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It’s snowing here. I walk out of the bus 20 minutes ago into some rain and now I’m looking out the window and it’s snowing.

Advice from the Palmer: Get ING Direct account or something similar.

Internet banking…the way of the future.
The way of the future towards easy savings.

Last month I got stung with a $1K+ bill for property taxes. The first of two that will come in the year.

Now, before I go on, I do understand that I can set up monthly payments for this type of thing, so thank you.

However, I thought to myself “Self, how can I go about this smartly? Perhaps I should pull out the old tricks of when I was my own small business working for the Gov’t.”

So, I now put some of my own money into a savings account every week at ING Direct. I can make any number of accounts for free – so I set up one up with a description of PROPERTY TAXES and set up an autowithdrawal on it. The beauty of this is that I’ll make some money off of it from the interest.

Alright, it’s not much interest. Maybe I’ll make $40-$60 over the year.

But that’s still some cash in my pocket rather than money given to the MAN every month.

Some may laugh at myself doing this, but I’m going to set up accounts for all the little things that I have to save up for over the year. The next one will be for my driver’s license renewal. I hate when the birthday shows up and you have to fork out some cash to pay for your license plate renewal. With this system, I’ll just have to go into the account, deplete it, and start all over again.

I encourage those who are wanting to save money for specific uses (perhaps a wedding? Or a new car? Or a new Apple laptop?) – set up some free accounts at ING Direct with the direct withdrawal feature! She’s a beaut!

Some props going to Vero’s Dad who was cool enough to try and sneak into Section 216 at the Scotiabank Place while we had standing room tickets up in the nosebleeders.

I must admit that if an entire two rows are empty, the bouncers (that’s right…they’re secretly 80 year old bouncers) should just let you have a taste of what is good in life so that you may buy some tickets to the 200 Level the next time you come.

Anyhow, we enjoyed our 10 minutes of fortune while watching the Timbits (attempt to) skate over the ice. Andréane was amazed that there are TWO Zambonis on the rink…you don’t get to see that living up in the North.

But alas, it the moment left us pretty soon as the bouncer came by and started waving a piece of paper at us. I don’t know about you, but I get freaked out by flying pieces of paper so I didn’t want to stick around.

All in all, the game was a disappointment. When I’m at a game, I don’t really who wins the game (alright, alright…let it be the Sens), but give us a little action here guys! The greatest cheer from the crowd was when the guy selling beer came walking around.

IMG_0584
Originally uploaded by palm0014.

Well, it’s time I said goodbye to my Dad.

Last night I helped him hook up high-speed Internet. Now he doesn’t have dial-up anymore, he’ll be on the computer all the time.

It’s a new experience…high speed Internet. I know when I moved to Ottawa I was amazed.

It’s also kind of amusing to think that I’ve had something for the past 8 years which Dad only got yesterday.

Dad, don’t forget to CANCEL your dial-up Internet!

Today’s guest blog entry comes from my cousin Troy who sent me this note via email concerning 911 and VOIP. Troy is currently 911 dispatcher by day and a musician by night. One day we will tour under the name of ‘Palmer & Palmer’.

“Here’s a thought for you to ponder. When you call 911 from a land based line, and some cell phone service providers, your info (address, name, phone number) immediately “spills” into our dispatch centre. You do not have to speak for emergency services to respond. VOIP doesn’t allow this to happen….in fact a wrong address, name and phone number will most likely be “dropped” to the police causing us to go to the wrong location if you are unable to verbally confirm the information The general public is not informed as to the safety factor…they just look at the cost. You would be surprised how frequently we receive a 911 call with no voice contact that results in a life threatening situation.

This is a great point brought up by Troy. I was surprised to hear that a high number of calls to 911 don’t have any voice attached to it…I imagined myself in a coherent state while dialing 911…but who KNOWS what can happen to you when you need to call them?

I know that I’ve checked into a few VOIP providers and they DO provide information on how 911 works, but they don’t really come out with a warning flag for you. It’s more like it’s a clause to read in your contract. People should be more aware when dealing with VOIP.

As for myself, I will continue to look into VOIP, but only if they offer Enhanced 911 (aka, when I call from my house, the dispatch will have my name and address).

I’m sorry, but no one deserves to adopt a child if they continue to do Dr. Evil impersonations.

iplaying: In the Moonlight – Pearl Jam: Lost Dogs (man, it’s been awhile since I’ve listened to some tunes while blogging)

Stay tuned tomorrow morning for an important blog entry concerning VOIP and 911 calls. I got the scoop from my cousin Troy who saves lives daily as a 911 dispatcher.