zinger: Talk Radio May Be Worth Your Diamonds - Home Security - 05/11/13 04:53 AM

Who knew some of those talk shock radio people could be one of your lines of first defense against a robbery?  If you are going out for the evening or away on vacation, turn your radio to a talk show and on a timer.  Turn up the volume and it will sound, by listening at the front door, like someone is home.  
If you leave the radio on all the time it will be apparent that it is a machine.   If you leave it in sight of the window, well, you know.   If you set up a couple of … (31 comments)

zinger: Finding new homes for your china. Be Greek and pitch it at the wall. - 04/29/13 04:57 AM

China, as in dishes.  So many people are saving their china "for good".  I know I am and that, frankly, my day to day dishes are pretty wonderful and Ihave not used the china for several years.  It won't go in the dishwasher.  It is too 'delicate'.  While the pattern is very simple and elegant it is too formal for my style of entertaining.  I cannot imagine wanting to use it on a regular basis and yet, I pay to have it professionally packed and insured with every move.  I don't think I will do that again but what can … (21 comments)

zinger: ICE Your Cell Phone - First Responders May Need Help - 04/26/13 07:01 AM
As real estate people, we are often out and about alone.  If something were to happen (god forbid) do you carry enough cards and data that an emergency responder could help you properly?  One was to mitigate the risk is to ICE your cell phone.  In Case of Emergency.  Responders, needing information about you, will look at your cell phone to see if you have a contact called ICE.  
Most people put the name of a contact who can be reached and knows you and any health problems that you may have.  I suspect that the ICE contact is usually … (46 comments)

zinger: Doing My Tiny Bit for Earth Day - Microfibre Cleaning - 04/22/13 06:28 AM
The temperature is going to be so good today that I decided to start cleaning the windows (inside the house).  Today is Earth Day and I thought I would share the wonderful cloth that I use.  I just use water for the window cleaning.   There is no need for glass cleaners as the cloth seems to do the job so well.  I don't miss breathing in the fumes from the cleaning agents.  At the end of the day I use to smell like a bottle of windex.  No more.  
I bought the special cloth at a fabric store and … (14 comments)

zinger: What Are You Putting down the Street Drain? Spring Cleaning - 04/15/13 11:30 AM

This morning I decided to clean the front porch.  It is going to be warmer this week and I love to sit on the front porch and read, have a coffee and chat with the neighbours.  When I was finished, I had two buckets of VERY dirty water.  One had a couple of drops of dish soap in it and the other was just plain warm water that I used to rinse off the dirt.  I determined that both buckets were safe to put down the sewer drain at the end of my driveway.  
In Ottawa, many curb and … (24 comments)

zinger: Happy Easter - Signs of Spring - 03/30/13 05:35 AM

 
Now that the weather has (finally) returned to a normal spring temperature, it is time to get out for long walks.  Yesterday I went hunting for any sign that the melting is also encouraging spring blooms.  Here are the only flowers I saw.  I am thrilled that the crocus plants are so hardy and herald warmer things to come.  Easter is about victory over death and, before Christianity a spring celebration was about renewal and rebirth.  To me seeing things come up from the frozen ground, people out walking, sun shining and a promise of a season of growth … (23 comments)

zinger: PhotoShop Elements - When Too Much is Too Much - Go Back to Ribbet - 02/24/13 06:10 AM
I bought Elements over a year ago.  The complexity of the the software is overwhelming.  I know that if I could just buckle down and spend time playing with it, I would be okay.  Instead, I have been cruising through the free software.  Today, I got an e-mail from Ribbet.  When Google took away Picnik, I was bereft and thankfully found Ribbet.  Then after months of using it, I abandoned the software.   Thanks to this morning's email, I went back to play.  Here is a photo of a gondolier in Venice that I took in 2011.  Today, I was dreaming … (25 comments)

zinger: Seniors Texting With Acronyms - Humour - 12/30/12 01:01 PM

Thanks for calling last night.  Next time I will TTYL but now I will send this email to tell you about yesterday.  I was ATD when I remembered that it was the same time as my BFF.  I managed to get to the church fast because I was DWI.  On the way up the steps I FWIW so turned around and went to CUATSC.  What a day!  After asking, WTP – I now find myself TOT.  Don’t forget Dottie’s party tomorrow and make sure to BYOT.  She always serves nuts (like us!!!  LTIPMP). 
Photo credit:  EAT ANYTHING WITH FALSE … (12 comments)

zinger: Until the Cows Come Home - The Election Results - 11/06/12 10:48 AM
While my American neighbours wait for the polling stations to close and the results to be tabulated, it must seem like it is like waiting until the cows come home.  This idiom means a very long time.  The cows went out and only returned when they wanted to be milked.  It could have been a long wait.

Photo of my neighbour's lawn ornaments (some people have flamingos). 
… (21 comments)

zinger: I wish I was Irish - Humor - 09/15/12 05:19 AM
I wish I had the wit and the sayings that the Irish have.  When I read this joke, I knew it was made for sharing.
Father O'Malley rose from his bed one morning.  It was a fine spring day in his new West Texas mission parish. He walked to the window of his bedroom to get a deep breath of the beautiful day outside. Which is when he noticed that there was a jackass lying dead in the middle of his front lawn.
Father O'Malley promptly called the local police station. The conversation went like this:
"Good morning. This is Sergeant … (27 comments)

zinger: When Neighbours Go Bad - Fences - 04/26/12 05:40 AM

 
There was an article in the Ottawa Citizen today about a family that built a solid wood fence in the front yard to screen off the neighbour and the neighbour's garbage bins.  The fence is solid and over 8 feet high - in the front yard.  So, someone complained and the by-laws have kicked in.  According to the article, if no one complains, even if the fence does not meet the requirements, the city will not take action.  However, when there is a complaint, the by-law officers show up and the fence needs to be changed.  I expect the … (49 comments)

zinger: Applied Elbow Grease - Before Your House is on the Market - 04/03/12 03:57 AM
There is so much to do to get a home ready to sell.  You, the Seller, have been told to turn your home into a salable product.  Of course there are lists and ideas on what to do that your agent will give you or you will find here in AR.  Today, I want to focus on the appliances in your kitchen.  In some areas, such as Ottawa, the norm is that the appliances will be included.  Even if they are not, Buyers are snoops.  They look everywhere INCLUDING inside your appliances.  Walk into your kitchen, as though you are a … (25 comments)

zinger: Stair Runner Gone Wrong - 03/29/12 07:23 AM

 
Okay, what were these Sellers thinking?  Sure, they had a long hallway runner just sitting there in the basement begging for a use in their new home.  Sure the babies were finding it difficult to navigate the wood stairway but.....  taking the runner, flowing it through some metal rods and then (the cherry on the sundae) wrapping it around the last step and nailing it in place?  ARG
Now I am sure that this runner was of very good quality and seemed wasted when not in use but......  the stairs turned at the bottom and a straight runner, unless … (21 comments)

zinger: I don't know picture hanging from Adam. - 03/28/12 06:27 AM

 
Okay, just a little joke on Michelangelo's painting 'The Creation of Adam' in the Sistine Chapel.  I was doing an Open House a few years ago and could not help but notice that the owner had hung the artwork too high.  Now, admittedly Adam was a print taken from the original that is painted on the ceiling of the chapel BUT the owner's attempt to get this painting as close to the ceiling as possible was just a bit bizarre.  
The recommended gap between the sofa and the art is 6 - 8 inches.  The owners went a … (32 comments)

zinger: NASCAR Newbie - 03/10/12 08:20 AM
As with being a new real estate agent, some things are only learned by doing.  Sure, you can read about selling homes but you need to be out there with buyers and sellers trying to work a deal.  Nothing beats real life experience.

Now, I know that the same holds true for going to a NASCAR race.  Sure, from the television it all seems wonderful and oh so interesting - you know cars going around a track 320 times.  So, last week, while in Arizona, we had tickets to go see my first NASCAR race.  Here are some of the … (18 comments)

zinger: It Started Out Like A Totally Normal Day. - 02/12/12 09:20 AM
I volunteer at the Ottawa Heart Institute.  Last week a man came into the shop to get a magazine.  He said that he would be there a long time as his 46 year old wife had been rushed in by ambulance.  For a few days, she had been experiencing the symptoms that are displayed in the video.  When she finally woke up with enormous pressure on her chest and her left arm (symptoms that are more well known) she asked her husband to take her to the hospital.  At that point she knew she was having a heart attack.  If she … (13 comments)

zinger: A Billion Chicken Wings Will Be Consumed Today - 02/05/12 02:46 PM
I heard on television that approximately 1,000,000,000 chicken wings will be consumed today.  Now, assuming that you get 2 pieces per wing and two wings per bird then there are 250,000,000 chicken that have contributed to game day.  I like wings so will have a couple but there will also be meatballs, chili, chips and I have the chef (aka my husband) throw in a few celery and carrot sticks for good luck.  You never know when one of his friends will actually want to down a veg.  The beer is cooling.  For my part, I went all out and did … (23 comments)

zinger: It is Thanksgiving and time to talk Turkey - 11/24/11 04:34 PM

Happy Thanksgiving to the AR American readers and members.  I hope you have a great day and a wonderful Thanksgiving feast.  Watch out for Black Friday - the day stores go from being in the red to being in the black.  If you are shopping I hope you find some fabulous deals.
Speaking of turkey, there are some things that the good bird relates to homes. 
If a Buyer has been submitting a couple of tentative offers on a home and the Seller gets tired of the Buyers dabbling, the Seller may ask the Buyer to talk turkey.  The Seller … (16 comments)

zinger: Beyond the Hooks and Knobs and Nails, Oh My! - 10/31/11 04:27 PM
We spend a lot of time talking about how Sellers should fix up their homes to make them more appealing to Buyers.  So true and yet.....
A few years ago, a house in my neighbourhood was falling apart.  The owner was suffering from very bad health and what appeared to be a drug dependency supported through sales at the back door.  Things in and around the house were falling apart.  Finally someone called the family and a relative flew in to get the status.  Now, I don't know the inside scoops on what took place but the owner was sent off … (20 comments)

zinger: Five Things to Say in Your Thank You Card - 10/30/11 08:01 AM

For those whose pen is poised over paper and a big chunk of writer's block hit them, here are five things that you can say in that note to your clients, whether it is attached to your home warming gift or not. 
It was a joy to work with you on finding your new home.  Of course sometimes it is not a joy.  It was a struggle and the clients were mean and inconsiderate.  In that case, you can say..... It was such an experience working with you. I wish you many happy years in your new home.  Of course the clients may be … (66 comments)

 

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