alainsaffel.com

As you can see from the sorry state of my blog, I haven't been here in a while. This will likely be my last post, ever, here.

No, I'm moving to a new blog location: http://alainsaffel.com

Make a note of it. That doesn't mean it will disappear though. You'll still be able to read all my pithy posts here, as long as the Great Google is willing to keep Blogger rolling.

I've moved on in my blogging and decided to use a hosted WordPress blog now. I've grown beyond the confines of this place.

I've been blogging and writing in other places like StumbleUpon or at the company I was recently laid off at. I've been writing web content and press releases. Hey, those writing muscles are still working, just not in obvious places like this. That will change though, with the start of my new blog.

Semi-retirement and miscommunication

I’ve really been neglecting my blog and because of the changes in my life, I’m planning on eventually rolling out another one at alainsaffel.com. That’s going to take me a bit, but it will happen.

In the meantime, you can read my blogging on StumbleUpon where I do my work-related blogging. Of course, I’m always on Facebook, Twitter and a host of other places. Search my name online and find out what I’ve been up to because I’m out there doing all kinds of interesting things.

So, while this blog is semi-retired, I will keep it up, for what it’s worth. I still monitor it to see what’s happening, but don’t expect regular updates, although lately, I might express my frustration on a topic or two.

Communication? What’s that?

Everybody’s got problems these days. I’ve had a few of my own. If anything, it seems like so many problems stem from a lack of communication. Or, more accurately, a lack of clear communication.

I guess my advice to people is if you’re about to assume something, ask yourself a question: is this what the other person meant to say to me? Or, are you coming to a conclusion that that person did not intend? I’ve been on both ends of these types of miscommunication lately and it’s frustrating, and in many ways depressing.

I guess what I’m saying is just don’t assume. I don’t have to repeat the old saw of “if you assume you make an ass out of U and ME” do I?

Lately I’ve taken to making the assumption that the other person did not intend what they communicated, I’ve laughed it off, joked with them about it and life is better. Life is better that way because the vast majority of the time they didn’t mean it the way you took it.

If you’re going to assume, assume that the other person meant it in a good way. I hope when I say something asinine, that you'll assume I didn't mean it like that.

Does the news get better? Not right now.

If you thought the economic news couldn't get any worse, get ready. Apparently there is another hidden problem that is just starting to come to light. Apparently US mortgage insurers are facing difficulty due to the sub-prime disaster there. Predictions are that they'll all go under and Jim Cramer of Mad Money is predicting that will happen in two to three weeks. He said that last week.



How insulated will Canada be from all this? Well, people will still be driving, so Alberta should be fine. The real problem is going to be the psychology. Will people avoid going into a panic over the bad news? Doubt it. The panic will be worse among people who know they're not in good shape. Why is it that they never figure this out before everything hits the fan?

The basic rules of finance apply whether you're in good times or bad:

1. Pay down high interest debt. Don't incur more!
2. Save! More is better, but at least 10% of your income.
3. Invest. RRSPs, etc
4. Live within your means.
5. At least 3 - 6 months of living expenses saved (beyond the 10% in #2)

Now, this is always easy to say, harder to do. Our governments don't make it any easier to save when you're living paycheque to paycheque. Wouldn't hurt to avoid the credit cards though. They make it worse, especially if you have little self-control.

It also makes sense to give some serious thought to how secure your job might be in an economic downturn. Maybe it would make sense to find one that would be, although your time at your current employer may insulate you. Maybe. It is tough to predict.

So, if you're at least in good financial shape and you feel your job is relatively secure, why worry? Wouldn't hurt to tighten the belt a little, but you can keep on going. Besides, the misery of others might just bring some good investment opportunities if you have the cash to take advantage of them.

On the other hand, you have to wonder how much exposure Canadian banks might have in this latest wrinkle. God knows they took a few hits lately over their exposure to the sub-prime mess. I'm not sure I'd be buying any bank stock until I was comfortable they weren't dangerously exposed. I'm not that knowledgeable in that area though. That's not to say that you couldn't pick up their stock cheap later on if they were exposed.

Life, the elections and everything

I’d like to say my life has been exciting lately, but it really hasn’t. I’ve been working, packing up the house and attempting to imitate Mike Holmes around here in my renos. The move to Edmonton is really only a couple weeks away.

The only really exciting thing is that I think I’m being cyberstalked. Fun huh? Somebody from Saskatchewan. I have an idea who might be anyway, particularly judging by the location of the IP address. Should be interesting to see if they can make it to my page now though. I wouldn’t necessarily notice something like this other than some odd things happening and I’m rather obsessive about monitoring the web traffic on all my sites.

Aside from all that, isn’t 2008 shaping up to be an interesting year? I have been quite interested in the election obsession in the U.S., which can’t admit it’s already in recession. Will it make its way up to Canada? The world has changed and the U.S. isn’t the prime focus economically, so we might be spared, partially.

Alberta and Canada should also have elections this spring. I would imagine I’ll pick up the blogging again soon.

I just hope we make it out of 2008 without George Bush starting a war with Iran.

God knows who the world would be better off with as U.S. president though. I hadn’t realized it, but Obama is willing to invade Pakistan. I guess you could give him credit for wanting to invade countries that ACTUALLY HAVE WEAPONS OF MASS DESTRUCTION. On the other hand, maybe it is not such a good idea. Bush kind of limited himself to relatively weak countries with no WMD. That’s why he didn’t invade North Korea.

I think it’s time to stock up on toilet paper and build a bomb shelter! : )

Maybe it’s time for America to spend some money at home instead of bombing another country. That pesky sub-prime mortgage mess (irony intended) might not be quite so bad if the U.S. was in way better shape financially. Instead, Bush gave his rich friends huge tax breaks while giving them huge defence contracts in Iraq, siphoning trillions out of the U.S. treasury. I can’t believe the American public hasn’t stormed the White House and hung he and Cheney from the flag pole out front. Bush and his cronies are traitors.

Aside from the invading Pakistan thing, I am not fond of Obama. I heard one of his speeches and he sounded like a minister. I don’t think he’s that great of a speaker. He sounds pompous and arrogant. Not a big fan of Hillary either, or Edwards.

On the Republican side, I really don’t like Romney. I watched a debate where he was asked about torture and talk about dodging the question! Do the Mormons allow torture? Guess he figures they do. McCain certainly can speak with authority on that issue, but I don’t like him either. Frankly, he’s too old to be president. He almost seems doddering.

I like Huckabee, but he’s a Republican, not that I like the Democrats much more. Huckabee seems like the most genuine guy of the bunch. It’s nice that he’s so successful without a huge campaign machine and barely any money. Corporations don’t vote and they control the political process too much with their money.

Back to Romney though. That guy scares me. Something in my gut says there’s something wrong with him, but I don’t know exactly what. Maybe Romney is the anti-Christ.

While I’m at it, I was thinking the other day, why the hell didn’t George Bush visit the Middle East early on in his presidency to try and make peace between the Palestinians and Israelis? Now he has little power and even less credibility.

Let’s just hope, like I said earlier, that we make it out of 2008 without Bush invading Iran and without Bush making up some excuse or finding a way to stick around for another term. Maybe he’s taking lessons from Vladimir Putin or Musharraf? God, I hope not.

Don't be so serious

I know I should be commenting on all the serious crap going on in the world. Yeah, I know. Take a few seconds, relax, look at these comics. Laugh. It’ll all be better soon.


This one really makes me laugh. Being a bit of a Facebook addict, I've always wondered what is so "complicated." You are a couple, or you're not. If you're not, you're divorced, separated, single, just friends, etc. How complicated can it get? Wait. I have an ex-wife. Okay, so it's complicated.

Some days my blog feels like a cat blog, kind of like I'm going to rip apart your couch and piss in the corner. Then, I'll ignore you for a week. Other days, my blog feels like a dog blog. I just want to go for a walk and chase birds in the park. If you don't let me do that, I'm going to tear apart your shoe and take a dump in the middle of the floor. But, I'm really sorry about it. Wanna go to the park?


I have been accused of being over-educated and overqualified. It only means I know what I'm talking about, or does it? I'm going to check on flights to Mexico. :)

I promise, I'll comment soon on the assassination of Benazir Bhutto, Barack Obama and Mike Huckabee winning in Iowa and all the other crazy crap going on. Eventually. First I'm going to crack open a Corona, go to the park and mull over how complicated life is.

Irony defined