Categories for 2 Cents Worth
April 2, 2019 
—————————————— Getting professional advice is something we are all faced with on a fairly regular basis. Doing your taxes? Find a good accountant. Building an addition? Talk to an architect. Decorating your home? Hire a designer. Your business needs a social media presence? Social media experts will help you with that. Buying a house can involve a slew of them – home inspectors, lawyers, and, hopefully, a realtor. Not feeling well? Seek a medical opinion from your doctor. Still not... View Article
February 11, 2019 
_____________________________ Real Estate companies have paging systems by which the companys receptionist can dispatch calls to the appropriate salesperson, or salespeople. If you call for Jeff Neumann and I am not in (quite possible), I will get a page dispatched to my cell phone. If you call on a listing that happens to be listed with more than one agent, the system has the flexibility to page the same message to multiple recipients. On the odd occasion that we want... View Article
January 2, 2019 
_____________ Be patient with me, this is not a hockey article. However, while channel surfing waiting for the Leaf game to start, I happened upon the final few minutes of a lopsided hockey game in which the Philadelphia Flyers were handily defeating the Buffalo Sabres. Losses arent unusual, every game includes one. This one however seemed particularly irksome to Buffalo Sabre colour commentator Rob Ray, who lamented the lack of effort put forth by the home team. Finally, with the... View Article
December 3, 2018 
___________________________ Full disclosure: including mutual funds, RRSPs and other investment vehicles, I hold a total of $0 in the stock market. This is not an indication that I do not believe in the stock market, I do – Warren Buffett happens to be one of my favourite authors and economic philosophers. Rather, it is an admission that I do not understand the stock market, and am therefore heeding Mr. Buffett’s advice when he cautions investors to define your circle of... View Article
November 12, 2018 
________________________ Mark Twain, that 18th century provider of good stories and better quotes, is credited with having said Find a job that you like, and you will never have to work a day in your life. Good advice if youre lucky enough to succeed in your effort to heed it. Universities are full of students attempting to do just that – get an education that will help them get a job doing what they like. Some will succeed. For those... View Article
October 5, 2018 
Small Talk – No Talk ______________________________ Stereotypes can be cruel. As a product of two German immigrants I have many times been assumed to be a stubborn man with angular skull features. Once they come to know me, sadly, theyll realize their assumptions were largely correct. Although in my defense, I am only stubborn when I believe I am correct! However there is no denying the shape of my head. When time finally takes its last toll on my hair,... View Article
September 11, 2018 
_____________________ A common refrain among free market proponents, myself included, is that the presence of competition in the marketplace is a benefit to consumers. Many of us have learned to accept as fact the notion that the more choice we have the better off we are in terms of both price and service. I have stumbled upon an outlier in the capitalists theory! We are in the early stages of planning significant enough changes to our home that moving out... View Article
August 13, 2018 
____________ My parents met in Denmark, while spending a collective 8 years in a post World War 2 refugee camp. They entered at the ages of 10 and 13 after fleeing from their family homes, initially, and incorrectly, believing theyd return sooner than later. If our early childhood years are impressionable, the people they became were very much formed by their war and post war experiences. The degree to which we are formed in any part by our parents personalities,... View Article
July 3, 2018 
___________________________ A senior mentor of mine offered a gentle admonishment that continues to resonate with me more than 20 years after he spoke. More proof, that our words remain deep in the conscience of the recipient, long after we believe them to be forgotten. After listening to what amounted to my regurgitation of a political commentators diatribe as to what was wrong with a particular social policy, he opined: It is easy to see what is wrong, but dont talk... View Article
June 4, 2018 
________________________ While delving down the Wikipedia rabbit hole this weekend, I stumbled upon a Jose Mourinho (manager of Manchester United Football Club) quote about a rival manager: “This could be the story of a donkey who worked for 30 years but never became a horse.” The identity of the rival manager is irrelevant. For those who have followed Mourinho, you may well understand that he believes everyone but himself to be a donkey. The metaphor, though clearly enough understood, got... View Article
