.
.
Yesterday on the job. The intersection of 96 Avenue
and 176 Street in Surrey. Stopped facing east on 96 ave. You can left
click me and blow me up if you like.
.
Home of the Guaranteed Daily Commentary....
Yesterday on the job. The intersection of 96 Avenue
and 176 Street in Surrey. Stopped facing east on 96 ave. You can left
click me and blow me up if you like.
.
Good Morning Friends,
.
today is Wednesday December 30, 2009
.
.See what I mean? About the stock market, that is. So, there I was all pumped up yesterday and thinking the market was in decent shape and that it was going to continue its upward momentum. And, then what happens? Well, there is sort of a sell-off world-wide, more or less. Actually, the losses in my portfolio were fairly minimal yesterday, with some of my Canadian equity funds actually showing gains. But, the damage seems to be occurring in the commodities sector, you know, things like oil and gold. And, these are the things that propelled the Canadian market higher this year. Well, now they are in decline as you can see. I just finished reading a Bloomberg article detailing how some of the big U.S. equity funds never recovered from the tech meltdown at the beginning of the century. Like some are down as much as 67% or so. Now, that is brutal indeed. But, it is also a stark lesson for all of us I think. The market is a dangerous game based on greed and fear. That is what it is pure and simple. And, that is why I run a defensive portfolio - because I can sense the dangers that lurk in that place known as the market. I am currently up just over 13% for the year and I am trying to hold on to those gains as you might expect. Anyhow, I will be doing a post over on the main part of my blog, mostly likely tomorrow night showing my year end and quarterly returns for my portfolio.
.
Work was kind of slow yesterday, but not a write off though. I made a bit of dough and I got to test out my GPS a little more. I used it most of the day actually even though I really did not have to of course. I just wanted to get the feel of the thing that is all. There were a couple of instances though where it helped me out. I thought I knew what I was doing in Chilliwack, for example, but the GPS located an address and I didn't really realize that that is where it was. I even drove by the street that the machine told me to turn right on because I thought it was making a mistake. So, I drove back and discovered that it knew what it was doing all along. The thing about the machine though is that it keeps you from trying to locate addresses on buildings and that kind of thing. It makes you lazy in a way. So, that is something that I am going to have to get used to. The machine will have to do all of the work knowing what the addresses are. I am going to have to give up some power to the machine and rely on its ability to know what the addresses are. So, hopefully, with this new realization that the machine knows best I will be the better for it. Like, for example, I was in downtown Vancouver at the end of the day and I let the machine guide me from an area to the south of the core to an area that I was not totally sure of right downtown. I wanted to see if the machine could take me to an address that was fairly foreign to me. And, it did it without a hitch, detailing and leading me by the hand in downtown rush hour traffic. So, that will be a plus for those streets that I am not totally confident with. And, there are lots of these kinds of streets let me assure you.
.
So, just a couple more days at work and then we can wrap things up for another year. That means telling you about my portfolio performance as I stated above and cleaning up the other areas of my life as well. I suppose the big thrill for me right now is the opening of the track on the weekend, starting on New Year's Day on Friday. So, you all know what to do if you are popping into town. Talk to you all later.
.
.
Good Morning Friends,
.
today is Sunday December 27, 2009
.
Pictured above friends is my latest toy. Actually, it is not a toy at all because I bought it for work in the courier business. Hopefully, this new tool will make me more productive and satisfied on the job.
.
The model of the GPS shown above is the Garmin Nuvi 255W. I did not get the model with the hands free capability although I could have. It would have the same features as the above model of course but with that added convenience. I just decided against it that is all. So, Boxing Day turned out quite exciting for me as you can see. I was up early, even at 6:00 AM which is when the store actually opened in one of our local malls here.
.
It was a very satisfying experience indeed. I got to the mall parking lot only to discover that it was packed with cars trying to find spots to park. The time was around 9:00 AM. I was not deterred however and it did not take me long to find parking at all for there was a continuous movement of cars in and out of the parking spots. The air was crisp and it was sunny out with some fog still lingering about as well. Once parked, I walked a short distance to the entrance of the store. Already, shoppers were leaving the store with their new purchases dangling in front of me. They were proudly displaying their wares, their packages which were clearly marked indicated a new notebook computer or some other much desired electronic device. So, I ventured into the store and settled myself into a long line up in a corner of the store. I was with a group of other eager GPS purchasers. There was a real sense of comradeship here as we were all interested the same kind of purchase. None of us had owned a GPS of this type before and we were eager to share our ideas and concerns about the product.
.
After I made the purchase I headed over to my friend's house in Burnaby. This trip allowed me my first experiences with the machine. You simply type in the street to where you want to go and the device will do all the work for you. This machine talks and does not miss a beat. It tries to find for you the shortest and most effective way to get to your destination. It warns you in advance of when to turn and to what streets to watch out for. And, it even knows when you make an error as well. And, it quickly makes the adjustments in route format for you. It is a quick and efficient machine, and as I said, it is a friendly female voice that is doing all of the heavy lifting for you.
.
Another great feature of the machine is that it can find restaurants and like things for you. Now, as you all know I like to go to McDonald's restaurants throughout the day. So, I simply type in " McDonald's " and it gives me all of the close ones with their addresses of course. This will be really handy as you can imagine, especially when I am in unfamiliar territory, as regards the location of the closest McDonald's, that is. So, all you do is select the desired restaurant location from the list provided and the machine will take you there and lead you by the hand in the process.
.
A further terrific feature of the machine is its ability to guide you during the night in the fog for example. And, that is what I experienced last night while driving home from my friends place. It was dark and it was foggy. Now, just to add a little excitement to to my trip home I punched in Karen's old address as my destination. So, once I pumped this information into the machine the trip was all set up for me. And, it was a perfectly executed trip indeed, from Burnaby all the way to Delta it knew exactly what it was doing. I told me to keep left for example when I had to get into a lane to approach the roads leading to the Alex Fraser Bridge, and with lots of warning. So, just imagine the foggy conditions in a strange area and think how handy this machine would be. Now, I knew the area that I was dealing with, but a stranger would have nothing but trouble in a foreign place at night and in the fog. This machine was a real gem the way it led me over the Bridge and into Delta, telling me in detail what to do and what streets to turn on to. Yes, friends this machine turns the dark into light with its capabilities. And, needlessly to say it took me right by Karen's old house, in the dark and in the fog. Got to love it.
.
That is all for now friends. Talk to you all later and have a nice day. Oops, I almost forgot. Next week is the opening of the Meadowlands. So, if any of my friends and acquaintances are popping into town you know where I will be. And, if you do not know how to get there then I suppose it is time to buy your new GPS street finder. Believe me this machine will know where the racetrack is. I just punched in Fraser Downs Racetrack and Casino and it has it in its memory. So, that is the Nuvi for you.
.
.
Good Morning Friends,
.
today is Saturday December 26, 2009
Boxing Day
.
Well, I guess we got through another Christmas safe and sound eh? Glad you made it. So, now we are into Boxing Day and the associated shopping madness. Are you going out today? Should be huge here in Vancouver especially with the fantastic sunny weather that we are having. Don't kid yourself, it would be huge even if it was pouring rain or snow. People just like to get into the malls and the electronics stores and have a look around. I have done it in the past years, but it was mostly just gazing around for me and checking out the crowds and that kind of thing. I did a little on-line searching to see if there is anything that I really need or want and I came up short. I can live without any new toys right now I think. For you see, I am mostly a contented older adult when it comes to my toys. But, then of course one never knows does one, once he gets into the malls I mean, and spots a bargain or something that just catches his eye. Well, that is just the fun of the whole thing I guess.
.
Not much else to report at this time friends. I am still alive and I hope you are too. Are you still alive? Pretty funny eh? Well, maybe you are dead and are reading my blog anyway. And, just maybe I have more dead readers than live ones. Who knows? Now, that would really be something now wouldn't it? Anyway, glad to see you all made it and hope you enjoy your Boxing Day sales if that is what you are going to do. There is harness racing today as well I suppose, but I am not particularly interested as the Meadowlands is not up and running ( as far as I know ). Now, that will be really something to look forward to of course in the brand new year coming up. So, at least I have something to live for and I hope you guys do as well. But, I will bet you that most of you are not living just to make bets at a racetrack - right?
.
Merry Christmas 2009
.
Good Morning Friends,
.
today is Friday December 25, 2009
.
Vancouver, B.C. Webcams
( and weather report )
.
.
It is pretty early here on the West Coast friends, but never too early to wish all of my friends and acquaintances all the best. So, all to the best to all of my friends and acquaintances. The above snap is a picture that I would have taken earlier on this year while on the job. We had a really beautiful summer here and I was able to take lots of snaps and videos as well. If you get a chance you can browse this portion of my blog and the main section as well.
.
Three Christmas presents for you:
.
.A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens
.
.
.and ...
.
.
.Merry Christmas and talk to you all later.
.
Good Morning Friends,
.
today is Thursday December 24, 2009
.
Just one picture for today friends and that is the picture above. I took this photo yesterday while on the job. Once again, I am showing you the lane where the girl was struck down in the ice and snow last year. Notice that there is no snow and ice this year in this area. You can read about that incident here: Carl Baydala's Christmas Message
.
The Christmas rush seems to have slowed down a bit from the last couple of days. Everyone is still in a good mood and the weather is quite pleasant. Hopefully, you can get a feel for the weather from the photo above.
.
People are really scurrying around doing their last moment Christmas shopping and the mall parking lots are quite congested as you might expect. I haven't had that much job contact with the malls this year so that is a good thing for my serenity. But, I certainly know what to expect when I venture into one. All of the customers are in a general good frame of mind and the job is proceeding as best it can under the circumstances. And, of course, all of us Vancouverites have the Olympics on the back of our minds as well.
.
So, that is about the extent of my report on this Christmas Eve friends. I hope that all of my friends and acquaintances get through the holidays in one piece and that they will live to see another Christmas as well. That is what Christmas is really all about friends; it is a simple celebration of life and the realization that we are all part of it. I like to think of Christmas as a giant birthday party - we are all just happy to be alive. Talk to you all later.
.
Good Morning Friends,
.
today is Wednesday December 23, 2009
.
Well, we are inching closer to Christmas friends so I hope you are all enjoying the Holiday atmosphere. I know I am and it is a lot of fun working in the courier busy during this season. And, of course the weather always makes it even more fun, whether it be snow, rain, or what have you. Right now we are enjoying fairly mild winter weather and the sun is even trying to shine a bit. If you are interested here is the kind of thing that we were experiencing in Vancouver last year around this time. This is a post I did last year about a rather horrible event that occurred just before Christmas: Carl Baydala's Christmas Message ( Note the story that took place on December 23rd )
.
Anyhow, here are a few more BlackBerry pager snaps for you. They are all in Burnaby which is the big municipality just to the east of the City of Vancouver. I spent most of my teenage years in these parts actually and driving through these parts always brings back a few memories for me. The first two pictures are of our public automobile insurance company or ICBC. Most of these buildings would have been built in the early seventies just after the socialist or NDP government finally got into power. The third picture is sitting at the light going south on Willingdon and crossing Lougheed Highway. Juneau and Alaska Streets are just below Lougheed Highway off to the right. The final picture is still Willingdon going south. McDonald's B.C. Headquarters is just off to the right of the picture and we have just passed Juneau and Alaska Streets as well. Talk to you all later.
Good Morning Friends,
.
today is Monday December 21, 2009
.
OK, so now all of the big Sagittarian birthdays are over and now we can get back to normal. But, it is good to celebrate these events though I think you would all agree. I mean, it is good to remember the important people in one's life and to be able to celebrate the most important day in one's life. A birthday means life friends and that is why they are very important things.
.
You know, I have been reading about this Federal Reserve business down in the States for maybe a couple of years now. Now, there are the hard core conspiracy guys who do not think much of this organization at all. Check out yesterday's post, for example and watch the link on the bottom of the page. Individuals like Eustace Mullins, for example, think that the Fed is the root of all of our problems. Essentially, what he is saying is that the Fed is an evil entity that is responsible for war and all manner of discontent for the population. Like many others that I have read about lately he comes across as one who really believes in what he says and he seems determined in his beliefs. He is a true rebel in my opinion and much of what he says seems to have some relevance. The Federal Reserve Bank does truly have a lot of power and they do in fact appear to have an agenda.
.
.
Good Morning Friends,
.
today is December 20, 2009
.
Today is Connie's birthday, so let's all wish her a great big happy birthday.
.
Happy Birthday
Connie Baydala!
.
.Connie Baydala is not actually Connie Baydala of course, but Connie somebody else as you might expect. But, we do not want to get too personal here of course, so let's just call Connie as she started out in life, and that is of course as Connie Baydala, namely my sister. Since Connie is another Sagittarian that I know maybe we could insert this horoscope explanation of her while we are at it. Surely, there must be some common characteristics among these Zodiac types for them to have any meaning. So, if you personally know any Sagittarians then you can decide for yourself if this is what a Sagittarian is like.
.
.
Connie is a little bit older than me and that is why I am the baby brother. Do you think I look like a baby brother? Well, I am you know. Maybe some of you guys have a baby brother as well, so you know what kind of people us baby brothers are. But, this post is not about baby brothers of course, but Connie's birthday. Connie is the big sister. Do you have a big sister? Well, if you do then you know what big sisters are like. Well, I just think that Connie is the perfect Sagittarian. She was the first Sagittarian girl that I ever knew so I know all about these female Sagittarian signs. That is why I am an expert when it comes to female Sagittarians. They are fires signs friends and let me tell you that Connie is pure fire as far as the Zodiac is concerned. So, let's just wish the fire girl a Happy Birthday one more time and leave it at. I don't know what fire girls do on their birthday, but it must be something pretty hot if you know what I mean.
.
Talk to you all later
.
Another bonus banking tidbit for you. Eustace Mullins
talks about the Federal Reserve and other important details.
.
Good Morning Friends,
.
today is Wednesday December 16, 2009
.
( and weather report )
.
Turned out to be just another dud friends. I am talking about the snow storm that we were supposed to get around here yesterday. It was just another routine West Coast storm that is all. As far as I was concerned there never was a serious Arctic outbreak of cold air anyway, so it all makes sense to me. We were all worried for nothing and no big snow storm was to bother Vancouver yesterday. I took a few shots below to show you our ' Big ' snow storm. All of the shots are of the Port Kells area and the bottom one is in North Delta, it is 88th Avenue. Maybe there will be another batch of cold air later on and then they can try again. But, for now we are free - free to enjoy the rains that we all know and love.
Heading north on 208th Street at 88th Avenue in Langley
.
Good Morning Friends,
.
today is Tuesday December 15, 2009
.
Vancouver, B.C. Webcams
( and weather report )
.
Today is supposed to be the most difficult of the snowy days. Yesterday was not that bad actually, except there were some really icy sections of Road in Surrey. The roads were really deceiving looking. They looked like just slush and were black in appearance, but when you applied he brakes one simply skidded out of control. The ABS brakes are useless under these conditions and they lock up and just skid - totally dangerous. But, the danger on these roads was that it was really just black ice. Very deceptive and very treacherous indeed. Most of the other roads that I encountered during the day were rather tame compared to some of the early Surrey road conditions.
.
The weather forecast is calling for some snow today. So, this should be the brunt of the current winter conditions. In fact, it is supposed to be all over some time today as rain is forecast. That means that we should be back to normal in no time at all. And, normal around these parts means more rain and no snow. Anyhow, I am all set up and ready to endure whatever Mother Nature has in store for us.
.
It was not a bad day at all business wise yesterday so that was the plus part of the day. That is not surprising of course as this is mid month and also the week in which our customers send gifts to each other. So far though, not much gift giving activity on my end of things where I am working. Still following the stock market and wondering where it will take us, along with our hopes and dreams of course. So, hang in there and I will talk to you all tomorrow, the courier gods willing, that is.
.
Good Morning Friends,
.
today is Monday December 14, 2009
.
Back to work today friends and I think it is supposed to snow a little bit. So, we shall see what we shall see. This should be the busy week if things are going to pick up for the holidays. Many of our customers send presents to their customers and this part of the business adds to the confusion if things are busy. I remember past years when things were quite hectic trying to move about in holiday traffic and that kind of thing. But, then, every year seems to be different now and one just does not know what to expect anymore. It could be busy and then it again it might not. That is just part of the excitement of the job - seeing what will happen. Anyhow, my big focus right now is the stock market. I am curious to know how things are going to play out and how the market will look at the end of the year. There are still lots of negative forces at work as you can well imagine, but people are people and everyone still wants to make a fast buck. And, the market is still one of those places where you can count on that happening. Not only that of course, people do like to invest in their future and in their countries so that means that the market does have an essential role to play. But, I guess in the end, my real focus today will be on the weather and how things play out on the road. Talk to you all later. You can check out our weather and road conditions below.
.
( and weather report )
.
The other thing I want to mention today is the fact that I actually do have a couple of friends left. This is in spite of all of my commentary that you may have read indicating something different. I got the Christmas card below just a couple of days ago. This means that people are still thinking about me and willing to send me a card. This is the second card that I got in the mail. Why, I bet you that some people do not get even one card. See, I am not so objectionable after all am I? Have a nice day and I hope everyone is getting set up for the Holidays.
Heading north on Cambie Street yesterday
on the job.
.
Good Morning Friends,
.
today is Friday December 11, 2009
.
( and weather report )
.
.Finally Friday and then a couple of days off so that is a good thing. Check out the picture above. That was yesterday at work and I am heading into the downtown core via Cambie Street. There was a lot of high cloud and a lot of people thought there might be some snow flurry activity. But, there was none and that is a good thing of course. Good, because it is hard to make dough in the courier business when it snows in this City of ours. It was cold out and you could really feel it when you were walking around. Cold in Vancouver means anything around zero degrees Centigrade. It just felt cold that is all.
.
Once again I have to remind my readers that tomorrow is the big day. It is Karen's birthday and that is one of the big days in my life which I have already told you. And, like I said I am mostly ready to go with the post tomorrow on the main part of my blog. So, that impending event should keep me pumped up all day long.
.
The stock market is turning positive again in spite of the difficulties throughout the world. That is very good for me of course because it boosts my ego quite a bit. Making money makes me happy and allows me to feel secure. There is quite a bit of talk about financial reform coming out of Congress and that cannot be a bad thing at all. I just don't know how real all of this talk is especially when you consider the power of the banks in the States. But, if it is real then it is a very big positive development for the market. I mean, they are talking about fixing the system so that it cannot ruin us all like it did the last time. All that is required is a little bit of effort by the regulators and none of that was evident during the last years of the Bush Regime. It is difficult to believe that these people have learned their lessons, but the world financial order should surely alert people to the difficulties that people are facing in their lives. Anything positive in the development of financial security is what the markets need to recover. Getting the money to the people so they can do their part in the return of financial health to all is the next vital step in the recovery process. You will notice also of course that there is a bit of a sell off in bonds as well. This is just an indication of the mountain of debt out there that has to be financed. Financing this debt will not come cheap and will affect all of us in one way or the other. Notice also that the price of gold is responding to conditions as well.