Paper Surprise.

I got a nice surprise this afternoon.  I dropped into the Centre at Circle and 8th Dollarama to buy a couple of things.  I paid with a ten, and in return got back a 2006 series five dollar bill.  When I expressed surprise at this the clerk mentioned he'd seen recently seen a twenty from the previous series of bills.  The 2006 series were a slightly modified version of the 2002 series bills, incorporating a new holographic stripe on the front, and gold metallic "dashes" on the back, to deter counterfeiting.  They were the last Canadian fives printed on paper, being replaced by polymer bills in 2013.

Besides the surprise of it actually being a paper bill this late in the day the bill itself is in terrific condition for its age.  The paper is still very crisp, there's little creasing, and it's very clean.  This all makes me wonder where this thing has been all these years.  Has it been sitting in someone's personal stash?  Did it come out of the bottom of a cash drawer, or the safe of some business?  It's a reasonable guess it didn't come from a bank, since they're supposed to return any paper bills to the Bank of Canada for disposal.  There's no way to find out of course.

Flakes.

I woke up this morning to find some flakes of snow lazily floating out of the sky.  Unfortunately they didn't last long, as we need the precipitation here.  We've had virtually none this month so far, and there have already been several brush fires in the Saskatoon area.  To the west of us the town of Biggar actually declared an emergency earlier this week as a result of a nearby brush fire.  The current forecast calls for only a 30 percent chance of showers today, but Saturday night and Sunday are supposed to see rain and snow.  Let's hope that forecast holds up.

900.

I've been waiting for this one for a long time.  I've finally had my 900th bill hit at Where's Willy.  It hasn't travelled very far since I entered it back in 2017, but a hit is still a hit.  My total hits at the moment are 1068, so the next big milestone will be hit 1100, which is probably some time away.

Global Flops Again.

If you're reading this, producer and lineup editor of Global's supper hour newscast, you screwed up again.  Why was Tiger Woods winning the Masters today your lead story today?  Woods is an American, and the Masters take place in Augusta, Georgia.  Bad weather in Eastern North America and Monday's Alberta provincial election are stories that should have been given priority.  Woods should have been placed near the end of the program. 

Gas In Saskatoon, April 12, 2019.

Time to dig just a little bit deeper into your wallet.  Gas in Saskatoon is currently 129.9 cents a litre at most stations. 

Double Deal.

I went out to get a snack a bit ago.  I got a nice surprise when I received a bill marked for both Where's Willy?  and Canadian Money Tracker at the Safeway in Market Mall.  It's the first marked bill I've entered into CMT since July of 2016, while the last marked bill I'd entered at Where's Willy? was in September of last year.  My entries were the second hit on this bill, which travelled from Saskatoon to MacDowall and then back to Saskatoon.

Gas In Saskatoon, April 5, 2019.

Up we go again.  Gas in Saskatoon is now 123.9 cents a litre at most locations.  I'm guessing we'll see 130 cents a litre pretty soon.

Done Early.

I actually managed to get my 2018 income tax return done this morning.  Usually I do it a couple of days before the deadline.  Hopefully if I actually get a carbon tax refund from it the cheque will appear by early May as a result.