New Years Hodgepodge

Happy 2008, everybody! Kind of a short-ish post today with a few random thoughts. Probably nothing exciting, really. I mean, it is only the beginning of the year, I'm sure wackiness will ensue in the next 365 days (Yes, this is a leap year, folks!). Anywho, here we go:

Now THAT Is Hockey! - So I was able to catch the "Winter Classic" game between the Pittsburgh Penguins and the Buffalo Sabres today and was pretty surprised with the results. Here I was thinking that it would not be able to top or be on the same level as the Heritage Classic game held in Edmonton a few years ago. I was glas I was wrong with my assumption as the game itself was good and the environment seemed perfect with snowfall occuring during the game. I for one would love to see this become maybe a bi-annual at the most event because doing something like this on a regular once-a-year schedule will take away its uniqueness.

So, How Am I Saving Money Again? - January 1st also meant that the Goods and Services Tax in Canada went down another percent to 5%. Personally, I don't see how dropping a sales tax two percentage points over the course of two years saves me money taxwise when I'm pretty much in the same tax bracket and paying the same amount to the government in income tax. Unless I go the Angelina Jolie route and adopt a bunch of needy orphans, put them into competitve sports and live common-law with someone whose net worth is way higher than mine, I could reap the benefits of these tax breaks.

Smoke 'em If You Got... err... Nevermind... - Also the new year brought upon Alberta's new anti-smoking bylaws which is being touted as one of the toughest and strictest laws in Canada and the world. Not only is smoking banned in all public places, but also five meters away from any entrance-ways, windows that open, and air vents. Plus also say goodbye to cigarette sales in pharmacies, hospitals, and colleges/universities in about 18 months too. At the risk of offending some of friends who are smokers, I would like to say this is probably the right step and as far as the government can go without calling for an all-out prohibition of cigarette smoking with one of the reasons probably being because it is a decentish tax cash cow for them. Although it is an oxymoron when the government collects probably a good deal of tax money from tobacco sales and can't find the funds for a health care system to treat diseases caused by second-hand and regular smoking, perhaps a combination of prohibiton and a state-funded "quit smoking and live longer, dumbasses!" program should be the next step.

That's all I got for now. Once again, happy new year and here's hoping 2008 is just as crazy as 2007 was because then, well, I'd be out of material to fill this blog with