BIT - Bookkeeper Information Technology

  The 2kW rooftop photo-voltaic power system was hooked up to the grid and commissioned in late March. Since then I have received three cheques from Toronto Hydro.

The cheque for April netted approximately $200, May $185 and June $175. Although this seems like an unlikely trend as summer progresses, there are many factors that could affect the sun’s exposure to the panels. June could have been more cloudy and rainy. Humidity and air pollution are also factors and this summer has been a muggy one.

I was hoping to achieve an average of $200/month through the year and this puts me a bit behind my target. Winter days are shorter and although the air is typically drier and cleaner, I anticipate winter revenue will be less. More to come.

  Small business owners and entrepreneurs have a natural propensity for Do-It-Yourself; I came, I saw, I conquered. When it comes to bookkeeping, it might be invoicing, or maybe managing payroll, or cutting cheques, or just tracking receivables and cash flow.

• What if… you were able to access your bookkeeping to do the things you want to do, when, where and how you want to do them – review, create, analyze, print, whatever – all in real time from any internet connection.
• What if… you could choose your own level of bookkeeper assistance while learning, through hands-on experience, programs and procedures with the on-line support of qualified professionals.
• What if… your financial reports were available on demand with reconciliation periods  – quarterly, monthly, weekly, or even daily – at your discretion.
• What if… you could have all this on your own Virtual Private Network for a small monthly fee.

VPN Accounting…
Bookkeeping on your terms.
 

  The goal of one meter per second (fifty meters on fifty seconds - 50’s on 50) is realistic and accessible by almost everyone. Start slowly and take time between each set of fifty meters. There is no correct distance or time period and whatever gets your system operating aerobically is good.

For the metrically challenged, one meter is approximately ten percent longer than one yard. A 25 yard pool is excellent for aerobic training and a target of 50 yards on 45 seconds is realistic.

A workout of fifty lengths of fifty meters on fifty seconds (50 50’s on 50) is an excellent long-range target. When done continuously, the 2500 meter set requires 41 minutes and 40 seconds to complete. In the sporting world, a four-to-one ratio is often used to compare jogging to swimming. For example, a 10 kilometer fun-run (~6 miles) is approximately the same as a 2.5 kilometer swim (~1.5 miles).  Obviously, 50 50’s on 50 is a significant achievement.

Raising the bar slightly, on my fiftieth birthday I swam consecutively fifty lengths of fifty meters on fifty seconds (50 50’s on 50 at 50). I wish that I could say that my heart rate was 50 beats per minute too, but it was not.

  Michael Phelps is the master of splash-n-dash and although he has much to offer inspirationally, his style and technique is vastly different from that of the fitness swimmer. Gifted with a long torso (helping keep his hips high in the water), a huge wingspan (allowing him to dig deep and long) and size 14 feet (providing him with powerful rear propulsion), Michael Phelps uses his body design to maximize forward motion and minimize fluid friction.

While air has significantly different density characteristics than water, many of the same aerodynamic principles apply. A swimmer should try to sense water resistance (back pressure or “differential pressure”) to maximize propulsion efficiency and return-on-effort.  Turbulent water is resistant water and this fact can work for or against the swimmer. In addition to being aware of vortex creation and activity, swimmers can attempt to “borrow energy” from the vortices created by pushing against turbulent water.

Increased vortex activity (beside, behind and ahead) will affect speed and performance.  Water does not react well to inefficient movement and energy is easily shed through uncontrolled motion, which leads to wild and unpredictable eddy activity. Stoke optimization is extremely personal; body shape, pull style, undulating motion and kick activity will create a collection of vortices that will be unique to each swimmer. Optimization requires intense focus and fine-tuned sensitivity. 

Michael Phelps’ rigorous training routine no doubt included water resistance sensitivity and reduced-drag optimization. Watching his races is highly recommended and greatly encouraged, but keep in mind that his body shape is one-in-a-billion and that what works for him will not work for everyone. Fitness swimming is more about science and efficiency rather than body shape and power. We all know what having big feet means.  That’s right… big shoes. And Michael Phelps’ shoes won’t be filled again for quite some time.

  The 2kW solar panel array on my rooftop is now fully operational and sending power into the province’s power grid. How cool is that?

Ten 5′ x 3′ panels are wired into an inverter, which converts DC solar energy into 220VAC, and feed an export meter located on the outside wall of our house, adjacent to the import meter. The “series” system connects both meters directly to the 200 amp electrical panel in our basement. Thus far, the inverter indicates a variable range from zero (no direct sunshine) to 1780 watts (mid-afternoon), which I assume is OK for an early-spring day.

A bright, mid-afternoon, summertime sun should generate approximately $1.50/hour for two or three hours per day. My first job in 1972 was pushing carts at Loblaws and it, too, paid $1.50/hour for a few hours per day. Solar power production is certainly not a fountain of cash flow, and the ten-year-plus return on investment is hardly exciting. But it still beats pushing carts.

More details to follow!

  Buy-and-hold investing and day-trading are two of the most commonly used terms for describing stock market strategies. Using these as opposite extremes, the middle ground is populated by a huge spread of investment styles. At the conservative end of the spectrum (buy-and-hold), strategies include dividend, growth, ETF, international, value, and sector investing. Toward the more volatile end (day-trading), techniques include trend, position, momentum, swing, and candlestick.
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  A Tax Free Savings Account can provide flexibility and benefits for lower-income individuals that a RSP account cannot. A TFSA offers the same tax-free status on income generated, but TFSA contributions are not deductible from income and, more importantly, withdrawals are not taxable as income.
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  The traditional role of the publisher as gate-keeper between author and distributor is being challenged. The book industry is presently undergoing major change and many comparisons have been drawn between the music industry of 1999 and the publishing industry of today.
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  Finding experts on the subject of 2012 disasters is a daunting task.  The few books published are mired in a clouded agenda of self-serving manure and it is difficult to find sources that provide factual data.

At last check, googling “2012” returned 244 million pages.  The NASA website is good and there are a few voices of reason in forums and blogs, but the fecal content is overwhelming.  Some sites on the subject are very impressive until one discovers that entire sections have been copied shamelessly from Wikipedia.  Some sites open very professionally, presenting technical arguments on difficult subjects, but reading for several pages often leads to references to psychic connections, herbal remedies and paranormal activity.  Other sites are just plain depressing. 

The roller coaster economy of 2009, combined with pseudo-science interpretations and Hollywood feature films, does little to maintain an atmosphere of rationality.  To fill the authoritative void, Fecality 2012 will strive to restore a sense of existentialist calm to an over-the-top ridiculous subject.  Armed with a high tolerance for authors with specialist degrees in BS, MS, PHD (Bull Shit, More Shit, Piled Higher and Deeper), we will examine and dispel the bigger issues at the heart of earth’s upcoming demise.

Fecal Content:
The Sky is Falling  (Chicken Shit)
Failed Predictions  (Bull Shit)
Revelations  (Full of Shit)
Religion  (Holy Shit)
Mayans  (Good Shit)
Space  (Deep Shit)
Principles (Tough Shit)
It Happens (No Shit)

For all 2012 postings, click on Category Fecality 2012 at right —>

  POD… its time has come: it’s green; it’s simple; it’s efficient; and it’s profitable. Independent authors, musicians and artists have a practical means of promoting themselves and their product to a world market. There will always be a place for big business, big publishers and big distribution, but getting there (and them) requires hard work, connections, promotion, and… time – lots of it.
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