Year: 2022

Clean the Slate

Clean the Slate website is down at the moment, probably because of the broken SSL certificate.
Let’s hope it will be up again; otherwise, it looks suspicious.

Luckily, I have saved their presentation… twice. 🙂
And funny enough, these two versions are slightly different.
Old version: SOT Presentation
New version: SOT Presentation (11-29-2022)

The differences are:

  • Page 6 has some modifications;
  • Page 8(old), “When the Dust Settled…”, was removed;
  • Pages 22(old) / 21(new) has some differences;
  • Page 34(old) / 33(new), “Our Strategic Plan”, was changed;
  • Page 39(old), “Fishery Products International Ltd.”, was removed;

Am I too paranoid checking all these small details? 😀

Bloodbath and beyond

Well, it’s the end of the year, and I can post a quick update on stocks and finally boast about my investment achievements.
Also, must admit that this text is still written by me and not by ChatGPT, so typos and mistakes are all mine.

Let’s go.
Continue reading “Bloodbath and beyond”

All-in-One Solitaire for Windows


Finally, I was able to release a free version of the All-in-One Solitaire game on the Windows Store.
I had a paid version before, a Javascript UWP (Universal Windows Platform) app, which was an OpenFL HTML5 app integrated into the Visual Studio project.
But then starting VS2019 Microsoft dropped support for Javascript UWP projects and… Free version didn’t happen. After some time I removed even paid version because it was getting harder to update it.

Microsoft pushed Javascript developers (at least me) to make PWA (Progressive Web App), which in a nutshell is just a cached website that you open in a slightly modified browser window.
I guess Google started it first with their ChromeOS, all apps are just web applications (websites). It seems like MS is moving in the same direction.
So far, the availability of decent software for ChromeOS is depressing. I use a Chromebook while traveling because it is small, lite, and works 10 hours on a single charge, but finding even a good email client was a problem. Thanks to Android support, I’ve downloaded one from Google Play, but using the “made for touch screen” app on a no-touch screen is an adventure. 🙂

Ok, back to All-in-One Solitaire.
Free version (instead of paid one) is available for Windows 10/11 here:
All-in-One Solitaire for Windows

Bye-bye PayPal!

Several Premium players contacted me and asked to switch to something different; otherwise, they would stop paying.
Recent controversy around PayPal was the last drop for them and for me. 🙂
Even though Premium Membership at Pozirk Games is a tiny source of my revenue, and I’m not a big PayPal hater (but definitely not a fan), I’ve started looking for alternatives.
Personally, I find PayPal‘s user interface clumsy, slow and buggy. I had several problems with PayPal in the past, including not being able to withdraw funds and, more recently, not being able to add a secondary email address. 🙄

The plugin I use supports a limited number of payment gateways; thus, my other alternative was Stripe.
Surprisingly, it took me just around half an hour to open an account and make it work on my website.
The process was smooth and intuitive.

Also, Stripe allows Canadians to withdraw USD funds to a USD bank account.
PayPal, on the other hand, allows withdrawals only to CAD bank accounts, forcing the conversion of USD to CAD at an unfavourable rate. Booo-hooo!

Of course, I can’t close my PayPal account right away because there are lots of active subscriptions, but, I guess, slowly everyone will be moved over to Stripe.

Canada Emergency Business Account

Canada Emergency Business Account aka CEBA aka Helicopter Money for Small Businesses.

The CEBA program offered interest-free loans of up to $60,000 to small businesses and not-for-profits.
For eligible CEBA borrowers in good standing, repaying the balance of the loan on or before December 31, 2023 will result in loan forgiveness of up to 33 percent (up to $20,000).

Source: https://ceba-cuec.ca

The original date for repayment was December 31, 2022, but

The Government of Canada has extended the December 31, 2022 repayment date to December 31, 2023 for CEBA loan holders.

Kicking the can down the road? Oh yeah!
Continue reading “Canada Emergency Business Account”

Bottom fishing

While it’s funny to watch how prices on stocks, houses, cars, and everything else (especially crypto garbage) are crashing, I keep asking myself, “Where is the bottom?”
I’m basically 50% cash at the moment, and it’s burning my pocket, even with 3%+ interest rates on Savings account.
Patience is a Virtue. 😀

On a side note, I have 6 posts in Drafts, and I’m too lazy to finish them, so I’m writing this one instead…

Goodfood, bankruptcy secured?

As a result of a breach of a covenant under our credit facilities in the fourth quarter, the Company entered
into a tolerance letter with its lenders in the fourth quarter, which restricts us from using the revolver portion
of the facilities, under which no amount is currently outstanding. At year-end, the Company had $38 million
of cash and cash equivalents and no amounts drawn from the revolver. Goodfood is in the process of
pursuing a revised credit facility arrangement. There can be no assurance as to such an arrangement being
put in place and in a timely manner, or the terms of such an arrangement.

Source: Goodfood Provides Strategic and Financial Update

But there is more:

As a result, we are announcing that we have or will be closing all our MFCs
and the shut down of our wider 30-minute on-demand offering.

So, apparently on-demand groceries are not in the plans for long-term growth any more.
Management was telling a completely different story at the beginning of 2022.

FOOD is left with just 2 distribution centers, C$38M in cash, and they are about to lose lots of customers.
Inflation is high, interest rates are rising… Bankruptcy is the most likely outcome for Goodfood Market.

Who wants to be a Vermilionaire?

My first purchase of Vermilion Energy Inc. (TSX:VET, NYSE:VET) shares was in the second half of 2019 at around C$27.
I was chasing yield (whoa, 15% dividends!) and didn’t read financial reports (debt, what debt?). 
Basically, I sucked at stock investments back then even more than I suck now. The timing was very bad, and COVID with lockdowns was just 8 months away. 
My 15% dividends turned into 0% and the stock price dropped to as low as ~C$3 in the middle of 2020.

VET price chart. Source: Yahoo! Finance

Continue reading “Who wants to be a Vermilionaire?”

Chinese Solitaire and Terrace Solitaire

Chinese Solitaire Terrace Solitaire
Just added two new Solitaire games to All-in-One Solitaire.
Only the HTML5 version is updated at the moment, but I will release updates for Android and iOS soon.
While Terrace Solitaire has been in my plans for some time already, one of the players asked to add Chinese Solitaire.
Let’s hope I’ve added the right version.
Have fun! 🙂

Alex Berenson, manipulation through omission

I was randomly surfing the Internet and stumbled upon a Substack by Alex Berenson.
It seems that Alex is a big opponent of COVID vaccines and vaccines in general.
I can’t argue about vaccines, as I’m not an expert on that topic . So my opinion is as good as everybody else’s.
To be completely truthful, I’m not an expert in anything. 🙂
Continue reading “Alex Berenson, manipulation through omission”

DISCLAIMER: The content in this blog represents the opinion of the author. No information here should be used for any purpose except for entertainment.