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	<title>Vius</title>
	<link>http://www.vius.ca</link>
	<description>If you aren&#039;t staring Death square in the eyes, you aren&#039;t trying hard enough</description>
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		<title>Curb Shopping and Yard Sales</title>
		<description><![CDATA[When we left Calgary, we left all our furniture behind. Our daughter claimed anything she could fit in her apartment, and the remainder was given away to anyone that was willing to come pick it up. Now that we are in Halifax and need to purchase new (to us) furniture, we rediscover yard sales and [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://www.vius.ca/2010/08/curb-shopping-and-yard-sales/</link>
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		<title>A Day at the Beach</title>
		<description><![CDATA[They say, if you don&#8217;t like the weather just wait 5 minutes. They say this in Alberta, they say this in BC and they say this in Nova Scotia. But I&#8217;ve been waiting, I&#8217;ve been really patient, I&#8217;ve crossed my fingers and toes, but still nothing but hot, humid days here in Halifax. We had [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://www.vius.ca/2010/08/a-day-at-the-beach/</link>
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		<title>We have our new Home!</title>
		<description><![CDATA[We have purchased our dream. A house, over 100 acres of land, ponds and several barns in the Annapolis Valley. We now have our very own &#8216;Hundred Acre Wood&#8217;&#8230; Tell a friend Print for later]]></description>
		<link>http://www.vius.ca/2010/08/we-have-our-new-home/</link>
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		<title>Halifax Setup for a Plague</title>
		<description><![CDATA[Whenever I go to another place, I suffer a little culture shock. When we first arrived in Nova Scotia, the culture shock arose with their &#8220;Green Carts&#8220;. Green Carts are part of Halifax&#8217;s (and Nova Scotia&#8217;s in general) effort to reduce waste being placed in their land fills. Waste is to be separated into four [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://www.vius.ca/2010/08/halifax-setup-for-a-plague/</link>
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		<title>Shit Disturbers Reinvent the Wheel</title>
		<description><![CDATA[Automated testing of systems is my pet peeve: I think every computer system should have a series of tests that get run by another computer that test every problem ever thought of. My current employer has asked me to start developing a system just like this for their record keeping and delivery system. Currently my [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://www.vius.ca/2010/08/shit-disturbers-reinvent-the-wheel/</link>
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		<title>Hedge Laying</title>
		<description><![CDATA[I have always thought hedges are dumb. They serve little purpose, look like crap because people don&#8217;t take care of them, and get trashed when kids cut through them. Apparently that&#8217;s only because I live in North America. About two years ago I read a book, by an Englishman, about self-sufficiency. In this book he [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://www.vius.ca/2010/07/hedge-laying/</link>
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		<title>Student Loans: Pumpkin, I told you so</title>
		<description><![CDATA[Our daughter has finished her schooling, and now has a trade she can ply to earn a living. She has done this without a single scrap of student loans. This was not easy. During the entirety of her schooling she kept coming to us to get us to sign papers for student loans, but we [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://www.vius.ca/2010/07/student-loans-pumpkin-i-told-you-so/</link>
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		<title>Property Shopping</title>
		<description><![CDATA[Over the last two weeks, we have done a lot of house shopping. We have seen several properties along the Northumberland Strait, Annapolis Valley, and one in a town called Springhill. Unfortunately, at this point, the Strait seems to be a write off. None of the properties were geared for agricultural use at all. I [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://www.vius.ca/2010/07/property-shopping/</link>
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		<title>Still Here</title>
		<description><![CDATA[We aren&#8217;t dead yet. My (Jeff&#8217;s) cell phone number has changed; as of Monday, I have a job; and as of Thursday, we have phone and internet in the house. Still no furniture, but at least we are connected to the world again. For those of you who need to update phone numbers, feel free [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://www.vius.ca/2010/07/still-here/</link>
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		<title>Halifax: Lovely Place to Visit</title>
		<description><![CDATA[We have been in Halifax for three days now, and so far, all we are experiencing is a general malaise and depression. At first we thought it was Halifax itself, but yesterday we went on a tour of Halifax and noticed that it is a beautiful city. So the question becomes, what is wrong? At [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://www.vius.ca/2010/07/halifax-lovely-place-to-visit/</link>
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		<title>Internet/Phone</title>
		<description><![CDATA[We just stopped at the local Bell Store. We should have Internet and a house phone on July 8th. Until then, you may not hear much from us&#8230; Jeff has also changed his cell phone number, if you want the number, feel free to send an email or use the contact form. Obviously, I&#8217;m not [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://www.vius.ca/2010/06/internetphone/</link>
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		<title>Halifax</title>
		<description><![CDATA[We are in Halifax today, and it looks like we be getting moved into our apartment tomorrow afternoon. This is good news for us, as we are tired of the road. Unfortunately, this is bad news for you, as we won&#8217;t have an internet connection for a while. For the next few days, we will [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://www.vius.ca/2010/06/halifax/</link>
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		<title>Annapolis Royal</title>
		<description><![CDATA[We arrived in Annapolis Royal yesterday, today we cruised around the area with a list of properties we may be interested in. The goal was to identify what the communities, that these houses are in, feel like. We looked at places around Annapolis Royal, Bear River, Digby, and Centreville[1]. None of them really appealed to [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://www.vius.ca/2010/06/annapolis-royal/</link>
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		<title>Relaxing Day</title>
		<description><![CDATA[Today has been really nice, it has been our first full day where we have not had to be somewhere. We have booked our current room for 3 nights, so we are able to just kick back and relax for a couple of days. It started off with a fox hunt (with a camera). This [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://www.vius.ca/2010/06/relaxing-day/</link>
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		<title>We Made It!</title>
		<description><![CDATA[After a long and exciting trip, we arrived in our new home province of Nova Scotia yesterday evening. Tell a friend Print for later]]></description>
		<link>http://www.vius.ca/2010/06/we-made-it/</link>
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		<title>First Day in Nova Scotia</title>
		<description><![CDATA[First up&#8230; I&#8217;m a little annoyed with the motel (Hillcrest Motel, Pugwash, Nova Scotia). The place is very new, still smells of new carpet, however this means that there is no internet yet (internet was advertised), and no phone in the room. I believe the owner has been spending too much time watching the Home [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://www.vius.ca/2010/06/first-day-in-nova-scotia/</link>
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		<title>Only One Province Away</title>
		<description><![CDATA[We arrived in New Brunswick late this afternoon. We are now on the home stretch. The drivers in Quebec are in a class of their own. Driving through Montreal had Jeff&#8217;s adrenalin pumping so much that he didn&#8217;t need his morning coffee! Jeff will post about this experience later. It rained most of the day; [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://www.vius.ca/2010/06/only-one-province-away/</link>
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		<title>Last Leg</title>
		<description><![CDATA[People often tell me I drive like an old lady[1], but today, I drove through Montreal, with a small car and trailer, and I enjoyed it. For those of you that don&#8217;t know about Montreal driving, it involved ignoring the posted limit of 70, and keeping up with everyone doing 100 on very narrow lanes [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://www.vius.ca/2010/06/last-leg/</link>
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		<title>Quebec</title>
		<description><![CDATA[We have arrived in Quebec and it feels like we are almost on the home stretch. Tomorrow would should cross the New Brunswick border. It was raining when we left Sturgeon Falls this morning; here, close to Montreal, it is hot. It is always a shock to get out of an air conditioned car into [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://www.vius.ca/2010/06/quebec/</link>
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		<title>First Day in the Lakes</title>
		<description><![CDATA[June 17, 2010 Chimutisk was having a rough night, and started to fuss in his cage. It was almost time to get up so Sharon pulled him up on the bed. He settled right down and curled up between us on the bed. It was pretty cute. All we can think of is that he [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://www.vius.ca/2010/06/first-day-in-the-lakes/</link>
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		<title>Great Lakes</title>
		<description><![CDATA[The motel we stayed at was a terrible one, I would not recommend to anyone; especially after identifying the smell in the rug as urine. Stay away from the Westwood Motel in Ignace. We passed a sign stating we had crossed the national watershed line around 11:00 this morning. All rivers now flow the other [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://www.vius.ca/2010/06/great-lakes/</link>
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		<title>Portage La Prairie to Ignace</title>
		<description><![CDATA[We crossed into Ontario this afternoon (Tuesday). We decided to have an easier day and have made it to about 2 hours west of Thunder Bay. Northern Ontario is very similar to BC; lots of forest, rocks and lakes. We stopped in the very pretty town of Kenora around noon. Kenora sits on a huge [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://www.vius.ca/2010/06/portage-la-prairie-to-ignace/</link>
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		<title>Portage La Prairie</title>
		<description><![CDATA[Safari Motel I wanted to comment on the hotel we stayed at last night. It was great. The Safari Motel in Swift Current, Saskatchewan, is a great motel. The rate was decent, they are pet friendly, clean, and have some basic amenities. Honestly, the place was so well taken care of, I was a little [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://www.vius.ca/2010/06/portage-la-prairie/</link>
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		<title>We&#8217;re on our way!</title>
		<description><![CDATA[We have eventually hit the road, albeit a day later than expected. At 9 am, Jeff stood in the driveway shaking his head, he said,&#8221; not everything is going to fit&#8221;. 3 hours later we had the puzzle together and started our journey. We are in Swift Current, Saskatchewan tonight, it&#8217;s sunny and hot and [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://www.vius.ca/2010/06/were-on-our-way/</link>
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		<title>The Plan</title>
		<description><![CDATA[Today we have nothing left to do, before we leave, except to clean the house. Almost ready to go and we haven&#8217;t explained The Plan yet. This probably should have come a lot sooner, but here we are. We have talked about aspects of the plan, but let&#8217;s talk about it in real detail. Jobs [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://www.vius.ca/2010/06/the-plan/</link>
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		<title>The Movers Have Left!</title>
		<description><![CDATA[Everything has been loaded up and is on its way to Halifax, Nova Scotia. We will catch up with it again around July 1st. Tell a friend Print for later]]></description>
		<link>http://www.vius.ca/2010/06/the-movers-have-left/</link>
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		<title>The Movers are Here!</title>
		<description><![CDATA[Title says it all. Tell a friend Print for later]]></description>
		<link>http://www.vius.ca/2010/06/the-movers-are-here/</link>
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		<title>Wealth Instead of Riches</title>
		<description><![CDATA[One of the things I&#8217;ve been doing over the course of the last few articles, was defining a common vernacular. As is often the case, when people are debating an issue, the use of words actually gets in the way because two individuals are using the same term to mean two different things. Sharon and [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://www.vius.ca/2010/06/wealth-instead-of-riches/</link>
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		<title>Rise Early &#8211; Bake Bread</title>
		<description><![CDATA[While trying to use up my food staples I came across this recipe. http://www.eatingwell.com/recipes/honey_oat_quick_bread.html I made this bread a few weeks ago; it is delicious. Its texture and taste are a cross between a yeast bread and a quick bread. It&#8217;s great with butter, toasted or just sliced and eaten as is. You will need: 1 [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://www.vius.ca/2010/06/rise-early-bake-bread/</link>
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		<title>You Can&#8217;t Get Rich Farming</title>
		<description><![CDATA[You Can&#8217;t Get Rich Farming I know I don&#8217;t care I&#8217;m not trying Tell a friend Print for later]]></description>
		<link>http://www.vius.ca/2010/06/you-cant-get-rich-farming/</link>
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		<title>Our Life in Boxes</title>
		<description><![CDATA[We started packing. I know, it&#8217;s getting late, but up until this point we have been staring at the 24+ boxes of books we had packed earlier wondering where to start. (Did you know you can stack 24  paper boxes, cover them in a quilt and it looks just like a bed? Thank you Rosemary [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://www.vius.ca/2010/06/our-life-in-boxes/</link>
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		<title>On Coming to, and Leaving Calgary</title>
		<description><![CDATA[Calgary has been my home for many years now. Originally from England; I made my space here in my early twenties. I have survived, although not thrived, many winters of temperatures it’s hard to imagine until you live them. I have promised myself time and time again to enjoy the short, short summer, only to [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://www.vius.ca/2010/06/on-coming-to-and-leaving-calgary-2/</link>
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		<title>Surprise! We meant it</title>
		<description><![CDATA[On Thursday (two days ago), I stopped by the offices of a company I used to work for (two years and a half years ago). I had gone for lunch with an friend and we stopped by the office for a hand-shake/good-bye to a few of the people I worked with. Every one of them [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://www.vius.ca/2010/06/surprise-we-meant-it/</link>
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		<title>Voluntary Vulnerability</title>
		<description><![CDATA[I have long stated that I do not have any patience for people who make victims of themselves. People who live crappy lives, but take no action to get themselves out of the trouble they are in. These people irk me. More often than not, they are the people that feel the world owes them [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://www.vius.ca/2010/06/voluntary-vulnerability/</link>
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		<title>Last Mortgage Payment&#8230; EVER!</title>
		<description><![CDATA[Sharon and I live a very simple lifestyle. That is part of what brought us together[1]. Today, all the scrimping and saving paid off a little. From this day forward, we should never have another mortgage payment for our home.[2] This is huge. Prior to this, nearly $1000 every month was required to go to [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://www.vius.ca/2010/06/last-mortgage-payment-ever/</link>
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		<title>Going Full Circle&#8230;and back</title>
		<description><![CDATA[We have decided to drive my car to Nova Scotia. We have gone through many different ways to get there but all have been thwart with problems in one way or another. So now we come full circle back to my car. Option 1. Take my car with utility trailer in tow Option 2. (this [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://www.vius.ca/2010/06/going-full-circle-and-back/</link>
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		<title>Anti-Smoking</title>
		<description><![CDATA[Today is World No Tobacco Day 2010, and as an unapologetic smoker it seems like a pretty good time to say something. First I would like to distinguish between non-smokers (like Sharon), and anti-smokers. I have the utmost respect for those people in the world who have chosen not to smoke: they were faced with [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://www.vius.ca/2010/05/anti-smoking/</link>
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		<title>Illegal Chickens</title>
		<description><![CDATA[One of the reasons Sharon and I are leaving Calgary is due to the inability to grow our own food. When we had purchased our first house together, we put a lot of effort choosing one that would allow us to grow a certain amount of our own food. After moving in we began the [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://www.vius.ca/2010/05/illegal-chickens/</link>
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		<title>Found a Place</title>
		<description><![CDATA[We have found a place! We are now subletting a little one bedroom apartment for six months. This is good news, we were starting to think that I may have to call up the job and tell them I couldn&#8217;t do it. As it stands, we are still pressing forward. The rent is even a [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://www.vius.ca/2010/05/found-a-place/</link>
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		<title>The Here and Now</title>
		<description><![CDATA[Today I sit here and realize I’ve contributed nothing to this blog yet. Today I look around and realize that we haven’t packed a single thing. Today I mull over our options and realize we have nowhere to go. Today I realize that my husband types really fast. Today I smile; I’ve made my first [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://www.vius.ca/2010/05/the-here-and-now/</link>
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		<title>Renting in Halifax</title>
		<description><![CDATA[So, I have a 6 month contract lined up in Halifax. I won&#8217;t mention where until I finish all the paper work but I will say that I start July 5. This is going to make our transition to Nova Scotia a whole lot easier as now we will have an income while we search [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://www.vius.ca/2010/05/renting-in-halifax/</link>
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		<title>H1N1 Hoax</title>
		<description><![CDATA[Well, apparently I&#8217;ve been left out of the loop. We are witnesssing a gigantic misallocation of resources in terms of public health. Governments and public health services are wasting huge amounts of money in investing in pandemic diseases whose evidence base is weak. http://www.coe.int/t/dc/files/events/2010_h1n1/default_en.asp Basically, around January, a bunch of EU Parliments decided that something [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://www.vius.ca/2010/05/h1n1-hoax/</link>
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		<title>Housing Prices in Canada</title>
		<description><![CDATA[Recently the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation changed some of the rules for getting mortgages. They have raised the minimum down-payment requirements for mortgages they will insure (the down-payment must be 10% instead of 5%). One of my Sharon&#8217;s managers was really bummed over this. He has been saving to buy a house for a [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://www.vius.ca/2010/05/housing-prices-in-calgary/</link>
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		<title>Healthy Pets</title>
		<description><![CDATA[Sharon and I have two pets: a rabbit (Stewie) and a ferret (Chimutisk). Today was a trip to the vet for both of them. For the most part we do not take our pets to the vet. They get treated like the humans for the most part and do not get to see the veterinarian [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://www.vius.ca/2010/05/healthy-pets/</link>
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		<title>The Way</title>
		<description><![CDATA[I&#8217;ve spent the last three weeks trying to get this site up and running; desperately fighting against the lost opportunity of things I want to write about. Now, as I have the site up, and I stare at the blank screen ready for my commentary, I find I don&#8217;t know what to say. Perhaps its [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://www.vius.ca/2010/05/the-way/</link>
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		<title>A (short) Fairy Tale</title>
		<description><![CDATA[Once upon a time there was a princess who lived with her prince in a nice little home in the big city. They worked hard together; making their house a home and building a small garden. After a while the prince &#38; princess yearned for their own kingdom; someplace they could feel free and fend [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://www.vius.ca/2010/05/a-short-fairy-tale/</link>
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