Sun Life preferreds, Alaris Royalty Corp, Superior Plus, Westcoast Energy preferreds, Power Financial preferreds, National Bank preferreds, Keyera Facilities, Futuremed Healthcare, Artis REIT, CML Healthcare.

Things That I KNOW I Know

There is so much I don't know. 

For example, why does my cell phone company insist on labeling it a System Access Fee, when we all know it's just a cash grab?  Why doesn't glue stick to the inside of the bottle?  Did Noah have two woodpeckers on the ark, and if so where did he keep them?  Why is Oscar green?  Can you yawn in your sleep?  Why do I crave purple cabbage? 

See? Soooo much I don't know.  But here are three things that I KNOW I Know.

1- My Fella and I can live happily in a much smaller space.  Like an RV. 

I now realize that 200 square feet is enough, as long as My Fella and I have our own private space. 

Over the past couple weeks I've been super aware of where we spend the majority of our time.  The only rooms we use regularly are the kitchen, the bedroom and The Pit.  (The Pit = second bedroom where my office is.  That's where I do all my stock stuff, hence 'The Pit'  :) 

We don't watch a lot of tv so we're hardly ever in the living room.  And we never use the dining room table, except as a place to store our fruit.  I'm actually thinking of listing it on Craigslist.

 
If we go ahead with Project Gypsy, living in a 200 square foot space will be less of a challenge than I thought.  As long as we have a place to get away from each other.

#2 Thing That I KNOW I Know: Cold weather makes me miserable. 

Snow, ice, slush, cold...I hate it all.

 
Living/working/playing in a summery climate is a huge key to my overall happiness since everything I like to do (tennis, walking, gardening, hiking, camping, looking for golf balls) requires warm weather. 

 
If I never had to wear pants again, I'd be ecstatic.  Not sure if that came out right, but I think you know what I mean :)

But speaking of pants...

#3 Thing I KNOW I Know:  I don't want/need a lot of clothing. 

I've been keeping a close eye on my wardrobe, specifically the clothes I wear regularly.  In a previous post I mentioned my lust for the Khaki GAP miniskirt, and the fact that I now own 12 of them.  ($10 each at the GAP Outlet store, what a steal.  You Americans are sooooo lucky!)  

Anyway, in a wacky little experiment this morning I discovered that I can fit all the clothes I wear regularly into one large suitcase.  That includes socks and underwear, but not shoes or coats.

Time to give away more clothes.

September Stocks

Quick wrap of my accounts for September '09.

 
Non-reg account was up 1.6% on the month, 7.8% for the third quarter.  If I can average only a 5% gain per quarter that's 20% annually. 

TFSA was up 8% for September, but July was negative and August was flat so the account was flat on the quarter. 

My registered accounts (RRSP and LIRA) were both up 3% to 4% this month and double that for the quarter. 

So my new account goals are:

• Double the value of my LIRA within four years (this is my 'play' money for small cap oil/gas/mining stocks, it's already up 29% since inception in March '08)
• Earn 5% per quarter in my non-reg account, for a total of 20% annually
• Earn at least 16% a year in my RRSP, this allows me to de-register a fixed amount of cash every year
• No real earnings goal for my TFSA, BUT it is a fabulous thing for Canadian residents and I'm making full use of it

And my non-reg accounts are fully invested for the second month in a row. 

Holdings in order of weighting: 

Student Transportation, Crescent Point Energy, Armtec Infrastructure, Altagas, Inter Pipeline, First Capital Realty, Pembina Pipelines, Bonavista Energy, Killam Properties, Morneau Sobeco, Sunlife preferreds, National Bank preferreds, Alaris Royalty Corp, Power Financial preferreds, Westcoast Energy preferreds, Keyera Facilities, another National Bank preferred, Superior Plus, Futuremed Healthcare, CML Healthcare, Public Storage, Cash.

Canadian Taxes

 
At the start of every calendar year I crunch the numbers (employment, business, dividend and interest income) to guestimate my taxes* for the year.  By planning ahead I usually pay minimal tax.

Since my part-time radio gig has mysteriously morphed into full-time, my 2009 employment income is going to be higher than I initially thought.  Almost triple actually.

While I'm thankful for the gig it's really messed up my taxes. 

Normally I get money back, but if my new calculations are accurate I'll be owing about $3700 for taxes in 2009.  Some of that will be offset by deductions through my Voice Biz but I need to brainstorm more ideas to reduce that number. 

Maybe more contributions to this years fave charity, the local SPCA.

Look at that face :)

*Canada has one of the highest tax rates in the world. 

You name it, we're taxed on it:  income, property, gasoline, alcohol, junk food, cell phone and internet service, clothing, footwear, vehicles, RVs, furniture, appliances, electronics, sports equipment, new homes, basically all consumer goods and services.  And the new HST (harmonized sales tax) will be introduced next summer.

October in the Okanagan

Our little Okanagan beach town is turning orange, yellow and green. 

October = a cold lake, but happy fish. 

 
If you're visiting the Okanagan this weekend, expect grey skies, a few showers and highs of only 13 to 15C. 

Week That Wuz

What we've done so far this week:

• Made a big batch of my slow cooker Black Bean Stuff (beans plus a squillion other veggies)

• Sic' ed the cops and local bylaw officers on our neighbours (for various reasons, i.e. stupidity)

• Lowered the list price of our condo because the neighbours are driving us nuts

• Edged up our current passive income to $23,591/year.  My PIG (Passive Income Goal) is $30,000 by January 2010.  It's a slooooooww process.

• Gave away more STUFF.  A young Okanagan family (with no insurance) had a huge house fire.  They lost everything so we were able to give away some kitchen stuff, a huge fuzzy blanket and a few new board games.

• We finally saw the In-Laws new RV.  It's a great unit, a little older but very well-kept and it Doesn't smell like dead people.  You know that old musty smell that some used cars or old houses have ... like the owner lived a thousand years and never took a bath?  But the older RV they bought smells good and looks great.  And now My Fella and I are thinking of getting an older model with a good engine and just reno-ing it.

That's the week that wuz. 

And I usually change my desktop picture at least once per week.  Here's my current fave: 

 
It's My Fella looking out over the Pacific Ocean from the small fishing village of Lo de Marcos.  This pic always reminds me of Mexico - I can almost smell the ocean. 

I call it "Dave on the Rocks".

Monday Morning Giggle

No matter how crazy life gets, you'll never have it as bad as Wile E. Coyote.

Do You Have a PIG?

Busy week around here.

The Annual General Meeting for our strata corporation was a complete waste of time.  After knocking on doors and burning up my weekday cell phone minutes tracking down lazy condo owners, only eight people showed up at the meeting. That includes three members of the condo board. 

Eight people out of forty.

Thank goodness I kept hounding our Sheeple owners to sign their forms or we wouldn't have had enough bodies/proxy forms at the meeting to have a majority vote.  Without a majority there's no use having a meeting - we would have had to reschedule.  Another waste of time. 

The only satisfying moment of this years AGM was when I resigned from the board.

It's also been a busy stock month.  I've sold a couple positions in September including Colabor (a Quebec based distribution/supply company) which I will buy again before December.  Colabor (GCL-T) has already converted to a corporation.  The company is strong and the quarterly dividend is very attractive.

The other financial highlight this month... my PIG is right on track. 

PIG = Passive Income Goal.  Not a true technical term :)   

Government agencies define Passive Income as "money you earn from trade or business activities in which you do not materially participate".  Examples of Passive Income include:  government or company pension, rental properties, book or song royalties, website ad income, or dividend/interest income from owning securities.

The more passive income you earn, the quicker you can quit working.  Early Retirement here you come!

Pension is not an option but I've tried all the others:  

• I owned a rental property in the past but wasn't crazy about being a landlord

• I wrote a book but the money went to charity so no royalties for me

• At one time I considered selling ads on this site but there probably wouldn't be much interest.  And I find website ads annoying so why would I do that to you?  Yes, all three of you that read this blog regularly  :)

Via process of elimination I've realized the easiest way to reach my PIG is dividend and interest income.  Although there is a lot of research required to pick good companies and buy at the right time. I guess 'easy' is relative, isn't it?  If you don't enjoy research/reading/business lingo, this option won't be easy.

My PIG for January 2010 is $30,000/year or $2500/month, tax free.  That is the equivalent of earning $38,000 a year in British Columbia before taxes.

I'm at $23,150 right now but if our condo sells in the next few months, we'll hit the PIG for January.    And we'll surpass it if I can sell the condo privately through Craigslist. 

Fingers crossed.

First Full Day of Fall

Not looking forward to winter, but I love how fresh everything smells in the fall.  

I wish this picture was scratch-and-sniff so you could smell it too  :)

Obama on Letterman

American Prez Barack Obama was on Letterman last night. 

Here's a clip:

Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs

We went to an animated movie tonight - Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs. 

My Fella and I watch a lot of movies at home, but rarely go to the theatre.  After working in radio for so long and getting so many free movie passes, it's hard to actually pay to go see a movie. 

This is the first theatre movie we've been to in almost three years.  I know... my Cheap is showing :)

We both like animated flicks and this one was pretty cute.  Lots of smiles and some laugh out loud moments.  And Mr T was in it ("I pity the fool!") so it had to be worth it.  Here's the trailer from YouTube: 

*By the way, it cost us $40 for the night - $20 for admission and $20 for snacks. 

Warning: Weekend Rant Ahead

Sheeple is one of my favourite words.

It's a combination of sheep and people.  My definition of Sheeple are "folks with no sense of responsibility or ambition, folks who just drift along with the current wave instead of taking the time to figure things out". 

That would require thought.  And action. 

And it's just so much easier to join the other sheeple.   

Sheeple don't save for retirement because they think the government will do it for them.  If they do save and invest, they probably have no idea what investments they own, blindly trusting a stranger with their life savings.  Like Bernie Madoff. 

Sheeple don't take responsibility for their own health either.  They consume tons of crap and get minimal exercise, knowing (hoping) they'll be covered through health care and can simply take pills for what ails them. 

I have never realized how many folks are Sheeple until this weekend. 

First I have to say, if you are part of a condo board, I applaud you.  It's a hell of a lot of work for no compensation and no thanks.  With MUCH hesitation (and against my better judgement) I accepted a nomination to become part of our strata board and I'm still kicking myself. 

Because now I see how lazy, lazy, lazy our local Sheeple are.  

Our annual general meeting for the strata is coming up next week.  Over the past couple days I've been trying to collect some forms our management company mailed to all 40 owners in our building.  Long story short, the signed forms are needed at the annual general meeting.  They are not an option, they are necessary for a majority vote.  And this is all clearly explained on the form which was mailed out in a large yellow envelope LAST MONTH.

I feel like a Jehovah's Witness, going door-to-door trying to collect these forms. 

The majority of owners I've spoken to are not going to the general meeting, which doesn't surprise me.  Most Sheeple would rather stuff themselves with potato chips in front of 'Friends' re-runs, than make decisions regarding their single largest investment, their home. 

A few of the Sheeple admitted they received the forms last month but haven't read them yet.  Two owners haven't opened any of their mail recently, and one gal claimed she hasn't been to her mailbox since the end of July.  She sounded proud. 

But the best excuse I heard for not having the form came from my neighbour two doors over.  He didn't even bother opening the envelope, just threw it straight in the recycling bin. 

"You recycled it, without even opening it?"  I asked, totally stunned. 

"Yup," he said in a smirky I'm-trying-to-save-the-planet kinda way.  I actually laughed out loud when I heard that one. 

Most of the condo owners wanted a complete explanation of what the form was, even though I pointed out they could simply open it up and read it for themselves.  Our management company went to great lengths to make sure the language was easy to understand. 

Maybe the worst thing is that there really was no need for us to collect the forms door-to-door, in the first place.  Our management company had included a self addressed envelope with the forms so that people could mail them in.  I know this because as an owner, I got one too.  Last month.  

But the general meeting is early next week and we've run out of time for folks to mail in the signed forms. 

Most Sheeple are dumb, completely lazy or a combination of both.  How did these folks manage to get through the paperwork it took to buy their home in the first place? 

No wonder such a teeny group of folks share the vast majority of wealth in our country.  And no wonder our government does basically whatever it wants, voting themselves bigger and bigger raises, wasting gobs of money on ridiculous programs, etc.  The majority of Sheeple just don't care.

It's sad. 

And frustrating.

Please note:  I mean no offense to sheep who are probably smarter and more motivated than the majority of Sheeple.

Final Friday of the Summer

Fall begins next Tuesday so this is the last weekend of summer 2009. 

The Okanagan forecast calls for sunny skies and a high of 28 today.  It's my day off but I have some quick errands to run (ship off those baby clothes, restock my fruit bowl, clean old plants off the balcony) and then I'm gonna take a walk to the dock this afternoon and say goodbye to summer :(

I watched this video on YouTube this morning - Richard Marx and Endless Summer Nights.  It is soooo eighties cheesey.  Love it.

And I had to laugh out loud at the gal in the video with the ponytail on top of her head.  There is no photographic evidence but I wore my hair that way almost every day in high school. 

I found this pic of Richard Marx with Daughtry.  Wonder if Marx misses his 80's hair...

Mid-Month Stocks and Other Stuff

House Sale

The couple who came to check out our condo for a potential private sale never got back to us.  We may still hear from them, but we don't wanna hound them.  Every Monday I put a new ad up on Craigslist and our place is also listed with a realtor.  It'll sell soon - I can feel it.

Stock Talk

My new fave market phrase:  "Investors losing their shorts".  This just means retail or individual investors who remove any short positions they have on stocks, but it still makes me laugh.  "Investors losing their shorts... hahahahahaha".  

I am a geek.  And speaking of my complete financial geekosity...

Mid-Month Holdings, by Weighting

Student Transportation, Crescent Point Energy, Armtec Infrastructure, Altagas, Inter Pipeline, First Capital Realty, Bonavista Energy, Killam Properties, Sun Life preferreds, Morneau Sobeco, Pembina Pipelines, National Bank preferreds, Alaris Royalty Corp, Power Financial preferreds, West Coast Energy preferreds, Keyera Facilities, BCE, another National Bank preferred, Colabor Group, Mosaid Technologies, FutureMed Healthcare, Public Storage, CML Healthcare.

For the first time in forever, I am fully invested.

Road Trip Wrap

Here's a question...

How do folks with full time jobs and responsibilities find time to blog at all?  We've been back from Washington for a few days now and this is my first chance to post anything.  Although if I didn't spend so much time with the talking heads on BNN.ca I'd free up quite a few hours every day.

Here's a mix of pics from our trip, starting with the fishies in the pond in front of our hotel, The Medallion Spa and Resort in Arlington, Washington. 

The fishies swam right up to us when we walked over the little bridge at the hotel entrance.  They all looked up at the same time and opened there little mouths like they were waiting for food.  Or lip synching.  It was hilarious. 

Of course the second I whipped out my camera they reverted back to normal fish behavior and just swam around.  Fish divas.   

By the way, if you ever head to Snohomish County in Washington, The Medallion Hotel is a good choice.  Clean and quiet rooms, free internet and hot breakfast and it's close to everything including the Seattle Premium Outlet Mall and the Tulalip Casino.  We paid $99US/night for three nights - a good deal for a fairly luxurious room.    

My Fella went golfing one day while I took a three hour walking tour of the area.  And we both spent some quality time at the Seattle Outlet Mall - 130 discount stores including our faves, the Adidas store and The Gap. 

My Fella and I both had shopping budgets and stuck to them.  I still can't get over the great deals you can find at these outlet stores and keep in mind, I'm pretty cheap.  Shoes and clothing in Canada are both really expensive compared to US outlet malls - even items on sale in Canadian stores are almost twice the price you'd pay in the USA.

My Fella picked up summer shirts (t-shirts at $6, golf shirts for $15) summer shorts ($10/pair, same price as in the thrift stores in Canada).  And I bought a new mini backpack on sale.  I carry around small backpacks instead of a purse and I've had my current one for about six years so the leather has started to rip.  I also bought some comfy Naturalizer tennis shoes for my daily ninety minute commute to work. 

And I found a lot of cute baby clothes (for a pal - don't get any crazy ideas :) 

Look at those teeny weeny little Puma socks.

My only embarrassing purchase of the trip was 10 Gap khaki skirts. 

Yes, you read that correctly.  I bought 10 Gap miniskirts on sale for $10 each (regular price $35 CAD).  They are my fave skirt ever and I already own a couple that I wear all the time, usually three or four times a week. 

For the past year I've been looking for them online and it seems regular Gap stores don't carry them anymore.  You can imagine my complete and utter joy when I spotted a bunch of the skirts at the Gap Outlet.  My Fella says I actually squealed.

Which explains why I bought every single one in my size (couldn't fit them all in the pic below :) 

I now have twelve Gap khaki miniskirts.

I'm set for life.

Road Trip Day #1

We made it to Washington State in 5 hours yesterday.

My Fella and I left BC about 2:30pm Pacific time and arrived in Arlington around 7:30 last night.  The US border crossing was a breeze.

My Fella was in the drivers seat so he spoke to the guy at customs.  Despite being a confident guy, My Fella gets very nervous at the border - stuttering, odd outbursts of laughter, etc.  It's actually really cute.  And he's very respectful, taking off his sunglasses and looking the customs officer in the eyes.

Immediately after crossing into the USA we noticed something we hadn't seen last summer - acres and acres of cornfields.

As a closet commodities fanatic I'm aware of the increased amount of corn that US farmers have planted this season but seeing it for yourself is cool.  I'm such a market geek :)

We stayed away from the I-5 and tried to take secondary highways the entire way, and we still made good time.

My Fella and I were up again at 6:30 this morning.  He went golfing and I was at my laptop for the market open so I could sell my entire position of Manitoba Telecom on the ex-div date.  I'm heading out for a walk for a couple hours and then we'll meet up early this afternoon to explore the area by car. 

It seems strange that My Fella and I planned this weekend getaway and then we do our own thing, but that's why we travel so well together.  We like hanging out but we also need our own space.  If we can still do our own thing, it gives us more stuff to talk about when we're together.

Some quick money comments:

1- My behind-the-counter sinus Rx costs more than double the price in Canada than it does here in the states.

2- I bought the pills at Rite Aid, an American drug store chain.  I used my American Express and was surprised when they didn't ask for any id, like my drivers license.  Then the clerk informed me I didn't even have to sign the credit card receipt, since it was under $25 bucks.  ???  Does anyone else see something wrong with this?

Prime Rate Remains at .25%

If you have a personal line of credit or variable rate mortgage, you should be celebrating.

This morning the Bank of Canada announced they were leaving the prime lending rate unchanged at 0.25%.  The quarterly monetary policy statement was pretty upbeat, suggesting that Canada's economy was starting a slow uptrend.

The B of C also implied that the overnight rate would remain the same until the second quarter of next year.  Great news for homeowners :)

Washington Road Trip

One more sleep until our road trip.

My Fella and I are heading to Washington State for a long weekend road trip. 

We make our own long weekends because one of us usually has to work on the national holidays - i.e. I worked both Sunday and Holiday Monday on the Labour Day weekend.  And there was lots of traffic on the road last weekend.  We prefer to travel against the grain when the highways are quieter.  Fewer yahoos behind the wheel. 

So we're heading to the Washington coast for a few days.  We want to compare US RV prices against dealers here in BC, and research the process of buying/transporting a motorhome across the border. 

We originally wanted to go to a Mariners or Seahawks game, but the schedules didn't work out.  Thank goodness we can still visit the Seattle Premium Outlet Mall in Tulalip. 

"Hello Gap Outlet.  I've missed you..."

RV's and Pizza

We learned some interesting RV info this weekend.

My Fella and I had a long conversation with an RV salesdude at a local dealership on Saturday afternoon.  I'm not naive enough to believe everything he said - I've worked with far too many radio salespeople in my lifetime for that :)   

But he gave us insight into the different brands, specifically Winnebago. 

I was curious why they hold their value better than other motorhome manufacturers.  Every time I browse different RV forums, the stongest and most loyal owners are always the Winnebago owners. 

RV salesdude told us that Winnabego is a top of the line name, based on quality.  For example, he said Winnebago is the only manufacturer that reinforces the unit walls with steel sections.  The other guys install things like seat belt hooks right into the paneling of the walls, but Winnebago attaches them to a steel beam in the walls.  And the units are built with a steel casing at the front to protect both the driver and passenger.

I'm sure all RV manufacturers have to pass safety standards but the salesdude said there are no 'crash tests' for motorhomes, like there are for cars and trucks.

I don't know how much of a difference this makes, safety-wise, but it's certainly something to think about.  I need to do more research. 

Here's something else to think about.  Last night we had pizza and salad for supper.  My Fella and I usually make one pizza for each of us, eat a third of it and save the rest for lunches through the week.  We only buy pizzas when they're on sale and then we add our own extra veggie toppings.    I add tomatoes, peppers and mushrooms to mine. 

He adds hot peppers and his new fave topping, broccoli. 

Yup.  Broccoli.

Gag.

The Return of Project Gypsy

We're going to look at RVs again today.

My Fellas parents bought a motorhome a couple of months ago and they took it out to a Shuswap campground this weekend.  Last night My Fella and I were talking about how easy it would have been to pack up our own RV and head out to meet them.

And next weekend we're driving to Washington State for a few days.  Another potentially fun/cheap RV trip.

Except we don't have an RV ... which makes RV travel somewhat difficult.

So we're gonna pick up the search where we left off in the spring and start pricing out units again. Project Gypsy has been re-ignited.

This Isn't Mine, But it's Funny

I swiped something.

Actually it hasn't quite happened yet, but I am about to steal something.  The following words were written by a blogger I've just discovered.  She's a commercial fisherman.  Yes, SHE is.  Cool, huh? 

Anyway, she's very witty and her post a few days ago perfectly captured the male/female relationship.  Her blog is called Skinny Runner and I hope she doesn't mind that I lifted this post without permission.  

If you can relate to this totally gender accurate post, check out her blog.  She's a great writer. 

"Here’s a little story about dinnertime last night in the SR household… it’s a little long so if you don’t want to read it, I don’t blame you.

Last night I made homemade pizza, 1/4 veggie for me and 3/4 “Pepperoni-style Canadian bacon” and cheese for him.  Husband looked at it and said he didn’t want it because it didn’t look good.  Frad, (frustrated and mad) I told him to make a sandwich then.

So what did he do? He made a sandwich!  WHAT THE HECK?!  I didn’t mean “make a sandwich”.  I meant, sit your butt down, shut your yapper, and eat the dang pizza!  He ovbviously doesn’t speak woman.

Later I go to bed and start thinking about it because I’m a woman and we NEED to over analyze everything.  I start crying, or more like alternating between sobbing and choking.  (It’s also that special time of the month that made this whole event seem more traumatic than say, a death in the family.)  I was really hurt because I felt incredibly disrespected.  If I go to the work of making a meal, ok I admit, it really wasn’t that much work, then eat it!  I’ll take your “suggestions for improvement” afterwards… even if this isn’t a made-to-order restaurant.

So my cries drown out the PS3 and hubby comes to see what Lifetime movie is such a tearjerker.  I lay into him and he has no choice but to give me a back rub (score!) while apologizing over and over for being such a bonehead.  He said he didn’t realize it was about so much more than pizza and sandwiches.  HELLO!  I’m a woman!  It’s always about more than you think.

In the end I forgave him after I finaggled a “Yes, you’re right honey; you should go buy a new pair of Christian Louboutins as a gift to yourself for all your hard work this summer” out of him.

Moral of the story:  uhh, there wasn’t one.  What kind of story do you think this is?  Shakespeare?

Woman are head cases. Men are just plain dumb.  And don’t go to bed crying; no matter how much expensive eye cream you slather on, you’ll still wake up looking like a bag lady."

August Gains

Just a quick post before work.

This morning I crunched the numbers on August returns for the non-reg account.  My scribbles indicate a small gain of 1.9%.  Not that great but I think I've been spoiled by those double digit monthly returns during the bounce back.

The really good news is the huge jump in passive annual income from dividends.  Not sure if I've mentioned this before but my passive income comes from solid dividend paying stocks bought at low prices. 

Passive income for August is up to $21,160 per year.  That equals $1763/month or $58 per day.  And the best part?  It's tax free.  It's like earning $25,500 (before taxes) at a regular job.

Long live dividend income :)

Hello Yellow

My Fella went Salmon Fishing at 3:30 this morning.

He's a little crazy that way.  Speaking of crazy, I color coordinated my Sunday breakfast.  Everything was yellow.

Corn on the cob + sweet pepper + banana = yellow.  Yummy.  This breakfast brought to you by the letter "Y".

August Stocks

The big six Canadian banks reported earnings last week.

With the exception of CIBC, the banks all beat analyst estimates.  That means they did a little better than bank "experts" thought they would. 

Trading revenues gave the banks a boost this quarter but they'll probably fall in Q4.   I don't care either way since I sold all my common shares last quarter and took my profits.  The only banks I own now are preferred shares. 

Also trimmed some Russel Metals this month - bought in around $13 and sold half at $16.20 after the ex-div date. 

My two new holdings are:  

• Morneau Sobeco Income Fund, which I bought last week on a stink bid.  Morneau Sobeco is one of the biggest benefits/pension consulting firms in Canada.  Both the company and the monthly distibution keep growing - at todays price it's yielding almost 11%.

• Colabor Group - a food service distributor in Quebec and Ontario that supplies universities, hospitals, restaurants, independent grocery stores, etc.  Colabor just converted to a corporation last week and kept their high yield intact.  At todays price of $10.75, they pay out a 10% yield.  This is a great stock for a taxable account because the dividend now qualifies for the div tax credit.

Here's my non-reg August holdings in order of weighting:  Cash, Manitoba Telecom, Student Transportation, Crescent Point Energy, First Capital Realty, Killam Properties, Sun Life preferreds, Pembina Pipeline, Inter Pipeline, ArmTec Infrastructure, National Bank preferred, Alaris Royalty Corp, Power Financial preferreds, WestCoast Energy preferreds, BCE, another National Bank preferred, Russel Metals, Mosaid Technologies, Colabor Group, Morneau Sobeco Income Fund.

Totally off topic, I want to share a quote I read last week on one of my regular biz forums.

"Don't do a deal like it's the last deal you're ever going to do. You need to leave a little in it for the next guy. Everyone has to make a dollar.  The rationale for this is quite simple; when you want to sell something there has to be reasonable expectation for the person buying from you to make a profit. If there is no such expectation, no one will be willing to buy and the opportunity for profit on your part will be gone. It's a little bit like the musical chairs analogy in that you don't want to be the last participant standing. Hence the need to take profits, or losses for that matter, at reasonable intervals that are predetermined in some mechanical way. Once you realise that for the system to work the next person must have a reasonable expectation for profit too, you won't feel nearly so bad about taking profits even though the investment continues to go up in value. It's all part of playing the game successfully over the long haul."

The moral of the story?  Don't be a Stock Hog :)

Dam Good Post

My buddy Calypso wrote a good post on his recent pass through the Hoover Dam.

It reminded me of the last two road trips My Fella and I took down to Mexico and our own experience crossing the Dam.  These pics are great memories for us but they don't capture the amazing power of the rushing water or the incredible scenery.

It is an awe inspiring site and Calypso wrote a cool piece, including his early morning pics of the Dam. 

Mr and Mrs Potential Buyer

We had a young couple come look at our condo last night.

Our neighbour brought them over so they didn't go through a realtor.  If we can sell it privately we can save the $15,000+ realtor costs.

It's kind of a cute story actually. 

Mr Potential Buyer really likes this area of our little Okanagan beach town.  He was lurking around our condo parking lot and ran into our neighbour who is on the condo board with me.  Neighbour told him our unit was for sale and brought him over.  We gave Mr Potential Buyer the tour and he asked if he could bring his wife over to take a look.  We thought he meant on the weekend or something but they showed up at our door an hour later.

Both Mr and Mrs Potential Buyer liked the condo.  I think they're coming back Saturday or Sunday morning to check out the area and the condo at a different time of day.

Hope we hear back from them. 

If they do make an offer, we're gonna buy our neighbour a huge gift certificate to Home Depot  :)