A bit over a week ago, I was driving about 5.5 hours for a funeral. We have a 2009 GMC Acadia that seats seven people, and we drove the first leg of the trip (about three hours with a break in the middle, 287 KM) with myself, Ashley, and Logan in the car. We used up 1/4 of a tank of gas, and I refilled it when we finished the first leg. The next leg of the trip, the last 2.5 hours (248 KM) had two more adults (approximately 360 extra pounds including bags), and we used up half a tank of gas. Adding that extra 360 pounds made the fuel efficiency more than twice as worse, which begs the question: does it always make sense to carpool? Or is there a crossover point where, based on the type of vehicle you have, it’s better to take two vehicles because you’ll use up less fuel that way? I’m sure someone who’s brilliant with math can figure that out…but it made me wonder if the common wisdom of carpooling was actually wise in all circumstances.
Author: Jason Dunn
Hi, I’m Jason. I’m a Cautionary Tale to Investors
“Of course, not all seminars are created equal. Some are bad ideas, others encourage insanely risky behaviour and, to be fair, some are useful. Most people think investment scams target the elderly and most vulnerable. To counter that idea, I offer the story of Jason Dunn, a 30-something lifelong Calgarian, prolific blogger and generally smart person. To make a very complex story simple, after attending an investing seminar, Dunn borrowed $50,000 against his home and bought a stake in a strip mall, Castleridge Plaza.”
I was contacted a few months ago by a reporter for Avenue Magazine named Tracy Johnson. She found several of my blog posts here about Concrete Equities and Wealthstreet, then contacted me to discuss what happened. We spent quite a while on the phone – the story needed context – as I explained what’s happened over the past few years. I chose to talk about what happened with my investments as a cautionary tale to other investors; this quote pretty much sums it all up from my perspective:
“As someone who routinely spends hours researching which digital camera or laptop to purchase, in retrospect I’m shocked that I didn’t do at least as much research when selecting a company to invest my money in — especially when I was investing 10 to 20 times more money than I’d ever spend on a camera or laptop.”
You can check out the full article here – it’s worth a read.
A Day in the Life of RockPointe Church, Bearspaw Site
I had the privilege of capturing some of what goes in my home church, RockPointe, on any given Sunday at the Bearspaw site. Children’s ministry, worship, fellowship, and teaching are a core part of what happens every weekend. If you live in the Calgary area, I invite you to come check us out one weekend at any of the four sites we have.
Logan’s First Birthday: What Fun!
On August 16th we had a very special day, celebrating Logan’s first birthday! Friends and family from all over came to help us celebrate this special day – and no, we didn’t spend $4000 and hire an actor to come to the party (read this blog post if you don’t know what I’m talking about).
A Revelstoke, BC, Wedding
In mid-August we went out to Revelstoke, BC, for the wedding of Ashley’s Cousin Jeff Honig (a talented mountain guide) to his fiancée Stephanie China. It was a quick weekend mini-trip, but we managed to create some fun memories along the way. Here are a few pictures.
Logan’s First Calgary Stampede
After Logan’s first Stampede Breakfast, it was time for his first Stampede two days later. I just had to snap a few photos of him in Ashley’s cowboy boots and hat. How cute is this kid? We went to the Stampede and Logan spent most of the time in mute amazement at all the bright and colourful things he saw.
Logan’s First Stampede Breakfast
It’s been an eternity since I’ve updated my blog with photos, so this set from Logan’s first Stampede breakfast kicks off a few updates I’ll be doing today.
Creativity + A Capella + YouTube = Awesome
For all the junk on YouTube, there are some real gems – truly talented people who just want to share with the world. I admire the guts it takes to do something like this, especially knowing how harsh people can be on YouTube!
Fat Guy + Running = Skinny Guy
As someone would needs to drop a few pounds myself (say, in the 20-30 pound range), I found this video to be quite inspiring in its simplicity; the guy hit rock bottom, decided to change his life, and started running. The simplicity of the solution to dropping a few pounds never quite translates into action on my part however…
Hurricane Earl – Halifax, Nova Scotia – 2010
This is the awesome weather I’m seeing on the first day of our vacation to Eastern Canada. This was shot from the entrace to the Cambridge Suites hotel in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada, on September 4th, 2010.