My Investment Career!

“The markets can remain irrational longer than you can remain solvent!” 

I’ve been in this game for almost 13 years now. At the end of each year, I make an effort to assess, evaluate and improve my strategies. This year, I have enjoyed great success, and I am anticipating very few changes in the game plan. So, what better time to actually put fingers on the keys and try to summarize the journey I am on! During our working careers, mainly in the NWT, we put aside earnings in registered pension plans with a view to funding our retirement income. In the mid 90s, I felt our retirement income was assured, so, we took retirement at age 45 which allowed us to take control of our retirement funds, and that has proven crucial. We also began looking at other options for our work activity. That played out with five years work in Dauphin at Western where salaries provided for our living, but did not provide much toward our nest egg. However, our funds were in the hands of professionals at Investors Group, who assured us that all was well, and that our retirement funds would grow and provide a good income in retirement. Our yearly updates began to reveal that our “management fees” were not affording us positive management of our funds. After a bit of research, we moved our funds over to RBC Dominion, and enjoyed watching positive developments there. After a couple of years, the agent who was overseeing our account moved on to operate his own investment business. Little did we know that it was this agent, and not the strength of RBC, that was producing the gains we enjoyed so much. We should have accepted his invitation to transfer our accounts to his new firm. We did not. After spending the years 2000-04 in Zambia, we returned to discover our accounts were a mere fraction of what we had left with them in 2000. A glimpse at the market performance during those years provides a partial explanation of why things went so badly. Interviews with the agents in charge of our accounts revealed a lack of management to mitigate losses or to provide for gains.

 

We spent a year working out of Dauphin, I was teaching in Winnipegosis, and Wendy was working in town. 2006 saw us on the move again, as I was hired to manage a Ministry of Education program out of Thunder Bay. We transferred our investment accounts to the local RBC franchise, but even though the markets were rising we did not see adequate performance of our accounts. My ministry contract ended, and I took the advice of Uncle Bernard, and decided to take an investment course and see if I really could “do better than the pros!” As that played out, I have been managing our nest egg since March 9, 2009, which, if you know your markets, was a propitious day—the absolute bottom of the financial system market crash. 

There were a lot of lessons to absorb as I took that course. They preached a practice of taking your 1% gains with a view to gaining over 25% per year. The agents and agencies we’d been investing with over the years would have been aghast at the very idea of that kind of gain. They consistently assured me that 4% was the maximum gains to be expected. Only those few years with the effective manager at RBC had ever produced more, but we were challenged to think higher. And so we did! 

There are a lot of sayings in the investment community. One of the most famous comes from Warren Buffett, the “oracle of Omaha”; it holds that you “cannot beat the markets.” However, our instructors preached the heresy that we could, and that we would! As you can see in the chart the markets have enjoyed a good run from “lower left to upper right” in the years following March 9, 2009, and I have been a beneficiary of that uptrend.  

Fundamental vs Technical Investing

Buffett has generated a fortune for Berkshire Hathaway (and himself!) using a fundamental investing philosophy. His people research companies and situations exhaustively, and then they buy into the companies that meet the fundamental aspects that can be expected to produce consistent profits, and thus gains in stock value. This ties in with his investment plan to “buy and hold” these stocks over the course of many years. In fact, he is quite direct in saying that he intends to buy and keep! Fundamentalists are also strict adherents to the idea that you cannot time the market. They spout such mantras as, “It’s not timing the market, it’s time in the market.” Based on this dictum, Buffett made a famous bet against the Hedge Fund industry. He bet $1 million that a simple index fund would out perform a hedge fund manager over a period of ten years. Protégé Partners LLC took him up on the bet. The bet ended at the end of 2017, with Buffett the winner. 

Technicians, on the other hand, analyze market data which they feel reveals everything there is to know about a stock. They do not place much, if any, weight on research into a company’s worth or prospects. Technicians reason that all the knowledge needed to make the right fundamental decision cannot be achieved easily, and probably not at all, by any particular individual investor, but, they contend, all the information out there is already being reflected in the price action of the stock. This is known as the “Efficient Market Theory”. Following this theory they believe that a proper analysis of the price action will reveal an effective indication of what the stock is likely to do in the future. It is against such a theory that all folks making an investment are assured that “past success does not guarantee future performance.” 

My Initial Training

The investment strategy I was taught at Train2Invest was a blend of fundamental and technical strategies with a view to finding five stocks every two weeks that I could expect to gain 1% within two weeks. Then, I would buy it, and as soon as it gained 1%, I would sell it. Following this plan, I would buy and sell 26 times a year for a 26% profit! And that’s about how it worked out. It was quite a bit of work doing all the research, but since we were in the recovery uptrend in the markets, the biggest difficulty was making the buy. I would put in a bid, and the stock would rise immediately above my bid! Part of our training was to refuse to chase a stock, so that would be a miss! I recall one great deal I made that first year. I bought PetroCanada, and while I was waiting for it to rise 1%, Suncor took it over and it jumped 20% in 1 day! Well, that certainly made my day! 

Developing Investment Strategies

As time went on, I followed an Uncle Bernard prediction, and began refusing to sell when I had the 1% gain, as it often seemed, especially that year, that a stock that gained 1% was also primed to gain more! Of course, that pressured me to find other signals to let me know when to buy, and even more importantly, when to sell! Practically every investor I chat with has that same concern: When to sell? I subscribed to VectorVest which promises clear market signals of what to buy, when to buy and when to sell. I found it pretty useful, but with more resources for the American markets, so I gradually moved on, and ended that relationship. I now work pretty much on my own, but am fortunate to have made several friends in the game, so we commiserate regularly, and sometimes provide ideas to each other. 

My Current Practice

Among the priorities that I subscribe to are diversification, capital preservation, and timing. To provide those I engage in a few different strategies and trading plans. I have two main plans, and some other alternatives for when nothing seems to be working! All are based on technical analysis. I accept their contention that no one can know all the information about a given company or stock. I further assert the notion that we “little guys” are even more handicapped on information access. I do not accept the “efficient market theory” fully, but in general, I believe that the market price action reflects what the mass of investors are thinking. So, I have spent much time over the years trying to find a workable plan for analyzing the market action, and predicting which stocks can be expected to improve in value. This allows me to answer the three crucial questions for investment: What to buy? When to buy? When to sell? It does not take much time to operate under my current trading plans. The remaining challenge is to follow the plan! 

Doing the Charts

Kristian used to describe my work as, “Grandpa is doing his charts.” That is the life of a technical investor. Some technicians take advanced courses in Candlestick patterns,  Fibbonaci Retracements, and a plethora of other technical tools. I do look at them a bit, but my main plans involve only a consideration of moving averages. The candlesticks on this chart show the weekly action of the TSX in 2021. The coloured lines, show moving averages of the price action: the green is the 3 week moving average, the red is the 8 week moving average. The yellow is 40 weeks. My interpretation is that if the price is above the 40 week average, the market is in a long term uptrend, and if the green is above the red, we’re also in a short term uptrend.  

The choice of week-long periods is mine. The choice to use moving averages is mine. The choice to use 3, 8 and 40 period averages is mine. I have found them to work for me, so that’s what I use. One of my friends who subscribes to a very similar investing thesis uses 2 and 5 moving averages, and doesn’t bother with a long term average at all. I know of people who use 5 and 13 period averages. The sky is the limit on the possibilities. Swing traders would use a much shorter period. Day traders might use a 15-minute period. Others will use an analysis of Candlestick patterns. There are also many other indicators like MAC-D, RSI, Stochastics… I will not bother you with even an explanation of what those are, or how they work, but I have used all of them over the years, and still use some of them. 

1. TSX Stocks Play

My main stock play works on what I call the Tide Theory. The main idea is that if the tide is rising, all boats (except really leaky ones!) are likely to be rising as well, while if the tide is falling, it will be unlikely to find any boat that is rising! Using the 3 and 8 moving averages on the weekly charting allows me to declare whether the tide is rising or not! If the TSX tide is rising, I continue to work through my checklist until I find a few stocks that I can expect to be rising as well. I limit my selection to a subset of the TSX listings. There are some sectors (currently Gold, Miners, Health Care) that I have eliminated from consideration. With changing conditions, I may include some of these, and eliminate others. 

Trading Plan: Plan your trade; trade your plan!

1. TSX must be IN, i.e. that 3EMA must be above the 8EMA. In the chart above, that will be when the green is above the red. As you can see, for 2021, TSX has been IN most of the year except for a few weeks in September and now for most of December. When the TSX is OUT, I do not buy stocks. 

2. Then, I look at the various sectors within the TSX. As noted, I have eliminated some sectors from consideration, but I currently follow eight sectors. I check though the sectors to see which are IN. I pick the best three sectors. “Best” is not clearly defined, but I’m looking for sectors where the 3EMA is maintaining a solid run above the 8EMA without either narrowing the gap, nor extending it very much. 

3. I check out the stocks within the chosen sectors. To be selected, a stock must be IN. I pick up to two stocks per sector to a max of five stocks. Again, I am looking for the “best” stocks in the “best” sectors! 

4. So long as the 3EMA is over the 8EMA, the stock is eligible to be bought. 

5. I sell when the 3EMA falls beneath the 8EMA. 

6. I also use a 6% Trailing Stop as further protection against a downturn. My experience has been that the Trailing Stop triggers before the crossover most of the time, but my bias is toward the crossover as a more reliable indicator of whether a stock should be bought or sold.

 

Loblaws had a slow start to the year, but since March has shown to be a valuable asset, and I still own it. 

Exchange Traded Funds: ETF Play

My other main trading play also operates on weekly charting of the 3 and 8 EMAs. In this play, I’m looking at index ETFs for TSX, S&P500, and Nasdaq100. This allows some investments with a broad diversification in the North American economy. There are ETFs available that relate to many other sectors and many other countries, but I’ve limited myself to these three. 

Trading Plan: Plan your trade; trade your plan!

1. So long as the 3EMA is over the 8EMA, the ETF is eligible to be bought. When I’m looking to make a buy, I watch the charts during the day and place a buy near the end of the trading day.

2. I sell when the 3EMA falls beneath the 8EMA. 

3. I use a 6% Trailing Stop as further protection against a downturn. My experience has been that the Trailing Stop triggers before the crossover most of the time, but my bias is toward the crossover as a more reliable indicator of whether the ETF should be bought or sold. 

The Nasdaq 100 has had a bumpy ride this year, but has generally moved from lower left to upper right, and has therefore produced some good income. There have been a few dips where the 3EMA dropped beneath the 8EMA, so I had to sell out. 

Dividend Payers

For some small accounts the cost of buying and selling becomes a serious factor for playing the markets. I have found two ETFs which have a history of at least maintaining value while paying a good dividend that covers the payouts from those accounts. I am always on the lookout for good dividend payers. I currently own HCAL (5%) and HHL (8%). In addition to their dividends, they have also made surprising gains in value this year: HCAL (41.9%) and HHL (14.5%). 

Locked-in Funds

We also have some locked-in pension funds, and other funds that are locked into investments, so I don’t actively manage those, but they are part of our overall income generation, and every bit helps! This area includes our house, which pays very little in any given year, but which in the long term is paying off very handsomely. I maintain the position that being a homeowner is one of the best investments one can make. 

Other Plays

When the TSX is OUT, I am usually comfortable remaining on the sidelines and watching my holdings to confirm whether I should be selling any of them, But, if I’m eager for some market action, I have two short term plays that I sometimes use. 

Popper Play

The charting for this is done on a daily chart with a specialized RSI and two moving averages. 

Trading Plan: Plan your trade; trade your plan! 

Poppers are “quality stocks” that are temporarily oversold. In a daily charting of the stocks, I use the 10% level on RSI(2) for buys and 5MA for sells. Poppers must be above their 200MA, but have dropped below their 5MA. They are sold just before the close of the day they move above the 5MA (I just set a limit sell for the 5MA). One difficulty here is selecting a group of “quality stocks”; I am working with a subset of dividend-paying TSX 60 stocks.  

This chart of BNS shows two set ups for the Popper Play on Nov 19th and Nov 30th, and both would have paid off the next day. 

Bouncer Play

Bouncers is a risk/reward play off the bottom featuring beaten up stocks that often are seen to produce explosive growth when the market turns. 

Trading Plan: Plan your trade; trade your plan!

I use RSI(4) at the usual 25% level to find oversold conditions. Then, I need a green day, and a green start to make my buy. I play them with a 5% Trailing Stop.  

In mid September, Loblaws ran several days at “oversold” according to the specialized RSI I use in this set up. Then, we got the green day and a green start on Sep 30th, and I would have my buy around $85.90. The 5% Trailing Stop would still have me in this buy, which three months later is over $100.00. Nice work if you can get it! 

So, what do YOU think?
I am always looking for reactions and advice on my investment strategy. So, far, in 13 years, I have been able to supply family income from our funds while increasing the overall capital. There have been lean years, especially the last four when Trump’s erratic behaviour translated into erratic markets. This year, by way of contrast, has produced a gain to almost match the four Trump years combined—thanks, Uncle Joe! 

Merry Christmas!

Another week has passed on the shore of Lake Superior in my hometown. The weather has continued to be mild; we saw +3° and rain on Christmas Eve, but our snow has held, and we're enjoying a white Christmas!

Christmas Dinner 2021

For our gathering, we assembled seven fully vaccinated family members around our turkey supper. We are well blessed! While Omicron surges across the country and the world, even this small gathering seems a bit risky as we calculate the many we've been in contact with over the past week. The recent surge in cases has certainly strained the ability of all jurisdictions to keep track of it all, but of the reported infections USA is up 48% and Canada is up 130% in the last week! Several reports are suggesting that symptoms from this variant are milder, but the vast number of infected also provides fertile ground for more variants to arise. It's a daunting consideration. Christmas preparations consumed a lot of our time this week.

four styles of Quatro

I have almost completed the Quatro Games I'm gifting to my children; there's still much time left before delivery to two of them, so it'll work out! As of today, I've invited them to choose which style they want! The markets were thinly traded this week. With USA markets closed on Friday, and TSX closed at noon on Friday, many traders seemed to take advantage and make a much longer break! Anyhow, the indices increased in value, and I had a good week as well. I plan to take advantage of the time off next week to review my investment ideas. This is something I do at the end of each year, and occasionally multiple times within a trading day! I've now been at this for almost 13 years, and I feel that I've been taught a few lessons over those years. If I get something written up, I'll post it here, and look forward to your response and advice! Sports has pretty much ground to a halt with covid precautions taking centre stage. NHL is  on hiatus until next week. World Junior Hockey is playing to restricted audiences. Jayhawks are on covid protocol. Football has some bowl games underway, but the big ones remain to be played in a week or so. We'll see how that goes. Manitoba had their Scotties playdowns last week, and Zacharias emerged the surprise winner. I'm still on for the Scotties here, but we're currently on restricted audience, so we may have some fewer volunteers needed as well. I've been invited to pick up my uniform mid-January, so I expect the picture will be much clearer by then. 

Eric, Erica and Liam enjoyed an icy cold Christmas in Prince Albert. Erin and Kristian celebrated with Shawn, Astrid and Liam in almost-as-cold Regina. As shown above Trav, Joanna, Gemma, Rhys and Andrew observed Christmas with us. 

We hope you enjoyed a warm celebration of the holiday with your loved ones as well. 

Omicron is here!

Another week has passed on the shore of Lake Superior in my hometown. The weather has continued to be very unusual for mid-December. The strangeness reached an apex on Wednesday as we hit +9° amid heavy rainfall of 20-25 mm. That removed most of the accumulated snow, and we were back looking at green grass on the lawns—strange! However, we got a bit of snow last night, so the surface is white once more. The mild weather has allowed me to make more progress on my woodwork projects. I've been picked up a couple more pallets and salvaged the lumber from them. I completed my curling schedule this week. I am signed up to volunteer at the Scotties, so I haven't signed up for more curling of my own. Upgraded restrictions have reduced attendance at the Scotties to 50%, but we're still hoping for a good event beginning in the end of January. The Omicron variant has taken a foothold in Canada and throughout the world. Infections in Canada are up 54% this week, and many provinces are announcing a return to severe restrictions. News out of South Africa is of less severe symptoms, and we hope that holds true here. We now have five provinces running out of control, led by Quebec and including Ontario. In the USA, forty-nine states are now out of control—c'mon man! I tweaked my back shovelling snow last week, so I added a trip to the chiropractor this week. It's feeling a bit better. The markets had another wild ride this week. The biggest factor was the FED meeting on Wednesday where they announced a curtailment of the bond-buying program, and the anticipation of interest rate increases for next year. The spread of Covid was also a concerning factor. The results were four red days surrounding one big green day, and I fell short of quota, however, I've already made quota for the month and for the year, so it's more a matter of hanging on for the final two weeks of 2021. The markets are out, according to my charting plan, and I've gradually been selling, and reducing my exposure. The world of sports is also being hit by the rise in infections. Some NHL teams have been shut down completely for the next while, and many others are suffering losses of team members on Covid suspension. Five of the ten games scheduled for tonight were cancelled. My Oilers are still struggling, but at least they won tonight. The Leafs and Pens are doing well, although the Leafs are currently being hit with Covid. Attendance has been cut at Leaf home games to 50% attendance. In basketball, #7-Jayhawks continued their winning ways this week, but tonight's game was way closer than it should have been. Rock Chalk! 

Erica writes, "Liam is home! Haaken and Greg are not. Liam, Eric and I drove back to PA from Regina on Sunday and the rest of the week has been catching up on the stuff we usually do on the weekend. Liam and Eric got our new Christmas Moose out during the week.

Cold, but Successful! Lovely!

Our plan for Saturday [since it's -33°, with a windchill of -37°] is to complete the outdoor decorations. On Friday, I received a gift and certificate for five years of service. It was a nice time celebrating all the service anniversaries!"

Kristian received his new hearing aids and new ear moulds—looks like Rider Green to me! These hearing aids are bluetooth compliant, so he's already linked to his iPhone and can hear directly into his ears—great!

Newly installed!

Erin and Kristian have continued with Christmas preparations. Kristian had his final day of classes on Friday, so he's already on break. 

Travis and Joanna continue to be very busy with hockey business. Covid restrictions return tomorrow, so there is growing concern over how it will impact the hockey season, and their work. Otherwise, they continue their Christmas preparations. We look forward to sharing it with them. Andrew is busy with work. Gemma and Rhys have finished their semester at university. 

Merry Christmas to all! 

Snow's Here!

Another week has passed on the shore of Lake Superior in my hometown. The forecaster's threats finally were fulfilled as we had a full-scale winter blizzard Sunday and Monday morning. I enjoyed the performance of my newly procured snowblower, and, along with Wendy successfully removed that snow, and the subsequent Wednesday's dump, from our driveway. Now, a sunny, above zero, weekend is completing the clearing and drying of the pavement. I haven't advanced much on the projects this week, although I did get materials moved into the house. Two days of snow-clearing, along with my regularly scheduled curling, was about all I could manage! Wendy finally located a haircutting set at one of the local pawn shops to replace the set we broke in Regina. We purchased that, and now I'm the relieved recipient of a fresh haircut! Thanks dear!

Freshly Trimmed!

Wendy has kept pretty busy getting the books into shape and up to date for the Barbershop Group. She claims that she's getting close! The markets returned to the green, with only Thursday being a down day, so I've recovered back to quota for the month. Covid infections continue to climb and we now have three provinces out of control (PQ, NB, MB). As feared, my Riders could not overcome the Bombers, although they put up a spirited battle. Bombers will face Hamilton in the Grey Cup tomorrow, and I'll be picking and cheering for the Bombers to win it. In hockey, my Oilers have hit a dry patch, while Pens are really playing impressively! Leafs continue to have good success as well. All three played tonight; only two won—c'mon Oilers! The regular season is over in college football, so we await the bowl season. In basketball, my Jayhawks are developing pretty well. I even got to watch today, and they rewarded me with a win over Missouri. Rock Chalk! 

Eric/A were down to Regina this weekend where they held a Christmas Caroling event at the Wascana Centre featuring Dad on the harmonica. 

Erin and Kristian continued their usual assignments along with more preparations for Christmas. This weekend, they enjoyed a visit, and a big Christmas meal, featuring much food, with the Baileys. They also took in the traditional Christmas movie! 

Watching Die Hard

Travis and Joanna accented their week with the arrival of their new theatre seating. 

Aisle lighting to guide their way! 

They are continuing to get a lot of PuckShot work, including a three-team shoot with young hockey players this morning. Tonight, we joined them, along with Gemma and Andrew, at the Thai Kitchen restaurant to celebrate Andrew's birthday. Good food, and a good time. Making memories is always good! 

And that's about enough for this week. 

Ah, Omicron!

Another week has passed on the shore of Lake Superior in my hometown. I have taken the precaution of getting out the snow-shovels in support of the snowblower purchase, and that seems to have held off the snow for another week, however, they're threatening us with a winter storm tomorrow through Monday including up to 25cm of the white stuff! Our long Fall may be ending! Otherwise, we've had a pleasant week here, and I've managed a bit more work in the shop. But shop work may be headed into an extended hiatus, so I'm preparing to move some tools into the laundry room so I can do a bit more project work down there. 

Boom!

Sadly, the main story this week has been the sudden passing of Uncle Bernie! He was such a wonderful man, husband, father, grandfather and friend. We miss him. We extend condolences to our cousins and their families. We grieve along with the many others whose lives he has impacted and blessed. 

We have begun work on the kitchen stools. I have stripped one, and replaced the decrepit cardboard with some sheet aluminum I salvaged from an old sign. Wendy is choosing the materials and foam to recover them. She is also planning to refinish the dining room chairs from the same palette!

Getting Support!

Otherwise, I've been occupied with medical and dental appointments. On Wednesday, I visited the groinecologist to get an ultrasound of some bumps I've detected just where my abdomen meets my right leg. I suspect they are hernias, but of course the technician would tell me nothing, so we wait to hear about that. Then, on Thursday, I made a long awaited appointment with my dentist to repair a broken filling. It broke last Spring, but they were operating on a very limited schedule, and tight restrictions, so working that around our summer trip meant it only happened now. And that returns the discussion to the pandemic, and the newest buzzword—omicron. This 15th Greek letter designates the newly identified variant of Covid-19, and we are still in the initial phases of learning about it. So far, while it seems more contagious, it also seems to only bring on mild disease. We hope it remains a mild disease, and that its contagiousness allows it to replace other variants. At any rate, it is clear that we shall continue to be besieged by ever newer variants for so long as the unvaccinated and careless keep this virus around. As bad as things are in the USA, they have still ONLY infected about one sixth of their population, so there's lots of ground to cover before they reach herd immunity. If you add in the 59% of their population who are vaccinated, you can see that they might be getting somewhere if immunity holds, and if no further variants come along! Sadly, neither of those are holding true. Here we only have one province (Quebec) that is currently in the out-of-control range. In the USA, they have only two states that are under-control! Sad! Pandemic news is part of what continues to roil the markets, and we had another difficult week there. There were wild swings throughout the week, sometimes even within a given day, and I failed to make quota once again. I have been slowly selling off holdings during the downturn, but that also means there will be little to make gains with once things turn around. Sports continue to distract. Curling ended Sunday; Brad Gushue and Jennifer Jones won the respective spots to go to the Olympics. We wish them well. The Riders won the Western Semi-final over Calgary on Sunday! Yay Riders! They have advanced to tomorrow's Western Final against the top-ranked Bombers, in Winnipeg. It's a daunting challenge. Go Riders! My NHL teams are doing well, although the Oilers disappointed me last night with a loss to the Kracken! College football is winding down. Today the #5-Cowboys faced #9-Baylor in the conference championship game, but they failed against two goal-line stands, including one in the dying seconds! My other teams are just waiting on Bowl invitations. Basketball continues with non-conference games; the #8-Jayhawks looked good (although I didn't get to see them!) against St Johns. 

Erica writes, "It’s been a pretty ordinary week. Eric got a new toy - an ice chopper so he cleaned up our walk way. He also planned a date night for us on Friday and we got our tree up and decorated. Now we just have to figure out how to get the star to stay on. Last year a cardboard tube did the trick, but we can’t seem to get it to work this year. I think we might need zip ties. We were sad to hear of Uncle Bernard’s sudden passing and are thinking of his family as they find comfort together. It also makes us think about those we need to see and spend time with. I wish that we could all be together for Christmas."

Tree's up! Fire's on!

Erin and Kristian continue their usual routines of school and work. Both are doing well in those! Kristian has been achieving very well in his classes. Here's a pic he took of his cat, Lucy, for his photography course. 

Lucy

Nice to blur out the distracting stuff in the background. He's still getting UV treatments three times a week. He enjoys curling, and is thinking of doing more of that. New hearing aids are on order, we hope the upgrade assists his hearing. They are also hit hard by the loss of Uncle Bernie who spent some of his retirement years in Regina, and blessed their lives. Erin had an extra busy week at work as they were short-staffed due to a compassionate leave. 

Travis and Joanna continue with their busyness. More PuckShots, more BucketDecals... it is as it should be. However, now we begin to wonder what repercussions may come to sports activity with the arrival of the omicron variant in Ontario. Minnie had some veterinary interventions this week. We hope she will feel better, and enjoy her senior years. 

And that's enough for this week.