The Canadian economy just got a huge boost this week. We will be recieving a free case of beer courtesy of President Obama. As you might know, there aren't very many things more important to Canadians than free beer. President Obama's (mostly Republican) critics are up in arms at this outrageous squandering of valuable American resources. "There are Americans in need of free beer" is an oft heard line in Washington these days. "Is this new President just going to GIVE this Country away?" muttered senator Stetson, the representative from the Great State of Northern Dakolina. The point is clear, in such tight economic times, with so many jobs being outsourced, and facing untold trillions of dollars of debt, the American economy must guard its resources like a pitbull with its bone.Aesthet... 03/13/2010

I stumbled upon something that interested me quite a while ago. I always thought that it would be fun to blog about, but really when I'm sitting down to write about it there isn't all that much to say. However, since I'm fresh out of ideas I'll let the world in on my (and a few million other people's) little secret. It is called elgoog, or Google mirror. It is just a search engine that mirrors Google - literally. When you want to get any search results out of elgoog, you would have to spell everything backwards, and lo and behold the search results come up almost exactly the same as they would for Google. There will be slight delays in the results, as elgoog has to scramble to keep up to the real Google. Useless fun and games says you? For the most part you would be correct, I certainl... 03/08/2010

Winter is almost over. Thank goodness for that. I can't really complain too much though because it wasn't really a very cold winter at all, and unlike other parts of this continent we did not get dumped on. Today was very spring-like, and the thermostat told me that it was well above 0 degrees today. It's almost t-shirt weather.One of the concerns that snowmobilers have this time of year is that there's a lot more water about because the brooks and streams are now starting to thaw. Most snowmobilers will try to avoid water, but at times it's unaviodable. There sure is a lot of water in this country. When one does have to negotiate narrow strips of water there is a technique that can be used, it's very safe when done properly. It's always wise to be prepared for any such eventuality, bec... 03/03/2010

On Saturday the Mayor of Quinte West called the residents and neighbouring communities to come forth and show our support for the military after the difficult weeks we have had in our community. Well, it was a success!  They estimate approximately 2000 people were in attendance.  Our community is 100% behind our Canadian Military.  We realize that the actions of an individual do not speak for the balance of an organization. This is another great reason to relocate to our community.  An organization that I participate in The Canadian Army Veterans Motorcyle Unit  was visible at the rally.  Our organization is made up of brothers and sisters that are Veterans and/or supporters of our Veterans that enjoy riding our Motorcycles.  Our Motto is:  "To have fun riding while helping others." I a... 02/21/2010

(Picture and Story from the Toronto Star) Today marks the end of an era. John Babcock passed away today at the age of 109. He was Canada's last veteran of WWI (The War that was supposed to end all wars). There are now only two WWI veterans left in the world, American Frank Buckles and British national Claude Choules, who lives in Australia, both 108 years old. The French and Germans both lost their last WWI veterans in 2008, with the deaths of Lazare Ponticelli, 110, and Erick Kastner, 107. When John Babcock went to Europe, he was just 16 years of age, and he was one of 650,000 Canadian men and women who served in the war in Europe. At the Time, Canada had a population of a little over 7 million people, so the military effort was a massive endeavour for such a small country. Over 60,00... 02/19/2010

Have you ever been addicted to the news? My Daily Life: You probably don't want to hear about my daily life while my son was deployed to the "Sandbox" but I am going to tell you anyway.  Have you ever been addicted to something - whether it be coffee, chocolate, exercise - well I was addicted to the news.  Yes, you heard me the news.  I would go to bed and get up at night - because our night is their day to find out as much as possible.  I would turn on the news and go to the computer.  I wanted as much information as I could get.  Now, I am still working my full-time job as well.  I am tired and miserable.  As with any addictions something or someone suffers at your expense. Bless my youngest son - because I am sure he and my husband bore the brunt of my unhappiness and worry.  I gain ... 02/16/2010

My First Repatriation:   August 6, 2006 was a day of firsts for me.  I watch my son get deployed to Afghanistan and later that day I watched my first repatriation of a Canadian Soldier.  I stood at the CFB Trenton fence line watching them return home a Canadian Hero.  I wondered if I would ever have to endure what that family was going through.  I was sad and happy at the same time.  I was feeling sad because of the death of another Canadian Soldier.  I was happy because for now I was on the right side of the fence.  Many may ask how on earth could I ever think this way, but when your loved one is at risk selfish thoughts go through your mind everyday.  I am not sure selfish is even the right word.   I continue to go to as many "Repatriations" as possible.  I hope I never have to attend... 02/16/2010

I just went out and bought the book CRUSH IT  by Gary Vaynerchuk. I have been hearing a lot about it, and every time I have been in a room with more than two other Realtors, someone always brings up the topic of this book. I have sat through several "Social Media" workshops and lectures and this book is always mentioned. I can't seem to get away from the fact that inevitably I will end up reading this book, so I finally went to Chapters, plunked down the $25.00 and bought the book. Truth be told, I am predisposed to dislike this book. I do not like being told what the next big thing is and having things eat away at the corners of my mind. By the time I usually jump on a bandwagon, it will already have a flat tire. I have a deep suspicion that most things that become "the next big thing... 02/12/2010

Deployment Day:  August 6, 2006   My son is coming from Petawawa to Trenton to deploy to the sandbox.  He is only 20 years of age.  I anxiously await for him to arrive to spend some valuable time with him before he departs.  His bus pulls up but before we can spend some time together he has to go  to get his gear in order and to ensure his papers are in order.  I think the whole family has arrived to send him off - including my brother and his wife from Guelph. A few of us meet him inside and I am proud to say I am holding up.  I am strong, I am a mother!!!  However, my niece who is very close to my son doesn't fare as well and she grabs and hugs him.  Well, do I need to say anymore, the floodgate of tears begin.  I hug my son and whisper that I am so proud of him and that I love him, w... 02/11/2010

Sometimes people leave very strange things behind when they sell their home. I have come across some pretty odd things when going through a house after it has been vacated. As an agent, I have handled a few power-of-sales (the rough equivalent of a foreclosure), and am always surprised at some of the things that are left behind. I can't help myself, I do like to poke about a bit. The other day I was nosing through the garage of a house that my friend had just purchased. It wasn't a power-of-sale, so there really wasn't much of anything left behind. The garage was a detached older wooden structure, and we came across the following picture. One of the corners of the picture was poking out of the wooden slats above a shelf that had been used as a workbench. My friend gently pulled the pict... 02/11/2010

Quinte Real Estate and Area Results The results for January 2010 are out in the Quinte Real Estate Market. We have had a decrease of 4.2% in active Real Estate Representatives.  The Quinte area  went  from having 402 agents in January 2009 to 385 in January 2010.  Average Residential Sold Price in Quinte during the month of January was approximately $178,611.00 which was a 1.8% increase over January 2009. Our Residential Listings in the area has decreased by approximately 10% from January 2009.  We expect the market to come on strong in the next couple of months with the military receiving their postings and some buyers coming into the market before the implementation of the HST (Harmonized Sales Tax) and the increase in interest rates.  If you are considering on listing your home - now... 02/10/2010

Google's street view is an awesome tool. I'm sure a lot of you have checked it out already. If you haven't, I would encourage you to do so, not only is it fun, but it can be a useful tool for Realtors. It gives people a better sense of everything that surrounds any particular property that they might have an interest in. It's also quite fun just browsing around on it for no reason in particular, something that I find myself doing from time to time.The service is getting much better for Canadians too, as Google just added 130 new cities to their roster. Google now has a street view of every major Canadian city and almost everywhere along the Trans-Canada Highway. The only places where Google hasn't reached (yet) is Nunavut and Labrador. The update which was announced this past Tuesday a... 02/10/2010

Family Day First Posting: My son’s first posting was to Petawawa. He was going to barracks’. He is sharing a room with a guy he seems to like and life is good. He is learning lots and participating fully. He has frustrations and joys like all jobs but the difference is he really loves his job.   Say it isn’t so! The news has arrived that my son will begin his training to go to the war torn country Afghanistan. Oh Wow! (all my fears come flooding back to me) It is over a year away, and things can change between now and then so I am not going to worry YET!   Family Day. Well it is June 2006 and the military is putting on a 2 day celebration. They call it family day. My husband, my youngest son, my mother, my father and I travel to Petawawa to celebrate with my oldest son. The military can... 02/10/2010

Having ones "ducks in a row" is an expression that I hear quite a bit in the office. In Realtor's parlance it refers to having everything set up so that a transaction can occur smoothly. To become organized, one has to prepare things in advance so that when the time comes each segment will occur in a natural progression without a hitch. An important part of this is to be aware of possible pitfalls that might happen once the wheels are in motion and having a planned course of action should something out of the ordinary happen. There are several theories about how this expression originated. The one that makes most sense to me is the one concerning the old carnival game. A set of plastic ducks would be set up on a conveyor system which moved at a moderate speed. The participant would the... 02/05/2010

I couldn't resist posting this picture. I thought it was quite funny. Apparently some fellow snapped this while trying to pay his fare to ride the subway in Toronto last month. He waited for a few minutes and took a couple of pictures. The poor ticket collector never woke up and missed quite a few people who were jumping over the turnstyles in order to avoid paying their fare. The ticket collector certainly seems very comfortable. While I'm very amused by this photograph apparently the management at the Toronto Transit Commission are not. The employee in question is in a bit of hot water. 02/03/2010

Right now there are about one million people without homes in Haiti. There are many more people around the world (shamefully enough we have our fair share right here in Canada) who also are in dire need of temporary housing. A group of young people in the U.S. are promoting a very good idea. They have redesigned the traditional yurt into something that is economical and well worth looking into. You might know yurts in the more traditional sense. They are sturdy tent-like dwellings used primarily by nomadic and semi-nomadic people all the way from Mongolia to the lands formerly known as Persia. In Turkey, the word Yurt means "homeland" as well as being a synonym for "abode". More famously, the armies of the great Genghis Khan would shelter hemselves in makeshift camps consisting of thou... 02/01/2010

I'll admit that I can be a bit of a stick-in-the-mud. I get that from my mother who for years refused to use a microwave. My old cell phone was pretty good, I could call people, recieve text messages, snap the odd picture, and store information. As far as checking email goes, yes, it was capable of doing that, but I never quite figured out how to do it. It wasn't really a big deal, I checked my email regularly on my old fashioned laptop, and never really felt the need to be able to do so on my phone.As I was having my early morning coffee the other day at the local coffee shop, one of my friends walked in. He ordered his coffee, sat down beside me, and proceeded to check his email. His phone looked so bright, shiny, .....dare I say it - sexy. I looked over at my friend's face, illuminat... 01/28/2010

Are we prepared to make the necessary changes? In a rather stunning admission last month, Dominos Pizza announced that they were well aware that they have been selling an inferior product for years. I personally haven't ordered Dominos for years because I have a variety of other options when it comes to pizza, and just about every other option pleased me more. I was rather amused to watch this video and see people refer to their pizza crust as cardboard, a term I had used myself. Whether prompted by lagging sales or a simple blow to their pizza making pride, they have responded to the criticism in a positive way by shaking things up. Is this a publicity stunt or a genuine attempt to win customers back (perhaps both, after all, the two are not mutually exclusive)? It still leaves a rath... 01/24/2010

I'm not sure I would want these guys working on my construction site. What do you think? 01/22/2010

Today was another bad day in Haiti. I sometimes wonder about the fairness in life. The struggling country was hit by an aftershock measuring 6.1 on the Richter scale. 6.1 would be considered a major earthquake by any standards, yet after the disaster of last week this aftershock pales in comparison. Fortunately it doesn't appear to have derailed the efforts of the aid agencies. The world will know more in a few short hours. I would prefer to focus on something positive today. A young lady was recued from the rubble today. She had been buried under the rubble of a shopping centre for seven days without access to food or water. The team from SECOURISTES-SANS-FRONTIERES (Rescuers without Borders) worked diligently for over twelve hours to free her. 25 year old Hoteline Losana immediately ... 01/20/2010