Hello world!

This will eventually be a more personal insight into the daily life of controversial1 (the male author of the Standard Deviation blog). I expect this to be a somewhat random collection of rants & raves, problems and subsequent solutions to the issues that I come up against every day.

I remember you!

Have you ever done a Google search on your name, just to see what comes up?  I have and found nothing.  I thought it would be neat if I found my name on a web page of someone from my past.  It would be nice to know that this person remembered my name at the very least.

Thinking along those lines, the following is a list of people I have known at some point in my life.  There is no logic to the order, nor is there any particular reason for their names being on this list other than I knew them at some point.

Tracey Clark, Colborne, Ontario
Michelle Mason, Colborne, Ontario
Darren Smit, Edmonton, Alberta
Irene Redegeld, Colborne, Ontario
Bill McAndrews, Markham, Ontario
Dale Spencer, Colborne, Ontario
Kim Buckwald, Cobourg, Ontario
Sherry Baker, Cobourg, Ontario
Karen Archer, Cobourg, Ontario
Janet Bradshaw, Cobourg, Ontario
Leah Goddard, Guelph, Ontario
Jeannie Taylor, Minneapolis, Minnesota
Walter Pare, Montreal, Quebec
John Witherspoon, Toronto, Ontario
Mike McCormick, Toronto, Ontario
Paul Yarrow, Brighton, Ontario
Steve Jones, Toronto, Ontario
Eila Kimball, Toronto, Ontario
Shelley Duguay, Courtice, Ontario
Evea Yarrow, Trenton, Ontario
Steve Clark, Scarborough, Ontario
Craig Hurst, Toronto, Ontario
Jim Morrison, Scarborough, Ontario

You’re not from around here are you?

I remember once when I was younger, in my teens, my father stating to me and my brother that he had no problem with us dating anyone but he would PREFER it if we didn’t date “coloured” girls or men.

If someone had told me back then that I would find myself in a relationship with a person that had darker skin, a different culture or religion, I would surely have laughed aloud.  It simply was not a feasible or possible chapter in MY life.

Fast forward 25 years and I call him on the phone to tell him that I have a new person in my life…and qualify my statement by proclaiming, “Don’t worry dad, I’m not gay.”  Turns out that he doesn’t remember ever saying what he said when I was a teenager.

I grew up in a village of less than 1000 people and everyone was white.  Of course I would see someone of colour on occasion, especially around apple harvest time.  Migrant workers they called them. I never actually had contact with a “visible minority” until I moved to the city when I was 17.

I would say that I was “racist” to some degree.  The first place that I lived in was an apartment in Scarborough.  The occupants in the building represented just about every country, colour and background as you could imagine.  It didn’t take me too long to determine the various idiosyncrasies of various “groups” and determine that some of their “habits” I found unappealing.

Over time I adapted to my environment and would have to say that in general I am tolerant and get along well with most people, regardless of colour or background.

After I was separated from my wife and started dating again, I dated Caucasian women.  It wasn’t until I started trying internet dating that I met up with and eventually dated someone “different” than I.  I had talked to a woman online for about a month and never asked her about her background.  I will say that certain groups will have a specific “slang” or dialect that will typically lead me to believe they are of a specific ethnic origin, but this woman did not.  One day the subject of “where we came from” came up and I was surprised to find out that she was from India.

I remember the first time I ever met her, I would have to say that it was the first time I experienced the proverbial, “Love at first sight”.  The truth was, although I never gave it a second thought, I found women with darker skin and darker hair to be very attractive.  They were in fact “my type” if you will. Once I let myself the freedom to admit this, I was open to a whole new world of possibilities.

I had a three year relationship with the woman from India.  That was by far the most endearing relationship I have ever been involved in.  Unfortunately, due to circumstances beyond my control we were unable to continue the relationship.
I did go out with one last Caucasian woman, almost just to prove once and for all that Caucasian women were not for me.  It worked!

I am now with a wonderful woman that is from the Philippines.  I would not say that our relationship was as “intense” as the one that I shared with the East Indian woman, but it is very satisfying.  I work with Caucasian women and most of my friends have wives that are originally from Canada. I would prefer a Caucasian female friend hands down as we would have greater historical background over which to converse but as far as a relationship goes I would never bother with a Caucasian woman again. there is something in the mix that doesn’t work for me.

I am not specifically talking about colour here.  I say Caucasian, what I want to say is Canadian or American women, yet that doesn’t quite explain it well either.  Any woman of my age, my ethnicity, my cultural background, that was born and raised in North America and possesses a “stereotypical” American attitude…I would never consider dating.

You know…when I was a boy…

When I was a child (1964) my father had a good job making in the neighbourhood of $6000 per year.  My parents had just bought their first home at the average price of $13,000.  From what I have researched my parents were typical middle class for the day.

Where most items have increased in price approximately 10x in the last 45 years the noticeable exception is the average price of a home.  The $13050 average price in 1964 would equate to $130,500 for today if it followed the same formula whereas the truth is in 2007 in Toronto the average house price was $380,000.  Even in the small town where my parents bought their first home, that same house would sell for around $200,000 today.  Even if we say that the average income today is close to $60,000 (10x what it was in 1964) that is now typically earned by 2 persons in the family not one as was the case 45 years ago.  All things being equal today’s average 2 income family should be bringing in $120,000 per annum.

Assuming that wages are actually half of what they statistically should be and housing prices are close to 4x where they should be, what else is dragging down our standard of living?  Inflation.  If you look at the rate of inflation from 1964 to 2007 as a whole, something that cost $1.00 in 1964 would cost $10.01 today.  This is in keeping with most of the statistics shown.

So if I look at a typical family today they are spending 10 times more for every item they buy compared to 1964.  They are also on average making 10 times more BUT it requires 2 incomes to make this work.  Since mom is now working to pay the mortgage they are incurring somewhere between $300-$800 PER child for daycare. Add to that the fact that most do not live and work within walking distance of one another so a second car is typically the order of the day as well as the expense of the commute. The other fly in the ointment is taxes.  Since 1964 the day which is considered to be tax freedom day, the day in which the typical taxpayer will have met all of their tax obligations on a federal, provincial and municipal level has increased by approximately 40 days.  That is to say that the average taxpayer will pay taxes for 40 more days than in 1964.

This means that dad had $4125 of his annual income to spend after taxes. Mom stayed at home watching the kids and the daily commute was less than half a mile.

Their budget looked something like this:

Mortgage: $78 per month
Car Payment (including gas and insurance): $60 per month
Groceries: $120 per month

There were not a lot of ways to spend money frivolously, fast food restaurants, video games, consumer electronics, cell phones, the internet, disposable diapers and all of the gadgets and toys that are prevalent today simply did not exist. The net family income (after ALL taxes) was $344 per month less the expenses above left $86 per month to spend/save.

Today my wife and I both work and we have $34700 of our annual income to spend after taxes.

Our budget looks something like this:
Mortgage: $1400 per month
Car Payments (2) (including gas & insurance) $900 per month
Groceries: $400 per month
Daycare: $400 per month

The net family income (after ALL taxes) is $2891 per month less the expenses above leaving (negative) $209 per month to spend/save.

The above are representations only, obviously some spend more or less in different areas.  The point of the comparison was to show that today we are definitely not as well off as our parents were under the same circumstances. Add to the above the constant desire by all involved to keep up with technology which comes with a (high) monthly cost.

In 1964:

Yearly Inflation Rate USA 1.28%
Year End Close Dow Jones Industrial Average 874
Average Cost of new house $13,050.00
Average Monthly Rent: $115.00
Average Income per year: $6,000.00
Minimum wage: $1.15 per hour
Gas per (US) Gallon:  $.30 cents
Federal Income Tax Rate: 23.5%
Average Cost of a new car: $2,400.00 (Ford Mustang)
Loaf of bread: $.21 cents
Postage Stamp: $.05 cents
Ticket to the movies $1.25
Hershey chocolate bar: $.05
McDonald’s hamburger: $.15
Slice of pizza: $.15
Hot dog: $.15
Cup of coffee: $.10
Scott tissues (two boxes of 400 each): $.49
Crest toothpaste (extra large): $.44
GE washing machine: $169
American Airlines, first class, New York to Los Angeles: $160.90
Motel room: single, $7.50; double, $9.50
Bulova President wristwatch: from $39.95
De Beers one-carat diamond: $500–$1,800
Pack of Camel cigarettes: $.50
Zippo chrome cigarette lighter: $3.95
Year’s tuition at Davidson College, Davidson, North Carolina: $1,815

Oh My God! (Make that YOUR God)

We tend to adhere to or at least most of us were taught to follow a “good” way of living because we wish to follow a “moral” code of ethics.  This code of ethics, morality if you will has typically been dictated by the church.  It has typically been the church, regardless of the faith followed, that has made the rules that must be adhered to in order to consider one ’s self “good”. Conversely, not following the rules would lead the person to follow an immoral life and the person would be considered “bad”.

I believe that we as human beings possess both good and evil within.  We have the mechanical capability through our bodies to turn either good or evil into a tangible event.  That being that we have the ability to do good or do bad, there is nothing restricting either one except for choice.

I do not believe that religion has any bearing on a person’s ability to be good or bad.  That being said, I don’t feel that people that consider themselves to be theists are in any way better than those that are atheists.  I don’t believe that religion has any place in determining a person’s worth as in being “good” or “bad”.

Someone asked me the other day if I believe in God.  My answer was, “Most likely not in the same way that you do.”  They went on to ask me if I believed in Jesus. My answer was, “I can’t in the way that you do.”
To set the record straight, I don’t believe in God as an entity as most do.  I believe in the existence of some “thing” far greater, bigger, stronger and more intelligent than human beings, but “IT” is not an old man in a white robe. IT is far more apt to be a collection of protons with a specific positive charge than an entity ready to blacklist me from the pearly gates should I break any of the “Golden Rules”.

To take it one step further I refuse to debate the existence or importance of “secondary” deities.  How God presented himself to various groups of people whether through Jesus, Muhammad, Jehovah or any other “visible” proof is cause for more wars in history and to this day than anything else.

I find it almost unbelievable that people would fight over their belief in something that has no specific and tangible proof of its existence.  If something is not proven, it is possible that it doesn’t exist at all in its perceived version.  I am saying that religion tends to be based more on a series of hypotheses than facts.  There is no solid evidence (in my opinion) to prove the existence of some of what is written and even if true all of the various writings “instructions” contained in the Bible or the Koran for instance were written by men.

I feel that these instruments were written by scholars in their time.  The lack of any detail as to past events or realistic visions of the future make me believe that there was no “supernatural” guidance in the presentation of thoughts.  Genesis was not a “pen name” for God as her wrote out the rules for living a good life.  I believe that the “word of God” was in fact a set of guidelines written by man for men.  I feel that the moral obligations conveyed are in fact just common sense more so than rules from a higher power.

To make the “rules” stick it was further instilled by telling the reader how displeased God would be should these rules not be followed.  To me, the Bible was (is) brainwashing on a large scale. Even if exposed to the truth, they would not reject Islam or Jesus for fear of their lives. The Koran and Bible themselves confirm this startling reality. Allah commanded Muslims «not to question the Koran», for those who did, he said, «discarded their religion».
The doctrine of both Christianity and Islam is very clear that all forms of force and persuasion may and must be used to conquer aliens. Christianity and Islam are self-proclaimed enemies of non Christian nations and unbelievers.
Christianity and Islam have annihilated every culture it has invaded or immigrated to. The total time for annihilation might take centuries, but once Christianity and Islam are ascendant they never fail. The host culture disappears and becomes extinct.

I find it very distasteful when I hear someone talking of spreading the “Word of God”.  I know what they mean but how they can claim to be knowledgeable about what that “word” is baffles me.  How they can say that a person must follow a specific diety to be “saved” astounds me.

Throughout history and today there is a conversion process taking place where “savages”, those lacking specific mainstream religious upbringing, are converted into “good” people by introducing them to the ideal of following Christ.  Once the person has allowed Christ into their life, they are “re-born” into the “Good”.  Amazing!?

I don’t involve myself with discussions of religion.  To me, getting so passionate over a belief in something that is highly intangible both amazes and concerns me.  I was raised as a Christian but cannot find any reason to say that “my” faith is any better or more reasonable than any other.  The truth is I have studied many religions including Wicca and Satanism and each have their valid points and well as some that I find to be rather obscure. The point is that it is not my way to question another’s religious point of view.  It doesn’t matter to me what religion they adhere to, it matters how they treat those around them as well as themselves…separately and distinct from their religion.
As I have matured I have backed away from my faith, simply because I am not a faith based individual.  I tend to base my decisions on fact and the facts lead me to believe that Christianity is not THE answer for me. If I were to choose a religion today it would more apt to be centered around Indian philosophies, the Vedic texts, from around 1500 years before Christ.  Why?  They make more sense to me, simply put.  Unfortunately I cannot “switch” because it is stated in the 10 commandments that: Do not have any other gods before me. How convenient!

I conduct myself in a manner that I would consider to be “good”.  I help those less fortunate than me, I try to help others help themselves, and I am a giving individual and expect nothing in return.  This past year my wife and I sent a substantial amount of money to her home country so that the people in her village could build a new Church.  I think that having a goal in religion can be very positive for some people; I think that having faith in that following a certain path, a good path can make a person a better overall member of society.  I am not against religion; I am against one group trying to push themselves on another as being the “only” way.

The religious intolerance and wars in the world are caused by people making choices, not because of any supernatural input.  A man kills another because he made a choice to do so.  If he then uses religion as an excuse for his actions it only says to me that he lacks self-awareness.  A person that lacks self-awareness, a cog in the wheel, a sheep or lemming or just a number is to me a valid reason to believe that there must be something far greater than mere man out there.

I choose to believe that there is something greater than us, there is something more than us. The desire to think outside of the box, to allow our thoughts to venture to the beginning and end of everything take us into the unknown.  The unknown can be proven or conversely disproven with science; all that remains a mystery can only be left up to faith.  How we interpret the unknown can lead to tension between faiths.

Me, I am content just to wait until the end of the story to find out what happens.

The Good Ol’ Days

When I daydream I tend to be rather nostalgic.  I create in my mind an essence of a romantic atmosphere and wish that I could somehow be part of that moment in time, yet that time never really existed.  For example I was standing in front of our house the other night while it was snowing heavily.  The house, the Christmas lights, the snow and ice topping the roof peaks like icing on a cake…looked fantastic.  It gave me a warm feeling inside.  It reminded me of a postcard sans the young couple that would have just pulled up in the horse drawn sleigh.  My mind wandered back to a time when things were easier, when things were quieter, more peaceful.  For a moment I could imagine all of the lights morphing into candles and a sudden gust of wind carried a whiff of smoke from the neighbour’s woodstove my way.  Very romantic, almost picture perfect…the way that it used to be…

That is the essence of nostalgia.  It is in fact a self-made perception of the way we would like to think things were.  Movies are great at generating this sense of yearning for the past, yearning for a time that never existed at all.  History is a factual recollection of past events whereas nostalgia nostalgia describes a longing for the past, often in a highly idealized form. Look at movies from the 50’s where everyone wore a leather jacket, had a souped-up car and drank excessively or the 60’s when everyone was doing drugs and free love was the order of the day.  The movies capitalize on generalizations (on nostalgia) rather than fact.  Not everyone in those periods of time were doing what we “imagine” they were doing.  I mentioned to my dad once that I was jealous of the fact that he grew up in the 60’s when “you could have sex with anyone”.  He laughed. “Not where I came from!”

We have a Victorian reproduction home, complete with wraparound porch.  It is only ten years old but it has the “look” of a house from the turn of the century.  We have capitalized on the ideology of the “old house” by adorning the porch with Gingerbread trim, purchasing some select antiques and recently have started to replace the original ceiling lights with antique fixtures.  This ultimately creates an “old-fashioned” atmosphere and can take an occupant or visitor “back in time” to a more “peaceful” time.

In my dreams I think I would love to attend that point in time that we try and reproduce, but the real truth is I would not.  The warm feeling I get is from standing in the here and now and looking back at a romantic “vision”, not at historic reality.  It is a fantasy and nothing more; by adding props such as antiques the fantasy becomes more realistic.  I will never be going out to buy a horse and carriage nor will I be dressing in period clothing, but there is a good chance that when I can I will continue to decorate our house in keeping with a time in history…that only exists in my mind.

Have you ever been screwed…electronically? Take it from me…it hurts!

This past summer my wife and I took off for one of our “let’s see where we end up” drives with no specific destination. Gas prices were at an all time high so we did the sensible thing and drove all the way around Lake Ontario.  It was fun actually but we did end up taking a toll highway.  I remember my father telling us when we were younger that one of the “many” advantages that we had as Canadians was the fact that we didn’t have to pay tolls for our highways, they were paid via our (higher) taxes.  This was my first encounter with a toll highway so I was a bit nervous of just how much this was going to cost us.  We started on the I-90 just north of Syracuse and drove due west towards Buffalo.  There system is such that they give you a card (similar to an employee time card that you would punch in a clock) and when you exit, they calculate the toll.

When we exited, I had to pay $6.35 for the privilege of using the highway.  Not bad! Distance travelled 145 miles.
I don’t think that was bad because when I compare it to the new toll highway that runs through the north end of the GTA where I live…it is a bargain.

For you that are not familiar with the 407 highway in the Toronto, Ontario area, it is our first (most likely not our last) toll highway.  It was built as an “all-electronic” toll highway, relaying on transponders and electronic tracking to monitor movement and subsequently bill customers for using it.  In the beginning it seemed like a good idea.  I actually chose a place to live close to this new highway because I could get to work quickly and at a reasonable cost.  That was 10 years ago.  The government has since sold the highway to a foreign consortium and the rates for using the highway have skyrocketed.

If I compare the same trip we took across New York State to using the 407 ETR (Electronic Toll Route) this is what it would look like:

1.The 407 ETR relies on leased transponders to monitor movement and bill vehicle owners. A transponder is an electronic key that allows an overhead scanning bridge, located at each entry and exit point  to “read” the vehicle info and send a bill once a month to the owner.  In the absence of a transponder (as would be the case for a visitor, as we were to the I-90) there is a video trip charge added.  If there is no transponder, the scanning bridge has a camera that takes a picture of the vehicle and a bill is sent to the owner’s address.  So assuming that we DO NOT have a transponder we incur a charge of $3.25 as soon as we enter the highway.
2.There is now (effective January 1, 2009) an additional “trip charge” of $0.25 for using the highway as soon as you enter.
3.There is a “monthly account fee” of $2.50 for using the highway without a transponder.
4.The rates vary depending on the time of day but the standard rate is between $0.1925 and $0.1985 (per kilometre) depending on the “zone” that you are travelling in.  I will assume that we are going through more than one zone on our “trip” so will use an average of $0.1955 (per kilometre) for this exercise.  The entire highway at present spans only 67 miles so I have done some fancy extrapolations to arrive at my totals.  There are 1.60934 kilometres in one mile.

Assuming that we COULD drive 145 miles on the 407 ETR our bill would look like this:

1.$3.25 for no transponder
2.$0.25 trip fee
3.$2.50 account fee
4.145 miles converted is equivalent to 233 kilometres (233 x $0.1955 = $45.55)
5.Total for one trip of equivalent distance would be $51.55 (a difference of $45.20)

Welcome to Canada!  If you are American please check your gun AND wallet at the border.  Thank you!

Sure size matters…but placement will cost you!

Ah, January and this man’s fancy turns from Christmas to landscaping.  One thing that has always been on my “wish” list is a gazebo.  There is something about a gazebo that incites a feeling of romance (to me).  In the present a gazebo would be a great compliment to the house as both have a “Victorian” appeal.

I started last year looking into my options in this regard and have come to the point of deciding between buying a pre-fabricated one or making one from scratch.  I have to admit that I was somewhat shocked at the price of a fabricated one with a 10’ x 10’ costing close to $10,000!  The same gazebo from Pennsylvania would cost $3200 USD but by the time one factor’s in exchange, duty, taxes, freight it still costs around $6500 CDN.  It is still hard to explain why there is a $3500 price difference, especially since the raw material (wood) comes from Canada in the first place.  I have to assume that the average Gazebo engineer and assembler in the US doesn’t make 60 Grand per year and here they do??

Realizing that my pet project was going to cost me a bit more than my budgeted $1200 I decided it might be a good idea to check into permits before I went too far.  I called up the building department and was pleasantly surprised to find out that I would not need a permit as the floor area was less than 108 square feet.  Wow! This turned out to be a bonus.  I could save myself $75.  That would be better spent towards the cedar shake upgrade on the gazebo anyways!

Wait…”what do you mean where am I going to put it?”  “In my backyard of course!” “WHAT bylaws?…zoning?…setbacks?…huh?

It turns out that my dream has limitations as to where it can be placed on MY property.  I had planned on putting it in the side yard, close to the fence (property line) and opposite an existing deck.  It turns out that there is a zoning requirement that sheds, gazebos and the like be set in from the side property line 3 metres (approximately 10 feet).  The side lot is approximately 20 feet wide, so if I place a 10 foot gazebo 10 feet in from the property line, said gazebo is right against the deck/house.  That isn’t going to work!

I was only flustered for a moment when she went on to explain to me that this wasn’t the end of the world, that I simply had to ask for a minor variance.  She went on to explain that I had only to fill out an 8 page form and send it in to the committee of adjustments ( a group of people that decides whether or not resident’s requests to by-pass existing by-laws will cause any undue hardship to adjacent properties or the town).

As soon as I hung up the phone I went and downloaded the forms, filled them out, sent them in and waited for my approval.  Three days later a woman from the committee called me to inform me that she was missing something.  What could that be? Oh that!  It turns out that in my rush to get my dream underway I forgot to read ALL of the instructions that went with the form.  I especially missed the paragraph where it stated a certified cheque in the amount of $750 must accompany the request for the variance. $750!!!

So it turns out that the gazebo, although not requiring a permit requires a variance that costs 10x that amount. I asked what would happen if I went ahead and built without the variance.  I was told that if a neighbour complained I would have to remove the structure.  I don’t know why anyone would complain unless they were like my ex-wife who would call up just because she was jealous of the Jones’ gazebo.  Oh, yeah, I forgot about the jealousy factor.

Turns out that I have to go ahead and get the proper authority to proceed with my project.  The amount of money involved is too much to have to waste if there is a glitch later on.  I have reapplied for the variance, with $750 of my original budget now gone…with nothing to show for it.  If things go well, I will get the approval at which time I have one year to complete the project.

I started with $1200 towards a $10,000 project and now have $450.  That is why I am thinking of making this a DIY project.  I have also considered a reduction in size down to 3’ x 3’. Although this won’t accommodate the table and chairs as was originally envisioned, it will give me ample room to stand in the middle, alone and dream that what I have is bigger than it “really” is.  I have done that for most of my life.

Would you like additional tax with that coffee sir?

Every morning I stop at Tim Horton’s (for anyone outside of Canada, Tim Horton’s is THE coffee shop in Canada and can be found on almost every corner. There used to be competition between gas stations and Tim Horton’s while today one can find Timmie’s inside almost every gas station as well) Back to my story, I went to get coffee this morning and my son asked if I would get him one as well.

Every day the two coffees I buy on the way to work cost $3.30 or $1.65 each. Today, three coffees cost me $5.32. Even though I was still in my Sunday morning and not quite fully awake, a quick calculation in my head had me paying $2.02 for the third coffee. I asked the guy in the drive through window why this was and he replied, ahh, uhh, umm, I dunno. I replied, since you don’t know how about ringing through all 3 coffees separately just to see what you come up with. This was far more difficult for the young man to deal with than I thought as it would require him to use basic math to total the three transactions at $1.65 each. Rather than keep the other people in the line in a state of pre-Tim Horton’s delerium, I decided it was best to pay the $5.32 and ask questions later. So here I am with the solution. It is what I expected…taxes.

An extra-large coffee costs $1.57 before tax. If you buy a cup of coffee by itself, then with 5% GST it will cost you $1.65. (GST is the Canadian equivalent to the federal tax or VAT in some countries. When first introduced it was commonly known as the Gouge & Screw Tax) Food items under $4 ($3.99 or less) are PST exempt. (PST is our provincial tax, similar to the state tax in the US)
When I buy two coffees at $1.57 each the total is $3.14 (under the $3.99 limit) so subject only to GST and arriving at a total of $3.30. The addition of a third coffee brings the pre-tax total pretax total to $4.71, subjecting the total to both taxes, $0.24 GST and $0.37 PST for a total of $5.32.

Keep in mind that: It doesn’t matter how you get to the $3.99 threshold as long as the pre-tax total is greater than $4.00 then both taxes are applied to the entire amount, not just the amount over the $3.99. The same rules doesn’t apply if you buy 6 bagels for instance in which case neither tax is applied. Don’t ask…I will surely be writting another post questioning the absurdity of this.

Does it really make a big deal? Well, yes. If I did this every day, bought an additional coffee for either my son or the boss it would cost me an additional $0.37 per day or $135.05 per year. If by chance my daily bribe saw my boss’s overall view of me improve to the point of wanting to give me a raise it most likely would be worth it but that is a different story.

If every Canadian kept their morning coffee purchases to under $3.99 the Ontario government would lose $1,171,978 in one year.

More absurdities of the Canadian tax system:

A can of COKE – Taxed with PST & GST in a vending machine.
A can of COKE purchased alone in a restaurant – both PST & GST apply.
A can of COKE purchased with a muffin – now forming part of a meal under $4 – ONLY the GST applies.

A BAGEL – Taxed with ONLY GST in a vending machine.
A BAGEL – purchased alone in a restaurant – ONLY GST applies.
A BAGEL – purchased with a can of COKE – now forming part of a meal UNDER $4 – ONLY the GST applies.
A BAGEL – purchased with other items – now forming part of a meal OVER $4 – both PST & GST apply.
A BAGEL – When purchased in a quantity of SIX or MORE, wherever purchased – NEITHER GST or PST is applicable.