The Dark Side of Downsizing

Let's get this out of the way right now. I'm a hypocrite.

When Laura and I sold the house last year and rented a small one bedroom suite, I thought it was for the duration. I actually believed that we would rent for the long term - years, decades even. But things change.

Both kids are cycling through Vancouver again  (not a bicycle, an airplane) and would like a place to land for a few days. This and the ability to host anyone comfortably overnight - or several nights - has led us to look for a bigger place.

Another Home

The search for something comfortable led us to a couple of rental suites, and several open-houses for new construction. Our thinking was to find a rental unit in one of the more desirable places. Maybe even convince someone we know to buy it and rent it to us (good luck).

What we found was that buying a 2 bedroom condo was less expensive than renting one. Especially one we'd want to live in. There was a great New York Times article that quantified the rent versus buy conundrum.

We found a new unit in a concrete tower - one floor, two bedroom, new construction that solved all the issues we have today. Underground parking, room for guests, relatively small, and rentable if we decide to travel for a year.

The Dark Side

We decided that, although we could buy outright, it doesn't make sense. Our investment income today is, more or less, funding our lifestyle. We like the ability to work when we want, and to travel when we want. It's kind of living an ideal.

We would do this deal if we could invest a minimum amount of our nestegg dollars, mortgage the rest, and not worry about servicing the debt - mortgages are now at record lows, and our investments are earning more than a mortgage would cost.

Here's where things get interesting/frustrating. Banks aren't set up for people like us. Banks want people with regular paycheques. Not people who earn as little as we do, and take money from their savings whenever they need some. Even if the number they have access to is several times the value of the home.

I could explain all this in a few seconds to someone that approves mortgages, and they would see my logic. But you no longer meet with the people that say yes or no. You meet a "mortgage specialist". Which basically means that they take all your information and send it to Toronto for a decision. Kind of like someone at Jiffy Lube if your oil change took place 3000 miles away from where your car was (no disrespect for the oil change guy at Jiffy Lube).

This will likely force me to leave the big banks and find a local credit union who makes decision in the Lower Mainland. I'm pretty sure they would see the win-win here.

The lesson in all this is that while the vagabond, irresponsible lifestyle is attractive, it's not understood by the mainstream. I knew that, but this is the first time I've been unable to easily get around a "rule".

I know, I know. This is clearly a first world problem.

The Extraterrestrial Highway

For Star Trek fans, cosmologists, astronomers, geeks (OK - so they're all geeks) and any one else interested in "what's out there", a short trip north of Las Vegas brings you to a really fascinating place.

When Laura and I crawled out of Death Valley, we cleaned up for a few days in Pahrump, a small city en route to Las Vegas. When we were in Pahrump, we stopped into a store to get a few things for the motorhome. Turns out they didn't have what we wanted, but on the way out one of their sales people stopped to chat us up (and sell us a forty foot condo on wheels).

Once he determined we weren't going to buy anything, and with one foot back in the store, he asked us where we were going to next. We had planned on going back through to the Napa Valley in California on the way home, and told him that.

He said that next time we were down, we should really venture into eastern Nevada, north of Vegas, into the ET Highway, Cathedral Gorge and Great Basin National Park.

While Great Basin would be a bit far, the other destinations are easy.

Our first stop was a short drive north of Las Vegas - I-15 to I-93, about 150km - into a town called Alamo, Nevada.

We used Alamo as a base for our trip to the ET Highway. There's not much to see - it's about 60km each way from Alamo to the Little A'Le'Inn - but you could spend all day doing it.

Our first stop was the Black Mailbox (which is actually white). If you enter "Black Mailbox" into Google Maps, it'll show you exactly where it is. It's at the intersection of Highway 375 and a dirt road. Apparently if you follow the dirt road for about 13 miles, you'll reach a sign (and shortly after, a guard shack) for the famous Nellis Air Force Range. You might know it better as Area 51.

People set up camp at the mailbox and wait to see any night-time activity -and sometimes there is some. Just park well off the highway and the grid road and you should be OK. The night skies there would be incredible. We didn't stay, but the skies in Alamo were fantastic too.

Once we had "done" the mailbox (and Laura forgot her camera on the running boards of the motorhome subsequently destroying the camera on the highway) we went another half hour west towards Rachel,
Nevada. Rachel is home to the Little A'Le'Inn. And nothing else.

You have to spend an hour or two at the Little A'Le'Inn. At least have some lunch and take a bunch of photos. You can stay overnight as well (they run a small motel) and take in the night sky. Pat (the owner) is a wonderful host, and can tell you all about the area.

If we were driving anything different - like a car or a pickup - we could have also gone to see the petroglyphs at Mount Irish (spooky).

We spent most of the day going to Rachel and back (and searching for camera parts on the road), and were up early the next morning for the drive to Cathedral Gorge State Park.

Leaving Alamo, you have and easy picturesque drive through to Calliente (about 100km). After an ice cream and some gas it's only another 30km or so to the south entrance of Cathedral Grove State Park.

This is one on the nicest, smallest, best run, least expensive state campgrounds we've ever been in. Next time we'll stay for a week. Caves, gorges, ravines, great off-road biking, lots of hiking, and sipping beer under a tree all made for a really nice time.

As a bonus, members of the astronomy club from Las Vegas were up for the weekend with their telescopes, and they made sure we had lots of opportunity to ask questions and look through them (at stuff I could never see in my scope).

We left Cathedral Gorge after only a couple of nights, and traveled further north to Great Basin National Park. You couldn't really do this as a day trip from Vegas (500km one way).

Great Basin reminded me of home. Higher up out of the heat of the valley, and into the trees and mountains. If somebody dropped you there and said you were in Yoho, you might believe them. The big attraction the Great Basin is Lehman Caves. These are pretty neat and we took a 90-minute tour of them with thirty of our closest friends. Needless to say, if you've been on one easy-access cave tour and seen stalactites and stalagmites before, this is nothing particularly special. I would say the Lewis and Clark Caverns in Montana are more spectacular (and harder to tour).  I would imagine, though, for people living in the desert to come to a mountain would be something special.

Needless to say, next time you're near Las Vegas, go a little bit north. Who knew?

Climate Change and Motorhomes

Back in January, Laura and I bought an older motorhome (2002). We found ourselves back into a RV after good friends were on the road long-term (Al and Jody - so it's not just us), and were left frustrated after our drive/hotel adventure last fall. Sleeping in someone else's bed every night, and lugging your suitcase into a different place all the time was not something we wanted to do a lot of.

So we went back to sleeping in the same bed, cooking in the same kitchen, and lounging on the same couch - all while having a different living room window view most days.

This trip in the new (to us) motorhome was mostly a "shake down cruise" to see what worked, what didn't, what needed to change, and whether we liked it or not. Turns out we like it, and the machine worked flawlessly. Even the gas mileage was better than I expected.

But the point of this post isn't only about the RV. It's about the weather. And the economy.

Weather

Although this could be just an aberration, we experienced a huge variety of weather in our 30 days on the road. Weather that would normally be a little more consistent and predictable.

Terrible, gusty wind for more than half the entire journey. The wild weather in the East starts off in the West - where we were. The wildfires in California have started again.

It snowed for a couple of days as well. In all, there were only a handful of "typical late spring days" in the whole trip. Climate change is here, and the SW USA is feeling it.

Economy

Cathedral Gorge

There is a real demarcation when you cross the Oregon-California border. The highways in California are in awful shape. You would expect the same in Mexico or Bolivia, not North America.

It's said that the people that work at WalMart can no longer afford to shop at WalMart. They now shop at the Dollar Stores. We saw this for real in the small towns we were through. There are no more small businesses - just WalMart and Dollar Stores. And gas stations. There is a real disparity in the USA that you used to have to look for - it isn't hidden anymore.

Highlights

The Black Mailbox (That's really white)

Despite what I've said above, there were a couple of neat places we visited. And we'll return again.

Actually, with the state of California right now, we'll likely start heading south through Nevada Route 93 - less traffic, better roads, and lots to see.

My personal favorite was Cathedral Gorge State Park in Nevada. Absolutely breathtaking with a small, friendly, well-set-up state campground. We'll stay a week next time.

Next up would have to be the ET Highway. Talk about minimalist. A mailbox and a diner. Perfect. Loved it (and recommend the Alien Burger at the Little A'Le'Inn).

Shaving 301 - Or Things I Wish My Dad Told Me

I've had an urge to share this for some time now. After shaving every day for the better part of forty years, I think I finally have it figured out.

This is more than you need

I buy these on sale in bags of 20

Every man has his own ritual with shaving, but I'm going to guess you do it the way you always did it - regardless of how inefficient it might be.

As shaving is such a regular, repeated process, it's no wonder that there's a huge advertising budget spent on influencing it. Whether it's the newest five-blade, ultra smooth, high tech safety razor or the German engineered, electric razor you can use in the shower, you know that their target is half the population.

I know it's strange, but I've thought about this. I've spent time researching it and time experimenting with it. Here's what I've discovered.

• You know your own face. After a few hundred times, the need for a mirror when shaving is nothing but habit. Once a week or so I'll bring a small metal mirror into the shower with me to trim up those sideburns, otherwise I don't need one. Neither do you.
• If you use a safety razor, you use far more shaving cream than you actually need. You've been influenced by advertising. Really, using conditioner, shampoo or soap works just as well. Try shaving with 1/3 the amount you use now and see that it makes no difference.
• Again with the safety razor, you should shave in the shower after your beard has softened. I shave at the very  end. If you don't shave in the shower, you probably cut yourself a lot, you make an incredible mess, and you take way too much time. 
• If you use an electric razor, you waste time. A safety razor gives you a closer shave in less than a quarter the time.
• I don't spend money on expensive name brand refillable razors. Disposable razors last longer and are significantly less expensive (I use name brand disposable razors because they tend to hold up better).
• You use a new razor blade too often. The enemy of a sharp blade isn't your beard - it's moisture. If it gets wet and stays wet it degrades quickly. I put my razor up where it will dry out every day, and one blade will regularly last me three months or more.

Here's my morning routine. I would guess shaving take about three minutes start to finish.

1. When I'm done showering, I'll get a small amount of shaving cream in my hand and lather it into my face.
2. If I'm in a shower, I'll face away from the shower head - and shave my entire face in one go. If I'm showering in a bathtub, I'll turn off the shower and have water come out of the bath faucet. Then shave my entire face at one time.
3. Then I'll rinse off the blade, avoiding any water on my face.
4. I'll shave a second time in the opposite direction, getting any spot I may have missed.
5. One final rinse of the blade, my face and my body.
6. I put the razor somewhere where it will dry quickly.
7. Done.

Men never talk about this stuff.

PS: 11/18/2015:  Hard to believe that this was the most viewed post in the last couple of years! As much as I've been harassed about it, the numbers speak for themselves....  I'm back into a shower for more than a year now (we moved into the condo with a separate shower stall), but the strategy is still the same. Shave at the end, use a little gel, and use disposable razors. Note that I ran out of razors the other day and had to buy another eighteen (cost me about $15 at Costco).

The Experiential Challenge

I recently watched a Talks At Google presentation from James Wallman, the author of Stuffocation. The video is worth a watch - the talk itself is only the first half hour (the rest is Q and A).

His premise, which I buy into completely, is that the 20th Century was all about materialism. "He who dies with the most toys wins". I think more and more of us have now bought into the 21st Century argument that this materialism did not lead us to happiness.

The new materialsm is now experientialism. What makes us happy are the memories we accumulate, not the stuff. It's the experiences that count, and it's the experiences that provides us the social status we crave.

He has an excellent challenge during the end of the talk:

"Spend the same amount of money you would normally in a month, but have absolutely nothing material to show for it at the end."

So at the end of the month, you wouldn't have a new purse or a new car or a new smartphone, but you may have had a couple of days skiing, a dinner out with friends, gone to the movies or flown to Australia. I think that having photos to show at the end of it all would be fair game.

Let me know if you're willing to try this - I am...

If There Really Is Global Warming - Then Why The Long Winter?

That's the question you're hearing from FOX News, and now represents the thinking of 23% of Americans:

"The most recent national Climate Change in the American Mind survey found that 1 in 4 Americans think that global warming is not happening, and half say they are "worried" about it."

This has mostly arisen because journalists, deniers, and politicians have selectively chosen climate data and used it as proof that the earth is cooling down, it's part of a natural cycle, or that the subject is still up for debate.

But when we look at the big picture, and factor in all the data, Man-Made Global Warming is a fact. It's no longer a point of contention among the enlightened.

From NASA

We no longer believe the world is flat - although I'm sure you could find a few out there that would defend that position. Now we should no longer give any credibility to Global Warming Deniers .

Note that I use that term Global Warming on purpose. I've learned from Hyperobjects that using Climate Change to describe Global Warming is like using "change of living conditions" instead of "Holocaust". The complete, correct term would be "Climate Change caused by Global Warming".

Bill Nye The Science Guy is a Moron

OK - not really a moron. Just insanely dumb to engage in a debate that he cannot win.

Bill Nye engaged in said debate with Young Earth Creationist Ken Ham at his Museum on Tuesday February 4.

This would all be an interesting circus act, if it weren't for the fact that over a half million people watched this live over a webcast, and thousands more have seen the YouTube video.

Here's why I think Bill Nye is stupid to engage with Ham in this charade.

He gives Creationism an aura of credibility. He could have the same arguments with the Flat Earth Society, the Fake Moon Landing theorists, or The Earth Is The Center Of The Universe Society (if one existed).

Nye remains completely reasonable, objective, and proof-based in his arguments, but is confounded at every opportunity. When Nye talks about a tree in Sweden being older than the 6000 years than Ham claims the earth is, Ham's response is

“We didn't see those tree rings actually forming. We didn't see those layers being laid down. You’re assuming things in regard to the past that aren't necessarily true.”

 So tree rings haven't been proven to show the age of a tree. News to me. News to science.

The more credibility we give Ham and his believers, by engaging in these silly debates, the further behind the United States falls in science. Some reports say as much at 46% of the US population holds a bible-centric, creationist view of how we got here.

The rest of us just shake our heads.

My Two Year Old Smoothie

I started a new breakfast regimen two years ago - after I convinced myself that having a bowl of Multigrain Cheerios for breakfast every morning was likely killing me.

So I started experimenting with smoothies. After several variations - with eggs and yogurt and cocoa and tomatoes and other stuff - I settled on a mixture that I've grown to like very much.

My brother Rob makes a great smoothie too - tastes similar but with different ingredients. Maybe I'll get him to write it down one day.

But here's the one I've been having most mornings for the past 700 days. And I'm still not tired of it (about once a week we'll have bacon and eggs just to mix thing up).

• 1 x 400ml can Coconut Milk (Aroy-D is the brand I use - high in fat)
• 1 cup Frozen Berries (Costco Rader Farms Nature's Three Berries)
• 1 medium banana (120g)
• 1 scoop (40g) Protein Powder (Kaizen Whey Isolate - Vanilla)
• 2 small Avocados (or 1 large Avocado - about 400g)
• 2 cups (60g) spinach
• 1 cup water

I blend it in a Blendtec blender (like a Vitamax), but used an old Oster blender up until recently - the Blendtec makes it really smooth.

You can turn this smoothie into a red one by increasing the amount of berries (I add a half cup of blueberries) or you can make it green by adding more spinach. Any way you make it, it tastes fantastic.

And it's good for you as well. Here's the nutritional breakdown of an entire batch and for a single serving - which is about 1/3 of a batch:

It's a bit high in sugar, but all of it comes from fruit - so it's wrapped in fiber and is slow to metabolize (so no insulin spikes). High in carbs too, but it's the fruit as well. I don't care.

The fat content freaks people out, but we're all learning now that fat isn't bad for you - you need it to live. And coconut/avocado fat is excellent. I have lots in here.

A glass of this shake takes me through lunchtime easily - there is no mid-morning craving for donuts. Mind you, there is always room for another cup of coffee.....

Eating This Stuff Is Killing Us

Obesity is the second leading contributor to premature death in North America (ref). It's complicit in heart disease, high blood pressure, diabetes, arthritis and cancer. Diet plays a huge role in obesity - along with physical activity - so I found a couple of  interesting graphics that describes how things have changed over the decades.

The first is obesity rates themselves - I'm confident that Canada would track the USA almost 1:1...

 Note that the early 1980's the US Federal Government started us all on the low-fat dogma, and has spent hundreds of millions of dollars to prove that a low fat diet is good for our health. Our fat consumption has been decreasing for decades, but our rates of obesity are skyrocketing.Clearly low fat is not good for our health.

So what's happened? Food manufacturers have gone the low fat route by substituting sugars - every kind of sugar (the most infamous being Low Fructose Corn Syrup). And when sugar isn't enough - they process the hell out of it to make it some kind of Frankenfood.

Source: Bureau of Labor Statistics. Credit: Lam Thuy Vo / NPR

When I was growing up in the 70's, processed food in the house was rare. The odd bag of potato chips, and maybe a 2l jug of Coke over Christmas.

My how things have changed.

The single biggest component of our diet is now processed foods and sugars.

Want to lose weight and get healthy? Cut out the 22.9%.

"If your grandmother wouldn't recognize it, don't eat it".

You Probably Have Enough...

"Who do you work for?"

I get that a lot. Instead of giving a roundabout, hard to explain answer, I usually just say

"I'm retired".

Then follows the automatic "you look awfully young to be retired" and then the inevitable

"I wish I could do that".

This got me thinking about the experience Laura and I have had over the last several years, and my general outlook long before then.

It's meant for people about our age (mid 50's and older) who have kids that have moved out.

And maybe it's for the younger crowd, just starting out. If they re-imagined their eventual retirement - as I'm sure most of them are doing anyway - much of this makes sense for them too.

You Have Enough

Over the last fifteen years, as I started to think about eventually quitting work, I found myself challenging the accepted belief that you needed a huge chunk of  money* to retire. It seemed however much you had, it was never going to be enough.

For me, and most people I know, the days of a defined benefit pension program were long gone. What you had accumulated needed to last until you were dead. Nobody was going to send you a regular paycheque once you stopped reporting for work.

There are entire banking sectors set up to tell you how much you'll need based on your anticipated lifestyle.

As it turned out, Laura and I were forced into this predicament by my health issues. I can't ever see a time where full-time work is a real option for me anymore. And when we look closer at it, neither of us can see a time when full-time work is required (or desired) for either of us.

So we are forced into this "early retirement" with less than we thought we needed. And I'm increasingly convinced that it is, indeed, enough.

What it needs is a change of attitude, and a real in-depth look at what's truly important to you.

What's Important

The lesson we've learned over the last eight years (2006 kicked this process off**) is that life doesn't really care how much you plan. Events will conspire to kick you in the teeth when you least expect it. The more flexible you are, the more willing you are to try new things, and the more you're able to put preconceived notions of "this is how it must be" on the back burner, the better equipped you'll be moving forward.

It's best to start with a challenge to many of the preconceptions you probably have.

• Everyone needs to own a house. Think of all the money you have tied up in a house - money that could be working for you elsewhere. How much do you pay in property tax? Insurance? Maintenance? Self esteem? 60% of people in Germany never own a house, and never plan to. Why is that? We now rent a one bedroom basement suite.
• Everyone needs at least two cars. Really? And how often in one of them sitting at home? What if you just managed your time better? What if both of you didn't work full time? We got rid of my truck, and we now drive Laura's much more fuel efficient car.
• Everyone needs lots of room for their stuff. Why do you have so much stuff? If you had a fire today, and you could take just one thing before getting out of the house, what would it be? I guess I'd say "the dog".
• We need two incomes to manage this lifestyle. So change the lifestyle. Determine what you "need" versus what you "want".

I've been anal about tracking our spending since we first got married. And I'm surprised to report that our social lifestyle hasn't really changed at all, but the cost of that lifestyle is half to one third of what it was. No more buying something because you're bored, or eating out three nights a week because you're tired.

The Strategy

Here are the steps we've taken, and so far - so good.

• Sell your house. Hopefully, if you're in Canada at least, the house is worth more than the mortgage on it. Take the proceeds from the house and invest it wisely (be conservative - this money has to last!).
• Sell your stuff. You're going to be moving into a much smaller place, so decide what you really need. You can't have it all - and as we've discovered - your kids likely don't want anything of yours anyway. If you need to rent some storage space, go ahead. But have some time limit to when everything in there is cleaned out.
• Sell your car. I'd like to get rid of the cars altogether, but based on where we live, one is kind of essential. If we lived downtown, I'd likely aim for a shared-car service.
• Pay off your debt. You should plan on having ZERO debt. Pay off credit cards every month. Have a zero balance on the line of credit. Owe nobody.
• Move. Rent a small one or two bedroom place. What this buys you is freedom. Don't like your neighbors - move. Don't like the price of rent - move. Don't like the city - move. Much easier to be flexible as a renter than as an owner.
• Think part time. Supplement your investment income with small, part-time jobs. We try deliberately to avoid a full time commitment (short term, full time is OK - like a maternity leave).
• Know where you're at. Become fanatical about your financial position. Know when things are going well, and when they require some tweaking (ie: line up more work).
• Adjust your lifestyle. Live on less. Go to movies on cheap night (around here, Tuesday). Eat at home almost all the time. Our "big night out" is on Thursday with friends, where we meet up for sushi. Costs us about $25/week. 

What these changes have afforded us is ultimate flexibility. Want to go to away for a week next month? Go. Want to go away for a month next week? Go. Want to live back in Calgary for a year? Go. Want to visit the Maritimes for a couple of months this fall. Go.

And as I mentioned earlier - our social life is better than before. And we travel three or four times as much.

We're fortunate in that I think we have enough. The number will be different for everybody, but I'm pretty certain that it's significantly less than what you think.

Our lifestyle today runs about $3500/month, with about $1000/month of this set aside for vacations. When we add up the part-time jobs we have along with the investment income, we're doing quite nicely.

The Benefits

There are a few subtle benefits that seem obvious to me now.

• By leaving full time employment, you actually free up a job for a younger person. Someone who likely needs the paycheque a whole lot more than you do. A big problem in our economy now is that there's no mobility for younger workers - all because we refuse to leave!
• You eat much better at home when you have time to cook and plan meals. It costs much, much less, and you eat much, much healthier.
• You get rid of all that "mental overhead" of managing too many tasks in not enough time. This includes mortgages, doctor appointments, oil changes, lawn-moving, fence fixing, everything...
• You have the time and the energy to regularly exercise. Regularly as in "just about every day".

So enough of "I wish I could do that".

You probably can. Because you probably have enough.

* Some say $900K, some say $1.5M, some say $5M - who really knows?

** Major "kick you in the teeth" life events that have happened to us:
2006 - Jack Beauchamp, my cousin's husband, was murdered
2006 - I asked for a 6 month leave of absence from work.
2006 - Days before leaving on the LOA, discovered that I needed heart bypass surgery.
2007 - Returned to work.
2009 - Took a buy-out at work. Planned on travelling for a year, and then getting another job.
2009 - 4 weeks after leaving, had a relatively major stroke. Relearned how to walk and talk.
2010 - Laura goes back to school for Early Childhood Education - we are sure to need the income.
2011 - I've got some part time work through a friend that keeps me in spending money
2011 - Laura is really enjoying her new career, but she has to be careful about accepting full time jobs!

You're More Of An Atheist Than You Think

I'm troubled by the way the term "spirituality" is thrown around.

The word "god" (I don't capitalize on purpose) means different things to different people. At the extreme end of things, you could be a devoted Muslim or Christian. Closer to the middle you would be Buddhist. Somewhere on the continuum you might be Hindu (and then god would be plural).

About a century ago, I would describe god like this:

We knew almost nothing, and everything was tied to tradition and superstition.

We were frightened of the things we didn't know, and created stories to fill the gap. The stories provided answers - and continued to provide answers until science started to eat away at the questions themselves.





The way I would describe things today are more like this:

Science has provided answers to almost every question we've had. Sure, there are some we may never know (but science has even provided an answer to that as well. It's called "I don't know").

The Continuum

I started this by saying that you're probably more of an atheist than you think - and here's the logic. This is derived from Dawkins' Spectrum of Theistic Probabliliy (note that when I say "god", I mean any supernatural diety).

1. God exists. No doubt about it. He is involved in my life on a daily basis, answers our prayers, and there is a purpose behind everything. This is called theism.
2. Strongly assume that god exists, but short of 100%.
3. Lean towards god. More than 50%, but not very high. 
4. Absolutely impartial. The existence of god (theism) and the absence of god (atheism) have the same probability.
5. Belief in god is lower than 50%, but well short of zero. Inclination is that he doesn't exist.
6. A very low probability that god exists, but still short of zero. Live life with the assumption that he doesn't exist.
7. Absolutely believe there is no god. This is called atheism.

I suspect that most of us fall somewhere between 3-6 on this scale. I'd probably consider myself a 6.99 - the reason being is that I cannot ever discount something absolutely. Science taught me that.

My Argument

The one question that's always plagued me is this:

We live our lives in a scientific world. Almost everything you do, every day, involves science. Your alarm clock. Your blender for the morning smoothie. Television and radio. Your car. The lights in the office where you work. Your smartphone. They all exist because of science.

And yet many of us, scientists and engineers included, put that belief in science on hold whenever it comes to god.  

If your car failed to start 50% of the time, you would have no faith in the car. But we have faith in a god where the failure rate far exceeds 50%.

So why the incongruity? 

Why do we base our lives on things that work (science), but when we don't understand something we run to the supernatural?

Our lives are based on proof. There is no proof that god exists. Nothing.

How To Manipulate The Graduated Driving Program

Kathryn has figured out how to manipulate the ICBC (Insurance Corp of BC) graduated driving system. It'll probably work where you live as well.

She first got her N (for novice) drivers license in 2001. The program was new in BC, and the thinking was that new drivers need some time on the road before they could be re-examined and the N restrictions removed. The N restrictions were limiting the number of passengers to one, zero alcohol limit, and displaying the N.

The one area they overlooked was drivers who only drove occasionally, could live with the restrictions , and made no attempt to have them removed. There was no time limit on the duration of your N restrictions (I think this loophole has been filled). This was the case with both Kathryn and her brother. They felt that all the "N removal" process would do is add some extra stress and anxiety to their lives ... and hardly worth the bother.

Flash forward to today - some twelve years after Kathryn first getting her N. She's now living in Australia.

When she approached the Australians about a local drivers license, their response was "we don't know what this "N" is supposed to mean, but just in case we will give you a "P" or provisional license for six months. If you've had no incidents in those six months, we will remove the "P" and issue you a full, unrestricted Australian license."

She had her "P" removed this fall, and is driving with a full Australian license.

When and if she returns back to Canada, she can exchange the Aussie license for a full, unrestricted, Canadian one.

2014 Gear List

I've followed a blogger named Tynan for a number of years now, and despite him being a lot younger than me, he's living a very interesting life - pieces of which I aspire to.

One of the things Tynan does every year is a gear list - the things he travels with that he's refined over the years. I've done much the same.

After a few decades of travel,  I've got the whole thing down to a very small set of "necessities". With a few minor changes, I can turn this "casual travel" set into a "business travel" set. If there's a dress code anywhere - I wear the fancier clothes while I travel.

Computer - HP Envy 14 Beats Edition

Because I do some work while I travel, I need the horsepower of a real laptop. I've tried this with a Tablet, a Smartphone and a Netbook, but I've decided to sacrifice the weight and bring the workhorse. For me today it's a HP Envy 14 Beats Edition. It weighs too much, and I want to replace it with something much lighter, but haven't done that yet. One advantage of this big laptop is a "travel charger", which is a small brick of a power adapter with a built-in USB charger. I've got a couple of AC plugs for this charger - one for N.America and one for Australia. All I carry in addition to the laptop is a micro-USB cable to charge the Smartphone (so I don't need a Universal Adapter).

Phone - Google Nexus 4 by LG

As I wonder around Australia, I get asked more questions about my phone than I do about my accent. It's the perfect high performance, unlocked, Android Smartphone - and it happens to be very rare in Oz. It's replaced my camera, flashlight, calendar, social media manager, Kindle reader, iPod - everything. If I didn't have work to get done while travelling, this would be the only device I'd carry. It's about half the price of an iPhone. I'm an anti-Appleite.

Fleece - MEC Watchtower

This is an inexpensive, well made, medium-weight, pullover fleece from MEC. This, in combination with a good rain shell, is all you need. With layering, you're ready for any weather you might find. If I know it won't be cold, this stays at home.

Rain Shell - GoLite

This is a lightweight, compressible (especially with Ziploc bags) rain shell that I keep in my suitcase. Very waterproof, with a hood that rolls into the collar.

Underwear - ScottEVest Travel Boxers

I've got both the Revision 1.0 and 2.0 of these - and I tend to take the Travel Boxer 1.0's with me because they fit better. Three pair can take me anywhere - and I could probably get by with two.

Socks - Tilley Travel Socks

When I need to wear shoes, I take a pair of these along. I've had them for years, and they look exactly like the day I bought them - they wear like iron. Not even that expensive when you consider you might have them forever.

Pants - Royal Robins Trek Pant 

These are just lightweight, not gorky looking, travel pants. They have a zip pocket on the leg that I find useful for the Smartphone. They wash up in the sink and dry overnight. I imagine there are dozens of manufacturers out there that make the same thing.

Pants - Tilley AdventureCloth Sierra Pants 

I used to wear these every day for work. Now I wear them when I travel. They have a hidden, inside, secure pocket to keep your cash (impossible for a pickpocket), and the rear pockets are velcro closed. They wash in the sink, and are dry overnight. I wore out the previous pair after about five years.

Shirts - Icebreaker Merino Wool T-Shirt

I got tuned into wool shirts from Tynan. I've been wearing them for a couple of years now, and I'm hooked - they're pretty much all I have now. The problem is I never know when to launder them - you can't tell. They look fresh all the time, and they never smell. Warm in the winter and cool in the summer. Expensive, but worth it.

Shirts - Kuhl Renegade Short Sleeve Shirt

This is now my "dress shirt". It's goes well with the Royal Robbins and the Tilley pants, as well as anything else I happen to be wearing. Toss a light wool sweater over top, and it's very dressy. Again, washes in the sink, dries overnight, and is wrinkle free right out of the suitcase.

Shorts - North Face Zip Offs

These were once a pair of those "I'm a tourist" zip-off pants. I threw the legs out, and now just wear the shorts. I like them because they have a zippered pocket for money, and a separate, deep pocket for my Smartphone. I'm slowly moving over to wearing only pants, though, so don't know how much longer I'll be taking these.

Sandals - Chacos Mighty Sandal

If you don't need a shoe during your travels (ie: snow, business), then these are all you really need to wear. They're new to me (as my Tevo's finally kicked the bucket), but so far, so good. From all reports, they should last me for years. Guys like Gary Arndt travel the world in sandals.

Watch - Omega Seamaster

Way back when, after the complete collapse of the tech market in 2000, I bought myself an Omega watch after my first reasonable commission cheque in several years. I now consider it my little bit of extravagance. It's easy to change time zones, and it's really accurate. Other than that, it's just a watch. No alarms, no multiple time zones, no chronograph. Nothing special, but it looks good.

Bag - Samsonite Carry On Bag

Since the bag I actually use was bought in 1999, the link above is the closest I could find in a current product. The photo on the left is my actual bag. It forces me to pack light - especially if a laptop is part of the luggage. I've tried them all - backpacks, rolled luggage, oyster cases - but I keep coming back to this one. It's very well made, and has been all over the world with me. It's the only bag I carry, and I try never to check luggage.

Ziploc Bags

The best packing tip I ever learned was this. Take all your clothing, place it in large Ziploc bags, and sit on the bags to get all the air out. You compress your stuff by more than 50%. You can take more, and all your clothing is separate and easy to organize.

Shaving/Toiletry Kit

There's a few things in my shaving kit worth mentioning.

The first is earplugs. I tried different ones several times, but they always fell out during the night or were really uncomfortable - usually both. I now use the Howard Leight LL1 Laser Lite Earplugs, and I cannot sleep without them. The secret to their use is to get the inside of your ear slightly wet before inserting them - then they slide in and stay in. One case should last you two to three years.

The second is an eyemask - I use the ones given to me free from airlines, but you could buy a cheap one as well. The combination of the two of them make sleep possible anytime, anywhere.

I use shaving oil instead of shaving cream, and a little bit goes a very long way. You could also just use soap and water - a bit caveman, but it works. I use a disposable razor, which lasts for a very long time (months) if you clean and dry it after every use. I'm pretty convinced shaving creme is a conspiracy.

I take a regular toothbrush and a travel-sized toothpaste in my kit. If I'm on the road for more than a few days, I'll buy a larger tube of toothpaste (or use on wherever I'm staying) - whatever's on sale.

Note that things like toothbrushes, razors, shaving creme - are normally available as a courtesy at the front desk of a hotel.

I get my hair cut short just before I leave on a trip, and don't have to take a brush or comb with me unless I'm away for more than 5-6 weeks. If I was, I'd either get it cut again enroute, or bring a comb.

That's It

There you have it - the majority of what I take. It all fits nicely in the carry on bag, and I don't have to wait for luggage - unless I'm travelling with Laura.

My friends that know me well will consider this post really eccentric. And I'm OK with that.

2013 - The Year Of Simplification

Laura playing cricket

As 2013 wraps up, it seems to me that we'll look back and see that it was one of the most significant in our quest to simplify our lives.

While this whole process had it's start in 2006, it's really gained some momentum.

This is a bit self-indulgent, but to show how simple this process really is, I started to add up the changes we've made - it's a short list with some big impact.

• The most significant this year was selling the house and investing the majority of the proceeds (we kept some for travel). Renting is slightly more expensive than owning, but it doesn't take into account the investment upside of the equity. Mind you, it doesn't take into account the upside of real estate either - but lately the market has been quite stagnant. If you listen to the prognosticators (who are almost always wrong), real estate is due for a fall anyway. There are upsides and downsides to both real estate and investing.
• Putting the "extra" stuff into a storage facility. Although I was tempted to get a 5'x5' space, we ended up with a 5'x15' storage locker. Cost is about $130/month, which I hope comes down as we whittle away at the stuff we have stored (and move into a smaller locker, or move out completely if we live in a 2 bedroom apartment).
• We moved into a small 1 bedroom basement suite in a large home just up the hill from where we were. It is a bit tight, but as the months roll along, we're getting more and more organized. The only extra we have to pay for is electricity - at less than $50 a month. Cost to rent is $885, which includes high speed internet and cable TV.
• The truck was basically sitting there depreciating, and costing about $200/month to insure and maintain, so Don (my brother) now has it. There go those costs.
• I've shut down my BuildBetterSleep.com site, as it wasn't of interest to me any more (I now sleep pretty well most of the time), and it was time-consuming to maintain. The cost of the website was only about $10/month, but the "psychological costs" were much greater.
• One of the bigger savings has been Travis working for Virgin Australia. We've leveraged off this, and can now get to Oz and back for a reasonable amount (we still have to get to LA, but we can shop the sales). We'd likely go to Australia regardless, but far less frequently.

"Natural Bridge" in Oz

What this downsizing has allowed us to do is travel - we don't have a lot to maintain back in Vancouver.

Now if we can only figure out how to pay for a home only when we're in town? Any ideas?

The 42nd Annual Stewart Christmas Letter

(Down Under Edition)

G’Day,

For the first time in our lives, Laura and I are spending Christmas in another hemisphere. We’re in Mudgeeraba, Queensland, Australia with Kathryn and Travis. Laura arrived here in mid-November, and I followed in early December - seems I had a few Bee Gees slander issues with Australia Immigration to clear up after my Oz trip earlier this year. We head back to Vancouver just before the New Year.

Kathryn finished up her job with Teach Away ( the company that transferred her to Oz and set this whole thing into motion) at the end of November. She’ll be starting a teaching gig at a local language school in January, before she hops on an airplane for a Nepal trek in March 2014. It’s quite an experience to sit in the front seat of your daughter’s standard transmission truck and be driven all over Queensland. Awkward when I find that the brake on the passenger side doesn’t work.

Travis loves his job with Virgin Australia - although I’m not sure I could handle his commute (25 minute walk to the train station, then an 80 minute train ride each way). They really enjoy where they live, though, as it really is the vacation spot for most of Australia (Gold Coast, Surfers Paradise). He’s an engineer with Virgin, and his job is technical enough that I can’t understand it. Something to do with “plane fall out of sky - very bad”.

David is still teaching in Korea, and will be there till the end of March as well. When his contract is finished, we’re unsure where he’ll end up - maybe Australia with his sister? His apartment in Seoul is full of painting and drawings - and his life revolves around working and painting. Dave has a Korean family, but none of us can figure out what his wife or kids’ names are. He’s been there on and off for 2.5 years, so something’s up.

Laura continues contract teaching (Early Childhood) - see a theme here? She truly loves going to work each day, and I have to remind her how fortunate she is having a job she would probably do for free. She can pretty much work when she wants, and take extended time off whenever she wants as well - which works out just fine for us. I had a smart remark all lined up, but I can’t say anything slanderous about Laura this year as the lawsuit from last year is still pending.

Me, I’m lucky to have a pretty well established routine now. Working part time for a friend of ours doing a bit of everything (thank you Dave), and enjoying a bike ride most days when the weather is tolerable. I have taken to collecting bottles during our rides, and I can often be seen towing a grocery cart full of empties through town. (PS: As long as you’re north of David and east of Coast, we won’t have a problem.)

Laura and I made a huge change this year and sold our house*. We moved into a one bedroom basement suite, invested the proceeds of the real estate, and have decided to chew up Kath and Dave’s inheritance by travelling as much as we can. So far, so good. This paragraph is the only one that’s actually completely true.

Thats the short version of 2013 for the Coquitlam Stewart’s … email me for the 1,023 page epistle. 

Wishing You a Fantastic Christmas 
and an Exceptional 2014**


Love,
Doug, Laura, Kathryn, Dave, Travis 
and Bo TPD


*Special shout-out to all those Port Coquitlam taxpayers for the Dog Poop Bags!
**Actually, also true