I am SO full

The other day my wife and I were in a local Tim Horton's (coffee and donut shop for you non-Canuks) with our great niece ("great" as in "daughter of a niece", who also happens to a great little girl) and I happened to look up to see, on the wall beside us, a poster imploring people to make the right nutritious choices when picking foods. It hit me, at that instant, how blessed we are to be living in a time and place where such choices are not only possible, but are taken for granted, like the air we breath. (Yes, it did also seem incongruous to have such a poster in a donut shop, of all places.)

I don't know what the correct statistics are but I would hazard a guess that 70% of the world's population do not have such choices. And I'm not just talking about rural China or Uganda or Afghanistan. There is a significant proportion of our own communities who ask not whether they've had enough carbs (or fiber or protein) today but whether they'll get any food at all today.

My intention here is not to make you feel guilty if you are one of the fortunate ones who have never felt the pain of hunger or the despair of no foreseeable way out of the hole. Your situation is what it is. It is not the issue. What I do want to do is to remind you that there are people who need help, and perhaps you are the one who can help.

I do not say you "owe" anyone anything. I do not even say it is anyone's "duty" to help, but you and I were put on this Earth for a reason and perhaps it is to help others, perhaps not. You must look within yourself to see what your life's purpose is. But while you're doing that, would it hurt to take a bag or two of groceries down to the local food bank or shelter? (If you don't know where your local food bank is drop them off at any local church. They'll know what to do with it.)

We need to work off some of that Christmas turkey, anyways, so why not haul a couple of bags of groceries to people who really need it. It'll do us both some good.

Process and (or is that "versus") Results

Sometimes I worry about my retirement years. Not about whether we'll have enough money to maintain our lifestyle (maybe even somewhat enhanced), but how long it will be before my wife either kills me or kicks me out of the house. (Actually, I'm only half kidding: she won't actually kill me - she couldn't even kill spiders, which she despises more than anything in this world, but she may very well kick me out of the house.)

See, we were both in our 30's when we met and married, so we were pretty much set in our ways. She has her ways of doing things and I have mine and we don't always agree. And most of the time we're each convinced ours is the only and correct way.

Don't get me wrong; we work wonderfully well together for the important things, but for little everyday things like making lunch we'll have a fight over. She prefers that things are cleaned up after each step so there's no "mess" at all. I prefer to get the job done first and clean up afterwards. (If you walked in the kitchen when I'm preparing a sandwich you could not be faulted for thinking I was preparing a 3 course meal.) In my mind the end result is the same: a clean kitchen, and it is the end result that matters. To my wife, the process is just as important.

After 20+ years of marriage I have finally come to realize (yes, I'm a slow learner) that it is far better for me to stay out of the way (and feel guilty about not helping) than to stay and have a small skirmish. After all, it is the end result that matters and my guilty feelings is a small price to pay for peace. Besides, the guilty feelings are completely my issue and is something I can work on.

How does this make sense?

Just read in the Hamilton Spectator this morning that city staffers are proposing that HSR fare increases be tied to property tax increases. My first reaction to this was "What does HSR fares have to do with property taxes?" As far as I can tell they are totally unrelated (or should be).

What's worse is that this is being proposed as a convenience for the councillors so they don't have to debate fare increases ever again! I'm sorry but that is unacceptable. Hamilton has apparently made poverty reduction a priority, but seem happy to automatically add to the burden of those most affected just so a bunch of politicians do not have to decide whether a fare increase is justified and can feel good about themselves because they're no longer arguing.

The article also says that "it will be the first policy of its kind in Canada". I can only say there's probably good reason no one else has thought of doing this: It makes no sense and is irresponsible! Being first is not always a good thing.

Granted this policy is only a proposal for now and Council must still vote on it. I just hope they vote the right way.

I Love Google Maps

Just found out today that another great feature has been added to Google Maps: The ability to find foreclosures in any neighbourhood in the USA (sorry Canada). I have no idea how long this feature has been available but I only found it today.

Here's how: Zoom in to any neighbourhood within the USA (yes, even Puerto Rico), click on the "More" box in the top right corner, then click on the checkbox next to "Real Estate". This will populate the sidebar with all for sale listings (but not including foreclosures). To get the foreclosures click on the checkbox next to "Foreclosure" in the Listing Type criterion (see screencap above), and voila! You can also refine your search by the number of bedrooms, the number of bathrooms and size in square feet.

Whether you're a real estate investor or just looking to purchase your own home, this is another great tool to help with your research. To get a closer look at any property, any where in the country, all you have to do is zoom in to get the Streetview view. Saves a lot of time and gas not having to drive around!