Ah Canada.
Yesterday: 34 degrees C, "feels like" 41. Gosh.
Life is *very* exciting. In precisely one week, we will have moved, barring unforseen thingummawhatsits.
I have two courgette plants, a tomato plant, and a sunflower all begging to be planted outside. And a couple of amazing asparagus plants that probably wouldn't complain, either.
The asparagus tips poking their tiny heads above the soil was so very cool. The stems were probably less than 1/2 mm thick, identical to the tips you'd usually buy at the supermarket except in scale.
So next week: boxes, packing up our meagre posessions - a tall bookcase of books, some saucepans, etc. We're hiring a "cargo van" to move - in the UK it would be a long wheelbase Transit, I guess.
And that'll be it! No more Ottawa, touch wood no more fireworks going off in the middle of the day (what's that about, neighbours?!). And - best of all to my heat-frazzled self - a small window air-conditioning unit.
NOT that I want it running much, but the last few days have just been... yeowch.
I mean really. Well, we're on a parallel with somewhere in France, so it's not surprising!
Then the home-adventure begins: a garden, with the desire to grow stuff in it.
Oh, and room for all my video gaming equipment to finally come out of their boxes and be set up permanently!
Friday, June 22, 2012
Monday, April 30, 2012
The Spanish Opportunity
So.. youth unemployment is high in Spain. Everyone's afraid.
But surely this is a grand opportunity for a renaissance in Europe? Perhaps planting trees, greening the desert.
What isn't needed: millions more tertiary industry employees. Service sector - pen-pushers, or people trying to sell mobile phones, cases, gadgets in shopping centres. There are enough of those, and most of the senior job positions are being held on to by the baby boomers who can't afford to retire due to not saving.
Ok, fine. So the answer isn't more of the same - hurrah! Not more concrete, more commercial, more lives wasted.
I really love Ursula K LeGuin's book "The Disposessed". In one half of it, people are in a perhaps over-communist society - but it works, mostly. When there are emergencies, the people are mobilised to work, for the good of society.
How can the Spanish unemployed be motivated, sustained and utilised?
Or a slightly different question - how can those people be brought together as brothers and sisters in the same manner as during a time of war, but without the actual war?
By best idea would be tree planting. Individual gardening. Self-sufficiency in huge numbers.
Starting something from within - not demonstrating against the government, the lack of money, the austerity. But finding their own solutions, making something wonderful for themselves.
How to get the ball rolling, though, is what I don't know.
There is a huge opportunity there, I can just taste it, almost feel it. It's called meaningful work. Fixing up our despoiled planet, with the resources we have.
What a resource! A whole generation!
But surely this is a grand opportunity for a renaissance in Europe? Perhaps planting trees, greening the desert.
What isn't needed: millions more tertiary industry employees. Service sector - pen-pushers, or people trying to sell mobile phones, cases, gadgets in shopping centres. There are enough of those, and most of the senior job positions are being held on to by the baby boomers who can't afford to retire due to not saving.
Ok, fine. So the answer isn't more of the same - hurrah! Not more concrete, more commercial, more lives wasted.
I really love Ursula K LeGuin's book "The Disposessed". In one half of it, people are in a perhaps over-communist society - but it works, mostly. When there are emergencies, the people are mobilised to work, for the good of society.
How can the Spanish unemployed be motivated, sustained and utilised?
Or a slightly different question - how can those people be brought together as brothers and sisters in the same manner as during a time of war, but without the actual war?
By best idea would be tree planting. Individual gardening. Self-sufficiency in huge numbers.
Starting something from within - not demonstrating against the government, the lack of money, the austerity. But finding their own solutions, making something wonderful for themselves.
How to get the ball rolling, though, is what I don't know.
There is a huge opportunity there, I can just taste it, almost feel it. It's called meaningful work. Fixing up our despoiled planet, with the resources we have.
What a resource! A whole generation!
Friday, April 27, 2012
Well.. the lovely old house was just too expensive given our "non-standard incomes" (ie, we're both on contract).
However, with a sizeable downpayment, the bank has agreed to lend us enough to buy a small house in the town of Arnprior, about 45 minutes West of Ottawa.
It's a compromise. Not ideal for my wife while she's working in Ottawa (though there is a commuter bus), but thankfully she's willing to make the sacrifice, so I can have a bit more room and - most importantly, a garden.
Not a big garden - the whole lot is about 70' by 120'. But "enough" to get me started, I think.
We'll be really close to a river, too, which is a huge bonus - I miss the sea so much, it's just like part of me is missing. One day we'll move somewhere overlooking the ocean, I think!
The current downside is that we don't actually complete until the end of June and I'm going a little bit crazy. Thankfully I'll be in the UK for most of May. But I'm bursting to take action - and there is just no room to do anything that would actually be useful here.
Like build a small greenhouse or coldframe. Starting seeds.. yes, when I get back.
Currently my hobby is silver... silver coins mostly. Why? Ahh.. I'm not really an armageddon-worrier, but paper money with nothing real backing it.. I can understand why it is prone to government (and, currently, bank) abuse.
Quantitative easing: Oh, nobody's lending anyone any money. Let's just print more, then!
Not inflationary, at all...
Oh yeah - and it's so pretty! Have a look at Fiji Taku 1oz coins - beautiful!
However, with a sizeable downpayment, the bank has agreed to lend us enough to buy a small house in the town of Arnprior, about 45 minutes West of Ottawa.
It's a compromise. Not ideal for my wife while she's working in Ottawa (though there is a commuter bus), but thankfully she's willing to make the sacrifice, so I can have a bit more room and - most importantly, a garden.
Not a big garden - the whole lot is about 70' by 120'. But "enough" to get me started, I think.
We'll be really close to a river, too, which is a huge bonus - I miss the sea so much, it's just like part of me is missing. One day we'll move somewhere overlooking the ocean, I think!
The current downside is that we don't actually complete until the end of June and I'm going a little bit crazy. Thankfully I'll be in the UK for most of May. But I'm bursting to take action - and there is just no room to do anything that would actually be useful here.
Like build a small greenhouse or coldframe. Starting seeds.. yes, when I get back.
Currently my hobby is silver... silver coins mostly. Why? Ahh.. I'm not really an armageddon-worrier, but paper money with nothing real backing it.. I can understand why it is prone to government (and, currently, bank) abuse.
Quantitative easing: Oh, nobody's lending anyone any money. Let's just print more, then!
Not inflationary, at all...
Oh yeah - and it's so pretty! Have a look at Fiji Taku 1oz coins - beautiful!
Wednesday, February 22, 2012
Buying..
..a house, when Canada's property market is almost certainly soon to "pop"?
Are we mad?
Well.. maybe. But, like stock investing, it's all about value.
We're looking at houses that are decent, with a reasonable amount of land - so I can finally start growing stuff. We're looking at the market as if the house price correction has already started to happen... I guess if the vendors don't agree we'll just bide our time until the right one comes along.
So we went to see a lovely, old house yesterday. Really solid, well cared for, within a decent commute of the city, and with a couple of acres. A really good compromise for all our needs. It's just the price...
We'll put a low offer in and see where that gets us. I'm not optimistic, but we are in a good position - flexible, able to move quickly, no chain, and so on. Just slightly lacking in the cash department!
Fingers crossed!
Are we mad?
Well.. maybe. But, like stock investing, it's all about value.
We're looking at houses that are decent, with a reasonable amount of land - so I can finally start growing stuff. We're looking at the market as if the house price correction has already started to happen... I guess if the vendors don't agree we'll just bide our time until the right one comes along.
So we went to see a lovely, old house yesterday. Really solid, well cared for, within a decent commute of the city, and with a couple of acres. A really good compromise for all our needs. It's just the price...
We'll put a low offer in and see where that gets us. I'm not optimistic, but we are in a good position - flexible, able to move quickly, no chain, and so on. Just slightly lacking in the cash department!
Fingers crossed!
Monday, January 9, 2012
Early retirement? New Year's Resolutions?
Well, my post-Christmas holiday is coming to an end. It's been a lovely, lazy, thinking-ful 10 days, but... back to work tomorrow.http://www.blogger.com/img/blank.gif
A couple of good blogs I found yesterday/today:
Simple Living in Suffolk (UK)
Mr. Money Mustache (Lives in US but is from Canada)
Lots in the news about the economy, how in Canada there is an increase in "Employment Insurance" starting this month and talk of pension increases/opt-out employer policies, and lots and lots of people complaining they don't have anything left over at the end of the month.
One blog has a guy living on about $7000 (US) per year. Apparently the average wage here in Canada is $30k. Taking off the complicated list of taxes and compulsory deductions (different for each province), that would give an annual income of... $22000 or so here in Ontario. Or about $1800 per month (at current exchange rates, that would be about 1100 GBP per month).
The last two months have been expensive, relatively, with Christmas and a few expensive purchases. Excluding all that, I reckon the two of us - living in a rented 1 bedroom flat - spend about $1500 a month (950 GBP).
Yes yes, we are DINKYs (dual income, no kids yet). And yes, I earn a bit more than average, though I am freelance and only working 3 days a week at the moment.
It's a slippery slope, I guess. Once you've got your house, and it was at the upper end of your affordability to begin with, you're kinda stuck. Then along comes a child, or two, and, and, and...
It's nice reading the blogs I linked - reminds me I'm not crazy, alone in thinking this stuff. I WANT TO RETIRE! Yes, and I'm only 31. Can I do it - save hard for 2-3 years, pay off everything, and just... stop working? Of course it wouldn't be "the end" - I want to grow most of our food. I want to have solar panels providing some of our energy needs, and have a wood lot providing the rest.
Then all I need is enough money to pay for property tax.
Is it that simple? Doubtful!
A couple of good blogs I found yesterday/today:
Simple Living in Suffolk (UK)
Mr. Money Mustache (Lives in US but is from Canada)
Lots in the news about the economy, how in Canada there is an increase in "Employment Insurance" starting this month and talk of pension increases/opt-out employer policies, and lots and lots of people complaining they don't have anything left over at the end of the month.
One blog has a guy living on about $7000 (US) per year. Apparently the average wage here in Canada is $30k. Taking off the complicated list of taxes and compulsory deductions (different for each province), that would give an annual income of... $22000 or so here in Ontario. Or about $1800 per month (at current exchange rates, that would be about 1100 GBP per month).
The last two months have been expensive, relatively, with Christmas and a few expensive purchases. Excluding all that, I reckon the two of us - living in a rented 1 bedroom flat - spend about $1500 a month (950 GBP).
Yes yes, we are DINKYs (dual income, no kids yet). And yes, I earn a bit more than average, though I am freelance and only working 3 days a week at the moment.
It's a slippery slope, I guess. Once you've got your house, and it was at the upper end of your affordability to begin with, you're kinda stuck. Then along comes a child, or two, and, and, and...
It's nice reading the blogs I linked - reminds me I'm not crazy, alone in thinking this stuff. I WANT TO RETIRE! Yes, and I'm only 31. Can I do it - save hard for 2-3 years, pay off everything, and just... stop working? Of course it wouldn't be "the end" - I want to grow most of our food. I want to have solar panels providing some of our energy needs, and have a wood lot providing the rest.
Then all I need is enough money to pay for property tax.
Is it that simple? Doubtful!
Monday, January 2, 2012
During the war...
Austerity.
Pretty common word, this last year. But what does it mean?
Bleakness, saving, rationing... in Britain during and after the second world war there was a sweet ration - all the way to 1953, believe it or not. There was a limit to the number of buttons a piece of clothing could have.
Of course, this was all implemented by the government, and now there is a lot more free market capitalism in play. While here in Canada there is a lot of country-patriotism, it feels like the amount of belief people have in the political class is about as limited as in the UK.
As far as I am aware, nothing is truly rationed. Milk is just over a dollar per litre (more like $2.50 if you buy organic, but that's another story); petrol is only slightly more than that - currently $1.20 or there abouts.
Minimum wage is about $11, and about £6 in the UK. I can buy enough food for a week for 3 hours work, say. Cabbage, yes; pasta on special, or 5kg potatoes for $3.
Austerity? One less flat screen TV? We don't know the meaning of the word.
Pretty common word, this last year. But what does it mean?
Bleakness, saving, rationing... in Britain during and after the second world war there was a sweet ration - all the way to 1953, believe it or not. There was a limit to the number of buttons a piece of clothing could have.
Of course, this was all implemented by the government, and now there is a lot more free market capitalism in play. While here in Canada there is a lot of country-patriotism, it feels like the amount of belief people have in the political class is about as limited as in the UK.
As far as I am aware, nothing is truly rationed. Milk is just over a dollar per litre (more like $2.50 if you buy organic, but that's another story); petrol is only slightly more than that - currently $1.20 or there abouts.
Minimum wage is about $11, and about £6 in the UK. I can buy enough food for a week for 3 hours work, say. Cabbage, yes; pasta on special, or 5kg potatoes for $3.
Austerity? One less flat screen TV? We don't know the meaning of the word.
Friday, November 4, 2011
Staying Put
What's the point of a blog with no posts?
Well... plenty is going on. I got my interim work permit, I got a folding bike, and all sorts of other things.
Folding bike: awesome. It's the same as one I had in the UK, a Dahon Speed D7. Nippy, compact, generally wonderful.
Work permit: also awesome except it does not allow me to leave and come back to Canada. Hmm. Well, whatever - hopefully I'll be a Permanent Resident before 2013!! And it stops me flying anywhere - I'm perfectly happy about that.
We've decided to stay put in our little flat for another year. It's small, but cheap, and "enough" - we can't reduce to anything smaller, but a bit more room would be nice. So I'm bumping along at minimum in terms of physical space - we have no garden, one bedroom, living room which is mostly office, and a kitchen. That's all!
I'm getting more used to Ottawa. Where we are - Hintonburg/Mechanicsville, a couple of km from Parliament, is actually pretty nice. I'm beginning to think I could be happy living in a house (with a garden!) here long term. We have everything we need close by.
Work is currently uninspiring, but I'm going freelance/contract in a week so that will hopefully give me more time to be outside, and so on. It's currently still *very* busy despite the fact it was supposed to ease off come the start.. middle.. end of October. But at least the time goes quickly!
I'm still fascinated by what's happening in the EU and Eurozone. And by what may or may not happen in Canada. But it seems quite far away now. I'm warm, cozy, and generally content - of drained by work and so not particularly sociable.
Come the 21st of December (shortest day), Ottawa will still get 8 hours and 43 minutes of daylight.
London (UK) will get 7 hours and 50 minutes.
Edinburgh (UK) will get 6 hours and 57 minutes.
And Reykjavik (Iceland) will get only 4 hours and 7 minutes!
Well... plenty is going on. I got my interim work permit, I got a folding bike, and all sorts of other things.
Folding bike: awesome. It's the same as one I had in the UK, a Dahon Speed D7. Nippy, compact, generally wonderful.
Work permit: also awesome except it does not allow me to leave and come back to Canada. Hmm. Well, whatever - hopefully I'll be a Permanent Resident before 2013!! And it stops me flying anywhere - I'm perfectly happy about that.
We've decided to stay put in our little flat for another year. It's small, but cheap, and "enough" - we can't reduce to anything smaller, but a bit more room would be nice. So I'm bumping along at minimum in terms of physical space - we have no garden, one bedroom, living room which is mostly office, and a kitchen. That's all!
I'm getting more used to Ottawa. Where we are - Hintonburg/Mechanicsville, a couple of km from Parliament, is actually pretty nice. I'm beginning to think I could be happy living in a house (with a garden!) here long term. We have everything we need close by.
Work is currently uninspiring, but I'm going freelance/contract in a week so that will hopefully give me more time to be outside, and so on. It's currently still *very* busy despite the fact it was supposed to ease off come the start.. middle.. end of October. But at least the time goes quickly!
I'm still fascinated by what's happening in the EU and Eurozone. And by what may or may not happen in Canada. But it seems quite far away now. I'm warm, cozy, and generally content - of drained by work and so not particularly sociable.
Come the 21st of December (shortest day), Ottawa will still get 8 hours and 43 minutes of daylight.
London (UK) will get 7 hours and 50 minutes.
Edinburgh (UK) will get 6 hours and 57 minutes.
And Reykjavik (Iceland) will get only 4 hours and 7 minutes!
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