My internment continues, and I’m worried about the psychological impact.  Desperate times call for desperate measures,  I reached out to Amnesty International and asked them to take up my cause.  They hung-up on me! That’s…just…rude.  In my desperation I even contacted Greenpeace, and to my horror they refused to intercede on my behalf.  My plea “look, I get I’m not as cute as a baby seal, but maybe it’s time for guys to start thinking outside the box.  Who knows, it might lead to more donations,” fell on deaf ears.  Is mankind devoid of any compassion? Rhetorical question, based on my experience I think we all know the answer to that one.

I’m thinking of reaching out to all my brothers and sisters in the mortgage industry to support me in my time of need.  As a sign of solidarity, which would lift my spirits immeasurably, it would be nice if everyone wore a yellow ribbon until I was released.  Of course you wouldn’t have to ware it after 4:30pm because that’s when I get to go home.  Frankly, waring a yellow ribbon while I’m at home tonight watching the Leafs versus Penguins or Raptors versus Hawks, on my 65′ flat screen TV, would be, well, silly.

A gentlemen from the jury pool approached me this morning to introduce himself.  For the purposes of this blog I’ll call him George, because that’s his name.  A mutual acquaintance forwarded my Jury Pool – Day 1 blog to him, assuming he was in in the same jury poll, and suggested that he looks out for me.  So he did.  We laughed, we cried and we both stared out the window, green with envy at all those who are free to go about their day.  I said to George, “I will never take my freedom for granted again”. He said, “Boris, we brake for lunch in 45 minutes”.  George, is my rock.

11:28am – Do my ears deceive me?  Someone from the courts is making an announcement to the entire jury pool. He just said we’re free to go for the day.  But wait, there’s more. This guy is milking it, wouldn’t be surprised if he said, “I’m here till next Tuesday, try the veal”.  Praise Jesus, he just said our services are no longer required, period.  We don’t have to come back, and we won’t be called to serve for at least three years.  Of course we have to hang on to our summons in the event the government screws up – what are the chances of that happening? – and sends us another summons to appear before the three years are up.  The original summons will act as my get out of jail card.  My jury journey has come end.

A heart felt thank you to all the staff at MERIX. You were there for me in my darkest hours.  I will never forget the marching band that you arranged to have greet me at the foot of the court house stairs, and escort me on the long 750 meter walk back to my office. I Never Stopped Believing -

Until next time,

Cheers.

The shackles of civic duty is becoming more difficult to bare with each passing moment.  I’m alone with my thoughts, actually there’s another 150 people in the room but I don’t care about them because all they do is get in the way of a good story.  Back to me, oh the inhumanity of it all.  Being forced to sit around, do nothing, and just wait. I want my freedom, and I just made a decision to go on a hunger strike until I’m freed. I will only eat if If one of two things happen, and in no particular order.  Firstly, I am dismissed or chosen to be on a jury, which will then permit me to leave so that I can go back to making the world a better place.  Two, we break for lunch.  

12:08pm..Hunger Strike Ends.  My compliments to the chef at Burger King.  The Double Whopper Combo was magnificent.  The recommended beverage pairing? Diet Coke.  Simply superb.  I have been working on my girlish figure some six months now so I have to be mindful of the calorie intake.

A dear sweet elderly lady in jury pool has become the unofficial liaison between the court and the entire jury pool. Her updates are frequent and poignant. She notified us that none of the trials on the court docket this morning required a jury.  So we sit and wait, and then we wait some more.

3:45pm, new update from the unofficial liaison.  She informed us we could be going home shortly. Less than five minutes later the court announced we could leave for the day, but must return tomorrow by no later than 9:30am. Damn, she’s really plugged in.

Until next time,
Cheers.

In theory I think everyone agrees that jury duty is a time honoured civic responsibility. Jury duty accords citizens to have direct involvement in the justice system. Being a juror is an enormous responsibility, and if selected to serve you are legally bound to do so. There’s no excuse for not serving, unless of course you receive a summons requiring that you to take part, which may result in you actually sitting on a jury. Well, that’s exactly what happened to me, and my initial thought was probably not unlike most people’s, “how do I get out of this?”

Once the initial thought passes, but it never really completely goes away, you start to deal with practical matters rather than theoretical. Example, the timing. I was summoned to appear on Monday, November 24th. Not optimal given that it was day one of the CAAMP Mortgage Forum in Montreal. I was in Montreal for the weekend festivities, but come Monday morning I was on a flight from Montreal at 5:30am, and in the courthouse in Toronto by 8:45am. I arrived tired, but what I soon found out made me cranky, really cranky.

Jury Pool – Day 1

There I was in a room with 150 other perspective jurors. Before long, a gentleman working for the courts, enlightened us on procedures and what to expect. He asked us if we read the entire summons? Of course I didn’t read the entire summons. Upon receiving the summons I was aggravated, and I just looked for the date that I had to appear. Well, if I had read the entire summons I would have learned that I have a legal obligation to be part of the jury pool for five days. Unless I was chosen or excused, I could be there from Monday through Friday, 9:30am to 4:30pm, with no per-diem! Once the shock wore off there was only one thing to do. Search google for how to get out of jury duty. I came across an interesting article in the Huffington Post, by Peter Worthington, co-founder of the Toronto Sun. If you would like read the entire article here’s the link. To capsulize, he told the Sheriffs Office that he knew serial killers, and stayed in touch with them for years after he reported and covered their crimes. He was summarily dismissed from the jury pool. Okay, here’s my problem, I don’t know any serial killers and I have never corresponded with any. I know what you’re thinking, that’s odd. So I’m going to have to be creative. If the Judge asks me if there’s any reason I couldn’t sit on a Jury, I’m thinking of responding as follows; “well your honour, eight out of the ten voices in my head say don’t shoot…I’m sure we’re going to be okay.” Or if he asks me if I could convict someone knowing they could spend the remainder of their life in prison, my answer might be; “hell yeah. As matter of fact your honour if you want to be bring back capital punishment I say getter done. You kill someone in Toronto, I say we kill them right back”. Just spit-balling.

Finally around 3:30pm we were notified that we could go home. Reminded that we all to be back the following day, by no lather than 9:30am. So, the experience continues.

Until next time,

Cheers.

Just coming back from New York, and I’ll spare you the cliché.  New York – bright lights, the city that never sleeps, blah, blah.  All true, but the bright lights I’m referring to is a select group of loyal supporters of Merix Financial.  We  had the pleasure of hosting a number of mortgage brokers in New York to attend the World Business Forum.  The event is held over  two days and attendees at the conference are leaders and executives from around the world.  The lineup of speakers have diverse backgrounds and experiences.  It’s the diversity of the speakers which provoke thought and critical thinking.  The two day event allowed all of us to exit the echo chamber that we all find ourselves occupying.  That is a critical element of professional development.  Thought provocation forces you out of your comfort zone.

Our invited guests embraced the opportunity to listen and learn from speakers whose subject matter expertise may have appeared to have only a subtle correlation to their daily actives.  But, they came open minded and prepared to see where the experience takes them.  I got a big kick watching our guests as the event evolved.  Here was a small group of people who for the most part were strangers to each other or know by name only.  However, in a short period of time small micro groups were formed to talk about issues that each individual faces each and every day at work.  It’s remarkable how quickly trust was built among the group, and it was a safe environment to say “I got a work problem, and I don’t have an answer”. Assistance and suggestions from peers was immediate, and no one held back for competitive reasons.  I can’t tell you how cool it is to watch a team come together. Make no mistake, this is a team.  As of today they know they can pick up the phone and reach out to one of their peers from across the country to help them solve a problem.  Sometimes business can be overwhelming, but it doesn’t have to be lonely.

In my humble estimation, the event was a success, and here’s why.  First and foremost, our guests wanted to be there.  That was demonstrated by their support of Merix to ensure they were invited. Also, our guests are all focused on building a business, and not just a job. That’s an important distinction. Secondly, Merix set the right expectations.  It was learning first, party second.  Don’t get me wrong, there was time to have fun.  Like the night we all went to Madison Square Gardens for a Fleetwood Mac concert.  Our seats we on the floors and we were swept up by the music and the New York audience.  Even though there was bit of a “generational” gap for some of our guests, all danced, had a few libations, and allowed themselves to be swept up by the event and the masses.  But come 8:30 am the next morning, all were ready to begin a new day.

An extraordinary amount of time and effort is put into planning one of these events.  I can never really be sure if our guests will find a benefit in attending, while leaving their business for a few days.  After the wrap up dinner we hosted on the final night, one of our guests sat next to me and gave me a book.  She wanted me to have the book because she thought I would enjoy the read.  She mentioned that she wrote a note on the inside of the cover but asked me not to read it at the table.  She said she didn’t want to become emotional.  I smiled and said I would respect her wishes.  After three hours of the book being by my side, I finally made it back to my hotel and I read her note on the inside of the cover.  It was heartfelt, genuine and so sincere.  It was right then that I knew the effort in putting this event together was worth it.

So to Gerry, Tim, Scott, Shawn, Karen, Richard, Brenda, Tracey, Sandy, Paul, Sarah, and Elisseos, if you don’t mind…let’s do it again.

Until next time.

Cheers,

Greetings from the tardy blogger –  My blogs haven’t been very consistent lately due to “stuff happens”.  It’s been a summer of family health issues, and a massive home renovation, which is almost completed.  With respect to health, all is well.  Easy for me to say; I wasn’t the one going under the knife, enduring pain, and now beginning physiotherapy.  Happy to say full recovery is around the corner.  As for the second distraction?  Entering the unknown – insert the theme music from the motion picture Halloween – a home renovation.

There’s an old saying, ignorance is bliss.  Numerous people over the years have shared their home renovation survival stories with me.  And when I hear those stories my inner voice always said the same the thing “it wouldn’t be that way for me… I know better”.   Truth is I knew squat about enduring home renovations.  There’s always a gap between theory and reality; when it comes to home renovation it’s not a gap, its chasm, the size of the Grand Canyon.

Here are few things that I’ve learned about any kind of home renovation-

Creating a dream master bedroom, bathroom, basement, loft over the garage or a complete renovation, requires a good dose of cynicism.  When the builder says it will cost “X” amount, immediately add 30%. Trust me, if you do this the hyperventilating you will experience will be somewhat minimized.  Please note I said minimized, and not eliminated.  Also, whatever timeline you have, automatically add another 50%.  Example, our builder gave us a range of 6 to 8 months to complete our renovations.  As of September 1st, it will be 11 months, and counting.  And finally, if you do a complete Reno, you are the General Contractor.  The reward for doing that is you don’t get paid but you get the pleasure of paying everyone else.

 I’m sure by the end of the renovation process I’ll say, “it wasn’t really that bad, and it was all worth it”. But until then I feel like a marathon runner who can see the finish line, but is trying desperately to fight through leg cramps to finish the race.  I’ve learned a lot going through this process, and if I do it again I would do a lot of things differently.  Did I just say “if I do it again?”  Clearly I suffer from R.E.A.D.D, Real Estate Attention Deficit Disorder.  One thing for sure is that from now on I will have a lot of empathy for anyone going this process.  From now on when I drive through my neighborhood, and see a couple standing of their front lawn staring blankly at their construction site of a home, I just may stop and give them a hug.  And simply say, “I know…I know”.

Until next time,

Cheers.