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  • 09Jul

    Lisa LaFlamme to take over CTV anchor from Lloyd Robertson

    Downtown Toronto Office Space, Office Space No Comments

    Lloyd Robertson announced on Thursday that he would be retiring after 28 years behind the anchor desk and 35 years at CTV. Robertson will continue to be behind the anchor desk for another year, but will not be leaving the network completely. He will stay on with CTV as the host of the current affairs show W5.

    Over morning coffee at my downtown Toronto office space, I had heard a few people talking about Lloyd Robertson and who might replace him when he retires. I was unaware that that he had officially announced his stepping down from the anchor desk.

    While I was writing my earlier blog about the break in the heat wave, someone came by my office and ask if I had heard that Lisa LaFlamme was to take over CTV anchor from Lloyd Robertson. I figured this was big news to many people who grew up watching Lloyd Robertson on the CTV national news, big enough news to write a second blog today.

  • 09Jul

    A break in the heat wave

    Office Space No Comments

    It is not often that I welcome rain, but in todays case, I am loving it.  I am looking forward to it warming up again,  just not the humidity that we experienced this week. When I am in my Toronto office space the heat and humidity are not a problem, as the office is climate controlled. It is the leaving of my office space Toronto and having to walk out to a wall of heat and humidity that is not fun. I am considering leaving my office early and heading up to the Esplanade to sit on a patio while the break in the weather permits me to enjoy sitting on a patio and not having to go inside the bar to enjoy a beer.

    I just looked out my office window overlooking the Toronto Harbour and noticed that the sky is still cloudy, but not as dark as it was earlier. Hopefully this does not mean that the temperature will be sky rocketing again.

    Even with this small break in the temperature, the City of Toronto is still planning to keep the cooling centers open. It seems that tomorrow the temperatures will climb again, as will the wave of humidity.

  • 07Jul

    Another Hot Day in Toronto

    Office Space No Comments

    Another hot day in Toronto. As I sit here in my air conditioned  downtown Toronto office space,  I am fully aware that it is still hot outside on day 5 of this heat wave. I am however watching as a large number of people are getting on the ferry boats and going over to the Toronto Islands.

    I am considering stepping out of the office and taking the ferry boat across to the islands myself. But then again, I am also considering finding a pub to watch the semi final game of the world cup between Germany and Spain, to decide who will take on the Netherlands in the world cup final. I will be cheering for Germany, not because I took German back in high school, but I think it will be a great match between the Dutch and the Deutsch.

    Some other tenants at my Toronto office space are choosing to watch the world cup semi final match on the giant plasma TV in the South East boardroom. While the screen is great for meetings, it works well as a TV too.

    Speaking of going to a pub to watch the game, I have noticed these past few days that more people are opting not to sit on the patio of restaurants and bars, but to go inside the air conditioned establishment and relax there instead.  The end to this heat wave does not seem to be until Friday, but then is expected to start getting warm again on Saturday.

  • 06Jul

    Shriners are the latest group to take over Toronto streets

    Office Space, Office Space Toronto, Toronto Office Space No Comments

    Just when you thought it was safe to drive in downtown Toronto again, the Shriners  come to town. Over 10,000 Shriners are in Toronto this week for their annual convention. As part of their convention, they hold a parade with elaborate floats and miniature vehicles.This year with the Shriner convention in Toronto, they will be having their parade on University Avenue.

    The parade, scheduled to start around 1 p.m. at Queen’s Park, will cause the shut down of University Avenue in both directions from College Street all the way down to Front Street. The closures are expected to begin early this morning and remain closed until 7 p.m.

    The Shriners are mostly known for their funny fez hats, miniature cars and a well known circus. They do a great deal of fund raising for children’s hospitals specializing in burn care and orthopedics.

    As I was heading to my Toronto office space, I could already see a bunch vehicles and trailers with Shriner logos and even a truck that was shaped like train locomotive that were heading for Queen’s Park to get into the parade. When I arrived at the parking lot outside my office space Toronto, there were a number of people with fez hats also parking in the lot. I started to wonder if my downtown office space was also going to be invaded by Shriners,  but quickly realized that they were parking there so they could pick up their cars after the parade.

    Shriners raises funds for children’s hospitals across North America specializing in orthopedic and burn care, spinal cord rehabilitation and cleft lip and palate treatment. One of those locations is in Montreal.

  • 05Jul

    It’s Officially a Heat Wave

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    To be considered a true heatwave it must be over 32 degrees for three consecutive days and today it hit over 35 (not including the humidity factor). The City of Toronto upgraded the “Heat Alert” they posted on Sunday, to an “Extreme Heat Alert” today. The city has opened several cooling centres such as Metro Hall that will be open for residents to cool off.

    Instead of going into my air conditioned downtown Toronto office space today, I had to work from home (where the air conditioning was not working) and wait for a delivery. While I was at home I had CP24 on the television in the background. One of the stories they were talking about was about the 84 year old Queen and 89 year old Prince Philip visiting Research In Motion at the companies Waterloo headquarters. Part of the visit was inside, but the Queen did do a walk through the crowd. I can not imagine how she is taking this heat wave. The interesting thing about the trip to RIM is that the Queen was given her very own personalized BlackBerry Bold 9700. Her Majesty is not new to the BlackBerry, she actually got her first one back in 2007 after she was introduced to the smart phone by her son, the Duke of York.

    I will be so happy when I get to my air conditioned office space Toronto tomorrow. Meanwhile there are those who are looking to get away to their cottages and have their calls forwarded by the receptionist, without their clients knowing they are not in their office.

  • 05Jul

    Happy Pride Toronto.

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    Toronto’s second largest parade and North America’s largest pride parade happened on Sunday. The 30th annual Pride Toronto parade was full of colourful floats and groups showing off their pride.

    The missing float was that of those who were proud to have a downtown Toronto office space, but there is always next year.

    Meanwhile a few hours before the parade, Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth the Second was on a walk further down Church Street, at a morning service and dedication at St James Cathedral at Church and King Streets.

    Back up Church Street, there were plenty of other queens for the pride parade, including one who chose to wear a balmomaral kilt (the official kilt tarten of the royal family) .

    With all the security for the Queen, I was still able to park my car at my Toronto office space. I was able to park my car and spend an hour in my office space Toronto, before going to see the Queen at St James and then the other queens further up church street.

    I did not make it out to Woodbine Racetrack for the running of the Queen’s Plate, but I was able to find a pub that had the race along with the pomp and circumstance of the Queen’s presents at the race on TV.

    office space Toronto

    running for Mayar

    The parade on Yonge Street did not include any references to the Queen on her Royal Visit, it did include support groups and floats from the various people who were running for Mayor of Toronto.

  • 01Jul

    Happy 143rd Canada

    Office Space, Toronto downtown office space No Comments

    Saying Happy 143rd Birthday Canada makes more sense than saying Happy 27th Canada Day. What a lot of people may not know or may not remember is that the first time July 1st was called “Canada Day” was 1983.

    Previously July first was known as “Dominion Day”, but an Act of Parliament in October of 1982, changed the name so to make the name sound less colonial and because in 1992 Canada had its own constitution that replaced the British North American Act (BNA). Some (like my father) refused to accept this name change and continued to call it “Dominion Day” because they believed that dominion referred to to the fact that Canada had dominion from sea to sea.  I still remember asking when I was about 10, why Dominion Stores had day named after it .

    Regardless of what it had been called or what it is now called, July 1st is a day for Canadians to celebrate Confederation through the BNA of 1867, that made Canada a Kingdom of its own. Being born on the Centennial year of 1967, it was alway easy for me to remember how old Canada was, I just had to add 100 to my age. The year I was born, the government sent out special scrolls for children born in that year.  I wonder if for its Sesquicentennial, the government will send out a special tax rebates to those born in Canada on its Centennial. Ok, wishful thinking.

    Back to this Canada Day. In our nation’s capital, Canada Day was off to a more pomp and circumstance beginning, because Her Royal Majesty The Queen and Prince Philip arrived on Parliament Hill in a horse-drawn landau, complete with a mounted RCMP escort.

    The Royal Standard of Canada

    The Queen's Personal Canadian Flag

    Instead of the Canadian flag flying above the Peace Tower of Parliament Hill, the Queen’s personal Canadian flag (The Royal Standard) will be flying.

    I believe that shortly after the Queen leaves Parliament Hill, her flag will then be taken down and replace with the Canadian flag for the remainder of the Canada Day celebrations.

    As I sit here working in my Toronto downtown office space, I notice that I am only one of a few people working on this national holiday. Some of the others who are working in their Toronto office space are much like myself and are working with American clients who do not have a holiday today. This is not the case for an acquaintance of mine, his office space Toronto is closed today, but he still needs to work. Working from home was not an option, as his neighbors were having a large and noisy Canada Day party. She had to rent a hotel room with WIFI internet access, so she could meet a deadline of July 2nd. She did tell me that she is now rethinking her current office situation, but is stuck in a lease that does not come up until the end of this year. I reminded her that I have a great office space location without a long term lease commitment, and that I have 24 hour access seven days a week.  Her only rebuttal was “why did you not tell me about this sooner”.

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