Happy Canada Day Investors!

We are starting to feel the beginning of a heat wave in Montreal. It actually started yesterday. Yesterday evening, I was in the middle of a crowd, patiently waiting for Willow at the Montreal Jazz Festival. I was very excited to see her. Unfortunately, at one point while I was waiting, I began not to feel too well, so I left my precious spot and went to the TD Studio, where there was a free show in an air-conditioned performance hall.

I probably spent around one hour there, and afterward, I decided to go back outside to hear Willow. Luckily, the weather was much better by then. However, on different occasions - at least two times, Willow had to interrupt her show because she noticed that some spectators needed assistance. They were probably suffering from the heat. I would probably have been one of them if I had spent the whole evening outside in that crowd.

This evening, it is even hotter outside in Montreal, so I decided not to go anywhere. I didn’t miss a single night of the Francos, and let’s hope this will be the only evening of the Jazz Festival that I miss.

I was off today. I woke up later than expected because I was exhausted. I went for lunch at a lovely spot I had never been to before, quite popular on the Plateau: the Café Santropol. It has a lovely outdoor garden. I didn’t get to take many pictures because the place was pretty full, and it rained a little. Afterward, I spent the afternoon at the pool. It was a fun day.

That sandwich was very good!

I am currently reading Le Neuvième Jour by Hervé Bazin. The book was published in 1994, and it appears to be his last published work. Bazin died two years later, in 1996. I was 16 years old at the time.

If you read Le Neuvième Jour, you will basically be reading something very close to what we experienced with COVID-19. It is very strange to read, and sincerely, not very enjoyable, because it brings me back to that sad period. I was one of the lucky ones: I never got COVID-19. But I also worked very hard at avoiding it. Some family members did get it, but not in the early days, when everything was still fresh and frightening. It happened later, once we had vaccines and COVID had become somewhat easier to handle.

Still, those early COVID days were not happy times. I was stuck in Montreal, and I am very used to live between both Montreal and New Brunswick. There was so much uncertainty at the time, and it was no fun. One novel by Hervé Bazin that I really enjoyed is Les Bienheureux de La Désolation. I am currently trying to read all of his books. It is not a difficult task, but it require some time. I have access to all the books that I want while being in Montreal and it's a lot of fun. My secret place is the Grande Bibliothèque.

The TSX closed yesterday’s session at a solid 34,856.99 points. My non-registered portfolio is down to $197,680.10. My U.S. portfolio closed today’s session at US$5,729.17, since the U.S. market was open today. My TFSA portfolio closed yesterday’s session at $183,015.94, and my RRSP stocks-only portfolio closed at $110,518.64.

I estimate my net worth to be around $608,000. That is not bad at all, especially knowing that I recently withdrew almost $3,000 from my TFSA portfolio to cover my extra summer expenses. The $600K is still in the house, and I really hope it is here to stay.

I received some very good dividend distributions recently, one of the most generous being from Pembina Pipeline Corporation (PPL). Thanks to the DRIP, I am now almost at the equivalent of a monthly income of $1,070 from my non-registered and TFSA dividend income alone. Most of that income is automatically reinvested to generate more shares, so unfortunately, I do not actually get to touch most of that money. But for now, it is better to just let it grow and allow the DRIP to work its magic.

The month of July is starting on a strong note, with $320 in cash coming from my dividend income. It comes at a good time, because with summer here, I have been spending quite a lot. And my birthday is coming up in August. What can I say… I just need to remember that I already got myself my birthday gifts :-)