Archives for 2004

Documentary evidence

January 26, 2004 by Michael Boyle

Documentary evidence

of the insanity of the Montreal real estate market. The house I rented for 4 years in the mid-to-late-90s is for sale now – listed at $269K!

In Montreal, if you’re lucky and do your research, you can still get a hell of a lot of house for that kind of money. This particular house, however, is a real dump and unless a lot more work was done than can be seen from the photos published in MLS, it is worth not even half what they’re asking for it. Moreover, I know for a fact that it was sold to the current owner just 18 months ago for $110K.The place was very economical as a $700/month rental that you could share with three roommates. That’s a far cry from what they’re asking now though.

Incidentally, this is where my first mirror photo was snapped, a couple of months before I moved out.

The New Hampshire primary

January 26, 2004 by Michael Boyle

The New Hampshire primary

goes tomorrow night and should prove to be extremely interesting, particularly since the results in Iowa. I wasn’t arround to comment on all of that news, but Steven Johnson has done a pretty good job of summing it up.

I’m back

January 26, 2004 by Michael Boyle

I’m back

I’ve been in Mexico for the past week enjoying a well-deserved break from very-sub-zero temperatures here in Montreal. We stayed in Bucerias, a few miles north of Vallarta. Although the whole area pretty much exists for tourism, nevertheless there remains an inescapable Mexican core – unlike an all-inclusive resort on an island somewhere, you can’t forget the fact that you’re a guest in another country. The highlight of the trip for me were the galleries in Vallarta itself – there were some great pieces on permanent display and some very compelling exhibitions starting while we were there. In particular, a local artist named Brewster Brockmann had an opening, and although we passed on the vernissage, the new pieces were very interesting.

Sad media news

January 26, 2004 by Michael Boyle

Sad media news

On Friday, Cory at Boing Boing reported that the Whole Earth Review has gone bust. There’s still some hope that it will survive in some form, but nevertheless it’s too bad this crisis is occurring.

All the jobs I’ve ever had (or at least that I remember):

January 14, 2004 by Michael Boyle

All the jobs I’ve ever had (or at least that I remember):

Paper Boy (I covered Gainsborough Ave in Ottawa for the Citizen)
Summer Camp Counsellor (Camp Tawingo, Huntsville ON)
House Painter
Ski instructor/coach
Hotel Front desk clerk (in Banff)
Retail sales clerk (Monod Sports, also in Banff)
Management trainer
Teaching assistant (Concordia, my first semester back in grad school)
Forum moderator, online community
Freelance writer
Assistant Editor (CTHEORY, then based in Montreal)
Book designer
Web designer (I did a bunch of small sites on a freelance basis)
Corporate communications manager
University lecturer
Vice president of a non-profit organization
project manager