I have not rented anything since about 1987, until now that is. I have discovered that re-entering the rental market in 2014 is kind of like re-entering the dating market if you have been off the shelf for a few decades. In fact there are many similarities. 1. The photos (or lack thereof). As you […]
Anyone worth their steak knives follows the rule of ‘ABC’ (always be closing), but the true skill of the salesperson is how they finesse sealing the deal. There are many techniques in the sales manual, but none comes close to the power of the ‘puppy dog’ close. Even if you don’t know what I am
How much is that doggie in the window? Read More »
When I was younger, I had no conception of how fortunate I was. I think this is true of most people. That’s because unless you have a certain amount of life experience under your belt, it does not occur to you that anything can go wrong and probably because of the sheer force of this
To avoid complications, she never kept the same address Read More »
Ricky, who died last week, was the longest lived of any of my cats, which was definitely an accomplishment (and not a testament to my dubious cat parenting skills). He is also the reason for my decidedly racist views on the most desirable cats. If you look carefully at virtually any cat food packaging, cat
The Bat As you might know, the cottage was a decade-long work in progress. Many advances in degree of completion took place in the past two years, most notably siding last year and significant headway in drywall this summer. However, there were many years when it was way far from finished. We took possession once
Memories, like the corners of my mind Read More »
This week the cottage burned. To. The. Ground. We went up to look at it and it is amazing what a fire will take. The only things remotely recognizable were the cast iron frying pan and the shell of the brand new cast iron sink (minus its enamel) that we had just bought for the
Just yesterday morning they let me know you were gone Read More »
The Flower Guy About 25 years ago when I first lived on the Danforth in Toronto, we went out for dinner a lot. This is because there are lots of restaurants and because I was too lazy to cook after spending all day at business school. Just about every time we were out for dinner,
Who are the people in your neighbourhood? Read More »
Cockroaches: Nature’s Perfect Pest The first time I ever saw a cockroach was when I was living at the graduate students residence at U of T. I opened my typewriter case one day and a strange bug crawled out. My roommate helpfully identified it. Turns out the building was pretty much infested and although they
A Field Guide to Urban Wildlife Read More »
As the third owner of a house that turns 100 this year, I feel like I am the curator of a domestic museum. My house was born before the First World War. It was built on the optimism of the new century, its neighbourhood made possible by one of the feats of engineering immortalized in
My House is a Very Very Very Fine House Read More »
