The Radio Girl

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.  

 

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. 

Sunday Morning Spleen

How about a spleen sandwich with your Sunday Brunch?

After my blog post yesterday, I wanted to see exactly how you eat fish jerky, so I googled foreign food.  Instead I found this spleen sandwich video from Sicily. 

BC Road Trip

This morning we woke up in a different time zone.

My Fella went on a work road trip yesterday so I tagged along.  We're still in BC, but for some odd reason southeastern BC is in the Mountain time zone, while the rest of the province is Pacific time. 

That really played havoc with my mind this morning when I couldn't figure out why the TSX wasn't open yet.  I was in the wrong time zone.

Anyway, I love BC road trips.  This is such a beautiful part of Canada.

The clouds rolled in as we drove closer to the Rockies.

And then the rain came...

After the third or fourth rain shower, we noticed this... 

You may see it better here, right over the train tracks... 

And a few miles further down the road, we could see the clouds open up just past the trees. 

I love snowy mountains.  From a distance. 

My Fella has a few things to take care of this morning, and soon we'll be back on the road for the long drive home.  But I have my laptop and my daily apple, so I'm a happy cat.  

And My Fella was pumped about last nights' hotel stay, which meant he could add more little bottles to his mini shampoo collection.  He has a huge supply of shampoos/conditioners from previous road trips. 

He hasn't actually had to buy shampoo in about three years.

Not sure why this makes him so happy.  Guess it really is the little things in life :)

Passport Reminder

Canucks traveling to the USA after June 1st NEED a passport.

According to Passport Canada, Canadians who plan to cross the U.S. border by land or water have only twelve days to apply for a passport.

Beginning June 1st, a passport will be a required travel document for Canadian citizens, 16 years and older, to enter the U.S.

Just realized my passport is upside down... there goes the modeling career.

Swine Flu Update

103 people in Mexico have now died from the swine flu.

Schools and universities are closed in Mexico City, normally busy streets are quiet and soldiers are still handing out surgical masks to residents.  They're doing what needs to be done to contain the virus.

Six mild cases of swine flu have been discovered in Canada, two of them here in BC.

If you follow the blog "Without A Net", Erika wrote a great post on this topic.  And she knows what she's talking about, since she's actually in Mexico City. 

FYI:  I got an email from Erika yesterday - don't worry, she's healthy and totally fine :)

It's Scary Out There

From ABC News:

March 30, 2009 - "A gunman has killed eight people in a nursing home in the town of Carthage, North Carolina, and injured others including a police officer.

Earlier this month, a 28-year-old out of work man killed 10 people, including his mother and a toddler, in a shooting rampage through two counties in the southern state of Alabama, the worst in the state's history.

In December, a man dressed in a Santa suit opened fire at a Christmas party being given by his ex-wife in Covina, California, killing nine people before shooting himself.

In October, an ex-convict opened fire with an assault rifle at a man and two children who had come to trick or treat at his home in Sumter, South Carolina on Halloween. A 12-year-old boy died of his wounds in that incident.

In September, a mentally ill man shot eight people, killing six, in Alger, Washington a month after being released from prison."

And people are scared to travel to Mexico ???

Nogales Border Crossing

Friday night was Poker Night for my fella.

We both firmly believe in 'alone time' in our relationship, especially after spending the last two months soclose together.  So I was happy to hang out at home alone, surfing the 'net and checking out websites I haven't seen in awhile. 

I was kinda surprised to read this story. 

If you're interested, it's about the drug violence in Mexico and the cartels who are killing each other along the USA/Mexico border.  This particular article caught my eye because the focus is the border crossing between Nogales, Arizona and Nogales, Mexico.  The reporter paints a dark picture of both sides of the border - the very same border crossing we used twice in the last three months. 

On one hand I don't feel qualified to comment, being in that area for a mere five hours of my entire life.  On the other hand, this article implies that Nogales is a war torn battle zone, drug lords vs. local cops. 

Before we drove to Mexico, I did a lot of internet research on the Nogales border crossing.  And we spoke to many Canadians who use that crossing regularly with no problems.  

Not only did we feel perfectly safe during our own crossing, we even stopped in Nogales for a couple hours to drive around and buy car insurance.  Neither of us felt fear driving through what was obviously the 'poor' area of town and we actually met some nice Mexican folks who gave us directions to the insurance office.  The office was small and a little run-down but clean, no grafitti.  And we didn't get caught in a single gun battle. 

I'm not being flip about the drug violence in Mexico. 

It does exist and it is terrible.  But in all my Mexican travels over the past fifteen years, I have never seen it.  I have been witness to drug violence in Canada.  In fact, I've been a victim of Canadian drug violence, when a crackhead smashed into my car window looking for money.

We've had so many Canadian friends/co-workers ask us about driving in Mexico.  "What about the banditos and drug runners?"  

I'm sure they're around, but since we're not involved in the drug trade we have no contact with them and find it easy to stay out of their way.  And for anyone that does use drugs, you are an idiot if you think it's a good idea to bring them into a foreign country, or try buy them.  Grab a brain. 

I know I'm all over the place with this post, but here's my point:  If I had read this particular newspaper article before driving through Nogales, it might have influenced us to take a different route.  And if we had taken to heart the hundreds of negative headlines about Mexican drug violence, we may have cancelled the trip completely.

Every story I read about Mexico revolves around headless corpses and border guards with tear gas, yet I have experienced exactly the opposite. 

Mexico is a country full of friendly people, beautiful scenery, family values, fresh food and a laid-back, peaceful lifestyle.  Oh, and drugs.

And all we hear about are the drugs.

Go figure.

 

I Like Weed

But NOT Michael Phelps type of weed. 

I prefer Weed, California.

It's just one of the hundreds of small towns we drove through on our road trip.

We spent nine hours in the car yesterday, traveling 891 kilometers from Palm Springs to Yuba City, CA, where we woke up to our first blast of cold weather.

We were sad to leave the colorful citrus, palm trees and tennis courts of Palm Springs.  Not to mention the gorgeous weather.  Blue sky and highs of at least 27C every day.

But it's nice to get back on the road again.

My fella and I travel really well together.  When we're not fighting.  And before you criticize, perhaps YOU should try spending a string of 10 hour days locked in a car with someone you love  :)

We took a new route home this time, veering off the Interstate and up to Highway 99.  The northbound lanes wove through a quilted California patchwork of farmland, vineyards, walnut growers, apple trees and of course, Weed.   

Continuing north, we crossed the state border into Oregon at 12:30pm.  Not much fanfare, just this lonely welcome sign.  

Two bathroom breaks, one fuel-up and six hours later, we made our final stop of the day in The Dalles.  The Dalles is a small Oregon town south of the Columbia River and only 30 minutes away from the Washington border.     

After supper and a good snooze tonight we should be ready for the final nine hours of driving to get home tomorrow.

*Sidenote:  Fuel has varied in price across the four US states we've traveled (Washington, Oregon, California and Arizona).  We've seen regular gas priced as low as $1.59, and as high as $2.29 USD per gallon.

Lifestyles of the Cheap and Adventurous

We are in the land of palm trees, golf courses and plastic surgeons.

My fella’s parents belong to a vacation club and they generously gave us a week to use on our way home from Mexico. We chose a tennis club in Palm Springs, California. The weather is gorgeous and we’ve been on the court everyday.

Palm Springs is the tennis and golf mecca of the west coast and a very tourist-driven town. It’s been hit hard by the American economic crisis - many stores are out of business and there are buildings up for sale or lease on every second block.

And it's not just a commercial crisis.  There are tons of bank owned homes up for sale in the local paper. The foreclosure notices and bank sales take up more than half the newspaper - not half of the classified section, but half of the ENTIRE paper.

Strolling down the main tourist street, we’ve seen very few folks shopping or eating in restaurants. Luckily our little condo unit has a kitchen because the restaurants are waaay too pricey for us.  The only place we’ve spent money (besides the grocery store) is the huge outlet mall in Cabazon.

Desert Hills Premium Outlet has 130 name brand stores like Nike, Adidas, Gap, Calvin Klein, etc.  Most of the stores have last year’s fashions and the prices are ridiculously low. My fella and I both needed new runners last summer but quality shoes are so expensive in Canada, even when they’re on sale. We hung onto our holey shoes until we got here, and it was worth the wait.

We bought four pairs for $73 USD.

My two pairs of Adidas tennis shoes were $15 EACH!  $30 for two pairs of tennis shoes.  The sales clerk told me they were marked down from $65 because they were last season's shoes.  According to my fella, his new outlet shoes cost less than the secondhand pairs he buys at Value Village in Canada.

I'm a saver, and rarely buy new anything, but after seeing the outlet prices I'll NEVER pay full price for clothes or shoes again.

And FYI - we have a couple more days here... let me know if you need new shoes :)