Maxed Out

There's no snow on top of the local mountain, won't be for months.

"Why do you live in Whistler? What are you passionate about?" I know I'm a little late getting to my Backyard Barbeque Brainstorm but it's been a busy summer.

"Do you think that dog would eat a parrot?" I don't often find myself at a loss for words. But... eat a parrot? Zippy the dog? I was at a loss for words. Maybe it was the woman who was asking the question.

So, if you've paid any attention over the past three weeks - and I'd like to personally thank both of you who have - you have at least a passing grasp of the difference between condo hotels and real hotels. Congratulations.

As promised, no math this week. But to recap, the foundation I've tried to lay so far in this comedy of errors is this: just because it looks like a duck, walks like a duck and quacks like a duck, it ain't necessarily a duck.

Unfortunately, before we get to the comedy part of the comedy of errors, we have to understand a wee bit about the math of finance. Don't panic; this won't be on the test.

The municipality, not content with making sure toilets flush, potholes get filled and everybody lives sustainably everafter, has scanned the landscape, found a suitable windmill to tilt at, donned its armour, mounted its trusty steed and galloped at

Virtually all great breakthroughs happen at the margins.

When I moved to Canada from New Mexico in January, 1979, it seemed like an exotic, foreign country. Montreal still seems like an exotic, foreign country to me but at least I remember what je me souviens means... or at least I think I do.

As the deadline was approaching to submit my Grade 8 science project proposal, I was in a quandary. Truth be told, I was woefully disinterested in the whole science project idea.