25 posts tagged “canada”
The real surprise was the marbles sized hail that came down near the end of the storm. It must have been pretty localized since not everyone I talked to the next day had seen it.
The boys were very excited (as was I) and wanted to go out during the storm and collect some hail. I got them to wait till after the storm died down. I still remember the huge hail we had in Quebec during the mid 1980's and didn't want them pummeled to death.
Donna collected some off the patio shelter for them as anything that had fallen on the ground had melted as it was like 30 degrees Celsius (or 86 degrees Fahrenheit) that day.
As the saying goes there's only three things certain in life death, taxes and phishing email scams.
Ok, I added the last one but it seemed appropriate considering this wonderful phishing scam I received regarding my taxes.
There were a few things that let me know that this was not on the up and up.
- The email contained no text. It was just an image.
- I haven't even filed this year's taxes yet.
- I'll be lucky if I get back two dollars let alone over two hundred.
At least it's nice to know that phishers care about Canada even during this economic downturn.
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Quebec's consumer watchdog, Options Consommateurs wants the province to make it illegal for credit card companies to solicit new customers. It might be a little nanny state, but the real problem is that some people do not have the life/economic skills required to deal with having credit. This usually leads to bad credit. I wonder if this is an over correction on their part to the credit crisis south of the border? What's needed is education for some and not taking something away from everyone else. Of course I don't think I would be alone in missing all the junk mail from credit card companies offering new cards we can't afford.
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CBC News has an Econometer (that is updated daily) based on consumers confidence
in the economy. Right now it's pretty evenly balanced from extremely worried to the worst is over. You can weight in on what your feelings are on the subject by completing the poll.
- The OECD says that Canada will be hit by a recession and unemployment rates will increase. Finance Minister Jim Flaherty says that we're not in a recession but we may face a technical one. I'll say that politicians are proficient at double speak. I wonder if a technical recession will be easyier on low income families or people who have lost their jobs.
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Since it doesn't take an economist to realize that spending will be down this holiday season, it will probabley mean better deals as retailers try to entice the few willing to part with their income. I wonder if stores staying open later on the weekends in downtown Montreal will entice more shoppers to spend? Even with the undergound city and extended hours I'm sure the cold and snow will keep a good number of people away regardless of the economy.
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I've heard time and time again that during these troubled economic times, video games are a recession proof sector. The idea being that people are more willing to spend money to nest at home then venture out. It might be true... I've ordered a XBox 360 (as media extender first, game system second). It does certainly seems that the video game industry in Quebec is doing well.
Even thought they have strayed from the tried and true traditional design of moisture vaporators, the Watermill could literately be a life saver for people in remote locations cut off from fresh water or the water cooler of tomorrows kitchen. Just to be on the safe side you better add this to your emergency disaster kit.
When the Watermill takes off it will really be a boom to the droid resale market since what we'll all really need is a droid that understands the binary language of moisture vaporators.
I don't know about you but I can't believe the cost at the pumps the past week, it's like it's 2003 all over again! I'm out of practice guesstimating how much gas I'll get for such a low price.
Of course high gas prices of the past few summers has undoubtedly lead to signs like this below about paying in advance. You've always had to pay first during the night, but i think this is a first for me having to pay during the day.
If you're lucky (or unlucky) enough to be a Bell internet customer you can now get free Wi-Fi internet access at 650 Starbucks arcoss Canada.
I guess Bell feels sorry for us since the CRTC sided with Bell over their policy of internet throttling.
You wonder why there is so much voter apathy when it seems every two years there is either a Federal or Provincial election. So even though we just had a Federal election we now have a December 8th Provincial vote.
This morning I saw the first party sign up at 8am even before I had heard officially that the election had been called. One thing to be said, it's nice not having the USA's two year long campaigns. But I guess we make up for it by having elections more often. At least the campaign is only a few weeks long.
Remember to get out there and vote people!
For everyone who didn't vote... I don't want to hear any complaining till the next election.
No matter who you're voting for you only have till this evening to decide the future of our country for the next few years.
What's interesting is that the main three parties have also truing the the social media like their counterparts down south. You can follow Jack Layton of the NDP, the Liberal Party and Prime Minister Stephen Harper on the Twitter.
If you need some help deciding on who to vote for or who not to vote for, why not check out the main players sites to get an idea what they are about.
Liberal Party of Canada
Conservative Party of Canada
Bloc Québécois
Green Party of Canada
New Democratic Party of Canada EDIT corrected accidental omission
And swing by Elections Canada to see what pieces of identification you'll need at the polling station for instance.
Remember lots of people have died in horrible wars past and present so we can complain about how our votes don't count. Also, you might forget that our grandmothers or great-grandmothers couldn't even vote if they wanted to. Don't waste this privilege and right. Get out there and vote!
There has been 29 cases and
Maple Leaf stock is taking a nose dive just like you'd think, with a lost of $250 million at last count. But business experts say that Maple Leaf will make a full recovery and liken their proactive actions to Johnson & Johnson's after the 1982 Tylenol cyanide murders.
The Canadian Food Inspection Agency has a complete list of recalled products on site. Maple Leaf says not to eat any product labeled with establishment number 97B, but you everyone is ditching all they Maple Leaf products in the home just to make sure, I know we did. You might think that we are over reacting but we do have two groups at risk, children and pregnant women living at home.
I'd like to know how has this affected you and your family? Have you sworn off processed foods? Started visiting your local butcher more? Or are you a vegetarian and telling everyone I told you so?