Wednesday, August 12, 2015

Haven't Posted In A While

That is because not much has been going on. Norma has been working in her garden and I have been doing odd jobs and a bit in the motorhome. I replaced all the furnace vent covers as the old ones were getting pretty rusted and ratty looking. I am going to look at adding a couple of shelves against the wall under the table to hold stuff that gets stored under the table and inhibits use of the dinette. Norma is adamant that she is taking the bread maker this winter and we need a place under there for that.

We have an election coming up in Canada and we have been getting the usual appeals for money and help. We will drop off a hundred dollars at the NDP campaign office when it opens but we are not going to work this time. We have both donated many months of full time work to NDP campaigns over the years but is time for the younger people to take up the fight.

I am entertaining myself watching the USA elections as well. Specially Donald Trump. The GOP is scared stiff of this guy. They are terrified of him actually converting his massive lead in the polls into winning the nomination as mainstream Americans will not vote for this lunatic. They are equally terrified of him losing the nomination or being thrown to the curb by the GOP as then he will run as a third party candidate, taking his nutball support with him, handing victory to the Democrats. As I say, I am loving watching them squirm. They created him, now they have to deal with him.

I am looking forward to a North America being led by Bernie Sanders in the US and Tom Mulcair in Canada!

We had a very pleasant surprise visit yesterday by my niece Robin and her partner George. They drove out to visit us and Robin's aunt on her mothers side in Courtenay. They brought Yvonne Horn who along with her deceased husband Alan were life long friends of my brother in Edmonton. Alan died about a year ago and this is the first time Yvonne has really gotten away. She was having a good time and it was really great to see her. We had a hint that Robin and George were coming but Yvonne was a complete surprise!

Robin should be retired but is one of those strange people who enjoys working. They spend their winters in Mazatlan and their summers in Lacombe, Alberta where she works for the Dodge Dealer. She was telling me about all the vehicles on the lot that were severely damaged by the recent hailstorm. It costs them about $3,500 to repair each vehicle. I told her to watch for a good deal on a used Honda(ish) car for me that is not worth repairing and that they are willing to let go for a good deal to her favorite uncle. I am thinking of a $5K - $6K car that needs $3,500 repairs that I can pick up as is for a grand or three. Maybe this deal does not exist but maybe it does. If so, I will tow it down to Mexico for a paint job.

I am also starting to consider the options to begin cashing out my registered retirement savings in the form of a RRIF (Registered Retirement Income Fund) as all Canadians must do starting no later than the year they turn 71 which for me is 2016. Income derived from this money is taxable income which sucks. We don't really need this money except as an emergency fund and I specially don't need the additional taxable income. My options are to take it in the form of a monthly cheque or as an annual payment. I am thinking I will take it as an annual payment on May 1 every year as this is when our income tax and house tax is due. These two expenses will take care of most of this extra cash.

Well, now you are caught up with life at the homestead. We are making plans for the winter which will probably be on the Baja. George warned me that we will not like it after spending so much time in 'real' Mexico. They were there a couple of years ago and had to escape by ferry to the mainland. We are prepared to do this as well. In any case we will have to spend a few days near Yuma as I have to finish my dental work at Sani Dental in Algodones. It will be even more work than last year but it must be done.

24 comments:

  1. No. Way. In. Hell. Bernie gets it.

    You and your Canuck friends may like Socialism but I am at least sure the majority of the US doesn't.

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    1. Hmmmm.... wonder why he is drawing the largest crowds of any candidate.

      http://www.bloomberg.com/politics/articles/2015-07-19/bernie-sanders-continues-to-draw-the-biggest-crowds-of-any-2016-candidate

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    2. According to GOP wackos and nutbars you Americans have elected a socialist twice already - Barack Obama. And, a muslim-socialist to boot who was born in Kenya. Horrors!

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    3. Obama is more a Facist. ;)

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  2. I think leaders Trump in the U.S. and Mulcair in Canada would be the most entertaining! And that's all politics is now ...entertainment!

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  3. I wonder if we could send Mulcair to the US?

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    1. Sorry, JB, we're sending Harper to the US in late October.

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  4. I hope a swing thru Mesa is in your plans for sometime this winter as well.

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  5. Great summary of all things important, Croft. I agree with you on watching Bozo the Trump campaigning in the US. They've created a 'Trumpenstein' and now don't know what to do with him.

    I think the only province in Canada that would elect Trump to anything might be Alberta.

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  6. Email comment from Al:

    I'm a little younger than you but I've been thinking about the time when I have to do something with the RRSPs.

    I could be wrong but I believe that converting to a RRIF these days would be the worst time because of the low interest rate environment, aren't RRIFs calculated using current interest rates?. I haven't talked to our investment guy but I will ask that question when the time gets closer. I was thinking about taking the yearly minimums out of the RRSPs and putting the $$ into TFSAs, at least the gains are tax free in those accounts. Taking the minimum out would also decrease the tax hit for you.

    Just my $0.02 (devalued C$!) worth!

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    1. That is the same advice I got from my money guy last time we spoke of it, take the minimum and put it into a TFSA. On the other issue, I don't know if we are locked into a poor interest rate or if we can change later. I too will have to ask.

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    2. Please let us know what you discover Croft.

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  7. Donald Trump is terrifying and disgusting.

    I'm also having some discussions with my financial guy about my portfolio. He's been having me contribute to an RRSP on the basis of the assumption that my retirement income was going to be much lower than my working income, so I wouldn't have a big tax burden when I finally tap into that money. But now that my retirement income being larger than my working income is a very real possibility, we're thinking of switching my contributions to a TFSA so that I have some 'tax-free' income in my retirement years. I really need to settle on a tax account who will help me make the final decision on that.

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    1. That is the big problem with tax deferred savings. If you in a higher tax bracket when you retire than you were when you saved then you pay more tax on the money you contributed than you would have if you had just bit the bullet and paid the damn tax when you earned the money. This is exactly the situation we are in now.

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    2. Actually Obama was terrifying and disgusting and unfortunately he lived up to the fears.

      It will take a Conservative working for 8 years to get the USA back to something our founding fathers might recognize. Right now it's far, far from that.

      The biggest problem though is none of the Republicans are actually able to do it because they are as bad as the Democrats.

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    3. The worst part is, I know Don well enough to know he is actually saying the first two paragraphs with a straight face.

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    4. Don's mixing his drugs again.

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    5. Yes Croft, it's because I never drank the Kool-Aid. ;)

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  8. Your idea of looking for a used Honda is a good one. The one you have has served you well. I like the idea of taking along the breadmaker. I see used ones all the time but I have heard that they can be missing an important piece that does the mixing or something or other. I wonder how many watts they use and if solar would do it on the inverter. Either way, Norma can make bread and we can meet up and eat it all!

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    1. So well in fact that I hate the thought of getting rod of it. My dad bought it new in 1988 or 89 and it has never cost either of us a nickle outside of regular maintenance. It is pushing 300,000 KM and still runs like a clock.

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  9. I have heard from other bread making RVer's that the Mexican flour does not work the same as the flour she is likely use to and she will be disappointed. Most of my friends now bring their own flour. Fortunately we don't eat bred in Mexico, just the occaisional tortilla.

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    1. We will take ten or twenty pounds of all purpose flour from Canada and will experiment with bread flour in the US.

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    2. I can't wait to be awakened by the smell of fresh, hot bread in the confined space of the RV!

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