Will Canada's lack of a penny spur coin collections?

I have a sizable collection of coins in my closet.

Most of it is Canadian silver dollars, about a hundred of them.

Now the reason why silver dollars are so valuable is two-fold...

#1. They're very rare.

#2. Silver is very valuable these days.

And as a bonus, depending on the age of the coins, they can be worth even more because of their age.

However if I was to sell my coin collection, I am not sure how much I would get for them.

If I check various websites online their value (depending on the coin) varies between $10 to $25 per coin.

And if I check the price of silver online it is currently hovering around $23.50 per ounce... which means I might get better value for my silver if I took it to a "cash-4-gold" place which also buys silver.

But what about the rest of my coin collection?

Well there are websites which specialize in coins online auctions whereby I could sell each coin (or a set of coins) to prospective buyers in much the same way people sell things on eBay. So it is possible I could sell my collection that way. Or expand my collection if I felt the desire to do so.

In Canada the Canadian mint has also decided to get rid of pennies as part of the national currency. All pennies currently in circulation are slowly disappearing, either being gobbled up by banks and resold back to the government, or being set aside by people who think the pennies might be worth something eventually someday.

Well, its partially true. The old pennies (the older the better) will certainly be worth something. But any pennies made during the 1970s, 1980s or more recently are basically worthless. Only the pennies dating from 1960s or earlier will be worthy of any true value for collections. (Unless they have a printing error on it.)

I do think however that this shedding of pennies may cause more young people to take an interest in coin collecting. In 50 years coins may disappear completely out of circulation and everyone will be using "change cards", which works a bit like a credit card or debit card, except its only good for small purchases.

These change cards are also being referred to as "Value Cards", but basically it will result in people becoming more dependent on credit and debit cards - and more dependent on bank accounts.

It is even a scary prospect to some people, because such prepaid "Value Cards" signals an economy even more dependent on credit - credit which has become an Achilles Heel to the USA's economy in the past, and will no doubt be the source of future problems as government overspending in many countries and household debts continue to skyrocket.

As of April 18th 2013 Canada's National Debt is now $609.6 billion.

Of which each Canadian's personal share is roughly $17,400.

Canada's consumer credit debt reached $477 billion in December of 2012 and continues to grow. Divided evenly between Canada's population of 35 million that means the average Canadian has approx. $13,600 in credit debt.

Taken together that means the average Canadian owes $31,000 just in government and credit debt.

The lion's share of which is government idiocy, followed by mortgages, and then credit cards / lines of credit, car loans, personal loans, etc.

And now back to the issue of coins.

If someone were to sell off a coin collection, how much of their personal debt could they get rid of? Probably not a lot. Most people don't have coin collections laying around worth thousands of dollars. I would wager my old coin collection is worth less than $2,000 altogether.

But if anyone out there wanted to make me an offer to buy my coin collection for $1800 (or a better offer) I'd probably snap my heels and shake their hand. They're just collecting dust in the closet anyway.

Escape from Planet Earth

As aliens movies go...

"Escape from Planet Earth". Meh. Kinda lame.

I imagine even kids would find this movie kind of boring.

Yes, it has some funny bits. But its not overly exciting, the plot is James Bond-esque (evil villain planning to destroy all the planets), and the sibling rivalry between the two main characters is more childish than realistic.

But to be fair it is a film for children - except I think it fails even as a children's film.

...

All the best parts are in the movie trailer. So watch the trailer and skip the movie.

Dark Skies - An alien movie that makes Signs look tame

Dark Skies is a movie about a family being visited by aliens interested in abducting their son. As alien films go it is actually pretty good - even better than Signs - which was an awesome movie all by itself.

So if you loved Signs, yes, you will probably love "Dark Skies" too.

I give it 4 stars out of 5.

Definitely a good film to watch with a girlfriend / boyfriend so you can grab them during all the scary bits.

Why does Skim Milk have a bad rep?

When I was much younger I was raised on raw milk.

My parents bought it from a dairy farm north of where we lived.

However when my younger sister developed an allergy to something in the raw milk we ended up switching to store-purchased milk.

And I remember the switch clearly, because the store-purchased milk tasted watery in comparison.

Whereas raw milk is more creamy and rich.

Thus when comparing different types of milk....

2% milk

1% milk

skim milk

There really isn't that much difference between them. The only real difference is the amount of fat content found in the different types of store purchased milk.

Raw milk (which is boiled before you drink it to kill the bacteria in it) tastes absolutely amazing because it has all the original creamy goodness in it.

The milk you purchase in a store however is triple pasteurized. I know this because I grew up near the small town of Teeswater, which is home to the Teeswater Creamery (founded in 1872) and we would get tours of the creamery since the school was just down the street. It is the oldest creamery in Canada that is still in operation.

So what is triple pasteurization???

Well basically you boil the milk, skim the fat off, and continue boiling it down until all the water is gone and you are left with powdered milk.

That powdered milk is then re-added to water, boiled all over again, re-skimmed, and boiled down a second to into powdered milk again.

Seems silly doesn't it? But wait!

They do it a third time! Add water, re-boil it, and re-powder it.

Then the powdered milk is shipped to wherever it needs to go in powder form. Then water is re-added to it. Its boiled again so the atomic bonds of everything hold together, and then it is package and shipped to the store.

Oh and in the case of 2% milk and 1% milk they also RE ADD FAT to the recipe. It is fat that was skimmed off earlier in the process, pasteurized and labeled "cream", but its really creamy fat that they're adding to the mixture.

And then it is sold to idiots in groceries stores at a higher price because lets face it, fat tastes better.

Meanwhile skim milk, which in North America has 0% fat in it (in the UK it is approximately 0.2% fat), gets a bad rep from ignorant morons who think that skim is less healthy - when in reality skim milk is actually MORE healthy because it has zero fat content in it.

It just doesn't taste as good as its slightly more creamy counterparts 2% and 1% milk.

And certainly no where as good as raw milk.

Raw milk also has a bad rep too. It is illegal to sell raw milk in some countries, including Canada.

The reason is because of the name. People think it is literally "raw". Not realizing that it has in fact been boiled once already to kill the bacteria before you drink it.

The difference really is that when you purchase raw milk straight from a farmer then the farmer has either already boiled it for you, or you go home and boil it yourself on the stove before cooling it and drinking it.

CONCLUSIONS

So skim milk, which is extremely healthy for you, has a bad rep because of its complete lack of fat in it. (I personally love skim milk.)

And raw milk has a bad rep, despite being free of bacteria because its been killed in the boiling process, because it is illegal to sell raw milk to people - purely because the boiling / pasteurization process isn't "government approved".

SIDE NOTE

Some people also diss Chocolate Milk! How silly is that? They claim that chocolate milk is made with less quality milk and then they just add chocolate and sugar to it. And yes it is true, there is chocolate and sugar added to chocolate milk, but it has nothing to do with any "less quality" at all. It is made with the same triple pasteurized powdered milk that all the other store bought milks are made with.

EXTRA SIDE NOTE

For extra protein, I recommend mixing skim milk with whey protein powder (preferably the chocolate flavoured kind). The company I recommend is Six Star. Good for people who are into weightlifting like me.

DropBox - File sharing with your friends and your gadgets

DropBox is a handy file sharing service which is available for your PC/Mac, your SmartPhone, your tablet, whatever gadgets you have basically...

It allows you to transfer files between various gadgets easily, and also to share your files with friends quickly and easily.

To sign up for DropBox just click here!

Calvin Klein Socks = Itchy!

So my mother bought me socks for Christmas.

Haven't worn any of them until today. They are black dress socks and I was originally planning to wear them to business meetings, funerals, weddings, etc.

Except now that I have them on (wearing them right now) they are incredibly itchy. I am not allergic to any fabrics, they're just plain itchy socks.

So I check the label to see what brand they are... Calvin Klein. Which is a brand name...

And while you would think a brand name company like Calvin Klein would know enough to avoid making itchy socks, apparently there is always exceptions to the rule.

They're so itchy its difficult to concentrate. I keep wanting to bed over and scratch under the surface of the socks.

So now what? Do I throw them out? I can't wear them to a funeral, I will keep wanting to bend over and scratch constantly. They're basically garbage.

Fortunately I have other black dress socks I can wear to meetings, funerals, weddings, etc. So its no big loss. But I do feel the need to warn people against buying Calvin Klein socks.

Diplomatico in Little Italy

4 stars.

Good fish n chips, good pizza, good drinks, good service.

Par prices.

Decor is a bit lacking.

Heart Rate Monitor Watches

Heart rate monitor watches have a number of benefits both for the fit and the ill.

#1. If you have high blood pressure you can monitor your heart rate and hopefully avoid stressful confrontations / heart attacks.

eg. Like the Incredible Hulk monitoring his heart rate so he knows when he is about to transform.

#2. If you are into exercising a lot - cycling, boxing, high endurance training, swimming, anything that is heavy cardio activities a heart rate monitor will give you a better idea of what your limits are and how far you can push yourself.

#3. Unlike checking your heart rate with your fingers having a watch do it for you means it is constant, much more accurate and hands free.

You can also get heart rate anklets too. Works better if you are missing both arms from a tragic car accident.

Heart Rate Monitor Watches make a good gift item.

They also come with a variety of features, so if you choose to shop around you may find some with some useful extra gadgets such as...

The watch still functions as a normal watch, telling you the time / day.

Plug and Play apps so you can track your performances.

Training reminders.

Stopwatch.

GPS speed and distance in real time.

Water resistant to 30 meters / 100 feet.

USB for recharging / downloading data to your computer.

Snakes and Lattes

Snakes and Lattes is a cafe / gaming place with lots of board games. I wanted to go there for my birthday, but they don't take reservations because apparently the manager is a moron.

So instead we showed up, no reservation because you can't get one, waited over 2.5 hours. Never got a table. Gave them my cell # so they could call/text when the table was available...

Total time?

4 hours before they called. Complete waste of time.

I give Snakes and Lattes ZERO stars out of five. Complete disappointment.

---

Meanwhile my family and I found a glorious Korean restaurant down the street that serves traditional Korean food (including samgyopsal and bulgogi BBQ).

So check out Arisu, if you enjoy fine / traditional Korean cuisine.


Their website is www.arisu.ca.

584 Bloor Street West, Toronto

Phone 416-533-8104 for reservations (and yes, they take reservations, so no worries there).


I give Arisu 5 stars out of 5. The prices are a tad expensive, but the service, menu and atmosphere are all impeccable.

And they had a Korean cinnamon tea drink that I have been trying to find since 2005 when I first tried it in Insadong in Seoul. So that totally boosted their rating simply because they had things on the menu I couldn't find anywhere else (and I am a bit of an expert when it comes to Korean restaurants).

The drink is Sujeonggwa... And here is the recipe if you want to make it at home.

Yield: 4 -5 servings

Ingredients:
4-5 dried persimmons
5 cinnamon sticks
½ cup of ginger, sliced
1 cup of sugar
pine nuts
7½ to 8 cups of water

1. Wash, peel, and slice ½ cup’s worth of ginger. Put it into a pot or kettle.
2. Rinse 5 cinnamon sticks and put them into the pot.
3. Add 7½ to 8 cups of water and boil for 20 minutes over high heat.
4. Lower the heat to medium and boil for another 25 minutes. If it boils over, take off the lid.
5. Add 1 cup of sugar. Stir and cool it down.
6. Remove the stem of the dried persimmons and wash thoroughly.
7. Strain cinnamon sticks and sliced ginger in a colander.
8. Pour it into a glass jar or glass bowl and add the persimmons.
9. Put the lid on and keep it in the refrigerator for at least 12 hours. It will keep in the fridge for more than 1 week.
10. Serve cold with ice cubes. Use a ladle to give each person a small bowl of punch. Each serving should have one persimmon in it with a few pine nuts sprinkled on top.

The Frankenstein Theory

I give "The Frankenstein Theory" 3 stars out of 5.

I realize that is a small budget film, and while it is an original idea as far as the first 5 minutes of the film goes... the rest of the film is incredibly predictable.

It is one of those films where if you made it into a drinking game (drink a shot every time you notice a predictable plot development) that you will be drunk in very little time.