Recognizing stuck

Sometimes when I'm stuck for an idea to blog about I look back at what I blogged a year ago and see how my life has changed during that year. It's November 2008 - I look back a year and see that I wrote no entries in November or December 2007. I go back a little further and see that the last I wrote in 2007 was in October. I re-read those posts, particularly the Thanksgiving series (A Thanksgiving Weekend: Prologue, Part I, Part II, Part III, Epilogue) - and what I see there is the posts I wrote about the kids. That is one thing I miss, being Uncle. Like John-boy, from that seventies show The Waltons, I enjoy writing about my family life.

I am reminded of a part of my life where I have got stuck - my Big Brother application. I got a letter from them a while ago. It's what we use to call in my industry, a PFO letter. (The P stands for Please). After reviewing your application carefully and with certain factors to consider, we regret that we cannot continue your enrollment further. Certain factors?!? Care to tell me what they are? I called the coordinator I was dealing with at the BBBST to ask about that when I got the letter; I got voice mail only, I left a message and I never heard back from them.

To tell the truth, I have become really frustrated with the BBBST. There have been frequent occasions when I'd called them and did not get my calls returned. The coordinator who took my original application left the organization and they misplaced my file. Numerous attempts to offer the volunteer time of not only myself but of members of my Men's Division were met with lack of response or interest. Then after I get my PFO letter their president sends me a letter claiming that they have 350 children on their waiting list.

Dear President, although I believe in your mission, I have lost faith in your organization. I think you need to improve the way your organization communicates with the people who want to help BBBST and want to help those children. I think that when I have taken the time and effort to put in my application and provide you with all the supporting documentation and references you have requested, that I deserve to know why you have refused my application. I would like to know what those "certain factors" are; I'd like to know if the decision to not continue my application is a decision that could be reversed if those factors no longer existed. Don't you think that those 350 children on your waiting list deserve that too?

Won bid for laptop

I found a laptop. A Dell Latitude D620. Found one in Alberta on eBay. There were zero bids on it (I counted twice to be sure) and the starting bid was US$300. Why the price was quoted in US$ when the seller is in Alberta I don't know.

I picked the Dell Latitude D620 because it's a model I've used before. I'm familiar with it and I'm comfortable with it and I like it.

Despite there being zero bids initially, I did get into a bidding skirmish. It was a minor scrap and I came out the winner. Yeah for me. I'm expecting to receive it within the next two weeks. Once I get it, I'm back in action for my recording project.

Behold! The tax man cometh

Having signed off on the release form regarding how much severance payout I will receive and agreeing not to sue my former employer, my next hurdle was to protect my severance from the tax man. I learned that were I to elect to receive my severance as a lump sum payment, I would lose about 45% of it to withholding taxes. That's no good!

My best option to protect it would be to flow it into an RRSP. That way I would receive the full amount. Yes, I will still pay taxes on it when I take it out of my RRSP but if I can avoid doing that until at 2009 then at least I will have greater control over the timing, and more options available for planning a tax strategy.

I considered holding back enough out of my RRSP to cover the next 2-3 months of expenses. However, any amount that I don't flow into my RRSP is subject to taxation. On the other hand, one of the credit card companies offered me a great promotional rate plus a lowered transaction fee on a balance transfer. It turns out that it's cheaper for me to pay the balance transfer fee plus the interest rate than it is for me to pay the tax man.

So my course of action then is to put my entire severance into an RRSP and take out a balance transfer to cover a few months of expenses. This way I have a safety net for the next three months and I don't have to feel so rushed to get a replacement source of income.

Cover concept for Let It Rain

This image depicts my concept for the CD compilation I am producing with my church worship team.



The recording project went into a bit of a stall in the summer; gas prices got so high and the musicians were reluctant to travel to the studio, which for some members of the team is quite a drive.

The solution - when musicians won't come to the studio it is time to bring the studio to the musicians. How? A Profire 2626 audio interface, a Firewire interface, a laptop, and some digital audio software should do the trick. In theory.

I've got the Profire interface, I rented one from Long & McQuade. I've got the Firewire interface - I bought one at Best Buy. What I don't have is the laptop. I'm looking for one on craigslist. Once I get one, I'm back in action again.

Runaway Jury

Tonight was a stay at home night with Jan and Fede. Since we each have independent and busy schedules throughout the week it is nice when we occasionally all hang around together. Tonight we had pizza and watched a video, Runaway Jury, with Dustin Hoffman and Gene Hackman.

After the movie finished we watched some of the DVD extras, some of the making-of documentaries. I was interested to learn that even well established actors such as Dustin Hoffman and Gene Hackman messed up their lines and were intimated by each other.

Watching the making-of documentaries stirred up memories of my community theatres days. Jan has also had theatre experience and we both had an animated discussion, sharing our memories of those times.

Maybe one of my goals for 2009 will be getting back into theatre and getting involved in another production. It must be about ten years since I've been in a play.