Modern English is the Wal-Mart of languages: convenient, huge, hard to
avoid, superficially friendly, and devouring all rivals in its eagerness
to expand. -Mark Abley, journalist (b. 1955)
The theory of democratic government is not that the will of the people
is always right, but rather that normal human beings of average
intelligence will, if given a chance, learn the right and best course by
bitter experience. -W.E.B. Du Bois, educator, civil rights activist,
and writer (23 Feb 1868-1963)
Hi Patrick: I will be pleased to bring the “remainder” of a great coconut cream cake that we have left over from a “baby shower” that my wife had yesterday at our home. Large enough for 4-6 servings. Looking forward to great bridge game tonight. Regards: David 
Funnily enough, I was talking to Peter on the phone when your message arrived. We are having to make a payment for our coming trip to India together this October and they were unable to make an international money transfer from Palm Desert, for some reason. At any rate, I believe he may well be playing bridge with Roger this evening. Thanks again. Cheers, Patrizzio!
Pic: Peter playing computer bridge last week, in his study in Palm Desert!
Hi All, Slight change of plan. Clive can't make it but I can. Cheers, R. Musical chairs! Until later. Cheers, Patrizzio!
Hi Patrick, I am so sorry to hear that you had a fall. We have all been there and it can be quite scary. I am just glad that you are O.K. I saw that your bike was in the shop and we will take care of it for you. There are currently no stock of road fenders so I made a note to have the fenders removed and we will contact you when they are available again. The weather is sunny and warm so I don’t think you will miss them.
I hope the rest of your trip was all “fun in the sun”. Have a great week. We will see you when you pick up your bike. Cheers, Sara
Hi Sara!Thanks for your kind words and info about fenders, etc. In fact, stay in Palm Desert was truly magical, accident aside. Had seen a number of cyclists over the course of the day and if opportunity ever presents itself again, I'd dearly love to cycle in the park. Roads are terrific and landscapes phenomenal so what an outing. Thanks again, Cheers, Patrizzio!
Hi Baking-in-the-Warmth People! Just back from the bank. All went well. Dealt with a very pleasant, helpful, efficient Iranian woman. Slight difference in exchange as USD cost in CDN today, was different from the total we had estimated. Bank charge was a considerable saving over 2.5% we would have incurred if we had paid by credit card! [Depending on how you wish to pay next disbursement, we might well decide to do same as this time in terms of transfer charges. However, I know you have a US account so don't worry if you want to handle transaction yourself. Just a thought.] You can decide if you wish to add your share of exchange rate difference, plus your share of transfer charge to next transfer to my account or wait until some of the dust settles. No big deal either way, of course. In any event, I will simply be depositing remaining funds into my LOC which I used to cover shortfall.
Bright and sunny today but wind is quite coolish. Miss riding in shorts and a T-shirt! Heading to Home Depot shortly as need a few replacement bulbs for kitchen.
As I was starting this message, Dave called and potential buyers have now countered with $11,000 less than initial offering, based on reading the Depreciation Report, probable coming assessments, etc. Now we need to cogitate a bit but I think we are leaning towards accepting.
Must away as I need to marinate the chicken I'm serving tonight. I'll have an extra piece of coconut cream for you, Jugos Dom Pedro. "Who gave that son of a bitch his green card anyway!"
Brodied to RBC on 4th and Balsam to effect transfer for first disbursement to Luxe India. Didn't finf hill on 1st too, too taxing so pleased about that. Back home for a bit before heading to Cambie, to Save-On-Foods for bulk rice nibbles for bridge and Home Depot for replacement bulbs for kitchen. Did a bit of dipsy-doodling on way home to further test the recovery waters. Stats for ride:
https://connect.garmin.com/modern/activity/704672035#.VOvCsRFnGUA.email
Quite an evening last night, what with bridge and real estate! Cora Lee had a church meeting and Book Club after wards so she left for first appointment around 5:30 pm. I was busy readying dinner for bridge players, [baked chicken thighs, roasted kartofellage, pan-fried zucchini and overleft, from a baby shower, delish coconut-cream cake for dessert, courtesy of BigMac], and a few minutes later phone rang and it was Cora Lee. Dave had received a call from the agent representing the party who had offered $1,000 over asking price but then wanted to review documentation. They countered, lowering their bid by $10,000. We hadn't decided, once we heard about new offer, what we were planning to do. My feeling was that they wanted the place and difference wouldn't be significant to them but, from a buyer's point of view, why not try? Dave thought the new closing date was February 28th but it turned out the "8" was in fact a "3"! Obviously, buyer's agent was anxious to hear from us so Cora Lee explained situation to me and I said" "Let's play hardball!" Our offer was original asking price although I knew both Cora Lee and Dave weren't overly happy.
At any rate, another call a few minutes later, from Cora Lee who informed me that Dave now needed more signatures as our offer was accepted! He actually me her on the street outside Heartwood, (church restaurant on Broadway, near Kingsway/Main), where she was having her meeting and popped by The Islay Inn shortly thereafter, to collect my signature. I introduced him to lads and as I was "dummy" game wasn't even interrupted. He congratulated me on my position. While I was pleased, obviously/sort of, I do think the place is probably undervalued, in spite of lease/future assessments, and think I should have insisted we go $10,000 above asking price, or more, but that is all hypothetical now.
What all this means is that we need to be out of The Islay Inn by noon on May 29th. We have contacted our friend, Ricardo, in Squamish, to see if he wishes to act on our behalf, otherwise we will need to find someone else to do conveyancing. We plan to head back up to Penticton on Thursday, March 5th, to see more places. Still interested in Scott Street but we shall see what we shall see.
Bridge Scores form Feb 23rd:After forty hard-fought hands:
A jolly good time was had by all with fabulous cognac chicken and an unnamed single malt. Cheers, R.
Hello Lads! Indeed, very, very close, hand-to-hand combat for the entire evening, almost trench warfare! Nevertheless, Byron refused to be drawn in to any suicidal bidding missions and his remarkable restraint was certainly a factor in his team's overall victory. Congratulations victors! Unfortunately, he showed no such restraint when it came to choosing a malt, in fact an Ardbeg, 58.2%, bottled for the Scotch Malt Whiskey Society, rubbing salt into the wounds of the host and chortling, in his inimitable fashion, all the while! Cheers, Patrizzio!
Patrizzio A fine evening - thank you and the malt was rather good. Cheers
2 over 1 Byron Hi Byron! Glad you enjoyed evening and wee dram. Loads of fun. Cheers, Patrizzio!
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