taxation frustration

What could I possibly have in common with Jaclyn Smith, Hilary Clinton, and Keith Urban? Two years ago on October 26th, I started this blog on their birthday, (and mine). What better way to spend a b-day morning, than to go for a walk on a deserted beach? The storms this time of year make for productive beach-combing. Moon snail shells are in particular abundance. The weather lately, although coolish in the mornings, has been extraordinary.

About a month ago (when oil began it's plunge) BC Ferries announced that they would not be reducing the "fuel charge" because they had based their budget on $78 dollar / barrel oil. Now that oil is in the mid 60's, they've announced that the fuel charge will be cut in half on November 4th.. Our Provincial Government, (the one that has nothing to do with our ferry system) has announced that they be cutting our ferry fares by 30% for the "holiday season", (December & January). Too bad they didn't think of this maneuver while Hornby vacation rentals were sitting empty during the summer. Most people are assuming this is an attempt to buy votes and make us forget about the Olympic Shortfall Tax, I mean Carbon Gas Tax.

Saturday, there was an "all candidates" meeting at the hall. Three potential Island Trustees vied for two positions. All three (it appeared) tried not to differentiate themselves from the others while they fielded questions from the audience. Some questions were more in the form of venting some historical, personal grievance, (which I personally consider the entertainment portion of the program)

Strawbale House Update: Whilst I wait for the heat loss calculation (before installing the heating tubes), I've been puttering on the garage. Some cedar shingle accents have been stained to enhance the cute factor.

Post Election Pause

We had a busy weekend, (last weekend), as Tyler and Jill came to visit. We also celebrated Ashley's 14th birthday. In an attempt to keep the 12 party goers busy, we devised a Denman Island scavenger hunt. Groups of girls had to hunt for things such as... the name of the event taking place at the hall that night, a piece of driftwood shaped like an animal, and the signature of a ferry worker etc. (I'm sure those deckhands had never experienced teen groupies looking for autographs before.) The girls all seemed to have had a good time. The next day, we ventured off-island for a walk at Nymph Falls on the Puntledge River. The salmon are just beginning to spawn and could be seen at the bottom of the "fish stairs".

I'm still more than a little puzzled by the outcome of our federal election. Maybe my memory is better than most? I couldn't bring mself to vote for a party that would have had us fighting in Iraq... that broke it's own law on set election dates... or that embarressed it's country last December at the Bali climate talks. I somehow believed that Canadians were going to give Mr.Harper a message that the environment is an important issue... Now I realize that it is an important issue as long as it doesn't cost us anything. Now that the "world financial market" has gone for a big dump we can put the environment on the back burner and concentrate on "economic growth". I'm still waiting for some political party to have the nards to say it out loud .... that economic growth is the reason, not only for the world's economic problems, but also the sorry state of our environment. Economic growth is not sustainable.
"Economic growth, the root cause of our unsustainable ways, is creating a serious conflict with the ecosystems of the Earth. Because of this fundamental conflict, biodiversity loss is likely to become a problem of far greater importance, even than that of climate change, unless we stop our perennial drive for more and more growth and move to a sustainable economy." Qualicum Institute.
On the news today Harper was suggesting that the world must have more financial ties...... The Bilderbergers must be rubbing their hands together in delight. They couldn't have planned it better themselves.... or did they? (Bilderberg has now endorsed Obama???.... but does he want it?))

Strawbale House Update: This week the re-screen went down. Next will be the heating tubes for the radiant (in-floor) heat. There will be a learning curve for this, but the cost savings of doing it ourselves is huge. Garage entry doors are in and I'll buy the materials for the carriage door next week.

All Aboard The Hand-Cart

I can't even talk about it right now. The world is a very strange place. We voted in the advanced polls, before the neo-cons had even released their platform. The elections north and south have taken on a flavour that doesn't deserve attention or comment.... I think I'll wait for the movie.... How can a few individuals screw up the world's economy? It's unfitting, that the players at the core of the problem, will do very well, thank you. Here's my investment advice.
Investment Advice
If you had purchased $1,000 of shares in Delta Air Lines one year ago, you will have $49.00 today.
If you had purchased $1,000 of shares in AIG one year ago, you will have $33.00 today.
If you had purchased $1,000 of shares in Lehman Brothers one year ago, you will have $0.00 today.
But, if you had purchased $1,000 worth of beer one year ago, drank all the beer, then turned in the bottles for recycling refund, you will have $60.00 today.

The first storm of the year blew in to Denman Island last week, with torrential rains and howling winds. Same time, different year. The winds have blown all the clouds away leaving cool, crisp, beautiful mornings. From here it looks like Mt. Washington got a pretty good dump of snow. I'm not sure where it came from.... maybe a passing bird dropped a seed? We now have a 7 foot sunflower blooming on the building lot in near zero nightly temperatures. The deer seem to only like the lower leaves.

Straw Bale House Update: The (below slab) vapour barrier and insulation are down. Next will be the welded mesh (that reinforces the concrete slab) and then the tubing for the hydronic in-floor heating system will be fastened to the mesh.

Vote Environment

A Quickie

As the Canadian federal election nears it's neck & neck between the Lying Thieves and the Thieving Liars. The Pot-Smoking Skinny-Dippers are running a distant third. Same old, same old for Canadian politics. (Judging by lawn signs, Denman Island seems to be heavily leaning toward the Pot-smoking Skinny-dippers... there's no shortage of support for both activities here.) Meanwhile south of the border there's more action than one can resist. I'll predict that the US pres debates get better ratings in Canada than the Canadian leadership debates. I can only say from this little island.... what the...?
It's hard to believe the magnitude of the financial situation there and the ripple effect it will have world wide. Is this what happens to all self-policing industries? The prediction of American debt was underestimated in my December 2007 Blog... can I add another trillion?

Strawbale Update: Masonry Heater core has been assembled. The brickwork can be done after the slab is poured. There's lots riding on that slab pour!

gotta go and watch the debate.....

Electoral Dysfunction

"Elections are no time to discuss serious issues", Kim Campbell.
I think everything has been promised except "bigger elephants in all our zoos!" Whether we want it or not we're going to get decreases in income tax jammed down our throats. It's a fact. As more "boomers" retire and have less income, there will be less income tax revenue collected. What (they) are not saying is that the lost revenue, can and will be made up elsewhere. Can you say user fees? Be it on beer, bridges, or bowling (or ferries)... you're going to pay on a different source to the same bank account. So please bend over as your income taxes are reduced. If I'm sober on election day and have had my fill of cold-cuts and puffin dodging, I'll be voting for.... maybe I'll wait until after one of those enthralling TV debates. Hey, here's an idea... We should let the American citizens elect our new government and we'll elect theirs. That way we'll have some one else to blame for voting in the same old bafoons. (neither of us could do any worse)
Strawbale house update: Work continues on the sub-slab preparation. The water lines are aligned to fit inside a (2X4) partition wall inside a closet, where they will be attached to the (hot or cold) manifolds. Electrical conduit from the house to the garage and pump house also has to be buried and cable pulled through. I'll run an extra conduit just in case we decide to experiment with solar or wind power in the future. I'm happy to report that it's raining heavily and the skylight does not leak, (nor the roof(s) for that matter).
The garage exterior is almost finished except for some detail and door setting. There's also the interior framing and stairs to build, but that can wait until winter.

On the weekend we went to a strawbale party on the island. The other bale house on the island was ready for bale stacking and plastering. About 15 people showed up and work went quicker than expected. It was a pretty good learning experience for us, especially the plastering technique.

.... some homework needs to be done on in-slab heating. Kari isn't crazy about "forced air" heat as illustrated in the following video. (she should know better than to go to sleep before me.)

Don't put all your eggs in one....election

The federal election was announced today and we'll go to the polls on October the 14th. We bought a dozen eggs today... the best before date is Oct 14th. It could be an omen. Maybe all elections should be held within the shelf-life of a dozen eggs. Now for all that Canadian election excitement.... (yawn)

Straw Bale House Update: The roof(s) are now all buttoned up, including the skylight. These two pics show the drainage track that will transfer any water leaks to the gutters. Not that I think the skylight will ever leak... but it's a good safeguard. The final flashing details were worked out on the roof and the ridge caps are installed.

By special request, I'll post a picture of our cats. (Boo insists on sleeping on his back.)