16th
May
2008
After a certain number of children have passed through the house, a parent develops a feeling for which of the various “rites of passage” come with an acceptable risk factor. My three sons have all gone through a similar formation, that of the concert band, and the big night of the year is the final performance. Not so much the show, but what follows afterward is at the crux of this posting; the famous “after concert” party.
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posted in economy, education |
6th
May
2008
Let’s give credit to parents with children who decide (together) that post-secondary studies are a worthwhile investment. I mean that in both the literal and the subjective senses, because “me and mine” have been there and now the “mine and me” are considering the idea.
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posted in economy, education |
3rd
May
2008
Do you remember when you would ask your parents for some money and after a “short period of reflection” they would dig out the coin purse, cross your palm with silver (in the old days, the mint actually used semi-precious metals) and ask you to explain, again, what exactly you were going to do with all that capital? Do you remember how you loved the idea of finally earning your own cash? No controls. Free to spend as you pleased, on your own where and when. In some places, freedom to manipulate currency is not a given.
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posted in economy |
9th
April
2008
It takes that “little shove” (sometimes) to get me moving and doing… yesterday my angst over going shopping was obvious. Today, I went, I bought, I came home. A personal version of that thing Caesar said: veni, vidi, vici. Without the bloodshed or need to build roads and march in step for miles.
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posted in economy, media |
8th
April
2008
If I were a rich man, I think that I’d hire a personal assistant. No need to have a cook or bottlewasher, not even a dog walker, but just someone that had a keen eye and a sense of what should make the short list of clothing in my closets. Because I’ve come to the realization that I’m not very good at picking what to wear.
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posted in economy |
7th
April
2008
Let’s start with a disclaimer: I am a trained amateur AND a trained professional. At least, if the subject is radio. Specifically, a radio used for personal communications. I do not own, or use, the device spawned by Beelzebub, known colloquially as “the cell.” For whatever reason, the industry doesn’t invite me to give qualified input on the subject. Let us continue.
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posted in economy |
28th
March
2008
I felt like I hit the parcel jackpot this afternoon. After picking up a cylinder containing fifteen pairs of scissors at work (destined for a group of scrapbooking students that I’ll never meet), I got home to my trusty Superbox to find even more booty.
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posted in economy |
29th
February
2008
Today doesn’t really exist. An invention of a calendar wizard in long forgotten times, a day that wouldn’t have continued if the French had managed to promulgate their new method for calculating the passage of time after the Revolution, it doesn’t even have a patron saint. When the economic calculations are in, it will be seen to have as little worth as the Daylight Saving Time Act (which is actually a series of provincial legislations.)
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posted in economy |
26th
February
2008
It seems to me a strange thing, mystifying… an excellent line from a great period musical that also describes today’s federal government budget. Which, in passing, the official opposition has already agreed to support, which, in passing, means that we’re stuck with it. Nothing like a government that rules by minority.
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posted in economy |
25th
February
2008
Let’s get a few details in order. Bank robbery is wrong. Bank fraud is wrong. Bank giving me permission to withdraw money even after I insist repeatedly that it’s not my account; confusing. One poor man in the Empire State is now facing charges for exactly this reason.
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posted in economy, media |