Goodbye, Prius: Prius Total Cost of Ownership Comparison

Goodbye, Prius! It's been a good run! As you may have remembered, my 2006 Prius recently crossed the 1/3rd millionth kilometre. I decided that I will let another lucky guy enjoy its great fuel economy and awesome reliability.  The real reason for selling it was that I felt the car was about to require some major repair. For example, the engine has been burning oil and the ride has become...

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1/3 Million Kilometers!

We made it!  1/3 million kilometers!  This is my beloved 2006 Toyota Prius.  I bought it in 2010 when it was 4 years old with 90,000 km on it.  Since then, I've put more than 240,0000 km on it.  Many people wonder if it costs more to maintain a hybrid, and the simple answer is yes.  However, let me get into the details. In the almost 8 years that I've had the car,...

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Wait!!: A Chronicle of Amelia's Birth

Good morning!  It is 10:15 am on January 24, 2018, exactly 22 hours after Amelia was born.  Both Renee and Amelia are sleeping right now (this is usually when I write these posts).  We are actually all well rested.  If there was one word that would describe this delivery, "smooth" would be the word!  We hope this continues to carry forward to the next few months, but...

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Half Marathon Here We Go!

First Time Ever Running the Half Marathon Distance (Ignore the Crazy Hair!) The Fall has arrived and that means I have to complete my half marathon that I had committed to running.  Again, our family thanks you for your generous donations! Initially, I had not planned to participate in any organized run/marathon.  As with most marathons that are organized, there is a fee that each runner...

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Hello World! I'm A5!

Hello World!  Renee and I are pleased to introduce to you our newest addition in the making!  We and the kids are super excited and can't wait to meet little A5!  She is due January 24th, 2018.  We just went for the 20-week ultrasound yesterday and yes, it will be our 4th girl!  Athan was a little disappointed that he wasnt going to have a littel brother, but Audrey was...

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Half Marathon Fundraising Goal: 20.6% ($1030) Reached! Plus Me Wearing a Mohawk to Work?!?

Happy to be Going to School! Wow!  Thanks to all who have donated, we have now surpassed the $1000 mark or 20% of our goal!  Looking at the contributions just opens our eyes to your tremendous generosity!  You have donated without expecting anything in return.  For this, we're deeply grateful!  Thank you! For those reading about this for the first time, we're raising...

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Half Marathon Fundraising Goal: 8.2% ($410) Reached!

It's me again!  Thanks to all those who have so generously donated, we have reached 8.2% of our goal in just a couple of days!For those of you who may have missed it, I'm running a half marathon this coming Fall to raise funds for the kids' school!  It'll be a good challenge for me as the farthest I have ever run to date is around 8 km.  In addition, if we reach our fundraising...

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Help Me Run a Half Marathon (and Shave My Head Again)!

Hi Everyone! It's been a while since I've posted on this blog.  GDI (Ainsworth's parent company) decided to buy another company and merge us together.  It's been a grueling few months going through the transition and still feeling the effects.  Hence, I've been fairly quiet. Didn't Know I Loved Running Too!? As some of you may remember, our family raised funds for the kids' school...

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Best Mobile Plan...Seriously!

I'm a frugal guy.  Kijiji and eBay are my best friends when it come to spending money.  So, when I say I see a good cell phone plan, it's a good cell phone plan!  Let me give you some background.  Since around 2012, I've been with, first, Mobilicity, and then Wind Mobile.  I really couldn't justify spending $60+/month on a cell phone plan x 2.  With both of these carriers,...

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Sleeping at the Wheel

Falling a sleep at the wheel... Both my nightmare and dream come true. In the past 5 years, I had gotten into 2 minor accidents when I dozed off at the wheel. Both accidents happened during rush hour in stop-and-go traffic on my way home from work. So, yeah, stay away from me on the roads! As some of you know, I have a long commute: 100 km round-trip each day on the best highways (not!) in...

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