I have no problem with cold. I used to live in Winnipeg and walk to work (on the corner of Portage and Main - try standing there and having a cigarette in the middle of winter. Talk about windchill) and quite enjoyed the brisk -30 days. I have had enough of shoveling to last a lifetime though. I’ve already earmarked part of my tax refund to go toward a snowblower for next year.
If I moved to Victoria, I’d pay whatever it takes to take my snowblower with me. Hell, I’d even buy a new leaf blower, just in case.
Home from lunch from skiing. Heading back out in a little while. Fourth day in a row on the slopes. We had a foot and a half of fresh on Thursday night, and more is falling today. About the only problem is the flat light, which makes seeing the slope a little bit more difficult.
The cold doesn’t bug me (too much); it’s the walking conditions that drive me out of my tree. Six months of icy sidewalks with the chance of serious injury when I go for a walk multiple times every week makes me miserable. 
What would you do with the snowblower? I guess you could keep it in the garage and have your neighbours over to look at it in awe. As in “awe heck, what is that thing?”
(To be honest, there was about 0.5 cm of snow overnight… if you got out there before 8:00 am when it all melted, you could have “blown” it off your driveway I suppose)
I hate with the heat of 1,000 suns having to shovel snow, but with my luck, just as I move to Victoria (which I’m not going to do) the Earth’s tilt would change and polar bears from Churchill would wander the streets after migrating there across the frozen strait from Vancouver after eating the population.
I visited Victoria for a few days in Autumn, several years back. Beautiful city, with a very apt name.
I was astonished to see palm trees in Canada; I had no idea.
Can I file income tax as a separated individual, even though the official paperwork has not yet been signed?
Things came to a screeching halt in October 2012. On April 1st 2013 my wife moved out, with the kids. I was getting the kids every second weekend, but in the last 2 months I’ve had them every weekend: which is fine by me, and them apparently. I digress.
I informed my (still legal) wife that we would need to file income tax as married this year, but she insists we file as separated. Can we do that? The paperwork has never been officially filed.
I know you’re not my lawyer, etc.
You should call the CRA about this. The short answer is that once separated but not yet divorced, you file as separated (married but separated, as opposed to divorced), but it gets a little complicated, for example with child tax benefits, in which you have to wait at least 90 days following separation to file as separated. In any event, it can get a bit messy if the two of you do not agree which way to go before filing.
Separation is a state of mind, which can be established by a party’s actions. Your having moved apart and your having paperwork to show that you no longer wish to live in a conjugal relationship with each other should be sufficient to prove that you have separated. It would be nice to have a signed separation agreement to tie everything up in a bow, but it is not usually necessary if the parties agree upon the information that each of them is sending in to the CRA (e.g. separation date, number of dependant children, parenting arrangements, and who is to get what deductions/benefits). It can, however, get really weird concerning the deductibility of periodic spousal support payments, so if you wish to receive such a deduction, get a separation agreement signed by the two of you that states that the monthly payments will be deductible to you and taxable to her. There are some severe limits concerning this if you try to do it retroactively, to take great care to not fall into this hole.
It was a dark(but not stormy) night, and a transport got it in its head to suddenly turn right from the left hand lane. Fuckity, fuckity, fuckity. Missed by inches.
Leaffan, could we trade some of the good ones you have down your way for the shit-for-brains we have up here?
Is it just me or are they calling snow days much easier today than in yester-years? We had about 5cm of snow on the ground at 7am (a bit of blowing) and clear skies from 10am on (as forecast) and they still cancel school?!?!?
[old fogey hat]In my day they didn’t cancel school unless it was -40c with blizzard conditions. There might be a 90 min late start or, if the snow was bad, they would cancel the buses but the school would still be open for parents who could get their kids in. Damn kids these days have it too soft!! [/ofh]
Thank you. I didn’t realize separation was “a state of mind.” I thought we would need to provide certified documentation. We have an agreement, but it has not been signed by us or the lawyer. I keep asking her to move forward with this, she has it in her possession, but alas, it never happens.
Regarding the severe limits on retroactive spousal support: I assume you mean trying to clean this up in future tax years. So filing for 2013 with spousal support, which I’ve been paying, is the way to go, if we both agree on it. Correct?
Yes.
Three cheers for the Dryden police! Seeing as one of the lives they will save may be mine – Dryden is the next city up the line – I’m tickled about this.
Consider an elderly couple who have been happily married for sixty years, but due to different health concerns have not lived in the same care facility for several years. Although physically and permanently living apart, they are not separated for family law purposes because neither of them consider themselves to no longer be a couple.
Consider a couple who have hated each other’s guts and been at war with each other for eighteen years while living in the same house together, albeit living entirely independently. Although physically living together, they are separated for family law purposes because they were absolutely certain that their marriage was over. (Ironically, these folks didn’t do a lick of work on their house in all that time, each demanding that the other keep it in repair, so it fell apart around them, despite them both being fully employed as maintenance/janitors.)
Since it is hard to tell when one or the other party reached the mindset of “Fuckit, it’s definitely over!”, we look for verifiable indicia of the mindset, such as when a person first consults a family lawyer, or packs off to a relative’s home, or starts concealing funds, etc. For most folks the separation date is not too important, but if there is a sudden change in finances, it can be extremely important, for in Ontario the equalization of net family property (the splitting of the net growths of each of the parties with each other) is mostly based on their net growths between date of marriage and date of separation. If Fred wins the lottery, he might claim that he and Wilma were already separated before he won but he didn’t have the funds to move out (which would result in her not sharing in his winnings), whereas Wilma might claim that they had not separated and only after winning did Fred get it in his head to dump her for a new model (which would result in her sharing his winnings). That’s where we look at all the relevant indicia to try to figure out when one or the other really figured it was over.
Very glad to hear about the “missed by inches” part. :eek:
That’s what I recall, too (as another member of the Old Fogey Club).
The Calgary police do blitzes on various things occasionally; they never make any difference. What might make some difference is reliable enforcement of the driving laws, but that does not happen here. Most drivers know that blowing through red lights or stop signs or talking on the cell phone while driving will result in no consequences whatsoever. I’ve started taking pictures of people speeding through school zones on my daily walks, and I take something like 20 pictures each time, in a half hour stretch.
I’m putting this in here where hockey fans can see it,
Canada and Latvia are tied 1-1 after 2 periods. Latvia! They have one NHLer, Zemgus Girgensons of the Buffalo Sabres.
Canada cannot lose this freakin’ game.
DAMN! 90% over the line, but there should have been a penalty shot for the Latvian player grabbing the puck.
Yeah, but Ted Nolan is coaching Latvia!!! I am so conflicted on this one - I work for a national First Nations organization and everyone in the office is tuned into the game. And everyone is as conflicted as I am - Ted’s from Garden River and at least 4 of my co-workers are from there.
Oh, thank God!