Uh oh. I thought I broke my iphone. I took it out of my pocket and saw a white screen. That's odd, it's never done that before. I wasn't too worried at first, like every battery operated device, I assumed that I could just turn it off and then turn it on again and "hey presto" everything would be fine again.Not so. The problem is, that the phone is neither on or off. We have entered a rather Schrödinger's cat like world. Theoretical physics aside, I just wanted to get the bloody thing working, I had calls to make. I could neither turn the phone on or off, rebooting wasn't an option (although momentarily I was considering a good foot-booting). I tried every button on the thing, but nothing would stop that shiny white screen from shining in my face. Nothing. Do these calamities only happe... 04/06/2011

The Quinte area is rather sparsely populated. I guess that's the appeal for a lot of people who live here. Other than the towns of Belleville and Trenton (pop. 46,000 and 16,000 respectively) it is mostly rural. Despite being a little less well-heeled (and that's putting it politely) than most of the rest of the province, the Quinte area has churned out some amazing people. These people prove that being from a small town doesn't mean that one has to have small dreams.The first person who comes to mind is Trenton's own Elizabeth Manley, perhaps Canada's most loved figure skater. The 1988 Calgary winter Olympic games were not going well for Canada, our medal count was embarrasingly low, and being the host nation, it created a lot of angst for Canadians. After the compulsary figures and th... 03/29/2011

Have you ever had a key cut, just to take it home and find out it doesn't work? Well, I don't have that problem at all. I get all my keys cut at Saylor Hardware, right in downtown Trenton, and they get cut right every single time. That's probably because Ian Saylor, the proprietor, takes the time to do the job properly. As a real estate agent, it's important for me to have all my keys working properly the first time, so I wouldn't dream of taking them anywhere else. Why mess with success? Saylor Hardware has held a prominent spot right on the main strip of Trenton for years and years. It's one of the types of businesses that define a smaller community like Trenton.    Other businesses that have occupied the adjacent buildings have come and gone over the years, but this hardware store h... 03/25/2011

Today, March the 8th 2011 will go down in history as the day that Trenton, Ontario got a shiny brand new liquor store (or LCBO as they are known in these parts). The anxious citizenry have been watching the new store being built for months now. It's been on the tip of everybody's tongue. Four brands of Tequila, you've got to be kidding me, who knew that there was more than one brand??? The Old Liquor Store. Booooo, out with the old.           The New Liquor Store.       Progress might take a little more time to come to smaller communities like Trenton, Ontario, but when it comes, it comes with a vengeance. More alcohol. It's exactly what a smaller town with higher than average unemployment needs.   I have yet to venture inside this brand new facility, but I'm sure it's brightly lit with... 03/08/2011

I was driving by Tremur Lake the other day and decided to take a picture of a rather lonely chair that someone had placed near the north shore. I have no idea who would have wanted to put a chair in that odd spot, certainly not an ice-fisherman, as fishing isn't allowed. I couldn't see any evidence of skating either, so it's a bit of a mystery. Maybe someone just wanted to clear their mind and sit in solitude in the lake. Who knows? I thought it would be a cool picture. It was also an excuse to try out my brand new camera. It's a bit of a stretch calling this body of water a lake, it's more like a large pond.  In simpler days it served as the resevoir for Trenton and in the bushes by the south shore one can still see the squat water works building. I'm not sure who is responsible for cu... 02/24/2011

Perhaps you have seen this video already, perhaps not.I laughed pretty hard when I saw it, so I thought it was worth sharing. I tried to work it into a snappy blog post about the importance of proper communication, but everything I came up with sounded silly and was just an obvious attempt to showcase this video.If you have already seen it (as about four million of you have), then my apologies, if you haven't already, then just enjoy. 02/19/2011

Lately I haven't blogged as much as I usually do. I have a good excuse, probably one of the best ones a real estate agent who is normally in the habit of blogging could have. I have switched companies. I would like to start this announcement by thanking everybody at Remax Trent Valley. It was a great place to work and the people there were wonderful. I learned a great deal about this business in my time there. My broker of record, Chery Mills always had time for me and was a fountain of knowledge and good advice. The ladies at the front desk, Karen, Lesley, Kim and Tracy had a lot of patience with me and kept me on the straight and narrow as best as they could - no easy task. I will try to be less of a pain in the butt over here at Century 21 and not cause as many grey hairs. The agent... 02/15/2011

As everybody in Ontario and beyond knows, today's snowfall is pretty big. We all knew it was coming, and most people prepared for it.  We had lots of warning. I had the pleasure of shovelling out my driveway this morning knowing that I'll probably be doing it again....and again. Really it's not such a big deal, it's not a large driveway, and the excersize is supposed to be good for me. It's only a few degrees below zero, so it's not a terribly uncomfortable chore. My car is also pretty set for these conditions, I have good tires and am a fairly good driver, so if I stick to the main roads I should be alright. Days like today are really not the big ordeal that some people make them out to be (unless your roof caves in, then compain away, you have my sympathies). What I don't like though... 02/02/2011

My fancy iphone finally let me down. I was looking for a certain street on my iphone GPS application and it was nowhere to be found. I was stunned and I wasn't sure what to do. How was I going to meet a potential client when I couldn't even find his house? Surely there has to be some sort of backup system when you can't find the desired location on your GPS system. Lucky for me, there actually is a backup system for this particular problem. Perhaps you've never heard of it, so let me tell you about it. I suppose that some genius before me had encountered this very problem before and devised a solution. It's called a "Paper GPS" and it can be quite handy to have stored in your vehicle. Perhaps you might need two or three, depending on how many areas you might be driving through. They fi... 01/06/2011

I was driving back to the office this morning after having met a client, and my spirits were rather high. I was singing along to a new CD that I got for Christmas, and I wasn't paying much attention to the speedometer. Having just pulled off the highway, I was driving a bit faster than the posted speed limit. I saw the police car sitting in a side street and knew that I was busted. Sure enough, the red and blue lights started flashing and I pulled off to the side of the road (after driving along for a few seconds in the vain hope that perhaps there was some other reason that the police car was tailing me with flashing lights). Bugger. The strange thing about this incident is that I was caught speeding at the exact same spot two weeks ago. It was the same time of day, and lo and behold, ... 12/29/2010

There's an insurance broker who has spent a lot of money advertising this year.  Every phone book in this area came with a fridge magnet attached to the cover. This fellow operates out of a town that's about 75 miles away, so I'm not sure if his magnet is attached to all the phone books between here or there or not, however, either way, it's a hefty investment in advertising.   People tend to dislike insurance companies, and this "maverick" is playing up on that sentiment by billing himself as being the "most hated" by his competitors. I guess he would like people to think of him as the Robin Hood of the insurance world.  To me, this seems to be more like sophomoric posturing than anything else. The little "As seen on TV" tag beside his photograph really seals the deal. While some of hi... 12/22/2010

In an effort to draw more people to the downtown core, Trenton offers free parking during the Christmas season. Ever since I can remember, this has been a Yuletide constant. You wouldn't think people would grumble about the cost of parking because 25 cents gets you half an hour in Quinte West, but believe it or not, I have actually heard people cite that as a reason why they go to Walmart instead. The concept of free parking should help to get some of the cheap pricks thrifty shoppers back into the downtown core. Downtown Trenton has many fine merchants, and it's a good place to shop. I know a lot of the store owners, and the last few years have been a bit of a struggle, as it has been in many downtown cores across the continent. It's very hard to compete with the big box stores. This y... 12/03/2010

All together now................... Ugh. Winter is upon us. Today is the second day of December. It's dark when we get out of bed in the morning and thanks to our manipulation of the natural clock, it's dark by the early afternoon. The weather is horrible, the heating bills are climbing, and the Toronto Maple Leafs are assuming their annual role as cellar dwellers in the National Hockey League. Most of my friends and acquaintances know me as a little ray of sunshine in their lives, so today I have gathered my thoughts together and will write about a few methods of how we can cope with the next few months. 1) Emigrate. Find a warmer country and go there.  If this is not possible (kids, commitments, jobs, etc.), then try to break the winter up by going south for a while. If this isn't po... 12/02/2010

Today is a very special day in my household.  November 9 is the day that we celebrate two birthdays. My son and daughter are twins, so today will be a lot of fun.   People have always asked whether twins are difficult to manage, and I would have to say that this isn't the case at all.  Beyond the first couple of years when they were babies, I would imagine that it's actually easier to raise twins.  They have always been each other's best friend, and having to arrange "play dates" is a completely foreign concept to me. Stick them in a room together and they have always been fine.     Growing up, they have always shared some interests. Boys and girls of a certain age are very similar in many ways. They both learned to ride bicycles at approximately the same time, they both became interest... 11/09/2010

254 SIDNEY ST Great Commercial/Residential Opportunity PROPERTY DETAILS $127,900 LISTING INFORMATION MLS: 2106899Bedrooms: 2Full Baths: 1Half Baths: 0Sq ft: 1000Lot Size: 59 X 149Style: 1.5 storyGarage: 2 Car+Heat Source: OilTaxes: $0.00 PROPERTY DESCRIPTION Marty's Garage isn't Marty's anymore Great opportunity to own this home and detached garage at the high traffic intersection of Edward and Sidney streets. This used to be the location of Marty's Automotive Repairs, a well known business in the Quinte area that operated for many years. The garage is a two bay 26 x 29 unit, and there's all kinds of things you could do with it, from operating your own business to storing your own toys. There's loads of room in there. The house is a two bedroom/ 1 bathroom home that features a loft and... 10/26/2010

Things got a little out of hand at the G20 Summit in Toronto this past summer. The riots cost the city quite a lot of money, and the damages have really hurt some store owners who didn't have adequate insurance coverage. I can see why the Toronto Police were strained for that event. It could not have been easy being in uniform.I'm not quite sure what a lot of the "protesters" were protesting. I don't think some of them know themselves. There's a video circulating on Youtube that's garnering a lot of attention. It's called Officer Bubbles, and it shows an overzealous police officer who's clearly having a bad day. Yeah, he seems like a real prick who is bullying a small girl. There's no doubt in my mind that he shouldn't have acted that way, however, I have not walked a mile in his shoes... 10/22/2010

Georges Laraque didn't make a name for himself in the NHL by scoring lots of goals. In 695 games over 12 seasons with Edmonton, Phoenix, Pittsburgh, and finally his hometown of Montreal, he managed to score 53 times. He was very well known for playing with a lot of determination and toughness though. He retired from professional hockey this year.Georges is a very talented and dedicated man off the ice too. After the earthquake in Haiti, Georges partnered with World Vision Canada to start a foundation called Hockey for Haiti. Both of Georges' parents are from Haiti, and he felt very motivated to do something about the situation. He knew that he could use his position to make a real difference in the lives of many people. This isn't the first time that Georges has stood for something he b... 10/06/2010

I have stumbled across yet another Google application that is guaranteed to keep you spellbound for at least 3 minutes. I'm sure some of you have already heard of this, but I'm equally sure that most of you will not have. Google maps have been around for a while, and I have forgotten how I ever managed to get around before I became aware of them. Now I can ignore the directions people give me (and most people are terrible at giving directions), and simply Google the address. So much quicker and easier. Gmaps are an essential part of my daily life, especially when I have to find somewhere that's in the middle of nowhere. Did you know that you could also use Gmaps as a pedometer?  You can sign up, start a walking program, and have Gmaps track your progress. This application is called the ... 09/14/2010

"If a cluttered desk is a sign of a cluttered mind, then what are we to think of an empty desk?" - Albert Einstein Albert Einstein was known for having a very messy desk. That much I have in common with him. I clean my desk off about once a week (whether it needs it or not), but stuff just continually piles up. By the end of the week my poor laptop is squeezed into a corner beside my phone. I sometimes catch the disparaging glances of other agents who walk by my office ( I have a prime location, right beside the bathroom - I know who the loud tinklers are), and sometimes feel a little ashamed. I decided to handle this problem the North American way. Rather than address this problem head on, I decided to find a scientific study that justifies my shortcoming so that I can feel good about ... 08/24/2010

The Quinte Hotel has been around forever. It's actually called the Sherwood Forest Inn, and has been for many years, but locals still call it The Quinte Hotel, The Quinte, or simplyThe Hotel. It's not just your average small town bar because there's nothing average about it. It can actually be a scary place sometimes, and it's not uncommon for a dust-up to happen every once in a while. It's the kind of place where you have to know when to just shut your mouth and stare straight into your beer without looking sideways, a lesson I've had to learn two or three times over the years.The great Canadian poet Al Purdy (1918 - 2000)wrote a poem entitled At the Quinte Hotelas a tribute to this mainstay of Trenton Ontario nightlife. Al Purdy was a great friend of the American writer Charles Bukows... 08/11/2010