About 95% of Reinvented’s income comes from the U.S.A. So we get paid in U.S. dollars. And U.S. dollars keep getting less valuable. He’s a snapshot of the last week, for example:

In the real world of cashing cheques (or rather checks, as they spell down there) this means that a $US10,000 check cashed last Wednesday would have garnered $CDN1630 in exchange while the same check cashed today would garner only $CDN1450, a difference of $180 in only a week. That’s a lot of lunches at the Formosa Tea House.

The unfortunate irony of all this is that it’s in my best interests for the Canadian dollar to be worth less, something which happens, I presume, only when Canada is a less attractive and stable place to live. If only Quebec would separate, I could cash in!

We’re in the midst of a Plebiscite on Mixed Member Proportional Representation System here on Prince Edward Island this week: advance polls ran last week; office voting is this week; Plebiscite Day is Monday — see vote.electionspei.ca to find out where to vote.

One of the interesting side-effects of the plebiscite is that I have spent more time talking with friends and family about the intricacies of the democratic process in the past month than I have in my entire life leading up to this month. Evidence suggests that I’m not alone.

No matter the results of the plebiscite vote, an enduring legacy of the plebiscite will be a population more aware of how we are governed. And that’s a Good Thing.

Regular readers will know of my fondness for Honest Tea iced tea, and of my difficulties with finding a local supply.

I’m sad to report that it looks like Shoppers Drug Mart, the only local supplier of Honest Tea here in Charlottetown, has given up the ghost, as shelf space previously dedicated to Honest Tea has been given over to Bottle Green, a link of lightly-carbonated fruit drinks from the Mississauga-based Canadian licensee of the U.K. softdrink maker.

I’m drinking a “Cranberry & Orange Pressé” as I write. It’s certainly a cut above the common soda, but it is, alas, no Honest Tea. I purchased the entire fleet of flavours tonight, and I’ll report back once I’ve had time to sample them.

Every Saturday morning Oliver and I go to the Charlottetown Farmer’s Market. We’ve developed a regular routine: first we go to Kim Dormaar’s stand and order up two bagels with smoked salmon, cream cheese, capers, dill and lemon (no onions). Then we head over the Karin LaRonde’s stand for an iced tea (see here) and, in recent weeks, a tasty “double chocolate and ginger” cookie.

We learned from Kim this week that he’s found a solution to the draconian food exporting regulations that the U.S. passed after 911: he’s got a warehouse in Maine. As a result, Americans can order Kim’s Medallion Smoked Salmon products for quick U.S. delivery without all the costs and time required to get individual orders across the border.

As Oliver and I can attest, Kim makes an excellent product, and if you’ve got a hankering for smoked salmon, eel or trout, I can’t imagine a better source.

Regular readers may recall that Dick Gordon left WBUR earlier this year. Eric Eggertson reports that Gordon will soon surface at WUNC, the NPR station in Chapel Hill, North Carolina.

dartmaps is a Google Maps-based application that shows “the (estimated) locations of all running DARTs (suburban train service) in the city of Dublin, Ireland.” Cool.

For some unexplained reason, our ISN high-speed Internet here at home has suddenly got blazingly fast. I mean blazingly fast. Wow.

As February 2006 grows ever closer, we’re starting to flesh out the details of the Zap Your PRAM Conference. We’re slowly starting to populate the program with ideas for discussion (we welcome suggestions), and we’ve started to keep track of who’s coming (okay, so it’s only Steven, Dan and I right now — but there are many others on the verge of confirming — really!)

If you’re interested in coming to Zap, please contact us.

Here are the traffic statistics for this week for the Interactive Charlottetown Transit Map:

Notice that little 5,565% increase from Monday to Tuesday? That’s a direct result of the web suddenly noticing that I’d released a documented “DIY Google Maps” application:

• Build a Google Maps service
• Creare un’applicazione con Google Maps
• Build your own Google Maps service
• Autobuses y googlemaps. O un ejemplo para aprender a usar google maps
• Mapas interactivos con Google Earth
• Usando Google Maps
• PHP und google map

There’s something incredibly cool about hacking together some code, trying to explain it enough so that others can figure out what you did, and then watching other people get interested in it. In Italian, no less.

There are already people releasing their variations of the map for their area.

This isn’t an earth shattering web app. But it is my first experience of the “if you explain it, they will come” phenomenon. It feels nice to pay back the endless gigabytes of others’ advice that I’ve received over the years.

The ultimate traveller — an article about my friend Harold Stephens.