Real Talk!

So, here it is September. The leaves have a bit of colour (other than green) and the tourists have pretty well gone home. The children are back at school.

Locally, this is the time for Church Suppers and Studio Tours. Soon will be the colour tours.

I've been trying to find something interesting to write about. Not easy. I've been busy putting out fires, wrestling with alligators and trying to work with interesting offers and interesting people.

Most of my colleagues in the industry are grumbling, but they're grumbling about each other. They're grumbling about ethics and they're miserable about how competitive the business is. And it is.
I just "try not to get any on me". I try to focus on doing my job properly and fulfilling my obligations to Buyers and Sellers.

I heard a good Real Estate joke the other day... it kind of sums up the "competitive" part of the Real Estate World... it goes like this:

How many Real Estate Representatives does it take to screw in a light bulb? The answer is 4. One to screw in the bulb and 3 others to kick the ladder out from under him.

Achem.

I started to write a blog last Monday and I was all over the map, so I never posted it. I've decided to cut and paste it here, right now... maybe it will shed some light on where my brain has been at lately...(I mean, other than getting kids to college and high school and running an office and listing and selling real estate and writing ads and making catalogues and planning our 3rd annual golf tournament for Sept 22nd and taking care of my pets and the household and and and....) *smiles* it's all good.....

Climate:

As temperatures warm further, extreme heat, extreme storms, elevated ozone levels, and possible increases in risk from insect- and waterborne diseases will affect beachgoers and boaters and may involve some restrictions as well as require behavioral adjustments by tourists and local outdoor enthusiasts.

China has surpassed the U.S. as the global greenhouse gas emissions leader, environmentalists absolve China of responsibility for global warming, and instead blame western demand for Chinese goods for Chinese emissions.

Hmm, there are people who believe that Global Warming is simply the core belief of a new eco-theology closely related to other modern belief systems, such as political correctness, chemophobia and various other forms of scaremongering.

Real Estate:

Toronto home sales were reportedly up 17% for August 2006 as compared to August 2007.

In Ontario, this June the average Ontario price was $304,000 and the average price for Canada was $315,000.

Snowboarding and Bird Watching are almost as popular as boating.

Ontario currently has the world’s largest fleet of industrial snow mobile trail groomers.

The Pembina Institute, an environmental and energy think-tank, says Sarnia is the most livable city in Ontario on the basis of the availability of affordable housing, community centres and parks and recreational areas and relatively low crime and vehicle accident rates. The average house price is $170,000. While Toronto scored the highest on the community sustainability index, it was rated 24th as far as livability. Peterborough ranked 15th out of 27 cities

Other Interesting Stats from the study:

41.1 per cent of Peterborough's population reported getting little or no physical activity.

Death or injuries from vehicle collisions were the highest in the sample at 13.94 people out of every 1,000 residents.

Of Peterborough's tenant households, 51.65 per cent spent more than 30 per cent of their income on housing (highest in the sample).

A company in Quebec was caught using gunpowder as the agent to activate its rebuilt airbags rather than a safer agent used by auto manufacturers.

On our roads:

There were 13 fatal collisions in the province this past weekend. Aggressive driving, not wearing seatbelts, speeding and drinking are blamed. Last year's Labour Day weekend death toll was four. The most recent years with a similar number of traffic deaths were 2002, when there were 11 and 2000, when there were 14.

More than 300 people have been killed on Ontario's highways this year

Politics:

18 years ago, Parliament voted unanimously to eradicate child poverty by the year 2000. Today, the percentage of children in Canada and in Ontario living in poverty is higher than it was back in 1989. As well, the percentage of all Canadians in poverty is as high as ever.

Che Guevara was a friend of Cuban President Fidel Castro. Now, a former CIA operative and Cuban exile plans to auction what he claims is a lock of Che’s hair, snipped before the Argentinean revolutionary was buried in 1967, a map used to track down Guevara in Bolivia, photos of Guevara's body, intercepted messages between Guevara and his rebels and a set of Guevara's fingerprints taken before his burial.

Peace officers (mayors, sheriffs, wardens and jail guards, officers under the Customs Act, Immigration and Refugee Protection Act, and Fisheries Act, as well as pilots in command of an aircraft and other “special constables”) carry weapons based on need. Conservation officers carry guns. Peace officers enforce laws that pertain to their job.

Toronto Humane Society investigators can use bit sticks, batons and handcuffs, but bouncers typically can't. Conservation peace officers can pull a gun on you, but campus police don't even carry pepper spray.

The U of T police and TTC officers carry batons and handcuffs; transit constables also pack pepper spray.

Guards and private investigators are allowed to have firearms only if licensed under the Canadian Firearms Centre. Security officials have no special arresting powers. Even if they strongly suspect a criminal act has been committed, they can arrest you only if they see it happening. This is called a "citizen's arrest" and anyone can do it.

FORECASTING:

In the United States, a Safe Harbor Statement is a cautionary note regarding forward-looking statements that is designed to protect investors and warn that forecasts of trading results may take a completely different course.

Sunday:

During an afternoon ride on our new GoldWing, I almost felt as though we were flying.