tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-40923122011-10-11T05:31:30.461-07:00Refreshing!Ginnahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08663134061581899891noreply@blogger.comBlogger121100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4092312.post-29365328658267492902011-08-20T18:24:00.000-07:002011-08-20T18:24:58.812-07:00

Ok, so I've been off grid for a while. Doing lots of writing and thinking about how I can pay for writing. I finally decided to turn a sort-of hobby into my career. I've launched a home staging and design business: Simplified Homes I have high hopes for this!

Ginnahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08663134061581899891noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4092312.post-48901454237172126232010-10-21T09:03:00.000-07:002010-10-21T09:03:25.282-07:00

I'm not sure when I got it into my head that I wanted to kick caffeine. But it was at least a month ago. And I thought, "Oh, I'll wait until I move and get settled". So Sunday I thought to myself, this is the time, since I am moved in and more or less settled. I assumed it would not be that bad, since I only have a couple of cups of coffee a day, in the morning. Day 1 - Monday. Everything seemed

Ginnahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08663134061581899891noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4092312.post-2729394025502847482010-10-20T09:12:00.001-07:002010-10-20T09:12:36.323-07:00

I know I said I'd post regularly, but moving was pretty all-encompasing. Here's what's happened in the last 2 weeks! I packed up the old house. I purged, and purged and purged. But you know what? I still moved WAY too much stuff. Seriously. How did this happen? I guess 10 years of having more storage space than living space really allowed me to indulge my inner pack rat. The main house was OK,

Ginnahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08663134061581899891noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4092312.post-87190339678537932742010-09-23T14:51:00.000-07:002010-09-23T14:51:39.089-07:00

I live (for now) in the City of Victoria proper, not Saanich or Oak Bay. When I bought this house in 2001, my property taxes that year were $1100. (I looked it up in Quicken.) This year? $2500. So in nine years, my taxes have considerably more than doubled. Using 3% inflation as a guide, you would expect them to be around $1440. So where does all the increase go? Frankly I have no idea. Let's

Ginnahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08663134061581899891noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4092312.post-52850268572706811952010-09-23T14:19:00.000-07:002010-09-23T14:19:36.554-07:00

Some of you wondered why I decided to sell and move so abruptly. Well, the truth is the idea had been percolating for a long while. And then in August, I woke up to the economic situation. I believe house prices in Victoria (not to mention Canada), are heading south sharply, and will likely stay there a long while. Part of it has been looking at the indicators - eerily similar to those in the US

Ginnahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08663134061581899891noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4092312.post-56623856818227248572010-09-22T10:11:00.000-07:002010-09-22T10:11:07.181-07:00

One of the irritating things about moving is that you actually have to talk to your service providers. I thought I could avoid this, using online services as much as possible. FAIL. Starting with BC Hydro. I get my bills electronically, so I logged into my account to have a look. From the FAQ, it seemed very clear that there was no such thing as "moving". The account is tied to the house. You

Ginnahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08663134061581899891noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4092312.post-86941170548972272012010-09-21T17:04:00.000-07:002010-09-21T17:04:29.089-07:00

I've been plugging my way through Tor.com's Lord of the Rings re-read over the last few weeks. (Warning! Time suck! Seriously!) Since I finished school, I haven't really read in a scholarly way at all. Not that I don't think about the themes or topics of what I'm reading, but I hardly ever think of the mechanics. Now that I'm trying to write, I'm thinking about that a lot more. Or trying to

Ginnahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08663134061581899891noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4092312.post-90755213598274609332010-09-21T16:55:00.000-07:002010-09-21T16:55:03.201-07:00

I've been talking for quite a while about tiny houses. So part of the medium to long-term goal here is to wait for the real estate market to settle a bit, and then buy some land with cash. I could do that now, but I want to a) make sure the Comox valley is where I really want to be, and b) wait for prices to drop, which I'm pretty sure they will. Also, c) I'm not ready to build, tiny or

Ginnahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08663134061581899891noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4092312.post-74749789914517119842010-09-21T16:47:00.000-07:002010-09-21T16:55:25.290-07:00

One of the things I have to do for this move is think hard about where my money is going to be parked. From the house sale, I will have a large-ish wad of cash. I will make a one-time RRSP top up, and then probably open both a non-RRSP brokerage account, and also a TFSA. (Yes, I should have opened one already. Whatever.) This post will capture some of my thinking about where I should put my money

Ginnahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08663134061581899891noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4092312.post-23621352096031980892010-09-19T20:40:00.000-07:002010-09-19T20:40:53.975-07:00

Right, so packing is underway for the big move to Comox. My plan is to live a more minimalist life. I think I've been carrying around a lot of stuff. This week - getting books down by at least half. Eek.

Ginnahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08663134061581899891noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4092312.post-1107809171380752182005-02-07T13:34:00.000-08:002006-01-03T18:25:09.603-08:00

In December, I blogged about my troubles with Carquotes.ca, and to date my efforts have been unsuccessful. Today I sent the following email, which I hope will get a response.In early December, I filled out a request at your siteto receive a quotation on my car. My VISA card wascharged, but I did not receive any report.I notice that your web site does not include anaddress or phone number, making

Ginnahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08663134061581899891noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4092312.post-1104522291832539372004-12-31T11:38:00.000-08:002011-09-02T10:00:41.491-07:00

I've been contemplating selling my car and getting a new one, so a month or so ago I found Carquotes.ca and placed an order for a price report on my car. I received....nothing. They did however helpfully charge my credit card. I then noticed that there are no phone numbers on the web site. So I filled out the Customer Service form, and waited. A week later I filled it out again. No response.

Ginnahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08663134061581899891noreply@blogger.com3