Bulletin January 2013

EDITORIAL:                                                                                                   January, 2013

OOOOPS!

Last month we published an article discussing OAP/CPP changes etc. That article was provided by Jay Cheek.  Unfortunately it appeared over the editor’s name.  My only involvement with that article was  “cut & paste”.   In order to ensure that error does not occur in future we have changed our formatting.  Editorials will be unsigned from now forward.

GIVE YOUR RETIREMENT A BOOST

TD Bank’s Wealth & Wisdom report has some good advice for all of us.  Here are the retirement savings tips they are suggesting, condensed to fit this space.  Thanks TD!

Revisit your retirement plans.  Talk with your investment advisor about your vision of retirement.  Determine the lifestyle you want and work with the advisor to plot what it will take to reach those goals.

Save more.  Crunching the  numbers is one thing but do what you can to boost your savings.  We live longer and spend more time in retirement.  The more you can save today the greater your financial flexibility tomorrow.

Make it automatic.  Make it a point to contribute raises, bonuses, tax refunds etc. to your RSP or other savings vehicles.  Contribute just a little bit more to your savings vehicles.

Borrow prudently.  Interest levels are low.  Perhaps even borrow to top up your nest egg.

Consider a spousal RSP.  This could increase your retirement tax savings after retirement.  The higher income spouse contributes to the other spouse.  The contributor receives the tax deduction on the contribution and on withdrawal the tax is taken from the plan holder – could allow a nice income splitting opportunity.

Take advantage of your TFA.  Tax free!  Need anyone say more?

Keep working.  (Not you Martin) You can contribute to your RSP up until age 71.

Review your asset allocation.  There may be a better way to manage your retirement savings.

Do Not Take My Word For It – See your professional advisor for planning assistance!

Welcome to 2013.  We made it beyond 12/12/12 & beyond 12/21/12, the end of the Mayan calendar.

Nothing to worry about now until the sun loses its energy in 4 billion years!

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ROTARY’S THE FOUR WAY TEST

 We usually associate the 4-way test with a wonderful tool for the Sergeant at arms. In fact, it is a very serious tenant of Rotary. The 4-Way test was created by Rotarian Herbert J. Taylor in 1932 when he was asked to take charge of the Chicago based Club Aluminum Company, which was facing bankruptcy. The struggling company was mired in depression caused by financial difficulties.

As part of his recovery plan Taylor drew up a 24 word code of ethics for all employees to follow both at work and at home (could we do that these days?). This document became the required guide for sales, production, advertising and all relations with dealers and customers. The eventual survival of the company was credited to this simple philosophy.

 The 4-Way Test was adopted by Rotary in 1943 and has been translated into more than 100 languages and published in thousands of ways. Herb Taylor became president of Rotary International in 1954-55.

The message has proven its worth not just to Rotary, but to thousands of business men and women around the world who are known for their high ethical standards.

Of all the things that we think, say or do:

 1. Is it the TRUTH?

 2. Is it FAIR to all concerned?

 3. Will it build GOODWILL and BETTER FRIENDSHIPS?

 4. Will It be BENEFICIAL to all concerned?

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MY BUSINESS

“But you were always a good man of business, Jacob,” faltered Scrooge, who now began to apply this to himself.

“Business!” cried the Ghost, wringing its hands again. “Mankind was my business; charity, mercy, forbearance, and benevolence were, all, my business.  The dealings of my trade were but a drop of water in the comprehensive ocean of my business!”

 - Charles Dickens, A Christmas Carol

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Not long ago a friend was attempting to assemble one of those do it yourself office desks. When I went to look, he was becoming pretty frustrated because the components did not seem to make sense, some parts did not look at all like the diagrams and generally,” do it yourself” was becoming “Why did I buy this thing” and “who in blazes designed it?”  The specifications were very frustrating.  That reminded me of a story; 

The US Standard railroad gauge (distance between the rails) is 4 feet, 8.5 inches.  Now, that seems to be an  odd number.  Why that gauge?  Well, that is because that’s the way they built them in England and the US railroads were built by English expatriates.

So, why did the English build the railroads with that gauge?  Because the first railroads were built by the same people who built the pre-railroad tramways, and that’s the gauge they used.  Ok, well, why did the tramways use those specs, they are so odd?  Because the people who built the tramways used the same jigs and tools they previously used for building wagons.  Those wagons had that wheel spacing.  Fine, but why did the wagons have such an odd wheel spacing?

Well, if they tried to use any other gauge the wagon wheels would break, especially on the long, old Roman wagon roads over rough country.  The ruts in the old wagon roads could be so deep and hard that the wheels of any other size were susceptible to being caught in a rut and breaking.   So, how come the old long roads were that bad?  The first long distance roads in Europe were built by Imperial Rome for the benefit of their Legions.  The roads have been used ever since.  Yeah, okay, but, why the ruts? 

The ruts were a result of the road use by the Roman war Chariots and everyone else had to match for fear of destroying their own wagon wheels.  Since the chariots were made for, or by, Imperial Rome they all had the same gauge.  So, why were the chariots made to that spacing?  Well, the chariots were pulled by two horses. They had to be wide enough to accommodate the width of the backsides of the two horses, and did not have to be any wider that two standing passengers.  Whatever the size of the two horses used to build the first war chariot became the specs for all chariots.

Now we now have the answer to the first question;   The United States Standard railroad gauge of 4 feet, 8.5 inches derives from the original specification for Imperial Roman war chariots.  So, the next time you are working on a project and wonder what “horses a…” came up with such a difficult specification, you know that answer as well; Specifications sometimes never change over centuries.

Wait, there is more!  When we would see a space shuttle sitting on the launch pad there were two big booster rockets attached to the sides of the main fuel tank.  These are the solid rocket boosters, or SRBs.  SRBs were made by Thiokol at a factory in Utah.  The engineers who designed the SRBs might have preferred to make them a bit fatter but the SRBs had to be shipped by train from the factory to the launch site.  The railroad line to the factory runs through a tunnel in the mountains, and other narrow places.  The SRBs had to fit past all such hazards.  Consider then, train tunnels are just a small bit wider than a railroad track; the railroad track is 4’ 8.5”; and that is the width of the Imperial Roman war chariots.

It is incredible!  A major design feature of arguably the most advanced transportation system was determined in old Imperial Rome by the width of a horses butt!

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OUR MEMBERS:

Angela Ammann        Lawyer

Mike Austin               Investments

Wade Beaulieu           Insurance

Willy Berger               Real Estate

Jack Burgar                Retired

Jay Cheek                   Accountant

Walt Cobb                  Renovations

Dan Derksen              Eye Care

Dave Dickson            Community

Doug Dodge              Surveyor

Lorne Doerksen         Auto Sales

Keith Dufresne           Forestry

Karen Eden                 CFDC

Nancy Giesbrecht       TRU

Brian Goodrich       Computing

Don Goodrich           Surveyor

John Hack                 Computing

David Hall                 Investments

Martin Hamm            Retired

Tom Hoffman           Forestry

Glen Holling             Real Estate

Denise Ivens             Banking

Cameron Johnston    Ministry

Randy Kadonaga       Ministry

Bevan Koch               Auto Sales

Chris McGuire          Equipment

Bob McIntosh           Retired

Ed Mead                    Retired

Ed Novakowski         Retired

Darrell Orosz          Forestry

Bob Piderman         Investments

Dave Polak              Auto Sales

Ray Sanders            TRU Director

Linda Symynuk       Tea House

Keith Tjosvold         HVAC

Scott Tucker            Hardware

Betty Turatus           TRU

Don Urquhart          Printing

Rod Voth                Construction

Guenter Weckerle    Lumber

Irene Willsie            Womens Care

Uli Wittal                 Foods

Glenn Woods          Retired

Corry Wowk           Office Eqpt

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CRCID, What is that?????

Our club recently enjoyed the company of a Rotarian involved in the Canadian Rotary Collaboration for International Development.  Following is a bit more information than we might have been able to hear during his presentation.

CRCID is a supplementary funding source available to Canadian Rotary clubs engaged in sustainable World Community Service projects and programs.  CRCID funds are provided by the Canadian Government through the Canadian Development Agency, as CDIC has funds available.   Key components are Water, Sanitation, Literacy, Education and Health concerns.

CRCID collaborates with Rotary entities, Governments and other NGOs to facilitate development.  CRCID also helps with implementation, monitoring, evaluation and reporting of effective programs that meet the needs of partner communities being assisted.  Each of our projects must be both Environmentally Sustainable and promote Gender Equality.

Currently CRCID has 133 international projects looking for $13,359,963 earmarked just for Rotary Pilot Districts (we are one), plus 337 international projects looking for $10, 391,000  earmarked for non-pilot clubs.   The needs run from schools to wells, water to food, health to education, very large and  very small projects.  If you have ever thought about our club being involved in a sustainable international project  go to www.crcid.org/  click on “current programs” &  perhaps find a good cause for  us to consider.