Our 21-Day Summer Trek Around UK

Over the years, going on trips every now and then has become essential to our family life. I must admit that traveling projects are somewhat against my nature, being more an appreciate-what’s-around-the-house kind of guy. Thanks to my girls (or women should I now reluctantly say) and their irresistible influence on me, we still manage to plan noteworthy trips on a regular basis.

After the fact, I’m usually very happy that I went along with their mad traveling desires. In the end, it’s always interesting to discover and experience different cultures and points of view. It also makes us appreciate even more what we already have here around home sweet home.

This summer’s trip around the United Kingdom was no different.

So, without further due, let us share some thoughts and impressions of our exhilarating summer trip around beautiful cities and countryside of the UK.

LONDON

Our initial stop was the great city of London. And what a stop it was! 

Wacky Golf Fact (Revisited) – Unsuspected Members of the Thieves Guild

The Wacky Golf Fact Series was originally posted in 2016.

Our initial plan was to add new articles to this fun series but the Rules Modernization proposed by the golf authorities caught us of guard.

Even though these new rules won't be in effect till January 1st 2019, they still propose major changes and will completely revolutionize they way we play golf and enforce the rules. Don't get us wrong, we welcome these changes and they should be great for golf! We are just not ready to talk and write about them yet. 

So you will note that our article still refers to the actual and soon to be thing-of-the-past golf rules.

This article was originally posted on November 18, 2016

When you play golf, you’re bound to see animals here and there. Some are beautiful, others less so; most may seem the shy-quiet type, yet some rare ones are proud and loud. Most golfers simply view them as innocent by-standards. But stay alert because, when you least expect it, some of these poor creatures may sneak up on you and literally try to get a piece of the action. Watch out before they reach their ultimate goal: to steal your precious ball and ruin your game!

12-Minute and Your Schedule (Revisited)

The 12-Minute Series was originally posted in 2012.

We’ve decided to republish it integrally because we believe it can still help as everyone aspires to make things better.

Let’s hope it stirs up the discussion and stimulates you to change the world 12-Minute at a time!

This article was originally posted on March 12, 2012

The 12-Minute Approach can be applied tons of ways to your schedule. We will submit you some ideas here but the possibilities are almost endless.

Why 12 Minutes

Using the 12-Minutes Approach will allow you to be more efficient; doing something different only 12 minutes every day can produce surprising results.

If you break down your day in 12-Minute Periods, you’ll find that there are 120 such Periods:

1 day = 24 hours x 60 minutes =

24 hours x 5 x 12-Minute = 120 x 12-Minute

Ideas to Deal with Rising Mortgage Rates

On September 6^th, the Bank of Canada implemented its second rate hike of the summer. We must assume it’s only the beginning as the Canadian economy has been doing quite well. Essentially, rising interest rates is the main option for the Bank of Canada to keep inflation under control in booming economic conditions.

As a result, Canadians can expect borrowing costs to get higher. In that context, the principal preoccupation of many house owners is having to pay more for their mortgage.  

So, what can we, simple mortals, can do about it?
  

Stay calm as you probably have time to adjust

Stay calm! There’s nothing critical yet. First, significant hikes won’t happen overnight and will be gradual. Second, effect may not be that immediate so you still have time to prepare for adjustments. Online mortgage calculators can allow you to anticipate eventual increase of your payments.

For very popular fixed-rate mortgages, payments won’t be affected till renewal. Many variable-rate mortgages involve fixed payments also only affected at renewal. You’ll end up paying more interest and your balance will accordingly be a little higher.

Keep Saving and Investing Simple

In this day an age, we have access to an impressive variety of financial products. It sometimes feels like every time you blink, the financial industry comes up with a new gimmick promising you to astonishingly make your money grow faster or to protect it from any danger.

But, as we will explain today and contrary to what many suppose, you probably can successfully save and invest simply understanding just three main financial vehicles. 

No Need to Become a Financial Wizard Capable of Grasping Every Intricacy

For most people, all that financial mumbo jumbo can be overwhelming and apart from inevitable death, the only thing guaranteed is probably that they, the financial institutions, will make a big chunk of money selling these. And most of the time, it will be at the expense of the consumer…the ever poor consumer.

On top of it, almost nobody really has spare time to manage and invest money during busy workdays. And we are not even talking about developing the necessary skills to do so.

Wacky Golf Fact (Revisited) – Hitting Forward Tee-Markers with Hedgehopping Drives

The Wacky Golf Fact Series was originally posted in 2016.

Our initial plan was to add new articles to this fun series but the Rules Modernization proposed by the golf authorities caught us of guard.

Even though these new rules won't be in effect till January 1st 2019, they still propose major changes and will completely revolutionize they way we play golf and enforce the rules. Don't get us wrong, we welcome these changes and they should be great for golf! We are just not ready to talk and write about them yet. 

So you will note that our article still refers to the actual and soon to be thing-of-the-past golf rules.

This article was originally posted on October 18, 2016

For this month’s chronicle, our main suggestion would be quite opposite to Lee Trevino’s advice on putting in strong winds: “Keep it low!”

Like power lines are a grave danger for low flying aircrafts, forward tee-markers can be hazardous to low altitude tee-shots.

At some point, hitting tee-markers happened to all of us, respectable golf enthusiasts. Sometimes, it can transform decent drives into horrible ones. Other times, they were already terrible strokes to begin with. But most of the time, it can be funny and even hilarious, especially to less penalized playing partners.