hey guys...it's been a good couple of days. spent a lot of time with my friend Angie who has just moved to toronto with her husband. i helped them move into their place on Raglan Avenue last night (St. Clair and Bathurst). it's interesting cause when my dad first came to Toronto about 36 years ago - he lived on that street with a couple other bachelors. last night was actually the first time i've been on that street so it was cool to be back where my dad has some roots. they have a really nice place - totally renovated and it looks awesome. the guy who was doing all the work (landowner's son) was there last night so we met him. he was telling us everything he had done - knocking down walls, putting in new floors, changing insulation, etc... so much work but he loves to do it and is so proud of it. it's great to see someone so proud of their own work. i love seeing the elation on their faces. he was telling us that he's taken before and after pictures on his digital so i'd love to see those sometime.

yesterday when i was driving home from a customer in Ingersoll (outside London) i had a bit of a problem. as i was driving on the 401, there was a piece of a truck tire on the road (i can't believe there are so many pieces on the road still). i tried to avoid it but ended up going over it on the driver's side. there was a car beside me so i was relunktant to swerve too much... anyway, i thought nothing of it until i got into the city 1.5 hours later. when i was in the city, driving with my window down and not as quickly - i started hearing a repetitive noise that was unsettling. i pulled over and looked under my car. there looked to be something lodged in by my front driver's side tire. i tried pulling it out but couldn't. when i got to dragonboat, i had a buddy of mine help me out and he was looking under my car. turns out that it's not a piece of the tire but it's actually a piece of the underside plastic that protects the underneath of the front of the car. it must have broke with the impact of the tire and was dragging against the road as i drove. so now i have to go to the mazda dealership today and check out the damage. i need to look under the car to make sure nothing else was scratched and/or damaged. damn, i hate this - that is probably gonna set me back a couple hundred dollars. DAMN IT!!!

i really want to get my finances in order. i've had enough of this "shoulda, coulda, woulda". i am the only one that is accountable for my finances. i have to understand how all that stuff works. my money is going to start working for me. not the other way around! it starts with keep tracking of everything...VISA spending especially. i also want to understand this whole RRSP thing and try to find out where i can start investing and making some good rates of return. if anyone has any suggestions - please let me know.

did you guys hear that over 10,000 people have died due to the crazy heat waves in France. is that correct? wow, that is insane.