Advice I Was Given in the Past

Many years ago at work we were being given a retroactive pay increase and getting a nice amount of money in a single cheque.

I was saying to a colleague that I might use that money to buy a new colour television (this was back when black and white TVs were still common).

She didn't think that was necessarily the best use to make of the windfall.  Whenever she got unexpected money she put it into savings.  If she wanted something like a colour TV she started setting aside a bit of money each payday until she had what she needed to buy it for cash.

Although I grew up with parents who always waited until they could pay cash for discretionary items (and had always stressed saving part of income) this sensible idea of how to use unexpected money was new to me.

I did put that retroactive cheque into savings and it's a policy that I have followed ever since and it has served me well.

I understand why people enjoy scrapbooking and taking pictures when they travel.

But these are personal things about personal memories.

You really shouldn't expect other people to be interested in looking at them.

It seems to be a rule of the universe that in a grocery store when someone gets in your way once they will get in your way over and over again the whole time you there.   Even if you make an effort to skip to the other side of the store to avoid them.

The unfortunate thing about all this growth and building in downtown Toronto is that it doesn't seem to be becoming a more vibrant and sophisticated city.


It seems to be becoming more and more just a crowded vertical suburbia.

One of the things that annoys me about dog owners walking their dogs in this city is the attitude they have that everyone else is supposed to make way for them.

Because they want their dog to have immediate access to other people's front yards and gardens to use them as bathrooms they expect you to move away to the far side of the sidewalk.

I enjoy looking at gardens and I also make an effort to smooth the flow of foot traffic by keeping to the right hand side of sidewalks.  

More and more people are moving downtown and the sidewalks are getting more and more unpleasant to use.


(And why is it that dog owners think other people's gardens and lawns are an appropriate place for dogs to shit and piss?)

Something I enjoy on Blogger is the "Next Blog" button.  I like moving to a random blog and seeing what it is about, maybe decide to follow it, and then move on to the next one.


Thus I am annoyed when I come to a blog where the blogger has removed the "Next Blog" button.  As a matter of principle I close such blogs and refuse to look at them.