Telsec Business Centres Inc.

• 28Jul

  Cell phones and pools do not mix

  Downtown Toronto Office Space, Downtown office space, Office Space No Comments

  As I have mentioned in a previous blog, I have not been spending much time in my downtown office space this week and have instead been playing tour guide to a visitor from Australia. Some of my clients see this as me taking a vacation and they are contacting me by my cell when they need help, but potential new clients would not understand me taking a mini vacation when they are looking for my services right now.

  The only reason I am able to have this time away from my Toronto office space and take day trips to tourist attractions is that I have a professional receptionist who can screen and route my calls to my cell phone, without me having to be in my office space downtown Toronto.

  Today we had a very hot and humid day, so our plan was to maybe go to the Olympic Pools at Woodbine Beach. Thinking that it would be faster to change and home and drive down to the pool, we all changed at my place and proceeded down. When we got to the pool, we found that not only was the pool at capacity, but there was a long line up waiting for people to get in. We did not know what the back up plan was, so we joined the line and hoped it would move quickly.

  The line did not go anywhere for almost 20 minutes, but that is when I got the call. A friend of mine wanted to know if I wanted go swimming at their place. I jumped on the opportunity and we left the line to head to my friends place.

  My friends pool was an unheated outdoor pool, but at this temperature, none of us thought it would matter. We all still had our swim suites on and proceeded to dip our feet in …. yikes it was cold.  The Australian visitor was the first to jump in, followed by our hostess. My girlfriend and I were still on the fence if it was too cold. The Aussi convinced her to take the plunge.  This left me as the last man standing outside the pool.

  I was still the only one outside of the water and was considering taking it slow and walking in from the shallow end slowly. the geers and taunts started. I stepped back out of the pool and walked to the deep end.  After more taunts, I decided to take the plunge.  #%* it was that cold. A few moments later I noticed that there was something still in the pockets of my swim shorts, it was my phone.  I quickly pulled my phone out of my pocket and put it on the deck… it was dead.

  Knowing that my office space Toronto receptionist was transferring my calls to my cell, I quickly called the receptionist using my friends phone and explained the situation. She was able to change the note on my profile and direct my calls to my voice mail with the excuse that I was in a “out of office” meeting.

  After blow drying my phone, we found it does still work, but I will need to replace it soon.   More importantly, my clients did not know anything was wrong and I was able to answer their voice mail when I got to a phone that I could collect their messages.

  My mistake with the cell phone and it not being able to swim, all worked out.

  Tags: Australian visitor, office space downtown Toronto, Toronto downtown office space

• 26Jul

  You can fight City Hall, but they make it hard to

  Downtown office space, Toronto Office Space No Comments

  Last Sunday I went down to my downtown office space to take some preliminary test shots of the boardroom and the seminar training room. On my way in I stopped at McDonalds on Front Street  for an Egg McMuffin. This McDonalds does not have a drive through or a parking lot, so I pulled down the side street and ran in. As I was coming out there was a parking enforcement officer writing me a ticket. When I read the ticket it said parking in a no stopping zone – $60. This was crazy, where was the sign. It seems the sign was hidden under an overhanging tree branch.  I knew I had to fight this one.

  I was not able to get to the parking enforcement court last week, but I finally got there today. I got into a line that said something like report here first (basically where you get the right forms to request trial), only to finally get to the counter and be told that I was in the wrong line. I had to go down the hall and to the left for that office.

  I was finally in the right line with the right paperwork, only to be stuck behind a very irate gentleman who could not understand why he got two tickets within hours of each other for parking in front of his home. When he got up to the counter he really gave the woman behind the glass a piece of his mind because she told him she could not reverse the tickets and he would have to go back out of line to fill out the forms to request a trial date. I knew I did not want to be served by her, as this man got her really angry with his shouting and accusations, so I let the lady behind me go first and I would wait for the other wicket.

  When I finally got to the wicket and presented my ticket, my trial request form and photo evidence to show that sign was not visible and hoping that I might be able to get off without going to trial.  The clerk entered my info and apologized that she was not able to reverse it. I was prepared to go to court and fight it, but if I could get it reversed that would have been a bonus.  Then after she stamped and handed me my receipt that said I had requested a trial date and said ” you will get a letter in about 8 months with your trial date”. What?  8 months just to get a date for the trial.

  When I got back here to my Toronto office space, I went into the kitchen to get an always complimentary coffee, I told another person standing there what had just happened at the courthouse. They told me that city hall lost their trial request paperwork and never sent them a trial date, then an unpaid parking ticket showed up on the bill when they went to renew their vehicle sticker.

  With a municipal election coming up in November, I think this should be an election issue. The candidate who says they will ensure a parking ticket trial within 3 months or the ticket is reversed, will get my vote.

  Tags: Downtown office space, municipal election coming up in November, parking ticket Trial, Toronto Office Space

• 25Jul

  The things we do for our tourist friends

  Office Space No Comments

  This past two weeks I have been helping play tour guide for a gentleman from Australia. One of the things he wants to do during his last week in Canada is a High Tea. Upon a google search, I found that there are actual places in Toronto that do High Tea. What amazed me the most is that the King Edward Hotel on King Street and the Royal York offered these events.

  This was great, because both locations were within walking distance from my Downtown Toronto office space. I could slip out to meet my friends for High Tea and get back to my office space in downtown Toronto, without too much effort.

  Now I just have to choose which High Tea would be the best experience for the gentleman from Australia. I was still curious why someone from another commonwealth country would want to experience High Tea in Canada, when they have them in his own country. It did turn out that in his region of Australia, there were no places that offered a High Tea and he would have to travel 4 hours to get to one.  His feeling was that it would be easier to try one here, while he was staying 20 minutes from one in Canada.

  What has made his trip here more confusing, but more interesting, is that he wants to visit uniquely Canadian tourist attractions. The CN Tower is no longer the world’s tallest free standing structure, but it was a few years ago. He did not want to spend the $25 to go up, but wanted to touch the base of it for free.

  It was quite funny that I had to stop into my Downtown Toronto office space on Saturday to pick up some client files. My friend’s Australian visitor was more excited about the view of the Toronto Harbour and the Toronto islands from my office space Toronto, than the view they could have gotten from the CN Tower.

  Maybe those other Toronto office space clients on the 18th floor of the Toronto Star building need to charge admission to their friends to look out their office windows!!

  Tags: Downtown Toronto Office Space, office space Toronto, tourist attraction

• 22Jul

  Finding a new home is harder than finding an office space in downtown Toronto

  Office Space No Comments

  I wish finding a new home was as easy as it was for me to find my downtown Toronto office space. I decided that I no longer want to live in the suburbs and want to find a place closer to downtown. I look daily on craigslist and most often what people are posting is not what they actually have, they try to make it sound better than it is.  When I see the craigslist ads for my office space downtown Toronto, they do not try to over sell what they are offering, they say it as it is.

  Why is it that people try to over hype an apartment when they know it will not be as advertised when I come to see it?

  When I was searching for a Toronto office space, I found a few places on the Internet, but when I arrived, they were nothing like the advertisement. When  I finally saw what Telsec had to offer, I realized that they said on the web site was under hyped and that I would get more bang for my buck than I thought. The staff was super friendly and the other tenants  were even more friendly, that sold me on this office space.

  Back to my living space dilemma, I am searching for an apartment for September 1st, but all the ads I see are for August 1st.  I wish I could find a home as easy as I found my office space and my photo studio. It really bogels me why someone lists a 350 square foot apartment without mentioning square footage  as a spacious place, it was a broom closet of a bedroom and  a bathroom suited for someone under 5 feet tall.  My favorite laugh came when a place said they had 24/7 security, but when I went to view the place at 7 P.M., the security guard was fast asleep.

  There has been some light at the end of the tunnel, one of my fellow office space tenants heard my plea for a new home rental and has told me about a place that is owned by a friend. This is what makes my office space Toronto so great, not only do fellow tenants do business with each other, they also network in other ways.

  Tags: Downtown Toronto Office Space, finding a home, Toronto Office Space

• 20Jul

  Need a car downtown? Why not a Zipcar

  Downtown Toronto Office Space, Office Space No Comments

  Who needs a car downtown Toronto when there are Zipcars and Autoshare locations all over Toronto. There is an Autoshare location within a half block of my downtown Toronto office space in the Toronto Star Building. The condominium building called “Pinnacle” across the road is an Autoshare location. There is a Zipcar location on Queens Quay that is only a two minute walk from 1 Yonge Street.

  For those not familiar with Zipcar or Autoshare, these are car sharing and car club services that allow members to utilize a vehicle on an hourly or part day basis. This type of service is easier than Toronto car rental and car ownership. You simply book the car you want at the time and the pick up location. When you arrive at the location, you simply place your access card on the windshield sensor and the doors are unlocked for you. The keys are in the car and you go on your way.

  It really is true that you do not need to own a car in downtown Toronto. Whether you live and work downtown or if you commute into downtown via GO Train, Go Bus or VIA Rail to your downtown office space in Toronto, you can use one of these car sharing services. When you just need a car to run around the city for an hour or two, you just reserve one.  Not having to worry about gas and insurance are just two of the added bonuses of using a Zipcar or Autoshare. Each of these companies offers a number of pick up locations throughout the city with a variety of vehicles.

  Tags: Autoshare, Downtown Toronto Office Space, Office space in Toronto, Zipcars

• 19Jul

  The view from my Toronto office space

  Downtown Toronto Office Space, Office Space No Comments

  I was in my downtown Toronto office space over looking Harbourfront and the Toronto Islands on Sunday afternoon.  I had to pick a file and wait for a call on my cell phone in order to arrange the drop off of the file.  While I was waiting for the call, I decided to look out the window and enjoy the view.

  For a while, I was watching the island ferries crossing the harbour and how the other boats stay clear of them.  Then I say something that baffled me, someone in a kayak cut off a ferry boat. Not even the sailboats or power boats tried this. The ferry had to go into reverse in order to give the person in the kayak a chance to pass.

  As I continued to look out the window of my office space in Toronto, I became amused with how the parking lot across the road was filling up, and how bad some people are at parking. I watched one car try four times to get into one of the parallel parking spots, until finally the passenger got out and walked around to take over the parking from the driver. As the the parking lot continued to get fuller, they started to double park the cars.

  Meanwhile I glanced over at the ferry docks and noticed that they were loading people on the Trillium (the grand ferry that is normally reserved for special occasions) with people wanting to get over to Centre Island. They really had to be overwhelmed with island goers to have to use The Trillium.

  The trillium celebrated her 100th birthday this year. Author Mike Filey (Toronto’s unofficial historian) has published with Dundurn Press of Toronto, a centennial edition of his book “Trillium and Toronto Island“. The book includes the history of The Trillium along with some beautiful colour and black & white photos taken over the years. The book also tells of her retirement in 1956, only to be saved from the scrap yard in 1973. The Trillium made her second debut in 1976 as a fully operational steam ferry.

  Tags: Downtown Toronto Office Space, Office space in Toronto, The Trillium and Toronto Island

• 16Jul

  Playing Tour guide to visiting friends

  Downtown Toronto Office Space, Office Space Toronto No Comments

  It is amazing how one forgets some of the amazing attractions there are in and around downtown Toronto. Places we may or may not have ever visited, or even knew were there. Sometimes we take these places for granted and never actually go to them, until we get a visitor from out of town.

  This week, I have been hanging out with a friend who has a visitor from Australia. Last Saturday we decided to take this guy Dan to the Toronto Islands. We parked the car at my downtown Toronto office space and walked 2 minutes to the ferry docks.

  Upon our return from the islands, I realized that there were plenty of other attractions that were within walking distance or quick transit ride from my office space  in Toronto.  Toronto attractions such as the Air Canada Centre, Rogers Centre, Metro Convention Centre,  CN Tower, Harbourfront, Hockey Hall of Fame, Harbourfront and Ontario Place.

  So when visiting these places, I figured I would use my monthly parking pass at 1 Yonge Street parking lot and make our way to these attractions. Today we are going to the CN Tower. We will park the car and walk to the tower, while taking in the vibe of Harbourfront.

  Tags: CN Tower, Downtown Toronto Office Space, Ontario Place, Toronto Office Space

• 14Jul

  Regis and Kelly invade PEI

  Downtown Toronto Office Space, Office Space No Comments

  Americas morning television duo Regis Philbin and Kelly Ripa rocketed the search term “Prince Edward Island” ranked second in the top Google search terms in the United States on Monday, even Tuesday the search term was ranked 19th.

  Live with Regis and Kelly are in PEI to do two live shows and two taped shows to air Wednesday and Thursday. The Prince Edward Island government spent $800,000 to help bring the show to the province, while the Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency contributed an additional $200,000.

  I have not heard if Regis and Kelly would be taking a trip across the confederation bridge, the world’s longest bridge over ice-covered water, but in Toronto a bridge of its own was announced, well actually a tunnel. For years The Toronto Port Authority, who controls the Billy Bishop Island Airport has been trying to get a bridge to the airport. They are now planning  to build a 123-metre pedestrian tunnel at the cost of $45-million. The tunnel will be financed through a public-private partnership.

  The Billy Bishop Island Airport has become very popular to business travelers who have Toronto Downtown office space and need to travel to cities like Ottawa, Montreal, New York and even Chicago. From their office space Toronto, they can be at the Island Airport in minutes and not have to fight traffic getting to Pearson International in Mississauga.

  Tags: Billy Bishop Island Airport, office space Toronto, Regis and Kelly Prince Edward Island, Toronto downtown office space

• 12Jul

  World Cup Finals was the buzz in the office today

  Toronto Office Space, Toronto Shared Offices No Comments

  World Cup Finals was the buzz in the office today, not vuvuzelas. All the talk around the coffee machine at my Toronto office space today seemed to be about the World Cup final and the Spanish win. While some office space tenants were talking about this octopus that had predicted the winners of  all the important games, others want that octopus to help them pick their Lotto Maxx numbers.

  As I was getting on the elevator to go for lunch, I overheard someone say that they were going to miss the sound of all those vuvuzelas.  The thought of never hearing that again was all that went through my mind. I just hope that people do not start bringing them on mass to Argonaut football games.

  I was meeting with a client this afternoon at the shared office space that he utilizes. Unlike the Toronto Shared Offices that I have, he did not have a receptionist answering his calls, he did not have access to boardrooms or meeting rooms and he did not have complimentary coffee.  We had to go down to a food court of another building two blocks away to get a coffee.  I told him that next time he should meet with me at my Toronto office space.

  Tags: office space Toronto, Toronto Office Space, Toronto Shared Offices, vuvuzelas

• 12Jul

  Why Canada will never win or even qualify for World Cup

  Office Space No Comments

  The World Cup was won by the team that did the job on the field. The Spanish fans took over College Street and even took over a streetcar. This almost rivaled the G20 protesters.  If the Dutch team won the Word Cup, Toronto would have been littered by wooden shoes or Marijuana plants.

  Yes, many in Canada will celebrate the World Cup win by Spain, but they will never celebrate a Canadian win because it will never happen. Most people in Canada think hockey is our sport, the most played game in Canada and around the world is soccer. In previous world cup qualifiers, more Canadian supported the rival teams from Europe or South America than the home team. This was because soccer fans support the team they most identify with and the countries who support the game. In Canada we let all our top soccer talent go to other countries once they reach 18 years of age.

  When it comes to business, my downtown Toronto office space supports business. Their dedicated team of professional support staff each have a favorite football team they support, but when it comes to client support, the flags come down.  It is great to have a team behind my business that works to help my business succeed.

  Tags: Downtown Toronto Office Space, Spain wins world cup

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