tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-37017371907564315032024-02-07T22:46:36.721-05:00Yanniel's notesUnknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger99125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3701737190756431503.post-4486370350922290302019-05-01T22:34:00.001-04:002023-03-10T19:47:42.672-05:00Constructing a balanced portfolio within your Retirement Group Plan<div style="text-align: justify;">
These days not many Canadians have retirement pensions. In lieu of pensions some employers offer <b>Retirement Group Plans</b> to their employees. </div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br />
Both my wife and I are lucky to have access to Retirement Group Plans via our employers. As is typical with these plans the employee contributes to his/her RRSP (within the plan) and the employer matches that contribution up to a maximum percentage of the annual base salary. For example, if the employee contributes 6%, the employer contributes another 6%. The employer caps its contribution at a predefined percentage. I have seen employer contributions typically capped at around 5% - 6%.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br />
These plans are typically administered by an insurance company and have a small choice of segregated funds from which to pick from. The fees of these funds are not great; but there is always room for some “fee optimization” if you browse through all the funds that are offered.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br />
We set on a quest to construct a <b>balanced and diversified portfolio</b> within our plans (administered by Manulife and Sunlife respectively). This kind of portfolio allocates 60% to equities and 40% to bonds. The equity portion is divided equally between American, Canadian and International stocks.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br />
In the spreadsheet below you can see how we constructed the portfolios and more importantly you can see the individual funds fees and the total portfolio fee. I put together another post explaining <a href="https://www.yanniel.info/2019/04/how-to-calculate-MER-of-investment-portfolio-built-from-individual-funds.html" target="_blank">how to calculate the total fee of any portfolio</a> in case you want to give it a quick read.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br />
<iframe height="350px" src="https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/e/2PACX-1vScyw3yfoc_sJ5E-O4E00evb2iUCvRdlCaPaNGJmkeKaARsjbUAh6UQCBew7N2Z918P6rsC6pu3ytm_/pubhtml?widget=true&headers=false" width="100%"></iframe>
<br />
<br />
You will notice that these funds require you to pay sales taxes. The exact value of what you pay is dictated by the <a href="http://www.ci.com/web/email_blasts/pdf/ci_hst_e.pdf" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">“place of supply” rules</a> and it is very hard to estimate. In the worst case scenario you will pay 15% sales tax; but in general it will be lower than that. I assumed a 15% sales tax for my calculations.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br />
In the spreadsheet you will see the acronyms IMF (Investment Management Fee) and FMF (Fund Management Fees). They mean loosely the same and can be compared with the Management Expense Ratio (MER) of an Exchange Traded Fund (ETF).</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br />
The Manulife Balanced Portfolio has a total fee of roughly 0.40%. The Sunlife Balanced Portfolio had a total fee of roughly 0.30%. As a point of comparison a similar <a href="https://www.yanniel.info/2019/04/MER-of-portfolio-constructed-from-VBAL-constituents.html" target="_blank">portfolio constructed via ETFs will have a MER ranging from 0.17% - 0.22%</a>. </div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br />
The fees are not great, granted; but the employer’s top up makes it worthwhile. Rebalancing these portfolios requires some work (but not much). You have to make sure you do not trigger <a href="https://www.sunlife.ca/static/slf/Mobile%20Companion/Western/Files/Western_Avoid_short-term_trading_E.pdf" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">short-term trading penalties</a> (totally doable). We are rebalancing our portfolios once a year.</div>
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I hope this was useful. Drop a note in the comments section if you have some questions or want to contribute your own ideas. And finally, do not consider this to be investment advice of any kind. I am not an investment advisor and my knowledge of the markets is amateurish.</div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3701737190756431503.post-12849584511535485132019-04-16T22:00:00.003-04:002023-03-10T19:48:25.825-05:00How to calculate the MER of an investment portfolio constructed from individual funds?A portfolio can be put together by aggregating various independent funds, each of which carries its own fees.<br />
<br />
These fees are expressed as an annual percentage of the value of the fund. <b>Exchange Traded Funds </b>(<b>ETFs</b>) and <b>Mutual Funds</b> normally use the term <b>Management Expense Ratio </b>(<b>MER</b>) to refer to these fees. Funds accessible via <b>Group Plans</b> might refer to them as <b>Fund Management Fees </b>(<b>FMF</b>)<b> </b>or <b>Investment Management Fee</b> (<b>IMF</b>).<br />
<br />
Moving forward in this article I will be using the term <b>MER </b>when referring to either of them. This is just a simplification and the reader must infer that the right terminology depends on the type of fund.<br />
<br />
The <b>MER</b> of a portfolio can be calculated by knowing the <b>MERs</b> and <b>allocation percentages</b> of the underlying funds. The formula below can be used for such purpose:<br />
<br />
<code>
MER(P) = MER(F1) * A (F1) + MER(F2) * A (F2) + … MER(Fn) * A (Fn)<br />
</code>
<br />
<br />
Where:<br />
<ul>
<li><b>P </b>is the portfolio. </li>
<li><b>F1</b>, <b>F2</b>, …<b>Fn </b>are the underlying funds of the portfolio; for a total of <b>n </b>underlying funds.</li>
<li><b>MER(P)</b> is the <b>MER </b>of the portfolio. </li>
<li><b>MER(Fn)</b> is the <b>MER </b>of fund <b>Fn</b>; with <b>n </b>=1, 2…, <b>n</b>.</li>
<li><b>A(Fn)</b> is the allocation target (in percentage) of fund <b>Fn</b>; with <b>n</b> =1, 2…, <b>n</b>. The sum of all allocation targets should be 100%. In other words, <b>A (F1) + A (F2) + …+ A (Fn) = 100%</b>.</li>
</ul>
<br />
For example:<br />
<br />
Let’s consider a portfolio containing 7 underlying funds as in the table below:<br />
<br />
<table border="1">
<tbody>
<tr>
<td><b>Symbol</b> </td>
<td><b>Allocation</b> </td>
<td><b>MER</b></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>VUN</td>
<td>23.70%</td>
<td>0.16%</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>VAB</td>
<td>23.60%</td>
<td>0.13%</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>VCN</td>
<td>18.20%</td>
<td>0.06%</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>VIU</td>
<td>13.80%</td>
<td>0.23%</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>VBG</td>
<td>9.20%</td>
<td>0.38%</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>VBU</td>
<td>7.20%</td>
<td>0.22%</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>VEE</td>
<td>4.30%</td>
<td>0.24%</td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
<br />
<br />
<code>
MER(P) = MER(VUN) * A(VUN) + MER(VAB) * A(VAB) + MER(VCN) * A(VCN) + MER(VIU) * A(VIU) + MER(VBG) * A(VBG) + MER(VBU) * A(VBU) + MER(VEE) * A(VEE)<br />
<br />
MER(P) = 0.16%*23.70% + 0.13% * 23.60% + 0.06% * 18.20% + 0.23%*13.80% + 0.38% * 9.20% + 0.22% * 7.20% + 0.24% * 4.30%<br />
<br />
MER(P) = 3.792%% + 3.068%% + 1.092%% + 3.174%% + 3.496%% + 1.584%% + 1.032%%<br />
<br />
MER(P) = 17.238%%<br />
<br />
MER(P) = 17.238 / 100 %<br />
<br />
MER(P) = 0.17238%<br />
<br />
MER(P) = ~0.17%<br />
</code>
<br />
<br />
<div style="text-align: justify;">
The <b>MER </b>of the portfolio above is approximately <b>0.17%</b>. It resembles the underlying composition and allocation targets used in <a href="https://www.yanniel.info/2019/04/MER-of-portfolio-constructed-from-VBAL-constituents.html" target="_blank">VBAL</a>.</div>
<br />
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Conclusion: the <b>MER </b>of a portfolio as a whole can be calculated by applying a simple formula that takes the<b> MERs </b>and <b>allocation targets</b> of each underlying fund as input. This calculation provides DYI investors with a way to assess how expensive a portfolio is.</div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3701737190756431503.post-71915084526960237272019-04-06T15:13:00.001-04:002023-03-10T19:50:02.183-05:00The MER of a VBAL-like portfolio constructed from VBAL constituents<div style="text-align: justify;">
You can construct your own DIY portfolio by sticking to the same underlying ETFs (and allocations) used by the Vanguard Balanced ETF Portfolio (VBAL). At the time of writing the MER of this portfolio that uses VBAL as a template is 0.05% cheaper than VBAL itself.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br />
The spreadsheet below calculates the MER of the VBAL like portfolio by using data contained in the factsheets of VBAL and its underlying funds. For more details refer to <a href="https://www.yanniel.info/2019/04/how-to-calculate-MER-of-investment-portfolio-built-from-individual-funds.html" target="_blank">How to calculate the MER of an investment portfolio constructed from individual funds?</a></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<iframe height="350px" src="https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/e/2PACX-1vR5M0kdzCau0FectDwz79_Ev_S2xksY49_bAubiD04JEmX967DIKldbeSGWK6srwtEeNaxXBvVRvSei/pubhtml?widget=true&headers=false" width="100%"></iframe>
<br />
<div style="text-align: justify;">
</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br />
If you invest $100 for 20 years this extra cost (0.05%) means you are forgoing $1 in returns for the whole two decades period. This is not bad at all considering that having one found that rebalances itself (as opposed to 7 individual funds) will save you money in trading commissions. Not to mention that it will simplify considerably your investment process.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br />
I would stick with VBAL unless the size of your portfolio is large enough so that the gross impact of that 0.05% can be felt. Also, as your portfolio grows you might want to diversify to other asset classes beyond the basic constituents of VBAL. With a large portfolio you might want to take control of the rebalancing process in the hope of limiting <a href="https://blog.thinknewfound.com/2013/08/the-luck-of-the-rebalance-timing/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">The Luck of the Rebalance Timing</a>. You might prefer your own portfolio in the hope of making it more tax efficient than VBAL; but again, this makes more sense with larger portfolios.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br />
As conclusion: VBAL is a simple and inexpensive option to implement a globally diversified and balanced portfolio with a 60/40 split between stocks and bonds. The 0.05% that you can save by implementing your own portfolio (using VBAL as template) can be thought as the cost for having automatic rebalancing and limiting the trade activity.</div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3701737190756431503.post-60204045410857294242019-03-10T21:16:00.002-04:002023-03-10T19:46:04.054-05:00The cost of converting Canadian Dollars to American Dollars with Norbert's Gambit<div style="text-align: justify;">
On Feb 26th, 2019, I initiated my first <a href="https://www.finiki.org/wiki/Norbert%27s_gambit" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Norbert's Gambit</a> at National Bank Direct Brokerage (NBDB). The purpose was to exchange over 55k worth of Canadian Dollars (CAD) to American Dollars (USD) within my RRSP account. (Side story: I used the greenbacks to invest in a <a href="https://www.yanniel.info/2019/03/dual-momentum-on-steroids.html" rel="" target="_blank">leveraged implementation of Dual Momentum</a>)</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br />
My RRSP account at NBDB is segregated into two sub-accounts: a Canadian Dollar RRSP sub-account and a US Dollar RRSP sub-account.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br />
The original funds were in my Canadian Dollar RRSP. There I bought 4,274 shares of <a href="https://finance.yahoo.com/quote/DLR.TO/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">DLR</a> at $13.290 CAD; for a grand total of $56,801.46 CAD. </div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br />
I waited until the day after my trade settled (March 1st, 2019) and called NBDB requesting to transfer all 4,274 shares of DLR from my Canadian Dollar RRSP to the US Dollar RRSP (resulting in 4,274 shares of <a href="https://ca.finance.yahoo.com/quote/DLR-U.TO/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">DLR.U</a> being transferred into the a US Dollar RRSP). I also asked them to include a note in the system so that I could sell all the 4,274 shares of DLR.U that same day. </div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br />
Shorty after the call I sold the 4,274 shares of DLR.U at $10.06491 USD for a grand total of $43,017.43 USD.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br />
In summary, I got $43,017.43 USD for my original $56,801.46 CAD.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br />
There were no transaction costs because trading more than a 100 shares of any ETF is free at NBDB.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br />
The bid/ask spread when I bought DLR.TO was $0.01 CAD; incurring in a cost of $42.74 CAD because I bought at the ask price. </div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br />
The bid/ask spread when I sold DLR.U.TO was $0.01 USD; incurring in a cost of $42.74 USD because I sold at the bid price. Converted to CAD using the Bank of Canada (BoC) rate on March 1st (<a href="https://www.bankofcanada.ca/rates/exchange/daily-exchange-rates-lookup/?series%5B%5D=FXUSDCAD&lookupPage=lookup_daily_exchange_rates_2017.php&startRange=2009-03-06&rangeType=range&rangeValue=&dFrom=2019-03-01&dTo=2019-03-01&submit_button=Submit" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">$1 CAD -> $0.7541 USD</a>) this cost rounds to $56.68 CAD.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br />
The MER of these ETFs is 0.56% annually; which translates to a cost of 0.0046% (3 * 0.56% / 365) of the market value for holding it 3 days. For simplification let’s say we apply this tiny percentage to the initial dollar CAD amount: 0.0046% x $56,801.46 CAD = $2.61 CAD.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br />
If the ETF was trading at a premium; then there would be a cost associated with such premium. I honestly don’t know whether the ETFs were trading for a premium or at a discount at the time I executed my trades. If you execute Norbert's Gambit many times over your life as an investor; then this cost would probably balance itself. So, I will assume this cost to be zero given that sometimes you would buy at a premium incurring in a cost or buy at a discount pocketing a gain.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br />
Beyond the “typical” costs we need consider the capital gain or loss incurred by holding the ETFs for 3 days (the Forex market keeps moving). Here again I would simplify things by assuming that either the CAD/USD pair did not move significantly during these 3 days or that over a lifetime of executions of Norbert's Gambits the capital gains and losses would balance themselves.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br />
So far the “approximate” “theoretical” cost of my Norbert's Gambit comes to $102.03 for exchanging 56,801.46 CAD. In percentage this cost rounds to 0.18% of the amount I exchanged.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br />
That’s the theory, but what about in practice?</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br />
The BoC CAD/USD rate on Feb 26 was 0.7579 (<a href="https://www.bankofcanada.ca/rates/exchange/daily-exchange-rates-lookup/?series%5B%5D=FXUSDCAD&lookupPage=lookup_daily_exchange_rates_2017.php&startRange=2009-03-06&rangeType=range&rangeValue=&dFrom=2019-02-26&dTo=2019-02-26&submit_button=Submit" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">$1 CAD -> $0.7579 USD</a>). If we use this rate for our estimation, then we could have converted $56,801.46 CAD into $43,049.83 USD on Feb 26. This number is very close to the real amount of dollars I ultimately got converted ($43,017.43 USD). The difference is <i>minus </i>$32.40 USD; which could be interpreted as a “cost” of $32.40 USD ($42.97 CAD if we use the BoC exchange rate of March 1st). In percentage this cost rounds to 0.08% ($42.97 CAD / $56,801.46 CAD) of the amount I exchanged.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br />
There are lots of simplifications and assumptions in the math above; but they are not outrageously out of place. My goal was not to calculate the cost of the Norbert's Gambit with scientific precision; but to show that it is a very cheap strategy to convert CAD to USD dollars and vice versa.</div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3701737190756431503.post-76032962843454730812018-12-23T18:08:00.000-05:002018-12-23T18:26:44.885-05:00How to deposit US cash into Tangerine’s USD Savings Account?<div style="text-align: justify;">
This can only be done indirectly as far as I know. I opened an <a href="https://www.rbcroyalbank.com/accounts/us-e-savings.html" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">RBC U.S. High Interest eSavings</a> account and deposited the American dollars into it by visiting an RBC branch (the teller would do this for you)</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
I already had a <a href="https://www.tangerine.ca/en/products/saving/savings-accounts/us-savings-account/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">USD Savings Account</a> with Tangerine. In the past I had funded this account via cheques that I received. This time I had some leftover USD cash from a vacation and I wanted to deposit that back into Tangerine (and collect some interest until my next vacation). The problem though is that Tangerine does not have physical branches and so I was stuck with the cash. </div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br />
I figured that I could transfer the money from the RBC U.S. High Interest eSavings account into the Tangerine’s USD Savings Account. To achieve this you need to add the RBC U.S. High Interest eSavings account as an external account in Tangerine. This is the link where you can do that: <a href="https://www.tangerine.ca/app/#/settings/external-accounts" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">https://www.tangerine.ca/app/#/settings/external-accounts</a> (you will need to log in with your credentials)</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br />
As part of the process Tangerine would make two small deposits into the RBC U.S. High Interest eSavings account and you’ll need to type those numbers into the linked-to-be external account in Tangerine. Be careful to enter the right numbers (do not make a typo) and a second later you would have added/linked the RBC account as an external account in Tangerine.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br />
After this simply “Move Money” from the RBC U.S. High Interest eSavings account into the Tangerine’s USD Savings Account. It should take a few days for the money to be transferred from one institution to the other.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br />
I know this works, because I did it myself a week ago. </div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br />
Why did I bother? Well the RBC U.S. High Interest eSavings account has an interest rate of 0.25% while the Tangerine’s USD Savings Account offers at this time 0.80%. Also, Tangerine offers US Dollar Guaranteed Investment (US$ GIC) that I wanted to use. I actually locked the cash for 6 months at an interest rate of 1.75%. I know I won’t need this cash for at least another 6 months; so that’s why I picked the 6 month term. Not sure why Tangerine does not publicly posts the rates of the US$ GICs under one year; but Tangerine offers those as well. </div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br />
They had as of today:</div>
<ul>
<li>90 days US$ GIC – 1.00%</li>
<li>180 days US$ GIC – 1.75%</li>
<li>270 days US$ GIC – 2.00%</li>
</ul>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
All other terms and interests rates can be found here: <a href="https://www.tangerine.ca/en/rates/index.html" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">https://www.tangerine.ca/en/rates/index.html</a><br />
<br />
If you do not have a Tangerine account and want to open one please consider using my <span style="color: orange;"><b>Orange Key</b></span>: <span style="color: orange;"><b>40030923S1</b></span>. We could both be <a href="https://www.tangerine.ca/en/referafriend/index.html" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">rewarded </a>with some signing bonus cash if you do that. Click <a href="https://secure.tangerine.ca/web/Tangerine.html?command=goToCreateNewClientChequingCAD&locale=en_CA&device=web&sourceFlag=1321&mediaFlag=45&orangekey=40030923S1" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">here </a>to start the process of opening a Tangerine account.</div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3701737190756431503.post-50443404147724604782018-12-04T22:40:00.000-05:002018-12-05T22:41:55.674-05:00Historical Yield Spread between the Government of Canada 10-Year Bond and the Government of Canada 2-Year BondThe chart below represents the historical <b>yield spread</b> between the <b>Government of Canada 10-Year Bond</b> and the <b>Government of Canada 2-Year Bond</b>. I constructed the chart using the data freely available at the <a href="https://www.bankofcanada.ca/rates/interest-rates/canadian-bonds/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Bank Of Canada</a> website and used Google Sheets to put it together.<br />
<br />
This is an interactive chart: you can hover your mouse over the line to get the values of the <b>yield spread</b> on a given <b>date</b>. For a more detailed version of the chart <a href="https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/e/2PACX-1vTt7W_r2CDF9C--WCKzxNEanK8W3RTrx4or13tSogZdpfbFA1vNBHhuheLMDVkYFdoWq-b9dvhgavCE/pubchart?oid=813440397&format=interactive" rel="nofollow" target="_blank"><i>CLICK HERE</i></a>.<br />
<br />
The Y-Axis is the <b>yield spread</b> between the <b>Government of Canada 10-Year Bond</b> and the <b>Government of Canada 2-Year Bond </b>in percentage points.<b> </b><br />
<b><br /></b>
The Y-Axis represents <b>time</b>; each data point being a <b>month</b>.<br />
<br />
Please, let me know in the comments section if you find this to be useful and I will keep updating the chart as time passes.<br />
<iframe frameborder="0" height="589" scrolling="no" seamless="" src="https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/e/2PACX-1vTt7W_r2CDF9C--WCKzxNEanK8W3RTrx4or13tSogZdpfbFA1vNBHhuheLMDVkYFdoWq-b9dvhgavCE/pubchart?oid=281462693&format=interactive" width="1000"></iframe>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3701737190756431503.post-32415398181402145882018-10-15T22:04:00.000-04:002018-10-15T22:08:17.136-04:00Personal Cloud Storage in Canada<div style="text-align: justify;">
I recently started using <a href="https://www.sync.com/?_sync_refer=11e8cf2e0" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Sync.com</a> [1] as my personal cloud storage. I decided to avoid the big names mainly because they can scan and read your files. Sync encrypts your files locally prior to the upload to the cloud; all the while your private encryption keys remain only accessible to you: the user. You can read more details in their <a href="https://www.sync.com/pdf/sync-privacy.pdf" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">privacy whitepaper</a>.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br />
Sync servers are located in Canada and as such Canadian privacy compliance is built-in (in addition to that of the United States, the European Union and the United Kingdom).</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br />
I signed up for the trial version which provides 5GB of free storage with the purpose of evaluating the PC and iPhone apps. Shortly after, I bought the cheapest personal plan that provides 500GB of storage for $49 CAD (plus tax) per year. For more pricing alternatives read <a href="https://www.sync.com/pricing-personal/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">this</a>. </div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br />
For the last two days I have been uploading the files; so far so good. I blame my ISP for the slow upload!</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br />
It is early to tell; but so far I don’t have any complaints. Plus I still have 30 days and I can get my money back if get any nasty surprises.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br />
Should you decide to give it a try, I’d appreciate if you use my <a href="https://www.sync.com/?_sync_refer=11e8cf2e0" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">referral link</a> [1]. Both you and I will get an extra GB of storage after a successful referral. </div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br />
Finally, I’ll update this post after my 30-days-money-back-period is expired. I will let you know whether I decided to keep using Sync or if I bailed.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
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[1] Yanniel's Sync Referral link: <a href="https://www.sync.com/?_sync_refer=11e8cf2e0" rel="nofollow" target="_blank"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "calibri" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 115%;">https://www.sync.com/?_sync_refer=11e8cf2e0</span></a> </div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0Toronto, ON, Canada43.653226 -79.38318429999998243.2856095 -80.028631299999986 44.020842499999993 -78.737737299999978tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3701737190756431503.post-60938901260086602322017-12-11T21:21:00.000-05:002019-08-29T22:20:30.231-04:00Filing previous years income tax returns in Canada (2016 and beyond)<div style="text-align: justify;">
By law you are only required to file income taxes in Canada if you owe money to the tax man. Nonetheless, even if you are in the clear with the CRA, it might make sense to file a return, because in some cases you can get a refund or credit while doing so.</div>
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<br />If you realize that you need to file back a return, simply find a tax filing software for the corresponding tax year and proceed with the filing.</div>
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<br />I have used TurboTax for the last 3 years and I can vouch for the simplicity and quality of this software. You can either use the online version or the desktop version. I don’t like the idea of having my tax information stored in a website; which is why I prefer the desktop version.</div>
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<br />You can get <a href="http://amzn.to/2BV1ymd" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">TurboTax from Amazon</a> or directly from the <a href="https://turbotax.intuit.ca/tax-software/index.jsp" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">provider</a>.</div>
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<br />If you are in a situation in which you do owe money to the government because you failed to file a prior tax return, then you should consider getting some legal tax advice in order to sort this out with the CRA.</div>
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<br />If you think this article might be helpful to others, please share it by clicking the <b><span style="color: orange;">Google Plus (G+)</span></b> button at the beginning of this post.</div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3701737190756431503.post-2258958753997001802017-11-25T20:59:00.001-05:002017-11-25T20:59:16.365-05:00How to Request to Reduce Tax Deductions at Source?<div style="text-align: justify;">
There is a withholding tax applied to each paycheck of salaried employees in Canada. By law your employer or payer is required to withhold a portion of your pay and send it directly to the government. The idea is that you will be paying off your income tax liabilities throughout the year and that upon income tax filling time you would owe zero tax dollars to the government. </div>
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<br />There are situations however in which it might be the government the one owing you money. A very common example of this is when people contribute to their own RRSPs with after tax dollars. RRSP contributions are tax deductible which means they don’t count for the purpose of calculating your income tax liabilities. In a case like this you would have paid too much tax to the government and once your income tax return is assessed; you should receive a cheque paying you back the excess tax.<br /> </div>
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Most people are quite happy with this arrangement, but it is not financially wise. Why would you wait the whole year to get your money back? It is actually better not to have paid the excess tax at all. If you pay more tax than you should, you are actually giving the government an interest free loan. </div>
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<br />Why do you think the government withholds the tax to begin with? Well, because they can put that money to “work” immediately. You can do the same: you can choose not to overpay in taxes throughout out the year. By doing this your cash flow will increase as if you would have gotten a raise (really, your paycheck almost magically increases).</div>
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<br />You might be wondering at this point how you can prevent your employer (payer) from withholding taxes from your income. Well, you cannot just “tell” your employer to stop sending Ottawa the tax, because the law requires this tax to be withheld. </div>
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<br />You can <b>Request to Reduce Tax Deductions at Source</b>. To do this, you need to fill <a href="https://www.canada.ca/en/revenue-agency/services/forms-publications/forms/t1213.html" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">form T1213</a> and mail it by postal mail to the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA). The CRA has the authority to tell your employer to withhold less tax from your salary. </div>
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So, upon receiving your filled <b>form T1213</b> (and other supporting documents), the CRA will issue a <a href="https://www.canada.ca/en/revenue-agency/services/tax/businesses/topics/payroll/payroll-deductions-contributions/income-tax/reducing-remuneration-subject-income-tax/letter-authority.html" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Letter of Authority</a> that you can pass along to your employer effectively reducing the amount of income tax deducted from your remuneration.</div>
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<br />The CRA can also decline to issue the <b>Letter of Authority</b> if it determines not enough tax will be withheld to cover your tax liabilities for the tax year or if there’s something wrong with the documentation mailed to them. In this case, you will still get a letter explaining your request was denied.</div>
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<br />I went through this process myself and I got the <b>Letter of Authority</b> with no issues. The process of filling the <b>form T1213</b> is different for everybody, but as an example I will quickly describe what I did in my case.</div>
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<b><br />First some context:</b><br /> </div>
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I am a full time salaried employee and my employer withholds some tax from my pay. </div>
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<br />On top of that, <a href="http://www.yanniel.info/2017/10/how-much-money-does-this-blog-make.html" target="_blank">I make some extra money from this blog</a>. No tax is withheld from the income produced by the blog because it does not come from an employer. </div>
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<br />In addition to this, I set up a <a href="http://help.questrade.com/how-to/portfolio-iq/account-management/setting-up-pre-authorized-deposits#.Whoc4DdryUk" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Pre authorized deposit (PAD) agreement with Questrade</a> to fund my RRSP. The PAD was arranged in such a way that a fix amount of money is taken from my bank account on the same day I receive my paycheck and used to fund my RRSP at Questrade. </div>
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<br />Let’s make some numbers up to illustrate the above. Let’s imagine the PAD takes $300 biweekly from my bank account and contributes that amount to my Questrade RRSP. The year has 52 weeks which means a total $7,800.00 (52 x $300 /2) will be contributed to my Questrade RRSP via the PAD. Finally let’s imagine I make $2,800.00 from my blog.</div>
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<br /><b>Open <a href="https://www.canada.ca/content/dam/cra-arc/migration/cra-arc/E/pbg/tf/t1213/t1213-17e.pdf" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">form T1213</a></b></div>
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<br />Start by filling the <b>Identification </b>section: provide your <b>First Name</b>, <b>Last Name</b>, <b>Social Insurance Number</b>, <b>Address</b>, <b>City</b>, <b>Province or Territory</b>, <b>Postal Code</b>, <b>Residence and Business Telephone</b> (Business Telephone if applicable).</div>
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<br />Then proceed to the <b>Employer/Payer</b> section and type in your employer’s <b>Name</b>, <b>Contact person</b> and <b>Telephone and fax numbers</b> (I left the fax number empty since I don’t think my company has one). I think it is wise to provide a <b>Contact person</b> in the Payroll or HR department of the company. It is also wise to let this person know about your intention to use him/her as <b>Contact person</b> for this application.</div>
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<br />Then move to the section <b>Request to reduce tax on</b>. In this section I just checked the <b>Salary</b> checkbox. I am not familiar with the other option: <b>Lump Sum</b>, but I did not care since it does not apply to me. If the <b>Lump Sum</b> option applies to you and you want to share your insights about it, please drop us a line in the comments section below.</div>
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<br />Next you move to the <b>Deductions from income and non-refundable tax credits</b> section. Using the numbers from our example, you will enter:</div>
<ul>
<li><b>Registered retirement savings plan (RRSP) contributions (Line 1)</b>: $7,800.00</li>
<li><b>Total amounts to be deducted from income (Line 12)</b>: $7,800.00</li>
<li><b>Subtract income not under tax deductions at source (interest, net rental or self-employed income) (Line 13)</b>: $2,800.00</li>
<li><b>Net amount requested for tax waiver (Line 14)</b>: $5,000.00</li>
</ul>
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There are other <u>deductions and non-refundable tax credits</u> that you can use to reduce your withholding tax at the source. Those are listed from <b>line 2 to 11</b>. Leave empty all the lines that do not apply to you. </div>
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<br /><b>Line 12</b> is calculated by adding of all the numbers you have entered from <b>line 1 to 11</b>. In this particular example, I only filled <b>Line 1</b>; which is why the value of <b>Line 12</b> matches the value of <b>Line 1</b>. </div>
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<br /><b>Line 14</b> is calculated by subtracting the values in <b>Lines 12 and 13</b>.</div>
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<br />Finally move to the <b>Certification </b>section and proceed to <u>sign </u>and <u>date </u>the form.</div>
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<br />I mailed this application to the address specified at the end of the <b>form T1213</b>. Depending on where you live, the address will be different. Check the table at the end of the <b>form T1213</b> to find out which address you need to send the application to.</div>
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<br />My application included:</div>
<ol>
<li>My filled and signed <b>form T121</b>. </li>
<li>My <b>Pre authorized deposit (PAD) agreement with Questrade</b>. </li>
<li>A letter of my own explaining that the number I entered in <b>Line 13</b> was just an “estimate”. (See the <b>To Whom It May Concern</b> letter at the end of the post). As you can imagine, I could not say exactly <a href="http://www.yanniel.info/2017/10/how-much-money-does-this-blog-make.html" target="_blank">how much money I would make by blogging</a>; so I just estimated the amount to enter in <b>Line 13</b> to the best of my ability and I let the CRA know this was just an estimate.</li>
</ol>
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I sent the whole application to the CRA on September 30th, 2017 and I got the <b>Letter of Authority</b> in the middle of November. You want to send the application well before the end of the year so that you give enough time to the CRA to assess you request and issue the <b>Letter of Authority</b>.</div>
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<br />The <b>Letter of Authority</b> actually states that should you want to renew this application, a new <b>form T1213</b> should be submitted each year by November 1st, thus giving enough time for the CRA to reply back.</div>
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<br />If you have some questions drop me a line in the comments section and I’ll do my best to answer. You should not consider this to be legal advice of any kind. Should you use the information given in this post, you do so at your own risk.</div>
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<br />If you think this article might be useful to others; share it by clinking the <span style="color: orange;"><b>Google Plus (G+)</b></span> button at the beginning of the post.</div>
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<b>To Whom It May Concern:</b></div>
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<br />September 30th, 2017</div>
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<br />Dear Sir/Madam, </div>
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<br />I attached <b>CRA </b><b>Form T1213</b> (Request to reduce tax deductions at the source for year 2018). I also enclosed separate sheets containing further information about my employer’s contact person and a copy of the payment arrangement contract (RRSP pre-authorized deposit via Questrade).</div>
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<br />Note that the value entered in <b>row 13</b> ($2800.00CAD) of <b>T1213 </b>is an estimate done to the best of my ability. This portion of my income is variable (not fixed) and it is not subject to tax deductions at the source.</div>
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<br />Sincerely,<br />--------------------------------<br />Yanniel Alvarez Alfonso</div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3701737190756431503.post-4036552127209368712017-11-19T21:46:00.000-05:002017-11-19T21:48:02.264-05:00Are dash cams legal in Canada?<div style="text-align: justify;">
Two questions came to my mind when I first entertained the idea of buying a dashboard camera (a.k.a. black box or dash cam) for my car: </div>
<ul>
<li>Are dashcams legal in Canada?</li>
<li><a href="http://www.yanniel.info/2016/05/car-dashcam-canada.html" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Will dashcams perform properly in the Canadian winter?</a> </li>
</ul>
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Fortunately, anyone in Canada can take pictures or record videos in public places. There is no Canadian law preventing you from doing that. Moreover, dash cam footage has helped the police with ongoing investigations, including collisions and hit-and-runs. Also, voluntarily submitted dash cam footage is helping the police to crack down on bad drivers. So, no doubts here, dash cams are legal in Canada. </div>
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I read somewhere on the Internet that drivers commuting through the US-Canada border sometimes get some grief about the dash-cam from the US border agents. It seems the American border agents don’t appreciate you recording the Points of Entry to the US. If you are in this case, it might be best if you unmount the camera from your dashboard before heading to the US. </div>
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As for my second question, consider reading my thoughts here: <a href="http://www.yanniel.info/2016/05/car-dashcam-canada.html" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Dash cams for cold weathers and snowy winters</a>.</div>
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I hope this article was useful. If it was, share it with the <span style="color: orange;"><b>Google Plus (G+)</b></span> button at the beginning of this post. Thanks!</div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3701737190756431503.post-6833073199945369492017-11-19T21:03:00.000-05:002017-11-19T21:04:22.668-05:00Cheap cartridges for my Xerox WorkCentre 6015 printer<!--INFOLINKS_OFF--><div style="text-align: justify;">
I bought a fancy <b>Xerox WorkCentre 6015</b> printer a few years back at a Best Buy store in Toronto, Canada. </div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEisNKdG4twVSJEpdbIUcwgMx7plHk8uwxSkMLuN5IKmDw91v9sQMTQACZHQO9zndfNekqSfH8Hy6uFxMdkK6tRAX3Y-3lzDgWaL_CEZK9lAUp3KXKc4Y7skSmOmv7Fz8eRbu_f4Nk2D1yVq/s1600/Xerox+WorkCentre+6015.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="Xerox WorkCentre 6015 " border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEisNKdG4twVSJEpdbIUcwgMx7plHk8uwxSkMLuN5IKmDw91v9sQMTQACZHQO9zndfNekqSfH8Hy6uFxMdkK6tRAX3Y-3lzDgWaL_CEZK9lAUp3KXKc4Y7skSmOmv7Fz8eRbu_f4Nk2D1yVq/s400/Xerox+WorkCentre+6015.JPG" title="Xerox WorkCentre 6015 " width="300" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>My Xerox WorkCentre 6015 and my wife's teddies</b></td></tr>
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I was happy with the acquisition until the day I had to replace the toner cartridges for the first time. The Best Buy prices for the cartridges were outrageous.</div>
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<br />I gave Best Buy the finger and acquired the cartridges online.</div>
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<br />Initially, I found a seller on eBay and I bought from him/her a couple of times. The first time the cartridges served me well; but in my second eBay purchase the cartridges were smaller and although I could use them, they emptied faster than they did in the past.</div>
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<br />Lately I have been acquiring the cartridges at <a href="http://amzn.to/2zUuOf0" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Amazon</a>; both the quality and price are pretty decent. This is the link to the specific product I have been purchasing: <a href="http://amzn.to/2z0QlzJ" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">TONER4U® 4PK Xerox New Compatible 6000/6010/6015 Toner Cartridges Combo Set for Xerox Phaser 6000/6010/6015 106R01627/106R01628/106R01629/106R01630</a>.</div>
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<br />Whatever you do, don’t buy the cartridges from Best Buy; that is a plain and simple rip-off.</div>
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<br />If you think this article might be useful to others, please share it by clicking the <b><span style="color: orange;">Google Plus (G+)</span></b> button close to the title of the post.</div><!--INFOLINKS_ON-->
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3701737190756431503.post-20508679198343189912017-11-12T14:33:00.002-05:002023-03-10T19:45:23.270-05:00My hernia repair at Shouldice Hospital<div style="text-align: justify;">
I got an umbilical hernia 3 years back and I finally got a repair surgery for it last Friday (November 3rd, 2017) at <b>Shouldice Hospital</b>. <br />
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<b>Shouldice</b> is renowned worldwide as the best hospital for hernia repair. Even Google seems to think is the best:</div>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.google.com/search?q=best+hospital+for+hernia+repair&oq=best+hospital+for+hernia+repair" imageanchor="1" rel="nofollow" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" target="_blank"><img alt="Shouldice - Best hospital for hernia repair - Google Query" border="0" data-original-height="1011" data-original-width="1295" height="497" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgui2kMiAit6dJcigFYYoLVvyGoSh1qH2QHjO2cb9rYRbvDpQZd5yNHUnO-YZV8z86AVExNZyvawOyrafTYfD-uWkFWfP3N6tfHHBNsTZdS2QLYz9R5LpiirMGBQntIwqGNf7Z5YLp05HVv/s640/Shouldice+-+Best+hospital+for+hernia+repair+-+Google+Query.JPG" title="Shouldice - Best hospital for hernia repair - Google Query" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.google.com/search?q=best+hospital+for+hernia+repair&oq=best+hospital+for+hernia+repair" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Shouldice - Best hospital for hernia repair - Google Query</a></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<b>Shouldice</b> is only 10km from where I live; located in a beautiful property in Thornhill, Ontario, Canada (just a few kilometers north of Toronto). <br />
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Most of the patients I met at <b>Shouldice</b> where Canadians, but there were some from the US and even as far away as Saudi Arabia. I have been told this hospital has patients from all over the world.<br />
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I thought it would be nice to write about my <b>Shouldice</b> experience in my blog; so, here it goes...<br />
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Bear in mind that this post is not meant as medical advice of any kind and also take note that what I write here is my PERSONAL experience, which might differ from that of other patients. Also, note that I am not affiliated with <b>Shouldice</b> in anyway; my only relation to this hospital is that of hospital-patient.<br />
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<b>The initial medical assessment</b><br />
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It all started one Friday in August, 2017 (don’t recall which exact Friday) when I went for the initial medical assessment. </div>
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I went to <b>Shouldice</b> in the morning around 10am and went home around 2:30pm in the afternoon. Yes, it took quite a few hours to get everything done, mainly because there was a line of people in front of me. (You don’t need a doctor referral for <b>Shouldice</b> and they offer walking clinic hours for people wanting to have the initial medical assessment; my advice is to go in as early as you can. For working hours check <a href="https://www.shouldice.com/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">their website</a>)<br />
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You have to fill in some forms with personal and medical information. Then you meet with a nurse that measures your blood pressure, height, weight, wrist size, etc. and also asks some general questions. After that you meet with a surgeon that performs a full physical exam, asks a bunch of medical questions and explains to you what the procedure is all about, the risks associated with it and answers all the questions you might have. Finally, you are routed to a person that will book your surgery date.<br />
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I was not pushed in anyway to have the surgery. And they were quite accommodating with my request. I booked my stay at <b>Shouldice</b> from Thursday, November 2nd, 2017 to Monday, November 6th, 2017.<br />
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Basically, you are admitted a day before the surgery and have the surgery on the second day. Then, you stay 3 nights (including the night of the surgery) at the hospital for the recovery.<br />
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The initial medical assessment is free of charge and you don’t have to agree to the surgery if you don’t want to.<br />
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There is a lot of focus on your body weight during the initial medical assessment. You must meet their acceptable body weight requirements in order to get the surgery at <b>Shouldice</b>. If you are over-weighted, then you will need to bring your weight down to what they consider to be acceptable. I will write another article dedicated to this topic.<br />
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You will have to do some blood work 3 weeks before your surgery (no lab tests are done the day of the initial assessment). You don’t need to come down to <b>Shouldice</b> to perform the lab tests; you can instead use any Lab and ask them to fax the results to <b>Shouldice</b>. <br />
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Two weeks before the surgery, you have to give <b>Shouldice</b> a call to confirm your admission.<br />
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<b>Day of Admission to Shouldice</b><br />
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I arrived at <b>Shouldice</b> around 12:30pm on Thursday, November 2nd, 2017. In the reception, I was given a file (folder) with a bunch of papers pertaining to my case, and was told to go to the Lab in the floor below the reception. I was a little bit confused as to why I was told to go to a Lab, when I already did some blood work 3 weeks prior to my admission.<br />
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Outside the Lab there were some patients waiting to be called. Not knowing what to do with the file I was given in the reception, I asked around and I was told to simply wait outside the Lab and that a nurse would come from time to time collecting the files. So, I waited and a nurse did come after a few minutes and got my file. She also told me to wait until my name was called. <br />
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Eventually I was called inside the Lab. A nurse asked me if I had done some blood work in preparation to my admission to which I answered: yes, I did the requested blood work 3 weeks in advance to my surgery. </div>
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The nurse then told me they hadn’t received my lab results and she asked for the name of the Lab that administered my tests. I told her I did my blood work with <b>LifeLabs </b>and I also told her that I actually saw the test results myself by logging into the <a href="http://www.lifelabs.com/patients/Pages/Test-Results.aspx" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">See My Results at Life Labs website</a>.<br />
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She then told me not to worry, that she would call <b>LifeLabs </b>and ask for my results to be faxed to <b>Shouldice</b>. She managed to request the fax, but after waiting a very long time, the fax never came through. I overhead when a nurse told another colleague the fax machine was queuing 50 something incoming documents. <br />
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The nurse then told me the fax somehow got lost and asked me if I could provide the test results by logging into the <a href="http://www.lifelabs.com/patients/Pages/Test-Results.aspx" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">See My Results at Life Labs website</a>. They allowed me to use one of the computers in the Lab; so I logged into the system and printed a PDF for them containing the sought-after test results.<br />
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I was pretty annoyed by all this delay. I was one of the first patients to arrive for admission and I ended up being the penultimate in getting admitted. Still, I was relieved that I did not have to repeat my blood work just because of a fax that never came through.<br />
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The nurse then inserted the printed test results inside my file and handed it to me. Then she told me to go to the end of the hallway and seat. Again, I did not know what to do with the file. I figured somebody would pick it up as it happened before. That was the case, fortunately. Somebody picked the file and told me to keep waiting.<br />
<br />
There were some patients before me waiting to be called (patients that arrived after me, but now were ahead of me because of the incident with the fax that never came through). Eventually, I was called in and a nurse asked me a bunch of medical questions (very similar to the ones I was asked the day of the initial assessment). The same nurse also took my blood pressure and weight. Luckily for me, my weight was still perfect!<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
I took the chance to ask this nurse some questions on behalf of my wife: how will my wife know the surgery has finished? How will my wife know that I am ok ...or not? Is my wife going to be notified after the procedure is done? Can she wait inside the hospital for me to come out of the surgery? How can she get updates about my condition?<br />
<br />
The answers to all these questions were rather disappointing. Family members can only be inside the hospital during visiting hours: 2pm-4pm and 7pm-9pm; this applies to the day of the surgery as well, which mean family members cannot wait for you to come out of the surgery. In addition, an emergency contact (in this case my wife) will <b>only </b>be notified in case something goes wrong. No updates are provided. The wife had to wait for the next visiting hours after the surgery for updates.<br />
<br />
My wife and I are completely alone (family-wise) in Canada. As you can imagine, it was deeply troubling for her not having news about me. So, I insisted and asked the nurse for a workaround. The nurse then gave me the phone number of my <b>Nurse’s Station</b> and said my wife could call this number and ask for an update. The update would be rather simple, the nurse said, along the lines of: "he got out of surgery, he is ok". That was good enough for me or so I thought (stay tuned).</blockquote>
The nurse left and a doctor (not a surgeon) came in. This doctor asked more medical questions and performed a physical exam. The doctor then asked me to wait outside while she was writing some notes on my file. Shortly after she came and handed me the file. Then, she told me to go to the <b>Accounts Office</b> upstairs.<br />
<br />
I went upstairs and asked in the reception how to make my way to the Accounts Office. Reception pointed me in the right direction and I arrived at the Accounts Office. I waited my turn and then I was attended by a gentleman. I was asked to identify myself by providing my Ontario Health Card. I also provided a credit card for billing purposes and I was asked for my insurance provider (I also provided my wife’s insurance provider).<br />
<br />
I had to sign some documents and agree to pay $255 CAD per night (four nights in total) for my stay at <b>Shouldice</b>. I did so and I was given a wristband with my name, identification number and room numbers. <br />
<blockquote>
Room number<b>s</b>, with an <b>S</b>, as in plural! Basically, there weren’t enough patient rooms that night and 6 of us had to wait for rooms to be vacated in the morning. So, we were sent to the <b>Annex</b>. I was told this is where the original (old) patient rooms were before the more modern rooms were in place. <br />
<br />
These rooms in the Annex are not bad to be honest; they could accommodate up to three beds and were cozy. There was only another patient besides me in the room; so we were not lacking space. Still, I was once more annoyed because I had to switch rooms in the early morning the next day. I can’t avoid thinking that the delay with my labs results is to blame for me ending up in the Annex.</blockquote>
Right after the Accounts Office I had one more physician to see: a surgeon. This was not the same surgeon I saw on my initial assessment and it was not the one that later operated on me. The surgeon once more did a physical exam, asked a bunch of medical questions (more of the same) and explained all the risks of the surgery to me. <br />
<br />
The most interesting part of this encounter is that at the end of it, the surgeon marked my belly with a permanent market pen. He did so indicating the place where my surgical incision was supposed to take place. I thought this was meant to "show me", but later I realize this is an indication for the surgical team.</div>
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<div style="text-align: justify;">
After finishing with the surgeon I was conducted to my <b>Nurse’s Station</b> in Level 2. The Nurse’s Station is like the headquarters for the nurses in your floor (level). I was able to glance at the modern patient rooms, given that the Nurse’s Station is in the middle of the hallway where those are located; but shortly after a nurse came to take 6 of us away to the Annex. Bummer :-(<br />
<br />
I dropped my luggage in my temporary room, said hello to my roommate and had to go to Level 3 (in the modern part of the hospital) for an <b>orientation meeting</b>. The orientation meeting started at 4:30pm and it was quick. As you can guess, some general information was given by a nurse and a massage therapist gave us a short explanation about the <b>massage services</b> provided at the hospital. </div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
</div>
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I ended up booking two massages (30mins each) for the two days after the surgery. The massages come out of your pocket, or rather the insurance company's pockets (if you are insured and covered for these kind of expenses). The fees are as follows: </div>
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What a day! The good news is that it started to get better. After the orientation meeting I went to sit on the lounge in Level 2. There are several patient lounges in the hospital with a nice ambiance, conformable furniture, cable TV, even billiard tables! I waited there for dinner time which is 5:30pm.</div>
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<br />
At 5:30pm I walked down to the dining room in Level 1 and sat in one of the many round tables and waited to be served. Other patients randomly started to appear and began to sit as well. Conversation ensued. One of them observed: "Hey, you are the new guy!" :-) <br />
<br />
All the other guys in my table had the surgery the day before. I was just listening to them as they discussed how they were feeling, the pain killers they were taking, and I paid close attention as one of them explained he was waiting to get his second surgery with just one day in between. Brave man indeed!<br />
<br />
Dinner was excellent: a light appetizer, an entree and small desert at the end. The quality was great. It is just enough to feel satisfied without overdoing it.<br />
<br />
I finished dinner and still I did not know the time of my surgery the next day. I was told the approximate time of the surgery would be communicated to us after 7:30pm in my Nurse’s station. I had to wait for my name to be called in the audio system of the hospital (you could hear that from everywhere inside the building) and upon been paged (called), I needed to go my Nurse’s Station to receive the news. <br />
<br />
Well, I was called at 9pm sharp, which incidentally coincides with the snack time. I stopped by my Nurse’s Station, but the nurse told me: go down to the dining room, grab your snack and be back. She emphasized that the snack would be gone in less than 20mins. So, I went to get my snack.<br />
<br />
Snacks are not served; you simply go and grab what you want from what’s available on the tables. The snack was pretty good and there was a decent variety to pick from.<br />
<br />
Then I headed back to my Nurse’s Station to learn about my surgery time. Once more I was told to wait. I waited in the lounge in Level 2 just across the Nurse’s Station. Not long after, the nurse called me and some other patients and gave us the news. We were the last batch!<br />
<br />
I was number 6th inline (and the last patient) scheduled for surgery with my surgeon. The approximated time for the surgery was from 12pm-12:30pm, and the nurse noted that it could be even delayed up to 1pm. We weren’t supposed to drink or eat anything at all after midnight on the day of the admission, not even water; but given that we were the last batch we were offered a glass of water and some apple juice early morning (around 8am). <br />
<br />
I went to bed around 11pm...I was still awake and I noticed the nurse entering the room and removing the glasses of water that we had in our night tables.<br />
<br />
<b>Piece of advice and I cannot stress this enough</b>: bring some <a href="http://amzn.to/2zzFvUf" rel="nofollow" target="_blank"><b>earplugs</b></a> in case you roomie is a snorer.<br />
<br />
<b>Day of Surgery at Shouldice</b><br />
<br />
The nurse woke me up at around 6:30 am in the morning. Shortly after, another nurse shaved my belly around the operation site. </div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgoeb6RjiPLcmp1CqQ7UqvKpXej0paxDVTFeQZPoIf4sHRAOWP8dgEul2565RQS67JU4h5Oq6dJMCkHjRcEI6qMFa9skmmOGlrTwznUMimKAiaE6ts-cvvmc6Kpsi_dU9Fe1cp_UmKxsRS6/s1600/Shaved+belly+around+belly+button.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="Shaved belly around belly button" border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgoeb6RjiPLcmp1CqQ7UqvKpXej0paxDVTFeQZPoIf4sHRAOWP8dgEul2565RQS67JU4h5Oq6dJMCkHjRcEI6qMFa9skmmOGlrTwznUMimKAiaE6ts-cvvmc6Kpsi_dU9Fe1cp_UmKxsRS6/s400/Shaved+belly+around+belly+button.JPG" title="Shaved belly around belly button" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Shaved belly around belly button</td></tr>
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Then she told to take a thorough shower and so I did. This would be the last shower in a long time. We are not supposed to take showers after surgery; we are limited to "sponge bathing" the whole body, except the incision. <br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
Bonus tip: having a bowel movement before the surgery would serve you well; this becomes somewhat harder for some patients after the surgery. So, sit in the toilet and do your best to make number 2 prior to taking that shower. </blockquote>
I was provided with a hospital gown and pants (all in blue). You should use these for surgery. No underwear is allowed, but you will use your own socks (make sure the socks are comfortable). No jewelry, no perfume, no body lotions, nothing. You can use some deodorant (I asked!).</div>
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</div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj9d2jKY91NU6Fu44unr0mnUF9Rm0ILefxmL9Y7Hq6JSrhayxOEKEmt_mip2UDSysNUl6emQNV6I2lYq63YZilzF7wnS4ZmvAdecDfdex75fpt4OTtoxHYnrKOX8_liWj3SkBxh8byzRPGx/s1600/Hospital+gown.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="Hospital gown" border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj9d2jKY91NU6Fu44unr0mnUF9Rm0ILefxmL9Y7Hq6JSrhayxOEKEmt_mip2UDSysNUl6emQNV6I2lYq63YZilzF7wnS4ZmvAdecDfdex75fpt4OTtoxHYnrKOX8_liWj3SkBxh8byzRPGx/s400/Hospital+gown.JPG" title="Hospital gown" width="300" /></a></td></tr>
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I left the Annex and went down to my Nursing Station in Level 2. Around 8am, I was provided with a couple of tiny juice boxes and some water. This is the only sustenance allowed before surgery for us in the latch batch.</div>
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I waited in the lounge until a nurse came to take me to my new room. Once in the room I met my new roommate, unpacked my luggage and picked some clothes to be worn after the surgery (mainly a pajama and a light sweater). Then I waited...<br />
<br />
The wait was long. I was allowed to be anywhere in our level as long as I was in sight of the nurses in my Nurse’s Station. I mainly stayed in my bed.<br />
<br />
The nurse came at 12:38pm to take me for surgery. I texted my wife and left my cellphone. I was taken to the pre-operating room. I was asked to rest on a bed and wait. There were other patients waiting as well. </div>
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<br />
From time to time the surgeon would come taking patients to the corresponding operating room. I waited around 50 minutes and I was taken to my operating room.<br />
<br />
I was asked to lie down on the operating table. They put an oxygen mask on me and provided some drug via IV. I remember something cold climbing through my arm and I looked at a round clock on the wall. It was 1:45pm (I think). </div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br />
There’s music in the room. I remember they were playing a Michael Jackson song, don’t recall which one, but I remember me thinking: "what an irony that they are playing a song of Michael, who died because of anesthesia".<br />
<br />
The drug does not put you under completely. This procedure is done under local anesthesia. The drug is to calm you down they say, but in my case it put me to sleep. I remember very little of the whole thing.<br />
<br />
I remember some pain when they applied the local anesthesia. Then, I lost track of what was happening. </div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
All of the sudden I woke up with pain; the operation was still ongoing... I remember telling them I was in pain (not sure if I spoke in English or in my mother tongue Spanish). They said something like, "almost there" to which I replied again that I was in pain. I think they applied some freezing again (local anesthesia) and finished the whole thing. Everything was fuzzy in my mind.<br />
<br />
I remember being sat on a wheelchair and the surgeon saying to me the hernia was bigger internally than what it appeared to be from the outside. Not sure if I dreamed this or if the surgeon really told me so.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br />
Everything was fuzzy. I know I must have taken an elevator, but I really don’t remember such a thing. </div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Next thing I remember is the nurse pushing my wheelchair and we were in the hall leading to my room. I remember I was trying to find my wife in the confusion. I knew my wife was there somewhere because I was taken for surgery just about the starting time of the visiting hours. Surgery usually takes 20-30minues.<br />
<br />
I remember seeing my wife. She was waiting for me in the lounge and she jumped at me as I was passing. I remember being happy and relieved when I saw her. She told me after I was moving my head from one side to the other like looking for someone. Of course I was :-)<br />
<br />
I arrived at the room around 3pm (my wife later told me the time). My roommate was already gutted next to me in his bed. The nurse asked my wife to leave for second so that my clothes could be changed. They took away the hospital gown and pants and dressed me with my own stuff. Yeah, the nurse saw me naked.<br />
<br />
They helped me to lie down on my bed and my wife came in. I remember chatting with my wife, but I cannot recall now what about. I remember we took victory selfies :-)</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br />
My wife stayed with me until 4pm and then she had to leave. Visiting hours were over at 4pm.<br />
<br />
Patients need to stay in bed for 4 hours after surgery. Then, the nurse would come and sit you on the bed for 20mins. If while sitting, you get sweaty, dizzy, nauseating or feel bad in general, then you have to lie down again for another hour and try sitting for 20mins after that. If you feel bad again, then you have to lie down again. This cycle will repeat until you are able to sit for 20mins and feel ok. <br />
<br />
Then the nurse will take you by the arm and give you a short walk down the hall and bring you back to the room. If you feel ok after the walk, then you are given green light to walk by yourself as long as you are in your same level.<br />
<br />
I never got dizzy or anything. I sat for 20 minutes, did the walk with the nurse and after that I was able to do walk by myself.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
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Backtracking for a second: my wife left at 4pm and I took a nap. I was given some pain killers at some point, but I don’t remember the time exactly.<br />
<br />
I was given Tylenol and Advil alternatively. One time I would take two Tylenol pills of 500mgs and the next time I would take two Advil pills of 200mg each. Some other patients were taking Codeine and OxyContin. Nurses were keeping track of the pain killers you were taking, but they would usually wait for you to ask for the pills.<br />
<br />
In later days my routine with the pain killers was: Advil when waking up; Tylenol around 11am; Advil around 4pm and finally Tylenol before going to bed. Tylenol made me feel better than Advil.</blockquote>
At some point after 5:30pm I was brought dinner to the room. I was mightily hungry, and the dinner was very light: some soup, a sandwich, coffee and custard. <br />
<br />
I ate it all and remained in my bed. My wife came to visit at 7pm with some friends. I was still in bed. The nurse came shortly after and sat me in the bed. Twenty minutes later the nurse came once more and asked me how I felt. I was great. So, she took me by the arm and gave a short walk at the end of which I ended up in the bed once more. <br />
<br />
Visiting hours were over at 9pm and my wife and friends went home. The nurse came around with a snack: a muffin and some juice if I recall correctly.<br />
<br />
Dinner and snacks were light on the day of the surgery. Food was much better in later days.<br />
<br />
I took some pain killers and went to sleep around 11pm. <br />
<br />
<b>Post-Operative Day 1 at Shouldice</b><br />
<br />
I had a good sleep but I woke up on my own accord around 5am. I was feeling a little bit of pain, not much, but enough to keep me awake. I waited on the bed and the nurse came around 6am to wake us up. She provided me with a couple of Advil pills for the pain and a glass of icy water. She also took my temperature and other vitals. I was ok.<br />
<br />
At 7:40am I headed down to the dining room in level 1 (one level below) to have breakfast. I took the elevators, but many other patients were taking the stairs. I took the stairs the next day. <br />
<br />
Breakfast was great and I was mightily hungry. I picked oatmeal, but there were also other cereals for you to prick from. We had pancakes with syrup, bacon, fruits, coffee, tea, milk, orange and apple juice.<br />
<br />
After breakfast I went to the room and waited for the doctor. The surgeons do a daily round starting at 8:30am. <br />
<br />
The nurse came just a second before the surgeon and uncovered my bandages. Gross, I know.</div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Incision uncovered for the 1st time – all the clips still attached</td></tr>
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The surgeon said the incision was looking ok and removed have of the clips. The nurse then covered the incision with new bandages. They didn’t clean-up the wound; they simply removed the clips, took a look and changed the bandages.</div>
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Then I just enjoyed the place: walking down the hall, sitting in the lounges, calling my family and friends with my cellphone, walking a little bit in the gardens.<br />
<br />
At 11am we had our daily session of exercise. All post-operation patients gather in the lounge and a nurse guide us through some gentle exercises. No longer than 15minutes. Very nice.<br />
<br />
I asked for pain killers after the exercises. I got used to having them at that time every day. This time I was given Tylenol.<br />
<blockquote>
I had the chance to do a number 2 before lunch. Too many details? Well, I bring this up because doing a number 2 is a big deal. Doctors ask specifically if you managed do it. Many patients struggle with this. They get constipated, which in turns gets painful. You are encouraged to ask the nurses for a laxative if needed. I had no problems with this.</blockquote>
Finally, lunch time came at 11:40am. The entree was meatballs and I don’t remember the rest; but it was delicious, I assure you. Food in this place is great.<br />
<br />
Time to tidy myself in preparation for visiting hours: well, you are not allowed to take neither showers nor a bath. You are supposed to "sponge bath" all parts of your body, except the incision.<br />
<br />
In the patient rooms you have a toilet and a bathroom sink with a big mirror. No showers or bathtubs. Since I did not want to make a mess in the room, I asked where I should perform such a feat as "sponge bathing" myself. Welcome to the <b>Utility Room</b>! </div>
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Seriously, picture me trying to bath my derrière in that thing. I’ll spare the details and let your imagination take over.<br />
<br />
Bathing was hard today. After some brainstorming with my roomie a brilliant solution was born: <a href="http://amzn.to/2hoKn4v" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">baby wipes</a>! Make sure to bring lots of moisturizing baby wipes. You can use these to properly clean your intimate parts (front and back). Believe me when I tell you this advice is worth something. You can wash the rest of your body: hair, face, armpits, chest, feet, etc. in the room’s sink. Use the baby wipes for intimate parts and voila! You are clean! Honestly, I think you should stay away from the utility room. <br />
<br />
Then my wife and a friend came to visit from 2-4pm. I showed them around. We even walked a little bit in the gardens. It was a little bit chilly. The fall colors were still hanging by a thread.</div>
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<div style="text-align: justify;">
Visiting hours were over and I asked for my pain killers. I always asked for them at this time. Advil this time.<br />
<br />
I took my iPad (and headphones) and went to the only lounge with WIFI close to the reception. I sat in a sofa and watched some Netflix. It was nice. I felt relaxed and comfortable.<br />
<br />
At 5:30PM dinner! We were called a little bit earlier 5:15pm into the dining room. I had to eat fast because I had booked a therapeutic massage for 6pm. We had some chicken cordon bleu for entrée. Not joking.<br />
<br />
The message room was located in the Annex (where I slept the first day). I had my massage for 30mins. The massage was concentrated around the incision area. It was supposed to be good for me, although I really did not feel any effect.<br />
<br />
I then waited once more for visiting hours from 7-9pm. My wife came with some other friends and we chatted in one of the lounges for the whole 2h.<br />
<br />
I accompanied my wife and friends to the parking lot and said good bye. During the time I was out of the building they probably announced the Snack time over the hospital audio system, but I missed it. Snacks are called at 9pm sharp each night and they do not last long. I started wondering about the snack at around 9:40pm; by that time it was gone :-( Luckily for me I had some fruits in the room (leftovers from dinner) and I was able to scavenge a coffee in the dining room.<br />
<br />
I was not terrible hungry, but I lamented missing the goodies. I waited to 11pm to ask for my pain killers (Tylenol this time) and went to bed.<br />
<br />
<b>Post-Operative Day 2 at Shouldice</b><br />
<br />
I had a nice sleep once more, but somehow the night seemed longer. At around 4am, the effect of the pain killers was wearing off. Later I realized the night was longer indeed, since Daylight saving time just ended.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br />
The nurse came around 6am, gave me the Advil with icy water, and checked my vitals. This second day after surgery would be quite similar to the one before; so I’ll try to simplify the story.<br />
<br />
Worth mentioning is that the surgeon removed the remaining clips. It seems they noticed something not so great with the healing of my wound, because they asked me not to do sudden movements and to take it easy. They did not provide me with more explanations; that sucked. </div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
</div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgHUaG1adMNTQ3AfNpbldLXvKK15CMV07rIgtKnSuwMjTUEJZ5pOzcveUUA5mk0AYAdSRMfoXebYWJhA6hPrufIPl9mspIsbPzOkOObRNy4LICuOb9nkKLIdO1qYfxtusAa3lp7vzk5ur0I/s1600/Incision+uncovered+for+the+2nd+time+%25E2%2580%2593+just+before+removing+all+the+remaining+clip.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="Incision uncovered for the 2nd time – just before removing all the remaining clip" border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgHUaG1adMNTQ3AfNpbldLXvKK15CMV07rIgtKnSuwMjTUEJZ5pOzcveUUA5mk0AYAdSRMfoXebYWJhA6hPrufIPl9mspIsbPzOkOObRNy4LICuOb9nkKLIdO1qYfxtusAa3lp7vzk5ur0I/s400/Incision+uncovered+for+the+2nd+time+%25E2%2580%2593+just+before+removing+all+the+remaining+clip.JPG" title="Incision uncovered for the 2nd time – just before removing all the remaining clip" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Incision uncovered for the 2nd time – just before removing all the remaining clip</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
They covered the incision once more with new bandages and left. Unfortunately, I could not take any pictures on this day after they removed the remaining clips. </div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Same routine as the day before for the rest of my day: breakfast, exercises, bathing (used <a href="http://amzn.to/2hoKn4v" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">baby wipes</a> this time!), lunch, massage, afternoon visiting hours, dinner and snacks. </div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
I had the therapeutic massage at 12:30pm this time. It was somewhat better than the day before because they concentrated in the neck and shoulders; as opposed to the incision site. </div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
I asked my wife not to come to visit at night; since I was supposed to leave in the morning. </div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
And, I did not miss any meals this day!<br />
<br />
The rest of the day I was just walking around; chilling in the lounges, watching Netflix, taking selfies in the gardens. <br />
<br />
I took my pain killers with the same schedule as the day before.<br />
<br />
The day ended and I went to bed.<br />
<b><br />Day of Discharge from Shouldice</b><br />
<br />
The nurse came earlier at around 5:30 am. She checked my vitals and gave me the pain killers with icy water. She mentioned we should pack and that we should go home today pending the doctor’s approval.<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
The hospital gets less busy during the weekends, because there are no new admissions on Saturday (surgeries are only done during weekdays). What this means is that on Saturday a batch of patients go home, but no one is admitted until Sunday and Monday. So, on Saturday the hospital was kind of empty. On Sunday, fresh patients arrived and more on Monday.</blockquote>
I packed my belongings and went down to the dining room to have breakfast for a last time. After this, I went to my room and waited in bed for the doctor.<br />
<br />
The doctor undressed the wound, said "good enough to go home" and asked the nurse to apply new bandages. From what I gather, my wound was not healing as well as you could expect; but it was not a big deal either. They asked me to keep those bandages dry all the way to Saturday. Not changing bandages, no showers. Everything happened so fast that I did not have time to take pictures this time either. Sorry :-(<br />
<br />
The nurse gave me some extra bandages to be used only in case I wet the ones I was using. And that was it; I was almost in my way home.<br />
<br />
I had to make a short stop in the Accounts Office and so I did. They provided me with a "Sick Letter" for my employer. I was given 30 days of rest (that’s the maximum the hospital can give); but in reality the doctor said I might take less depending on my condition and line of work. </div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
I only took 10 days after the surgery to go back to work as advised by the surgeon on my initial medical assessment. (I work developing software, so much of the day I am sitting). <br />
<br />
The Accounts Office also provided me with receipts. They charged me $255/night for the semi-private room. I stayed 4 nights total but they did not charge me the first night that I stayed at the Annex. The surgery itself and medical care was covered under <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ontario_Health_Insurance_Plan" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">OHIP </a>since I am Canadian. <br />
<br />
The massage therapists had already provided me with receipts for the messages at the end of each session. These are needed for insurance claims in case you are insured and covered for these expenses. Make sure to ask in reception for a referral note from the doctor saying you need the massages; the referral might be requested by the insurance company. Also, don’t wait to the last minute to ask for this referral note. Better ask for it as soon as you finish your massage.<br />
<br />
I called for an Uber and 20 minutes later I was at home!<br />
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Despite of all my complaints I do think this hospital is great. The staff, the care, the facilities, the ambiance, the food, the cleanness, everything was great. Rest assured I will come back here if I ever get another hernia, BUT let’s hope not. <br />
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If you think this article might be useful to others, please share it by clicking the <span style="color: orange;"><b>Google Plus (G+)</b></span> button close to the title of the post.<br />
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<b>Five days after discharge from Shouldice</b><br />
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I have been well during these five days. I stopped taking pain killers on my own accord after the 3rd day. I kept doing the gentle exercises they taught me at <b>Shouldice</b>. I started walking every day for over an hour in my neighborhood. It is becoming very itchy around the wound.<br />
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Today I took my first shower. Hurra! Then I removed the bandages.<br />
<br />
It did not look so well. There was some creamy green/yellowish deposit in the wound and I got scared. I smelled the bandages and it smelled like nothing. No smell at all. My wife observed that the wound itself looked ok and that maybe the deposit was just the result of me making the bandages wet with the shower. Remember, the wound was never cleaned after surgery. Most likely there was some dry blood plus whatever antiseptic solutions the doctors applied to it. Then it all got wet and looked like an alien was coming out of me. Well, I am exaggerating now :-)</div>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQ9x0MGSJ8TOiZa6IhVBP5TPyIO8Fmg9XxQFUmJQbLBISsot2EvY_WXs1YA6geJsLaZmc8KZh4HcpHHu1XcCbOxvrytGA8CfB_9IPytzwtYEowKQr5z44LYzE072JAIV-xOayAT6LfQBoq/s1600/Five+days+after+discharge+from+Shouldice++-+creamy%252C+green%252C+yellowish+deposit+in+the+wound+-+just+after+removing+wet+bandages.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQ9x0MGSJ8TOiZa6IhVBP5TPyIO8Fmg9XxQFUmJQbLBISsot2EvY_WXs1YA6geJsLaZmc8KZh4HcpHHu1XcCbOxvrytGA8CfB_9IPytzwtYEowKQr5z44LYzE072JAIV-xOayAT6LfQBoq/s400/Five+days+after+discharge+from+Shouldice++-+creamy%252C+green%252C+yellowish+deposit+in+the+wound+-+just+after+removing+wet+bandages.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Five days after discharge from Shouldice - creamy, green, yellowish deposit in the wound - just after removing wet bandages</td></tr>
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I cleaned the wound a little with warm water and soap (not much soap). Then I used some clean towels the nurse had given me the day of my departure to pad dry the incision. Then I stayed in front of the fan for 30minutes waiting for all the water in the incision to evaporate. </div>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgSM_OR_UwtmLE_r8yvb-tgXAWJNfHEV5DJYaMNs6nk1zrVBAzkoLzMTe9qqSz8JFeqkTpoe2g67m09FjaHN9dhPuljcSQV-mTbzHXpvzDwR7e37RY7JbvVUaIjhctxuaobqcu2lYpOSuud/s1600/Five+days+after+discharge+from+Shouldice+-+Incision+slightly+washed.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgSM_OR_UwtmLE_r8yvb-tgXAWJNfHEV5DJYaMNs6nk1zrVBAzkoLzMTe9qqSz8JFeqkTpoe2g67m09FjaHN9dhPuljcSQV-mTbzHXpvzDwR7e37RY7JbvVUaIjhctxuaobqcu2lYpOSuud/s400/Five+days+after+discharge+from+Shouldice+-+Incision+slightly+washed.JPG" width="300" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Five days after discharge from Shouldice - Incision slightly washed</td></tr>
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The wound did not look that bad after cleaned. There is still some swelling, stiffness, weird colors in the skin around the incision, but it was dry now, no odd liquids or anything coming out of it. The incision seems closed, which is good. I am keeping an eye on it. I will update you guys/gals as I recover. If you have questions, drop them in the comments section below. I'll try to answer the best I can.<br />
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For the time being, I am trying to avoid any water or anything in the wound.<br />
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<b>Two weeks after the surgery</b><br />
<br />
I stayed at home for 10 days after the surgery and went back to work on the 11th day. My work is not physically demanding; because I sit in front of a computer for most of my working hours.<br />
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I felt a little uncomfortable in my first day at work. I was not in pain per say, but somehow I felt not so good. I started taking Ibuprofen and it made me feel better. I took the Ibuprofen just for two days and by the end of my working week I was not taking any medicine.<br />
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The discomfort was almost gone by the end of my first working week; which marked my first 14 days (2 weeks) after the surgery. Pictures below:<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhlfpdM01uYveqnsoUfDjqlkhtp8G0zQG6YktWKCI9IpQXF0CwsPGGXnuhCAnguU0W0TkGhkCA0HGfIvcMntDfb4XpM_MbXOA1p4-TQJBJIttt7mtJiDNJZHLc1FfOKST1JVXo6KVR_w7ov/s1600/Two+weeks+after+hernia+repair+at+Shouldice++-+front+close-up.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="Two weeks after hernia repair at Shouldice - front close-up" border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhlfpdM01uYveqnsoUfDjqlkhtp8G0zQG6YktWKCI9IpQXF0CwsPGGXnuhCAnguU0W0TkGhkCA0HGfIvcMntDfb4XpM_MbXOA1p4-TQJBJIttt7mtJiDNJZHLc1FfOKST1JVXo6KVR_w7ov/s400/Two+weeks+after+hernia+repair+at+Shouldice++-+front+close-up.JPG" title="Two weeks after hernia repair at Shouldice - front close-up" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Two weeks after hernia repair at Shouldice - front close-up</td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEijYzQjpfVWIgezm-eVAhhPqu37F6txBRdk6nCTCWBCseDN0_2zGPLH9-h3FIOHxukOOOjNI1_2zyObrKJ41Ko29Z46L2T5-Psl1uzf9kEI0NniU4vWCVbNTdJOKCoCcgCDmzuL2IOp3f9b/s1600/Two+weeks+after+hernia+repair+at+Shouldice++-+front.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="Two weeks after hernia repair at Shouldice - front" border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEijYzQjpfVWIgezm-eVAhhPqu37F6txBRdk6nCTCWBCseDN0_2zGPLH9-h3FIOHxukOOOjNI1_2zyObrKJ41Ko29Z46L2T5-Psl1uzf9kEI0NniU4vWCVbNTdJOKCoCcgCDmzuL2IOp3f9b/s400/Two+weeks+after+hernia+repair+at+Shouldice++-+front.JPG" title="Two weeks after hernia repair at Shouldice - front" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Two weeks after hernia repair at Shouldice - front</td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjSh6kTmB-lSvOFP18cd8IzUTF_4HeVjBOLh02j-yShPI74daCNWWCw2H1Hy31RDwN7315T4Jy65e2ODK1It5Atf4iyPGjrL_fRG8yPIUf-phx6LvIX7siPoRAxfB1NTEJAYEYX04psvogx/s1600/Two+weeks+after+hernia+repair+at+Shouldice++-+left+angle.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="Two weeks after hernia repair at Shouldice - left angle" border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjSh6kTmB-lSvOFP18cd8IzUTF_4HeVjBOLh02j-yShPI74daCNWWCw2H1Hy31RDwN7315T4Jy65e2ODK1It5Atf4iyPGjrL_fRG8yPIUf-phx6LvIX7siPoRAxfB1NTEJAYEYX04psvogx/s400/Two+weeks+after+hernia+repair+at+Shouldice++-+left+angle.JPG" title="Two weeks after hernia repair at Shouldice - left angle" width="300" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Two weeks after hernia repair at Shouldice - left angle</td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj8y61n16MRb7E_EW63xu5NsMPUgljSGXELGTjH_r70ngjyjF4owV7oLgLcDCBw3s9y6icR8Ht7thPsQDew20SGqmjpG5VszpT0GIxcqeMIKfGmQpPYOJHz0dS_ay41a0c2G64nvYlbgk__/s1600/Two+weeks+after+hernia+repair+at+Shouldice++-+right+angle.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="Two weeks after hernia repair at Shouldice - right angle" border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj8y61n16MRb7E_EW63xu5NsMPUgljSGXELGTjH_r70ngjyjF4owV7oLgLcDCBw3s9y6icR8Ht7thPsQDew20SGqmjpG5VszpT0GIxcqeMIKfGmQpPYOJHz0dS_ay41a0c2G64nvYlbgk__/s400/Two+weeks+after+hernia+repair+at+Shouldice++-+right+angle.JPG" title="Two weeks after hernia repair at Shouldice - right angle" width="300" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Two weeks after hernia repair at Shouldice - right angle</td></tr>
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I started taking daily showers after removing the bandages on my 5th day at home. I was making sure the water was not too hot (just warm) when cleaning the incision site and I was using just a little bit of soap to clean it.<br />
<br />
After removing the soap with the warm water, I was drying myself with clean towels and then sitting in front of a fan for 10mins so that all the water would evaporate from the incision site. I made my effort to keep it as dry as possible.<br />
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It has been very itchy around the incision site. Not just the incision, but all around. The swelling in the belly is reduced now, but not completely. The belly has still some irregular shapes because of the remaining swelling.<br />
<br />
I can cough and move around with no pain; which is good. I have been even riding my static bike daily.<br />
<br />
In the days I spent at home after the surgery, I used to take daily gentle walks in the neighborhood for up to an hour and a half.<br />
<br />
<b>Three weeks after the surgery</b><br />
<br />
I feel much better 3 weeks after the surgery. I am doing my daily static bicycle routine for over an hour and lots of walking. I am even doing some weight lifting (albeit not much) when doing grocery shopping and taking the garbage out.<br />
<br />
I shed the scab that had formed around the incision and inside the belly button. No more gross stuff. The belly button is very clean inside-out.<br />
<br />
The swelling has been reduced considerably and the scar is smoother.<br />
<br />
All and all I feel very positive about my surgery and my recovery up to this point. I feel that the area in which the hernia used to be is becoming stronger and healthier by the day.<br />
<br />
It is still somewhat itchy all around the incision. Do you see the rash just under the incision? Well, that was me scratching that area unconsciously. <br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_KTGQcMXwhXZAeE2-zsF_qoG0V3FmbfBcNwInbsWTwlELMUPwcl1Ayz0YIz0pmjwqTdMhXQpZlqMdT8Qq8aTgDKgPKIuZR4g5VVT7pzrEVJSCOvpiD5u_3BSP0-ZdpnTvEMBtX2EAF2h9/s1600/Three+weeks+after+hernia+repair+at+Shouldice++-+front.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="Three weeks after hernia repair at Shouldice - front" border="0" data-original-height="908" data-original-width="1600" height="226" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_KTGQcMXwhXZAeE2-zsF_qoG0V3FmbfBcNwInbsWTwlELMUPwcl1Ayz0YIz0pmjwqTdMhXQpZlqMdT8Qq8aTgDKgPKIuZR4g5VVT7pzrEVJSCOvpiD5u_3BSP0-ZdpnTvEMBtX2EAF2h9/s400/Three+weeks+after+hernia+repair+at+Shouldice++-+front.JPG" title="Three weeks after hernia repair at Shouldice - front" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Three weeks after hernia repair at Shouldice - front</td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjrDaS5Q7vN1vgyGfwKZGUEidzlbOp1I_KZLjYTQBMVYI7PRWZbO8BhicovW9lt7rSHv6YIYCWS8vMzoSbfU2GsCNV9JHZhHVRxt43dvIbxVoT-Bf6eY0qqXIEgao4cdEM7n6J6N6G_kG22/s1600/Three+weeks+after+hernia+repair+at+Shouldice++-+left+angle.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="Three weeks after hernia repair at Shouldice - left angle" border="0" data-original-height="1547" data-original-width="1600" height="386" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjrDaS5Q7vN1vgyGfwKZGUEidzlbOp1I_KZLjYTQBMVYI7PRWZbO8BhicovW9lt7rSHv6YIYCWS8vMzoSbfU2GsCNV9JHZhHVRxt43dvIbxVoT-Bf6eY0qqXIEgao4cdEM7n6J6N6G_kG22/s400/Three+weeks+after+hernia+repair+at+Shouldice++-+left+angle.JPG" title="Three weeks after hernia repair at Shouldice - left angle" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Three weeks after hernia repair at Shouldice - left angle</td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjLWM1vuDSSag7MbI_mscRzTkNRy1No5rSb-1-qidFJrnqghn7DWjnOWW5pe_4p0_8yjT7N00mjqe5Hm-nVfrdofKK6YAqtalEnyvbkm3uCNoZiuZ_V8pRDHXk1c5qYAVcHsVk5R8zwNIxw/s1600/Three+weeks+after+hernia+repair+at+Shouldice++-+right+angle.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="Three weeks after hernia repair at Shouldice - right angle" border="0" data-original-height="1540" data-original-width="1484" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjLWM1vuDSSag7MbI_mscRzTkNRy1No5rSb-1-qidFJrnqghn7DWjnOWW5pe_4p0_8yjT7N00mjqe5Hm-nVfrdofKK6YAqtalEnyvbkm3uCNoZiuZ_V8pRDHXk1c5qYAVcHsVk5R8zwNIxw/s400/Three+weeks+after+hernia+repair+at+Shouldice++-+right+angle.JPG" title="Three weeks after hernia repair at Shouldice - right angle" width="385" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Three weeks after hernia repair at Shouldice - right angle</td></tr>
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<b>Four weeks after the surgery</b><br />
<br />
I feel good. I am doing pretty much everything around the house from changing the winter tires to moving the furniture around. I began lifting my dumbbells (starting with 10 pounds) and I’ll keep adding pounds until I reach my pre-surgery lifting weight (30 pounds each dumbbell). I keep biking indoor for an hour or so most days of the week.<br />
<br />
I was able to dance at my company’s Christmas party, exactly one month after the surgery. Not that I dance a lot; but the beers helped!<br />
<br />
I don’t feel any pain around the operation site. Only when I apply pressure with my fingers in the area I feel a little uncomfortable. I can tell that the muscles under the belly are still healing and are a little stiff. The belly shape is not as smooth as before, but there is some swelling still. I am not as itchy as before.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8smlwrtUmm3mNCQY_hVxaw0XhBb-14H6XdPaMYhbfxJBHxbBiMZdBgO_BRz8lm10QeLGM2fDLHMYcDA_VqUdcpOliJnUzP9dUN-lATOSHZNR2ry4jiM-pKaV9DBCtHee4vVLy7-C31CQZ/s1600/Four+weeks+after+hernia+repair+at+Shouldice++-+front.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="Four weeks after hernia repair at Shouldice - front" border="0" data-original-height="1229" data-original-width="1600" height="306" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8smlwrtUmm3mNCQY_hVxaw0XhBb-14H6XdPaMYhbfxJBHxbBiMZdBgO_BRz8lm10QeLGM2fDLHMYcDA_VqUdcpOliJnUzP9dUN-lATOSHZNR2ry4jiM-pKaV9DBCtHee4vVLy7-C31CQZ/s400/Four+weeks+after+hernia+repair+at+Shouldice++-+front.JPG" title="Four weeks after hernia repair at Shouldice - front" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Four weeks after hernia repair at Shouldice - front</td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjAST7vvHZP9qH-36IPlC5LsAz5uiM19tvmp2-aHTLqVhYWRJX7bOIdXsOwmh_844kjzY15DHsJjFKNoJtSypq6bTi-3yA46RdbJcEVOeGGMX-9XSCMV6omc35EDE5b58GBHD1udW9jEYlU/s1600/Four+weeks+after+hernia+repair+at+Shouldice++-+left+angle.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1229" data-original-width="1600" height="306" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjAST7vvHZP9qH-36IPlC5LsAz5uiM19tvmp2-aHTLqVhYWRJX7bOIdXsOwmh_844kjzY15DHsJjFKNoJtSypq6bTi-3yA46RdbJcEVOeGGMX-9XSCMV6omc35EDE5b58GBHD1udW9jEYlU/s400/Four+weeks+after+hernia+repair+at+Shouldice++-+left+angle.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Four weeks after hernia repair at Shouldice - left angle</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi8-gsx14618ytc2X1pA6Jshboa2QTgzR_rdlwvThuFk_da_Av3Lq03NpbtCgSs_I_e-jdiX7IHK0IwhFDCpOycTdH-tN277_ePGZgNyoU7VvPqdZVCPw-WHOu8RIuUKbwKDNawI6FxQqVD/s1600/Four+weeks+after+hernia+repair+at+Shouldice++-+right+angle.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="Four weeks after hernia repair at Shouldice - right angle" border="0" data-original-height="1292" data-original-width="1600" height="322" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi8-gsx14618ytc2X1pA6Jshboa2QTgzR_rdlwvThuFk_da_Av3Lq03NpbtCgSs_I_e-jdiX7IHK0IwhFDCpOycTdH-tN277_ePGZgNyoU7VvPqdZVCPw-WHOu8RIuUKbwKDNawI6FxQqVD/s400/Four+weeks+after+hernia+repair+at+Shouldice++-+right+angle.JPG" title="Four weeks after hernia repair at Shouldice - right angle" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Four weeks after hernia repair at Shouldice - right angle</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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Next pictures coming two months after the surgery! Stay tuned.</div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3701737190756431503.post-61997242393065893712017-10-09T17:59:00.002-04:002017-10-10T21:16:33.813-04:00How much money does this blog make?<!--INFOLINKS_OFF-->
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This blogs has exactly 96 posts (this one included) at the time of writing. I complement the traditional <a href="https://www.google.com/adsense/start/#/sourceid=aso&subid=us-en-et-gancr?modal_active=none" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Google AdSense</a> with <a href="http://www.infolinks.com/join-us?aid=284693" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Infolinks</a>. The later complements AdSense by using more of the “blog real estate”; which would otherwise be left unused.</div>
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<br />
I also run various affiliates programs for which I get paid when a customer redirected by this blog ends up making a purchase. I have come to the realization that affiliate programs in general are a better way to monetize your content. You just need to find a product/service niche that you could target. In this category, I use <a href="http://amzn.to/2guJrLT" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Amazon Affiliates US</a>, <a href="https://associates.amazon.ca/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Amazon Affiliates Canada</a> and <a href="https://affiliate.ding.com/t/url.php/cid/8/sid/6/affid/127" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Ding</a>.</div>
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<br />
Up to the end of last month (January 2017-September 2017) I made the following:</div>
<ul>
<li><a href="https://www.google.com/adsense/start/#/sourceid=aso&subid=us-en-et-gancr?modal_active=none" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Google AdSense</a>: $178.21 CAD</li>
<li><a href="http://www.infolinks.com/join-us?aid=284693" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">InfoLinks</a>: $125.24 USD</li>
<li><a href="http://amzn.to/2guJrLT" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Amazon Affiliates US</a>: $328.16 USD</li>
<li><a href="https://associates.amazon.ca/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Amazon Affiliates Canada</a>: $26.31 CAD</li>
<li><a href="https://affiliate.ding.com/t/url.php/cid/8/sid/6/affid/127" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Ding</a>: $1,038.65 USD</li>
</ul>
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I hope this article gives you a realistic idea of how much you can make by blogging. I would appreciate if you share with us the monetization systems that you use and any tips about blogging monetization. Please, drop a line in the comments section just below.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br />
If you liked the post, then give us thumbs up by clicking the <b><span style="color: orange;">Google Plus (G+)</span></b> button at the beginning of this article.</div>
<!--INFOLINKS_ON-->
<a href="https://affiliate.ding.com/t/url.php/cid/8/sid/6/affid/127" rel="nofollow"><img src="https://affiliate.ding.com/t/image.php/cid/8/sid/6" style="border: none; height: 0px; width: 0px;" /></a>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3701737190756431503.post-28301344700140429712017-04-01T22:23:00.000-04:002017-04-01T23:01:43.916-04:00Renting vs Owning a Condo in Toronto – the math exposed<div style="text-align: justify;">
Most people in Toronto (and Canada for that matter) think renting Real Estate is synonym with throwing away your money. I disagree: I think nowadays in the GTA renting is superior to owning from the financial point of view.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br />
I have always liked math, because math is proof. For my own sanity I did some calculations to objectively measure the financial appeal of renting vs owning a Condo.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br />
A Condo? What about the other forms of Real Estate property? Well, I am focusing on a Condo, because that’s where I am planning to live for the next few years. You can do similar calculations if you wish for other types of properties (detach, semi, townhouse, etc.)</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br />
I went to <a href="https://condos.ca/toronto/the-station-condos-555-565-wilson-ave" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Condo.ca</a> and found a unit of my liking (see image below with all the details). This particular unit I can rent for $1,950 a month. The only other money I will need to pay as a renter for this unit is hydro (electricity), since air conditioning, heat, water and parking are already covered by the rental price. If I pay $150 monthly for hydro; then <b>the grand total</b> for renting this unit will be <b>$2,100.00</b>.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br />
Now let’s see how much it will cost me to own this place:</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br />
The unit size is 875 square feet (SQ.FT) and the average price per SQ.FT at <b>The Station Condos</b> at this moment is $603; which means the price of this unit is around $527,625.00 ($603 x 875 SQ.FT). </div>
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<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
If I put down 20%, then the mortgage amount would be $422,100.00. <a href="http://www.rbcroyalbank.com/mortgages/mortgage-rates.html#posted-less" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">RBC</a>, my bank, is currently offering a 5 Year Fixed rate at about 2.8% per year. The <b>monthly interest</b> is equal to the outstanding mortgage times the mortgage rate, divided by 12 months in a year: $422,100.00 x 0.028 = $11,818.80 / 12 = $984.90 per month. (This does not include the payment of the <u>principal</u>, it just includes the <u>interest payments</u> of the mortgage) </div>
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<br /></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgLxHX_iwnHmM5QWwt3UJHP1DGqrrcsjH5Ogyg7adLF2xZJbcf2YTAQ0xBSFFhtJxTwI3WxJctXwJqjPK3JMdXJE7RmZU5yONH7jwe6tjHforSZsYh5MiUNNKcmDq0vPoOD_UfliL6Gr6SC/s1600/Mortgage+Rates+-+RBC+-+April+1st%252C+2017.PNG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="Mortgage Rates - RBC - April 1st, 2017" border="0" height="226" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgLxHX_iwnHmM5QWwt3UJHP1DGqrrcsjH5Ogyg7adLF2xZJbcf2YTAQ0xBSFFhtJxTwI3WxJctXwJqjPK3JMdXJE7RmZU5yONH7jwe6tjHforSZsYh5MiUNNKcmDq0vPoOD_UfliL6Gr6SC/s400/Mortgage+Rates+-+RBC+-+April+1st%252C+2017.PNG" title="Mortgage Rates - RBC - April 1st, 2017" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Mortgage Rates - RBC - April 1st, 2017</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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Now let’s calculate the <b>implicit rent</b>. Say what!?!? "The amount of income you haven’t earned because you have owned your home instead of investing in other things is implicit rent." This is a very interesting concept and it is not trivial to grasp. It is very well explained in <a href="http://amzn.to/2n0kCwn" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">The Wealthy Renter – Chapter 4</a>. </div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br />
To calculate the <b>implicit rent</b> we have to look at the <b>equity </b>we have in our property. Assuming that we just bought with a 20% down payment; then the equity is $105,525.00. We estimate the <b>implicit rent</b> by multiplying the <b>equity </b>by the <b>yield of an alternative investment</b> and dividing by the <b>twelve</b> months of the year. Let’s say my alternative investment is the S&P/TSX Dividend Aristocrats Index. The Yield on this index is about 4%. The implicit rent is $105,525.00 x 0.04 = $4,221.00 / 12 = $351.75.</div>
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Currently the <b>monthly maintenance fee</b> (a.k.a. Condo fee) at <b>The Station Condos</b> is $0.52 per SQ.FT. That means the monthly maintenance bill for this unit should be around $455.00 ($0.52 x 875 SQ.FT)</div>
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<blockquote class="tr_bq">
“For homes owned through a condominium corporation, most of the costs of maintenance (but not all) are covered by the condo fee. Still the condo corporation might underestimate the costs of maintenance and end up raising condo fees to make up for deferred maintenance. Or, if they wait too long, they might take a special assessment (a large one-time fee charged to all unit owners) to cover a major repair.” - <a href="http://amzn.to/2n0kCwn" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">The Wealthy Renter by Alex Avery</a>.</blockquote>
</div>
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In the City of Toronto the <a href="http://www1.toronto.ca/wps/portal/contentonly?vgnextoid=6245ff0e43db1410VgnVCM10000071d60f89RCRD" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Property Tax</a> for multi-residential housing is in the range from 0.5% - 1.5% of the assessed value of the property. Let’s assume the <b>property tax</b> for this condo unit is 1% (the middle point in that range) and let’s also assume that the asking price matches the assessed price $527,625.00. That means the annual <b>property tax</b> on the condo unit is about $5,276.25 or about $439.69 on a monthly basis.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br />
The owner of this unit will also have to pay for <b>hydro</b>; all the other <b>utilities </b>are included. Let’s say the cost of hydro is $150 per month (the same amount as if we were renting)</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br />
For simplicity I won’t consider other fees like home insurance, title insurance or CMHC insurance (if you buy with less than 20% down payment). </div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br />
Now let’s put all together:</div>
<ul>
<li><b>Mortgage Interest Payments:</b> $984.90</li>
<li><b>Implicit rent:</b> $351.75</li>
<li><b>Condo fee:</b> $455.00</li>
<li><b>Property Tax:</b> $439.69</li>
<li><b>Utilities (just hydro):</b> $150.00</li>
<li><span style="color: red;"><b>Grand total:</b></span> $2,381.34</li>
</ul>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Finally, let’s compare: renting $2,100.00; owning: $2,381.34. <b>Renting beats owning</b>. You might think the difference is not much, but notice that this number does not include the payments towards the mortgage principal (you still have to pay for that as part of your monthly mortgage payments).<br />
<br />
Also, consider what happens if the interest rates move a little higher. Today we live in a world of very low interest rates, which is <b>not </b>normal. As the US FED hikes the rates, the Bank of Canada will eventually hike the interest rates as well. And what that means is that you can expect higher mortgage rates down the road. </div>
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Also, as a renter you have the flexibility to move in order to chase career opportunities in a moment’s notice or simply move because the neighbor next door is a pain in the derriere. </div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br />
Also, the renter is not buried in debt. Many (most?) homeowners are buried under a mountain of debt. The funny thing is that many homeowners don’t see the mortgage as debt. Well, I have news: mortgage <b>is </b>debt and it comes with risks; risks a renter does not have.</div>
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If you want to dig a little deeper into this topic, consider buying the <a href="http://amzn.to/2n041Jf" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">The Wealthy Renter: How to Choose Housing That Will Make You Rich</a> by Alex Avery. It is a great book on the topic, written as recently as 2016 by someone who (unlike me) is not an amateur. The Kindle version costs less than $5 bucks.</div>
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<br />
If this article was helpful, please show it by clicking the <span style="color: orange;"><b>Google Plus (G++)</b></span> button at the beginning of this post. Also, feel free to drop a line in the comments section below with your opinion, questions, corrections and suggestions.</div>
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<br /></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhEeeMRt0Q66K9ZzDPILJm2ob-LRd8kGTaY7ey1WOVh7gRQqwLP8rn6g9yxWAWlDaTQYlhNa7g03CcWmKFXpi_qZzcp1k8EuuJVhB8KI3ZK2425jIfINA2dSOKgvs2SMDelz1Tp_vJpTz7L/s1600/The+Station+Condos+Facts+-+Building+Values+and+Trends+-+March+28th%252C+2017.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="The Station Condos Facts - Building Values and Trends - March 28th, 2017" border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhEeeMRt0Q66K9ZzDPILJm2ob-LRd8kGTaY7ey1WOVh7gRQqwLP8rn6g9yxWAWlDaTQYlhNa7g03CcWmKFXpi_qZzcp1k8EuuJVhB8KI3ZK2425jIfINA2dSOKgvs2SMDelz1Tp_vJpTz7L/s1600/The+Station+Condos+Facts+-+Building+Values+and+Trends+-+March+28th%252C+2017.png" title="The Station Condos Facts - Building Values and Trends - March 28th, 2017" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The Station Condos Facts - Building Values and Trends - March 28th, 2017</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<br /></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhrO-ymUhTzqvBDwHCpa43YxgamsvQF3jxMxEsA2wYcnEyCG5frhQbumoL4UMHQJaaRDLypy1IBTgC9_oA7txXycYmxGFiFGKYUXCnJwKjYgW0fLOTdojHZxtqamiK574ZPp8ZVUW6nQ5m2/s1600/The+Station+Condos+Facts+-+Amenities+-+March+28th%252C+2017.PNG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="The Station Condos Facts - Amenities - March 28th, 2017" border="0" height="361" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhrO-ymUhTzqvBDwHCpa43YxgamsvQF3jxMxEsA2wYcnEyCG5frhQbumoL4UMHQJaaRDLypy1IBTgC9_oA7txXycYmxGFiFGKYUXCnJwKjYgW0fLOTdojHZxtqamiK574ZPp8ZVUW6nQ5m2/s640/The+Station+Condos+Facts+-+Amenities+-+March+28th%252C+2017.PNG" title="The Station Condos Facts - Amenities - March 28th, 2017" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The Station Condos Facts - Amenities - March 28th, 2017</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3701737190756431503.post-10961847827181368242017-03-01T22:07:00.002-05:002018-02-27T22:36:36.137-05:00How to calculate the Ontario’s Surtax?<!--INFOLINKS_OFF-->In simple words, the <a href="http://www.cra-arc.gc.ca/tx/bsnss/tpcs/pyrll/t4032/2016/t4032on-gnrlnf-eng.html#_Toc333578512" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Ontario’s Surtax</a> is a second layer of taxes (on top of the Basic Provincial Income Tax) that residents of the province of Ontario, Canada are obligated to pay to the tax man.<br />
<br />
The calculation of the Ontario’s Surtax is a two-step process:<br />
<br />
<div style="text-align: justify;">
First, you calculate the Basic Provincial Tax on your personal income. Second, you take the Basic Provincial Tax calculated in the first step and do some math (we’ll explain that shortly) to calculate the Ontario’s Surtax. What’s important here to understand is that the surtax is calculated not on your income, but on your Basic Provincial Tax.<br />
<br />
In case you are interested, this my <a href="https://r.intuit.ca/Yanniel" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">personal discount link for TurboTax 2017</a>. You get a 20% discount and I get an Amazon Gift Card. Win-Win :-)</div>
<br />
The <a href="http://www.cra-arc.gc.ca/tx/bsnss/tpcs/pyrll/t4032/2016/t4032on-gnrlnf-eng.html#_Toc337712804" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">provincial tax rates and income thresholds for the Province of Ontario for 2016</a> are follows:<br />
<br />
<table>
<tbody>
<tr>
<td><b>Annual taxable income ($) </b></td>
<td><b>Provincial tax rate (%)</b></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>0.00 to 41,536.00</td>
<td>5.05%</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>41,536.01 to 83,075.00</td>
<td>9.15%</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>83,075.01 to 150,000.00</td>
<td>11.16%</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>150,000.01 to 220,000.00</td>
<td>12.16%</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>220,000.01 and over</td>
<td>13.16%</td>
</tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Also, everybody in Ontario is entitled for a basic personal tax credit return. This number can be found in row number 1 of the <a href="http://www.es.utoronto.ca/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/td1on-16e.pdf" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">TD1ON form</a> for the corresponding tax year. This number is <b>$10,011</b> for tax year 2016.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Knowing the tax brackets above, your personal income and the basic personal tax credit amount, then you can calculate your Basic Provincial Tax in Ontario. We call it “Basic”, because it does not include the surtax amount yet. Your Total Provincial Tax would be the sum of the Basic Provincial Tax plus the Ontario Surtax. </div>
<br />
For example:<br />
<br />
A person making <b>$60,000</b> owes <b>$3,282.00</b> in the form of Basic Provincial Tax in Ontario. To calculate this number we apply the tax brackets above as follows:<br />
<br />
<b>= 0% * $10,011 + 5.05% * ($41,536 - $10,011) + 9.15% * ($60,000- $41,536.01)</b><br />
<br />
<b>= 0% * $10,011 + 5.05% * $31,525 + 9.15% * $18,463.99</b><br />
<br />
<b>= $0 + $1,592.0125 + $1,689.455085</b><br />
<br />
<b>= $3281.467585</b><br />
<br />
<b>= $3282</b> (rounding up to the nearest integer)<br />
<br />
So, <b>$3282</b> is the Basic Provincial Tax of a person making <b>$60,000</b> annually.<br />
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<div style="text-align: justify;">
Doing some similar math we can calculate the Basic Provincial Tax for other incomes. I am not going to do all the calculations again, but they will be awfully similar to the one we just did. I’ll just spit the numbers now but you can double check them later:</div>
<br />
<table>
<tbody>
<tr>
<td><b>Personal Annual Income ($)</b> </td>
<td><b>Basic Provincial tax (not including the surtax yet)</b></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>$60,000</td>
<td>$3,282</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>$80,000</td>
<td>$5,112</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>$95,000</td>
<td>$6,724</td>
</tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<b>Now let’s calculate the Ontario Surtax: </b><br />
<br />
<div style="text-align: justify;">
If your Basic Provincial Tax is less than <b>$4,484</b>, then your surtax is <b>$0</b>. That means that a person with a <b>$60,000</b> income won’t pay any surtax just because its Basic Provincial tax is <b>$3,282</b> and that number is less than <b>$4,484</b>.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
If your Basic Provincial Tax is greater than <b>$4,484</b> and less than or equal to <b>$5,739</b>, the surtax is <b>20%</b> of the basic provincial tax payable over <b>$4,484</b>. Let’s break it down: a person making <b>$80,000</b> owes <b>$5,112</b> in basic provincial taxes. The surtax will be calculated as <b>20% * ($5,112 - $4,484) = $125</b>. The key thing here is that the <b>20%</b> is only applied to the number between <b>$4,484</b> and <b>$5,112</b>. The initial <b>$4,484</b> won’t produce any surtax.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
If your basic provincial tax payable is greater than <b>$5,739</b>, the surtax is <b>20%</b> of the basic provincial tax payable over <b>$4,484</b>, plus <b>36%</b> of the basic provincial tax payable over <b>$5,739</b>. For a final example, let’s consider the person making <b>$95,000</b> annually. This person would owe <b>$6,724</b> as Basic Provincial Tax. The surtax will be calculated as follows: <b>20%* ($6,724 - $4,484) + 36% * (6,724 - 5,739) =$802</b>.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
Now that you know how to calculate the Ontario Surtax, we can go ahead and calculate the Total Provincial Tax. Let’s use the following formula: <br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<b>Total Provincial Tax = Basic Provincial Tax + Ontario Surtax</b></blockquote>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
For instance:<br />
<ul>
<li>A person with a <b>$60,000</b> annual income will owe a Total Provincial Tax of <b>$3,282 = $3,282 + $0</b>. </li>
<li>A person with an <b>$80,000</b> annual income will owe a Total Provincial Tax of <b>$5,237= 5,112 + $125</b>. </li>
<li>A person with a <b>$95,000</b> annual income will owe a Total Provincial Tax of <b>$7526= $6,724+ $802</b>.</li>
</ul>
</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
If you liked the article, please give me thumbs up by clicking the <b><span style="color: orange;">Google Plus (G+)</span></b> button at the beginning of this post. Also, if you have any questions, corrections or suggestions, then feel free to drop me a line in the comments section just below. </div>
<!--INFOLINKS_ON-->Unknownnoreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3701737190756431503.post-14468286839001829412016-05-29T21:17:00.000-04:002019-08-29T21:56:54.160-04:00Dash cams for cold weathers and snowy winters<!--INFOLINKS_OFF--><br />
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When it comes to cold climates, the most vulnerable element of the dash cam is the battery. Batteries don't get along with extreme temperatures, neither extremely low nor extremely high. A solution to this problem is to use a <b>capacitor </b>(instead of a battery), which is immune to the cold or heat.<br />
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Another aspect to consider is that during the winters, <span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">the days
become shorter and shorter while the nights are correspondingly longer. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">Furthermore</span>, visibility conditions are often poor during the winter even during the day. A dash cam with <b>night vision</b> support is the way to
go to work-around these issues.</span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">I live in Toronto, Canada and I ended up buying a <b><a href="http://amzn.to/2ztXlVj" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">DDPai mini2 dashcam</a></b>. It is equipped with a b</span><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">uilt-in supercapacitor and it features night vision as well. In addition, I bought a separate <b><a href="http://amzn.to/2zvJBJI" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">128 GB MicroSD card with Class 10 rating</a></b> that is not included with the camera and it is required to store the footage.</span></div>
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I am happy so far with the camera and I definitely recommend it. </div>
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If you have a dash cam and live in a cold place as well, do you mind telling us about it? What kind of camera did you get? Is it working properly? Any other tips that we should consider when buying a dash cam for a cold climate? I would definitely appreciate if you leave us a comment below and give this article thumbs-up by clicking the <b><span style="color: orange;">Google Plus (G+</span><span style="color: orange;">)</span></b> button at the beginning of this post.</div>
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3701737190756431503.post-20983821194808469982016-05-16T20:46:00.000-04:002019-02-23T23:33:27.058-05:00Holiday Inn Hotel & Suites Windsor (Ambassador Bridge) Review <div style="text-align: justify;">
Our party of 7 stayed at the <a href="https://www.expedia.ca/Windsor-Hotels-Holiday-Inn-Suites-Windsor-Ambassador-Bridge.h2832.Hotel-Information?chkin=29%2F05%2F2016&chkout=30%2F05%2F2016&rm1=a2&hwrqCacheKey=4df34400-860f-4697-a442-8f5dabc822a9HWRQ1463444944564&c=f4f8f790-9d73-4a4d-b835-866f737fb687&" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Holiday Inn Hotel & Suites Windsor (Ambassador Bridge)</a> for one night (Saturday, May 7th, 2016). We just needed a place to spend the night after visiting <a href="http://www.yanniel.info/2016/05/point-pelee-national-park-of-canada.html" target="_blank">Point Pelee National Park</a> early that day. Check out our adventure in Point Pelee by clicking the link above.</div>
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<br />
We were 3 couples: 6 adults and one kid; so, we occupied 3 rooms.</div>
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<br />
We all agreed that the place was fairly decent. It was clean, quiet and the service was great.</div>
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<br />
We checked-in late in the afternoon and went directly to the swimming pool after dropping our belongings in the rooms. (Ah, we got a WIFI pass-code when doing the checking: the connection speed was good enough) </div>
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Our room at Holiday Inn Hotel & Suites before we mess it
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The pool was clean and nobody else was there. It belonged to us for the next hour and a half. Clean towels are provided in the pool.</div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg4eF7gvF6DDybBcmAvkGslHUM7lpTR9qcMWWD748f2uyDLvdx6tyN1PDk7xXtyXn3BgJ64qAyalrUFa95m1Hjwr_dDy1l89aI8o4OstC372FoicsJXbsGyq3bKcOZ_B9M8K_Fvv4x0UXl_/s1600/Swimming+pool+at+Holiday+Inn+Hotel+%2526+Suites+Windsor+%2528Ambassador+Bridge%2529.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="Swimming pool at Holiday Inn Hotel & Suites Windsor (Ambassador Bridge)" border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg4eF7gvF6DDybBcmAvkGslHUM7lpTR9qcMWWD748f2uyDLvdx6tyN1PDk7xXtyXn3BgJ64qAyalrUFa95m1Hjwr_dDy1l89aI8o4OstC372FoicsJXbsGyq3bKcOZ_B9M8K_Fvv4x0UXl_/s400/Swimming+pool+at+Holiday+Inn+Hotel+%2526+Suites+Windsor+%2528Ambassador+Bridge%2529.JPG" title="Swimming pool at Holiday Inn Hotel & Suites Windsor (Ambassador Bridge)" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Swimming pool at Holiday Inn Hotel & Suites Windsor (Ambassador Bridge)</td></tr>
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There is a hot-tub in the pool area; which we enjoyed of course.</div>
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<br />
From there we went to the rooms to have a shower. The rooms looked kinda old, but they were clean and well organized. </div>
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<br />
I have two complains only: </div>
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<li>The hair dryer in my room was out-of-order. The hair dryers in the rooms of my other trip comrades were ok (I asked them). I could have called reception to get it replaced, but my wife insisted to keep her hair a little moist.</li>
<li>The air conditioning was working properly, but at some point during the night it started to make very annoying noises. I think the pipes got frozen somehow and because of that the device started to malfunction. I had to turn it off and use it in fan-mode for the rest of the night.</li>
</ul>
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We had dinner and some drinks at <b>Grill 55</b>. This restaurant/bar is next to the lobby of the hotel. The food here was great. Pretty much everyone in hour group ordered something different and everybody liked it. I must say we were very hungry, but still, the quality of the food and the service was excellent. </div>
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Parking is conveniently located directly in front of the main entrance of the hotel. You can see a Tim Hortons directly from the parking lot; where we had breakfast in the morning.</div>
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As I said, we just stayed one night: we checked in late in the afternoon and left early the next morning. We had no chance to check the other amenities of the motel.</div>
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Overall our stay was positive and I would not mind to stay at this place once more.</div>
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We picked this hotel because we wanted to do some sightseeing around Windsor and the location was fairly close to the Windsor waterfront. We liked Windsor, and we will share our experiences in another post.</div>
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<br />
If this information was useful; share it with the <b><span style="color: orange;">Google Plus (G+)</span></b> button at the beginning of this post. Thanks.</div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3701737190756431503.post-69632951067955581912016-05-14T21:40:00.003-04:002019-02-23T23:35:21.848-05:00A weekend away from Toronto - Point Pelee<div style="text-align: justify;">
<a href="http://www.pc.gc.ca/~/media/pn-np/on/Pelee/pdf/park_map_e.ashx" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Point Pelee</a> is the southernmost point of mainland Canada. It is a peninsula filled with trees and lots of wild life.</div>
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It is very famous for the diversity of migratory birds that show up in the park in spring (April 29th, 2016 -> May 18th, 2016). This is known as the <b>Festival of Birds</b> and it was our main motivation in visiting this place. </div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjnQzaEk-1XCq2QnSrDCgQxBwAobg1zjTuSDPwwXZKT2ueNJZAaVHjpgP0BaxquHHRQ3n0FxLB5rleTIEf_PRNpfinRQvbwwMZMq_xOTN9wPnRQt1LRH-5SIpaYCQXAM4OEOlbpgwsgnvtn/s1600/Birds+-+Point+Pelee.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="Birds - Point Pelee" border="0" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjnQzaEk-1XCq2QnSrDCgQxBwAobg1zjTuSDPwwXZKT2ueNJZAaVHjpgP0BaxquHHRQ3n0FxLB5rleTIEf_PRNpfinRQvbwwMZMq_xOTN9wPnRQt1LRH-5SIpaYCQXAM4OEOlbpgwsgnvtn/s400/Birds+-+Point+Pelee.JPG" title="Birds - Point Pelee" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Birds - Point Pelee</td></tr>
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Birds also make their stop at Point Pelee in autumn. They take a break there before continuing the migration south in search of a warmer climate. I haven’t visited Point Pelee in autumn, but I am tempted. The <u>Carolinian Forest</u> dressed up in the fall colors must be gorgeous. I will probably visit it this year again and if so, I’ll share my experiences in this blog.</div>
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Point Pelee is a 4 hours’ drive from Toronto, but believe me, it is totally worthy. So, my wife and I (plus a bunch of other friends) left Toronto around 7am in the morning on Saturday May 7th, 2016. We took the 401 West stopping just once in one of the various <u>OnRoute</u> along the highway. </div>
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In the highway we drove by the Batman in the Batmobile :-) See the video below. This was an unexpected plus to our road trip :-)</div>
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<iframe allowfullscreen="" class="YOUTUBE-iframe-video" data-thumbnail-src="https://i.ytimg.com/vi/KwANf-AeWq4/0.jpg" frameborder="0" height="266" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/KwANf-AeWq4?feature=player_embedded" width="320"></iframe></div>
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We also encountered one of the biggest wind farms in Canada between Tilbury and Ridgetown. It is called South Kent Wind Farm and belongs to the municipality of Chatham-Kent. The wind turbines seem to have no end as you drive along the 401. Unfortunately, we did not take pics of those :-(</div>
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We arrived at the park around 11:15am.</div>
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<u>One quick note here</u>: once inside the park we could not find places to have lunch. They have some stores in which you can get snacks, but nothing heavy. You can only get potato chips, ice cream, pops and things like that. Nonetheless, just one block before the entrance of the park, there is a place where you can have burgers, wraps, hot dogs, fish and chips, soft drinks. It is not a fancy place, but it gets the job done.</div>
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We paid the <a href="http://www.pc.gc.ca/pn-np/on/pelee/visit/tarifs_fees_e.asp?park=9" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">fee</a> at the entrance, $19 bucks per family (up to 7 people in the same car). You can also pay individually. The pass to the park is valid for the whole day, so keep the receipt in case you want to have lunch outside of the park. With the receipt at hand, you will be able to get back into the park.</div>
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After paying the fee, we just drove into the park…</div>
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You are able to hear the singing of the birds all around. Now, if you really want to see them up-close, you should get yourself a pair of binoculars. I was the only one in our group of 7 carrying binoculars. Because of that I was the only one able to see a pair of deer in the distance and I was able to see the birds hidden in the far away foliage. I recommend <a href="https://www.amazon.com/s/ref=as_li_ss_tl?fst=as%3Aoff&rh=n%3A172282%2Cn%3A502394%2Cn%3A499320%2Cn%3A297842%2Ck%3Abinoculars+8x40%2Cp_n_shipping_option-bin%3A3242350011%2Cp_72%3A1248880011&keywords=binoculars+8x40&ie=UTF8&qid=1463276325&rnid=1248877011&linkCode=ll2&tag=lmaoookaiie-20&linkId=c64824abd74309a7ca1c54277b043993" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">8x40 long range pursuit binoculars</a>.</div>
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But hey, if you don’t have binoculars, that’s fine. All of us were able to see the birds, turtles (lots of them), and fishes (less than a meter away from where we were standing). </div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjECqa1Dv9H-Rzp-DYgdwN9M63s901JNwZSSFEvRWSjNWHPsbpxfl6V_vvU8Q5VVrg87zfewlIwgCOXZw4UHGFMAd9ks8mFHps4rVKnIeVIDfnDhGzCAUmy5JJlgtDCTGNnpUAtXlQa5tBm/s1600/Bird+in+the+Marsh+-+Point+Pelee.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="Bird in the Marsh - Point Pelee" border="0" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjECqa1Dv9H-Rzp-DYgdwN9M63s901JNwZSSFEvRWSjNWHPsbpxfl6V_vvU8Q5VVrg87zfewlIwgCOXZw4UHGFMAd9ks8mFHps4rVKnIeVIDfnDhGzCAUmy5JJlgtDCTGNnpUAtXlQa5tBm/s400/Bird+in+the+Marsh+-+Point+Pelee.JPG" title="Bird in the Marsh - Point Pelee" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Bird in the Marsh - Point Pelee</td></tr>
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</div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiWj8nEipXdiu07dM6wyghWlLA-84-Ho8tNUBrQkZAH-lPbBFbzDro4yj2L4typqGg8wdilVLVbwnv7vQT7l0hbMzUNSl7zrERE5KET8Nfr9i4HqDRLUdeD1QQ2Scq02uO6ZG_Nin3VwGi5/s1600/Frog+-+Point+Pelee.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="Frog - Point Pelee" border="0" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiWj8nEipXdiu07dM6wyghWlLA-84-Ho8tNUBrQkZAH-lPbBFbzDro4yj2L4typqGg8wdilVLVbwnv7vQT7l0hbMzUNSl7zrERE5KET8Nfr9i4HqDRLUdeD1QQ2Scq02uO6ZG_Nin3VwGi5/s400/Frog+-+Point+Pelee.JPG" title="Frog - Point Pelee" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Frog - Point Pelee</td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjTODZkEz2Mqq1w_xM7AVqyPdowRFHxT_5Z2MP46sB7N13W_ZR32jbr_IpANsJjYZ7Cx4JewEQwz-D9kS9nA23DBVS2-jwR2ol-afP8wg3WW02-u3zW0it5UkYuiViKyyh-e6BKKeKM0zpx/s1600/Turtles+-+Point+Pelee.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="Turtles - Point Pelee" border="0" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjTODZkEz2Mqq1w_xM7AVqyPdowRFHxT_5Z2MP46sB7N13W_ZR32jbr_IpANsJjYZ7Cx4JewEQwz-D9kS9nA23DBVS2-jwR2ol-afP8wg3WW02-u3zW0it5UkYuiViKyyh-e6BKKeKM0zpx/s400/Turtles+-+Point+Pelee.JPG" title="Turtles - Point Pelee" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Turtles - Point Pelee</td></tr>
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We were also able to see wild turkeys (twice), which are not migratory birds. They were really sneaky, camouflaging very well in the bushes. They are kinda big and thanks to that we were able to spot them.</div>
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<br />
There are several things you can do at Point Pelee: hiking, bicycling, bird watching, canoeing/kayaking, geocaching, swimming (at designated beaches), picnicking (picnic tables and grills onsite). For more details click <a href="http://www.pc.gc.ca/eng/pn-np/on/pelee/activ.aspx" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">here</a>.</div>
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There are two places that you mustn’t miss: the <b>Marsh Boardwalk</b> and <b>Point Pelee's Tip</b>.<b> </b></div>
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<b>Marsh Boardwalk</b></div>
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It provides a 1km long boardwalk over the marsh. It also has an observation tower and telescopes. From there you can get a sense of what Point Pelee really is.</div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhoLs_dJY25Uvn9LgZLtBYEmIi9ch5tY26vSyxHWHvFHTPh7d1K1EgvHwKiOPyz2pgtmHfbwl8AA8lgoJx8mRprLBRPJxNz3MH05dg5_NlU8hWLXrkfNhXG_oSAba0Di6fY1cLLg9LDn6kX/s1600/Marsh+Boardwalk+-+Observation+tower+-+Point+Pelee.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="Marsh Boardwalk - Observation tower - Point Pelee" border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhoLs_dJY25Uvn9LgZLtBYEmIi9ch5tY26vSyxHWHvFHTPh7d1K1EgvHwKiOPyz2pgtmHfbwl8AA8lgoJx8mRprLBRPJxNz3MH05dg5_NlU8hWLXrkfNhXG_oSAba0Di6fY1cLLg9LDn6kX/s400/Marsh+Boardwalk+-+Observation+tower+-+Point+Pelee.JPG" title="Marsh Boardwalk - Observation tower - Point Pelee" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Marsh Boardwalk - Observation tower - Point Pelee</td></tr>
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<br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhFc6dEfx8L7bOD1jwz5c5R00yHcBxuJsgltT0tFwwCZ6__xg2W1Br5ChN5obzCJvEY-uzJYg5ggOOKDjfFge1EZXYFfYMIcL9p-RnIahfINVwm4JZ8DyfuMdNRUZGc7DELGvWtQfIOwFFV/s1600/Marsh+Boardwalk+-+Geese+-+Point+Pelee.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="Marsh Boardwalk - Geese - Point Pelee" border="0" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhFc6dEfx8L7bOD1jwz5c5R00yHcBxuJsgltT0tFwwCZ6__xg2W1Br5ChN5obzCJvEY-uzJYg5ggOOKDjfFge1EZXYFfYMIcL9p-RnIahfINVwm4JZ8DyfuMdNRUZGc7DELGvWtQfIOwFFV/s400/Marsh+Boardwalk+-+Geese+-+Point+Pelee.JPG" title="Marsh Boardwalk - Geese - Point Pelee" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Marsh Boardwalk - Geese - Point Pelee</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<b>Point Pelee's Tip </b></div>
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This is the most southern point of mainland Canada and it was the place in which we all got wet with an unexpected shower/rain :-)</div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi9ROQ0W-HQ7CSDMFk3LZt9uRzxOx-6heyWnKyHoiCwFb3O6fm4kY8oJxl1x1xmfntCNwVTaUA6tLvmmKNe-Lnwd9ExUJpbDNElRixuyDXEApG2wFI__3EySW58iw2Mf0M2HId4hFOQCOsy/s1600/Point+Pelee+Tip.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="Point Pelee's Tip" border="0" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi9ROQ0W-HQ7CSDMFk3LZt9uRzxOx-6heyWnKyHoiCwFb3O6fm4kY8oJxl1x1xmfntCNwVTaUA6tLvmmKNe-Lnwd9ExUJpbDNElRixuyDXEApG2wFI__3EySW58iw2Mf0M2HId4hFOQCOsy/s400/Point+Pelee+Tip.JPG" title="Point Pelee's Tip" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Point Pelee's Tip</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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We left Point Pelee around 6pm with a lovely feeling in our hearts. We enjoyed nature at its best and we were satisfied. This is a place really worth seeing.</div>
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<br />
We did not come back to Toronto that day. Instead we drove to Windsor and stayed at the <a href="http://www.yanniel.info/2016/05/holiday-inn-hotel-and-suites-windsor-ambassador-bridge-review.html" target="_blank">Holiday Inn Hotel & Suites Windsor (Ambassador Bridge)</a> (the previous link will take you to my review of the hotel).<br />
<br />
It took us an hour to get to Windsor. We stayed overnight and the next day we toured a little bit around Windsor. I’ll write soon about our exploration of this town...</div>
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If you liked this post (trip) as much as we did; then share it with the <span style="color: orange;"><b>Google Plus (G+)</b></span> button at the beginning of the article. Thanks!</div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3701737190756431503.post-693125260224157062016-05-13T22:59:00.002-04:002016-05-13T22:59:44.694-04:00Canadian Citizenship Exam - Yukon Territory - Questions and AnswersThe questions and answers below are specific to Yukon Territory. For more generic ones Canada-wise visit the flowing article: <a href="http://www.yanniel.info/2016/04/questions-and-answers-of-canadian-citizenship-exam.html" target="_blank">Canadian Citizenship Exam - Questions and Answers</a>.<br />
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If this was helpful, share it with the <b><span style="color: orange;">Google Plus (G+)</span></b> button above. Thanks. <br />
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<b>What is the name of the Premier of Yukon Territory?</b><br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
Premier Darrell Pasloski.</blockquote>
<b>Which political party is in power in Yukon Territory?</b><br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
Yukon Party.</blockquote>
<b>What is the name of the Commissioner of Yukon Territory?</b><br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
Honourable Doug Phillips.</blockquote>
<b>What is the capital city of Yukon Territory?</b><br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
Whitehorse.</blockquote>
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3701737190756431503.post-39049321983777107882016-05-13T22:39:00.000-04:002016-05-13T22:39:29.118-04:00Canadian Citizenship Exam - Territory of Nunavut - Questions and AnswersThe questions and answers below are specific to the Territory of Nunavut. For more generic ones Canada-wise visit the flowing article: <a href="http://www.yanniel.info/2016/04/questions-and-answers-of-canadian-citizenship-exam.html" target="_blank">Canadian Citizenship Exam - Questions and Answers</a>.<br />
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<b>What is the name of the Premier of Nunavut?</b><br />
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Premier Peter Taptuna.</blockquote>
<b>Which political party is in power in Nunavut?</b><br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
Governed by consensus.</blockquote>
<b>What is the name of the Commissioner of Nunavut?</b><br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
Honourable Edna Ekhivalak Elias.</blockquote>
<b>What is the capital city of Nunavut?</b><br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
Iqaluit.</blockquote>
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3701737190756431503.post-18928363022457370682016-05-13T22:28:00.003-04:002016-05-13T22:28:50.453-04:00Canadian Citizenship Exam - Northwest Territories - Questions and AnswersThe questions and answers below are specific to the Northwest Territories. For more generic ones Canada-wise visit the flowing article: <a href="http://www.yanniel.info/2016/04/questions-and-answers-of-canadian-citizenship-exam.html" target="_blank">Canadian Citizenship Exam - Questions and Answers</a>.<br />
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<b>What is the name of the Premier of the Northwest Territories?</b><br />
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Premier Bob McLeod.</blockquote>
<b>Which political party is in power in the Northwest Territories?</b><br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
Governed by consensus.</blockquote>
<b>What is the name of the Commissioner of the Northwest Territories?</b><br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
Honourable George L. Tuccaro.</blockquote>
<b>What is the capital city of the Northwest Territories?</b><br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
Yellowknife.</blockquote>
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3701737190756431503.post-76793555667055887382016-05-13T22:07:00.000-04:002016-05-13T22:07:57.947-04:00Canadian Citizenship Exam - Province of Saskatchewan - Questions and AnswersThe questions and answers below are specific to the Province of Saskatchewan. For more generic ones Canada-wise visit the flowing article: <a href="http://www.yanniel.info/2016/04/questions-and-answers-of-canadian-citizenship-exam.html" target="_blank">Canadian Citizenship Exam - Questions and Answers</a>.<br />
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<br />
<b>What is the name of the Premier of Saskatchewan?</b><br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
Premier Brad Wall.</blockquote>
<b>Which political party is in power in Saskatchewan?</b><br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
Saskatchewan Party.</blockquote>
<b>What is the name of the Lieutenant-Governor of Saskatchewan?</b><br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
Honourable Vaughn Solomon Schofield.</blockquote>
<b>What is the capital city of Saskatchewan?</b><br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
Regina.</blockquote>
<b>Which three natural resources are important to Saskatchewan's economy today?</b><br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
Farming, mining and natural gas.</blockquote>
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3701737190756431503.post-30069668792211803052016-05-13T21:59:00.001-04:002016-05-13T21:59:41.086-04:00Canadian Citizenship Exam - Province of Quebec - Questions and AnswersThe questions and answers below are specific to the Province of Quebec. For more generic ones Canada-wise visit the flowing article: <a href="http://www.yanniel.info/2016/04/questions-and-answers-of-canadian-citizenship-exam.html" target="_blank">Canadian Citizenship Exam - Questions and Answers</a>.<br />
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<b>What is the name of the Premier of Quebec?</b><br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
Premier Philippe Couillard.</blockquote>
<b>Which political party is in power in Quebec?</b><br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
Liberal.</blockquote>
<b>What is the name of the Lieutenant-Governor of Quebec?</b><br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
Honourable J. Michel Doyon.</blockquote>
<b>What is the capital city of Quebec?</b><br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
Quebec City.</blockquote>
<b>Which three natural resources are important to Quebec's economy today?</b><br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
Pulp and paper, forestry and hydro-electric power.</blockquote>
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3701737190756431503.post-59537551962306285162016-05-13T21:53:00.000-04:002016-05-13T21:53:12.911-04:00Canadian Citizenship Exam - Province of Prince Edward Island - Questions and AnswersThe questions and answers below are specific to the Province of Prince Edward Island. For more generic ones Canada-wise visit the flowing article: <a href="http://www.yanniel.info/2016/04/questions-and-answers-of-canadian-citizenship-exam.html" target="_blank">Canadian Citizenship Exam - Questions and Answers</a>.<br />
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<br />
<b>What is the name of the Premier of Prince Edward Island?</b><br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
Premier Wade MacLauchlan.</blockquote>
<b>Which political party is in power in Prince Edward Island?</b><br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
Liberals.</blockquote>
<b>What is the name of the Lieutenant-Governor of Prince Edward Island?</b><br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
Honourable H. Frank Lewis.</blockquote>
<b>What is the capital city of Prince Edward Island?</b><br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
Charlottetown.</blockquote>
<b>Which three natural resources are important to Prince Edward Island's economy today?</b><br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
Agriculture, tourism and fisheries.</blockquote>
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3701737190756431503.post-32857024663494892662016-05-13T21:36:00.000-04:002016-05-13T21:36:32.686-04:00Canadian Citizenship Exam - Province of Nova Scotia - Questions and AnswersThe questions and answers below are specific to the Province of Nova Scotia. For more generic ones Canada-wise visit the flowing article: <a href="http://www.yanniel.info/2016/04/questions-and-answers-of-canadian-citizenship-exam.html" target="_blank">Canadian Citizenship Exam - Questions and Answers</a>.<br />
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<b>What is the name of the Premier of Nova Scotia?</b><br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
Premier Stephen McNeil.</blockquote>
<b>Which political party is in power in Nova Scotia?</b><br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
Liberal.</blockquote>
<b>What is the name of the Lieutenant-Governor of Nova Scotia?</b><br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
Honourable John James Grant.</blockquote>
<b>What is the capital city of Nova Scotia?</b><br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
Halifax.</blockquote>
<b>Which three natural resources are important to Nova Scotia's economy today?</b><br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
Coal mining, forestry and agriculture.</blockquote>
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