Outside the Box

As part of your retirement, have you invested in the Stock Market? I am sure many have or think about investing in this very illusive but lucrative area. By wise investing and guidance, many have been successful. However, overtime, there have been bumps along the road and people have lost alot of money.
For example:

1. A year ago, if you had brought $1,000 of Nortel stock, it would be worth $49.00.
2. With Enron, you would have $16.50 left of the original $1,000.
3. Five dollars is all you would have left with WorldCom.
4. If you had purchased $1,000 of Delta Air Lines stock, you would have $49.00 left.

However, if you think "outside of the box", you can get ahead of the investment game and have fun doing it. If you had purchased $1,000 worth of beer one year ago, drank all the beer, then recycled the cans, you would have $ 214.00. You could say the return is 21.4% on your investment. Yes, very few stocks can match this performance and the fun of doing the investing.

PS. I am not advocating drinking, but use it as an example of thinking "outside the box". Good luck with your thinking outside the box.

Quote of the Day:

"Artificial intelligence is no match for natural stupidity."

Commemorating D-Day June 6,1944

D-Day is the day the Battle of Normandy began, starting the Western Allied effort to liberate mainland Europe from the Nazi occupation during the Second World War.
The Allied invasion of northwest Europe began on June 6 and ended on August 19, 1944, when the Allies crossed the River Seine.
It is still the largest seaborne invasion in history, involving 3 million troops crossing the English Channel from England to Normandy, France. The Battle of Normandy lasted for more than 2 months and concluded with the liberation of Paris and the fall of the Falaise pocket in late August, 1944.

D-DAY QUICK FACTS
1.1 million Canadians served in WWII
42,042 were killed
54,414 wounded
14,00 Canadians landed on D-Day
During the first 6 days, 1,1017 died
By the end of the Normandy campaign, 5,020 Canadians died
About 5,400 Canadians are buried in Normandy
In the 2 1/2 months of the Normandy campaign, Allies causalities (killed,wounded,and captured) totalled 210,000.
D (abbr. of day) + day - repeat the first letter to emphasize that this is the day that the operation will start, not on any other day, but this day. The actual name for the invasion is Operation Overlord. D-Day has become a term that can refer to any day of action or decision

We owe these men and women a debt of honour that we will never forget their sacrifice on this day in history.

Tanning Leather for Moccasins - Part 5

The final phase for tanning is finishing the leather.
Leather maybe finished in a variety of ways depending on its use. Using fine abrasives, the leather can be buffed to produce a suede finish. Leather can also be embossed. Another way involves waxing or shellacking and treated with dyes, pigments, and resins to produce a smooth leather and desired colour. Another finish is to lacquer the leather with urethane to produce a glossy patent leather. To bond these processes to the grain of the leather, a process called plating is used.

As you can see the process of tanning leather for footwear like moccasins is a long one even using modern technology. Pity the person without the access to tanning factories. The process must have been difficult and tedious indeed.

Quote of the day:

"Artificial intelligence is no match for natural stupidity."

Tanning Leather for Moccasins- Part 4

Another source of tanning leather involves chemicals. This process is called chrome tanning. The drying and finishing steps are the same as vegetable tanning. However, in chrome tanning, the hide is placed in a bath of chromium salt. As in vegetable tanning, once the process is complete, the hide is wrung, split and shaved to thickness.

Because the hide is exposed to many drying processes, it needs to have some of the natural oils
replaced. This is called fatliquoring. This is where the hide is placed in a drum of oil emulsion for 30-40 minutes. After this, the hide is again wrung, dried, and finished.

Quote of the Day:

"Junk is something you've kept for years and throw away three weeks
before you need it."