Need your help

The Greely Men's fastball club is preparing for their inaugural fastball season. As such, we are in need for fundraising dollars to help pay for some of the equipment our team will need now and into the future. Thankfully, my work has stepped up to the plate with a "Platinum" sponsorship to secure the naming rights and will help to provide jerseys on our backs.

There are two ways that you can help. First, there are sponsorship opportunities that are available that will go a long way in helping to promote fastball in the area. Check out tylercox.ca for details.

Secondly, but more immediately, we are running a playoff hockey pool. The fee will be $10 and most of the prize money will be distributed to 1st, 2nd and 3rd place finishers. You pick 9 forwards, 6 defencemen, and goals and assists are worth 1 point each. It's a simple pool, but it will really help our team with the funds we need to operate a successful season. Please consider playing.

Tax Help

There is one more month left to do your personal income taxes. Time is running out. For most people, taxes are due at the end of April. If you are self-employed, the taxes are payable April 30th, but the return is not due until June 15. It becomes important that you get them done and over with as soon as you can as this can either reduce any late penalties and interest, or gets your refund in your hands that much sooner.

I've decided to charge $35 for a basic return for friends and family. I understand that some people do not feel comfortable with doing their taxes, and so I am offering to help those whose returns are fairly simple. I will charge more if there is more work required, but $35 will be the base charge. I'm not sure what it costs to buy tax software for do-it-yourselfers, but I feel with my experience, you'll be getting a deal at $35.

I will do basic returns only. I am capable of doing more complex returns, but that realm of work is reserved for my employer. They specialize in handling tax planning options, so I will not take business away from them. I will be happy to bring you in as a client if deemed necessary.

Happy refunds.

Playing for the "B" championship

Curling is still going. We are in the playoffs now, and we seem to be on quite the roll. Unfortunately, we are in the "B" playoffs. We have been competing with some of the leagues elite in both leagues, but we ended seeding as the top "B" level team.

Personally, I curl to give myself a challenge. I do not care to win games over teams that curl socially. I understand that they are out there to have fun, but I'm looking at becoming competitive. Although these games are usually relaxed and sociable, I am not getting enough out of the games. I have fun, but not as much fun as competitive play can offer. I'd rather lose against a good team, than win against a bunch of social curlers.

At this point in the year, I'm hoping things will end. I suppose we should prove to people that we can win the "B" championships, but with work getting so busy, it's becoming quite the hassle to go curl against some pretty weak teams.

Game #6 - City of Ottawa Bonspiel (Ottawa Curling Club)

On Saturday, we only had one game to play. It was a do or die scenario where we had to win to stay in. At this point, we have been pretty tired of playing in the tournament and was looking forward to some birthday celebrations in the evening. If we had won, we would have to play at 9am Sunday morning.

We played a team from the RCMP curling club. They were a seniors team and were very friendly gentlemen. Before the game, we were delayed slightly by my teammates' tardiness and I had a chance to chat with a couple of their players. It was a very nice way to break the ice and have a very friendly game of curling.

We controlled this game. The team from RCMP had given us a lot of credit for "not giving them a chance" to get back into the game. This was not completely true. The team had a great chance to have one big end, but my team escaped that threat due to a key miss from their skip.

It was very nice to curl out of the Ottawa Curling Club. This was my second time curling there, and I have been considering joining the club for next year. It is about a block away from my newly purchased home, and would like to be involved with a club with many competitive teams and a rich history. I also really like the fact that they have a kitchen and draft beer. This will be quite handy as I will likely be working a lot of hours and may not have the time to prepare meals for myself.

Anyways, we won the game and we had to play at 9 am. We were quite relaxed and played a much better game than we had been having. It was unfortunate that we would have to play so early the next day. We were going to go out for 4 of my friend's birthdays (Robert, Kyle, Tyler, and Derek) and St. Pats day. It was going to be rough.

Games #3, 4, 5 - City of Ottawa Bonspiel

In game number 3, we play at the North Grenville Curling. Having never been there and not knowing anyone that has, I was pleasantly surprised by the club. I think they probably had the most consistent ice of the week. We ended up losing the game, but kudos to the icemakers for making some quality ice. We game up some points early in the game, and we could not build any momentum during the game. We lost it early and were never again to regain our composure.

In game number 4 (RA Centre), we played on Thursday night against a team playing in their home rink. Our opponent, 66 years of age, was a classless act. He became bitter after his team fell behind and began making unwarranted comments. I pulled a Pedro Martinez-like move where I did not back down from his verbal abuse, and fired a verbal shot back at him. After the game, his teammates defended him by calling me cocky, but I was given no reason to respect their skip. Just because you are old, it does not give you the right to be an asshole. I bought him his beer, and left the rink as I tried to avoid fighting on his level.

In game number 5 (Manotick CC), we probably played our worst game of the tournament. We played against a team of 3 and could not make our key shots. We were up by 3 points at one point, but a string of bad shots led to their team scoring 4 in one end. Our play was inexcusable and we do not deserve to be in this tournament anymore. That being said, we have another game early Saturday afternoon and we are at a point where when we lose we are out. It's do or die time.

Late night ticker - City of Ottawa Bonspiel - Game #2

We lost 7-2 after 7 ends. We fell behind early and we were chasing the whole game. It was a very frustrating game. We had at least 4 rocks that picked. We certainly could have played better, and could have done ourselves a couple of favours, but the picks were certainly demoralizing. Tomorrow, we play two games. The first is in Kemptville at the North Grenville Curling Club. We expect another tough game as the team we are playing against had just taken the defending champions to their last rock in their game tonight. Hopefully, our luck, confidence, and shot-making ability will improve for the next game.

Late night ticker - City of Ottawa Bonspiel - Game #1

It's pretty late, but I thought I would mention that my team had won tonight. The game was out of hand early, and we never faced any real threat from our opposition. The final score flattered the other team from Rideau 9-4. We had built a 7-0 lead after 3 ends of play, and a 9-0 lead after 5. The other team had very little experience and continued to want to play. Instead of playing a clean game the rest of the way, we played things messy to allow for the other team to get some points. We had discussed quitting after 6, but continued for a 7th end because the other team wanted to play some more. It was agreed that the game would be called after 7 regardless of the score, so the other team was able to get additional points and the final score would flatter them a little more.

Our next game, Wednesday night (7pm) at Cityview Curling Club should offer a better challenge. I do not expect to have any more of those games going forward.

Winter Wallop

I thought I would get some pictures after yesterday's storm. My favourite picture is the bird feeder in the back yard that is only a couple of inches off of the ground.

It's time to do your taxes!!!

I thought I would give everyone a heads up on doing their taxes this year. There is a good chance, if you are a friend of mine, you will have some tuition tax credits available and be entitled to a refund this year. Everyone likes a refund.

I mention this because, if you do your taxes now, that you would be able to get your refund soon because the government won't be as busy right now. There is a good chance that you are entitled to a nice little sum of money. There could be something you could do with that money that you did not expect.

You may have a chance to book a last minute deal and avoid this weather we've been having. For many, they live pay cheque to pay cheque, so when a refund comes in it becomes a nice windfall to help pay for things that you would normally not purchase.

I would like to recommend that people to try to do their taxes themselves this year. If you happen to owe, the good news is that the taxes are not payable until April 30. There is a good chance that your taxes are really simple, and you will not need my services. For those that are having some issues, I will be happy to assist you, but I would prefer that you approach me as soon as you can. When April comes, I do not know if I will be able to help very many of my friends.

Happy tax season everyone!

Reno Tips

I've been reading. I've been watching renovation programs. I've been contemplating my next move. I've decided to share some of the stuff that I have read and learned over the last little while.

Painting - Painting is probably the number one way to add value to your home, unless you are buying new of course. The trick is to remain fairly neutral, but contemporary at the same time. Colours that stick out can be a turn-off to potential buyers, so you want to make sure that you are not limiting yourself to buyers with your personal taste. There's a good chance that you're unique and it won't work.

For my house, this will probably be done before I move into the house. I will likely quickly paint the bedroom and then take my time to finish some of the common areas. I'm hoping to do most of this work myself.

Kitchen remodelling - For me, this is a very fine line to walk. Most websites suggest that you stay within the realm of your home. You do not want to put a $50,000 kitchen in a $200,000 home. There's a very good chance that you sell your home, but at the same time you will have wasted a lot of money.

The reason that there is such a fine line to walk is the fact that I plan on living in the home myself. I would like a nice kitchen, but I do not want to overdo it. Ultimately, this is an investment property and I would like to recoup some of my investment. This might be the most critical decision that I make regarding my home.

Bathroom additions - As my cousin would quickly point out, bathrooms are key. The number of bathrooms can be a huge selling point to potential homeowners. If there are similar homes in the neighborhood, the one thing that might quickly separate the house from the pack is simply the number of bathrooms.

I have another huge decision to make here. The upstairs bathroom is laid out very poorly. I've considered removing a bedroom in order to create a master bedroom that would be complete with a walk-in closet and an ensuite. This would make the upstairs become very elegant, spacious, and luxurious. On the other hand, I could work with what I have and upgrade to the point where I could rent out to young professionals. This would make for a very nice rental property as there still would be 3 bedrooms upstairs. The bathroom would likely still seem cramped, but it would look nicer.

Finishing unfinished space - If you create more living spaces, people are willing to pay you more for your home. There is a great opportunity for people to take the space they have in their home and make some very nice spaces.

The house I purchased is approximately 50% finished in the basement. The space does not really serve any purpose though. There is a full bathroom, which is nice, but the other areas are used as common areas as they are not quite complete. I'm sure, with a little creativity, that the area could add a lot of value to the home. The trick is to make sure that things are done properly in terms of design and to complete the space by adding the appropriate furniture and fixtures.

Finally, there is another option for my home that is not necessarily available to all homes on the market. My home is a semi-detached. One day, I hope to purchase the other half and be able to do more in terms of exterior work. There's a good chance that I make an addition to the home. The home has a flat roof. I hope that I would be able to construct another level to the home. By doing this, I can either create additional bedrooms for each existing unit, or I could create a completely new unit for rent. It would give me three properties. It's just a thought at this point though.

Gimme my RENT!!!

Not much news on the house these days, so I have not been updating my blog. I am officially the landlord as I went to collect March's rent. No troubles there, so hopefully everything works out fine until the end of August. I received some post-dated cheques, so hopefully I can slumlord it all the way until I am prepared to do some renovations and move in.

City of Ottawa Bonspiel

Next week, my curling team will be curling in the City of Ottawa Bonspiel. I don't know how well they update the website, but I assume that you can track our progress through the website. I will be curling with Michael Dean, Robert Dean, and Ryan Cox. Hopefully, we will do the HCC proud.

Lloyd Christmas Vs Alien Vs Predator (Trailer)