In honour of Never Say Never
Wednesday, February 09, 2011
Monday, February 07, 2011
I'm An Aanchchoviest
I don't think anchovies really exist.
Think about it. Have you ever had an anchovy? You know about them as pizza toppings that you pray are never on your pizza. They're a topping that only other people have on their pizzas - people with bad taste.
If you were with some people who were ordering a pizza they would ask you what you wanted on your pizza. You would likely say something like "Oh, just about anything is fine with me. Get whatever you want." If they said "Okay. How about anchovies?" You would make a disgusted face and say "Ewww! No. That's gross!" But you've never actually had anchovies.
If you ask your friends if they like anchovies, they'll make a face like they just bit into a lemon sprinkled with mace and say "No way!" But if you ask if they've had any, they'll say they haven't.
Once upon a time, I found the idea of raw fish was really repulsive. Now I love sushi. Once upon a time I found wine intolerable. Now, not so much. Tastes change. It occurred to me that I was judging anchovies without giving them a fair shot. So I started to try to order them with my pizza. But they never seemed to be on any menu! One time I did see it on a menu and I asked about it. They told me something like "Oh, we don't have those. If you want them you have to order a few days in advance." Who orders a pizza a few days in advance?
Then I forgot all about it. Until now. I found a recipe for Cesar Salad dressing. It calls for "1 can of minced anchovies (optional)". I decided to go for it. But, try as I might, I can not find any evidence at any grocery store that anchovies actually exist! So I make the dressing without anchovies. It's not too bad, but I'll never how bad it could be.
Think about it. Have you ever had an anchovy? You know about them as pizza toppings that you pray are never on your pizza. They're a topping that only other people have on their pizzas - people with bad taste.
If you were with some people who were ordering a pizza they would ask you what you wanted on your pizza. You would likely say something like "Oh, just about anything is fine with me. Get whatever you want." If they said "Okay. How about anchovies?" You would make a disgusted face and say "Ewww! No. That's gross!" But you've never actually had anchovies.
If you ask your friends if they like anchovies, they'll make a face like they just bit into a lemon sprinkled with mace and say "No way!" But if you ask if they've had any, they'll say they haven't.
Once upon a time, I found the idea of raw fish was really repulsive. Now I love sushi. Once upon a time I found wine intolerable. Now, not so much. Tastes change. It occurred to me that I was judging anchovies without giving them a fair shot. So I started to try to order them with my pizza. But they never seemed to be on any menu! One time I did see it on a menu and I asked about it. They told me something like "Oh, we don't have those. If you want them you have to order a few days in advance." Who orders a pizza a few days in advance?
Then I forgot all about it. Until now. I found a recipe for Cesar Salad dressing. It calls for "1 can of minced anchovies (optional)". I decided to go for it. But, try as I might, I can not find any evidence at any grocery store that anchovies actually exist! So I make the dressing without anchovies. It's not too bad, but I'll never how bad it could be.
Monday, January 31, 2011
Rent or Own?
For the last year the McQueens have stayed in Embrun, and I with them, unsure how much longer we'll be staying there. During that time I've assumed I'd be renting when I moved out. But, thanks to a nice tax return, some fiscal restraint, some on-call and higher-level acting pay, I had some unexpected growth last quarter. Suddenly, the idea of home-ownership was something that could happen for me in the not-to-distant future.
While the question is still academic, one day I will have to answer it; should I rent or own my dwelling place?
If you just answered "You should own. If you rent, you're just throwing your money away" then you've just disqualified yourself from being informed enough to give me advice on this subject. I'll try to explain why.
First, let's define "throwing your money away." I assume what people mean when they say that in relation to renting as opposed to owing is that you're giving your money away without building equity. In accounting terms, you're moving money from an asset (cash) to an expense (rent). It causes your total equity to decrease. When you own your house or condo, as you pay your mortgage you're actually buying something. When you move out, you will get that money back. In accounting terms, you're moving money from an asset (cash) to another asset (property). Assuming a 0% mortgage, your total equity doesn't change. Then, as the value of your home goes up, your equity increases without you having to actually do anything.
It's true that when you rent, you're throwing your money away. But, it is also true of owning. In fact, you're throwing a lot more money away on ownership. In both cases you have to throw money away on heat, water, utilities, cable, phone, etc. Some of that might be included in the rent, but you are paying for something that you can't get back.
Furthermore, with owning, you're paying interest. In fact, with a 25 year amortization period and a 10% down-payment, you're going to pay for the house about 2 and a half times over; once for the value of the house, and the rest is interest. Paying interest is definitely throwing your money away.
Now, if you're lucky, when you go to sell your house, you can get all that back. Don't forget, with ownership comes maintenance. With rent, somebody else is responsible for upkeep. There's also property taxes. With a condo, there's condo fees, and extra expenses that aren't included in the fees.
In order to compare price sheets, I wrote a little mortguage calculator program. You can fill in all the figures for owning and renting and compare the two. Generally speaking, at the end of the amortization period you'll pay way more for ownership, and you're rent - due to rent control - will be pretty low.
How do you get ahead by renting? This is the hard part. When you own a house, every time you're paying your mortgage you're taking part in a forced-savings plan. If you don't invest in anything else, at least you have a house! With renting, you must invest elsewhere! You need to invest in good mutual funds, money markets, etc. With good investing you can come out ahead.
"But what if the economy tanks, like it did in 2008? Then your investments aren't worth much." True, but neither is your house. When the markets fall your risky investments are worth less. (You shouldn't have many risky investments close to retirement.) In time the markets will rise. You will get your money back. Now, if the local economy tanks, people lose their jobs, and many have to move. Moving requires selling of housing. With people leaving in droves (because the local plant closed, as often happens in a bad economy) then there's lots of people selling their houses, but not many are buying. The law of supply and demand requires the value of the house to fall.
Remember, the value of anything is the most someone is willing to sacrifice for it. If the city estimates the value of your house at $300 000, but no one is willing to buy it for more than $150 000, then your house is really only worth $150 000. After all, that's all you can get out of it. Therefore, that's it's value. Maybe another time someone will to pay more, but not now. And now is when you need it.
Most people also say it's the best investment you'll ever make. I've read a number of books written by several financial advisers and most say the same thing; "If your house is your best investment, you could be in trouble." In fact, here is a good article explaining why it's a bad investment. And here is a good response. They usually say something like "Owning isn't for everyone. You should buy a house because that's how you want to live."
So, my point is that the debate between renting and owning isn't as clear cut as you may initially think.
I have recently come to the conclusion that owning is better than renting for reasons I'll explain later.
While the question is still academic, one day I will have to answer it; should I rent or own my dwelling place?
If you just answered "You should own. If you rent, you're just throwing your money away" then you've just disqualified yourself from being informed enough to give me advice on this subject. I'll try to explain why.
First, let's define "throwing your money away." I assume what people mean when they say that in relation to renting as opposed to owing is that you're giving your money away without building equity. In accounting terms, you're moving money from an asset (cash) to an expense (rent). It causes your total equity to decrease. When you own your house or condo, as you pay your mortgage you're actually buying something. When you move out, you will get that money back. In accounting terms, you're moving money from an asset (cash) to another asset (property). Assuming a 0% mortgage, your total equity doesn't change. Then, as the value of your home goes up, your equity increases without you having to actually do anything.
It's true that when you rent, you're throwing your money away. But, it is also true of owning. In fact, you're throwing a lot more money away on ownership. In both cases you have to throw money away on heat, water, utilities, cable, phone, etc. Some of that might be included in the rent, but you are paying for something that you can't get back.
Furthermore, with owning, you're paying interest. In fact, with a 25 year amortization period and a 10% down-payment, you're going to pay for the house about 2 and a half times over; once for the value of the house, and the rest is interest. Paying interest is definitely throwing your money away.
Now, if you're lucky, when you go to sell your house, you can get all that back. Don't forget, with ownership comes maintenance. With rent, somebody else is responsible for upkeep. There's also property taxes. With a condo, there's condo fees, and extra expenses that aren't included in the fees.
In order to compare price sheets, I wrote a little mortguage calculator program. You can fill in all the figures for owning and renting and compare the two. Generally speaking, at the end of the amortization period you'll pay way more for ownership, and you're rent - due to rent control - will be pretty low.
How do you get ahead by renting? This is the hard part. When you own a house, every time you're paying your mortgage you're taking part in a forced-savings plan. If you don't invest in anything else, at least you have a house! With renting, you must invest elsewhere! You need to invest in good mutual funds, money markets, etc. With good investing you can come out ahead.
"But what if the economy tanks, like it did in 2008? Then your investments aren't worth much." True, but neither is your house. When the markets fall your risky investments are worth less. (You shouldn't have many risky investments close to retirement.) In time the markets will rise. You will get your money back. Now, if the local economy tanks, people lose their jobs, and many have to move. Moving requires selling of housing. With people leaving in droves (because the local plant closed, as often happens in a bad economy) then there's lots of people selling their houses, but not many are buying. The law of supply and demand requires the value of the house to fall.
Remember, the value of anything is the most someone is willing to sacrifice for it. If the city estimates the value of your house at $300 000, but no one is willing to buy it for more than $150 000, then your house is really only worth $150 000. After all, that's all you can get out of it. Therefore, that's it's value. Maybe another time someone will to pay more, but not now. And now is when you need it.
Most people also say it's the best investment you'll ever make. I've read a number of books written by several financial advisers and most say the same thing; "If your house is your best investment, you could be in trouble." In fact, here is a good article explaining why it's a bad investment. And here is a good response. They usually say something like "Owning isn't for everyone. You should buy a house because that's how you want to live."
So, my point is that the debate between renting and owning isn't as clear cut as you may initially think.
I have recently come to the conclusion that owning is better than renting for reasons I'll explain later.
Friday, January 21, 2011
Successful Starving Artists
Longtime blog readers will know how much I love the music recording industry. While I believe in supporting the artists, and I have no problem supporting those who bring the music to me by way of recorded media, like CDs - theoretically. I do have a problem when big business sues the little guy. Especially when the little guy is homeless, or a grandmother who's never owned a computer, or a little girl, or a dead person, or someone other than Bill Gates. It just seems so wrong. Espeically when the evidence of the wrong-doing is weak and easily faked. I used to buy a lot of CDs, until the lawsuits started. Now I boycotte. I only buy music from independent labels.
Then I stumbled across these articles.
It turns out that buying CDs don't really support the artists that much anyway. Read the articles to see the actual math, but a typical artist gets about $24 for every $1000 of record sales. If you buy a CD for $10, the artist gets 24 cents. The system seems designed to keep the artists down, while making the record execs rich. When the industry sues you for allegedly downloading music, they're not fighting for the artists. They're fighting for themselves.
Then I stumbled across these articles.
- http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20100712/23482610186.shtml
- http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20091119/1634117011.shtml
- http://www.salon.com/technology/feature/2000/06/14/love
It turns out that buying CDs don't really support the artists that much anyway. Read the articles to see the actual math, but a typical artist gets about $24 for every $1000 of record sales. If you buy a CD for $10, the artist gets 24 cents. The system seems designed to keep the artists down, while making the record execs rich. When the industry sues you for allegedly downloading music, they're not fighting for the artists. They're fighting for themselves.
Friday, November 19, 2010
Sleepers vs. Non-Sleepers
A couple of weeks after moving into my new apartment, there was a power-outage that lasted from 10:30 at night to about 4:30 in the morning. It was July. I live on the top floor. My room got very warm very quickly.
During the power outage, my apartment was very quiet. Sort of. There are two types of noise: white noise, and non-white noise. I normally sleep with the air conditioner and a fan on. The building's ventilation system makes a certain amount of white noise. That was all silenced. Now, I could hear all the non-white noise, such as people talking in adjacent units, cars driving by on the streets, dogs barking in the distance, etc.
I didn't get to sleep that night until about 4:30 AM. When I told this story to the McQueens Robin laughed and said I was the only person she knew who wouldn't be able to sleep at night during a power-outage. I tried to explain the difference between white noise and non-white noise, and how I can sleep with white noise, but not non-white noise. She didn't buy it. Jack suggested that there seem to be two types of people in the world: sleepers and non-sleepers, and sleepers will never understand non-sleepers.
Sleepers are people that go to bed and sleep. They sleep because they want to sleep. Or because they're comfortable and tired. I was a sleeper when I was a teenager. Actually, most teenagers are.
A non-sleeper can't just go to sleep. They need certain conditions to be in place. During the day, I am a sleeper. At night, I'm a non-sleeper. In the day, I can sleep while sitting upright on a noisy, hot, crowded bus with my head against the bouncing window. But at night, I need everything to be just so.
So I started contemplating the difference between sleepers and non-sleepers, trying to develop a theory as to what makes one one and not the other. Then I stumbled across Today's Articles. It turns out that science already has answers.
When you're awake, your brain produces high frequency brain waves. As you fall deeper into sleep, your brainwaves lower in frequency. Every now and again, while sleeping, a spurt of higher frequency waves are produced. Those spurts are called "spindles". The scientists found that people who produce more spindles don't get woken up as easily as those who produce fewer spindles.
Unfortunately, the question of "how do I make my brain create more spindles?" remains unanswered.
During the power outage, my apartment was very quiet. Sort of. There are two types of noise: white noise, and non-white noise. I normally sleep with the air conditioner and a fan on. The building's ventilation system makes a certain amount of white noise. That was all silenced. Now, I could hear all the non-white noise, such as people talking in adjacent units, cars driving by on the streets, dogs barking in the distance, etc.
I didn't get to sleep that night until about 4:30 AM. When I told this story to the McQueens Robin laughed and said I was the only person she knew who wouldn't be able to sleep at night during a power-outage. I tried to explain the difference between white noise and non-white noise, and how I can sleep with white noise, but not non-white noise. She didn't buy it. Jack suggested that there seem to be two types of people in the world: sleepers and non-sleepers, and sleepers will never understand non-sleepers.
Sleepers are people that go to bed and sleep. They sleep because they want to sleep. Or because they're comfortable and tired. I was a sleeper when I was a teenager. Actually, most teenagers are.
A non-sleeper can't just go to sleep. They need certain conditions to be in place. During the day, I am a sleeper. At night, I'm a non-sleeper. In the day, I can sleep while sitting upright on a noisy, hot, crowded bus with my head against the bouncing window. But at night, I need everything to be just so.
So I started contemplating the difference between sleepers and non-sleepers, trying to develop a theory as to what makes one one and not the other. Then I stumbled across Today's Articles. It turns out that science already has answers.
When you're awake, your brain produces high frequency brain waves. As you fall deeper into sleep, your brainwaves lower in frequency. Every now and again, while sleeping, a spurt of higher frequency waves are produced. Those spurts are called "spindles". The scientists found that people who produce more spindles don't get woken up as easily as those who produce fewer spindles.
Unfortunately, the question of "how do I make my brain create more spindles?" remains unanswered.
Monday, November 15, 2010
Church Hopping - Part 5
Since my last Church Hopping instalment I have visited a few new churches.
Since then I have been to:
- Treevale Pentecostal
- Being a Pentecostal Church, I knew not to expect an orderly service like what I'm used to at Baptist churches. Some of the stereotypes proved to be true. Singing was pretty repetitious. Overall the music was good. The preaching was probably not bad - most of the time. I don't want to start a holy war here, but I happened to visit this church on Pentecost Sunday. So, of course, the sermon was on Tongues. Every time I visit a non-Baptist church I am reminded about how Baptist I am. This time was no exception.
As for Friendliness, I found it somewhat lacking, which is to be expected in a church that large I suppose. But the pastor did make a point of coming and talking to me, which was good. - Village Pentecostal
- I keep going to churches on the wrong Sundays. I went to Chedarview Alliance the day they had the longest preacher in history. I went to Treevale Pentecostal on Pentecost Sunday. I went Village Pentecostal on what turned out to be a very Pentecostal service. The singing started. But it never ended. They never did get to the sermon. They just got swept up in things. They sang for about 2 hours. But, being Pentecostal, they have a penchant for repetition. In those two hours, I think they only sang 3 songs.
Afterword a few people came to talk to me and assured me it wasn't usually like that, and they hoped I'd come back again. Which I did. Last Sunday I went there again. This time there was an actual sermon. Again, I couldn't help thinking about how Baptist I am. The music was very repetitious. When people talk to me at that church, they're always wondering what I thought of the service, and wondering if I'll come again. It's like they're insecure and asking me "So.....how did we do? How do you like us so far?" - West-Fence Alliance
- This church was so-so on the friendly scale. A couple of people made sure they shook my hand and said "hi" as I walked in, but then they went back to what they were doing before. Afterwords, a few people came up to me to talk to me and told me they hoped I'd come back. The preacher was a guest, so I'll have to go back to hear the regular pastor at some point. The music wasn't bad, but it did make me miss Blackbelt Baptist's music. West-Fence does what most other churches do with their music. They play contemporary music - written to be led by guitar and vocals, and led with the piano. They didn't even have a guitarist there that morning (ministry opportunity for me!), so that could be the reason. But, it made me appreciate Blackbelt Baptist all the more.
I have since been back thrice. One time they had two announcements that should have each taken five minutes. They each took about 10 to 15 minutes, leaving the preacher with hardly any time to race through his sermon.
I went a third time where the preacher spoke for 45 minutes. I'm not sure if I happen to be going on the wrong Sundays, or if those Sundays are the norm. I'll have to continue to investigate.
As of writing this, I just went there again this morning. This time the sermon was 55 minutes long. It didn't feel like it - which is good. It felt more like 35 minutes. - Chedarview Alliance - Again
- The McQueens wanted to check this church out one Sunday, so I said I'd meet them there. I figure they wouldn't have the world's most boring preacher back again. I would give it another chance. This time the preaching was great! They showed a video of Andy Stanley. As for friendliness, no one would shake my hand, not even the people handing out bulletins. Not only would they not shake my hand, they wouldn't even make eye-contact with me! That's it. I'm definitely not going back.
- That one in Farhaven
- I forget the name of this church, so I can't come up with a pun-based pseudonym for it. Pastor Jack was preaching here one Sunday morning, so I went. It was a small church in a school gym. The music was decent for what it was. The preaching was great. And the friendliness was also pretty good. However, it is too far for me to go every week. And, for fellowship reasons, I think I want a larger church.
- St. Albany
- This is part of the Anglican Network. We were told it had a cool young adults group. So we went to check it out. They had an after church social (which seems to be an Anglican thing) in the church basement. It took a few minutes, but people were eventually friendly. They took my email addy for the young adults group. Unfortunately, they meet at a time that's inconvenient for me.
The music was decent. The seats, however, were very uncomfortable. They were old-school pews with very little leg room.
For communion, they gave the option of drinking from a communal cup, or individual tiny glasses. If you know me, you already know I opted for the individual glasses. But when I got to the front, the person in front of me got the last individual glass. I had to go for the communal cup. Eeeeewwwwww!
Again; I am very Baptist.
Friday, November 12, 2010
Did You Wash Your Hands?
Anyone who knows me knows how I am about washing hands. I become aware of when I touch something that will cause me to have to wash my hands before touching food. When I'm eating at a function where hand-shaking is required, I shake with my right hand, and handle food with my left. When I have breakfast in a restaurant, pick up my toast with my left hand, and use my right hand for things like the Ketchup bottle, or the salt and pepper shakers - which are rarely washed.
In Today's Article, we get another hand-washing hint. If you wash your hands, and put them below an air-dryer, and rub your hands together it actually brings bacteria out from the pores in your hands, increasing the overall bacteria count on your hands from when you just finished washing your hands. The next best thing to do is not rub your hands.
But the best thing to do is to dry your hands with a paper towel. Using a paper towel allows you to turn off the tap without touching the tap that you touched with your dirty hands, and you can open the door without touching the handle.
In Today's Article, we get another hand-washing hint. If you wash your hands, and put them below an air-dryer, and rub your hands together it actually brings bacteria out from the pores in your hands, increasing the overall bacteria count on your hands from when you just finished washing your hands. The next best thing to do is not rub your hands.
But the best thing to do is to dry your hands with a paper towel. Using a paper towel allows you to turn off the tap without touching the tap that you touched with your dirty hands, and you can open the door without touching the handle.
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