Rites of Spring #33 The ups and downs of the Victoria B.C. Real Estate illusion · Tuesday June 8, 2010 by colin newell
Like Victoria, Vancouver, Toronto and other major Canadian cities, house prices go through cycles of boom and bust… up and down… near affordability and utter un-affordability.
Particularly in the Victoria and Vancouver B.C. markets.
Where a simple 2 bedroom 2 bathroom bungalow on a postage stamp sized lot can set you back 1/2 million dollars. This same house, 10 years ago, would have sat on the market for weeks or months and maybe netted 200G… a price that would have been considered obscene in any other location in Canada.
And yet there appear to be buyers eager to scope up these houses all over the lower Island and mainland… for now.
And the trend appears to indicate that a market, a mere year ago that was hotter than a stock car brake pad, seems to be cooling… a little faster than even I would have expected.
But not according to the likes of the B.C. Real Estate board, or the CMHC or our local rag, the Times-Colonist – a newspaper that seems to be little more than a trumpet for the Provincial real estate entity…
“Average home prices are anticipated to climb by six per cent this year over last, to $494,600, said Cameron Muir, B.C. Real Estate Association chief economist, said in his housing forecast released yesterday.
“That really represents the price increases that have already happened.” Prices reflect sales of all types of homes sold through the multiple listing service.
Say what?
My wife and I have been house shopping for quite a while – like hundreds of other folks on the lower Island and Vancouver – I have a computer listing of 100 houses in front of me – that are in our price range… and 53 of those houses have had price reductions of 20 to 60 thousand dollars. Some have been on the market for 60 days or more… gone are the 2 day price wars and sales markedly above asking price.
But don’t tell the Times Colonist or the B.C. Real Estate board that – they work hand in had in maintaining this illusory fever that lots of folks fall for.
And while the bubble may not burst, some of the air is getting out…
So take a deep breath. Save your money… for the time being.
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Rites of Spring #29 Andrea and Colin whip up Scratch Spaghetti Sauce · Sunday May 30, 2010 by colin newell
Meat and Veg
350g lean ground beef
350g lean ground pork
1 large yellow onion
1 stick celery minced
1 carrot grated (adds sweetness to the sauce)
2 1/2 cups sliced mushrooms (white or brown)
3 26 fluid ounce Tins of tomato sauce
2 small Tins (6 fluid oz.) tomato paste
Spices
Salt and pepper to taste
2 Tablespoon dried parsley
2 Tablespoon dried oregano
2 Tablespoon basil
2 Tablespoon Italian seasoning mix
3 small Bay leaf
In a large pot (heated to medium) brown the ground beef
and pork for about 10 minutes.
Add the chopped onion and brown for 5 minutes
Add the minced celery and grated carrot – stir 2 minutes
combine tomato sauce and paste – stir to mix
add the 2 1/2 cups fresh mushrooms
Add spices and bay leaf – bring to boil, reduce to simmer
for 1 hour.
Serve with any kind of pasta, garlic toast and a glass of your
favorite red wine.
Rites of Spring #27 Billion dollar G8-G20 security boondoggle · Friday May 28, 2010 by colin newell
Canadian security warlord and dweeb Ward Elcock (photo at right) is the bureaucrat who is spending nearly a billion (of your) tax dollars worth of security for the G8/G20 summits and, to hear him explain it..
“Hyuk, that’s money well spent, Hyuk, hyuk, nyuk…”
Say what?
“Protecting world leaders (from nasty hippy protestors) “requires a lot of people and people are expensive,” Ottawa’s nerdy security czar told The Globe and Mail in an gushing interview.
No.
Here is what really adds the dollars to these events: Security resellers…
Take a product (like a security officer or policeman) that we are paying for or have paid for already – and out-source it to a company that normally supplies us with security products but marks up that service by a factor of 10 or 100.
Example: A mall cop or community police constable might cost 12 to 35$ an hour.
Contract a “security supplier” to provide this service and they hire the McCops and “resell” them to us for upwards of $1000 an hour. The “reseller” pockets the difference and you line the pockets of the “reseller”
Another great example of this is an “unnamed” community in Canada that is having troubles with its mega-expensive trunked police communication system – that never seems to work. The supplier (who will remain nameless – they are a trans-national telecom with billions of dollars in sales) sells an accessory product for this communications system to a reseller for $49 and the the communications-security subcontractor resells it to the bottomless pocketed police force and ultimately to a beat cop for $499. It is a great scam. And in this way, these mysterious costs sky-rocket.
Remember the term “Golden Toilet” seat that costs $10,000 in a government stores system? This is what we are talking about. It’s pure pork barrel and pure boondoggle.
With no end in site.
He denied allegations of profligacy (wasteful excess), saying that Canadian taxpayers have to understand the logistics of deploying thousands of federal agents.
Also, he said, other countries lowball their own costs.
“Nobody has written a blank cheque,” he said of Canadian spending.
No. He has written a blank cheque and signed our name to it.
Ask yourself this: Why are we re-paying for RCMP officers? Yes, there is overtime but this is an event that needs less than a weeks security.
Think about it… because you are paying for it.
Rites of Spring #26 From Seed to Cup fundraiser - Black Stilt · Thursday May 27, 2010 by colin newell
On Thursday, June 3 The Black Stilt Coffeehouse will host an event to help
raise awareness of, and funds for, coffee farm families and, in particular,
sport and education programs for the children. Funds raised will be
distributed through the Oughtred Coffee Trust.
Black Stilt will offer special fundraising purchases which will include its
photo-journal book, From Seed-to-Cup: A portrait of great coffee and its
limited-edition Rio Negro coffee.
One free cup of Rio Negro coffee will be offered to everyone who purchases a
product fundraising item.
Hillside location: 1633 Hillside Avenue Hours: 7:00am-8:00pm (250)
370-2077
Jubilee location: 1769 Fort Street Hours: 7:00am-6:00pm (250)
590-8230
“We want to make a positive impact in the lives of the people who work so
hard to bring us our wonderful coffee,” says Dave Crothall, Black Stilt’s
owner and barista.
“We traveled to Costa Rica to learn all we could about our coffee and came
away with new-found knowledge about the people. It strengthened our
commitment to be a leader in promoting and educating our customers about
ethical coffee.”
To this end, The Black Stilt, in conjunction with Oughtred Coffee and Tea,
has written and produced a high quality photo-journal book. It tells the
story of the process and the people in ethical coffee’s remarkable
seed-to-cup journey. The book has been manufactured with wind power and
100% post-consumer waste recycled paper (FSC certified).
Rio Negro – of which there are only 80 lbs available – is a Rainforest
Alliance coffee of which Crothall is particularly proud. “It’s a first for a
barista like me to be able to share personal stories with customers about
every step of this ethical coffee’s seed-to-cup journey, and how it has
helped, not harmed its farmers and its environment.”
“The third wave of coffee has been around for awhile,” explains Crothall.
“Now people want to know that they coffee they are drinking is positively
impacting the countries of origin.”
The Black Stilt Coffeehouse, established in 2005, is a triple-bottom-line,
carbon-neutral company that leads by example with what is needed to create
healthy, sustainable communities. Additional information can be found at their website –
www.theblackstilt.com
