Black Monday: Will it Happen Again?!

Today is the 20th Anniversary of Black Monday that saw the second largest single day declines on major world stock markets. The US market declined by more than 22%, the Canadian market by a similar amount, the UK by more than 26%, Spain by more than 31%, Australia by nearly 42%, and the Hong Kong market by more than 45%!!!!

History of Black Monday can be found here.

Some people, such as Warren Buffet, have commented that they believe a crash like that of '87 or for that matter like that of 1929 which was at the start of the Great Depression could happen again. What do you think?!

I alluded to Black Monday in a previous post after Alan Greenspan had alluded to a possible US recesssion.

What's Crazier Than Base Jumping?!

Taking a little man-powered flight using only your base jumping suit, chute, and well, and nothing else. And then flying within' feet of the cliff your jumping off! Yes... flying using only your person... mere feet from cliffs... 100mph!!!!! Okay, I made up the 100mph number, but it's probably pretty accurate.

Pre-Fab Revolution

All the talk these days about environmentally friendly, green choices, sustainability, etc. has sparked a bit of a revolution in the pre-fabricated housing market. Pre-fab homes come in specific size multiples helping to reduce building waste and many of their builders focus on using sustainable building materials such as cork and bamboo lending to their greenness. Traditional ideas of pre-fab housing spark admittedly politically incorrect notions of trailer trash living in double wides. But in the time since those stereotypes were established the industry has grown up considerably resulting in a wide range of manufactured homes that look nothing like a Kid Rock video.

Some of the most exciting developments in pre-fab housing has been the introduction of many new and varied modern takes on the construction method. Pre-fab can lend itself well to the modern home by exploiting the typical boxy frame using them to configure endless possibilities. There have been all sorts of modern pre-fab designs making splashes in main-stream media and home shoes from miniature rustic-modern cabins to full-fledged suburban family homes.

Right here in British Columbia, inHabit modern dwellings, a North Vancouver company has just sprouted building reasonably priced modern bungalows starting at just over $10,000 for a 10' by 10' secure Gear Garage and only $12,500 for the Studio 1.0 which includes double glass doors, one opening window, ceder siding, and 4' by 10' covered deck. Other models are available depending on your needs and budget.

Some other pre-fab favourites include: weeHouse, glide house, and small house. A great source for more info and even more manufactures can be found at fabprefab.com.



On a slightly related note... Modern Cabin by Michelle Kodis looks like a great book showcasing some of the most unique modern cabins gracing some of those great getaway locations in the world.

My Guide to the Interweb & eMail

I've considered writing this little guide for a while and finally decided I'd start working on it. It's meant to give an overview of a few random tips and tricks both in regards to the internet as a whole and to email. I won't bore you any more with the details but just blurt it out:

1. Email can be a substitute for "snail mail" but that doesn't mean it's the same thing. The thing about email is that it's much more conversational than traditional "snail mail" which is written more like prose. Emails can be short, one line even, or they can be long. The key with email is that they almost always require a response of some sort. If the email is long, you could write back a long 'letter' email when you have a chance, and in the mean time just send them a short reply noting that you'll get back to them later. If the email was short, send a quick reply, if one's required, or acknowledge the email in a more traditional way like a phone call or in person.
   
2. "Forwards" seldom speak truthiness. Of the 10 or more FWDs you may receive in a month most if not all of them are complete and utter lies! That's right that little girl in Kansas doesn't have cancer, the Gap is not interested in giving you free clothes, and on and on and on. But if you'd like to be sure of their truthiness before pressing the DELETE button then go to About.com's Hoax section and search for the specific hoax you've just received.
   
3. You're going to break the computer! You're computer will have errors, it will freeze up, it will do things that are completely inexplicable. Don't worry... computers although great are made by humans and contain errors. Give it a restart, if the problem persists you may have to re-install some software... give your braniac nephew a call and have him lend a hand.
   
4. I found the best deal on Expedia. Expedia and Travelocity sometimes have good deals... check them out. But the latest advancement of the internet is called 'meta' search engines or in English, search engines that search search engines. Kayak.com is a great meta search engine for travel that will help you to find the best travel deals on the web and a recent feature they added includes searches of Expedia.com, Travelocity.com, and Hotwire.com. Other features that will help you, but require simple registration, include searching with flexible dates and times.
   
5. If I put pictures on the internet my identity will be stolen. If people want your identity they'll get it. Take precautions. Shred important documents. Vary passwords and make sure they include both letters of the alphabet, numbers, and if you're feeling really sneaky add in some punctuation and varied cases (i.e. upper and lower case letters). As for pictures and info on the web, again, be careful, but you don't have to worry too much. First, if someone wants your info, it's probably already there. Second, you can limit who gets to see what with Facebook.com or Flickr.com so you don't have to worry about some crazy internet stalker enjoying the pictures you took of your cat in the garden.
   

Saving for Retirement

Or maybe you're still putting the saving part off, but you do think about retirement ever so often despite being in the very early stages of your career. Retirement is one of those words that is bound to spark your imagination. Where's the daydream taking you? Has it kept you inside that 3 bedroom, 2 bath bungalow that you're going to raise your 2.5 kids and a dog in or have you been transported to an untouched white sand beach in the Caribbean? Well it's time to start researching and planning for that.

Many studies have shown that abruptly moving to a new retirement destination can be very hard on the retirees and I imagine on their families as well. So one must plan well in advance and ensure they thoroughly think about any and all retirement decisions.

With that in mind there are many attractive retirement destinations both within the United States and Canada and in more exotic locales. Within North America Atlanta, GA, Portland, OR and Victoria, BC have been noted as prime destinations, especially given their favourable tax climates and moderately priced real estate. EscapeArtist.com recently rated Ecuador as one of the top places to retire in the entire world. The country is quite favourable to ex-patriots, has reasonable real estate prices, no income tax, and a moderately warm climate.

Green Travel Going Virtual...

Forecasters are starting to predict that in about 10 years time real travel will be largely replaced by virtual travel as the desire and need to be eco conscious alters travel as we know it. But how is this affecting travel today?

Two interesting developments come from a couple of notable airlines: Air Canada and Virgin. Air Canada who has been voted the best airline in North America, to the confusion of many of its' customers, has recently introduced a voluntary carbon offsetting program. This revolutionary program allows fliers to purchase a carbon credit add-on if their conscience leads them to do so. This additional fee is handled by ZeroFootprint a non-profit environmental organization that will take your 'donation' and use it to plant trees within British Columbia.

Another interesting development is that Virgin founder Sir Richard Branson has started a new venture, Virgin Green Fund, in an effort to seek to find and use renewable fuels that are economically feasible and environmentally friendly. The Virgin Green Fund was started with $400M in seed money and will continue to receive profits from both the Virgin Airline and train businesses over the next 10 years. I've read that the anticipated figure is an additional $3B of investment but heard Branson quote a figure of $10B while on Martha Stewart's show.

Maybe we'll still be able to fly in 10 years. Let's hope so, it's a big world out there.

Some carbon offset examples:
Vancouver, BC to London, UK - 1.6T of CO2 per flight - $25.60CDN
Vancouver, BC to Maui, HI - .9T of CO2 per flight - $14.40CDN
Vancouver, BC to Calgary, AB - .2T of CO2 per flight - $3.20CDN

Mentos and Pop

It's long been seen on the interweb that if you put mentos (one or MORE) into a 2L bottle of pop you can get some pretty exciting non-nuclear reactions. Well a couple of Germans, I presume, have taken it to a new level...

101 two litre bottles of Diet Coke.

523 Mentos Freshmakers.