Another Beautiful Ottawa Day

It's a beautiful sunny day in Ottawa with a high of 16 degrees. I think I will go for a motorcycle ride when I get home today. Shelley is out tonight, Thursday and Saturday as the Cappies come to a close.  The voting occurs the next weekend and that will be the last cappy season for Shelley. Apparently many of the Taylor teachers (female) enjoy going out to theater in Kuala Lumpur so Shelley should be able to get her Arts fix.

Jim

A Taste of Malaysian Weather

Yesterday it was 29 degrees with humidity around 50%.  Malaysia, of course would have a similar temperature with a humidity of 75. However, today and the rest of the week be are back around 15 degrees with rain.

Apparently Malaysia has a travel advisory out on Canada due to swine flu.  I hope it does not work for incoming.  I can see Shelley and I quantined on an island off the coast of malaysia.

Nothing else going on at the moment except for Shelley and I finally deciding on a party celebrating my retirement and our pending trip to Asia.  We hope Father Tom will give a mass for us, followed by a short celebration and meatball paradise at the Prescott.

Jim

Below 50 Days Now!

The closer we get to departure date the more exciting and scary it gets. Income tax is now taken care of for the next year or two.  Shelley and I still have to get to the lawers to update our will and get jaime a power of attorney while we are out of the country.

Jaime is currently celebrating her last exam in Orlando and we are getting ready to attend her graduation from the Queens School of Business in May.  Her knee (acl surgery) is progressing nicely and she should be back to form for the Fall, her 5th and final year of basketball.

Jordan has passed his second year at TWU (Trinity Wester University) and is working at GNC during the day and as a coaching intern for a semi-pro basketball team called the Vancouver Titans.  In his spare time he is hunting for a used motorcycle to keep him amused.

This coming weekend is the Ontario provincial basketball chanpionships in Kingston, followed by the nationals at Carleton mid May, followed by the Ottawa 7/8 Girls all-star game that I agreed to coach with Larry Brown. I just thought I would keep myself busy right up until departure.  Oh yes, I have been out on my motorcycle as the weather here finally warmed up into the 20's.

Jim

Income Tax Time

Yet another issue before we head off.  I usually use QuickTax to complete the families income tax returns. However, sometimes the tax people want to see some further documentation and evidence and that request usually arrive early in July.  Problem, we won't be here to read and reply.  Solution is to have an accountant complete our returns this year so any additional requests will be sent to that accounting firm. The added advantage of having the accountant complete the returns is he will now be familiar with our returns for the next tax year.

We chose Michael Simpson, (Cindy's husband) as he already has experience with overseas teachers (Maureen).  Turns out Michael is a big hockey fan as he is currently in 2 playoff pools.  He also play golf with Brent, but we won't hold that against him :-).

It's a big relief to get the taxes out of the way. Up next is the EOBA's basketball championship, followed by the Provincial championships, May 1st weekend, followed by the Canadian Championship at Carleton, mid May, followed by the OECTA retirement dinner, followed by the Frank Ryan reunion.  

I hope I have time to get out on my motorcycle once or twice now that the weather is cooperating. That, and I hear the Prescott meat ball sandwich calling my name.

Jim

It's April 7th and we get 3 inches of snow

Just in case Shelley and I were having second thoughts, Mother Nature decided to bless us with 3 inches of snow last night. The 20 minute morning commute turned into 45 minutes. I will not miss the commute or snow next year. I will miss my motor cycle (breaks every speed limit in 1st gear - 145 kph). I will have to do something about that while I am in Malaysia. I am still not sure about driving on the wrong side of the road. Maybe I will buy a scooter and pretend I am driving in Naples, Italy where there apparently are no rules of the road and pedestrians are fair game.

52 days and we are on our way :-)

Jim

New Computer Science Course Document

I am excited that Ontario has released a new Computer Science (revised 2008) this year.  It means that all the cool stuff that I use in my own software can be taught in my course at Taylor's.  The old course from the year 2000 was quite dated as technology reinvents itself about every year and a half. I am quite looking forward to working with young students (if you consider 18 young) again.

I can only hope they can appreciate my sense of humour :-)

Jim

Waiting Mode

I have been remiss in posting lately because I am in waiting mode.  Today, however, I posted the official countdown on my door to my office.  Lo and behold there are only 53 days of work left before I retire and Shelley and I fly off to Malaysia.  All docs are now in to both Taylor's and the Pension Folks.

One of the few remaining items is to contact OHIP and arrange for a 5 year work leave out of country.  You can apply for this and still pay your OHIP and you are covered for up to 5 years.  It also means you do not have to wait 3 months when you arrive back in Ontario.  There is also a once in a lifetime 2 year vacation period which works similarly. I checked with RTO (the retired teacher's health plan) and Taylor's group plan is valid for conversion within 60 days to the RTO plan when we arrive back in Canada.  That saves us about $1500 per year.

Jim