Monday, February 28, 2011

Series of Significance: We know that all bubbles burst

[The following four posts were published separately on earlier dates. Now they are posted together for your convenience. No extra charge.]

It’s not like we don’t know PT 1: Bubbles burst

We know - we have for quite some time - US national debt is going North. It will surpass $15 Trillion this year.


["US debt grows by leaps and bounds"]

We know Canadian debt is going North. It will surpass $600 Billion this year or early next.

We know personal debt in Canada is going North. It is now at $150 debt per $100 income for the first time in human history.

All these things we know. What we don’t know is what to do about it.

We know the days of $15 oil (price per barrel), as in the early 1980s, are over. We know oil prices have increased four-fold in the last ten years alone.


We know global oil consumption has grown steadily since 1984. We know global oil consumption, as from 1996 - 2006, cannot be sustained.

1996 - 71,669,000 barrels, a 2.19% rise over 1995
2006 - 84,977,000 barrels, a 1.16% rise over 2005
(Source: United States Energy Information Administration)

We know the oil bubble will burst, that it may have an unstoppable leak already.


These things we know. What we don’t know is what to do about it.

I’d recommend, just off the top of my head, long distance training.

***

It’s not like we don’t know PT 2: Food prices will rise steadily

We know US debt, Canada's debt and personal debt will eventually back many families into a corner from which they will only escape with a smaller lifestyle.

We know oil prices have quadrupled since 2000, global oil consumption has grown steadily since 1984 and the cheap oil bubble will soon burst. What we don’t know is what to do about these things.


Personally, I think long distance training is in order.

For example, if personal debt is like an ever-tightening noose, a person or family should seek assistance from a bank or financial advisor, strictly monitor credit card use or cut them up, begin keeping a detailed budget, reduce spending on non-essential or frivolous items, develop the habit of living - for the long-term - under one’s means. That's for starters.

As many know, long distance runners work hard for weeks, months and years to train for fast marathon times. Success doesn’t come easy.

Individuals and families must train themselves too, over the long term again, to steadily decrease debt and then to accumulate savings.

Thanks to recent news, we now know the cheap food bubble will soon burst, if it has not done so already.


Canadians and Americans have enjoyed cheap food for many, many years. It has been reported that Canadians on average spend 10% of disposable income on food, Americans - 13%, while in China the average is 39%, even higher (45%) in Indonesia. (Feb. 14, London Free Press)

A senior market analyst predicted that “food prices will likely increase 5% to 10% over the next year or so.”

Already much complaining has started.

One subheading in the recent news article declared, “Record high prices blamed for political unrest.”

While that is definitely true, the reverse is also true, that political unrest will also soon be blamed for record high prices because unrest, e.g., in Libya, will jack up the already rising oil prices.

There are several other factors affecting rising grocery prices, but so far no one has suggested that long distance training will help ease the pain.

I for one think it will.

***

It’s not like we don’t know PT 3: Potato chips out. Apples in.

There are many things we know concerning national debt, oil prices per barrel and subsequent gas prices at the pump.

(Hint: They're going North.)

As well, we know the cheap food bubble will burst and the days when the average Canadian can spend only 10% of disposable income on food will be gone.

According to the Feb. 14 issue of The London Free Press, a senior market analyst predicts that “food prices will likely increase 5% to 10% over the next year or so.”

There are several factors affecting rising grocery prices, but so far no one has suggested that long distance training will help ease the pain.

I do so now.

For many years I trained my body to cover approximately 1,000 miles over 6-month periods (including dozens of hill workouts for strength, speed workouts for faster times, 20 - 25 mile long runs to increase stamina) in order to prepare for one shot at a 26.2 mile race on a specific date, e.g., The Forest City Marathon right here in London, Ontario.

Increased strength, speed and stamina helped me prepare for the next marathon (and other distances, e.g., 10 km., 21.1 km., 30 km. races), and the one after that, and the one after that, etc., for 10 years.

I learned over the course of my racing decade that long distance training principles (e.g., “a marathon starts with one step”) can be applied to other matters.

For example, the effort made to put a little bit of savings away each week produced something substantial at the end of one year, more at the end of two, and so on.

The pain associated with putting aside a little bit of savings might hurt at first, but then the pocketbook and mind and heart gets used to it, and the items that were reduced (e.g., restaurant meals, movies) to provide the savings are forgotten.

Related to our rising food bills: I bet there are 40 - 50 food items in homes across Canada and the US that most people can quite easily do without. (Rising body weights suggest I might be onto something!)

Turning back the tide of rising prices will be impossible, I’m afraid. It will be easier to trim the fat on grocery lists and in kitchen pantries.

I suggest we get into the long-term habit of cutting one non-essential food item off our grocery list every two or four weeks and choose to eat more fruit or vegetables in its place.

Twinkies out. Locally grown carrots in.

Potato chips out. Apples in.

Soda pop out. Diluted fresh juice in.

I recall the first time I tried to eat my homemade oatmeal without two spoonfuls of brown sugar. Yuck. It was as appetizing as a hill workout on Gibbons Hills during the early stages of marathon training. My body just wasn’t used to it.

However, after a few weeks, I stopped missing the sugar and was enjoying the taste of the mixture of oats, Red River cereal and bran, sweetened with a few diced cranberries, currants and raisins.

I don’t drink pop anymore. It’s far too sweet. I drink cooled juice from the pot after steaming vegetables. Or I drink diluted apple juice, or grape juice. Or water. Good old tap water. (And you know I drink the occasional beer. Yummy. And too much tea and coffee by some standards).


["One cold Guinness please. I can have two? Make it two!": GH 2004, London]

[Special note: It has been said that if you want to see what you're going to look like in 20 years, look at a photo of yourself crossing the finish line of a marathon. The photo above shows how I'll look at age 74. I'll be ordering Guinness! Good one! Sorry, I digress.]

Our bodies have been bombarded with too much sugar and high-fructose corn syrup and salt for years. It’s hard to buy breads or bagels anymore that don’t have 3 - 6 sugars listed under ‘main ingredients.’ Even salt and bottled lemon juice now contain sugar.

As grocery prices rise by 5 - 10%, I am confident that many Canadians will be able to make substantial savings by trimming nonsense foods from the weekly grocery list and train the body to accept the less exciting (aka sugary, fatty, salty) taste of real and healthier food.

Sure, some people will have to learn to cook, but isn’t that what TV is for? (The mindset of the long distance runner will help along the way).

It’s not like we didn’t know this was coming.

More to follow. (You knew that too!)

***

It’s not like we don’t know PT 4: Food Freedom Day? WTHeck?

Here in Canada and the US we know debt and oil cost$ are going North.

We know food cost$ are going North and one day we’ll have to cook more meals to save $$$.

Meanwhile back at the ranch, where snow-covered Canadians have time to calculate which day our grocery bills will be paid off, some of us know that Feb. 12 was Food Freedom Day 2011, “the date by which the average Canadian has earned enough money to pay for groceries for the entire year.” (Feb. 14, London Free Press)


["Long-term training needed to live under our means"]

Right now there are a few factors that are keeping that date from being pushed quickly into March.

According to economists, they are the following:

The high Canadian dollar

the high proportion of food costs unrelated to crop prices such as marketing and transportation

intense retail competition


However, crop prices will eventually buffet Food Freedom Day.

Here’s why:

North American crop prices - for corn , wheat and soybeans - are surging.

A high percentage of foods contain corn, corn syrup, corn starch, wheat and soy.

Our meat stocks - beef, pork and poultry - get stuffed to the eyeballs with corn and soy.


So, as you already likely know, Food Freedom Day won’t likely be celebrated on Feb. 12 in 2012.

It strikes me funny that many North Americans pay any attention to such odd conventions, i.e., Food Freedom Day, Tax Free Day (the date by which we have earned enough to pay off our taxes), Mortgage Free Day, Christmas Bills Free Day, Golf Membership Free Day, Cable Bill Free Day, etc.

It’s funny (funny “odd”, not funny “haha”) because those dates are more about willing deception than whimsical convention.

How can we say to ourselves that we’ve earned enough to pay off our groceries when some payments are made by credit card and personal debt is going through the roof? How can we be free from taxes when national debt is higher than it’s ever been (in Canada and the US) in human history? How can anyone celebrate Mortgage Free Day when their line of credit is growing faster than the mortgage is declining?

Some of us are such maroons.

These things we know, and long-term training is needed to get many North Americans even close to living under their means.

***

Please click here to read a series related to US debt.

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Zoom w a View: Can a snow clunker be called art?

It’s a new rule. Photos must come with descriptive titles. Even during the sloppy time of transition between Winter Snow and Spring Flowers.

I’ll follow this rule all the time now - until I forget.

Transition 1: Gritty steps will soon be polished stone


Transition 2: Slushy walkways will soon be dry


Transition 3: Spruce trees in puddles wait for blue skies


Transition 4: Watery curbs wait for warm breezes


Transition 5: Frozen clunkers will soon litter the lane



Let me know if you’ve ever seen a prettier clunker.

***

Please click here for more Zoom w a View.

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Sunday, February 27, 2011

Series of Significance: “Thing$ Going North $$”

[The following posts, about ten costs or debts growing simultaneously that affect Canadians, appeared in March, 2010. They are still relevant today, though some figures are updated and the list is now longer.]

Live Small and Prosper: “Thing$ Going North $$” PT 1

My mottoes ‘Live Small’, ‘live small and prosper,’ and ‘reduce spending, pay down debts and save money for the tough times ahead’ seem to be getting more important every day.

I wouldn’t be surprised if the federal Conservatives try to squeeze a bit of one of my mottoes into our national anthem - while they’re tinkering with it in order to distract people from the fact they don’t know how to solve Canada’s large financial, economic and environmental problems.

(Hint: Start off with 'O Canada, our home and mortgaged land...

Then, after the phrase ‘true patriot love,’ throw in ‘save dough 'cause times are tough.’)


To do my part, I’ll maintain a list of things that are going North ($$$), as far as our wallets are concerned.

First, our national debt will go over $600 billion in 2012, according to Canada’s Dept. of Finance.

(As of Feb. 27, 2011, this is still true, though it may happen earlier).

Second, our hydro bills will rise once we switch to the new ‘smart meter’ rates.

(They may rise more than anticipated).

Third, oil just past $80 US per barrel. That can’t be good (unless it’s burbling from your back yard. Is it? Call me).

(Feb. 27, 2011: Price per barrel is now $98.23 US).

Fourth, Canada’s average household debt to income ratio just went from 140 to 145 percent (predicted to be at 160 soon).

(It is now 150 percent).

Fifth, experts predict that higher interests are on the way, so mortgages and lines of credit will cost Canadians more.

Sixth, the HST (Hiked Sales Tax) will be starting in just a few months, and many shopping purchases and monthly bills will cost Canadians more.

Seventh, a copy of Batman’s debut in a 1939 comic book sold recently for $1.075 million US. So, if you’re into rare comics (and I say, why not), start saving up.

Okay, that’s enough good news for one day.

***

Canada, did I miss anything else going North ($$$)?

Have you bought a new piggy bank lately?

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Live Small and Prosper: “Thing$ Going North $$” PT 2

I have the feeling that monthly expenses for North Americans will be going north for many years to come.

I suppose if I valiantly did research everyday into all the things that make us debtors in our own land I’d be one busy boy, so I won’t.

I’ll just keep a list for people of the province of Ontario and Canada as major bills come to my attention.


Please realize, of course, that I don’t always pay attention to any one thing for long.

8. Ontario’s provincial debt is approaching $200 billion. I’ll be out of town when it happens so someone please pop a balloon for me.

***

Is it too late to add the following? Reduce spending, pay down debt, save money for the tough times ahead.

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Live Small and Prosper: “Thing$ Going North $$” PT 3

I may have missed something, but based on my limited knowledge, I don’t think anything has gone North ($$$) in Canada since Tuesday, March 9, 2010.

However, I just spotted news about another item that will soon cause monthly expenses for the citizens of Canada to rise, so I need to add it to the growing list.


9. This just in - Canadians are paying an average of 12 cents a liter more for gasoline at the pumps than a year ago ($1.04 average/liter at present), and they tend to move even higher in the spring, causing many drivers to wonder if they should drive fewer kilometres to save money.

Okay, that’s enough good news for one day.

(Average prices in London now appear to be between $1.15 and $1.21 per liter)

.

Live Small and Prosper: “Thing$ Going North $$” PT 4

Wasn’t it just yesterday I added something to this list?

Life seems to be getting more expensive here in Canada by the week, and now I wonder - is it all just long overdue?


Have we been living too high off the proverbial hog for decades?

My list, started in early March, now has a long-awaited number ten.

10. Core inflation increases: Our inflation rate, which includes the effect of volatile items such as fuel, fruit and vegetables, rose more than forecast in February and is now up to 2.1% for the last full year.

Higher car prices and a steep jump in accommodation costs during the Vancouver Olympics were the main factors driving the gain.

Raise your hand if you didn’t buy a new car or go to the Olympics.

Hey, me neither. We pay anyway.

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Live Small and Prosper: “Thing$ Going North $$” PT 5

Recently, it came to my attention that two more very important items must be added to the list in 2011.

11. U.S. debt

It stands at about $14 trillion today and will likely hit $20 trillion in 4 - 5 years. Because it will be a BIG economic drag in the U.S., Canada and the London region for a long time I feel compelled to include it here.

12. Food costs

Prices will likely increase 5% to 10% over the next year or so.


Rising crop prices, e.g., related to corn, soy bean and wheat, will eventually cause food costs to go steadily North.

Especially affected will be thousands of items that contain corn syrup and other sugars, and meat stocks (chicken, beef, pork) that are fed on tonnes of locally produced grains.

More than the smoke from the BBQ will bring tears to our eyes this summer.

Cheers.

***

Please click here to read a series of related posts concerning US debt.

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It Strikes Me Funny: This is what blogs are for at times

The deadline for my column is Sunday, 2 p.m.

Today I was running ahead of schedule because I had posted a few related ideas to my blog in advance, as is usually the case, so I had the topic on my brain.

This is what my blog is for at times, in my opinion. It acts like a wall at which I throw spaghetti. Sometimes the spaghetti sticks. Sometimes it doesn’t.

My blog is also useful in other ways.

For example, today as I was writing I recalled the time I was riding home from Thunder Bay (August, 2007) and had to stop at a gas station that displayed prices I’d never seen or paid before in my life. Like this week's prices in London. (Not that I didn’t see the high prices coming, however, as I suggest in my column).

Unfortunately, I outran my word count so ditched the episode.

My blog suffers no such restraint.

“The scene is still vivid in my mind. It was a foggy morning, I was chilled to the bone, the red ‘low fuel’ light on my old Virago was glaring at me, and the first gas station I approached sold gas at $1.17.9 per liter.

Seeing the sign precipitated mild shock and awe and it slowly dawned on me that folks can charge whatever they want on that stretch of highway.


["Tough times and high prices in Thessalon ONT": photo GH]

Sure, I could have said to the station attendant that the prices were outrageous and I had a good mind to turn around and go some place else.

But two things would have happened.

He would have given me the blank stare while digesting my words and formulating a suitable response. Then he would have told me the next station was two hours down the road and politely said, “See ya later. Don’t let the door hit you on the way out.”

Sorry, I digress.”


Word count - perfect. Blog - helpful when it comes to using extra spaghetti in the pot.

***

Please tune in next week for the full column.

Last week’s column; useful link appears in right margin.

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The Workshop: Motel. Hotel. The “After” photos

Finally, the promised AFTER photos, and I’m not even done yet.

Last job: Write up a truthful description re where I stole... borrowed my idea for this style.




Final Thots: I like the Hotel windows better than the Motel’s. I’ll come back to this style after my next series. The style is easy to cut, sand, and assemble. A wash paint job is easy to apply. Signage takes forever in comparison to some other things.






Less signage - maybe.

[Photos GH]

***

Please click here to visit The Workshop again.

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Live Small : Thing$ Going North Revi$ited

Short Intro: March 4, 2010 I started a series of posts about the price of things going North.

The series, in a word - brilliant.

I listed 10 things going North. $$. Simultaneously. Almost unheard of in this day and age.

Idea: Revisit the list. Add two more items.


["A Hard Rain's A-gonna Fall": photo GH]

The original list, in brief: “Canada’s debt, Ontario’s debt, pension plan deficits, interest rates, core inflation (What’s that mean? It doesn’t say), price of oil, price of gasoline, domestic electricity costs, two other hydro charges, a 1939 Batman comic.”

Two new items: 1) U.S. debt.

It stands at about $14 trillion today and will likely hit $20 trillion in 4 - 5 years. Because it will be a BIG economic drag in the U.S., Canada and the London region for a long time we’ll eventually become quite familiar with it.

2) Food costs.

It has been predicted that “food prices will likely increase 5% to 10% over the next year or so.” (Feb. 14, London Free Press)

There, we’re up to date, I think.

***

Please click here to read more Live Small.

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Friday, February 25, 2011

Fun and Fitness: I’ll have my 100 miles by 8:15 p.m.

According to my riding log, I have already covered 83 miles on my exercise bike this week.

And, after watching C. Street tonight (FYI - Blanche is dead, but I think something fishy is going on), I’ll change into shorts, head downstairs and hit my week’s goal after about 70 minutes of riding.


Seventy minutes is a short ride, so ‘bonus’ miles will likely be added onto my total. And if I ride on Saturday or Sunday, I’ll collect even more bonus miles and be fitter than fit.


["Motivational photos and items keep me pumpin' iron": photos GH

Now, about the ‘funeral’ sign in the garbage pail beside my bike.


Last October, I returned to the long and winding road of running for about 3 weeks.

During a run along Springbank Dr. I found the sign and thought it would be fun to pin it to my T-shirt before my next run. You know, for motivation and a few chuckles.

But, like many of my brilliant plans, it was not to be. The running didn’t take, so to speak. I gave it up and returned to my bike.

Because of my comfortable riding setting, my pile of enjoyable books and a few motivational photos and items on nearby shelves, I feel I don’t need the ‘funeral’ sign anymore.




Ride on!

***

Please click here for another visit to Fun and Fitness.

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The Workshop: “Pack up the pot, then paint trim”

There was only one thing left to do by 5 p.m. yesterday, after cutting and assembling six wee windows for two birdhouses.




And that was, to pack up my porcelain pot (it has so many uses!), head indoors (it is still cold in Canada), and apply paint to trim and signage.


Though the natural colour of the windows is appealing, bright yellow and some blue and red should attract attention.


["Ya gotta love your odds and ends": photos GH]

A few metal ‘Cola’ signs and odds and ends should too.

Yup, I love my odds and ends.

***

Please click here to visit The Workshop again.

The ‘AFTER’ photo should be ready soon.

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It Strikes Me Funny PT 4: It’s not like we don’t know - Food Freedom Day? WTHeck?

Here in Canada and the US we know debt and oil price$ are going North.

We know food price$ are going North and one day we’ll have to cook more meals to save $$$.

Meanwhile back at the ranch, where snow-covered Canadians have time to calculate which day our grocery bills will be paid off, some of us know that Feb. 12 was Food Freedom Day 2011, “the date by which the average Canadian has earned enough money to pay for groceries for the entire year.” (Feb. 14, London Free Press)


["Long-term training needed to live under our means"]

Right now there are a few factors that are keeping that date from being pushed quickly into March.

According to economists, they are the following:

The high Canadian dollar

the high proportion of food costs unrelated to crop prices such as marketing and transportation

intense retail competition


However, crop prices will eventually buffet Food Freedom Day.

Here’s why:

North American crop prices - for corn , wheat and soybeans - are surging.

A high percentage of foods contain corn, corn syrup, corn starch, wheat and soy.

Our meat stocks - beef, pork and poultry - get stuffed to the eyeballs with corn and soy.


So, as you already likely know, Food Freedom Day won’t likely be celebrated on Feb. 12 in 2012.

It strikes me funny that many North Americans pay any attention to such odd conventions, i.e., Food Freedom Day, Tax Free Day (the date by which we have earned enough to pay off our taxes), Mortgage Free Day, Christmas Bills Free Day, Golf Membership Free Day, Cable Bill Free Day, etc.

It’s funny (funny “odd”, not funny “haha”) because those dates are more about willing deception than whimsical convention.

How can we say to ourselves that we’ve earned enough to pay off our groceries when some payments are made by credit card and personal debt is going through the roof? How can we be free from taxes when national debt is higher than it’s ever been (in Canada and the US) in human history? How can anyone celebrate Mortgage Free Day when their line of credit is growing faster than the mortgage is declining?

Some of us are such maroons.

These things we know, and long-term training is needed to get many North Americans even close to living under their means.

***

Please click here to read Pt 3 It’s not like we don’t know.

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Thursday, February 24, 2011

Zoom w a View: New idea - Each photo should be titled

I don’t know where my ideas come from, but I think a recent one is worth promoting.

Each photo I take should be given a great title in order to heighten human interest. Even if the photo is of animal tracks. I may be very good at it.

Photo 1: “Light Snow on Vertical Deck Boards”


Photo 2: “More Light Snow on Horizontal Deck Boards”


Photo 3: “Cat Tracks (Darn it All!) Heading North”


Photo 4: “Where’s My Slingshot When I Need It?”


Photo 5: “I Hope This Bird Made Tracks Outta Here Before it was Too Late!”



[“Photos by GH while in Dr. Dentons on back deck”]

I really think the titles added something.

***

Please click here for more Zoom w a View.

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Fun and Fitness: “Brilliant. Roddy Doyle is on deck”

Yesterday I played hockey. I’ll write “5 miles” in my log.

Tonight I’ll ride for 25 - 35 miles on my exercise bike. For the most part, I’ll ride with a book in hand, so that fun and fitness come together and I don’t give up on the whole shootin’ match.

(Definition: shootin’ match, noun - the desire to stay fit until I’m 87. After that I’ll let myself go... a bit.)

Ian Frazier’s book is a bit of fun. I paid $5.99 at Chapters, but last time there I saw a few copies on the $2 table.


Tar Sands Showdown is definitely more serious and informs the reader about Canada’s energy policy, i.e., supply the US come Hell or high water.


This book about birds is a quick read. It’s not a picture book (re identifying one bird from another). More of a ‘all you wanted to know’ for two bucks. I’m getting my money’s worth.


I’ll have to ride many a mile to get to the bottom of the book pile (the pile in the closet is deeper), but that’s the point. When one book is done there is another waiting in the on deck circle.


Ian Frazier out. Roddy Doyle in.


I can hardly wait.

***

Please click here for more Fun and Fitness.

No, I haven’t forgotten about the ‘Funeral’ sign.

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It Strikes Me Funny PT 3: It’s not like we don’t know

There are many things we know concerning national debt, oil prices per barrel and subsequent gas prices at the pump.

(Hint: They're going North.)

As well, we know the cheap food bubble will burst and the days when the average Canadian can spend 10% of disposable income on food will be gone.

According to the Feb. 14 issue of The London Free Press, a senior market analyst predicts that “food prices will likely increase 5% to 10% over the next year or so.”

There are several factors affecting rising grocery prices, but so far no one has suggested that long distance training will help ease the pain.

I do so now.

For many years I trained my body to cover approximately 1,000 miles over 6-month periods (including dozens of hill workouts for strength, speed workouts for faster times, 20 - 25 mile long runs to increase stamina) in order to prepare for one shot at a 26.2 mile race on a specific date, e.g., The Forest City Marathon right here in London, Ontario.


Increased strength, speed and stamina helped me prepare for the next marathon (and other distances, e.g., 10 km., 21.1 km., 30 km. races), and the one after that, and the one after that, etc., for 10 years.

I learned over the course of my racing decade that long distance training principles (e.g., “a marathon starts with one step”) can be applied to other matters.

For example, the effort made to put a little bit of savings away each week produced something substantial at the end of one year, more at the end of two, and so on.

The pain associated with putting aside a little bit of savings might hurt at first, but then the pocketbook and mind and heart gets used to it, and the items that were reduced (e.g., restaurant meals, movies) to provide the savings are forgotten.

Related to our rising food bills: I bet there are 40 - 50 food items in homes across Canada and the US that most people can quite easily do without. (Rising body weights suggest I might be onto something!)

Turning back the tide of rising prices will be impossible, I’m afraid. It will be easier to trim the fat on grocery lists and in kitchen pantries.

I suggest we get into the long-term habit of cutting one non-essential food item off our grocery list every two or four weeks and choose to eat more fruit or vegetables in its place.

Twinkies out. Locally grown carrots in.

Potato chips out. Apples in.

Soda pop out. Diluted fresh juice in.


I recall the first time I tried to eat my homemade oatmeal without two spoonfuls of brown sugar. Yuck. It was as appetizing as a hill workout on Gibbons Hills during the early stages of marathon training. My body just wasn’t used to it.

However, after a few weeks, I stopped missing the sugar and was enjoying the taste of the mixture of oats, Red River cereal and bran, sweetened with a few diced cranberries, currants and raisins.

I don’t drink pop anymore. It’s far too sweet. I drink cooled juice from the pot after steaming vegetables. Or I drink diluted apple juice, or grape juice. Or water. Good old tap water. (And you know I drink the occasional beer. Yummy. And too much tea and coffee by some standards).


["One cold Guinness please. I can have two? Make it two!": GH 2004, London]

[Special note: It has been said that if you want to see what you're going to look like in 20 years, look at a photo of yourself crossing the finish line of a marathon. The photo above shows how I'll look at age 74. I'll be ordering Guinness! Good one! Sorry, I digress.]

Our bodies have been bombarded with too much sugar and high-fructose corn syrup and salt for years. It’s hard to buy breads or bagels anymore that don’t have 3 - 6 sugars listed under ‘main ingredients.’ Even salt and bottled lemon juice now contain sugar.

As grocery prices rise by 5 - 10%, I am confident that many Canadians will be able to make substantial savings by trimming nonsense foods from the weekly grocery list and train the body to accept the less exciting (aka sugary, fatty, salty) taste of real and healthier food.

Sure, some people will have to learn to cook, but isn’t that what TV is for? (The mindset of the long distance runner will help along the way).

It’s not like we didn’t know this was coming.

More to follow. (You knew that too!)

***

Please click here to read “It’s not like we don’t know PT 2”.

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Wednesday, February 23, 2011

The Workshop: Pass the paint brush then stand back

Spring is coming but it’s still too cold out to paint birdhouses inside the shop.

Downstairs I go to apply a yellowish-green wash to a fine pair of houses made from rescued barn board (previously stained light blue for a teen’s bedroom).


["This is the BEFORE picture": photo GH]

Once I mix the wash, the paint job should go fairly quickly.

Back in an hour or two.

***

Please click here for another visit to The Workshop.

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It Strikes Me Funny PT 2: It’s not like we don’t know

We know US national debt will surpass $15 Trillion this year.

We know Canada's debt will surpass $600 Billion this year.

We know personal debt will eventually back many families into a corner. They will only escape with a smaller lifestyle.

We know oil prices have quadrupled since 2000 and global oil consumption has grown steadily since 1984.


We know the oil bubble will burst.

What we don’t know is what to do about these things.

Personally, I think long distance training is in order.

For example, if personal debt is like an ever-tightening noose, a person or family should seek assistance from a bank or financial advisor, strictly monitor credit card use or cut them up, begin keeping a detailed budget, reduce spending on non-essential or frivolous items, develop the habit of living - for the long-term - under one’s means. That's for starters.


As many know, long distance runners work hard for weeks, months and years to train for fast marathon times. Success doesn’t come easy.

Individuals and families must train themselves too, over the long term again, to steadily decrease debt and then to accumulate savings.

Thanks to recent news, we now know the cheap food bubble will soon burst, if it has not done so already.


Canadians and Americans have enjoyed cheap food for many, many years. It has been reported that Canadians on average spend 10% of disposable income on food, Americans - 13%, while in China the average is 39%, even higher (45%) in Indonesia. (Feb. 14, London Free Press)

A senior market analyst predicted that “food prices will likely increase 5% to 10% over the next year or so.”

Already much complaining has started.

One subheading in the recent news article declared, “Record high prices blamed for political unrest.”

While that is definitely true, the reverse is also true, that political unrest will also soon be blamed for record high prices because unrest, e.g., in Libya, will jack up the already rising oil prices.

There are several other factors affecting rising grocery prices, but so far no one has suggested that long distance training will help ease the pain.

I for one think it will.

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More to follow.

Please click here to read “It’s not like we don’t know PT 1”

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