Tricia's Musings

Random Thoughts about life in general, living in the big city of Toronto



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Thinking of returning to school

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Have you ever considered going back to school? I know that I’ve thought about it, particularly now that I’m off work due to illness. I’m starting to think that I might need to consider changing careers if I want to keep working. Being an ER nurse and working continuous 12 hour shifts is difficult when you have a chronic illness. Actually, prior to becoming a nurse I was a jeweller and I did end up going back to school- for nursing – when a severe recession hit and dramatically affected my business. So, as someone who’s already changed the course of her career path, it’s not that difficult for me to think about doing it again.

I found a site online called Capella university and I think this might be a perfect way for someone like me, or perhaps someone with a full time job and family who can’t afford to take a few years off work in order to go back to school. Capella University offers online courses. Students of the University can study for graduate degree programs in fields such as business, education, information technology, human services and psychology. Capella also offers bachelors degree programs in information technology and business.

When I was reading information about Capella University I discovered that there are currently 16,000 students from all 50 states of the USA, and 63 countries, and that the University has been teaching students since 1993.

I think I’m going to look into the courses at Capella just in case I find out that I won’t be able to go back to my former job.





Money saving ideas

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I’m always looking for ways to save money considering the situation I’m in – stuck at home sick, with no money coming, and I came across a site called The Thrifty Scot. It’s aimed more towards people living in the UK but the advice is practical and much of it could be used by anyone anywhere. I know that I’d love to find better ways to keep our money in our savings accounts where it belongs.

There is information on the site that will tell you how to choose better credit cards with lower rates so that you can keep your savings in your bank accounts. There’s also information about how to protect yourself from credit card fraud.

The site has a lot of information and links that will help you find mortgages for your home, and information on remortgages and even home insurance as well.

If you are looking for information on loans you’ll find information on how to get lower rates and better loan offers.

I’m not in a position where I need a loan yet or to re-mortgage our house- knock on wood- but I love finding ways to keep the money in the current accounts rather than losing it on high interest rates and bank fees.

Investing in Gold

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If you’ve been thinking of investing your money, have you ever stopped to consider investing in gold. Practically since the beginning of civilizations gold has been used to signify personal wealth or the wealth of a community, and as a form of currency. By investing in gold you can diversify your investments.

MDC, the Monex Deposit Company, has been a leader in the gold and precious metals investment business. Monex has been helping investors purchase gold and other precious metals for over 30 years. If you are interested in working with the Monex Deposit Company, you’ll discover that when you purchase gold or precious metals for investment purposes that you can have it delivered to you immediately, or you may arrange to have it sent to a safe storage at an independent bank. When you purchase gold from Monex you may choose coin or ingot form. The ingots are pure bullion cast in convenient sizes and shapes, while the coins can actually have a currency value.

Visit the Monex Deposit Company to get more information about their company and learn about investing in gold and other precious metals.

Thinking about getting a hot tub

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I know I’ve talked about Chris and I visiting various friends and relatives this year who happen to have their own hot tub in their back yards. People like my brother and Chris’ sister! Well Chris has been pestering me “I wanna Hot Tub, I wanna Hot tube”.

He’s even got it all planned out as to how to fit it onto our back patio. Well, actually that part was my idea. Since our backyard is so small I was thinking that if we ever did get a hot tub we could maybe dig out the storage area that is under the enclosed back porch .. and put the hot tub half under than. If we did that we’d make an entrance into our basement so you could get to the hot tub from inside the house, or from the backyard by accessing it from the patio.

Sounds good doesn’t it?

Chris has been looking at companies that put in pools and spas and one that we both like is
Blue World Pools website because they have such nice products. They’ve installed over 35,000 swimming pools/hot tubs since 1982. Sounds like they have a good reputation to have been in business for such a long period of time.

I think we’ll spend some time looking over the site and the different types of hot tubs and installations that they do. I’ll probably give Chris the green light on the project at some point – but not this year, maybe next spring perhaps.

Do any of my readers have a pool or hot tub? Do you use it often?

Thinking about buying a used car

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I’m starting to think that we might need to get a new car sometime soon. Our Ford Contour has been acting up a lot over the last two years. It’s only 10 years old, but I think it’s starting to tell us that it might not last that much longer. I said new car, but we can’t afford a new car right now so I’m starting to think about finding a place to purchase reliable Used Cars. I think I might have found the ideal site to search for used cars over at lemonfree.com.

My husband has always been a fan of Honda. We had a Honda Prelude in the early 90’s but this car eventually gave out on us. It did however live to be 14 years old- not that we had it the whole time. It was originally his parents car. So with that in mind I’ve been looking at the Honda area’s of the site, particularly the Honda Accord section.

As I’ve been looking through the site I’ve noticed some features that I really enjoy. When you find a car model that you like you can read a article of the type of car model, crash test results and ratings, you can also read stats on the estimated fuel economy, and recall notices for the make, model and year as well. I really like that part. When we were looking at cars back in ’98 I was reading reports on the models that we were interested in – like recalls and crash test results … so to have it all in one place so easy to find as I’m looking at a car that I’m thinking of purchasing is wonderful. LemonFree.com has made finding a used car, and learning more about the make and model so easy. I’m really impressed.

Another thing that I like about this site is that it has listing for both Canada and the US. As a Canadian I’ve found many sites geared towards American Consumers (even Canadian sites!) but not as many that have items for both countries. I found listing for a 2002 Honda Accord that might be suitable. At least it’s in our general area so we can contact the current owner and possibly go to see the vehicle.

Wish us luck!

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