News Update

Another week has passed on the shore of Lake Superior in my hometown. We have been well-occupied with Olympic watching, but have managed to fit in a couple of other adventures. I have closely followed the curling games, and was disappointed to see our women settle for silver when we had two shots to win gold! On the men's side we got the result we craved as Kevin Martin defeated Norway to take the gold. The other crucially Canadian sport is, of course, hockey. Our women did us proud by winning the gold, taking a hard fought win over the US. Our men are in the gold medal game against the US tomorrow, so we'll be cheering! The weather has continued very mild, and we're enjoying that.

On Friday morning, our attention was suddenly diverted to the topic of hot water as our water heater quit. This has occupied plenty of time and effort yesterday and today, but thankfully we now have the new one installed, and hot showers are once again available. I haven't had much success on the investing front this week as I couldn't seem to figure out what was going on, and only managed 0.1% gain to 7.1% for the five months I've been working this program.

Wendy got some great news this week as her medical tests came back with much improvement in both her blood sugars and cholesterol. It appears her regimen of diet and exercise is paying great benefits. And I've lost a lot of weight also! (NOT) She continues with her other programs of activities as well, so she keeps busy.

Erin keeps pretty busy with work and Kristian's activities. He had a great week with firefighters and skating as special features.

Trav continues with work and contracting. He is also doing some training in more website design techniques. His hockey team is in the playoffs now, so the season is nearing the end.

And that's the kind of week it's been.

News Update

Another week has passed on the shore of Lake Superior in my hometown. The weather has continued to be beautiful. We had a bit of snow on Sunday, but the strengthening sun soon melted that away. Since then it's been a sunny-blue sky week, and we've enjoyed it.

Watching Olympic events has been a special feature lately. I've tried to catch as many curling and hockey games as possible, and we're doing well on both fronts as our teams remain undefeated, and seem certain to win medals. We just hope they win gold medals! Women's hockey will be a tough fight with their arch rivals from the US. Men's hockey shouldn't be a problem if they get down to work, but this week's overtime game with the Swiss shows that any team can defeat you if they outwork you! In curling, I'm a little concerned about the women's team. They're playing too conservatively, too safe—sure it keeps the risk low, but it also keeps the game close, and anyone can make a lucky shot to win a close game. You need to put pressure on your opponents to make a lot of good shots. Anyway, I look forward to watching how it all turns out.

On the investment front, it's been another good week. The markets have turned positive and the new strategy continues to show signs of success. I managed 0.4% gain to 7.0% total. Travis and Dean continue to work with me each morning, and that's helpful, too. And, I often manage to meet my brother on-line, so we chat and commiserate!

Wendy continues with business as usual taking care of the details of our lives. She's had more meetings, another teeth cleaning appointment, and regular workouts this week. We also had the treat of a visit with Erica as she was in town for a conference.

Erin and Kristian are doing fine. She keeps very busy at work. He keeps us busy with his activity level. He wants to talk about almost everything, and we understand part of it!

Trav's hockey season is coming to an end. If they don't win their final league game, they'll miss the playoffs, so it could be over soon. He continues to keep busy with work and the odd contract for graphic art or website development.

And that's about it for this week.

News Update

Another week of beautiful sunny weather has passed on the shore of Lake Superior in my hometown. We hear of snow throughout the US mainland and wonder how it continues to miss us! Not that we're complaining, but we may be wishing for higher water levels next summer! And I won't be wishing for higher rainfall during golf season, so, just saying... We started the week watching the women's final in curling, and we end the week as the Winter Olympics begin, so TV will occupy some hours for the next two weeks, as well.

On the investment front, my prayers continue to be answered. With markets that continue to fluctuate wildly between -150 and +150 per day, we have been developing some new tactics. I have paper-traded our trading-range play successfully over one hundred times (Actually 256 times in the last four weeks, but who's counting?), so this week I put it into practice. It worked! For the first week in a long time, I was able to meet my target as I gained 0.5% to a total of 6.6%. And Travis came up with another ploy, so we've started paper-trading that one also.

Wendy keeps on the go with her various activities, classes and attending to several friends. Grandma's taxi continues to run regularly, and mom's laundry, meal and snack service is also in demand! We both continued with dental cleaning at Con College, and we still have at least one more appointment to go. It's more time-consuming working with trainees, but the difference in cost from $500 to $20 makes it well worth it!

Kristian has been fighting a cold for the last while, but he continues to attend school and day care. This week was a busy one with Valentine's Day parties. Erin continues to be busy and happy with her work at Budget.

Trav's team had a successful hockey tournament last weekend as they only lost one game. This weekend they're in another local tournament.

And that's about it for this week.

News Update

Another week has passed on the shore of Lake Superior in my hometown. The clear, sunny weather has continued to make for a pleasant winter with very little snow.

Investment work continues to occupy our mornings. My prayers were answered as up days early in the week allowed me to sell my bad investments from last Friday at a profit. Then things went south, and perhaps I was also blessed with wisdom to avoid making any buys in that environment! As a result, I managed to gain another 0.2% under difficult circumstances, so we look forward with fresh courage. I've also been watching the national women's curling championship, but our local team lost out in the semi-final this evening, and our other sentimental favourites from Saskatchewan and the Northwest Territories lost out earlier.

Wendy keeps busy visiting several friends and organizing our lives. Grandma's taxi provides frequent rides for Kristian back and forth to daycare as Erin's schedule calls for long days. We have also begun a series of appointments to get our teeth cleaned at Confederation College, so that's quite a cost saving. She has also been busy with laundering and mending the jerseys for Trav's hockey team.

Trav had a good weekend in Albert Lea MN with his hockey team. The team did well, and a highlight for Trav occurred when he sang our national anthem for the hockey tournament crowd. He is in another tournament this weekend here in Thunder Bay. Again his team is playing well, so they're in the playoffs segment of the tournament now.

Erin keeps busy at Budget, and at various school, daycare and speech therapy appointments with Kristian. He is talking more and more, and often comes up with little phrases we haven't heard before.

And that's about it for this week.

News Update

Another week has passed on the shore of Lake Superior in my hometown. A storm blew through on Sunday, so I was quickly back in the shoveling routine. It was wet stuff, so I couldn't even use the snowblower, but as colder weather was promised, I knew I wanted to get it cleared away before it froze. The rest of the week has been sunny, clear and cold. Our new chairs arrived for the church on Monday morning, so it was nice to get those moved in and set up. They look and feel great!

Trav, Dean and I have continued to develop our technical strategies. The market has continued very bad, losing more value this week. I managed to make some good technical trades, putting me up 0.2% for the week, but I also fell victim to my worst problem as I got attached to a bad trade and refused to sell it even though the technical indicators said to do so! Thus, I am now stuck with a losing trade over the weekend, and I don't like that. I pray that God will improve my mental discipline to follow the strategy that we know works. I also pray that the markets will go up next week so I can sell!

Wendy has had a bad week with a troublesome wisdom tooth. She finally got in to see the dentist and he passed her along to an orthodontic surgeon who removed the tooth on Friday. She's experiencing some pain still from the surgery, but overall much relief.

Trav continues with his work. He's away with his hockey team this weekend to a tournament in southern Minnesota. I'm sure the players are very excited for the trip; I hope all goes well for them.

Erin has continued to be quite busy at work. Wendy has helped out by picking up mom's taxi routine to get Kristian several days this week. Kristian continues to progress well. He's forming sentences now, and continuing to develop spoken vocabulary. He was even reading along with Erin on one of his books from school.

And that's the kind of week it's been.

News Update

Another week has passed on the shore of Lake Superior in my hometown. The weather has been very nice, so I've kept working at the ice-coated driveway and finally got it cleared. Then the sunshine has completed the job of drying it off. Probably just in time, as we have rain and snow in the forecast for tonight and tomorrow. Trav, Dean and I have been working each morning on investments. It's been another very bad week on the markets as the TSX has descended to close at a level not seen since early November. As a result, we're working on new strategies that we may be able to use when things turn around. So, I didn't make any money this week, but I only lost 0.1%, so, I'm left sitting at 5.7% profit.

Wendy is keeping very busy with meetings, classes and visiting with her friends. She continues to work on improvements in overall health through diet, exercise and additional training. This week she is turning a bedroom upstairs into Kristian's room. He really likes it as Erica painted the walls with a castle motif.

Kristian has kept progressing at school and in speech therapy. His sentences and conversation are gradually growing. He has been fitted for his next set of hearing aids, and those should be arriving in a couple of weeks. He seems to understand nearly everything we tell him, but we don't always understand what he's trying to tell us!

Erin continues to enjoy her work with Budget, and is gradually growing into additional roles with that work. She has postponed taking classes for now.

Trav stays busy with his work, our investments and private graphical arts projects. He has several of the latter due for completion this weekend, so he's been trying to keep everything together.

And that's about it for this week.

Home Again

Another week has passed on the shore of Lake Superior in my hometown. There are a few issues to get caught up with, and we pursue them with some vigour. For me, it's getting back into full-time investing, and getting down to the pavement in the driveway. There is quite a build-up of snow and ice on the driveway due to the mild weather and the traffic. Fortunately, the weather continues to be above zero each day, so I gradually get it chipped loose and removed. The deck melts off, so we even enjoy a barbecue this afternoon. It is a no-good, very bad week on the TSX as the market loses over 2%. I only manage a sale on Monday, and then gradually try to pick up bargains later in the week. Now I need the values to go up, or they will prove to have not been bargains! At any rate, I do gain 0.2%, so I'm at 0.9% this year, or 5.8% including the final quarter of last year. Trav has started working with me on this each morning, and he's bringing some fresh ideas to the stock selection process. We'll see how that goes.

Wendy has been catching up with her medical work and has begun take classes on how to manage her diabetes. Early reports are that the classes are great. She's enjoying them. The house has enjoyed a complete cleaning this week also, and a pile of laundry has gone through the machines.

Erin & Kristian are back in the routines of school and work. Kristian's communication and other skills continue to develop in an encouraging way. He seemed to be coming down with a cold, but has bounced back by the weekend.

Travis continues with work, but has made a switch to doing more of it from home, so he has the mornings free to work with me on investments. We have added Dean to the group, so we have a workgroup here each morning to assess conditions and evaluate strategies.

And that's about it for this week.

Travelling North

Another week has passed during which we have returned from Orlando to Lake Superior and my hometown. As we packed up Sunday morning, I checked the weather for Lexington SC... -8, -8! in South Carolina! It surely seemed an ominous sign! Were we making a big mistake? Was it too early to be heading north? Could it be that winter was not yet over? As you will see, the answers to all those questions was a resounding YES!

As we drove over to Daytona Beach and then northward up the coast we ground to a halt on the freeway–this has happened with disgusting regularity! A multi-vehicle accident had completely closed the northbound lanes. Surely this was another message to turn back! We carried on. A Jeep had tangled with three cars. The Jeep was the only one to sustain damage on both ends, so clearly it was a major player. By the time we got to the accident site (It was less than a mile ahead of us, but we were delayed over one hour while police and rescue vehicles attended the scene.), we noted that a multi-vehicle accident had developed among gawkers in the southbound lanes, totally blocking that side, and two or three more accidents had occurred among gawkers nearby these accident sites. As we continued northbound, we drove over ten miles before coming to the end of the stopped vehicles in the southbound lanes, and who knows how many more would be stopped before traffic started moving again. Freeways? I think not!

We finally got to Jack & Karen's, but we were over an hour later than we had planned. However, that did not diminish the pleasure of spending some time with these dear friends. We left Lexington on Tuesday morning, headed west. We got as far as St. Louis IL and spent the night there. On Wednesday, we continued westward toward Lawrence KS. As we approached Kansas City it began to snow. Once again we found ourselves in something less than a freeway as fender benders clogged the arteries. Once again we were about an hour late getting to our destination. Once again, we had the great pleasure of time spent with dear friends, Helen & Marti.

On Thursday, we awoke to the remnants of the snow storm. We planned to drive north, but I-35 was closed in Iowa. We waited. We changed plans. We enjoyed Invictus–thanks, Marti. We stayed another night! It was bitterly cold with a windchill that sounded frightening in either F or C. On Friday, we awoke to very cold weather, but the I-35 was moving, so we headed out and drove up to Minneapolis MN. The road was good, but the ditches and median were filled with stuck and wrecked vehicles, especially near Des Moines. We were glad not to have tried to head north earlier.

Finally, today, we completed the drive along the lake to home. It has been a month-long trip. We really enjoyed having everyone with us in Florida, but we're also really glad to be home.

I have managed one day of investments this week, but it was a good day, and I gained 0.7%—that's a full week plus some catch-up. Economic news was shaky toward the end of the week, but the TSX ended up in the green anyway.

Travis, Erin & Kristian have been holding the fort at home. We'll catch up with them now that we're home again.

And that's about it for this week.

News Update

Happy New Year!

Another week has passed in sunny Florida, but our time here is done, and we're ready to begin the long trip north starting tomorrow. We plan to be back in Thunder Bay by next Saturday. We have enjoyed our holiday in Florida, seen all we wish to see at Disney World, and become more aware of other attractions in this part of the world. We will look forward to another visit some time.

This week was spent with Travis, Erin & Kristian. We were in a new location near downtown Orlando, and enjoyed good access to Disney World as well as several outlet malls! Unfortunately, we often found that the interstate through Orlando was a multi-lane parking lot. Today, we drove the crew down to Tampa as they attended the Penguins-Lightning hockey game this afternoon, and are preparing to fly north in the morning.

The final week of investing for the year was only three days, but things went well and I gained 0.4% to close the year at 4.9% for these final three months of the year.

And that's about it for this week.

Economics 102

Happy New Year everyone! The year 2009 has ended, and while that date is an artificial boundary, it gives a holiday (and a pause) to review, reconsider and plan. It was a momentous year for us financially as, with the completion of my latest assignment, we have decided that my work should be the management of our investments. So, while I do that, I am also blogging the details. In education (where every common thing has to have a special name!) we call this metacognition! Enjoy!

I am calling this Economics 102 because I took Economics 100 in my first year of university, and Economics 101 is a well-used metaphor already.

I started my investment training and practice on March 9th. My first buys were on March 10th. Those who follow the TSX closely recognize those dates. They marked the depths of the most recent market crash. Since then we have enjoyed one of the biggest market surges since the Great Depression. My instructors lamented over the experience of our group as being so far from reality that we might not really be learning as we should. It was hard not to make money during the part of the year from March 10th to December 31st as the TSX rose from 7,567 to 11,746. So, I have determined to assess my success in the light of the TSX surge.

The first decade of this century is being well-described as a lost decade economically. This is certainly true in the US (Thanks there, Dubya!), but not so much in Canada. In the US, the SP500 dropped 24.1% during the decade (Imagine the additional pain if not for Obama's 23.4% gain this year!) The TSX rose almost 40% during the decade, but 30.7% took place this year, and even with that, an annualized rate of about 4% ranks pretty poorly against the previous two decades. Both countries have now pulled out the Bush Recession, and both of our main market indices moved into official bull territory in June, however, there are plenty of worrisome and difficult economic clouds still roiling through. Our economic health is so tightly tied to the US, that their continuing economic malaise is a big concern. Thoughtful observers see the current recovery as artificially based on the Obama stimulus spending and worry over the future. While he has been able to turn the TARP funding into a profitable investment for the US taxpayers, I do not see any prospects of an early repayment of the stimulus investment.

With that in the background I turn to the micro-economic picture of my own finances. My first simulated trading experience ran until July 17th. During that time, I achieved a profit of 43.7% while the TSX gained about 37% (My professional advisers gained 12.6%). The second phase ran until September 24th where I gained 19.1%, and the TSX rose 8.8% (My professional advisers gained 1.4%). The final phase (where I was actually investing money) completed the year; I gained 4.9% while the TSX rose 4.1% (My professional advisers lost 1.3%).

So, there's the assessment, now to consider the evaluation! The investment plan we are learning certainly allowed us to make great gains and surpass the markets (and some professional advisers) widely during the early trials, but not so much during the final phase. It is a concern that the final phase was when I was actually using my own money! Do I get too emotionally attached to the business? The final phase translates into an annual gain of about 20% which is certainly enough to support us, but not in line with the 30% we've been trained to expect. Therefore, while the effort will continue, I will also be reviewing my strategies and techniques as I try to improve. Travis has revised his working conditions so as to be more available to consult and support the investment program. We hope (and plan) for good economic results in 2010.

News Update

Another warm and sunny week has passed in central Florida. We hear of storms across the central and northern states and also in Canada; we even hear of a white Christmas in Dallas! We're glad to miss those! We have enjoyed another week with all the family, but now Eric/A and the boys flew north today, so we're somewhat at a loss. Santa did not miss us in Orlando, even though he was told to skip us for this year as the trip was supposed to be the treat. We feel especially blessed by the gracious treatment!

Disney has continued to be much visited, but with the closing of schools for the holidays, the lineups have become very long! We're finding it necessary to go early and get Fastpasses. Still, there have been times when we couldn't get into the rides we wished for. We've also been spending time in the timeshare's mini-golf, pools and hot tubs. Kristian has gradually become pretty comfortable in the water. Eric and I got out golfing once at Disney; that was fun.

Poor internet service and business with Mickey have precluded much investment work. I only managed one transaction and that was for a small loss, but not enough to change my percentages. We'll see if I can get back into it in the coming week. Travis has tried to continue with his online courses in HTML, but that has also suffered due to poor internet service. We are moving to a new resort next week, so we hope for better internet there.

We have another week here with Erin, Kristian and Travis. Then, we'll start the long trip back.

And that's about it for this week.

Merry Christmas to all!

Another week has passed in the middle of Florida, far from my hometown. The rest of the family has now joined us, as Travis, Erin & Kristian flew into Tampa on Wednesday. We have been enjoying visiting with Mickey Mouse and friends—sampling the rides, shows and other delights offered at DisneyWorld. We have also experienced getting lost in a variety of new ways, often while trying to get back to the condo from DisneyWorld, but also as we tried to get to the airport in Tampa! I think we have both issues figured out now. We have been introduced to a new "points-based" timeshare concept, so we will continue to investigate that as an alternative to the "weeks-based" timeshares we currently own. It's surely been great using the timeshare to accommodate the family together here in Florida for Christmas. The weather is very pleasant, although we had two days of thirty degree temperatures, and that was a bit much! Most days are in the low twenties and we are enjoying that very much.

I have continued to track my investments, but have had little time and sometimes poor access to do much. The TSX has continued mostly sideways during these last two weeks anyway, so I guess I haven't missed much. I did manage one sale this week, so my earnings now sit at 4.5% overall. Oil has gained some, and that helps the TSX.

It didn't take long for Kristian to figure out the DisneyWorld business. We brought along a stroller for him, but now, when I stop, he jumps out and looks for the entry to another ride! He also really enjoyed his first fireworks with full sound last night!

And that's about it for this week.

News Update

Another week has passed and we have travelled from the shore of Lake Superior, my home town, to the shore of the Gulf of Mexico. It was quite a trip! We left on Monday, driving down to Minneapolis. I checked out various items from my wish list at the Apple store, and Wendy went upstairs to check out her wish list at the Lindt chocolate store.

Before leaving home, Wendy had complained about there always being a storm in Iowa, so she was disbelieving when I told her I had checked the weather and a storm was on the way! Once I convinced her that it was the truth, we determined to drive as far south as we could before it hit. We got as far as Des Moines (no less!). Then we checked into the motel and waited for the morning. By morning there was plenty of snow on the ground, but there seemed to be a lull in the storm so we set off for Lawrence KS. As per usual there were many vehicles in the ditches, but we had only one difficult section, and by the half-way mark the snow has turned to rain, and the highway gradually cleared off. We enjoyed our brief stay with Marti and Helen. We set off for Hernando MS on the frozen rain the next day. The highways had been salted into slush, so traction was fine. Still it was a long day, and it was after dark by the time we drove into Gary & Cheryl's place near Hernando. We enjoyed catching up with these long time friends from YK days. On Thursday, we set off for Stan & Pat's place in New Orleans. This was a shorter day, so it was good to get there during daylight hours. We enjoyed a visit and seafood feast with them. On Friday, we toured New Orleans and then headed east for Florida. Again it was late by the time we called it a halt and got a motel in Tallahassee. Finally on Saturday, we completed the drive down to Orlando, and booked into our villa. Eric/A and the boys arrived on the evening plane from MSP, so we're set for a enjoyable week of Disneyworld and other local attractions.

The TSX had a no good very bad week, so it was just as well to be on the road. I didn't buy or sell anything this week, although one stock came close to selling. So, I'm still stalled at 4.3%. Maybe next week will bring better results if the price of oil goes up.

It's the week of curling trials back home as they determine our national representatives for the Olympics. My favourite, Kevin Martin, is in the men's final Sunday afternoon. The women's representative was chosen tonight; Cheryl Bernard will represent us very well, I'm sure.

Erin & Kristian and Travis are holding down the fort at home. It's turned colder there with some fresh snow. Trav has had some difficulties keeping the truck running, and then the hot water heater quit! They plan to fly down here next week. We're enjoying 25+ temperatures down here.

And that's about it for this week.

News Update

Another week has passed on the shore of Lake Superior in my hometown. But it will take much longer than a week to get over the Grey Cup game. One saying in sports is that "you've got to play the full sixty minutes", and our Riders did that. Even after sixty minutes they were two points ahead, but there was a penalty, so, the game was extended one more play, and Montreal used that play to kick a field goal and win the game by one point! Oh, what a bitter pill that was! The Riders never trailed in the whole game–not once in sixty minutes–but it was not enough.

It has been a busy week as we prepare for departure on Monday. The snow has apparently been watching the calendar, and with the turn of the month, it arrived on Tuesday. Wendy has been busy ensuring all is in readiness with reservations and travel arrangements for the next month. We got sad news this week concerning the passing of a long-time family friend and great Christian man, Elford Bell, out in Gravelbourg. That is where I was born, and the Bell family is a great and valued influence on our family. Elford is missed.

I had two online training sessions for investments this week. I had a good week with my investments; I was up 0.5% as the first three days saw profitable markets before it turned red on Thursday and Friday. Thus I now stand at 4.3% gain after ten weeks of work. It will be difficult to continue the investing while we travel, but once we get to Florida, I expect to spend some time trying!

Erin and Kristian are doing fine, although Kristian has a bit of a cold. We look forward to when they will fly down to join us in Florida. Erin is quite busy with her new job, especially during the early training. However, she is enjoying it a great deal so far.

Trav keeps busy as usual. His hockey team is doing well this week, and his work seems to keep him busy. He, also, is scheduled to fly down and spend time with us in Florida.

And that's the kind of week it's been.

News Update

Another week has passed on the shore of Lake Superior, in my home town. While the temperatures have declined, the weather has continued to be quite nice. We had showers on a couple of days, so it wasn't so nice to get out for walks, but, hey, it's not snow! As the week started, we rejoiced in the Rider victory in the western final over Calgary. Tomorrow is the Grey Cup game, and the Riders are big underdogs against Montreal, but, they still have to play the game! So, we'll wait and hope and cheer! Today we watched the university championship game won by Queen's University. It was pretty good football, although we found ourselves cheering for the losing team on this occasion—hopefully that'll change tomorrow!

The markets had another week of decline (must be following the temperature), so it was hard to make the decision to buy in, and hard to make money. I did manage another 0.1%, so I stand at 3.8% for nine weeks of work. I also did a bit of work for one of my old schools, but really, it was a pretty quiet week. I've been working on a couple of pamphlets in my own desktop publishing activity. Both are nearly ready for print.

Wendy has kept busier with taxi service and medical appointments and preparation for Trav's birthday this weekend. Eric/A and boys drove down Friday evening, so we celebrated the birthday with them as well. It is always special having the whole family under one roof.

Erin is busy in her new job. Kristian has a whirl-wind of Christmas celebrations at school and day care, so that's kept mom and grandma scrambling as well.

Aside from turning twenty-eight, Trav has occupied himself with the usual in coaching, work and contracts. He finished another production today, and got that sent away.

And that's about it for this week.

News Update

Another week has passed here on the shore of Lake Superior in my hometown. The weather has been beautiful and we've enjoyed getting out for our walks. It was nice to walk the fairways of the golf course (no little white ball to spoil it!), although there were many geese there as well, and they've left behind more than their tracks. The greens are covered now, but the fairways make for nice walking. The markets have continued to be difficult, although we did get back up to the levels (briefly) that we had enjoyed back in September. I managed only 0.1% gain, so I'm at 3.7% gain for eight weeks, and I've fallen behind expectations! I managed a little bit of consulting work this week as well, and the renovations have continued at church, but my part of that is pretty well complete. This is a big weekend for the Riders. They play the western final tomorrow to see if they can advance to the Grey Cup game the following week. Go Riders Go!

Wendy has continued to consult her various doctors, and I think we're now started on a diet. We hope this will calm her blood-chemistry levels. She has also taken on some of the driving for Kristian as Erin transitions into her new job. That will need to be resolved soon, as we're planning to head south in a couple of weeks.

Erin has begun work at Budget Rentals, but has also been called back to do more at her old job! In fact, she's at work there today, putting in some extra hours since they didn't need her any more! Go figure.

Trav continues with his work, and is off on a trip to Winnipeg this weekend. He's finding it difficult to set aside enough time for the investment work, and I miss that collaboration. I will keep working to refine the investment strategy, hoping it will require less time to practise.

And that's about it for this week.

News Update

Another week has passed on the shore of Lake Superior in my hometown. The weather has been very nice, and we've been enjoying that. We've been kept a little busy at church with the removal of the pews and the refinishing of the floor. Wendy has been scouting, researching and negotiating for the purchase of chairs. The markets have continued troublesome, and, at least to me, unpredictable! However, I have managed to make a few sales and gained 0.3%, so I'm at 3.6% after seven weeks, which is just slightly above expectations. I've been able to do a bit of helpdesk work for two of my old schools. One has even assured me they will pay me for it! What a concept! During the end of this week I've been enjoying watching the pre-Olympic trials in curling. The eight teams for both the men's and women's trials are now set. Of course my favourite, Kevin Martin, is among the group. I now look forward to the Olympic trials curling in early December.

Wendy has continued with her medical work-ups. It has been confirmed that she is diabetic, but they're hoping to control it with diet and exercise (I hope to benefit from that program as well!) for now. She is also getting an upgrade on her thyroid medication, so we hope that helps.

Erin finally got laid off from the job she quit at the beginning of the summer, but she has now been hired for another full-time job, so I'm still not clear when schooling will take place. Not only that, but even this week as the date of her lay-off passed, her old job was still asking her why she wasn't at work!! Kristian is doing very well with his schooling, his language development and his tormenting of the new puppy! Sadie has learned several locations that can serve as at least a temporary sanctuary from him.

Travis has had a busy week with many hockey games, and his team is in a tournament this weekend, so he's getting his fill of that. Still, he seems to be well-engaged in coaching, and doing a good job with it. From time to time, we have a bit of discussion about that as well as our investments.

And that's about it for this week.

News Update

Another week has passed on the shore of Lake Superior in my hometown. The weather has been very nice, so we've been enjoying that. I have continued my investments training with two webinars, and have also been working on some refinements to my technical strategy. The markets have continued to be difficult, so I only managed one sale this week. Some of the others are nearing sale area, so maybe next week! Still I'm up another 0.1% for 3.3% total gain. We concluded the week watching the battle for first place between the Riders and Calgary. It was a great (Riders Won!) game, so the Riders will host the Western Final in two weeks! Go Riders!

Wendy has been busy cooking up the pumpkins and making loaves and pies, mmmm, good! She's also been working on the selection of new chairs for church. We'll have a busy week next week as we remove the pews and work on the floor. We don't expect the new chairs to arrive in time, but we'll get by with some other chairs we already have. Wendy has not received any further news on her diabetes, but has been dedicating greater effort to diet and exercise in the meantime.

Erin and Kristian are doing fine. Kristian was ill for a couple of days, so he missed school on Tuesday, but he's back in fine fettle once again! Erin is making a few more moves towards her schooling, but she has also applied for a new job!

Trav continues with work, coaching and extra contracts. The website is developing fine; he's looking forward to learning the flash part of it whenever that comes up.

And that's about it for this week.

News Update

Another week has passed on the shore of Lake Superior in my hometown. The weather has been damp, but mild, and we've enjoyed that. I've noted the golfers on the course as I drive by, and contemplated another round, but my usual partner has been busy, and I've decided not to bother on my own—must be getting old! This afternoon, I suffered the indignity of watching my Riders put in a poor effort in Hamilton. The loss leaves them in a must-win situation in their final game of the season next week if they wish to claim first place and home field advantage in the playoffs.

It's been another bad week in the markets, to close off a bad month. The TSX lost 4% in October, so it's been tough to make money. I only managed one buy & sell this week, but it was a good one, so I've picked up another 0.4% to finish the month up 3.2%. I also have some other buys that are not ready to sell yet, so I need the markets to return to the positive so the investments can flourish. Trav has continued in an advisory role as he continues to paper-trade. Hopefully, by the time he decides to get in, the markets will have turned upward again.

Kristian and I have been busy with Hallowe'en preparations. We went pumpkin hunting and got two nice ones. I've field-dressed them, and we've cut in faces for them. Each day as he gets home from school, he wants them lit up! This evening is the end of them, and now we look forward to their next incarnation in pie or pumpkin loaf! He enjoyed trick-n-treating dressed as the pit crew for Lightning McQueen!

Wendy has been working through some medical tests this week, as her doctor is thinking she may be suffering with mild diabetes. So, she's been going through the necessary blood work to confirm the diagnosis. And she also got her H1N1 shot—sore shoulder with that! Then, she's been helping me install a new garage door last night and today. This little project started out as getting the old door reset for winter, and noticing that one torsion spring was broken. As one thing led to another, I was soon into replacing the whole door! Anyway the new one surely looks better and it's insulated as well.

Erin has continued with a bit of the work she's been quitting since last spring! This week, she had some helpful news—she's being laid off! I think she may finally get to quit! Then, she can get into her classwork in earnest. She's also been enjoying getting Kristian ready for Hallowe'en.

Trav has continued with his work. He's recently picked up a contract to do some flash (whatever that involves!) work on a website, so he's learning how to do that as he does the project. And he's enjoying watching his Penguins reel off win after win in the young hockey season.

And that's about it for this week.

News Update

Another week has passed on the shore of Lake Superior in my hometown. The weather has been fairly nice, and I contemplated going golfing on Monday, but I couldn't find a partner! As the week closed, we watched the Riders battle the Lions to stay in first place. For the second game in a row, they went to overtime, but this time the defense came up big with an interception, so we won. Now, it appears it will come down to one final confrontation with Calgary in two weeks. One item I neglected to mention last week (For which I've been severely castigated!) was the arrival of Erin's new puppy. Her name is Sadie, she's twelve weeks old, a nice little Shitzu-Bichon.

We had special news in the congregation as we've trying to sell our pews and move into chairs, and this week, we finally managed to sell the pews! We expect they will actually be taken out in about three weeks, so now we're busily engaged in deciding on what specific chair design to select for the replacements. Fortunately, I'm not on that committee. We checked the removal process on Friday. We took out two pews, just to see how difficult it would be, and what kind of a mess would remain on the floor afterward. The removal plan went well; we zipped those out in about two minutes flat! The floor cleaning will be a process!

It was another difficult week on the TSX as the markets declined 1.1%, however, I managed some good sales early in the week, and made 1% profit, so my total for the first four weeks is 2.8%, or somewhat above expectations. Now if we could just get the markets to behave smoothly...

Wendy has spent the week catching up on things around home: paperwork, vacuuming, Scrabulous... She is also working on the chair selection committee so she's begun research on that.

Erin seems to continue with pretty much full time work, but I don't see any school work getting done! Kristian is enjoying school, enjoying his new puppy, and glad to have his grandparents home. And we're glad to be home with him, too!

Travis continues with work. He donated his old car to Youth Challenge, so that's cleared out of the yard. We enjoyed going to one of the hockey games of the team he coaches.

And that's about it for this week.