Illustration Credit: Bill Meyer at flickr.com

1. Canine Casanovas and Pooch Paramours gather from from far and wide for merry mutt meet-ups at the capital region’s largest and most popular off-leash dog park and scenic seaside pathway (which extends from the Mile Zero Marker at Douglas Street and Dallas Road eastward to the tip of Clover Point), thanks to “Citizen Canine” and the fur-friendly folks at City Hall.
2. Fisherman’s Wharf Park is being transformed from a sports field into a nature environment complete with babbling brooks, posh picnic tables and PVC playthings, not to mention oodles of nooks and crannies for man’s best friends to relieve themselves.
3. Some of the best “shaggy dog stories” can be heard in java joints like James Bay Coffee & Books (143 Menzies Street), Ogden Point Café (at the Breakwater), and Shoal Point Moka House (at Fisherman’s Wharf).
4. Shops are opening up in the neighborhood catering to canines such as the new Diamond Dogs (a dogday care and grooming place at 106 Ontario Street) and the refurbished Prime Time Video (#3-230 Menzies Street) which will soon be supplying all manner of pet-food to pooch owners.
5. Everyone knows that the Public Gallery in the Provincial Legislature offers a superb spot to catch a glimpse of British Columbia’s best barking, back-biting and bone-picking exhibition by those who adore "putting on the dog” .
6. If want to avoid "being done up a like a dog’s dinner" on your next night out, you’re bound to find some downright delightful duds at the Community Closet (#11-435 Simcoe Street in James Bay Square).
7. The best place to find the “hair of the dog that bit you” is probably at any of one of the neighborhood’s twelve tippling places and four liquor sales outlets (at the Day’s Inn Cold Beer & Wine Store, the James Bay Inn Cold Beer Store, Spinnaker’s Wine & Beer Shop in James Bay Square, or the BC Liquor Store at Unit 101-225 Menzies Street).
8. Some of the best “dog and pony shows” in town can be found four evenings a week plus Saturdays and Sundays at The Superior Café (106 Superior Street).
9. If you’re “sick as a dog”, you’ve got places to find a remedy, either the Walk-In Medical Clinic (on the upper level of Parliament Mews at Five Corners), or register as a patient with the James Bay Community Project Clinic (547 Michigan Street).
10. And, last but not least, should you think that “you can’t teach an old dog new tricks” or that “there’s no life in the old dog yet”, just drop in to the James Bay New Horizons Activity Centre (234 Menzies Street), where you’ll see some “Hot Dog” folks who can probably run rings around you! 

Money Maven, Gail Vaz-Oxlade, host of the popular TV program, "Til Debt Do Us Part",  will be paying a visit to Victoria’s oldest neighborhood:

Saturday, October 3, 2009 – 10:00 am-4pm, Hotel Grand Pacific, 463 Belleville Street in Victoria, BC – "Taking Control of Your Money & Your Life Workshop" — $189.00 (includes workbook & lunch)

Participants in the workshop are encouraged to bring with them the last three to six months’ worth of credit card bills, bank statements, and any other outstanding bills, loans or debts they may have incurred. This is a no-nonsense workshop designed to help everyone figure out their financial lives, and how to make a plan to get out of debt and remain debt free for the remainder of their lives.

Have you ever asked yourself the following questions?

• What’s my attitude to spending?
• What’s my attitude towards saving?
• How do my emotions affect my money management?
• How do you distinguish between "needs" and "wants"?
• How much debt are you comfortable with, and how will you decide whether something is worth going into debt to obtain?
• Do you buy items on credit that you used to pay for in cash?
• Are you late with your bill payments?
• Are you not sure what or how much you owe to whom?

Maybe it’s time to clean the cobwebs away and get your money management house in order, and this may be just the kick start you need to make that possible! If so, get in touch with maggie@myseamlessevents.com for more information about this event.