Random Canadian tidbits - No 1

This will be the first in a series. Of as many as I can remember to type. The thing about this country, coming from a place like the UK, is that the average person in the UK couldnt answer 5 everyday questions about Canada's contribution to the world we live in (i've already mentioned insulin, telephones and the 24 hour clock, just to mention 3...). Whether the average person in the UK could tell you 5 contributions the UK made to the world, I'm not sure either! But the readers of this blog are anything but average, so a bit of learning and growth for all of you..

Todays tidbit: Lester B Pearson, former prime minister of Canada, won the Nobel Peace prize in 1957 for his role in establishing UN peacekeepers (you know the ones with their sky blue berets..)

And for those of you who havent been here, Toronto's international airport (or YYZ as Sullivan insists on calling it!) is known as the Lester B Pearson International Airport, named after the same former prime minister.

Two tidbits in a day. That'll do you for now!

Shrivelled? Manky? Not us....

Matt and Kim's pumpkin handy work.

HAPPY HALLOWEEN.

Quote of the week - one for Halloween

"A shrivelled manky pumpkin isnt going to impress anyone"


From the BBC website, so must be true! See: www.bbc.co.uk/cumbria/features/halloween/pumpkin.shtml.

Comes with instructions for anyone else who wants to try making a pumpkin lantern this week! Enjoy!

A weekend of Canadian firsts

First Pumpkin lamp made for Halloween - as you can see above. And believe it or not, you can actually go out and buy halloween tool kits especially for this purpose - I was using a small orange coloured saw with the name 'make a face' on it, and a little pumpkin face on the logo.

First Canadian winter coat bought. Not before time, as the last 2 weeks have been freezing. Temperature yesterday. 16 degrees and sunny. The weather here is nearly as schizophrenic as the gas prices, which also appear to change daily. Time taken? About half an hour. Which will impress Sara and my mum. Both of those know how bad I am at making shopping decisions..

First pumpkin seeds ever eaten. Mmmm. And first perogie. Its like a mini cheese and potato pastie. Pretty good. My next culinary challenge may well be a Kraft dinner (sounds like Canada's answer to a pot noodle - watch this space).

First Canadian bacon eaten. Went to a place called Giggling Tomatoes for a post party breakfast on Sunday morning, and ate Canadian back bacon, with eggs and toast and a cup of English tea. Chose not to combine on this occasion with pancakes and maple syrup on the same plate, another Canadian favourite! Why would you mix pancake, maple syrup, bacon and eggs on one plate? I'm sure we can find a Canadian willing to answer that! Or to put it another way, I'm yet to meet one that finds that in any way odd.

First Halloween party too. There may be pictures. Am thinking about this. Whether i want to show pictures of me wearing a blonde wig in public... (did i actually type that out? oh dear..).

First blonde wig worn in public. That WAS a first too. Just to clear that up!

A completely different first. The Toronto City council on Friday approved the construction of Toronto's first ever purpose built soccer stadium - thats 'football' to you Europeans. The 20,000 seater place will cost $53.6m (25 million British pounds) and will host a Major League Soccer expansion team in 2007. For those of you unfamiliar with North American sport, they dont go in for promotion and relegation. Far too complicated for most Americans no doubt. So if any city, company or Abramovich like benefactor wants to put the money up for a new team, they 'expand' the league. How often does this happen? Fairly infrequently is the truth, but look at it this way. There are currently 30 teams in the NHL (top level ice hockey). There is no promotion or relegation. Toronto Maple Leafs are our own proud representatives. They havent won the NHL since 1967. When they did last win it, there were only 6 teams competing! If the NHL keeps growing at that rate, Lindros, Sundin and friends had better pull their fingers, skates and pucks out sooner rather than later if the Leafs are to end the longest Stanley cup drought of all currently active teams.

'Anything is normal on Halloween...'

Anything is normal on Halloween. So I'm told. Which presumably begins to explain this particular picture, which I saw in Brampton last week on my travels through the suburbs. And I shouldnt be surprised to see people walking to work in costumes or wigs on Monday. Apparently.

Halloween was a strange event that happened as kids for a little while. 'Trick or treat, smell my feet or give me something nice to eat...' and similar childish nonsense. Where has it been for the last 20 years? No idea, but, since no one is safe walking the streets of Handsworth (literally, if current press is to be believed) or near the Harborne Stores, it has in the main passed me by. Except last year, oddly enough, when on an audit of an American company which insisted its finance department dressed up for the event, I was sat in a room with an audit partner in Dracula cloak, and an FD wearing a witches hat and false nose. Is it any surprise those financial statements were filed late with a couple of screaming errors? (unfortunate use of the word screaming, but I'll leave it!)

So - it transpires that Canadians 'do' Halloween, and that 'anything is normal'. Precisely what this means I am not sure. But i have on my computer an invite "to consume copious amounts of liquids and blood, while enjoying the fine company of others and discussing non-work related activities." Should i be scared? Amongst the entertainment will be "Most revealing costume contest/Gambling/Socializing/Snacks/Finger foods/Drinking". And as for the dress code? Well my Canadian advisor has told me to come dressed as a 'Canadian'. No, I'm not sure i would immediately recognise the difference either. But I am sure it will involve all or some of: Canadian flag, tuque, ice skates, lumberjack shirt, ice hockey stick... but nothing revealing. Apparently thats just for the ladies. Which is fine by me!

Anything is normal on halloween... that is still scaring me just thinking about it. But dont expect to hear much about it. I could be in a state of shock. And even if I am not, I am sworn to secrecy. 'What happens at halloween, stays at halloween'..

Bonfire night next week. Maybe I can start a cultural exchange!

Cottage country - photos

Serious stuff during our no limit Texas Holdem session.....

The view from the cottage - and the family boat. Appropriately named too. 'Peterborough'

The view (2) - a bit further down...

the cottage 

The Canadian weekend - cottage country

I couldnt possibly leave here without at least experiencing a small semblance of cottage country. After all, its what Torontonians do. They work in the GTA all week, then migrate northwards up the 400 and highway 11 to 'cottage country'. I am sure there is a double entendre in there somewhere.. Reminds me of a joke Doug told me in the car today. A girl walks in to a bar and asks for a double entendre, so the bar tender gives her one. Yes. I know. Shite.

So, having randomly met Katie about 3 weeks ago in bizarre cicumstances (she had a blanket wrapped round her legs, all very strange..) we got talking the following night and we agreed to visit her at her cottage for the weekend of 22nd. Now this is the kind of thing I do when I am drunk. Compare with 'do you want to come and visit me in Canada?' (My personal visitor count moves to 5 with Joe's arrival on Tuesday.)

So. Me and another English guy Doug jump in a car, at 7 on a Saturday night bucketing with rain, armed with only a hand drawn map that Katie had given me in the pub the previous Monday. How scared was I? This journey was 250km, and to be honest, we had no idea a) where we were going and b) what we would find when we got there...

What we found was a group of 10 youngsters, 17 to 25, drinking beer and listening to music. And for the rest of the night, and the Sunday morning, we did what Canadians do. We sat in the cottage, we drank, we warmed ourselves in front of a log fire, we watched Vancouver win the hockey 6-4, we played poker at 2am (note to self: must stop agreeing to play poker for money at random times of the night after several beers), we went for a hot tub (it wasnt quite a Kiminator hot tub, that one still wins!), and sat and stared out at the lake, taking photos the next morning.

Its the middle of nowhere. Its peaceful. Its quiet. Its scenic. Its an escape from what surrounds the working week. And its fun. I guess thats why they do it!

Paul's leaving - 21 October

The pictures below are from Paul's leaving on Friday night. He had a good time. Unfortunately, for some reason, the people I seem to make best friends with in this firm, both here and in the UK, leave with alarming regularity... Should I be taking anything personally here? Or perhaps just changing my deodrant?! Let the comments (abuse) begin...

Paul - thank you for everything, hope you had a great time on Friday, and all the best in the new job. See you on Friday (when another one abandons us.....)

and a group huddle to end the evening..

and a few more... 

lots of (mostly) happy faces 

Paul clearly delighted to have escaped the asylum 

I swear it was this big.... 

It tastes awful, but it works...

You know you are living beyond the tourist existence when you end up experiencing the things that Canadians daren’t share with anyone else – not even Americans. After all, if you’re going to try and send your visitors away with a positive lasting impression of your country, why would you do anything to risk that?

Then again, its cold here and people get ill. Or specifically, ME! (I swear this is the only calendar month I have ever experienced where the temperatures in the same city have been above 30 and below 0 – and there are still 8 days to go) So, dressed in a suitably inappropriate shirt and jeans last weekend, I picked up a chill for my sins, caught a cough and lost my voice. Which, as some people will tell you, isn’t necessarily a bad thing. Some people here think I talk too much…

Toronto’s urban angel Amy suggested the cure. “Try an over the counter cold medication called Buckley's...it tastes awful but it really does work for getting your voice back”

“It tastes awful…” Would you really buy a product that had that endorsement? Because that is how they advertise it! http://www.buckleys.com/ – See for yourselves.

Can I describe the taste? Putrid. The aftertaste is something resembling warm liquid fishermans friend. Sickening. And, if I am honest, the look of the liquid is not something that should be being described before the watershed. Canadians may understand what I mean by that. You wouldn’t drink it if you didn’t know what it was, lets leave it at that…

And does it work? Well, 5 days into my treatment, my cough is much better, but my voice is still weak. Then again, as people will tell you, maybe I talk too much!

The CN tower climb - the post mortem

Actually, that title's closer to the truth than ought to be the case! I really did for a stage feel rough on the climb, and, well, the more morbid contract writers of United Way had ensured that they included the word 'death' on the disclaimers we were signing before starting the ascent. Just in case, you understand!

United Way very kindly give you a t shirt at the end of the event with your time on it, as a souvenir, and perhaps a reminder to exercise more before next years climb! Watching the t shirts of the finished climbers go past as we were approaching the start, there were a couple in the teens (ie sub 20 min), a lot in the 20s, some in the 30s…. then the sounds of ridicule from Jonathan behind me when a woman walks past with something like 37 minutes on the shirt. I wasn't liking this! I had been ill all week, and, in the context of what my legs have been able to do for the past 5 years, the climb, not the time, was the challenge in itself. That said, I didnt want to take hours!

What was i hoping to do it in? Well, frankly, the elevator! But Bruce, our team captain, was asking us for our targets as we queued up to sign our lives away. Kim was aiming for 30 min, Jonathan nearer 20. Then he tells Bruce that "Matt is going for 20.." "Yeah", says Matt enthusiastically. "20, maybe even 15....... floors" (I really wasnt joking!)

So my personal stats: Steps: 1776. Floors 142. Stops 4 (yes, that’s really lame and yes, I was knackered – I had to leave Kim at about floor 118 and I needed 5 minutes more than her to finish off those last 20 floors, although the breather was nice!) Time 38.01. I was happy to follow Kim all the way up in her ‘slow and steady wins the race’ pacing. Which was definitely for the best, as if I had been in control I would have been jogging up the first 50 or 60 steps thinking ‘no sweat’, only to die a death on floor 10. Personal satisfaction gained? Yes. Humiliating time? - probably, but as was pointed out to me later, all the people with the slow times probably didnt bother wearing their T shirts as they walked away. Clever people!

And what did we gain? Well, we raised a few more thousand for United Way. And this is the cool bit. Our GTA practice has raised $1.1m in the past month for United Way, which will fund more than 200 social and health service agencies. 79% of our staff have contributed. You can read more at www.unitedwaytoronto.com and see what rewards others will get for our efforts.

For me, my reward was the top of the tower. But, unlike my previous visits, I really wasnt in the physical state to enjoy the view! Kim very kindly stayed behind to walk with me to the office, and in the process learned a new English word. Chunder. Enough said.

I'd do it all again tomorrow. Except maybe the mars bars...!

Jack and Dougal in parish newsletter front cover pose

Its a priest thing - you wouldn't understand

One of you will get the title! (Dad?) Well the priests are off. The 10 day stay ended on Thursday night with them flying off back safely to London, whilst I was nursing a giddy tummy at the top of the CN tower.

It was a really good time, I really appreciated talking about home subjects, the European Union, the state of the church, further education back home, the Iraq war (from a British angle..), what it means to be British (as compared with Canadian..) It was nice to engage in that, and made me really relish the talking time we had.

Not that it was all perfect you understand! Don’t ever let anyone tell you that priests don’t gossip! They are the kings of it. And, what is worse, they get away with it under the veil of being ‘good men’… (not that I really think it’s a veil guys!) And Dan is the king of questions. ‘Why are you going to the office Matt?’ ‘Whats Sharon doing tonight Matt?’ ‘Who is Cathy, Matt?’ ‘How come Suzanne has got the same cold you have got Matt?’ ‘Why have you got a toy pirate set Matt?’ (I really need to stop here before I write something I could be arrested for…!)

So the priests decided I simultaneously fancied Sharon, Katie, Suzanne, Cathy, Paul (hell, in for a penny, question whether I might be batting for the other team while you’re here!). Not that I intend on divulging any truths through this medium. Not satisfied with that, Danny boy took a comment I made about a couple of the guys we had been out with on Friday night, and turned a smouldering ember of potential gossip in to a raging inferno by telling Suzanne the potential relationship brewing between Sheppard and Davisville. Please guys. Where is that priestly intuition you learned at Oscott?! For the record, and because Dan in particular will be desperate, between his runs to the loo (ha ha), to know what’s what, nothing happened between Amy and Doug that night. Now go and say 2 Hail Marys!

Accusations aren’t above the holies either!! There is only one word for this. Milk! (And no, Dan, I wasn’t thirsty last night!)

But they had a great time. Dinner dates, science trips, masses, the Toronto hippo, and visits to Stratford and Niagara falls. And then for the highlight – Nashville North! Kim kindly arranged a night out for us and we took them line dancing at a country and western pub!

There must have been 120 people there - nearly all women aged 40+. It was going well for a bit, then Kim told the teacher that there were 3 people in from the UK, and the teacher got us up on stage! Joy. The woman on stage said "you'll never guess what they do for a living... 2 priests and an accountant" (given Johnny’s amorous response to his 15 seconds of fame, giving the teacher a nice big Irish kiss, I’m not sure they knew who was who…) Then she said they were leaving the country tomorrow, to which all the old women in particular go 'ahhhhh".

We had women coming up to us for the rest of the evening wishing us well and a safe journey home, and someone from Ward End in Birmingham was delighted to be in the midst of 3 former adopted Brummies.

A nice way to finish the trip. So, priests! Thanks for coming. And Suzanne, Andy, Paul, Amy, Kim and everyone else who helped entertain them during their stay, thank you too. We’ll be sharing these stories for ever…

Why do Canadians say EH?

One for the Canadians - a dictionary definition*

EH? (ay), n. [Colloq.] Canadian term for right, okay?. Please, maybe, thank you, how about it?, don't you?. Used after a statement or question. Said with spirit & pride even to Americans and other visitors. It's better than saying HUH!

* - May not actually be found in any existing published dictionary

United Way CN tower stair climb - and more language barriers..

Just to let you know, this is happening tomorrow - in case my legs give up for 3 or 4 days and you dont hear from me...

In the meantime, I have just had this email regarding the climb tomorrow:

"Water is permissible if carried in a closed fanny pack. Fanny packs will be inspected."

Fanny packs will be inspected... That should heighten interest for a few people anyway! (And no, Brian, I dont think thats a job you can apply for!)

When English isnt English

Ok here goes - in presumably a quiet working spell for several people yesterday, one of the girls in our extended friendship group sent an email round asking if people wanted to go to the pub on Friday night. (names withheld in case the authorities try and work out who they were ha ha)

So, one Englishman replies with the following email:

"Count me in. Im also happy to demonstrate my pool skills (not so wonderful). Cracking Lampard finish eh?"

Anyone confused so far? Me neither. So here are some responses to that email - in the order they came in - and here is the game. Was the respondent Canadian or English? You decide...

1) "Didn't see the finish mate. Is it on line?"

2) "Indeed, and the Owen goal was a pretty neat touch too. Amazing the effect that having Rooney on the pitch has on the team."

3) "What are you Brits talking about? All I understood was eh! I'm so confused"

4) "What language are you speaking? I didn't understand half of the last 3 e-mails"

5) "What does 'Cracking Lampard' mean?"

My personal favourite is number 3. "All I understood was 'eh'". Very Canadian. 5 runs it close though! Just goes to show, you can spend months here communicating normally, and then once you're in a group, still there is a language barrier.

That said, I feel exactly the same when they start referring to 'touching base', 'heads up', 'noogie' and 'tuques'. That Oxford Canadian dictionary is getting closer by the day...

Anyone else for bean counting - or just bean spotting?

Find the man between the coffee beans.

Doctors have (apparently) concluded that if you find the man in 3 seconds that your right half of your brain is better developed than most people. If you find the man between 3 seconds and one minute, then your right half of the brain is developed normally. If you find the man between one minute and 3 minutes, then the right half of your brain is functioning slowly and You need to eat more protein. If you have not found the man after 3 minutes your right half of your brain is a mess, and the only advise is to look more for these types of exercises to make that part of the brain stronger. The man really is there - Infact, once you find him, you cannot miss him afterwards

(And there is no way I'm disclosing how long I stared at this picture for before deciding whether there was a man there or not!)

Well, counting beans seemed appropriate.... 

In the prescence of holy men

Not that they would call themselves that! But Monday afternoon, Dan and Johnny arrived from Gatwick for a 10 day stay over here. Two catholic priests. Where do you start with that?! I have a colourful past, leave it there!

They arrived bearing gifts (well one gift). No gold frankincense and myrrh (or however you spell that horrid word). No Jamesons either, since Johnny left it - unintentionally so says he - for some eternally grateful baggage handler to pick up from LGW. But the gift that arrived was priceless - a souvenir T shirt of the 2005 Ashes series, with England 2 Australia 1 on the back of it. Currently my favourite possession.

It has been interesting introducing them into my Canadian lifestyle. The comments from the locals have been wideranging - from "Do priests drink?" (there is a beer festival in Kitchener this weekend - can you tell this girl isnt a catholic?!) to "they dont fit the stereotype" to "you guys arent seriously priests" - clearly not exuding holiness throughout then eh?

Certainly not! Because whilst Dan was introducing Suzanne to good old fashioned English expressions like "rumpy pumpy" - not through any physical deed I feel I should add (!) - Johnny was demonstrating his empathy with those of somewhat different persuasions by referring to Paul as "Jew-boy". Jesus. How many days til they fly?! And will they avert a public relations disaster while they are here?

Who knows what the answer to that question is - they went to mass today, a televised affair at St Michaels catholic cathedral in downtown Toronto. And I left them this evening giving a critical appraisal of the service they had witnessed, although I am sure they will be secretly scanning the TV channels tomorrow looking for themselves singing in the congregation. Lets hope they werent holding up any banners, making any gestures or... anything else.

And tomorrow brings another day, and it could go in any direction. They have a cinema date with Suzanne at 730, which - at the time of writing - will result in them watching 'Wallace & Gromit' or 'The Corpse Bride'. Now there is an either/or. My money is on the corpse bride...

This wont be a typical week in Canada thats for sure...

Hey Suzanne - there are priests in the house

Priests? I cant see priests...

Photo of the week - no 1 - the roundabout

This was taken in a posh suburb near Rosedale Park in the north of Toronto. I found it fairly difficult (ok, my colleagues thought i was insane) to explain why I wanted this picture taken.

So, just to clarify: this is the only roundabout that I have seen in Canada so far. Not the busiest! And I am still having trouble explaining why roundabouts are good things. Oh well, i should count my blessings. I'm not entirely sure I'd remember to drive around one the wrong way anyway! Perhaps traffic lights are for the best!

Thanksgiving - and 'word for the day'

One more 3 day weekend, before winter kicks in, for the Canadians to enjoy themselves. This is 'thanksgiving', something that we dont have at home (isnt one turkey a year enough?) so, as a mini lesson to you all, and aided by Kim who fowarded me a web page with the thanksgiving history in it, I have posted underneath a mini history of the event from a Canadian perspective. I wonder whether anyone in England gave thanks in 1872 that Edward recovered from his illness...

Thanksgiving is a chance to be with your loved ones and, so it would appear, gather together and eat turkey dinners. If the occasion is anything like as overcatered as a normal UK Christmas, these guys will just be putting the finishing touches to this turkey when its time to go shopping for the next one..

Thinking of such gluttony, i did mention to Kim that she would be 'eating turkey for the next fortnight'.. at which point I discovered that I clearly havent been speaking enough English, since she had, despite a lifetime's immersion into Coronation Street (another story altogether), never heard of the word fortnight. A pub poll of 4 last night (and no i'm not suggesting that's necessarily representative, but it might be!) indicates that at least 60% of Canadians dont use this word.

So for any readers that do not know, the word fortnight, as explained by Wikipedia, turns out to be as follows:

A fortnight is a unit of time equal to two weeks: that is 14 days, or literally 14 nights. The term derives from the Old English "feowertiene niht", meaning "fourteen nights". Your little lesson of the day - the history of a word you've probably never thought about before.

I like the idea of thanksgiving. The thought of being thankful for what you have been given and what life has provided you with - it appears to be wholly removed from religion, and i like that too. We dont have to agree who is responsible for putting us on this planet, how it was created, and whether there is a God, or several.

I think we have all, as human beings, been in positions where we could wake up one morning and genuinely think 'I am lucky to be here'. Perhaps it needs a life changing moment to trigger that, sometimes it's just a realisation that the sheer existence of our world as it is, where it is placed, and how delicately balanced it is, is a minor miracle.. perhaps for some of us, it is the realisation that our lot is hopefully a pretty fortunate one in the main... who knows?

For me personally, I know how lucky I am to be here, healthy (i've had my moments..), to be where I am, doing what I do, and getting paid what I get paid. Its a fairly privileged position. So, to my family, friends, colleagues past and present, and my adopted country, thank you. Turkey? No, thank you. We'll save that for Christmas.

Thanksgiving - Canadian history

The first Canadian Thanksgiving was celebrated on April 15, 1872 in thanks for the recovery of the future King Edward VII from a serious illness. The next Thanksgiving didn't occur until 1879 when it was celebrated on a Thursday in November. Much like the United States, Canada seemed to have a difficult time deciding when a day of Thanksgiving should occur. From 1879 to 1898 it was celebrated on a Thursday in November; from 1899 to 1907 on a Thursday in October (except in 1901 and 1904 when it was celebrated on a Thursday in November); from 1908 to 1921 on a Monday in October; and between 1922 and 1930 the Armistice Day Act declared that Thanksgiving would be celebrated on Armistice Day, the Monday of November 11. In 1931 the Act was amended and the old practice of Parliament declaring a day of Thanksgiving each year was resumed. On January 31, 1957 Parliament issued a proclamation to fix permanently the second Monday in October as "a day of general Thanksgiving to Almighty God for the bountiful harvest with which Canada has been blessed." Much like the United States' Thanksgiving Day, the Canadian celebration includes parades and festive meals, often including turkey and all the "fixins." Yet, again, at the heart of the celebration is the idea of giving thanks for the goodness of the season past.

Rushed for time.....

Really rushed for time at the moment, but will find the time to get back to all this at the weekend, while its a 3 day weekend (thanksgiving). But just a summary of the last few days.

Spent Saturday wholly unproductive in work whilst my guests continued their tour of Toronto. Liz thinks that Ian Fleming took his inspiration for the character name 'James Bond' from somewhere in Toronto, so there is a small piece of homework for one of you. Personally, I've not been on the tour bus here yet so I've no idea what little odds and ends you can pick up...

Sunday was spent at Niagara falls, and my digital camera was at work once again - as you can see from the efforts below. (i am waiting now for someone to tell me not to post so many pictures, but at the moment it beats thinking of words, and I have not been too receptive to the world around me in the last week or so..)

Monday, the 3 of us went up the CN tower for dinner. There is a 360 degree restaurant at 351m, and you can sit and watch the city spin by while you indulge in the posh cuisine. Food good, pricy place (but definitely a highlight of any visit to the city and the price of the food includes the $20 cost of getting up the tower to view... ) I still didnt summon up the courage to walk on the glass floor... but like I said back in July, there is time for that.

Because, in this charitable place I work, there is always another opportunity, and this time it is the United Way CN tower climb. 1776 steps. Apparently I only need half an hour. And possibly about 10 breathers. And several litres of water. And an oxygen mask. And possibly even a doctor if and when I make the finish!

So, Thursday 20th, I will be able to tell you what it is like to walk up the tallest building in the world. I should count my blessings really! We stop about 3/5 of the way up!

86 of our firm are engaging in this, the firm are sponsoring the first 100 of us $50 each, and I am hoping to make, well, anything I can rustle up really. Anyone that fancies sponsoring me $1 for a good cause can drop me an email.

The girls flew home yesterday filled with memories of the tower, the falls, the shoes museum, science centre, Toronto islands and Casa Loma. And I got back to my SOX testing, for the accountants amongst you, whilst considering posts about James Bond, fall, Casa Loma, the Grey cup, Canadian invention and much much more.... round every corner, Toronto has a story to tell, and there is still time to tell them....

and after... (i like the hand in the background!)

.before the Maid of the Mist.....

check out the rainbow - was quite chuffed with that 

30 September - Impact day

Yesterday I got a day off work. To do good in the community. Along with (according to our non audited website!) 4,801 of my Canadian colleagues, I am out to give something to the community we serve.

Impact Day is a single day when all of the people of our firm are encouraged to spend firm-paid time away from the office to volunteer for locally sponsored and organized community improvement projects. Our people do everything from painting and cleaning, to building playgrounds, to serving meals to the less fortunate. Now, they’ll be joined by their colleagues from all functions, coast to coast. 78% of our firm has given up the day.

How much does that cost? well lets say for sake of argument, that half of those people are fee earning. Say 2,400. Thats (very) conservative. And lets say their average daily income for the firm is $1,000 (my charge out rate is above $300 an hour).

So, doing the math, thats $2.4m of income we turned down today to do community work. Not only giving up our time, our leaders are also giving up money... for today, I was actually proud to be an accountant!

The photos below are a few of the images i took from my travels round Canada. Amazing - especially the fact I kept them in focus!

Spot the trees changing in the foreground. Just your typical Rockies view...

Glacier walking 

lake Louise 

Lake Peyto, at 7000 ft - and yes the water does look that green in real life

world's most scenic traffic Jam?