Success is a science; if you create the right conditions, you get the right result. Oscar Wilde
Good Morning,
In creating Success 2011 for you, a coach of mine identified this list of mind-sets and behaviors all successful people do differently from everyone else. Take a minute to reflect on these powerful points:
1. Successful people believe "I create my life". Others believe "Life happens to me".
2. Successful people play the game to win. Others play the game not to lose.
3. Successful people are committed to constant improvement. Others want to improve.
4. Successful people think big. Others think small.
5. Successful people focus on opportunities. Others focus on the obstacles and missed opportunities.
6. Successful people admire other successful people. Others resent successful people.
7. Successful people associate with other positive, success people. Others associate with other negative or unsuccessful people.
8. Successful people are willing to promote themselves and their value. Others think negatively about selling and promotion.
9. Successful people are bigger than their problems. Others are smaller than their problems.
10. Successful people are excellent receivers. Unsuccessful people are poor receivers.
11. Successful people choose to get paid on results. Others decide to get paid on time.
12. Successful people think "both". Others think "either/or".
13. Successful people have their money work hard for them. Others work hard for their money.
14. Successful people act in spite of fear. Others let fear stop them.
15. Successful people constantly learn and grow. Others think they already know.
Be, Think, and Act Successful! to find out more go to worksmartbesmart.com
Mortgage Questions and Referrals, I'm here to help.
Jared Dreyer
Shop Your Mortgage. Save Money
604 649-5991
________________________________________
About Dreyer Group Smiles
Dreyer Group Smiles is a program dedicated to giving to facilities that provide safe and transitional housing to children and youth in the Fraser Valley of British Columbia. By providing funds to these programs, Dreyer Group will make a meaningful difference to kids who otherwise may not have a roof over their heads, or hope for a bright future.
Dreyer Group hopes to expand this effort through their clients and business partners. In addition, they plan to raise additional funds through annual events and corporate fundraising initiatives. Dreyer Group is working closely with the Salvation Army to allocate these funds to the children and shelters.
About Dreyer Group Mortgages, A Member of the VERICO Brokers Network
As a senior mortgage consulting team with extensive experience in the financial services industry and thousands of happy clients throughout the Lower Mainland, we understand what it takes to build long-term relationships through service and expertise. As an independent brokerage, we are not restricted to one financial institutions mortgage options. We provide the best range of financing solutions by accessing over 40 lenders and hundreds of products coast-to-coast.
Each VERICO member is an independently owned and operated business.
Copywrite © 2008
Dreyer Group offers historically low rate of 3.64% for a 5-Year Fixed
rate mortgage.
To put this in perspective, in October 2009, a low 5-year fixed mortgage rate was 4.34%. 2 years ago the 5 year fixed rate was approximately 5.70%.
Mortgage Rule Changes
If you know someone looking to buy their first home, now is the time to get pre-approved in anticipation of new mortgage rule changes.
If you or someone you know is looking to refinance their mortgage, now is the time to get pre-approved in anticipation of the new mortgage rule changes.
If you or someone you know may need financing $500,000 or over, Dreyer Group has access to this exclusive rate special
All rates quoted are on approved credit.
Dreyer Group Smiles
When you do business with Dreyer Group, a portion of every mortgage funded goes towards providing safe housing for children and youth. Thank you for your support.
Senin, 31 Januari 2011
Selasa, 25 Januari 2011
The Life of 'Sevenpence,' the Templecombe Station Cat - b.1864/65
In the course of my research I find the most wonderful, weird and interesting things associated with the railways of Britain. I should also confess that I have a love for cats and everything they do. So, when the following tale was discovered on-line, I found it endearing and sweet. In the 2nd May 1870 edition of ‘the Children’s Friend’ was the story of ‘Sevenpence,’ the station cat at Templecombe (shown in 1885). The station was on the London and South Western Railway’s main line to the west of England and was located 108 miles from Waterloo. On account that it was an interchange station on the company’s main line, the article described it as having ‘more traffic and bustle going on than is usually found in rural districts or small provincial towns.’ 
It seems that Sevenpence had an unfortunate youth. As a kitten, in about 1863 or 1864, she was sent from Bishopstoke (now Eastleigh) to a local resident. Indeed, the name was given to her was because of the cost of her transportation. On arrival, for whatever reason, the proposed owner declined to give her a home and Sevenpence was passed between different individuals before being given to the station staff. She was placed in the company’s stable, which was ‘infested with vermin,’ and did her job well, soon showing that she “knew what rats and mice meant.” Indeed, such was the value of her service that a ‘small weekly sum’ was allowed by the company for her maintenance. This sum, unsurprisingly, I cannot find within the company’s accounts. (I did look. It surely came under ‘miscellaneous expenses.’) However, still young, she was a timid cat and never ventured much beyond the stable doors. Indeed, she was also startled by anyone who crossed her path.
With age she became more adventurous and went further into the unknown, becoming ‘a favourite with the porters and the servants of the company, who have ever treated her with kindness and consideration.’ By 1870s it seems that she had grown ‘fiercely bold,’ and whenever a train blew a whistle, or a bell rung, she appeared, ready to greet the passengers. She behaved in a gentle and good mannered way to all. Furthermore, Sevenpence was regularly to be seen jumping onto the track, between the wagons and carriages, and regularly got between the spokes of locomotive wheels, jumping off just as they began to move.
Yet, on many occasions this bold nature got Sevenpence into trouble and danger. As the article stated, ‘Many strange vicissitudes have befallen her, and were she gifted with, speech, numerous ups and downs of a cat life, and hair-breadth escapes, could she relate.’ On one occasion she became concealed in a meat wagon that was destined for London (‘for no good purpose, I fear.’) Station staff were only alerted to the distressed cat by a loud mewing, and, had they not found her sooner, Sevenpence would have found her way to the Nine Elms station staff. On another occasion a heavy weight fell from a crane and missed the oblivious Sevenpence by an inch. At the time she was ‘basking in the sun.’ She was also not particularly concerned by ‘pilot engines and trains in motion,’ and many times, while ‘taking her usual promenade,’ she was nearly crushed to death. But, ‘gifted with more than ordinary sagacity, and nimble in all her movements, she has yet been preserved unhurt.’
Apparently, in her later years Sevenpence did not look as good as she did as a younger cat. But, her life did improve and she abandoned her home in stable for the more comfortable quarters of the waiting room. Here she had a good fire, warm rug, ‘not to mention sundry bits and scraps from kind-hearted travellers, by whom she is much petted and caressed.’
The unknown author of the article concluded the tale by saying that he or she hoped that ‘many of my young friends may become acquainted with the station cat’ who was ‘a useful member of the feline community.’ Further ‘I feel sure all my young readers will join me in wishing that poor puss may be kept from accident, preserved in danger, and live to a good old age, in the full enjoyment of the pleasures and privileges her somewhat peculiar life affords her.’ Whether she did or not, we’ll never know.
Jumat, 21 Januari 2011
When Railway Workers' Write Poetry
Unfortunately, I am deep into a chapter that is due in on Monday, or thereabouts. As such, I have not had the time to write any blog posts and so I thought I’d post some poems that I have found in Railway Company Staff Magazines. While I have many poems from the London and South Western Railway’s (L&SWR) staff magazine, The South Western Gazette, I have also started to photograph staff magazines that originated within other railway companies before 1923. It seems to me that while they loved to include poetry, poetic submissions were also used by editors to fill space. This said, the South Western Gazette did actually have a ‘poet’s corner’ for many years.
Many came from external sources, however, a good proportion were written by railway employees and I’m sure that the poems could tell us a lot about attitudes to work on different railways, railway workers’ concerns in different parts of the country and the lives they led. However, for now, just enjoy them (even if some of them are not great). I’ll start with a poem by J.J. Hatch, a clerk on the L&SWR, who was so prolific that he eventually had a book of his work published. This was from the April 1st edition of the South Western Gazette.
A Lost Friend
As meeting in the eventide,
A man, his journey well nigh done,
Whose face towards the setting sun
Is bright and seems half glorified.
So met I him when life was late,
His life, and loved him from the first;
My soul hath ever been athirst
For kindly hearts with which to mate;
And his was warm with gentle thought
And fruitage of congenial speech,
And so our spirits, each to each,
Were drawn, by mutual impulse taught:
He pass’d into the silent night,
And left me standing all alone,
The sunset hue of eve had gone,
And earth was darken’d to my sight.
Poems with a railway theme were actually quite rare. However, this one from the Great Central Railway Journal of April 1906 certainly bucks the trend. It is simply called ‘A Railway Romance’ and was about a deaf man called Wilkinson who had his hearing restored by being run into by a train. There was no stated author.
A Railway Romance
Wilkinson was strolling slowly,
Pensively upon the railway:
The express was fact approaching
Just behind him, but he lit a
Cigarette and hummed a ballad:
He was deaf, and so he could not
Hear th’ approaching locomotive,
Raging, panting locomotive,
Panting close upon his footsteps:
Or the driver gently whisp’ring
Lisping to the evening zephyrs,
“Wilkinson, you Crimson idiot,
“Crimson, suicidal idiot
“Can’t you hear the crimson engine
“Panting o’er the purple railroad?
“Will you-?” But his words were idle,
(Wilkinson could not have heard a
Cannon let off close beside him);
But the passengers could hear them.-
So the engine rushed upon him,
Rushed at full four miles and hour
(It was a suburban railway),
Smote him with the dreadful buffers
Right upon the ear, when-wonder-
His complaint was cured completely.
Wilkinson regained his hearing.
But when he hears the driver
Comment on the situation,
Mention his opinion of him,
Fully his opinion of him,
Then he wished devoutly that he
Never had regained his hearing.
The Great Western Railway Magazine and Temperance Union Recorder was started by the company’s temperance union in 1888. Because of its origin its content reflected the fact that the readers were expected to engage in good habits. Thus, the poems were often of a religious, clean living or pious nature. This one, from January 1889, was simply called ‘Gone!’ and was ascribed to an unnamed employee who worked at Paddington Station.
Gone!
Hark! Hark! The bell in the old church tower yonder,
It echoes, dirge-like in the midnight clear;
It bids the soul upon this thought to ponder,-
The Dying Year!
The Dying Year! The “Hand” will soon be “vanished;”
The Dying Year! The “Voice” will soon be “still;”
The Dying Year! The form will soon be banished
Behind Life’s hill.
And as the bell in toll grows slower, deeper,
A Form comes gliding on,
Murmuring, as watchers o’er the pallid sleeper,
The sad word, “Gone!”
Anon, a merry peal of bells are ringing,
The New Tear grasps a rope,
And in the air and angel choir is singing
The joyous song of “Hope.”
The Great Eastern Railway Magazine was started in 1911 by the Great Eastern Railway. Interestingly, a number of poems in the early editions were actually about the magazine itself and events that took place early in its existence. This one, from the first edition in January 1911, certainly shows one individual was optimistic about the magazine’s future. Attributed to ‘A.L.G,’ it is called ‘The G.E.R.M.’
The G.E.R.M.
Pray have you the space for one to make
A trifling observation?
Our Magazine already bears
A shortened appellation-
But one we might adopted without
The slightest hesitation-
“The Germ”!
For germs are good as well as bad,
And often quite benevolent,
Converting all to good that is
In any way malevolent.
(If thou be such, then let us pray
To see thee ever prevalent,
O Germ!)
May be ‘twill prove a germ of life
Of the most intense vividity:
A germ so precious as to be
Sought after with cupidity-
Of such content that all who taste
Will swallow with avidity
The Germ!
Well, for now I think I will stop there. I have many more for when I am having a busy period in my PhD, and I am sure the number I will find will increase.
Many came from external sources, however, a good proportion were written by railway employees and I’m sure that the poems could tell us a lot about attitudes to work on different railways, railway workers’ concerns in different parts of the country and the lives they led. However, for now, just enjoy them (even if some of them are not great). I’ll start with a poem by J.J. Hatch, a clerk on the L&SWR, who was so prolific that he eventually had a book of his work published. This was from the April 1st edition of the South Western Gazette.
A Lost Friend
As meeting in the eventide,
A man, his journey well nigh done,
Whose face towards the setting sun
Is bright and seems half glorified.
So met I him when life was late,
His life, and loved him from the first;
My soul hath ever been athirst
For kindly hearts with which to mate;
And his was warm with gentle thought
And fruitage of congenial speech,
And so our spirits, each to each,
Were drawn, by mutual impulse taught:
He pass’d into the silent night,
And left me standing all alone,
The sunset hue of eve had gone,
And earth was darken’d to my sight.
Poems with a railway theme were actually quite rare. However, this one from the Great Central Railway Journal of April 1906 certainly bucks the trend. It is simply called ‘A Railway Romance’ and was about a deaf man called Wilkinson who had his hearing restored by being run into by a train. There was no stated author.
A Railway Romance
Wilkinson was strolling slowly,
Pensively upon the railway:
The express was fact approaching
Just behind him, but he lit a
Cigarette and hummed a ballad:
He was deaf, and so he could not
Hear th’ approaching locomotive,
Raging, panting locomotive,
Panting close upon his footsteps:
Or the driver gently whisp’ring
Lisping to the evening zephyrs,
“Wilkinson, you Crimson idiot,
“Crimson, suicidal idiot
“Can’t you hear the crimson engine
“Panting o’er the purple railroad?
“Will you-?” But his words were idle,
(Wilkinson could not have heard a
Cannon let off close beside him);
But the passengers could hear them.-
So the engine rushed upon him,
Rushed at full four miles and hour
(It was a suburban railway),
Smote him with the dreadful buffers
Right upon the ear, when-wonder-
His complaint was cured completely.
Wilkinson regained his hearing.
But when he hears the driver
Comment on the situation,
Mention his opinion of him,
Fully his opinion of him,
Then he wished devoutly that he
Never had regained his hearing.
The Great Western Railway Magazine and Temperance Union Recorder was started by the company’s temperance union in 1888. Because of its origin its content reflected the fact that the readers were expected to engage in good habits. Thus, the poems were often of a religious, clean living or pious nature. This one, from January 1889, was simply called ‘Gone!’ and was ascribed to an unnamed employee who worked at Paddington Station.
Gone!
Hark! Hark! The bell in the old church tower yonder,
It echoes, dirge-like in the midnight clear;
It bids the soul upon this thought to ponder,-
The Dying Year!
The Dying Year! The “Hand” will soon be “vanished;”
The Dying Year! The “Voice” will soon be “still;”
The Dying Year! The form will soon be banished
Behind Life’s hill.
And as the bell in toll grows slower, deeper,
A Form comes gliding on,
Murmuring, as watchers o’er the pallid sleeper,
The sad word, “Gone!”
Anon, a merry peal of bells are ringing,
The New Tear grasps a rope,
And in the air and angel choir is singing
The joyous song of “Hope.”
The Great Eastern Railway Magazine was started in 1911 by the Great Eastern Railway. Interestingly, a number of poems in the early editions were actually about the magazine itself and events that took place early in its existence. This one, from the first edition in January 1911, certainly shows one individual was optimistic about the magazine’s future. Attributed to ‘A.L.G,’ it is called ‘The G.E.R.M.’
The G.E.R.M.
Pray have you the space for one to make
A trifling observation?
Our Magazine already bears
A shortened appellation-
But one we might adopted without
The slightest hesitation-
“The Germ”!
For germs are good as well as bad,
And often quite benevolent,
Converting all to good that is
In any way malevolent.
(If thou be such, then let us pray
To see thee ever prevalent,
O Germ!)
May be ‘twill prove a germ of life
Of the most intense vividity:
A germ so precious as to be
Sought after with cupidity-
Of such content that all who taste
Will swallow with avidity
The Germ!
Well, for now I think I will stop there. I have many more for when I am having a busy period in my PhD, and I am sure the number I will find will increase.
Selasa, 18 Januari 2011
Did Canada Need Mortgage Rule Changes?
The Canadian Mortgage Insurance program will have the following changes.
A reduction to the amortization period of the mortgage from 35 to 30 years. These are for new government backed (or Canadian Insured mortgages only.) when a borrower has less then 20% down payment on their property. At this time, conventional mortgages with down payments of over 20% are not effected. The goal of the government is to reduce the total amount of interest payments Canadians make on their mortgage each month. The hope is to reduce Canadians risk of higher debt exposure, expedite the process of building equity in the home and pay off their mortgage faster.
Another new change is the Canadian Mortgage Insurance program is the maximum about Canadians can borrow with refinancing their mortgage. The new maximum is 85% of the value of the home. In the past, Canadians could borrow up to 90% of the value of their homes when refinancing. The government made this change to promote saving through home ownership and limit the refinancing of debt into mortgages.
Canadian mortgage insurance will also effect home secured lines of credit. Canadians will no longer be able to secure a line of credit on their homes if the loan to value is under 80%. Banks and other lenders at this time will continue to secure lines of credit on homes using their current guidelines.
While Canada Mortgage Insurance has made these changes, many lenders will still allow access to 35-year amortizations as long as the loan to value is over 20%. Rates continue to remain low so there is continued strong demand for purchasing and refinancing.
While refinancing your mortgage will be effected either way, it is not by much. The Canadian Bankers Association released a survey in December 2010 showing Canadians with mortgages which have significant equity in their home, averaging about 50 per cent of the home's value so there is still plenty of room for Canadians to purchase a home, investment properties, recreation properties and refinance with these changes. As well the survey points out that national mortgage-in-arrears numbers remain very low, at less than half of one per cent.
"The real debt load problem is with credit cards and unsecured lines of credit" says Jared Dreyer, President VERICO Dreyer Group Mortgages". "The Canadian government has done nothing to address the lenders rules for consumer qualifications for these products. In my opinion this is the real issue in household debt and it is not being addressed with the lenders at all. We need to provide better education and guidelines on these unsecured products to the consumer. This government by implementing these changes to the Canadian Mortgage Insurance rules has overlooked these issues. Canada does not have the population base to take even more consumers out of the housing market. I hope
that the government does address the unsecured banking practices with as much attention as they have with sound secured mortgage debt".
Average MLS resale price for local markets
City
November 2009
November 2010
Halifax
$239,514
$252,554
Saint John, NB
$178,484
$170,610
Quebec
$217,571
$244,209
Montreal
$284,516
$305,258
Ottawa
$314,071
$325,150
Toronto
$418,502
$437,999
Hamilton/Burlington
$310,377
$310,492
Winnipeg
$202,128
$226,886
Saskatoon
$278,885
$312,893
Calgary
$401,201
$398,619
Edmonton
$318,482
$318,538
Vancouver
$622,564
$699,009
Victoria
$490,892
$511,648
Source: Canadain Real Estate Association
Bank of Canada Interest Rate
October 19, 2010
1.00%
December 7, 2010
1.00%
January 18, 2011
Next meeting date
Source: Bank of Canada
Bank Prime Lending Rate
October 20, 2010
3.00%
December 8, 2010
3.00%
January 19, 2011
Next meeting date
Source: Bank of Canada
Continued Success in 2011!
Jared Dreyer, AMP
Mortgage Professional
604 649-5991
www.dreyergroup.ca
jared@dreyergroup.ca
About Dreyer Group Smiles
Dreyer Group Smiles is a program dedicated to giving to facilities that provide safe and transitional housing to children and youth in the Fraser Valley of British Columbia. By providing funds to these programs, Dreyer Group will make a meaningful difference to kids who otherwise may not have a roof over their heads, or hope for a bright future.
Dreyer Group hopes to expand this effort through their clients and business partners. In addition, they plan to raise additional funds through annual events and corporate fundraising initiatives. Dreyer Group is working closely with the Salvation Army to allocate these funds to the children and shelters.
About Dreyer Group Mortgages, A Member of the VERICO Brokers Network
As a senior mortgage consulting team with extensive experience in the financial services industry and thousands of happy clients throughout the Lower Mainland, we understand what it takes to build long-term relationships through service and expertise. As an independent brokerage, we are not restricted to one financial institutions mortgage options. We provide the best range of financing solutions by accessing over 40 lenders and hundreds of products coast-to-coast.
Each VERICO member is an independently owned and operated business.
Copywrite © 2008
The Donald's Sales Tips to Get You Pumped for 2011
Never do things for your customers and prospects in a small way. Make it big or don't do it at all.
Everyone likes to do business with a winner. No matter what stage of your career, you need to think like you've made it.
Be a big thinker. The timid and the small thinkers will talk sports and weather. They will pale in comparison to the bold winners who share compelling stories and ideas.
Be focused. Put everything you’ve got into what you do every day.
Believe in yourself. If you don’t, no one else will.
Be tenacious.
Trust your instincts.
Maintain your momentum and keep everyone moving forward.
See yourself as victorious and leading a winning team.
Be passionate about what you do.
Live on the edge. Do not become complacent.
Leadership is not a group effort. If you’re in charge, then be in charge.
Never give up!
Don't sell. Thrill.
Follow me on twitter
Follow my financial blog
Follow Me on Facebook
Quick Links
Check our Best Rates
Currency Rates
Market Watch
Local Weather
Mortgage Calculators
Sent to: jared@dreyergroup.ca
If you prefer not to receive
future e-mails of this type,
Leave this List.
Sent By:
Dreyer Group Mortgages Inc.
#308 - 15252 32nd Avenue
South Surrey BC V3S0R7
Canada
A reduction to the amortization period of the mortgage from 35 to 30 years. These are for new government backed (or Canadian Insured mortgages only.) when a borrower has less then 20% down payment on their property. At this time, conventional mortgages with down payments of over 20% are not effected. The goal of the government is to reduce the total amount of interest payments Canadians make on their mortgage each month. The hope is to reduce Canadians risk of higher debt exposure, expedite the process of building equity in the home and pay off their mortgage faster.
Another new change is the Canadian Mortgage Insurance program is the maximum about Canadians can borrow with refinancing their mortgage. The new maximum is 85% of the value of the home. In the past, Canadians could borrow up to 90% of the value of their homes when refinancing. The government made this change to promote saving through home ownership and limit the refinancing of debt into mortgages.
Canadian mortgage insurance will also effect home secured lines of credit. Canadians will no longer be able to secure a line of credit on their homes if the loan to value is under 80%. Banks and other lenders at this time will continue to secure lines of credit on homes using their current guidelines.
While Canada Mortgage Insurance has made these changes, many lenders will still allow access to 35-year amortizations as long as the loan to value is over 20%. Rates continue to remain low so there is continued strong demand for purchasing and refinancing.
While refinancing your mortgage will be effected either way, it is not by much. The Canadian Bankers Association released a survey in December 2010 showing Canadians with mortgages which have significant equity in their home, averaging about 50 per cent of the home's value so there is still plenty of room for Canadians to purchase a home, investment properties, recreation properties and refinance with these changes. As well the survey points out that national mortgage-in-arrears numbers remain very low, at less than half of one per cent.
"The real debt load problem is with credit cards and unsecured lines of credit" says Jared Dreyer, President VERICO Dreyer Group Mortgages". "The Canadian government has done nothing to address the lenders rules for consumer qualifications for these products. In my opinion this is the real issue in household debt and it is not being addressed with the lenders at all. We need to provide better education and guidelines on these unsecured products to the consumer. This government by implementing these changes to the Canadian Mortgage Insurance rules has overlooked these issues. Canada does not have the population base to take even more consumers out of the housing market. I hope
that the government does address the unsecured banking practices with as much attention as they have with sound secured mortgage debt".
Average MLS resale price for local markets
City
November 2009
November 2010
Halifax
$239,514
$252,554
Saint John, NB
$178,484
$170,610
Quebec
$217,571
$244,209
Montreal
$284,516
$305,258
Ottawa
$314,071
$325,150
Toronto
$418,502
$437,999
Hamilton/Burlington
$310,377
$310,492
Winnipeg
$202,128
$226,886
Saskatoon
$278,885
$312,893
Calgary
$401,201
$398,619
Edmonton
$318,482
$318,538
Vancouver
$622,564
$699,009
Victoria
$490,892
$511,648
Source: Canadain Real Estate Association
Bank of Canada Interest Rate
October 19, 2010
1.00%
December 7, 2010
1.00%
January 18, 2011
Next meeting date
Source: Bank of Canada
Bank Prime Lending Rate
October 20, 2010
3.00%
December 8, 2010
3.00%
January 19, 2011
Next meeting date
Source: Bank of Canada
Continued Success in 2011!
Jared Dreyer, AMP
Mortgage Professional
604 649-5991
www.dreyergroup.ca
jared@dreyergroup.ca
About Dreyer Group Smiles
Dreyer Group Smiles is a program dedicated to giving to facilities that provide safe and transitional housing to children and youth in the Fraser Valley of British Columbia. By providing funds to these programs, Dreyer Group will make a meaningful difference to kids who otherwise may not have a roof over their heads, or hope for a bright future.
Dreyer Group hopes to expand this effort through their clients and business partners. In addition, they plan to raise additional funds through annual events and corporate fundraising initiatives. Dreyer Group is working closely with the Salvation Army to allocate these funds to the children and shelters.
About Dreyer Group Mortgages, A Member of the VERICO Brokers Network
As a senior mortgage consulting team with extensive experience in the financial services industry and thousands of happy clients throughout the Lower Mainland, we understand what it takes to build long-term relationships through service and expertise. As an independent brokerage, we are not restricted to one financial institutions mortgage options. We provide the best range of financing solutions by accessing over 40 lenders and hundreds of products coast-to-coast.
Each VERICO member is an independently owned and operated business.
Copywrite © 2008
The Donald's Sales Tips to Get You Pumped for 2011
Never do things for your customers and prospects in a small way. Make it big or don't do it at all.
Everyone likes to do business with a winner. No matter what stage of your career, you need to think like you've made it.
Be a big thinker. The timid and the small thinkers will talk sports and weather. They will pale in comparison to the bold winners who share compelling stories and ideas.
Be focused. Put everything you’ve got into what you do every day.
Believe in yourself. If you don’t, no one else will.
Be tenacious.
Trust your instincts.
Maintain your momentum and keep everyone moving forward.
See yourself as victorious and leading a winning team.
Be passionate about what you do.
Live on the edge. Do not become complacent.
Leadership is not a group effort. If you’re in charge, then be in charge.
Never give up!
Don't sell. Thrill.
Follow me on twitter
Follow my financial blog
Follow Me on Facebook
Quick Links
Check our Best Rates
Currency Rates
Market Watch
Local Weather
Mortgage Calculators
Sent to: jared@dreyergroup.ca
If you prefer not to receive
future e-mails of this type,
Leave this List.
Sent By:
Dreyer Group Mortgages Inc.
#308 - 15252 32nd Avenue
South Surrey BC V3S0R7
Canada
Senin, 17 Januari 2011
The Values of Victorian Railway Company Staff Magazines
In my last blog post I talked about how the Great Western (GWR) and London and South Western Railway’s (L&SWR) staff magazines’ had different establishing agendas and how this may have reflected different cultures amongst the companies’ clerks who started and wrote them. In this post I will show where the content of the two company’s staff magazines’, the South Western Gazette (SWG) and the Great Western Railway Magazine and Temperance Union Record (GWRM), converged in one important respect. This will reveal that clerks within both companies had very similar, if not identical, perspectives on railway work that were the result of their career prospects.
One of the most important benefits of being a clerk within any Victorian railway company was the unique promotional opportunities. In the case of the L&SWR I have identified that of 70 Traffic Department senior managers appointed between 1850 and 1922, only 3 (4.3%) had started their careers in non-clerical grades (two porters and a ticket inspector). The remaining 67 all had started with the L&SWR as either junior (or apprentice) clerks or senior clerks.[1] Additionally, Goruvish has shown that of 88 Railway Company Chief Executive Managers appointed between 1850 and 1922, only 10% came from ‘Engineering’ departments.[2] The rest came from Administrative (30%) or Traffic Departments (60%). The only failing of this research, for my purposes, is that it doesn’t identify from what positions that CEMs from Traffic Departments came from. However, we can be almost certain that all those Chief Executive Managers from administrative departments were originally clerks. Overall, however, the evidence suggests that clerks could become managers and other employees rarely received such chances.
Therefore, the fact that the majority of senior L&SWR and GWR managers came from the ranks of the clerical staff, means that their employment outlooks were highly likely be aligned with the goals for the company that senior management had. These goals included profit maximisation, loyalty and efficiency. As a result, the clerk edited staff magazines from both companies reflected this informal association.
Firstly, in both magazines criticism of the policies of the companies was prohibited. In the first issue of the SWG the editorial warned potential contributors that they did not 'think it wise' to include articles which were 'tending to a criticism of the South Western Company's policy, or the action of the company's officials.'[3] [italics in original] Subsequently, in August 1881, a contributor named 'Uno' was reminded in print that his unspecified grievances against the management would not be published.[4] While the same sort of explicit statements were not found in the GWRM, in the first issue the editorial stated that the magazine would ‘not meddle with politics, or with subjects leading to excited controversy, for those can be found ad libitum elsewhere.’[5] Thus, while it did’ not explicitly that reporters could not send in criticism of the company, it implied that ‘controversy’ which this form of correspondence would come under, was not welcome. Therefore, by excluding from these magazines’ pages competing narratives of the companies’ performance and management, the alignment of the views of the clerks and senior management is plain to see.
Secondly, both publications prominently featured financial and traffic information within their pages. From the first issue of the SWG in June 1881, up to the January 1886 number, it printed monthly details of the company's revenue, any increases or decreases compared with the corresponding month of the previous year, and the amount of revenue earned per mile of track opened. Furthermore, these statistics were usually to be found in a position of prominence on page one of each edition.[6] Similarly, the GWRM published throughout its first year (and possibly beyond) information on the GWR’s Stock and Share capital and the traffic receipts of the company in the previous month compared with the corresponding month in the previous two years. While not on the first page of the publication, these figures were in a prominent position in the magazine taking up half of a page.[7] Further, both publications published details of their companies’ half-yearly reports and of the proprietors’ meetings. Thus, the inclusion and prominent position of the traffic and financial information betrayed the fact that both editorial teams, like management, saw the success of the company in financial terms and wished to express to the readership of the centrality of profit in company activities.
The last indicator that the clerks identified with the views of management can only be found in the SWG. In June 1882 the Gazette commented on the fact that the salaried (and predominately clerical) staff had been 'left out in the cold' with regard to pay rises, while the waged grades had received increases. Responding to this, the author stated that 'it is another incontestable proof of the vital importance to the staff of good traffic returns...we trust that for the future all will do their utmost to make the line popular so the present prosperity may long continue.' This implied that employees’ wages were dependent on individual productivity and efficient working. Additionally, it held up as an example the self-sacrificing clerical staff, positioning them within the as understanding the importance of the company's financial success to their employment.[8]As such, the article was projecting the views held by the clerical staff and, by default, the management, that profit was the key consideration of company operations. It is unknown whether a similar expression was made in the GWRM (I only have one year’s worth), but hopefully further research will reveal if this was so.
While I still have a lot to do on railway company magazines, from the evidence above I can tentatively say that the clerks of both the L&SWR and GWR expressed views in their publications which were aligned with their respective companies’ managements. However, the degree to which these were held by all the companies’ clerks is unknown and to determine this is also the aim of further research.
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[1] Data collected from: The National Archives [TNA], RAIL 411/491 to RAIL 411/497 and RAIL 411/499 to RAIL 411/502
[2] Gourvish, Terence .R., ‘A British Business Elite: The Chief Executive Managers of the Railway Industry, 1850-1922,’ Business History, Vol. XLVII, No.3 (Autumn, 1973), p.305
[3] TNA, ZPER 11/1, South Western Gazette, June 1881, pp.5
[4] TNA, ZPER 11/1, South Western Gazette, August 1881, pp.8
[5] TNA, ZPER 19/2, Great Western Railway Magazine and Temperance Union Record, November 1888, p.1
[6] TNA, ZPER 11/1, South Western Gazette, June 1881, pp.1
[7] TNA, ZPER 19/2, Great Western Railway Magazine and Temperance Union Record, November 1888, p.7
[8] TNA, ZPER 11/1, South Western Gazette, June 1882, pp.2
Jumat, 14 Januari 2011
Canadian Interest Rates What Direction?
We have been seeing a lot of reports, predictions, economists papers on what is going to happen to rates in 2011. The real answer, no one really knows.That is the gift of making predictions we can be wrong and right at the same time. We have had a decade of low interest rates and over two years of the lowest historic rates on record. This means there is only one direction and that is up. We are not going to see large rate increases as some have been hoping for(doomsday believers). We should see prime rise by.50-.75% over the next year and the fixed rate increase by the same amount. This will not affect buying habits of people or stop jobs from being created. We are in a new era of debt load and management.The older generation needs to understand that we are not going to be able to buy homes in Vancouver for $12,000 and watch it go to $1,500,000 over 35 years. This means we need low interest rates and good debt management for toady's home buyers.
Kamis, 13 Januari 2011
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