Peter V. Tretter

The good news is I passed the Investment Funds in Canada exam!!

The bad news is I had a terrible experience after writing the exam at Barrie’s Georgian College.

So after writing the exam, I was feeling pretty good. Proud of myself. I got in my car to leave, and stopped at the gate to pay my $5. The gate didn’t open. It didn’t like any of my coins. In fact there were other coins in the coin return. I tired all of them, then I pressed the button for the parking guy.

First thing out of the guy’s mouth (over the intercom) is to try to accuse me of stealing. He did let me and my car go, and the money was left behind, but if the College had bothered to keep it’s equipment in top condition and/or up-to-date, none of this would have happened.

But that’s not why I think Georgian College should be held accountable. Yes it was a shitty experience, so I wrote a letter to the Manager at the Parking Office. After a week I had no reply, so I sent a copy to the College’s Public Relations department, and after another week, still no reply.

The Ontario Ombudsman has been lobbying the provincial government to gain authority to investigate the “MUSH” sector, which is colleges, universities and hospitals. Ontario is the only Canadian province where their Ombudsman CANNOT investigate this sector.

It’s about time this changed, and about time the College replied to my letter.

So I started a new course this past Monday, it’s on “Investment Funds in Canada”. I got chapter 1 done, and it was a decent introduction to the course. I felt I got a good overview of the mutual fund industry at the moment, and the history of mutual funds in Canada and worldwide.

The end result of the course, if you pass the exam, is a mutual funds license, to sell mutual funds. So far the course seems fairly straight forward and easy to learn, but I’ll admit I’m lucky as I got the audio book, makes it a bit easier to learn for me.

As for chapter 1, I’d give it an A. It had a good understanding of the fundamentals.

Related articles

• An Introduction to Mutual Funds

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• Learn the fundamentals of Mutual Funds

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So it’s been a while since my last update. My Kobo I mentioned is a really good product. I did have to send it in under warranty to be replaced a few weeks ago, I couldn’t connect the Kobo to my computer. Works great now!

So with the Barrie Green Party, which is the local electoral district association for both the Green Party of Canada and the Green Party of Ontario; for a few years now we’ve played host to a few college co-op students. This term we’ve had our co-op students working on research articles for the newly formed Georgian College Young Greens. The newest is on Alternative Energy Sources. They’ll also be doing one for the Barrie Young Greens.

Health wise I’m still on the transplant list, I potentially have a 5 year wait still. I’ve been on the list for 5 years since it goes back to my “return to dialysis” date.

What else is new? I’m going to BC in August for the Green Party of Canada convention. I’m really looking forward to that!

Oh and I’m also now on Google+! And my main website has been totally changed to a cool new format!

Have a great day!!

For those who know me, for a year and a bit I’ve been using a Sony eReader for my ebook reading. I got it free through Air Miles. (And now you know someone who actually got something for free from a points program!) I also have an iPad which really is the greatest thing to happen to humanity since the big bang! And while it’s a great device, it’s too heavy to use as a regular ebook reader. Yesterday, Kobo (owned by Canada’s Indigo Books & Music) announced the new Kobo eReader Touch Edition.

So I went ahead and pre-ordered the black touch Kobo. Why?

5. My sister and Mom both have a Kobo, which makes buying ebooks easier for everyone easier.

4. Touch screen, cheaper than the Sony version. It’s going to make reading e-books simpler, and without needing a special button, make it more user friendly.

3. It’s Canadian. And while I do shop at places like amazon.ca, it’s still Canadian.

2. Syncing. It syncs between my iPad, Kobo, computer, etc. My Sony Reader doesn’t do that.

1. Free eBooks. While Sony has some free eBooks (mainly 100 years old public domain), Kobo has a greater variety. And has lots of coupons for things that aren’t free! The new touch edition comes with a $10 gift card to buy books with.

The touch edition also has the new pearl e-ink display, which the Kindle also has which allows for easier reading under direct sunlight, and acts more like reading a real paper book. Plus all sorts of neat features, and interactive social networking features! And it has Wi-Fi, including free access at Bell wi-fi hotspots so if you need to buy a book on the go, you can!

My biggest complaint about Kobo is that they don’t have a shopping cart for their eBookstore. Sacrifices always have to be made, and I don’t have to buy from them exclusively. Also one of the biggest bonuses – You can buy books in Canadian dollars!

Enjoy reading!

Related articles

• Kobo goes up market, targets Kindle (thestar.com)
• Kobo unveils Touch Screen e-reader for $130 (macworld.com)
• Kobo Announces Touchscreen Ereader (mashable.com)

Lately there’s been talk of a merger between the New Democratic Party and the Liberal Party of Canada. Especially given the dramatic rise of the NDP (and their subsequent loss of power in a majority parliament), and the Liberals utter defeat back on May 2nd.

This generally can mean good things for all involved.

If the Liberals and NDP merge, there will be folks who are dissatisfied with that option. Look at the UK where their version of the NDP and Liberals merged years ago. And have since formed government with the Labour party.

So how does a merger help the Green Party? Because not everyone is going to want to vote for the new party. It will allow smaller parties like the Green Party to attract more votes, and win more seats.

Of course all of this wouldn’t be necessary if we simply had some form of proportional representation. Have you signed the Declaration of Voters’ Rights yet?

Related articles

• No more talk of NDP-Liberal merger: Broadbent (cbc.ca)
• Talk of NDP’s possible merger with Liberals on ice (ctv.ca)
• NDP’s rising fortunes put talk of merger with Liberals on ice, for now (thestar.com)

Things are going ok at work so far. I’d like more hours, but that’s something I’ll be discussing with my employment counsellor. Dialysis is the same old really. I’ve been on the transplant list since December, and now we play the waiting game.

Things with my new webhost have improved and are going well. I like them so far. Though I still preferred my old one.

So yeah, the migration of Draknet’s clients to A Small Orange is ongoing. Though I’ve heard that A Small Orange owned by the evil Host Gator. so I’m not sure how this is going to affect my service. Ah well.

St. Mike’s is still being slow, but at least the nurse there keeps me updated again, somewhat, even if it seems to be repetitive. I swear they’re slower than a snail. Things were so much faster in Ottawa.

Otherwise not much is new. I bought a new digital camera at Henry’s which cost quite a bit, but has some cool stuff like a great zoom. I can’t wait to use it, I don’t have a lot of stuff to photograph right now.

[Correction: It seems the owner of Host Gator owns A Small Orange, but not Host Gator itself. ]

So I guess the biggest update is that my favourite webhost Draknet has been bought out by A Small Orange. I’m hoping the quality remains. I’ve been with them for 10 years. (Draknet that is.) They’ve been reliable, and very, very good. I used to recommend them all the time. Now I suppose i’ll haev to take down the referral links.

No news from St. Mike’s. The transplant coordinator who was on mat leave came back, and no news. I shall have to call them when I get some time. Work’s been good. I love my new job which is important, but I do work four days a week now. Better than none really.

And the Green Party is still going strong. We grew dramatically in July winning the membership contest, narrowly putting Elizabeth May’s riding in second.

Go us!

I spoke with Denise today at St. Michael’s Hospital. She is one of their patient advocates, and sounds like a very nice woman. I talked to her for a good amount of time, and she committed to sending an inquiry to the Manager of the transplant program, and she said she would try to get back to me by the end of the week.

How this came about was I wrote a letter to the Minister of Health and Long-Term Care, who’s lowly clerk replied and gave me Denise’s contact information. Which was surprisingly helpful. I may not need that end of April appointment with my MPP.

So when you use the services of a hospital, shouldn’t you be entitled to good customer care/service?

I find the notion that Ontario hospitals have license to be slow, with long waiting lists, and poor service to be absurd.

I moved to Barrie, Ontario July, 2008. At the time I was on short term disability from my previous employer, but I knew that I would be getting laid off due to events with the company. So a move to my parents basement was a logical, and smart decision.

Shortly after arriving I asked the lovely people at RVH dialysis to refer me to St. Michael’s Hospital in lovely Toronto since transplant services aren’t available in Barrie. It sounds simple enough, right?

Wrong.

After being referred three times, I had an appointment early in 2009, and then another with the surgeon in June, 2009. Nothing since then. And I’m done all the necessary tests.

I’m not even on the list.

They misplaced the CD I had sent them of my CT scan. The surgeons were due to discuss my case fall, 2009 but that was delayed until last week. And as far as I’m aware, they still haven’t discussed it due to their own incompetence of misplacing the CD.

So the hospital here in Barrie sent another CD. Due to the courier company Purolator (whom I am now boycotting,) they didn’t get it until last Monday. The same day I got the bad news. How is it that Toronto hospital’s are given permission to act completely stupid?

Back in 2001, I had surgery at the Toronto General Hospital and there was caked on blood on my hospital bed. My parents had to clean it off, because apparently they couldn’t afford housekeeping staff.

Why aren’t these hospitals taking accountability for themselves? They need to stop blaming the government, and get on with the business of healing people. That’s what they’re being paid to do.

Hopefully my current situation will resolve itself. I’m going on my fourth transplant. So for those of you reading this thinking ‘The list backdates to the date you returned to dialysis’… because it’s my fourth transplant the possibility of me finding a kidney is slim due to having to match my immune system to the kidney. It’s like a needle in a haystack. So I could be waiting three months or thirteen years.

Life happens. And so does St. Mike’s.