Happy Canada Day Everyone!

Here it is, Canada Day, the day we celebrate the forming of our country. It is quite sensible and Canadian reason why this day is the anniversary of the birth of our country.

Back in 1867 (or thereabouts) a group of politicians sought to create something larger than just a series of individual colonies of the same mother country. 

After a bunch of political wrangling and back and forth it was agreed to join five of those colonies together into one “dominion” which was to be called “Canada.”

The bill to do that which was called “The British North America Act” which was actually the first in a series of acts which divested powers from Britain to Canada (over Canada).

The important thing is that that first bill, received Royal Assent, meaning it was signed into law by the Sovereign, who was Queen Victoria at the time on March 29, 1867.

Since there was some time needed to implement the actual joining of the colonies, the actual joining did not take place for a few months yet. 

For whatever reason, the date of July the1st was decided. Thus how Canada Day was born.

Now, while it was an imperfect start and there are problems within Canada that need to be addressed, and yes some historical wrongs that need to be righted, for the most part, I would say that Canada now, is a good country and a great place to live. A country that I am proud to call my home and a country that I am proud of.

I choose to see the good and build on those as we try to fix what needs to be fixed. That we make Canada a great place to live for all people who call it home.

So, to all who call Canada home, let me say, have a happy Canada Day!

As always: Keep your head up, your attitude positive, and keep moving forward!

Sorta Half-Day

So, today is a day where I work all day today, yet will only make bonus on half of the day . . . sorta.

Let me explain. So, this is the last day of the month and so it is the last day of my current payperiod. 

I will get my cheque, (or be able to deposit it at any rate) in one week’s time but the window to earn hours and bonus for that cheque will be ending today . . . by noon.

Why? Well, Boss is heading out of town for a week, (starting shortly after noon today) and so Boss wants to process and hand out cheques today (or so is the prevailing theory).

That’s nice and all, as it will let me finalize my budget, as I will know exactly what I am getting on that paycheque.

Yet, since I have to hand in my timesheet by noon today, that means that whatever bonus I earn on any orders shipped after that, will go onto the next payperiod’s timesheet.

So, I won’t lose out on it, as I will get credit for it, just not on this paycheque. I will still get paid for all of my hours, of course, even those I work this afternoon, after Boss has left.

It is just one of those quirks of life working in a small company, and this company in particular. As I have said, I like my job and I like my boss.

I just notice these little things, is all.

As always: Keep your head up, your attitude positive, and keep moving forward!

The Three and a Half-Day Workweek

So, here it is, the workweek with a day off in the middle. Kinda nice, yet kinda torturous.

What I mean is that it is a light workweek, so that is nice.

Yet, as a light workweek with a full day off in the middle, you kinda have a hard time taking it seriously.

As in you kinda can feel that every day is Friday. So you don’t have to take it seriously.

Yet, you then come in the next day to work (except for Wednesday).

So, it is that kinda nice, yet kinda not workweek.

I am still happy as well as, ready, willing and able to come in to work. I for one am still glad that I have a job to come in to.

It just would have been nicer to a long weekend rather than a weird workweek.

As always: Keep your head up, your attitude positive, and keep moving forward!

Last Weekend in June

Here it is, the last weekend in June and the summer is upon us. What’s more is that this week, in the middle of it, is a holiday.

It is a silly day to have a holiday, Wednesday, but that is the actual anniversary of the birth of our country (or my country rather, Canada).

Regardless it will put a wrench in the works of the workweek, but in a fun way.

I am simply looking forward to a bit of a break as I continue to write this novel series that keeps demanding to be written. 

I have finished book five and now just have to sew it together and edit it one more time before moving on to book six (of what appears to be an eight book series of an estimated 1.2 million words).

It is a fun way to pass the time.

I will try my best to get out and about, enjoying a bit of nature and friendly companionship this weekend.

As always: Keep your head up, your attitude positive, and keep moving forward!

Slow and Steady Wins The Race

In our world these days, we want things to be done right now and in the blink of an eye. For many things that is possible, and that is great.

When it comes to change, however, that is a different matter. When it comes to changing your life and rearranging things within it, that takes time.

This is a good thing, because, for one, it takes time for you to get used to such large changes.

For another, sometimes you can only handle a bit of change at a time. So, make the changes that you are comfortable with right now.

Yet it is important to not just make one little change but a series of small changes. Make it a pattern of change, rather than completely changing your life all in one go.

This way, you will be more able to adapt to this way new way of thinking and doing, and accept your new ways as the new normal.

So, when it comes to change, small steps are good. Do what you can, for now, to better yourself, but keep on doing what you can, each and every day. 

As always: Keep your head up, your attitude positive, and keep moving forward!

Made New Stew

So, as you all know, in order to cut down on food costs, I make a large batch of food and freeze it, so that it is ready to go when I want to eat.

It is my way of doing small-scale industrial pre-packaged cooking. Well, yes I did this, this last weekend, but it there was a twist this time . . . I had help.

So, a friend of mine suggested a few different suggestions as to what I could cook, rather than just my typical large batch of “Mealstarter.”

After some chatting bank and forth we settled on a nice beef stew. She even offered for us to cook it at her place, as it made sense, since she had electricity and running water.

I brought over my large stock pot, hotplate and scale and she brought her cooking skills to the table.

We cooked the meal on Sunday but let it sit until last night (yes it was refrigerated) before we divvied it up.

This time it was a bit of a challenge as while I was weighting it, this batch was mostly liquid, as it is a stew and not the more solid stuff that I usually make.

This meant that freezer bags were required rather than just my usual sandwich ziplock bags. (There were a few early failures in packaging let me just say).

Regardless we ended up with 32 meals and some leftover stock. With my more solid stuff, I can end up with twice that much, as I do measure by weight for each meal.

   

This stuff does look good and it is different than what I usually make, so that is another bonus.

So, to thank my friend for all of her help, I split the meals we made evenly, she kept 16 and I took 16 home with me.

All in all it was productive and quite fun. I certainly appreciated the help of my friend.

As always: Keep your head up, your attitude positive, and keep moving forward!

Better Than Expected

So, yesterday I was reporting that I was switching focus in my savings plan. I said that I was pausing funding my TFSA for now and instead focussing on funding my Mid-Term Account.

I had dipped into my Mid-Term Account when the pandemic first hit and I had funded it back to the half-way mark.

I was going to wait until perhaps next year before funding it the rest of the way. This was because I wanted to focus on funding my TFSA and investing in the markets.

Well, with the unstable times that we are in, I recently realized that having ready cash I can lay my hands on, if I need to “run for the hills” so to speak would be wise.

So, starting from yesterday’s payday, I shifted to putting money into my Mid-Term Account until it was fully-funded again.

My original predictions was that it would take until the payday at the end of August (August 22) before it would be fully-funded, but that is not correct.

After refiguring my budgets, I was able to find a way to fund my Mid-Term Account fully by the August 7 payday.

It is one payday forward, but it is still a shorter amount of time that I will be not funding my TFSA

It is important, however, to stick to my Fiscal Directives and have both my Main Account and my Mid-Term Account fully-funded before I resume building my Long-

Term Savings Account (which the TFSA is a part of).

It is a small bit of good news, but I will take any bit of good news these days.

As always: keep your head up, your attitude positive, and keep moving forward!