La la la la la la la la la la la la la.... er, la?

What Be Your Nerd Type? Your Result: Musician   Doo doo de doo waaaa doo de doo! (<-- That's you playing something.) Everyone appreciates the band/orchestra geeks and the pretty voices. Whether you sing in the choir, participate in a school/local band, or sit at home writing music, you contribute a joy to society that everyone can agree on. Yay! Welcome to actually doing something for poor, pathetic human souls. (Just kidding.)
Literature Nerd
Science/Math Nerd
Gamer/Computer Nerd
Artistic Nerd
Social Nerd
Anime Nerd
Drama Nerd
What Be Your Nerd Type? Quizzes for MySpace

May Day Flight

That's May Day - not "mayday!" Significant difference. Last week I took a little hop over Nanaimo for sightseeing as well as recording some performance parameters for the aircraft. Here's a shot of the Pacific Biological Station in Departure Bay.

I recorded some video, which I've posted on my aviation-oriented blog:

A walk in the park....

Sunset at the shore

Summer at last ...

Good Vibe-rations

So, our new wheels look approximately like this ---

It's a 2005 Pontiac Vibe. It's called a crossover vehicle because it's sort of a mini-van and a car. Or some call it a mid-size sports-wagon.

The things we like it for:

Economy - a small 4 cylinder, 1.8 liter engine should give us significantly better fuel costs than the old van. And the purchase price was less than say a new Toyota Corolla, or similar car.

Utility - the back seats fold flat, along with the front passenger's seat so we can still toss in an 8 foot long piece of lumber, or maybe even an airplane wing when I need too?

Durability and Reliability - the main running gear is built by Toyota and it is mechanically the same car as the Matrix. It has a pretty good reputation for lasting a long time with no big maintenance issues.

Sportiness and solid driving feel - hey, we're not dead yet...

And there's even an online Forum for Vibe enthusiasts/owners. That should prove handy.

Slime of the Earth Award

I am officially awarding my newly-founded "Slime of the Earth" award to Bank Credit Card companies. Their tactics promoting excessive and unwise use of credit continues to astound and outrage me.

My current month's Mosaik Mastercard statement says:

"TO HELP YOU MEET UNEXPECTED FINANCIAL DEMANDS WE HAVE MADE THIS MONTH'S PAYMENT OPTIONAL. IF YOU SKIP THIS MONTH'S PAYMENT, INTEREST WILL ACCUMULATE. ..."

First of all, thanks So Much for offering such generous "help." With help like this the average person who doesn't understand the full details of credit cards is doomed to a life of indebtedness. In feudal times we called it "Indentured Servitude" and worse.

Secondly, what is the credit rate that they are offering me this generous "help" at? No less than 18.5% ! The official term for this used to be Usuary.

Merriam Webster: usury

- the lending of money at an ... unconscionable or exorbitant rate or amount of interest;

A few years back I recall a public outrage over high credit card rates that forced the banks to lower them. Then the inflation-crisis of the 80s came along and card rates soared up to their current levels. And now with bank rates down around 5%, the Cards keep charging outrageous rates and customers actually buy in.

Hello Customers! Get a bank loan at a much lower rate. Never! Never! Never, buy something on a credit card that you won't be paying off In Full at the next statement.

And speaking of statements. Have you ever noticed how credit card statements use a strange number of days for their payment cycles - never a regular calendar month? Why do you suppose that is? Could it be so we can never get into a steady rhythm of paying off our card balances each payday? And every now and then we will be hit with a double whammy -- credit card statements at the beginning and the end of the same month. Is the bank deliberately setting us up to pay this exorbitant interest on our balance?

So, in recognition of their enormous Greed and Predatory Attitude, I hereby award the first ever "Slime of the Earth" award to all Credit Card Companies who operate this way. (Which is all of them in my experience...)

Summer begins at last!

Well, by Thursday that is... I love the night time tempertures too. It cools off around here at night which makes sleeping more comfortable and air conditioning is not often needed:

For the Birds

I spend some time most weeks helping out at the World Parrot Refuge near Coombs. That's just a 40 minute drive up the road from home. One way I help out is by posting updates and features to their website: www.worldparrotrefuge.org

Over the last week or two I put together a couple of videos to illustrate how much continual effort goes into this amazing facility. I thought I'd copy them here as well:
PART ONE


PART TWO

Catch a Wave?

Apparently our trusty red Caravan is no longer so trusty. Our mechanic says that rust is attacking areas of the chassis and this makes it a poor investment to keep repairing. Any old car can be kept running a long time if rust in the frame/chassis can be avoided.

I realized yesterday that there are NO shops around Nanaimo specializing in under-coating to protect cars from rust and corrosion! Guess why.... There is a world of difference in the condition of older cars in this part of the world vs. Quebec and Ontario. Those "down east" cars are subject to the worst salting of the roads because their climate is such that salt is the main tool used to keep the roads clear. On the prairie province roads, the temps are usually so cold that salt doesn't work as well, and plowing/sweeping has to be used more. And on the west coast of course, the roads are rarely in need of winter maintenance of any kind (the interiour is a different story).

We decided to look at some "next-to-new" models around the 10 to 12,000 dollar level as a replacement that we can expect to keep for 10+ years. Perhaps we'll "Catch a Wave" ...