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Canajun Finances Home » Baseball “Cheats”, D-Day, Fun with Fiji and Friday #ShoutOuts

Baseball “Cheats”, D-Day, Fun with Fiji and Friday #ShoutOuts

It seems baseball is embroiled in yet another “performance-enhancing drugs” scandal, with a few very well-known names being implicated by yet another “wellness clinic”. Are the accusations true? I have no idea, but baseball is slowly turning into a bit of a “Gong Show” in terms of this kind of stuff. It’s interesting how “America’s Game” is gradually sliding into Side Show Carnival silliness (America’s Game is now the NFL, if you are asking).

D-Day
View from LCI(L) 306 of the 2nd Canadian (262nd RN) Flotilla showing ships of Force ‘J’ en route to France on D-Day.

The anniversary of D-Day was yesterday, a day that must be remembered in history. As a Project Manager, I am astounded at the logistics that were overcome to make the invasion successful, and as an amateur history buff, the bravery of the soldiers astounds me as well (whether I would have got into one of those landing crafts is a question I am glad I never had to answer).

I enjoyed some quality Rugby on Wednesday as Canada defeated Fiji here in Ottawa. It was a great game played, I am glad to see the Canadian side picking up an important win against a very strong (and fast as lightning) Fijian squad.

My Weekly Recap

Rugby in Ottawa and now the Mighty Penguins are faltering. Quite the sports week:

My Writings for Week Ending June 7th

There are Food and Travel Bloggers in Ottawa? Why?

Best of: A parable about advice (not just financial)

Sometimes even the most innocent of stories can have catastrophic consequences.

The Perils of Home Ownership

There is a lot of joy in owning a home, however, it does have it’s problems as well.

Cell Phone Contracts Two years (ONLY)

This ruling from the CRTC only comes into effect in December, so not sure what it means to those lucky folks who already have 3 year contracts.

Never Buy a Car at Night

Also, never call your son Sue, if we are handing out useful advice.

What is wrong in this story

You might have thought it was identity theft, however, that really was not the point of this oldie but goody.

 

Lots of interesting stuff going on around the world this week:

Top Stories of the Week of June 7th

Jean Stapleton died this week, another Celebrity I was positive was already dead!

 

Hot off the Press – 2012 TFSA Penalty Statements are Arriving at a Mailbox Near You

Hooray? The BBC points out that if you were naughty and over indulged in your TFSA the CRA will be contacting you shortly.

Why Some Decisions Don’t Make Financial Sense

Boomer of Boomer and Echo points out a few fallacies in the financial planning world, that need remedy.

Watch your Speed & Save

Gail Vaz-Oxlade points out that those speeding tickets will add up, especially for your insurance premiums.

How I can save you close to $100,000

Mark at My Own Advisor gives out useful tips which seem small but can add up. He didn’t add the useful, “Don’t Have Kids!” hint from me.

The Energy Fix: When Will The U.S. Reach Energy Independence? [Infographic]

Popular Science puts their money where their mouth is and suggests when the U.S. might be energy independent, my guess would be the 12th of never might be a better guess.

Opportunity Cost and Your Retirement

Jim Yih is pointing out that when you take money out of your RRSP and such, you lose the future value of it too. That’s OK, I am still retired, so that’s good.

Converting an RRSP to RRIF (Registered Retirement Income Fund)

Tom at Canadian Finance gives us a walk through of how your RRSP can be transferred into an RRIF, and the best part of that is, you are retired.

We Build, We Fight: The Role of the Seabees in the Invasion of Normandy

Scientific American shows that the Combat Engineers were very important to the D-Day Invasion.

 

Can a Raise be Bad for Your Finances?

Michael James not only has this odd title, he then turns the phrase, “…Suddenly, through no fault of my own, I get a 10% raise …”, HOW DARE THEY!

A New ETF of Strip Bonds

The Canadian Couch Potato shows that there are ETFs for just about any interesting investment idea, and for those lovers of Strip Bonds, voila! One for you too.

Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak speaks out on tax

The British Broadcasting Corp (another BBC) has an interview where the Great and All Knowing Woz, speaks out about how we should all pay taxes the same way corporations do.

You can’t blame Mark Carney for our poor saving habits

Preet says we can’t point the finger at the former BoC leader? He can’t be suggesting it’s our fault, can he? This the No-Fault generation, I blame Global Warming myself.

Video to Get Me Banned in China

Do you remember Tank Man ? Here is a Frontline video that talks about him, last I checked I wasn’t banned in China, this might change that.

Watch The Tank Man on PBS. See more from FRONTLINE.

Best of 2013

Some of the best of posts from 2013

Feel Free to Comment

  1. BCM – I can definitely relate to your comment around being in awe of the logistics of pulling off something like D-Day. I am a project manager as well and just finished reading the rise/fall of the third reich. In it was continuously amazed at the scale with which first the Germans then the allies were able to amass such an incredible amount of arms and new weapons. I don’t know about in your world but a 3 year project plan is relatively normal in mine but they were cranking out ships/planes/tanks at rates I can not begin to comprehend.

  2. It’s interesting to me how upset fans get about bb players using drugs, but no one seems to bat an eye at the NFL players. The logic escapes me.

  3. Thanks for the mention. To me the biggest problems with baseball are 1) the cameras are so focused on close-ups that you can’t see what’s going on, 2) the games take way too long to play (much longer than they were 30 years ago), and 3) the home-run fences are way too close (I’m tired of seeing outfielders watch lazy fly balls they could easily catch land just over a short fence).

    1. My over-arching complaint about baseball is the arrogance of MLB in general. They seem to think everyone loves the game and they don’t have to try to get people interested. Games taking over 4 hours is ridiculous too, R.A. Dickey is my new hero, his games take less than 2 hours (if he can make it happen).

  4. BCM,
    Thx for the link. Some weeks I think I could use some performance enhancing blog drugs to help write my blogs. Got any contacts, you seem to have some extra energy some weeks. Wink Wink 🙂

  5. Getting tired of all the baseball scandals, more…. *yawn*. That sport will never clean up its act I’m afraid. I stopped watching well over a decade ago.

    Nice reminder about D-Day.

    Thanks for the mention, stay dry.
    Mark

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