Island Musings

I was asked again how to obtain ‘almost free’ TV and to keep it simple I will outline what I think is necessary. 

A good friend refers to my GPS as crow. When we are traveling he has been known to ask, “what does crow say?”. I just returned from Halifax where I relied on crow to lead me around. I asked crow to take me from Lady Hammond Drive to Hobsons Lake Drive, a distance of 9 km. She (crow speaks with a female voice) took me to a vacant lot in a scary section of town. A U-turn allowed crow to collect her wits and she correctly led me to my intended location.

I just updated the maps on my GPS. A 6.5 G download.

…but I can’t cook. I am of a generation that men did not learn to cook. I grew up in a home where my Mom did the cooking and to my regret, I was not taught this critical skill.

Due to unforeseen circumstances Herself has been unable to prepare meals for a while and while we muddled through, it emphasized a deficient in my life skills.

Thus, despite an instinct to avoid following the latest trends, we invested $99 in an Instant Pot. I can read instructions and I can push buttons. Magic!

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CNN just reported that the majority of US Government employees do not have sufficient savings to manage missing one pay cheque.

The Huffington Post reports, “In 2014, the average federal employee salary was $84,153, approximately 50% more than the average private sector worker earned. This discrepancy increases to 78% when benefits are included. The average federal worker costs the government (aka taxpayers) $119,934.Dec 21, 2015“.

For perspective various organizations report 3 1/4 million people in Canada live in poverty.

Neuvoo reports, “The average Government salary in Canada is $47,150 per year or $24.18 per hour. Entry level positions start at $23,400 per year while most experienced workers make up to $80,155 per year”.

Just another comparison stat, Neuvoo also reports, “The average Family Physician salary in Canada is $195,000 per year or $100 per hour. Entry level positions start at $20,000 per year while most experienced workers make up to $331,500per year.”

On Feb. 1, Bell will raise internet prices by $5 a month for Bell Aliant customers in Atlantic Canada. In Ontario and Quebec, the telco is hiking various internet plans by up to $6 a month as of March 1.

The AirPort Extreme is situated at one end of our house and is the gateway to the Xplornet modem. I have Airport Express extenders in the detached garage and opposite end of house. The garage is not critical. 

To my surprise my WiFi serves 11 devices. Most are low data requirements but a couple of items are data intensive. I use approximately 300 gigs of data each month. 

…was a good year for me and Motorheads in general. Most American and foreign manufacturers had a performance offering and my choice was a 1967 Pontiac GTO. GM and Ford each had numerous ‘candy’ to temp the wallet of anyone interested in cars that performed. Ford and Chevrolet tempted us with the Mustang and Camaro, both of which were fun cars.

I don’t recall what made me choose the GTO over the Mustang but I did love that car and so wish I still had it.

A friend and fellow Motorhead sent me this link which reminded me what a great car the Ford Mustang was. If you have any interest in the vintage Mustang, you are welcome. :). Plan on an hour.

https://revologycars.com

Industry-watchers have been anxiously awaiting the government’s next move on internet-as-a-basic-service since the CRTC made its ruling in December 2016. While there have been few major developments in the basic service saga, the CRTC used a September 2018 to slyly revise some of its speed requirements for the deployment of internet-as-a-basic-service. Whereas the Commission previously noted that Canadians should expect 50Mbps download speeds and 10Mbps upload speeds, the CRTC’s September 27th, 2018 broadband fund application document revised those targets, stating that project proposals must meet a minimum download speed threshold of 25Mbps and a minimum upload speed requirement of 5Mbps.

Read more at MobileSyrup.com: Here are the top Canadian telecom stories of 2018

A wise friend once said, “a good deed done without fanfare or knowledge of others is a more worthy good deed”.  With that in mind I have been thinking about a dear friend who, while visiting Africa, met a young mother raising 3 children in poverty. My friend and her husband were so touched by this young family they committed to the cost of food, medical treatment as needed and an education for the three children.  They kept that commitment. The three children grew to wonderful young adults, two obtained PHDs and the third is about to graduate from college. They have contributed to their culture and country and are employed in and contributing to the betterment of Africa. Each has traveled to Canada to spend time with their Canadian parents. 

A wise acquaintance frequently refers to the good old days when politicians ran for public office, not because they needed the job (the money) but rather ran because they felt they could govern in a way that was for the greater good of the people. I usually sputter at that point and remind him that he is talking about lawyers and other wealthy elite. When have lawyers and wealthy elite served any interest that was not their own or that of their cronies?