Why Can't They Just Send Me My Bill?

Mulder

I woke up this morning and made my weekly run down to the “community mailboxes” which my neighbourhood has. You see, I don’t go down every day because I don’t get much mail. I only get flyers. This morning, in one week I received the following.

-34 pieces of advertising for businesses. 34!!!! It’s time our nation got a “do not mail” list to go along with the “do not call” and “do not spam” lists we need.

-5 bills

-6 political notices (not unexpected with a municipal election on Monday)

But what peeves me off more than the fact that the majority of mail is advertising is that even the mail that is not meant to be advertising has a bunch of gobbledygook in it.

Let me explain.

I opened up my Hydro Ottawa bill and inside the envelope was one sheet of paper with my bill, two inserts that were identical telling me to look up (for overhead wiring) before I do any work. For those that know Kanata, you will notice that our residential neighbourhoods have NO overhead wiring. We are an underground wiring community. But on top of the two inserts (one English and one French) I got a copy of this quarter’s Hydro Ottawa’s Currents a mini newsletter with full blown colour photos, information on LED lights, air conditioner disposal, etc.

How many of my electricity bill dollars does it take to pay someone to generate this crap? I don’t pay my electricity bill to keep a marketing team employed. I pay for my electricity.

Next. My Enbridge Natural Gas bill. Inside was one sheet of paper with all my billing information. I like the size of this one as it is small and full of info all on one sheet. But what does Enbridge go and add? One insert asking me “What’s hiding in your ducts?”. Another insert asking me “Who helps you weather the weather?”. Both advertising for services Enbridge offers to clean ducts or tune up my furnace. But it doesn’t end there. I got an insert telling me about my new rate information. I seem to get one of these every month because the rates fluctuate. This one was to inform me of a decrease in delivery charge. (Yes, Virginia, bills go down too). But then the kicker. I also get a newsletter called the Enbridge Pipeline!! Again, a piece of marketing fluff telling me all about natural gas and how Enbridge works with it.

Can’t my mailbox be JUST for my personally addressed mail? Can’t companies just send me my bill and not all the fluff? I am getting tired of compressing all the garbage and turning it into a fireplace log. But on the plus side, it does help keep my Enbridge bill down when I burn these logs.

In light of this, I have created a new poll regarding do not call, email or phone lists.

The Hair Is Always Thicker On The Other Side Of The Scalp

Mulder

In light of the recent comments by left wing environmentalistas with regards to Minister Rona Ambrose’s hair, I just had to make a couple of personal observations.

1) I have typically found that people who put effort into their grooming tend to put similar effort into almost everything else they do in life. It has nothing to do with time to do one and not the other, but it is more an issue of someone who takes pride in everything they do. If Minister Ambrose puts a conscientous effort into her grooming then she probably puts the same effort into all other aspects of her life including her diligence with the Environment portfolio.

2) I can only imagine this unwarranted slam is an insult to every female in Montreal. Let me explain. I work in Ottawa and have travelled to many Canadian and American cities on business but I must point out that there is no city like Montreal when it comes to grooming. I don’t care if someone is a lowly clerk or receptionist to the highest level executive, the women in Montreal all put a lot of effort into their appearance. This goes for the short, the tall, the old, the young, the slim, the not so slim. They all put effort in to their hair, wardrobe and makeup. So when the lefties slam someone for having nice hair, they are insulting every woman in Montreal.

P.S. I have to point out that my sister owned a hair salon in Toronto a few years back that I helped name. That name was Hairdotcomb, I figured the websurfers out there might appreciate that one.

Smackdown – Minister of Defence Lays Into NDP MP Dawn Black

Mulder

This is from Thursday November 9th, 2006 – Oral Questions.

“Ms. Dawn Black (New Westminster-Coquitlam, NDP): Mr. Speaker, when it came to support for his war in Iraq, George Bush told fellow Americans, “You are either with me or against me”. After last night’s mid-term election results, it looks like the Americans are against him, with Republican after Republican getting booted from office for their support for this unpopular war.

When it comes to Afghanistan, will the government learn any lessons from last night, or will it stay the course and meet the same fate as its American cousins?

Hon. Gordon O’Connor (Minister of National Defence, CPC): Mr. Speaker, I consider that basically a silly question.

Some hon. members: Oh, oh!

The Speaker: Order, please. The Minister of National Defence has the floor.
Hon. Gordon O’Connor: Mr. Speaker, it is the equivalent of me asking the NDP if the election of Daniel Ortega will have changed its policies.”

Simply priceless Minister O’Connor, simply priceless.

H/T to DBT

Let's Help London North Centre Go Conservative!!

Mulder

The Blogging Tories are trying to help raise money for the by-election in London North Centre. I have decided to make the plunge and put a link to the donation page up at the top right corner of my page until the by-election at the end of November.

If you are interested in helping out, it is easy to make a small donation of $25 or $50 to their election fund via PayPal.

Just click the small link that says “Make A Donation” to help out.

And remember, when you make a political donation, you get a tax CREDIT worth 3/4 of the donation. i.e. if you donate $50, you will get $37.50 back so please take this into consideration when donating.

Strike Two For CTV On Stem Cell Research Stories

Mulder

After reading Joel over at Proud To Be Canadian with regards to Kate Wheeler promoting stem cell research healing hearts, I have to also point out that this is strike two against the CTV. They continue to promote ADULT STEM CELL RESEARCH SUCCESS but do not differentiate that ADULT STEM CELLS are what were used and not Embryonic Stem Cells. This lack of perspective means that many who are not scientifically familiar believe that all stem cell research is successful and worth investigating. We know this is not the case but the CTV doesn’t help educate others of this fact.

I must point you to CTV’s Strike One where they did not differentiate between the different types.

I must also point you to my story (or Ann Coulter’s) outlining the successes of ADULT and UMBILICAL Stem Cells and the lack of success using embryonic stem cells.

Spread the gospel please. The world needs to know that there IS a difference between the three types of stem cell research and which are proven successes (ADULT AND UMBILICAL) and which are not (EMBRYONIC). It is obvious that the MSM has ignored the differences and that they are manipulating people’s views by leaving out a description of these differences. Shame on the CTV.

Ex-London Mayor Has A Rocking Website

Mulder

Matt over at A Step To The Right has a post pointing people to go view the new advertisement released on Dianne Haskett’s website as part of her campaign to take the London North Centre seat that is up for grabs in the November 27th By-election.

As much as the ad is great, I just had to point out that even better than the ad is the opening flash sequence on Haskett’s website. The music is rocking, the news headlines are crisp and positive and the message is great.

Haskett should turn that into an advertisement!!!

Take a look/listen for yourself.

This riding has special meaning to me as I lived in it for three years while going to the Unversity of Western Ontario. First in a townhouse on Limberlost, then in a small apartment off of Sarnia Rd. and then in a house just North of Oxford on the west side of Wharncliffe Rd. near the railroad tracks.

I hope Haskett can pull a rabbit out of the hat and steal this seat. She certainly has the background and history in London.

Income Trust Teaches Us The Meaning Of Diversification

Mulder

Every investment advisor teaches new investors the meaning of having a “diversified” portfolio. This is a way we hedge against a particular sector being hit too hard and wiping out our savings. It involved looking at how risky you are willing to get and then balancing your portfolio to ensure a proper distribution between growth funds, income funds, sector funds, bond funds and any others you may want to be invested in.

I myself started my RRSP when I got my first full time job because I read a great book called The Wealthy Barber which taught me a lot about investing. It taught me the value of life insurance. It taught me the value of dollar cost averaging and it taught me the value of diversification so that when a particular sector gets hit for ANY reason, the savings don’t get completely wiped out.

If you held a big percentage of your savings in Income Trusts or if your financial advisor had you do so, then shame on you and shame on him or her. You should have been better diversified.