tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-89900015992550268952024-02-02T03:51:28.852-06:00The View From The Top ShelfVictor Epphttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12444725912153847155noreply@blogger.comBlogger333125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8990001599255026895.post-5611020716917716142018-10-20T04:17:00.002-05:002018-10-20T04:17:36.368-05:00#IDON'TCARE<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgUcz_6yBjDOTcbZhm3yHgW81dEJki1313sqzlSBxoU3HqGLzGc5pP7Q748djlvKcxpJmnN1pb31ECY3DwEF0Qf5VK_LdJFeDRc2Lf-0lUJ9z3nhfyR7BxtqNyGhqEmTjMf8BAAv8o6DRRb/s1600/The+Wall.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="517" data-original-width="416" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgUcz_6yBjDOTcbZhm3yHgW81dEJki1313sqzlSBxoU3HqGLzGc5pP7Q748djlvKcxpJmnN1pb31ECY3DwEF0Qf5VK_LdJFeDRc2Lf-0lUJ9z3nhfyR7BxtqNyGhqEmTjMf8BAAv8o6DRRb/s320/The+Wall.jpg" width="257" /></a></div>
<br />
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">#IDON’TCARE</b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-left: .5in; text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;">Sometime
between the ages of eighty three and eighty four you get an epiphany that
strikes you like a hammer blow. Suddenly your eyes are opened wide and you
realize that all your struggles to do the right thing and to make the world a
place better than when you first entered it are totally in vain and basically immaterial.
It’s all been an illusion.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-left: .5in; text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;">It’s
been an illusion since time immemorial. Look at the biblical reference to Cain
and Abel where Cain murdered Abel. Nothing much has changed since then.
Occasionally the Abels of the world get a little high falutin’ and give the
Cains of the word a thing or two to think about, but it doesn’t happen often
enough. Well and then there’s the politicians of course. Take Marc Garneau for
example. He’s going to study the information on seat belts in school buses
before he makes a decision on whether or not to outfit them with seat belts. I
would challenge him to sit in a school bus while getting T-boned by an eighteen
wheeler at full speed. It’s a shame that all that education and world
experience has affected his judgment.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-left: .5in; text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;">And
another thing to think about is that big long drink of water we call our
Manitoba Premier, instead of diddling with his little pet projects he ought to
be opening up the port of Churchill to overseas traffic, saving thousands of
dollars in shipping to Europe and Asia and giving the United States the
opportunity to stick the Panama Canal to where the sun don’t shine. But he
likely won’t do that either and the U. S. will come along and scoop the whole
business up, leaving us blowing in the wind.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-left: .5in; text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;">Well,
you can see why I’ve come to the conclusion that #IDON’TCARE. I can’t do
anything about it anyway so why bother? I’m just too old for that malarkey!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />Victor Epphttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12444725912153847155noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8990001599255026895.post-26364002026719359622018-10-07T17:17:00.000-05:002018-10-07T17:17:56.379-05:00Another excerpt from the Square Bear<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh3qbLIQIo1Y2L6IBV03ZkUacw8jSwmnCXDcmYWPgcNhBAfb7dveruY-4KdUDXwTVAnFkTg3yU7VlvT1TcCugh4Ex1Mq0-ot1hw3yaU6eFCiE86vP0fiJNiZsZsqVwDJLncQYcUiwe7milH/s1600/017.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh3qbLIQIo1Y2L6IBV03ZkUacw8jSwmnCXDcmYWPgcNhBAfb7dveruY-4KdUDXwTVAnFkTg3yU7VlvT1TcCugh4Ex1Mq0-ot1hw3yaU6eFCiE86vP0fiJNiZsZsqVwDJLncQYcUiwe7milH/s320/017.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;">The
animal began to separate into two with a ghastly crackling and groaning. The
sounds were so abrasive to Epp’s ears he had to look away. Dealing with the
animal’s pain and agony was overwhelming and his heart was bursting with
sympathy for it. The cold air streaming upwards had stopped and the two animals
turned on Epp as if to attack him. They stopped at his feet, suddenly realizing
that he wasn’t the one who had hurt them but rather the one who had freed them
from the cold. With that they staggered outside in to the snow.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;">The
hut was now completely empty and the flue had cleared. Outside, still dark and
stormy, the two broken bears stumbled toward the long house. Epp had the
presence of mind to go down to the cellar to bring them some fish – something
they hadn’t eaten for a long time. They attacked the food ravenously and then
continued on to the long house. It was just near the entrance where the two
bears fell down dead.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;">Epp
noticed it getting a little lighter out and peered up at the chimneys. There
was considerably less cold air rising from them. Bears- single bears were
milling around everywhere, from one to the other, sniffing and smelling each
just like they do when meeting for the first time in the wilderness. It was an
amazing scene, as though they were greeting one another after a long absence. And
the cold air rising had all but stopped. Epp went back outside to see the snow
had slowed to a light fall and it was getting lighter out too. Through the mist
of the snowfall Epp could make out the sun behind it. Everything was returning
to its present day existence as though a freak anomaly had just passed through
and vanished as quickly as it had appeared.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;">The
individual bears began exiting the long house, stopping at the two dead animals
lying at the doorway. They lingered there momentarily before passing into the
darkness. The cold air now gone from the long house literally stopped the snow
from falling though the wind still blew from the sea. It seemed to be blowing
the snow away and the darkness was lifting. Epp could now see a bit of the sun
and it was getting lighter out. The stormy weather was blowing itself out
toward the east.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;">The
Elder bent over the two dead bears and said a prayer, giving thanks for their
sacrifice and scattering incense from is pouch. He sang a blessing song for
them and strangely they started to diminish their presence, evaporating into
thin air until they were gone, completely vanished. It was obvious to Epp that
they had been dead for a long time, kept alive only by the spirit of Aakulu who
had waited there for his sister Aleka. Now they were gone without a trace. Epp
could not believe his own eyes. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;">This
was too much for Epp. His years of archaeological training had prepared him for
most things but this was more than he could handle. Firstly, he could make
neither head nor tail of it and what’s more, things were happening here that
flew in the face of his whole belief system. The other bears had just run off
and presumably continued their lives while these just vanished. He had a sudden
desire to put all this out of his mind and just do some farming somewhere in
the area. Of course that wasn’t possible now in this weather but nevertheless
it was a yearning he felt longingly. But wait a moment. He had dug up a lot of
earth around the roots of the trees he had removed earlier. The soil was now
loose and he knew just where it was. If he spread the seeds on the snow where this
spot was, when the snow melted the seeds would sink into the ground, germinate
and grow. If it worked, he’d call it winter wheat. What a great idea!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />Victor Epphttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12444725912153847155noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8990001599255026895.post-37882696162695661702018-09-08T06:26:00.002-05:002018-09-08T06:26:39.719-05:00Dog Owners<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg5KzQkbRkB0wbJjTom_EuAryA_yQbZE2Kp2lW8opm29Lod1M5PFhz_mwNqaACskCPQKsDlErYFqKKvEgaZFNuoL35arGj45Z5N8m9e4xx9EycIg4y7VDQQgOnWwlJmIX3mP2Uad9oi15vA/s1600/Cropped+ManyCam+photo.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="189" data-original-width="223" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg5KzQkbRkB0wbJjTom_EuAryA_yQbZE2Kp2lW8opm29Lod1M5PFhz_mwNqaACskCPQKsDlErYFqKKvEgaZFNuoL35arGj45Z5N8m9e4xx9EycIg4y7VDQQgOnWwlJmIX3mP2Uad9oi15vA/s1600/Cropped+ManyCam+photo.png" /></a></div>
<br />
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: center; text-indent: .5in;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;">Dog
Owners</span></b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;">I’m
angry – more than angry! No, I’m not angry at dogs, just owners. Where do they
get the idea to teach such behavior to their dogs to frighten people walking
down the lane or the sidewalk into such action as was done to that bull mastiff
the other day?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;">No,
I don’t think it is right to do what these young people did to that big
beautiful beast that was in the news the other day. I would rather have seen
them attack the owner for his ignorant attitude towards the general public. The
community at large would have been much better served had they attacked him
instead. Mind you weaponry like knives are not acceptable either. But still he
deserved no less than a good punch in the nose himself.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;">At
first I thought the dog was that one on Richardson Avenue near McPhillips
Street, right behind the tire shop.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I
have to park my car there in order to get to the dentist around the corner right
on McPhillips. The man there has a nice home with statues of several mastiffs on
the front steps. He also has a live adult dog and a young pup in the yard. It
is certainly obvious how proud he is of his animals. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;">His
front iron fence butts right up against the public sidewalk, and is of
reasonable height. When we go to walk past and the dog begins to bark, jumping
up against the fence. Ordinarily that wouldn’t be much of a problem, but the
size of this brute jumping up against the fence would make it easy for him/her
to jump right over and attack whoever walks by, what with all the noisy
barking.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;">The
Missus, she’s afraid of dogs to start with, so as soon as the barking starts,
she’s across the boulevard and on the street behind some bushes. Well that
would be fine except she’s old too and her balance is none too good. Had I
known she was going to do that, I might have followed just to make sure she
didn’t fall; a mistake on my part. The thing is, I have no fear of dogs, no
matter how big, I kept walking (with one eye on the dog’s big jumps at the
fence) with my hand ready to smack him in the snout with the back of my hand in
the event he jumped over it. No dog has ever got the best of me (well, maybe one,
but that’s it).<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;">Walking
back to the car after my dental appointment, the dogs and the owner were
nowhere to be seen so we got there quietly enough. But all the while I was
thinking that the owner decided that he also owns the sidewalk and the boulevard
because nobody can walk there with that blasted barking dog. As far as I know
this is property owned by the city, not the home owner.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;">Well
the point of this whole story is that we are taking the wrong perspective on
banning certain types of dogs. They are not the problem. The owners are the
problem. The SPCA and/or the city should force people buying or breeding big
dogs of this nature to become competent in behavioral training of the animal
and to give certified evidence of it before being able to have such a dog. Mind
you, there are lots of good dog owners. We meet them all the time in the parks.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;">One
day we came across a Great Pyrenees sitting on the trail we walk. His owner was
pulling on the leash to get him to move. Nothing doing, he wouldn’t budge. As
we walked by he began wagging his tail and we asked if we could pet him. “Yes,
please”, answered the owner. He just wants to greet everybody and say
hello.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We left after patting him and he
waited for the next people to arrive.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;">Another
time a man was walking his enormous Pit Bull. As we approached the dog laid
down, facing us. His tail (or really his bum) was wagging furiously as he lay
on the ground. “May we pet him?” I asked. “Oh yes” said the man, “He just wants
to be friends.” Then there was the time that a big pit bull decided he wanted
to sit on my lap and lick my face. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;">So
there are a lot of good dog owners out there who understand the nature of
animals. And I also understand the need for guard dogs in various places to
protect property from being damaged and stolen. Usually these are not
residences in the cities. They are businesses or farms needing to protect
property. No, these people I mentioned here have no regard for their animals at
all. The animals are nothing more than a status symbol to show off and to
satisfy their own ego; a total disrespect to the animal. These are the very
people who need an attitude shift.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;">My
proposal is this: If there is a complaint about such a dog as described here,
that dog should be removed from the home into a training facility at the
owner’s expense. The owner can then attend the retraining of the dog’s attitude
and gain knowledge of what he must do. In other words, it’s training of the dog
and the owner. Once this is done the training facility can issue a certificate
of competency and the dog returned to its owner. Otherwise it remains at the
facility to be sold to an agreeable new owner.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;">As
far as I’m concerned, it’s time to put some teeth into dog laws and I intend to
pursue this to its end.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />Victor Epphttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12444725912153847155noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8990001599255026895.post-74017198382334895812018-08-18T07:57:00.000-05:002018-08-18T07:57:00.586-05:00Righting a Wrong<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgwLtnKdx6Cl6gWhRdEksKEBiTEbGVIktZvw3gnhWDOTXR2wD0DkxlfEF08KROEPbSi-rNcqaANxyyMeHY3lLFNDzofosEGx9XTEqWDNFebrStTRrly_ccrTu_nDMYBUXDVfYez1swv1Bxo/s1600/ManyCam+photo.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="240" data-original-width="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgwLtnKdx6Cl6gWhRdEksKEBiTEbGVIktZvw3gnhWDOTXR2wD0DkxlfEF08KROEPbSi-rNcqaANxyyMeHY3lLFNDzofosEGx9XTEqWDNFebrStTRrly_ccrTu_nDMYBUXDVfYez1swv1Bxo/s1600/ManyCam+photo.jpg" /></a></div>
<br />
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: center; text-indent: .5in;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;">Righting
a Wrong</span></b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;">We
ought to be sensitive to world opinion about some of the shortcomings in our
own country’s machinations and be able to take a signal from the rest of the
world. Being taken to task by the Saudi royal family for our inattention to the
problems in Canada, supported by the other Arab nations and a muted silence
from the European nations as well as the United Nations should give us the
impetus to fix the whole problem once and for all.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;">Given
this world opinion, we could easily be excused from any foreign aid, either
financially or in manpower to fix our own problems before resuming our present
course. We could then suspend all financial aid to countries other than Canada
as well as military personnel and bring it all home while we get our own house
in order. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;">The
five billion dollars we spend per year in foreign aid PLUS our military
commitments would certainly go a long way to resolving our Indigenous issues,
our gas and oil security, our northern security, our violence problems and so
on. Five years on in such a program should elevate Canada to a higher level of
respect from the critical world we see today and give us some deserved respect.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;">We
have to admit that the Saudis are right in putting our own house in order
before criticizing others. I’m sure they would agree for us to become self
sufficient in our own oil and gas refineries so they can sell it to someone
else (or keep it).<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;">I’m
of the opinion that we should take immediate action on this without waiting for
long consultations and other red tape to get it started. I say to the Federal
Government: just shut up and do it. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />Victor Epphttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12444725912153847155noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8990001599255026895.post-80641656709753404492018-08-11T10:39:00.003-05:002018-08-11T10:39:52.981-05:00Another excerpt from the Square Bear<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_0q4R8Qwp4zCejzEC6khp0qAbG4_Cx_jUUPy4Xc3570tsqgVkfIj9P4ZWGcbZk5XWH4-yZaIFwQxla0t1lqESM1Ee5DTNGTRvzSwiVADQ8TkCXTG8Dan4owRnNwXHKXdcJV_M8Sv0UYIq/s1600/Wolfman+1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="240" data-original-width="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_0q4R8Qwp4zCejzEC6khp0qAbG4_Cx_jUUPy4Xc3570tsqgVkfIj9P4ZWGcbZk5XWH4-yZaIFwQxla0t1lqESM1Ee5DTNGTRvzSwiVADQ8TkCXTG8Dan4owRnNwXHKXdcJV_M8Sv0UYIq/s1600/Wolfman+1.jpg" /></a></div>
<br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;">The
sun was rising further and further and it was getting warm out. At least Epp
could see what he was doing. It took a full three weeks before he was done with
this long building, having ten different roof openings and being sturdy enough
to withstand the winds and any other disturbances.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Now he could speak to Aleka.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;">“Now
maybe I can find my little brother,” she exclaimed excitedly. “I will bring the
bears and they will all come. They have been waiting a long time.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;">And
the bears came one by one or multiples of one, bowing down to Epp’s greeting.
Soon the Longhouse was almost filled with the steaming bears, each emitting a flow
of steam straight up through the flue above. They all lay there unmoving, four
under each of the roof openings, seemingly relieved at the evaporation of frost
from their bodies. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;">Outside
you could see the steam streaming profusely from each of the openings in the
roof. They were heavy billows of moisture, soon caught up in the wind and
dissipated over the land. Epp casually thought about the four hundred year old steam
wafting over present day Greenland. How strange it seemed for moisture from the
last Ice Age to be released into contemporary air. It rose straight up until
the wind caught it and sent it scattering throughout the east in a dense fog. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;">Epp
was a little concerned at what this might do to the climate here. It was a little
late to do anything about it so he let it go out of his mind. One thing was
certain. This would take a very long time to complete. Gorilja had, as Epp had
seen, tried to take a shortcut with his powerful glue. It hadn’t worked of
course, as evidenced by the pile of broken body parts on the floor in the
corner. No, it seemed this must take its natural course, however long that
might take and there was nothing to do but wait. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;">Waiting
was not something that Epp did well. He was wandering around the area trying to
figure out what else he might do that was productive. About the only thing he
could manage was to dig up the roots of the trees he had cut down. It would
certainly provide an outlet for the tension he felt by sitting there waiting
and would keep him occupied. Anything was better than just sitting on his
hands. Unfortunately it was all done too soon and he was again without an
activity. He would go back to the lab to see if he could find some seeds to
plant. That was familiar enough and who knows what Gorilja might have left
behind.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;">On
the walk back to the lab Epp observed the wind coming off the ocean. It was a
stiff breeze that blew over the huts he had built and straight to the east. The
steam coming from the buildings was as strong as ever, blowing up into the wind
and being carried away in a rolling cloud. It seemed a little darker, hazier
than it had been. That, thought Epp, was due to the clouds of steam generated
by the Square Bears. Strangely enough, it was a little cooler too. That probably
had something to do with the clouds masking the sun. Epp walked on, paying
little attention to the weather. But as he got closer to the lab, he noticed
the tremendous amount of steam still emanating from the huts. He’d have to go
in and check the bears before anything else. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;">It
was amazing what Gorilja had brought with him in his venture to Greenland. In a
corner of the lab Epp found some various seeds of grain, each marked as to its
kind. Packages of wheat, barley, oats, were all marked in the German language.
This was good. Now he’d have something to do that he was familiar with,
provided that the weather would allow.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;">It
was starting to snow. That seemed strange at this time of year. It should be
warming, not cooling. The only thing Epp could think of was the cooling effect
of the escaping steam from the bears that was still strong as ever. Of course
with one or two bears it wouldn’t have made a difference but with nearly a
hundred, it was another story. Epp walked over to the first hut he had built.
Aleka was still sitting there, calling for her brother. The Square Bear was
lying there, emitting a strong amount of steam, probably stronger than before.
When Epp went over to touch the bear’s head, the fur was somewhat softer. He
felt for the division in the bodies and noticed some softening there too,
though not much. He put his hand up into the steam and it was cold, ice cold. This
wasn’t steam at all. It was cold air – four hundred year old cold air embodied
within the bears and now being expelled. That explained the snow. What in
heaven’s name had he started? <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>By
huddling together the bears had trapped the ice-age cold air within their
bodies and by some great miracle, held it there. Well, the expulsion of it had
begun now and there was no stopping it other than removing them from the huts.
But Epp wasn’t willing to do that just yet. He’d wait and see what developed.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;">Going
outside, he didn’t have long to wait. Snow was swirling all around. There was
so much cold air emanating from the bears it was causing a change in the
climate. As soon as it hit the free air it turned into snow which came down
around them. As the wind picked up it was turning into a storm. The weather
cooled as the sky darkened as the snow began whipping around, especially toward
the east. Looking toward the ocean in the west it was relatively bright but
very windy. The whole storm was blowing eastward into the mainland.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />Victor Epphttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12444725912153847155noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8990001599255026895.post-3113523444809217892018-08-04T13:07:00.001-05:002018-08-04T13:07:21.867-05:00Random Excerpt from Sidney Square Bear<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhT7rE9SMJYZB52wkrs7AiIlokn6Mbwp8T4WSrwEzaEUv0s76KcoZV7XJSnYwKmuV2rdES6Iktx3MHeh4O-fkqM405Y6Ern2d_Cfx3kV0nnROTzk984SKWVx0us05rwcSm_5wW3NtHI7OCr/s1600/Wolfman+1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="240" data-original-width="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhT7rE9SMJYZB52wkrs7AiIlokn6Mbwp8T4WSrwEzaEUv0s76KcoZV7XJSnYwKmuV2rdES6Iktx3MHeh4O-fkqM405Y6Ern2d_Cfx3kV0nnROTzk984SKWVx0us05rwcSm_5wW3NtHI7OCr/s1600/Wolfman+1.jpg" /></a></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
This is another random sample from the book for your interest:</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;">A
sudden chilling thought came into Epp’s mind. Was this old hag really there?
Was she an apparition? She must be real. She was holding the large fish in her
hand. But she hadn’t moved since he got there. She just only sat quietly at the
corner of the stoop without moving and she wouldn’t go inside the building. And
the dogs who were ravenously chewing on their fish never took any notice of
her.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;">“Here,
let me help you up. We’ll go inside where it is warm,” said Epp and he reached
out to take her hand. She and the fish in her hands vanished into thin air.
What the . . . . That the old woman could vanish was one thing, but that the
fish too would disappear was quite another. Epp had a few Mennonite
exclamations that wouldn’t mean anything in English and sat on the stoop,
staring at the place where the apparition had been.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;">Slowly,
out of a mist the old woman reappeared holding the fish in her hands. “You are
not real” Epp muttered, unable to think of anything else to say.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;">“Oh,
I’m real alright, only from a different time. There are things that happen here
in Greenland with the indigenous people that the Europeans don’t understand. I
guess I’m one of them.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;">“Then
you must be very old”, said Epp, not sure of what he should begin to ask.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;">“Do
you have a name?”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;">“It
is Aleka. Means older sister,” she said matter of factly.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;">“How
long have you been here in this place?”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;">“I’ve
been in this place since after the last ice age affected Greenland.” She
replied.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;">“That
must be a long time,” mused Epp.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;">“Yes,
it was a long time ago. I remember the terrible cold. It was so cold it was
hard to survive outside. My young brother went outside after me telling him not
to. After a while I went out to find him and all I saw was little pieces of his
mitts lying in the snow. That’s when I first saw the giant Square Bears. It
looked as though they had eaten my young brother. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I called and called, but he would not answer.
He must be inside them somewhere. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;">“Well
of course, they had to eat too or they would starve so I had no choice but to
forgive them. I asked them to eat me too so I could be together with my brother
but they would not. They said I must help them to survive until this cold went
away and then they could separate and become ordinary bears again. When that
happened my brother would be released. “<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;">“I
don’t understand what you mean by the bears separating,” said Epp.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;">“When
the ice age descended on us, the bears, which were ordinary bears at the time,
huddled together to keep each other warm. They stayed together so close and so
long that they fused into giant Square Bears which are the bears you see today.
They could not separate anymore.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;">“Why
not?” Epp was puzzled.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;">“It
seems they were fused so tightly together their fur intertwined and became
brittle. It was impossible to get them apart. As time went on, they grew into
one body to be the giant Square Bear seen around here these days with no
possibility of seperation.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;">“So
these are then more than one ordinary bear?” Epp asked.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;">“Yes,
at least two, sometimes even more. There could be whole families.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;">“That
must have been awkward for them to be able to eat then. What did you do?”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;">“In
those days I was still young and strong enough to be able to fish for them so
that’s what I did. It was awkward for them to eat out of each side of their
mouth but at least they managed it. They could not hunt for themselves and thus
would have starved unless I had been able to fish for them. This I did gladly in
the hope of seeing my little brother again.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;">“Then
how did you end up here?” Epp asked curiously.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;">“There
was a man who came up here a long time ago. He said he had studied apothecary
medicine at the university in Prague. I don’t know where that is, but that’s
what he said. He has a picture of himself on the wall inside with some sort of
writing on it. You’ll see when you go in.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;">Epp
pondered, “You say he built this place?”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;">“Yes
he did. It’s a very strange building. Something like white men would build. Not
very warm I think, but it keeps the flies away in summer.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />Victor Epphttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12444725912153847155noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8990001599255026895.post-25167708681649645112018-07-28T15:31:00.001-05:002018-07-28T15:31:25.155-05:00Sidney Square Bear's Supreme Sacrifice to Save the Greenland Polar Bear<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: center; text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%;">Lately I've been held captive by what I thought would be a short children's book with pictures and all, only to find the story had a life of its own. So instead of preparing a blog, I thought I'd give you an idea of what it's about (excluding editing)> So here goes:</span></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: center; text-indent: .5in;">
<b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;"><br /></span></b></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: center; text-indent: .5in;">
<b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;">Foreword</span></b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;">Being
a history buff involves a great deal of research and verification of just about
everything. It’s a lot more complicated than it seems at the outset. Had I
known where this journey would take me, I might not have embarked on it.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;">I
had no idea that my ancestor whose namesake I am was any sort of somebody, but
a certain set of circumstances involving Bismark and military service set the
whole business in motion. Epp had after
all, studied for years at the university to become an archeologist, and had no
interest in picking up a gun and pursuing a military career. That wasn’t his
way or the way of his people and he’d have nothing to do with it. Most of his
people, beckoned by Katherine the Great went to Russia to drain those swamps as
Epp had done in his young life in the Danzig area and he had no stomach for
that either. So he pulled up stakes and left the Danziger swamps, going
directly to Greenland where he thought it would be warm and inviting. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;">BLOODY
HELL! It was colder there than any place he’d ever been. Well certainly Bismark
wouldn’t go looking for him there! Somebody with a strange sense of humor had
named this place, obviously to draw people there instead of . . . Iceland. Aha!
That was it! Some Icelander had fabricated the name to draw people there
instead of Iceland. Epp couldn’t see the advantage of that but then them
Icelanders were a strange and adventurous lot anyway.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;">Having
landed in Greenland ill equipped, Epp decided to make the best of it. There
were a few people living there, mostly Eskimos they were called. They saw Epp’s
plight and gave him shelter and warm clothing so he wouldn’t freeze to death.
They were very sociable and kind to him, probably as much because he looked so
different than they did as their generous and gregarious nature.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;">Being
the sort of man he was, Epp was soon well clothed in skins and furs, had
learned to eat the kinds of food they offered and was even beginning to learn
the language, albeit haltingly. He went hunting and fishing with the men and
relished in the feasts and social gatherings inside their igloos. In fact, they
even taught him to make his own. Life up here in the north was about as good as
it gets if you learn to adapt. And life was good for Epp. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;">It
was on one of these fishing and hunting trips that Epp first learned of the
Square Bear. The men were ice fishing while they waited for seals to come up
for air. Well you had to multi – task to provide enough food for the village.
One of the things that really impressed Epp was the series of rituals the
Eskimos performed in their preparation to hunt and fish, asking permission from
the fish and the sea to provide food for their table and giving thanks for its
and their provisions. It wasn’t really dissimilar to what he was accustomed to although
they were more directly speaking to the animals as though they were kindred
spirits. They were it seemed, his kind of people after all.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;">After
several days of fishing and sealing a sudden nervousness arose among the dogs
in the team. It was almost imperceptible but they were fidgeting nervously,
looking into the distance to the west. The Eskimos immediately began hurriedly
hauling up their nets out of the ice holes in a panic state. Moving quickly
like a well practiced team, they dumped loads of the fish in their sleds,
leaving a large amount behind before taking off to the east in almost fearful
fashion.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;">The
only thing Epp could get out of them was that they had to get out of there
before the giant Square Bear caught up with them. They hoped the food they’d
left for him would be enough to keep him distracted while they got away to
their home with what they had left. The dogs were straining at their harnesses
as they dashed into the blowing snow. ‘Good’ said the hunters. The snow would cover
their tracks and the bear(s) would be unable to track them. They would at least
come home with enough food for the village.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;">Epp
didn’t understand any of this at all. He’d have to find out more. Asking
questions as they raced across the snow was useless. Dogs and men were fleeing as
if for their lives and had no interest in explaining anything. It was a full
day of this frantic travel before they started to slow down somewhat, following
the dogs who seemed to know where home was in this blowing wind. Finally they
stopped to eat a cold bite silently and then carry on into the night. The group
traveled on in this way for three days and nights before reaching the welcoming
committee at their home.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;">Things
started to come undone at the welcoming feast when all were settled in and had
eaten something. The hunters told of the dogs’ sensitivity about the legendary Square
Bears and their flight. They were fortunate in having the wind to cover the
sled tracks on the way home. That way they would never be found and the Square Bears
would have enough food to distract them from giving chase. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;">Epp
tried to enquire about the great Square Bears. Something was bothering him
about this whole story. But the people would have none of it. They were far too
excited about the adventure to pay any attention to him. He had so many
questions and absolutely no answers.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;">Having
spent two whole days and nights eating and drinking and storytelling, the band
of people finally got weary and went to sleep one by one without a hint of
answering any of Epp’s questions. He himself had slept intermittently and was
kept awake by the haunting question. There was obviously a great mystery here
that no one would speak about. It must be some kind of taboo. Well you don’t
become an archeologist to just accept what you don’t understand, and that’s a
fact. What you do is to find out for yourself.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt; text-indent: 0.5in;">And
that’s where the adventure of a lifetime began for Dr. Victor Epp.</span><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgOk4NOVzNCZgrkkZwlVZN1wdDsV9JugBtyroH1AeOC_ldbzizx9ZQLVRXU0JnfE8P7PhZmCUbROuHkre8sbR_liSMlOa-RcjLfucQ-Fltz_TSjgVyR-sBdgdNmtKDWbve4x8LbnLEgSTlk/s1600/Wolfman+1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="240" data-original-width="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgOk4NOVzNCZgrkkZwlVZN1wdDsV9JugBtyroH1AeOC_ldbzizx9ZQLVRXU0JnfE8P7PhZmCUbROuHkre8sbR_liSMlOa-RcjLfucQ-Fltz_TSjgVyR-sBdgdNmtKDWbve4x8LbnLEgSTlk/s1600/Wolfman+1.jpg" /></a></div>
Victor Epphttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12444725912153847155noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8990001599255026895.post-810562801222184592018-07-22T04:57:00.001-05:002018-07-22T04:57:57.436-05:00Sidney Square Bear<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjy-9hS42gTn-VmOPL6JMS8cK-9W1dRALg9DE8-n7z0vCJFu6vGEmL5h4ki4PsyTlXmdIXeafS8fs5Au_9hZxcmSWdDhYl0m5bNhQzmFqBsASKSW72keIiRgcYg8tVoWy6O30fm7ZVKHKBA/s1600/Old+Fat+Square+Bear+Cropped.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="805" data-original-width="1600" height="161" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjy-9hS42gTn-VmOPL6JMS8cK-9W1dRALg9DE8-n7z0vCJFu6vGEmL5h4ki4PsyTlXmdIXeafS8fs5Au_9hZxcmSWdDhYl0m5bNhQzmFqBsASKSW72keIiRgcYg8tVoWy6O30fm7ZVKHKBA/s320/Old+Fat+Square+Bear+Cropped.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: -67.5pt; text-align: center;">
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</v:shape><![endif]--><!--[if !vml]--><span style="height: 669px; left: 0px; margin-left: 2px; margin-top: 0px; mso-ignore: vglayout; position: absolute; width: 624px; z-index: -1;"><img alt="Old Fat Square Bear Cropped.jpg" height="669" src="file:///C:/Users/Victor/AppData/Local/Temp/msohtmlclip1/01/clip_image002.jpg" v:shapes="Picture_x0020_0" width="624" /></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: "Old English Text MT"; font-size: 72.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Sidney
Square Bear’s Supreme Sacrifice to Save the Greenland Polar Bear<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: -67.5pt; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "Old English Text MT"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Imagined
and recorded by;<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: -67.5pt; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "Old English Text MT"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Victor
Epp<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: -67.5pt; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "Old English Text MT"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Descendant
of the world traveler and Archeologist<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: -67.5pt; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "Old English Text MT"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Doctor
Victor Epp<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />Victor Epphttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12444725912153847155noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8990001599255026895.post-57073300578475236422018-07-14T08:44:00.002-05:002018-07-14T08:44:24.621-05:00Well - Spitting<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjlnk4RJayQjbqw28syVxVGz9SvlEuyJCRNmrReZx-n6oe8wCGxT3MFvkbTNQCCEgu-cYPKyE3CXlYfi9PFtHvgv26AW8NZI6CnW590GcxwcvCMkuRH4svGl9K0pJKpFTBNj4Iz2r-b_CM5/s1600/Cropped+ManyCam+photo.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="189" data-original-width="223" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjlnk4RJayQjbqw28syVxVGz9SvlEuyJCRNmrReZx-n6oe8wCGxT3MFvkbTNQCCEgu-cYPKyE3CXlYfi9PFtHvgv26AW8NZI6CnW590GcxwcvCMkuRH4svGl9K0pJKpFTBNj4Iz2r-b_CM5/s1600/Cropped+ManyCam+photo.png" /></a></div>
<br />
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: center; text-indent: .5in;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;">Well
– Spitting!</span></b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;">It
seems to be an athletic sport; spitting, that is. It doesn’t matter what sport
you look at, all the players are constantly spitting out their phlegm onto the
field. Some of them are better spitters than players I think. Really, these
people (unless they’re in a suit and tie) all do it. Yet, if you look around
the world, there are fines in a lot of the cities and towns for spitting (among
other things). I don’t know if they’re enforced or not, but they are there and
they ought to be.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;">So
what gives athletes the right to dispose of their germs all over the sports
field? It’s disgusting behavior to start with, akin to having a pee against the
park fence. And don’t think those germs don’t travel because they certainly do;
only nobody takes note of it.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;">I
think the whole business started with baseball and those players who chewed
tobacco (another disgusting habit). Not having a cuspidor or spittoon at their
disposal, they emptied their mouths on to the field. Of course they had to step
in it and drag their germs all over the place.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;">The
strange thing is that I’ve never seen any women athletes do any spitting, so it
must be a male macho thing. In fact, thinking back to when we were kids, the
guys used to do it all the time. I suppose it’s a “monkey see, monkey do”
mentality.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;">Well,
they used to have cuspidors in public places where you could get rid of your
chewing tobacco mostly and any other garbage that had collected in your lungs
and throat. In fact my own grandfather had a spittoon he used after contracting
asthma. At least he didn’t leave his coughing fits all over the farmyard
(though I wouldn’t have envied my grandmother having to clean the dad - blamed
thing.) I imagine many a marriage was put to the ultimate test by cuspidor cleaning
back in the day.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;">The
point here is that today’s athletes aren’t spitting because something is in
their lungs or their throat. They’re just spitting to spit. That’s the macho
thing to do. Well, they’re a captive audience on the athletic field and can be
fined for their spitting and that’s what I think should be done. Given their
hefty salaries these days, one could raise a fair amount of fine money in the
process.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;">That’s
what I think.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />Victor Epphttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12444725912153847155noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8990001599255026895.post-42562803006622416652018-06-30T11:22:00.002-05:002018-06-30T11:22:46.746-05:00Birds of a Feather<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiYREHKc1EGvI4HRKOd1yxbJnfzN4Xqg5REsEJSXTHsU32ZA8_LB6pPZqh4lg5J3He4GVmjINEjg4-y__yP6ew0mRNMNojTC9baBIo4-ftT4rS4unPuqrqIhnWi5Do7BgAJKXBOizXwHoJW/s1600/Cropped+ManyCam+photo.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="189" data-original-width="223" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiYREHKc1EGvI4HRKOd1yxbJnfzN4Xqg5REsEJSXTHsU32ZA8_LB6pPZqh4lg5J3He4GVmjINEjg4-y__yP6ew0mRNMNojTC9baBIo4-ftT4rS4unPuqrqIhnWi5Do7BgAJKXBOizXwHoJW/s1600/Cropped+ManyCam+photo.png" /></a></div>
<br />
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: center; text-indent: .5in;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;">Birds
of a Feather</span></b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;">Actually,
the only thing I remember about chickens on the farm is that they were a form
of entertainment for our dog. Mother would go out daily, putting out chicken
feed for the birds in a long line and they would come greedily to peck away at
their breakfast or dinner. That of course was the signal for our dog Max to go
into action. His job as he saw it was to march along the line of feed picking
at feathers here and there, causing mayhem among the chickens, sending them
flying in all directions. Each must have derived some degree of pleasure from
it because it was a twice daily ritual, always the same, with mother yelling at
the fool dog to get outa there.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;">Well
a kid on the farm wouldn’t think of the birds as anything but a roast on the
Sunday dinner table when you watched them hanging in the barn getting their
throats cut and being plucked and cleaned for the table or given away to city
folks who might come out for a visit.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;">Who’da
thought chickens might have personalities but my Tante Liese who was known as
the egg lady in around her area all the way to Winnipeg Beach. Old Ab Marley,
the paint salesman in my office and a real character would stop by her place
weekly to pick up eggs asked her one day if he could go see the chickens. No,
she said, they’d get all upset and stop laying their eggs. I remember him
coming into the office with this tale that we were all laughing about. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;">Well
it turns out Tante Liese knew her birds better than most. One of her daughters
confirmed that in a later conversation. It still didn’t register until one day
recently I was watching something on TV. There was a lady there who, among
other animals, kept a number of exotic chickens. Well, she would pick them up,
rub their necks and ruffle their feathers, all to the birds’ enjoyment. Well, I
never . . . even the visitors got to do it.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;">Chickens
have never been good fliers, maybe good enough to get up into a tree, but
little else. These days they are bred to be wider and heavier to provide huge
breasts for the market. So for the birds it’s a lost cause. The millions of
birds that are abused and force fed to provide more savory food for drooly
mouthed buyers. No matter what they do, they’re still nothing more than a
commodity.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;">A
sad situation.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />Victor Epphttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12444725912153847155noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8990001599255026895.post-41626381266551491132018-06-23T07:55:00.000-05:002018-06-23T07:55:02.985-05:00Canadian Military<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiPZ4AGFMo_O52jW5DwN6OP5F-sZnZktd9XZQnrSCGfoBWqu7UaFaomNuxl2f0o7vu2HwwBQIlU_Q1lNkG31w7mD1A0ijQhcswVWBA0Rx47m26YiJ2yegTX-Sh9i4uBryoE3OhDLtBZLNHQ/s1600/Cropped+ManyCam+photo.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="189" data-original-width="223" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiPZ4AGFMo_O52jW5DwN6OP5F-sZnZktd9XZQnrSCGfoBWqu7UaFaomNuxl2f0o7vu2HwwBQIlU_Q1lNkG31w7mD1A0ijQhcswVWBA0Rx47m26YiJ2yegTX-Sh9i4uBryoE3OhDLtBZLNHQ/s1600/Cropped+ManyCam+photo.png" /></a></div>
<br />
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: center; text-indent: .5in;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;">Canadian
Military</span></b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;">I’m
just a little confused about our Canadian military personnel these days. We
don’t seem to have a large military base compared to other countries but still
we have troops deployed all over the world. We seem to be serving everywhere in
almost every capacity and largely training foreign armies how to fight etc. Of
course there are rescue missions right here in Canada too, but the only ones a
person really hears of is the army filling sandbags.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;">Well,
they’re burley young buggers, full of brawn and energy who can fling them
things around like they were paper napkins. What a boon to have them around at
flooded out places to help out. Of course they’ve got them big vehicles too to
get in and out of places nobody else can, an’ boats an’ helicopters an’ all
that sort’a stuff. An’ a few years ago they even had to shovel out a severe
snow storm in Toronto, remember that?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;">What
I wondered at was, were they hiring?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I
went on the internet to find out and sure enough they are! Of course I
immediately got curious as to whether I could hire on. But I suppose at
eighty-three, the only job I could get is as a decoy of an old man in trouble
that they would have to rescue. Of course that would be an automatic failed
project ‘cause I’d never survive such a rescue attempt anyway. No, I thought,
I’d better not apply.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;">Of
course I’m now thinking in an entirely different direction. I’m thinking in the
direction of our Indigenous communities with their water and sewage problems (and
housing of course), not to mention education.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;">Well
here we have an opportunity to hire a bunch of young Indigenous people, giving
them an opportunity to become disciplined soldiers ( or naval or airmen),
giving them good paying jobs, free training, free education and a purpose in
life on behalf of their communities and themselves beyond their military
service.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;">It
sounds pretty fantastic doesn’t it? Imagine our nation being defended by a
bunch of native warriors. The only thing is that a warrior in native languages
does not necessarily mean the same thing as it does in the English or French
languages. Of course it means the same thing, but also many other things to
defend against.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;">We
tend to think of native warriors as people like the code speakers or like Tommy
Prince in our own country who made tremendous contributions to the military and
without whom the wars may well have had a different outcome. But that’s only
part of the story. There are wars and warriors to defend against other things
in the community such as alcoholism, diabetes, shortcomings in the community
etc. These are things that must be defended against, requiring warrior-like
dedication. So a group of warriors dedicated to safe water systems and sewage
systems could well be imagined.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;">It
really is not all that complicated for the Indigenous communities who, in spite
of the white man’s efforts to annihilate them, still retain the basis for the
culture. In my mind it is a very wise culture.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;">So
to get back to the point, it occurs to me that all these communities need
tending to. And what better way than to enlist in the military, getting a good
paycheck, free education in a field of choice and contributing back to the
community. There is something very appealing about that whole scenario. But it
ain’t quite that easy, especially among us white guys who are only interested
in our own view of things. Not only that, but there’s enough corruption among
chiefs and counsels to warrant investigations.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;">I
would say it’s a well worth while effort for the Indigenous communities to make
in order to bring such a system about. Certainly each community is different,
with different issues, but the basis is the same. What is needed is a consensus
and commitment by the Indigenous community and pressure brought to bear on the
white community. Not a simple task, but it must be done.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;">They
say the Elders have gone silent because they don’t know what to say. But the
young people, if they grab hold of the opportunity can move mountains, and so they
should.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;">Imagine
our nation being defended by the Indigenous community. Now THAT’S a twist.
Worth thinking about.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />Victor Epphttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12444725912153847155noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8990001599255026895.post-62011510194726305772018-06-16T07:36:00.000-05:002018-06-16T07:36:14.712-05:00The Evil Admen<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj4GU_LFutWuRcrhZHb0xgH_MmldY9WMgsVqX8BMoLHcOT0Ei8xGAFh22KQrkBMa4IHXvFIy-jF7NPkbhR-0jjEtTeDQRsHLuTeTT5StJzkhyphenhyphenuHJWBMfGZUxKcWJpoLtRkiM0nnorva2sok/s1600/Cropped+ManyCam+photo.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="189" data-original-width="223" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj4GU_LFutWuRcrhZHb0xgH_MmldY9WMgsVqX8BMoLHcOT0Ei8xGAFh22KQrkBMa4IHXvFIy-jF7NPkbhR-0jjEtTeDQRsHLuTeTT5StJzkhyphenhyphenuHJWBMfGZUxKcWJpoLtRkiM0nnorva2sok/s1600/Cropped+ManyCam+photo.png" /></a></div>
<br />
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: center; text-indent: .5in;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;">The
Evil Admen</span></b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;">It’s
all about the money. It’s always about the money. It’s all about figuring out
ways and means of getting us to offer it up to their clients. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Is it any wonder that these salesmen for
people from non-profit organizations to mining companies to shoe stores to
sanitary products to toothpaste and foods spend so much time in research and
testing of what makes us buy what we buy and contribute what we do.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;">Well
it’s quite an operation to figure out what makes people want something badly
enough to fork over the required amount of money. They work on the premise that
buyers are liars - with some justification. For example, they might put up a
display in a store of – say – shoes, and watch as the ladies walk by. Slowly
they stop at the flashy display and then walk on. What the H-E double hockey
sticks is that about? Not one bite. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;">The
display is deliberately set up to attract women to buy the product but for some
reason it’s not working. So they upped the ante. They put little cameras in the
display aimed at people’s eyes. It was amazing what they discovered. The eyes
are a window to the heart, so the evil admen milked that to the max to the
delight of their clients.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;">Then
there’s the non-profit organizations begging for donations to help feed, clothe
and educate the underprivileged around the world. I don’t think they quite have
that figured out yet. There are too many inconsistencies in their ads, but the
main thrust is a guilt trip heaped upon the recipients of the ads. It’s a sorry
story to be sure, but largely misguided and misdirected.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;">These
evil admen are everywhere. They have their tentacles out like giant spider webs
in order to not miss any potential opportunity to pick our pockets. For example,
the other day I was looking up an organization called Red Bubble which is
geared to independent artists selling their work. I think it was within an hour
that I suddenly was bombarded with information (ads) about Red Bubble on face
book. It hasn’t quite stopped yet. Well it was just an inquiry for cryin’ out
loud folks. I guess I can’t really get any information unless I sign up. Well,
forget it! I ain’t THAT interested.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;">The
latest thing I noticed was that Credit Karma business. That doesn’t affect an
old geyser like me, but I was curious to find what it was all about. It is
after all, FREE. Oh yeah, let’s find out, I thought. It turns out that you have
to sign up and then give a lot of personal information (in order for them to
check your credit). What they do then is to sell that information to various
people who can use it to try to sell you something or other. Hm – free huh?
NOT!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;">I
suppose it’s all legal, more or less, but it borders on false promises, errors
and omissions and a whole lot of fine print designed to make a reader give up
and sign in without studying the whole concept first. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;">Immoral,
that’s what it is. And when you feel the wind blowing up your bum because your
pants are down around your ankles, it’s often too late to do anything about it.
Welcome to the world of the evil admen!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;">Oh,
and another thing that makes my blood boil. Clothing and shoe manufacturers have
convinced young people that it’s a status symbol to wear things with a
particular brand name sewn on or into the particular piece of apparel, or
stamped on a style of shoe. And then they’re charging an arm and a leg for it.
If I want a name stamped on my shoe it certainly isn’t Nike. THAT’S NOT MY NAME
YOU GUYS! And it isn’t Gucchi either. And the whole idea of Levis is an
absolute insult. They’re bloody barn pants (in case anybody’s noticed) for
crimeny sakes.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;">Well,
don’t get me started.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />Victor Epphttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12444725912153847155noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8990001599255026895.post-59570473202335539782018-06-09T09:54:00.001-05:002018-06-09T09:54:48.003-05:00And Another Thing<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgY9aekLyzKQ-QSzBL8PhoDms-xJe45kr-QSSeidN4hP8W9iq4y9J2wIvEy1P3T5if1mTRaqaVkNgQtOBv61esjbw350XG6K_w9ibTclUQrhmnSTfHCI78oRr6Jhgoq6Tdlrh6cQhezSGxI/s1600/ManyCam+photo.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="240" data-original-width="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgY9aekLyzKQ-QSzBL8PhoDms-xJe45kr-QSSeidN4hP8W9iq4y9J2wIvEy1P3T5if1mTRaqaVkNgQtOBv61esjbw350XG6K_w9ibTclUQrhmnSTfHCI78oRr6Jhgoq6Tdlrh6cQhezSGxI/s1600/ManyCam+photo.jpg" /></a></div>
<br />
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">And
Another Thing</span></b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;">Well
I seem to be continually harping on the activities of the world’s white
population. But let’s face it, there’s a lot to harp about. A little while ago
I was on about the extinction of the white race by way of intermarriage. I had
alluded to the world as becoming a population of taupe colored people, much to
the chagrin of some white people.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;">But
I discovered that white people themselves have found new ways to make
themselves brown, at least partly in the parts of their bodies exposed to view.
They used to do it by way of stripping down as far as was considered decent and
exposing the naked skin to the sun. Of course it was a dangerous and precarious
thing to do. If you overdid it the first day, you ended up with ruby red skin
that would blister and peel off in a matter of days. Then you’d have to take
your time on the next outing, getting just the right amount of sun so you
didn’t do further damage. It would take half the summer to get to a decent tan
and from there it was a matter of some intense tanning to darken the color. Of
course those areas covered by clothing of any sort of clothing seemed to become
more white and anemic. By September, you were as dark as you could possibly be.
But at least you weren’t white anymore (at least not where anyone could see).<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;">Well,
that was then. The German scientist Friedrich Wolff first introduced the ultra
violet light to tanning beds in order to provide healthy tans to people year
round. What a boon to die hard tanners. Tanning beds were becoming popular by
as early as 1908. Over time there was a literal explosion of tanning beds that
people would use to avoid the dangerous sun’s rays and affording a year round
tanning ability – until it became unsafe.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;">Well,
whatever. The point is that white guys just don’t like the color or non color
they are naturally endowed with. What they’re trying to do (whether they know
it or not) is to look more like people of color. Those parts that don’t look
like that are covered up with clothes. Somewhere there’s a disconnect between
the body and the brain in differentiating perception from reality.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;">Being
white isn’t as much about being a certain color but rather being a certain
culture (the white culture), no matter what color you are. So interracial sex
for want of a better word, is what will turn us all into taupe colored people
and before long we won’t be able to claim the superiority of the white man
because there’ll be no white man. That’s a reasonable assumption which may or
may not have some wrinkles in it while the race is dying out.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But what the heck, the experiment is well
worth it. Firstly it involves sex and who ever complained about that? The only
other thing that might help is a good universal power outage. That works every
time.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />Victor Epphttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12444725912153847155noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8990001599255026895.post-2703558639798207842018-06-02T05:53:00.000-05:002018-06-02T05:53:14.473-05:00Judas and the Sheep<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg6SidnD35QNEmcyhIYzBKnNJ-8XwYbr0spSQoeSXSDBipsmc726GVOZ4hjS_a033gm54qRl8pjOfZome5_cd4uZ_TO5LRlpSIgQPxtfhHFjGNxjaO2kczGB4Bz5CpVsCtoKgwlPUvGNMpv/s1600/Wolfman+1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="240" data-original-width="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg6SidnD35QNEmcyhIYzBKnNJ-8XwYbr0spSQoeSXSDBipsmc726GVOZ4hjS_a033gm54qRl8pjOfZome5_cd4uZ_TO5LRlpSIgQPxtfhHFjGNxjaO2kczGB4Bz5CpVsCtoKgwlPUvGNMpv/s1600/Wolfman+1.jpg" /></a></div>
<br />
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 6.0pt; text-align: center; text-indent: .5in;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;">Judas
and the Sheep</span></b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 6.0pt; text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;">Metaphors
are kind of a mixed bag. While they make a lot of sense to us old geysers who
have been there and done that, they make a lot of sense in painting a more
accurate picture of what’s happening, to younger people they might be nothing
more than confusing. Chances are though that the younger crowd will have picked
up something from their upbringing and the picture that is painted will come
into focus.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 6.0pt; text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;">With
that in mind, picture a flock of sheep having been herded around by what is
called a Judas goat for a whole season. He (the goat) has led them around the
pasture, showing them where the best grasses are, defending them against dogs
and coyotes, and generally becoming accepted as the boss of the herd. He’s been
their guide and protector, and they’d follow him anywhere. So when shipping
time arrives, they have no problem following him up the ramp of the big semi
trailer and into its van. By the time they all get packed in, they can no
longer see him, but they hear his bleating so that’s good enough. All jammed
into the giant trailer they take off for their destiny, quite content.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 6.0pt; text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;">When
they get to the abattoir, the goat leads them off the truck into a large
enclosure where there’s space, and hay and all sorts of good adventure. Well,
they’re shorn to start with. Imagine how good that feels. The sunshine on their
now exposed skin and the soft breeze wafting over them. They want to thank the
goat, but he’s nowhere to be found. They hadn’t noticed him slipping out a side
gate and back into the van to get another load of sheep. I could go on and on
as they are slowly funneled into a squeeze gate, zapped and hauled off to the
butcher’s table, but I think I make my point. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 6.0pt; text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;">Take
this then to the political landscape. Who then among us is Judas? Who then
among us are the sheep blindly following along behind him/her, believing his or
her promises until they hit the squeeze gate and the butcher’s table? <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 6.0pt; text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;">The
same can be said for the financial industry, and particularly for the
advertising industry. They all have or are their own Judases.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And we the sheep, all we do is bleat in
thoughtless approval of what our particular Judas tells us.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 6.0pt; text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;">And
when we finally reach that terminal squeeze gate, we realize we should have
discussed the matter rather than just bleat our mindless approval. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Back when the Quebec situation was so dicey
the CBC managed to produce a program where participants from both sides of the
argument were invited to participate in a discussion. They were charged with
the responsibility of solving the problem of the social divide between the two
solitudes that governments hadn’t been able to do. It was a very high profile
program and the two sides of the argument sat down to seriously talk to one
another for whatever time it took. I think it was a matter of hours they were
given.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 6.0pt; text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;">I
have to mention that the two sides were totally opposed to the others opinions,
but were bent on solving the problem. They were not allowed to protest the
others position but had to focus on bringing a satisfactory and workable
solution amenable to both sides. If I remember correctly, there was a
facilitator to help them stay focused.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 6.0pt; text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;">The
participants represented a cross section of trades and professions (other than
politicians) and with the help of the facilitators stayed on topic. It was a
fairly tense negotiating process, but long before the time for the program to
end, the participants had come together on each of the large number of topics,
not necessarily compromising but adjusting their point of view on them after
careful thought and discussion.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 6.0pt; text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;">Needless
to say there was no Judas in the room. There were just people and facilitators
(or as I call them: leaders).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Of course,
it must be noted that this particular session had no bearing on political outcome
of the problem, but hopefully it was instrumental in shaming the Judases into
rethinking their positions.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 6.0pt; text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;">The
example is crystal clear. The Judases of the world are super salesmen motivated
to get people to follow their promises in order to get what they want for their
own benefit. Facilitators on the other hand are the real leaders causing
meaningful dialogue with the general populous to arrive at a meaningful
solution to most of the community’s problems. It’s kind of like the method
Indigenous communities used at one time to solve their issues. Surprisingly our
current Liberal Government has made an attempt to do it this way. They only
thing is, they don’t have enough qualified facilitators.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 6.0pt; text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;">Well,
life will go on. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />Victor Epphttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12444725912153847155noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8990001599255026895.post-46770128749348738442018-05-26T15:10:00.005-05:002018-05-26T15:10:53.767-05:00Endangered (Human) Species - The Disappearing White Man<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi2Z8pj2M6alAVz9pjv5gR1stGbIhVYyYC205Yd0Ldomcv7pyV0qxT2SToBJx_Obrn5O8hnqQC4-Uf5yovMhprN269Jr_r54rsvqlfzF7gq-XSlo4HJprPF0h1zfyjTg0Y1YJmdR8tpNO61/s1600/Wolfman+1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="240" data-original-width="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi2Z8pj2M6alAVz9pjv5gR1stGbIhVYyYC205Yd0Ldomcv7pyV0qxT2SToBJx_Obrn5O8hnqQC4-Uf5yovMhprN269Jr_r54rsvqlfzF7gq-XSlo4HJprPF0h1zfyjTg0Y1YJmdR8tpNO61/s1600/Wolfman+1.jpg" /></a></div>
<br />
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></b></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Endangered
(Human) Species:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The Disappearing White Man.<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Not too long ago I
posted a document suggesting that continuing intermarriage would soon wipe out
the white race altogether. It was in response to the white supremacists, the Ku
Klux Klan, and all the other white racists. Little did I know what would happen
in England of all places. But what better way to set an example to the world
than that the head of the commonwealth which represents a full third of the
world population recognizes that we are no longer one color – (white, that is)
or one religion (Anglican, that is) or even one culture. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">The only time this ever
happened in recent memory between the U. S. and England was in 1936 when I was
only a year old. So I don’t really remember it, but a few years later while at
school, we would love to paraphrase different traditional songs to amuse
ourselves in boyish fashion. For example when we sang “Hark the Herald Angels
Sing”, we would add, “Mrs. Simpson Stole Our King”. Then we’d chuckle away,
much to Mrs. Shaw’s chagrin. Of course we didn’t know what we were talking
about. Some British comic likely made that up and he wasn’t nearly as amused as
we were. In fact, the British aristocracy as well as the government found their
stiff upper lips starting to quiver at this outrageous affair and the couple
eventually ended up in France where they lived out their days. Their concern
was obviously lost on us.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Of course that occasion
was not a color issue or culture issue, but more or less an issue of shame for
the British aristocracy and a bit of a coup for the Americans. But now it seems
that an evolution has quietly been taking place over the years, attacking the very
heart of the white race until its demise is inevitable.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">The (white) Americans
were certainly upset with Obama winning the presidential election. They just
couldn’t see a “Black” man in the white house. Excuse me. How can you be black
if your mother is white? It didn’t matter at all to the entire population of
the U.S. He is “Black”! That’s a bad thing for the white people, and an
extraordinary victory for the black population, even though they are both
wrong. If anything when it comes to color, he should be gray.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Well now, fast forward
to Meghan Markle and Prince Harry. Nobody in America is annoyed at this Coup.
Despite the fact that she is mixed race, divorced and a total commoner, she
(not Harry) is the American darling. She has taken ownership of a royal prince
and opened the door to the royal family, color and culture be damned.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">On the other side of
the pond, it must be remembered that nothing happens without the approval of
the queen. You can bet that she went over every detail and she approved. She
seems to be a far sighted woman and has welcomed Meghan into the royal family,
getting things done on time and in perfect order. That will set the tone for
future mixed race marriages in the Royal family and make that sort of thing
more acceptable for the general population of the commonwealth at large. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />Victor Epphttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12444725912153847155noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8990001599255026895.post-33847586011081136412018-05-19T04:15:00.000-05:002018-05-19T04:15:41.295-05:00Liar, Liar, Pants on Fire - Open Houses<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjxWACcYXnSsziozgDNQjCe2_m6btniNuiH6H2JQRjHITuR0H9r9kLXhyphenhyphentrEzNMgiNDtx__64M7AAGrZZcwY9pUkrnsqno7RmAIFyL-x23sSaylsVztMcZZDhyphenhyphenmmz0TVhEuRzgr3qMLrM5T/s1600/Real+Estate+Picture.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="706" data-original-width="473" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjxWACcYXnSsziozgDNQjCe2_m6btniNuiH6H2JQRjHITuR0H9r9kLXhyphenhyphentrEzNMgiNDtx__64M7AAGrZZcwY9pUkrnsqno7RmAIFyL-x23sSaylsVztMcZZDhyphenhyphenmmz0TVhEuRzgr3qMLrM5T/s320/Real+Estate+Picture.jpg" width="214" /></a></div>
<br />
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: center; text-indent: .5in;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;">Open
Houses</span></b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;">Now
there’s a dangerous game. Back in the day of three piece suits and big Lincoln
cars, I came into the office one Monday morning to the news that a young woman
had been murdered in an open house she was holding in the Tyndal Park area of
the city. I don’t really recall all the details, except that a grey haired man
with a grey three piece suit had been seen there around the time of the murder.
The woman had been alone in the open house at the time. I don’t remember if
they ever caught the killer, but there were a lot of rule changes around open
houses at the time.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;">The
awkward thing was that I (with my graying hair) had shown up at the office in
my grey pin striped three piece suit that morning. You can bet that was the
last time I wore that thing for quite some time. In any event, women were not
allowed to hold open houses by themselves any more, and quite a few refused to
hold them at all. There haven’t been any murders like that since.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;">As
can be seen, open houses were a risky business, what with tire kickers looking
around, people with their own properties for sale making comparisons, people
with nothing else to do on a Sunday afternoon all coming out to see what was
available.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Not only that, but other
agents, hanging on to their buyers would bring them through in order to claim a
commission should their customers buy directly. See, in those days things were
a bit different. If your buyer happened to walk in on your open house without
his/her agent, you (representing the seller) were entitled to the whole
commission. You can’t imagine the number of fights that caused or calls from
agents claiming that THEIR buyer was in the open house and they would be
writing an offer. It got to the point that there was more going on about
(possible) commissions than about selling a property.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;">Of
course you couldn’t really blame the (potential) buyers not wanting to make
rigid plans to engage an agent to go around and casually look at properties
when they weren’t sure of what it was they were looking for. Not a moment too
soon, the Real Estate Board instituted buyer agreements = similar to seller
agreements to protect the buyers agents. The most difficult part of that was
for agents to sign up their buyers, but other than that it freed everyone up
from a lot of the politics and infighting. In this day of the internet it’s
even more relevant.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;">In
my day, I was never too concerned about being alone in an open house. I always
advised my vendors to put away their valuables. Probably they should go for a
ride so they didn’t have to answer questions from buyers. They should
anticipate what a buyer would look for to be included in their purchase price,
and mark it as “Sold” so there wouldn’t be a question about it later.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;">Of
course it would be necessary to organize the furnishings in the house so the
place looked as spacious as possible and neat and tidy. I would usually get to
the house early enough to turn the oven on to about 200 degrees Fahrenheit and
place a little container of vanilla in it so that by the time buyers came by,
the aroma of fresh baked bread would hit their nostrils in an inviting way.
That actually worked very well. Besides, it gave me a pleasant smell that
didn’t hint of air fresheners to be in during my time there.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;">Mind
you, if I held an open house where I thought it would be particularly busy, I
had the luxury of bringing the Missus along to direct traffic and keep an eye
on things while I was giving tours. Being a “dyed in the wool” retail person,
she was particularly good at it and certainly saved my bacon a number of times.
We actually made a pretty good team.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;">Regardless,
open houses were a necessary part of the business and their popularity among
agents was largely dictated by their success in selling that particular home
or, the number of buyers one could glean from them. For myself, I would rather
have spent my time riding my horses or tending my garden on a Sunday afternoon.
Fortunately, that’s now all in the distant past. I’m too busy being retired.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />Victor Epphttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12444725912153847155noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8990001599255026895.post-53016480050459425942018-05-12T08:21:00.002-05:002018-05-12T08:21:58.401-05:00Liar, Liar, Pants on Fire - Dim Sum Commissions<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi5bVYe4-8T9Pbyd2TJ6K_WG-I_Wm8iuzM6w2fiWHZKnl4xuZoH9uKLIKn9L2fzdHBvVGB0JUVwuCi-UUVRsLYeXxFfbUzyG4uU4YgojWQboT2enMVp171BehQMDsKQYy9FSfWhGpcblQ0A/s1600/Real+Estate+Picture.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="706" data-original-width="473" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi5bVYe4-8T9Pbyd2TJ6K_WG-I_Wm8iuzM6w2fiWHZKnl4xuZoH9uKLIKn9L2fzdHBvVGB0JUVwuCi-UUVRsLYeXxFfbUzyG4uU4YgojWQboT2enMVp171BehQMDsKQYy9FSfWhGpcblQ0A/s320/Real+Estate+Picture.jpg" width="214" /></a></div>
<br />
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: center; text-indent: .5in;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;">Dim
Sum Commissions</span></b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;">Chris
Hashimoto used to brag about making better Dim Sum than her husband Ben. In
fact, they used to have contests in which both of them would get into the
kitchen with their flour and oil and frying pans, each claiming to outdo the
other. I had chuckled at these two competitors so when an occasion arose for me
to sell an Asian restaurant I thought it would be interesting. It was the
business only in a leased property.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;">The
wife was the cook and general everything else while the husband watched the
till. He actually had his own business of tinting windows like on cars,
showroom windows and so on. They were a lovely young couple making their way in
the business world. But she was pregnant with her second child and needed some
time off, so they wished to sell the business. I have absolutely no idea of how
they came to us and that I ended up with the listing, but I imagine that we
were the only company close by and, since I was the only one doing commercial
real estate, I was it I suppose.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;">Well
it was a lovely restaurant in a newer strip mall but since it was also a newer
residential area, it was somewhat struggling. As it turned out, the owners were
not inactive either. The fellow (whose name escapes me) found a chap willing to
take on the restaurant provided the wife would stay on to teach him her recipes
for a period of two months. It was an agreeable situation for the owners, but
now they wondered about how to pay me for the listing agreement.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;">I
had a solution to the problem. Let their lawyer draw up the agreement to
purchase the business (which got me out of that end of things) and in exchange
for any payment, the wife should teach me how to make Dim Sum and we’d call it
even. The woman looked at my big white hands and the look on her face indicated
some doubt as to the possibility. But she agreed and we made a date to do it.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;">We
chose an early afternoon when the restaurant was quiet and got right down to
business. All the ingredients were already laid out and the lady greeted me
cheerfully. Was I ready to learn how to make Dim Sum? Absolutely I was so we
got into it. Among other things, she’d chopped up some pork, some shrimp, and
various vegetables. She had some rice with it and began shoveling them all into
circular skins of dough.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;">“This
is the hard part,” she smiled as she deftly folded the ingredients into the
skin, closing and sealing it in a fancy series of folds until it was magically
formed into a round thing that looked something like a garlic pod. Now it was
my turn and it was a little awkward at first making all the fancy folds in the
skin, but I imagined myself making perogies like I used to do and it became
amazingly simple. I had made a lot of perogies as had my mother before me as
had the whole Mennonite community as well as the Ukrainian community at large.
Mind you, the filling was different but that was no big deal. My mother had a
whole variety of fillings to hers too. They were more like Perishky that she
made except for the folds and the shape of the dough. So that’s what these were
then was Japanese fancy Perishky. Ha, ha, that was a blast! No wonder Chris was
so good at making Dim Sum. She came from a Ukrainian background and she could
out maneuver Ben’s culinary skills any day of the week if she put her mind to
it.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;">Giving
my hands a little artistic encouragement, I managed to make the required fancy
twists and with the cook’s help we managed to get several dozen made. She
steamed half of them in traditional Japanese style and we fried the other half.
It was a delightful afternoon of cooking and chatting and cleaning the counters
and when we were done no one would know that we had been there. But I came away
with what was left of the Dim Sum and a warm feeling of friendship.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;">Of
all the commissions I’ve ever received, this one ranked right up there with the
best of them.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />Victor Epphttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12444725912153847155noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8990001599255026895.post-3276216733452199112018-05-05T07:58:00.002-05:002018-05-05T07:58:28.225-05:00Liar, Liar, Pants on Fire - The Alberta Connection<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg2Voq4OFbedy5TkXznm_2FBszG0NpdKjz8jW-VNa4rISK16etphl-9y2NRqio5QLuGU5QbL7kjobT8zBz-gR15gbYZH-UyH-TOFS2wVPgdl52QKMfWF-GjBbpov5Uv5GIspYP3sfq4kfqd/s1600/Real+Estate+Picture.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="706" data-original-width="473" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg2Voq4OFbedy5TkXznm_2FBszG0NpdKjz8jW-VNa4rISK16etphl-9y2NRqio5QLuGU5QbL7kjobT8zBz-gR15gbYZH-UyH-TOFS2wVPgdl52QKMfWF-GjBbpov5Uv5GIspYP3sfq4kfqd/s320/Real+Estate+Picture.jpg" width="214" /></a></div>
<br />
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: center; text-indent: .5in;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;">The
Alberta Connection</span></b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;">I
had family in the real estate business in Alberta a number of years ago. It was
a volatile time in Alberta with fluctuating prices; down one day and up the
next. It was a little bit like them Chinooks they get down there. One day I got
a call from one of them wanting an evaluation on an investment property one of
his clients had purchased in Winnipeg. The downturn in Calgary had prompted disposing
of this unnecessary investment. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;">When
this fellow had bought the property, it had been a bargain according to his
reckoning. Well, you have to understand that for Albertans, Calgary and
Edmonton are the centers of the universe and all the world’s wisdom flows from
there. Had he done his proper due diligence in the first place, he would have
found that Manitobans have a slightly different view of things. Now he had to
find out the hard way.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;">You
can bet your boots that I had a ten page summary of pictures, comparable costs
and sales to hand over to support my appraisal. It all came in at about a third
of the price the client had expected and I wanted to protect myself as well as
my brother-in-law without making apologies.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;">Needless
to say there was an awkward silence of some duration at the other end. I had
expected that, wondering if I had alienated that whole end of the family. The
thing was that I had a verbal offer from the tenant of the property who was
already at odds with his landlord. It seemed as though I had walked myself into
another mess (again). Would I never learn to leave this commercial stuff alone?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;">When
I finally heard from my brother- in- law again, he expressed total disbelief in
the evaluation. How could this be possible? Places in Alberta were going for much
higher prices. His client was still trying to reconcile this anomaly and he
needed some time to think about it. I told my brother-in-law I could likely
prompt an offer close to the price shown and he promised to consider it.
Finally he said “Bring it.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;">The
tenant, having other businesses as well, put in an offer under a numbered
holding company. I encouraged him to come close to my appraised price (which
was fair) and he agreed. I don’t remember exactly how the whole thing went
together, but it did and my client (the tenant) continued on cooking his Indian
food.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;">What
I wanted to mention here has nothing to do with real estate, but rather the
Alberta mentality which shows up in the oil business these days. The story
illustrated here is exactly the same as the basis for the oil business. They
discovered they had a valuable resource, started to develop it and then called
on the country to allow them to transport it here, there and everywhere. They
were totally surprised by the push back to their preconceived plans and
couldn’t understand the unfairness of it all. It seems nothing has changed
since the days of Peter Lougheed and P. E. Trudeau.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;">Just
think what might have happened in either case if Alberta(ns) would have
consulted with stakeholders first before making decisions based on Alberta
wisdom. I’ll leave that with you.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />Victor Epphttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12444725912153847155noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8990001599255026895.post-75921747909945039562018-04-28T07:28:00.000-05:002018-04-28T07:28:02.151-05:00Liar, Liar, Pants on Fire - Getting Listings<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiKl-fRqwzQg4NjToNeONmoa9Lx1CHE9n7vet5q1mWjeJeP4uSKjpbx34Fj1s1nslSXRbZRFMg6y5bGyNwI7gQKjpS26bVjc-6Mo9we4cXnQP-f7bfgUgn8DzqArZMe4e4NRtD9ANJsSqQo/s1600/Real+Estate+Picture.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="706" data-original-width="473" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiKl-fRqwzQg4NjToNeONmoa9Lx1CHE9n7vet5q1mWjeJeP4uSKjpbx34Fj1s1nslSXRbZRFMg6y5bGyNwI7gQKjpS26bVjc-6Mo9we4cXnQP-f7bfgUgn8DzqArZMe4e4NRtD9ANJsSqQo/s320/Real+Estate+Picture.jpg" width="214" /></a></div>
<br />
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: center; text-indent: .5in;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;">Getting
Listings</span></b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;">Let’s
face it. In order to sell a property, you must first list it so that you (or
anyone else) can sell it. Listings are after all, the core of the business. The
question is: how do you get listings? <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;">I’ve
got to say there are a million ways to do this, most of which are never used. For
starters, most real estate sales people are not really sales people to begin
with. They are hard wired for rejection. If someone seems willing to do
business with them, they automatically get suspicious. I think the business of
direct sales is a foreign concept to most sales people that is difficult to
grasp. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;">I
remember once when our company closed our office and moved us to another in a
consolidation move, several agents in the office we moved to quit the business
altogether, citing a lack of referrals coming into their office and how would
they make a living now? These were not sales people. They were sales clerks and
didn’t know the difference. That’s the thing. Direct sales are a whole
different category. You need an entirely different mindset for that.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;">I
remember the old Xerox course in direct sales that was so simple it was
understandable by most everyone. It said (more or less) to paraphrase; find (or
establish) a need and present your product to fill that need, answer any
objections until the need is met; ask for the order. Well it went something
like that. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;">There
was another course called the Spech sales course for real estate. It was also
an excellent course in having the (potential) client participate in
establishing a price for the property. I used its philosophy quite successfully
in my marketing technique. On Dwight Whalley though, it had the opposite
effect. He was a friendly, gregarious fellow whose personality invited
friendship. Dwight was literally making an excellent living selling real estate
with never much of a problem. But once he got into this method, his sales began
to slow down to the point he wasn’t making any sales at all. Finally desperate,
Dwight went back to his old ways and business picked up for him.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;">The
point of the whole story is that not everything works for everyone. You have to
take what matches your personality and go with that. Not even drumming into our
heads that in cold calling we needed to call, make the appointment and get off
the phone got through our heads (well not all of us anyway). It seems the
blockage occurred in identifying oneself as a real estate agent and the
perceived tirade of abuse that was sure to follow from the person on the other
end of the phone. Well it was a time when lawyers, used car salesmen, and real
estate salesmen were all the butt of many jokes. Agents would identify
themselves in the strangest of ways to avoid saying “real estate agent”. Some
would be “doing a survey”, others would be selling insurance, etc. – anything
but looking for real estate business.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Then, if they didn’t get their ears burned off from the other end, they
would begin to talk to the potential customer and blow their whole cover.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;">We
had one agent in our office who I think I’ve told you about before who had
mastered the art of getting appointments. He was indeed an experienced agent
who would go around the office asking people how many appointments/listings they
wanted.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Of course, everyone was happy to
get a listing or to and would be happy to pay a referral on the sale of a
property.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;">“Listen,”
he would say in response to a tirade about real estate agents. “I’m with you
sir/madam. I just hate them crooks. I’m an agent myself and I have no end of
trouble with them. They drive me nuts!”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;">First
thing you know he’s got the party on the other end agreeing with him. “Tell you
what,” he says. “I’ve got some good people I trust working with me. I’ll send
Mrs. Palmer over to give you an evaluation of your home. No, no, there’s no
cost or obligation. But I’m sure you’d like to know what your home is worth.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;">Of
course they would. Who wouldn’t like to know what their home is worth? “Is
tomorrow evening good for you – say 7:00 p.m. or should we make it 8:00?”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;">“No,
seven is fine”.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;">“Mrs.
Palmer will be there.” He hung up the phone and went on to the next.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;">The
thing was that he wasn’t ashamed to be a real estate agent at all. He was
rather proud of it in fact. In the course of the evening he had racked up
thirteen appointments, with a referral of ten percent on each sold listing. Not
bad for sitting on the phone enjoying yourself for a few hours.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;">So
there you have it. You need to be proud of what you do to do it well. It works.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />Victor Epphttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12444725912153847155noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8990001599255026895.post-73425679871934270712018-04-21T11:54:00.002-05:002018-04-21T11:54:42.117-05:00Liar, Liar,Pants on Fire - Purely a Business Venture<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJy61TDQoFoZFKXZC4wgHNIGL_lLmatpO4ARltGZVbVadKjbF35IJ7BUs9KNc2nbORpcXk6UAswLKWeuh186QjM-RuiO4E1m3qQaox07rx3XMcnYdurM09gjpbgnVxsslXCTRFh2lNuptt/s1600/Real+Estate+Picture.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="706" data-original-width="473" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJy61TDQoFoZFKXZC4wgHNIGL_lLmatpO4ARltGZVbVadKjbF35IJ7BUs9KNc2nbORpcXk6UAswLKWeuh186QjM-RuiO4E1m3qQaox07rx3XMcnYdurM09gjpbgnVxsslXCTRFh2lNuptt/s320/Real+Estate+Picture.jpg" width="214" /></a></div>
<br />
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: center; text-indent: .5in;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;">Purely
a Business Venture</span></b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;">I
don’t really know where to begin this story because it really comes in two
parts. No, not two parts but probably four or five. Life cannot ever be simple
it seems. It started off with our company hiring a Mrs. Park, a somewhat
controversial commercial agent. Not that she was so controversial but rather
she marched to her own drummer and had difficulty with Real Estate rules in
Canada. I spent a lot of time sorting out her real estate problems during the
course of her business. She somehow couldn’t get the hang of doing business in
Canada, more or less following her Korean ideas.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;">Her
husband was an entrepreneur, buying and selling things between Korea and here
and he seemed like a personable fellow. We first got involved in a meat plant I
had for sale in Killarney. It didn’t work out in this case because the plant
was only provincially licensed and in order to export one needed a federal
approval.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;">Well
we got to talking on the way back and I discovered that Peter had apparently
escaped from North Korea and had come to Canada. While here he had written a
book on martial arts of some sorts. He had opened a grocery store which had
been highly successful and had become an elder in the Korean United Church. He
had also been an elder and advisor in the Korean community. Something happened
to his business and he had to sell the store, causing a diminishing “respect”
in the community for him, but somehow he prevailed and exercised a still
formidable respect in his community.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;">All
of this is a pretext to the story I want to tell. I had been working with an
Indigenous group of artists in connection with a non-profit organization I had
founded.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>One day I get a phone call from
a fellow who said so and so had recommended he speak to me about an animated
video project he was trying to get published. He needed me to find him some
funding and/or some means of getting it done. Could I please meet with him?
Well of course I could! This would be another adventure.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;">We
had to meet at his place since he had everything laid out there. I got to the
door at a nice little place in Fort Garry and it was all surprises from here on
in. Firstly, a six foot six bodybuilder filled the door frame as he welcomed me
in a soft spoken voice as his big hand closed over mine.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;">Up
in the loft of his house there were drawings and notes of all sorts spread out
over a variety of tables set up between weight lifting equipment. His day job,
or rather night job as it turned out was being a bouncer at a local bar, which
then turned a light on in my head. His friend who had referred him to me was
also a bouncer (and an artist). I couldn’t figure out how that squared up but
paid it no particular mind.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;">Basically
what my new friend had was a whole raft of beautiful and articulate drawings
that followed a story line, but he hadn’t got beyond the concept of what he
wanted to achieve. There was another thing he wanted to achieve (which didn’t
make any sense to me on the surface of things). He wanted the proceeds (or a
portion thereof) to go to rescuing the endangered white rhinoceros. That didn’t
make any sense to me either until I discovered that the L.A. zoo was working to
do just that. Also, Lou Ferigno was in the area and would do a video on the
animal. The light went on. My client wanted to meet Ferigno. Well alright then,
who was I to argue?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;">When
I told all this to my Korean entrepreneur friend, his eyes just lit up. He
could accommodate this. He knew people in Korea who did this sort of thing. He
would make a few phone calls and get back to me. I in the meantime got to work
to complete a formal business plan including naming all the stakeholders and
payment schedule for each.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;">There
are many side stories I could tell about this adventure but the whole thing
would become too cumbersome, so I’ll just summarize as best I can. To start
with, I completed my business plan for my friend with what information I had
and left it with him. Funding was scraped together by my Korean investor for
the trip to L.A, and for a trip to Korea to meet the animators which was
apparently necessary according to custom. Five days in Korea got the business
started and the animators were then to come to Winnipeg to present their story
board to my client.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;">The
first thing I know (just before the arrival of the Korean delegation) my
investor is driving a brand new Cadillac. Well, he reasoned, you can’t drive
around in just any crummy car so he dipped into the budget for that. Another
five days went by and I heard from my animator client that he had been
approached by my Korean friend to have me removed from the equation. What did
he need me for anyway? By eliminating me from the profit picture, he would save
a lot of money.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;">Things
went quickly south from there. Apparently the Korean company had been cleaned
out (by my investor friend) and they had to go home with their tails between
their legs and declare bankruptcy. He in the meantime saw his chances of being
a big time movie director slipping away. So he decided to have it out with me
and came to my office.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;">Well,
we sat down and began discussing the whole affair. It didn’t go particularly
well. Did I get paid for any of my services, he wanted to know. Yes of course I
did. That seemed to inflame him. Didn’t I know he had come from North Korea? He
had killed a lot of people before and it wouldn’t bother him to put me away
too. When I didn’t react to his threat, he decided he had other things to do
and left my office.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;">I
don’t think I ever spoke to him after that, but came to a satisfactory
conclusion with my animator friend. In fact, he sent me the most hilarious copy
of the tape with Lou Ferigno trying to get that stupid rhino to co-operate
while he was speaking. That in itself was reward enough.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;">I
didn’t much stay in touch with the animator/bouncer after that. His father had recently
died and left the family in somewhat of an uproar. I did speak to his mother
though a few times on advice about their real estate, but slowly that all
petered out and I went on with my business.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />Victor Epphttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12444725912153847155noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8990001599255026895.post-17537797767780327172018-04-14T07:15:00.001-05:002018-04-14T07:15:23.168-05:00Liar, Liar, Pants on Fire - The Broker<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh9N9-RV9muHRTf50_qsvJw24fL2bq0-Kyig7FxTa5IdDltxFeJ97innUI8zLcZLeXjAsUuwR2tybPPGUlq38TyRXsgXDOMrjM3nIIwXWL-wXZqiesLJlqGUHhasH2EJTMO4ycWd4dXIBn-/s1600/Real+Estate+Picture.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="706" data-original-width="473" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh9N9-RV9muHRTf50_qsvJw24fL2bq0-Kyig7FxTa5IdDltxFeJ97innUI8zLcZLeXjAsUuwR2tybPPGUlq38TyRXsgXDOMrjM3nIIwXWL-wXZqiesLJlqGUHhasH2EJTMO4ycWd4dXIBn-/s320/Real+Estate+Picture.jpg" width="214" /></a></div>
<br />
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: center; text-indent: .5in;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;">The
Broker</span></b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;">Sometimes
I think the job of being the broker in a real estate organization is directly
proportionate in size and importance to the number of agents in his office when
it comes to solving problems. An agent, for example will have a question, any
sort of question or problem, he comes to the broker for advice. The broker of
course has to know all the answers, based on the rules of the game, and advises
accordingly. It’s pretty impressive; almost like a tribal chief.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;">But
that only holds good in a very small brokerage. As the company grows and takes
on more agents, a surprising phenomenon arises. Of course you have agents who
are new to the business and then you have others who have been around for a
while and joined our company for their own reasons.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;">Normally
my advice was not overly encouraging, but it was fact based according to the
rules set out by the board and/or the securities commission. I didn’t often get
into moral issues since that was another subject entirely and I generally kept
my own counsel. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;">It
wasn’t long before I began to notice complaints crossing my desk over things
happening against the advice I had given. What the . . . . ? Was I losing my
mind or were the agents just not listening? It turns out they were listening
alright, but just not to me. What they would do is go around the office
describing their particular situation to various other agents, all of whom had
different opinions, and then pick the one they liked best, and act on that one.
That usually ended them up in the kind of difficulty I had predicted in the
first place. Well, it did provide work for a broker to iron out all the
wrinkles in a crumpled agent’s life.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;">As
our company grew, so did the number of agents who were disgruntled with the
owner of the company. Well, he was getting on a bit and they wanted to take the
company in a new direction, so negotiations got under way and seven of them
bought him out. Can you imagine seven owners of the sort I just described
owning a company? It was sheer pandemonium.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;">I
wasn’t part of the partnership, not that it wasn’t offered, but seeing that I
was the broker and I was needed, that was good enough for me. I wasn’t going
anywhere anyway so we were all more or less well satisfied. The first thing the
new company did was take on the Sutton Group franchise which was probably the
best thing that ever happened. No, that’s not true. The best thing they ever
did was to hire Roberta as office manager. She came to us in an opportunity
resulting from mismanagement of a local Remax office. Well, their loss, our
gain.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;">The
partners meetings were loud and boisterous. There wasn’t a wall flower in the
bunch. But with all the diverging opinions, it wasn’t long before the partners
fell off one by one. It wasn’t so much the different opinions as it was the
expense of the company. It wasn’t long before there were only two partners
left. Nobody left the company but five of the partners just didn’t have the
wherewithal to foot the bill. We were growing into a family of sorts.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;">One
of the partners decided that he should become a broker so that we could open a
second office as per his agreement with the franchisor. These were rather
uncertain and tough times for the company, what with meeting the daily bills,
looking for a new office, recruiting new agents and so on.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;">I
was involved in very little of this except as an outside observer, just doing
my job as a broker and taking in all the machinations of the company. I’m going
to tell you that once Roberta got her hand on the tiller, it wasn’t long before
the company started moving forward. Of course there were discussions,
disagreements, insults and threats, but she prevailed and slowly it all came
together. I have to say I understood all these things and Roberta’s approach to
them. I have two daughters who have exactly the same personality, whom I admire
tremendously too, but I wouldn’t want to be caught in their crosshairs.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;">Finally
we got another office at the opposite end of town which I was the broker at
while Blaine presided over the original office. They sent me about fifteen
agents and a sweetheart of an administrator with a part time assistant. It was
quite a set up. Every once in a while Blaine would drop in to see how things
were going and we’d have a good chin wag.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;">One
day he showed up at our office and was talking to the girls when the assistant
administrator complained to him about my wanting things done. She wanted him to
speak to me about this attitude of mine. In other words, who did I think I was
being so demanding? <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;">Well
Blaine, in his inimitable laid back style only chuckled, saying that she must
realize that I was the boss (broker) here and could easily fire her if her work
wasn’t up to snuff. Apparently her eyes widened somewhat and she busied herself
doing what I had asked in the first place. Nothing more was said. I only
mention that last bit as a point of amusement in the many adventures we had
together, especially at the North Kildonan office.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;">I
still go in once a year to look in on my real estate family, pretending to be
on inspection. Judging by the hugs I get, I think I am well remembered and am
still part of the family. I guess I had a good time working there.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />Victor Epphttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12444725912153847155noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8990001599255026895.post-79571982524128561372018-03-31T08:04:00.000-05:002018-03-31T08:04:22.875-05:00Liar, Liar, Pants on Fire - Board Hearings<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<br />
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: center; text-indent: 40.5pt;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;">Board
Hearings</span></b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-indent: 40.5pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;">I
guess it’s time for a little change of pace. The Real Estate Board arguably has
some purpose in the life of a real estate agent. Aside from its staff, it has a
number of various committees dealing with all sorts of issues that come up in
the course of daily business, so it is a source of constant activity usually
involving any number of board members and committees. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-indent: 40.5pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;">One
such committee is the disciplinary committee dealing with complaints against a
particular agent or company. Well I was never on any such committee, but was
often called as the broker of my company to defend my agent(s) on complaints
made against them by either other companies, agents, buyers or sellers.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And of course there was always the reverse
where one of our agents or the company was complaining about someone or
something else. Regardless, it always fell on me as the company broker to
represent our interests at the board. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-indent: 40.5pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;">The
complaints panel was comprised of a board member of course, a member of the
public, a church cleric and I don’t remember who all else. Each represented a
segment of public interest (whatever that was). There was some structure to the
proceedings in that the complaint was first read out and then each of the
parties to it was asked to make their case for or opposed to the complaint. When
it was done, you either went for coffee or back to the office, none the wiser
for what the panel was about to announce. Sometimes it went well for my agent
and me, and other times not so much.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Generally, I would speak for the agent in
question while he or she sat quietly nodding or shaking her/his head at my
arguments, occasionally throwing in his/her two cents worth. At times the
discussion could become heated, calling for a separation and perhaps coffee
break, and then we’d go at it again until we got through all the issues. After
that the committee would deliberate and render a verdict that had no appeal to
it. One got the message and lived with it. Period.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;">It
didn’t of course always go as planned though. One particular case I remember
involved a complaint against one of our agents who was reported to have taken
somebody else’s buyer at an open house. Well, I didn’t get a word in edgewise.
My agent put on her warrior cloak and lit into the other company with a ferocity
that put the whole committee into shock. I have to say that she had come much
more prepared than I had. I had to take into account that she had come to
Canada from a war torn country which maybe colored her attitude somewhat,
leaving us trying to catch our breath. Ultimately though, her lack of civility
caused her more problems than the business was worth and she ultimately left
the business.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;">One
of the most amazing pieces of business at the complaints committee hearings
happened one morning when we were all a little early for the appointed meeting.
Over a cup of coffee we got to discussing the complaint made by the opposing
broker. It turned out to be a total misunderstanding on his part. Well, he
decided to fix it at the meeting.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;">By
the time everyone got settled in and read the complaint out, the broker piped
up and simply stated what had transpired at coffee and that he was withdrawing
the complaint. I must say that I’d never seen the committee so befuddled
before. Thinking back now, it was kind of funny just to see the look on their
faces, having nothing to make a judgment over. The upshot was that the broker’s
company was fined five hundred dollars for having wasted the committee’s time
in coming together to do nothing and we had no penalty.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;">There
are many other stories I could tell about this part of the business (if I could
remember them) but suffice it to say that it was all a toss of the dice to go
into one of those meetings and ponder the outcome. I could easily have done all
my homework, checked my facts and go in fully confident of the outcome, only to
have it completely reversed by the committee. I was more than pleased for our
company to grow to the point where we had a second broker so I wouldn’t have to
go anymore.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />Victor Epphttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12444725912153847155noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8990001599255026895.post-11432729852172216012018-03-24T07:36:00.000-05:002018-03-24T07:39:28.362-05:00Liar, Liar, Pants on Fire - The Winnipeg Drought<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhd2mFU2y0QUoj9L-lnaWdUkHVcd6M1Gsv0FnddcepeD0OgMr70OE7xlMtsWD65jNmd6nVA3Ik7QRdFqH1gtBidWLhBKBfgO8mFaz3xRfb4rwxqwKJU5JM25i6SH5teJ_OQGjapzo7uJIRq/s1600/Real+Estate+Picture.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="706" data-original-width="473" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhd2mFU2y0QUoj9L-lnaWdUkHVcd6M1Gsv0FnddcepeD0OgMr70OE7xlMtsWD65jNmd6nVA3Ik7QRdFqH1gtBidWLhBKBfgO8mFaz3xRfb4rwxqwKJU5JM25i6SH5teJ_OQGjapzo7uJIRq/s320/Real+Estate+Picture.jpg" width="214" /></a></div>
<br />
<br />
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: center; text-indent: 40.5pt;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;">The
Winnipeg Drought<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-indent: 40.5pt;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;">It
was quite a number of years ago that Winnipeg experienced a time of drought and
a basic lowering of the water table. I remember it well because there were
several calls regarding it. I don’t really know now whether it was confined to
the south end of the city or was generally all around. But it happened about a
year after I had sold that place in Wildwood Park. The whole business stands
out in my mind in that there was an apparent first time problem with that
place.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-indent: 40.5pt;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;">These
homes were built by C. T. Lount in a radical manner in that they were slab on
grade with a network of copper piping in the slab to heat the floor. What that
did was to eliminate the furnace while keeping the whole house warm in winter.
It was especially comfortable on the feet in January. This was a radical
departure from the usual method of construction and was quite a remarkable
marketing coup for Lount at the time. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-indent: 40.5pt;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;">The
problem that came up was that the floor was experiencing some serious cracks to
the extent that the copper pipe in it was also cracking and causing a serious
amount of distress. While I somehow heard about this problem, I had no ambition
to get involved in it. I had my hands full with other things and didn’t need
that added to them.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-indent: 40.5pt;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;">At
about the same time I had another call about a house in Riverview where the
earth had shrunk away from the foundation and there was (now) water coming into
the basement. (Of course it wouldn’t rain unless preconditions existed to do
the most damage). Well, now it rained. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-indent: 40.5pt;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;">Doing
some research on the property, I found that it had been built by Hiro
Hashimoto. Hiro was one of those builders who, if he built something, it stayed
built. Well this was a situation that even he could not get under his command.
If you build something on a virtual swamp and then somebody drains it, well
there was nothing to be done about it. So I blew that one away too.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-indent: 40.5pt;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;">I
must say that this had nothing in particular to do with my real estate
business, except that it was one of the peripheral consequences one had to deal
with. And it was one of the things that had happened to one of the houses I had
listed and sold. I tell it here merely to point out that there is more to real
estate than real estate alone.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-indent: 40.5pt;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;">I
suppose I could do a whole section on what happens to houses in this eternal
bog called Winnipeg like the periodical disappearance of the third sub-basement
of the Hudson’s Bay Store and so on, but suffice it to say that like the people
of the Florida Coast, we don’t know any better either. It’s strange how the
people along the Mekong Delta know how to protect their entire villages from
flood and we, here in the developed world can’t figure that out.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />Victor Epphttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12444725912153847155noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8990001599255026895.post-71936996986406639882018-03-17T08:30:00.000-05:002018-03-17T08:30:17.454-05:00Liar, Liar, Pants on Fire - The Ultimate Country Property<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjHuoLBcq5xf9HWZ6mi8d9JzrzB_c_znfOPpAEZWJmz1PToitqk_dAnYsLA9fW9RS5dw1m1Q8T3uCqYgE1Zyi79Jbn3_mbkDp89PgOviMExeM8KvIcBNVsn-_29HCcKhaERZw58zcsCUA_f/s1600/Real+Estate+Picture.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="706" data-original-width="473" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjHuoLBcq5xf9HWZ6mi8d9JzrzB_c_znfOPpAEZWJmz1PToitqk_dAnYsLA9fW9RS5dw1m1Q8T3uCqYgE1Zyi79Jbn3_mbkDp89PgOviMExeM8KvIcBNVsn-_29HCcKhaERZw58zcsCUA_f/s320/Real+Estate+Picture.jpg" width="214" /></a></div>
<br />
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: center; text-indent: 40.5pt;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;">The
Ultimate Country Property</span></b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-indent: 40.5pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;">Often
I don’t remember how I get into certain listings or find buyers but some of the
details usually come out in the writing and I at least come out with a
conclusion of some sort or a lesson learned.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-indent: 40.5pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;">I
think in this case I was contacted by a fellow on my Great West house that
never sold. It’s a typical example that we advertise properties to sell “A”
house (and not particularly that house). <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Suffice it to say he wanted a large custom
home where he could relax from his rather hectic business. He liked all the
amenities but the house was far too old and outdated for him. He wanted all
those things but something modern. Something he could be proud of.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-indent: 40.5pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;">Well,
I knew of a place that pretty well fit his list of requirements in exactly the
area he wanted to settle. There was only one catch. It was about a hundred and
fifty thousand more than he wanted to pay. Forty odd years ago that was a
pretty healthy sum of money. He didn’t care. He wanted to see it. Well okay
then. I first arranged to go through the place myself so I wouldn’t look like
an idiot when I showed it to him and his wife. The listing agent was the wife
of a prominent lawyer I had befriended a few years before. She was very
gracious in taking me on a tour of the now vacant home.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-indent: 40.5pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;">It
was a couple of days later that my buyer came thundering up in his brand new
white Cadillac. He was by himself, not having brought his wife or the children.
Well THAT was a little disconcerting but the real estate business is always
full of surprises.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-indent: 40.5pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;">Before
we went into the house we entered the swimming pool building, a massive
structure with everything in it, including a bar, change rooms and showers –
everything needed for a rich man’s pool house and then some. The building was
close to the residence, but before we went in, he wanted to see the property
itself, which we did.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-indent: 40.5pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;">A
little further back in a clearing stood a barn and hay roof. I was to learn
later that it was visible from the kitchen and family room in the house. It was
a twelve stall barn where the stalls were reversed and the horses would face
outwards to a hallway that ran the length of the barn. Of course there were no
animals there now. It was quite a set up. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-indent: 40.5pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;">The
place belonged to a major grain buyer whose son-in-law had designed it for him.
He had placed all the toys and would be toys in the property for the old man’s
whim and fancy. Now as he moved up to the west coast, he had entrusted the
property to my lawyer friend to dispose of. That was pretty well the long and
the short of it.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-indent: 40.5pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;">But
I digress. We went into the house through the mud room which was opposite the
pool house. That in itself was quite a production. It was a large space with
room to remove your boots and replace them with slippers, a couple of saddles
and tack, and whatever else you wanted to drag in or out with you. The mud room
opened into a spacious kitchen and – well like every other room in the place
was well appointed and fitted with every luxury. Even the curtains and drapes
were tastefully hung in the place.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-indent: 40.5pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;">It
was several hours before we got through, going back outside again to re-examine
the grounds. I went home in a totally confused state. I had no idea of what
might happen to this deal. In fact I didn’t hold out much hope of it ever
materializing. Yet the confidence of my buyer left something to be considered.
I just swept it under the carpet and had my dinner.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-indent: 40.5pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;">Two
days following that visit to the property I suddenly got a call from my lawyer
friend. He’d been talking to my (potential) buyer’s lawyer and it looked like a
potential deal was in the offing so I should call him. I was about to when the
buyer phoned me. I was to come to his place in the Wildwood Park area, an
upscale residential district in the city. I was to write up an offer on the
place in the country and at the same time give him my opinion of the value of
his own home. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-indent: 40.5pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;">It
was one of those C. T. Lount slab homes with heated copper piping in the floor
to keep it warm in winter. It was indeed a spacious and well appointed home.
Taking the area into account and the quality of the property itself along with
the urgency to sell, brought us to a reasonable asking price. I barely had time
to organize a public open house. In fact, once I had the open house organized,
the house was sold in the first half hour, lock stock and barrel. There’s
another side story to tell about that, but it’s for another time.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-indent: 40.5pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;">The
best way I can describe how this deal all came together is to compare it to
putting it into a legal set of dough makers. The first one would knead it
together, remove it and throw it into the next one that added something or
other and continued kneading. I have only a vague recollection of machinations
between lawyers with the occasional notice of how things were going and
somehow, the first thing I knew, the deal had come together and my buyer was in
possession of the new place. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-indent: 40.5pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;">That.
it turns out, was only the beginning of the story. It wasn’t long before they
had their own stamp on the place. He was busy thundering around the country
side in his big white Cadillac or thundering around the property on horseback,
having an absolute ball while his wife was enjoying the house and the pool,
totally avoiding the barn with all those big beasts in it. Well really, the
daughters enjoyed the pool more because it brought friends and boyfriends and
happy times. Now they had it all. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-indent: 40.5pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;">About
six months went by when I got a phone call from my buyer. He said he wanted to
sell the place.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-indent: 40.5pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;">“WHAT?”
I blurted out in disbelief. “You only just got there. What’s wrong?” <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-indent: 40.5pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;">“It’s
a long story,” he replied. And he proceeded to tell me. To start with, his wife
had suffered an aneurism, not fatal but quite debilitating. She would be a long
time recovering. I was shocked and expressed my condolences. She was such a
lovely lady. But that still wasn’t any reason I could see to move. Well she
liked the place but it was too big for her to keep and not only that, she was
deathly afraid of those big scary horses. Still not a reason to sell, I
figured. Well not only that, but his brother who had been his partner forever
was pilfering clients out from under him. He needed a smaller place and he
needed a shop in the city to set up his business on his own without a partner.
Not only that, but he wanted it all to be closer together so it was more
manageable. Okay, now it made sense.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-indent: 40.5pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;">In
order to be an honest broker, I suggested we hand the place back to my lawyer
friend’s wife because I had no idea of how to find another buyer for such a
place. He agreed, so I got busy trying to find him a location closer to town
and also a business premises. It pretty well all went sideways because he was
busy finding his own properties. I couldn’t quite read his mind so I rather backed
off and eventually lost track. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-indent: 40.5pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;">I
don’t really know what I learned from this whole experience other than to try
not to get involved with these high energy doers again. It’s far too easy to
get out of your league.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />Victor Epphttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12444725912153847155noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8990001599255026895.post-68552625911142600232018-03-10T07:27:00.001-06:002018-03-10T07:27:26.140-06:00Liar, Liar, Pants on Fire - Buyers Remorse<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgO7rTZLAP3RRzkQsQuwquH44OU44zfwLGNyrIPWluX8IN4Q28T9JyNJPAeWQ_gwevXBKyUdgJT4MIeTc-hsJBKE1W1sO8aWfI6HJI2UbCbtNuxv8m9p-fT46k99XyeIebNh_nGy92LMu1B/s1600/Real+Estate+Picture.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="706" data-original-width="473" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgO7rTZLAP3RRzkQsQuwquH44OU44zfwLGNyrIPWluX8IN4Q28T9JyNJPAeWQ_gwevXBKyUdgJT4MIeTc-hsJBKE1W1sO8aWfI6HJI2UbCbtNuxv8m9p-fT46k99XyeIebNh_nGy92LMu1B/s320/Real+Estate+Picture.jpg" width="214" /></a></div>
<br />
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: center; text-indent: 40.5pt;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;">Buyer’s
Remorse</span></b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-indent: 40.5pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;">There’s
a psychological phenomenon well known in the Real Estate business (as it is
with every major purchase in life) called buyer’s remorse. That’s where a buyer
purchases a home, all excited and after the ink dries on the offer, he is seen
holding his head in his hands and lamenting on what he has done with his life. It’s
certainly all ruined for at least three days after the said purchase. Then
reality slowly begins to set in that maybe the purchase wasn’t as bad as it
first seemed. Gradually over the next three weeks the deal keeps improving in
the buyer’s mind until it becomes the best thing he/she ever did. That’s just
part of how the mind works (even mine from time to time).<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-indent: 40.5pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;">Given
that introductory premise, I remember a particular incident of buyer’s remorse,
both by the buyers of one of my properties in Tyndall Park, as well as of the
selling agent. It happened that he was relatively new in the real estate
business. Basically he was an insurance broker who was introduced to me by one
of my sons. The real estate business was added to his portfolio as a way to
expand his business. It was a perfect fit.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;">The
agent was a gregarious person with the gift of the gab and I could see how he
could talk anybody into just about anything. He was indeed personable and it
was easy to be engaged by him. Well, that was the problem. He had found a house
that I’d listed in Tyndall Park and according to him it was perfect for his
clients. He eagerly made an appointment and took them to see it. It wasn’t long
before he’d written up an offer, sent them on their way and phoned me about it.
It was really a pretty good offer and I managed to have it accepted on the
phone. But I had a funny feeling about the whole business and dragged my feet a
little in tying up all the loose ends.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;">Sure
enough at seven o’clock the next morning, I got a frantic call from an
apologetic agent. It seemed his client had called him about an hour ago wanting
to cancel the deal. Normally, when that happens, the purchaser is apt to lose
his deposit as a penalty for not proceeding without just cause. But in this
case, I had an inkling of what was coming so I delivered the deposit cheque and
the offer (still in my possession) back to the agent within twenty minutes of
his phone call and told him not to worry about it. Mind you, I had to do a
little stick handling with my vendor to smooth it over, but I managed somehow
by promising an open house on Sunday next.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;">I
told the other agent not to worry about it because I’d hold an open house on
the week end and have my vendor well satisfied. It was a tight race to organize
the open house in time for the week end but I managed. It was a reasonable open
house, although there were no immediate buyers. But low and behold, my
Insurance Broker friend showed up again the next morning with a new offer now
removing all conditions and a new cheque for the same property. He was grinning
like a Cheshire cat, as though he had convinced his buyers to do the right
thing.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;">As
I said at the outset, buyer’s remorse takes about three days to reverse itself
and let reality into the brain, which is exactly what happened here. I had
allowed for that in returning the original offer and waiting for the other shoe
to drop. This time I didn’t hesitate and did my work to slam the thing shut.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;">Sure
enough, about three weeks later the buyers were crowing about the marvelous
bargain they had stumbled upon in this house. And there you have it; buyer’s
remorse in full bloom. Lesson learned.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />Victor Epphttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12444725912153847155noreply@blogger.com0