Montage of Thoughts on Canada, eh

So, as you all know I was recently in Toronto and there were quite a few things about the area that I loved & think our country should adopt as well so I thought I’d share. First of all can I just say how clean it was there, yes I did see quite a bit of homeless folks sleeping in parks or on the street & they were dirty but I did not see trash on the sidewalk or the streets. Now I don’t know if the whole country is similar to Toronto or not but almost every corner has not only a trash can but the trash can is also a recycling bin. There was a slot for trash, one for plastic & one for paper and when it’s that easy why not recycle? Our hotel room also had a recycling bin in the bathroom under the sink & can I just say that we used it, a lot so thanks to the Holiday Inn Express for being so responsible! One thing I hate about Canada is the prices of everything…a Bud Light in a bottle should not cost 8 dollars, and a burger & fries should not cost $10, and the starting rate for a cab should definitely not be $4…it was a bit ridiculous & they have way too many added taxes as well, for instance you eat your $10 burger and then have to pay like 3 taxes on top of it & it ends up costing you $12.50…for meat & bread! The weirdest thing to me was the McDonald's $1.39 menu instead of 99 cents...it just doesn't roll off the tongue as well does it?

Now when we got to Windsor while it was super clean as well I didn’t notice any recycling bins but we didn’t do any walking around, we only went to the train station and then stopped to take pics too. I can say however that the city reeked like dog food! It was such a nasty ass smell & while some of us said it was probably the smell of the “D” creeping across the river when we got to the D it didn’t smell so who knows but there is no way I could live somewhere that smelled like that so I hope it was just a fluke & it doesn’t always smell like that! I guess, if McCain wins the election I’ll just have to move to Toronto & not Windsor.

Illin After New Kids

Hey all, sorry I haven't posted lately, I was in Toronto over the weekend checking out New Kids at the Air Canada Centre. We got back last night & today I woke up with tonsillitis so I hit up the local urgent care & got me some drugs so now I'm laying low at home recuperating. The concert was freaking sweet so we bought tickets to see them in the D as well. When they hit the stage I started screaming like a 12 year old again, it surprised me when I felt that rush just like I did 15 years ago. It was kind of surreal to see them again & they all look so good, but I did find it odd that Jon didn't say a single word during the show I mean he sang & performed but he never did anything on his own like the other guys did. Well at one point he did video of the crowd but that was it. Anyway, if you were ever a new kids fan I highly recommend checking them out again, I can't wait until the end of the month to see them again!!
photo is from our show & courtesy of nkotb.com

Save on Gas!!

Ok people, so I’ve been pretty damn proud of myself as of late because I’ve been saving so much money! Since living alone I now have more crap to buy, which in turn means more money to spend. Then to my dismay the cost of gas went up causing the cost of food to go up & I now have even more money to spend & I had just worked my new budget after moving. So anyway, I obviously had to rearrange my budget to accommodate all of these cost increases, which led me to coupon clipping & saving gas. There really isn’t much that you can do to save gas when you aren’t willing to walk or ride a bike or buy a hybrid but you can stretch your tank a bit. I am now running about 14-16 days on 1 tank of gas as opposed to the 10 days I was running before. Now in any given week I drive a minimum of 110 miles which includes my 5 trips to and 4 from work and my weekly trip to & from Dearborn for family dinner. Back when I first moved (and gas was about $3 a gal) I would throw 20 bucks in my tank every Sunday & that would just about get me through the week although if I wanted to do anything on the weekend I would be pushing it.

I say the first trick is filling up your tank rather than just chucking some gas in there every few days (why I’m not sure but trust me), now I filled up my tank the other day & it cost me like 40 bucks which is insane (I drive a Focus by the way) but if I can make that 40 bucks last 2 weeks then it is no different than me throwing in a 20 every week other than the fact that my gas is costing me a dollar more per gallon. Ok, enough about my mileage, here is how I make my gas stretch.
Constantly slamming on the gas & the brakes eats up a ton of gas & you probably don’t even realize it. I now accelerate slowly, there is no reason to slam on the gas at every green light nor is there any reason to slam on your brakes at every red light, pay attention & just take your foot off of the gas to slow down & then brake once you get closer to the light. We all have been stuck behind the ass rider who is constantly braking because they don’t want to hit the person in front of them, keep a slight distance behind them just in case & pay more attention to the car in front of them & if you see them brake then you might want to, otherwise just ignore the constant braking because that fool is wasting tons of gas, oh, don’t tail people either or you will be that ass rider wasting gas.
Go the speed limit instead of 10 over on the freeway especially if it’s a longer trip, this could save you gallons because obviously the faster you go the more gas you are using so why speed & get a ticket on top of all of that gas you are wasting?
Remove any items from your car that you don’t really need especially if they are heavy because it really does make a difference especially if your car is used to just toting you around.
Keep your tires filled as much as they are supposed to be filled (this info can be found in your owner’s manual or often behind your fuel door) and I would suggest checking them every few weeks & keeping up on it.
Change your air filter if it needs it (every 6 mos to a year), if you aren’t sure if it needs a new one just pull out the old one & if it looks all dirty then replace it, they are cheap & very easy to replace, again, see your owner’s manual or ask someone who can show you how to change it out. Keep up on scheduled maintenances, get your oil changed & your oil place should be able to tell you what other services you should get done & how often. I know some of these places will try to cram services down your throat but I find that Valvoline Instant Oil Change will make suggestions but they have never asked if I wanted additional services other that what I requested when pulling in.
If you are picking someone up or just have to wait for some other reason, turn your car off, why waste the gas just sitting there. Do your best to try less congested routes to work; this avoids all the stop & go of a clustered freeway. Keeping your windows closed can help cut down on gas usage but when it is super hot I think having the window open is cheaper than running the A/C.
That’s about all of the gas saving techniques I have put into play as of late so go ahead & try some of them out for yourself & see how much gas you save!! Stick around; tomorrow I’ll be posting tips on saving money on food.

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