JohnF

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sand_dollar

Don't wanna burst any bubbles but don't try to peddle them in Florida. Every cottage and condo has bowls full of 'em. They appear at low tide by the thousands there. Dunno if they're more scarce in NS or if you found a different type though. Unless they're properly cured and shellacked they're very brittle and powdery and hard to keep intact. JF

How did lowly Toronto ever beat this team in the season final? Montreal had their backs to the wall and still couldn't win, yet here they are hanging right in there with the Caps. There's no logic to this game any more. JF

He played 12 more game as well. It definitely helps to play all season with the top scorer in the NHL and his not too shabby brother as well. No way of knowing how Kessel might have done in those circumstances. Kessel's not much of a passer yet, and he sure isn't a mucker, but he sure can control the puck in the offensive zone, and if he gets one guys who can bully their way into the slot he might just start to rack up some pretty good pointage. As for the hitting, if he can collect points I'll settle for a hitter as strong as Gretzky was. JF

Waytago. Do I see a 75 or 76 in yer future? Keep that hull clean son and invite me for a ride one day. Gotta love goin' fast. JF

Believe it or not, there was a time when retailers aimed to have no surplus inventory at season end. But then some enterprising soul decided that he liked the look of all that traffic rushing into the store, albeit to score bargains, so he started overstocking or even bringing in year end inventory just to advertise on sale. One thing that's always been the case though is that they really would rather see full retail sales than discount so don't expect overly large supplies of anything good. If all the store's sales volume is at discounted prices (little to no profit) then it's likely the store won't be open much longer. That's why I try not to begrudge my fave retailers some purchases at retail but look to other stores as a source of bargains only. If it closes I'll find others like 'em. On the other hand doesn't CTC give rain checks on some sale items? JF

Get a better prop. JF

I've heard a lot of people say they've subscribed to one of the auto uploaders (about $5/mo) that do realtime backups. My cousin has his real estate office subscribed and likes it. I've been playing around with a free setup called Dropbox. I was actually working in it today building a presentation for my company. It isn't bad for my kind of work. If you get too much stuff you can buy more space but I think the free limit is pretty high. My wife is a records mgmt consultant. She just carries a 2.5" drive and backs up regularly. JF

The way the games have gone so far you just might be right. Mebbe it is their turn again. JF

Jeez. I'll betcha Burkey is really sorry he didn't consult with you before making that trade. JF

I'd print and laminate that letter and carry it with my licence if I was gonna use gamefish leftovers for bait. JF

Besides, the politicans get training in dealing with the media. Us common folk are grist for their invention mill. I am a firm believer in the "no comment" policy. I've had my comments butchered in the press often enough to now know better. JF

I was thinking that if you ignore the media they might end up going to the politicians and bureaucrats for comment which will bring more pressure to bear. JF

The Pens suffered thru about 50 mins of terminal stupid. Can you believe the dumb passes? Some of them weren't even passes. They just seemed to skate themselves off the puck. If they can set that aside and deliver a full game they should handle the Sens pretty easily. JF

Nah. I think the Pens just had a momentary rush of stupid to the head. JF

Hockey teams and their fans are like husbands and wives. Not everyone understands what some husbands see in their wives, and vice versa, but the fact remains that we each have our own loves no matter what others think. Now if some guy said the kind of things he says in reference to my hockey team when he was talking about my wife I'd have to rip him a new anal orifice. Fortunately we're much more easy going about our hockey teams. JF

Dan, you have no idea. Wait till he's 34 and 6'5" sitting across the desk from you sharing his views on the direction the company should be moving. Jeez. I can still remember when I knew more than him. JF

Burke has created a team that's more fun to watch than anything TO fans have had in a while imnsho. Both he and Wilson rip off some pretty funny interviews so that's entertaining. And I'm more impressed with the team they finished this season with than any I've seen in more than a few years. As for draft picks I think I'd still rather have Phil than one of the unknowns. With him the coach starts with a certain 30 goal scorer and irons out the little problems. With a high draft pick you really don't know if you're getting a Stamkos or just another trader. JF

I had such good luck learning slightly more than the basics about scuba diving from the net that when I took up fishing a few years ago I figgered the internet would be my tutor again. It worked. Not only did I find a place where I could get all the info a newby needs but I found a whole herd of good folks. JF

Here are the email addies ready to copy & paste into your email [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]

Great letter and effort at finding those email links. Hopefully lots of caring folks get behind your project.If fishermen don't care about the waterways who can we rely on? Good luck. JF

There are some very very good people running offices up your way. Good luck with the the new career. JF

Yup. That's gotta be a downer going into playoffs fresh off a loss to the worst team in the conference. JF

As you get older the proximity to quality medical care starts to outweigh proximity to quality fishing. But there's lotsa nice fishing close to good medical services in our province so it will work out. The other problem is that for some of us advancing years and the attendant frailties will preclude our favoured wading. I still really enjoy it but those durned rocks are getting slipperier every summer. I haven't been dunked in a long time but I've done some pretty impressive two steps to keep from a dunking. I guess the best we can all hope for is to settle in a nice spot with a rocking chair mounted on a nice bassboat and a son or daughter or grandchild to do the messy work. But that doesn't mean you youngsters can't have the fun of dreaming big dreams. There was a day I would have said a diveboat in a Caribbean marina would have been the ultimate retirement destination. Before that it would have been a country place with a motocross track and miles of trails to run with the sleds in the winter. Right now it's a cottage and a bassboat close to lots of quality bass fishing with some trout streams nearby where I can work on flyfishing. By the time my son lets me quit the business who knows if my soul and body will be in agreement on what we should do. JF

Don't worry about offending realtors. One thing we quickly acquire is thick skin. Lotsa rejection in our business, ya know. Something you should know, a kind of industry maxim - "Buyer are liars". Pretty cynical sounding I know but if you had any idea how often prospective buyers come to us describing exactly what they want and then turn around and buy something totally different you'd understand. A while back I met a very nice couple looking to buy. They insisted it had to be an older red brick. I wasn't to waste their time or mine with anything else. Well, after going round and round with them they're buying a modern yellowy tan brick. It happens so often that many in our industry just figure they might as well over inform rather than under inform. In fact there's a section in our legislative regulations (that's our provincial law) that says something like "registrants (that's us realtors) must make every attempt to advise clients of all properties for sale that might suit their needs regardless of the commission offered etc". Lately our industry has been under a little bit of an attack over our advertising website and much of the nonsense published in the media is pretty distorted, the same kind of misrepresentation we'd be crucified over in our own advertising. Our industry is trying to take the high road on this though so we've been keeping media quotes to a minimum and have gone the route of letting our lawyers do our talking for us. But as is often the case here on OFC we all (me included) get to feeling like we're just sitting around gabbing over a few beers with our buddies so we open up a bit more. I guess it's just human nature to want to speak up for yourself at some point, particularly when it's just amongst friends. What you said has been uttered in the media in much more insulting fashion by folks with a personal axe to grind. It seems to be human nature to spread the word about bad experiences but to stay mum on the good ones. In fact much of what you said is true but only about a certain shrinking element of our industry. For what it's worth we really are working hard at educating (that's coincidentally one of my jobs) all our members to raise the bar to a standard where the consumer public can put their trust in us. Hopefully the days of "caveat emptor" (buyer beware) are behind us and though I no longer know the latin for it I'd like to be able to say to the public that the days of "trust your agent" are here. As I've already said there are more than enough truly good realtors out there that all any of you should have to do is ask around amongst your friends for recommendations. Odds are they've already told you about the bad experiences but you'll have to ask for the good ones. And don't ever think that our industry is the only one with it's black sheep. Over my many years in the business I've encountered mortgage brokers, lawyers, accountants and contractors that I wouldn't want to have handle my business and I find ways to advise my own clients about them. But each industry is working at raising their respective bars so it's getting better. Buying and selling real estate is a huge commitment financially and emotionally. There are an awful bunch of landmines involved in a real estate transaction and consumers really should avoid the risk of flying blind, ignoring the trained competent service providers available to work for you - lawyers, appraisers, mortgage brokers, Ontario Land Surveyors, home inspectors, various contractors, professional planners, etc - oh, and of course real estate salespersons. As long as I've been a member of OFC I've always tried to give the best advice I have to anyone needing help with a real estate related problem anywhere in the province. I prefer to do it privately because there is occasionally personal information has to be discussed. Also we have pretty strict legal regulations about interfering in other realtors' transactions so sometimes I have to stay mum or beg off on helping but I do what I can. It's just that I hate to hear stories of folks getting hurt in botched real estate transactions. Those deals always somehow seem to taint the industry whether it was our fault or not. I don't expect to be paid for my advice given here. If it really works out well then a day out fishing on your boat is nice though. JF