Everyday Weekender - Where Everyday Is The Weekend...

This Weekend in Sports (05-May-2007)

NBA Playoffs

The NBA playoffs continue with most of the first round series settled. In the East the Pistons, Cavaliers, and Bulls are moving forward to the second round. The Raptors extended their series to the 6th game be winning game 5 at home. They were able to beat the Nets by 20 points in the first quarter and ride that to a 2 point win. Game 6 will be in New Jersey where the Raptors have not won a game there this season.

In the West the Spurs and Suns will see each other in the second round. Utah has taken a 3-2 lead in their series against Houston and the Golden State Warriors have knocked off the number one team in the NBA, the Dallas Mavericks in 6 games. A huge upset, but Golden State really has shown all the emotion in this series and really deserved the win.

NHL Playoffs

In the NHL playoffs the Senators have taken a 3-1 lead over the New Jersey Devils and Martin Brodeur. The Sens should finish off the Devils easily and some are questioning the health of Brodeur. Buffalo is in tough against the Rangers who are showing a lot more grit then they did in the regular season. Buffalo prides themselves on speed, skill, and goaltending, but the New York Rangers have some excellent goaltending of their own and Jaromir Jagr seems determined to go farther in the playoffs.

The Western conference has the Anaheim Mighty Ducks against the Vancouver Canucks. Many were predicting Vancouver to win this series because of Luongo’s goaltending, but Anaheim has proven to be too much of a complete team and have advance to the conference finals awaiting the Detroit Red Wings or San Jose Sharks who are tied 2-2.

De La Hoya vs. Mayweather

For anyone who has any inkling of interest in boxing they should watch this one this weekend. De La Hoya has been a dominant boxer in his career and appeals to all types of crowds because of his looks, charisma, and skill. He’s a golden boy that can win a fight. Mayweather is considered to be pound for pound one of the best fighters in boxing and is the favourite given that De La Hoya is at the end of his career. De La Hoya being the star that he is will earn $30 million and Floyd Mayweather Jr. will get $15 million for his troubles. This will be well worth watching and should go late into the rounds.

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The Reaping – Weekend Movie Review

The Reaping Movie

This past weekend I went to the movies to see The Reaping. I’m a big fan of horror/religious/supernatural movies. The problem is that most of those movies really aren’t that good, but I still feel as though I have to watch them and find out for myself. I went into this movie not having read any reviews, but I knew that this could be a decent scare or a total waste of time. As it turns out I jumped through a number of scenes, had the chills go up my spine, and by the end was able to ignore a lot of the flaws.

Hillary Swank plays a former Christian missionary who lost her faith after her family was tragically killed, and has since become a world renowned expert in disproving religious phenomena. But when she investigate a small Louisiana town that is suffering from what appear to be the Biblical plagues, she realizes that science cannot explain what is happening and she must regain her faith to combat the dark forces threatening the community.

The movie does a really good job of building suspense and intrigue as the 10 plagues start to appear in the small town of Haven. Swank lends a lot of credit to the film and makes you believe in the characters and story just a little bit more then if it was someone else. Unfortunately as the mystery starts to unfold and the 10th plague draws nearer the movie speeds right through any details. They show some silly effects and then try, unsuccessfully, to end with a plot twist.

Many of the scenes remind me of other movies. The most prominent of them is Rosemary’s Baby, but there are comparisons to The Omen and The Seventh Sign. The run time is only 1 hour and 39 minutes which is perfect for this movie. If it were any longer I think I would have been more disappointed, but as it was I was scared, entertained, and out of the theatre before I really started to ask questions like, what’s the deal with the wind chimes?

If you’re interested in the genera and the trailers I would say go see it. If you aren’t really interested and you just want something to do you will probably hate it.

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Financing a Cottage Property 101

There are generally only a few ways a person in Ontario can own a cottage.

They have $200,000+ stuffed under their mattress
They inherited it through a family member
They have a second mortgage
They used the equity in their home

Now most people I know don’t have $200K sitting around and if you have inherited a cottage consider yourself very lucky. I am going to focus on the last two points and tell you about what I did to purchase our property.

Second Mortgages

Second Mortgages are not nearly as easy to obtain as a first mortgage mainly because the second mortgage is on a recreational property which is seen as a greater risk for default by the banks. Mortgages cannot be used to buy vacant land. The mortgage is against the building rather then the property so when applying for a second mortgage the vacation property must have a building on it.

At the time when I was looking for financing options these were the requirements for obtaining a second mortgage.

Building must be 800sqft or bigger
Must have all year access
Must be winterized – meaning running water and heat in the winter
Down payment of 35% of the purchase price of the property

A cottage with the above requirements on a swimmable waterfront lot would cost somewhere around $200,000 to $250,000. That would require you to make a down payment of $70,000 to $87,500! Again most people I know don’t have that kind of money for a down payment. On top of those requirements you still have to pass the normal credit checks and approvals for a mortgage.

This is assuming that there is just one person or one couple purchasing the property. If you were able to convince your friends or family to go in on the purchase with you then the financial burden would be much less and it is more likely you would be approved for the second mortgage. That being said there are pitfalls to sharing a cottage. (Look for a future article on this topic)

Refinancing with Home Equity

The route my wife and I chose was to use the equity in our home and refinance our existing mortgage.

This is how refinancing and equity can work:

Market Value of your house is $500,000
Your current mortgage balance is $300,000
Banks will lend up to 90% of the value of your house for anything you want. Credit checks and approvals still apply.
90% of $500,000 = $450,000
Subtracting your mortgage balance from $450,000 leaves you with $150,000.
$150,000 is the maximum amount the banks will loan to you using the equity in your home.

As I mentioned this loan can be used for anything so the requirements listed in the second mortgage do not apply. This financing option let us buy a vacant lot and build whatever cottage size and type we want.

Additional Things to Consider

A mortgage at 90% of the value of your home means that, in Canada, you will have to pay CMHC insurance which is a penalty of 2% of the value of the loan.

You might find that with a standard mortgage your payments will be too high for you to pay. Canadian banks have introduced non-standard mortgages that have 30, 35 and 40 year amortizations compared to the standard 25 year amortization period. This means that you will be paying less per month, but also means that your payments will be more interest and less principal. There is a 0.20% CMHC fee for using the non-standard mortgages.

I hope this helps some of you out there wondering how you would ever be able to purchase a cottage.

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Texas Hold’em Poker Sundays – Destiny’s Calling!

Many nights I have dreamed of being a professional poker player, being on national television at the final table and winning millions! This is the life that I want and why shouldn’t I be able to have it?

Week after week I see regular shmoes like myself winning these huge tournaments. So I’ve read some books and played poker online. I’ve actually found that I prefer limit texas hold’em in ring games rather then tournaments.

Sometime last summer I was playing and started with $100 which turned into $1000 by the end of the week! As my account went up so did the stakes I was playing for. Day after day I would win more and more with hardly any losing streaks. After 1 month my $100 was now $11,000! I was honestly starting to consider being a professional poker player. Then Black Saturday came along. Over a 6 hour period I lost $8,000. I couldn’t figure out how to stop the bleeding. I walked away from the computer and didn’t play for a week. In the end I was able to withdraw $4,000 before I lost it all.

I was telling some co-workers this story and they came up with the idea of giving me the money they would spend on the lottery and sports bets so that I can play poker and split the winnings with them. I had to pinch myself. People are going to give me money to play poker without any consequences and take a cut of the winnings! This must be fate.

I will be providing an update here on the Everyday Weekender every Sunday so that you can follow along to see how I’m progressing. I intend on playing twice a week, once during the week and once on the weekend. I will describe some of the big hands that I’ve played, provide some insight into player styles, and some online tips that may help you with your own poker game.

Hopefully my account balance will go up rather then down and I’ll be writing these articles for a while. Cross your fingers!

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Cedar Plank Salmon

I said I would post a vegetarian recipe, I don’t know if this counts, but this is as close as I can get to vegetarian. I love smoking food. I’ve only used a cedar plank in the past, but once I have my cottage built I’m going to pick up a smoker… I can’t wait. Give this recipe from the LCBO a shot with some grilled asparagus and rice.

Cooking salmon on a cedar plank is a very old method of cooking. Originally it would be cooked over an open fire but barbecues have simplified this technique. Soak the plank in water for 30 minutes before using, otherwise it will burn. Salt the plank before using it to give the skin real flavour. The marinade for this salmon goes well with beer – it has a slight BBQ sauce-like tang.

Cedar Plank Salmon
By: Lucy Waverman

Delicious Cedar Plank Salmon

2 tbsp (25 mL) grainy mustard
2 tbsp (25 mL) ketchup
1 tbsp (15 mL) chopped fresh rosemary
2 tbsp (25 mL) olive oil
½ tsp (2 mL) chili powder

Kosher salt and freshly ground pepper

One 2 lb (1 kg) piece of salmon

1. Combine mustard, ketchup, rosemary, olive oil, chili powder, salt and pepper. Spread over salmon and marinate for 30 minutes.

2. Heat grill to high heat.

3. Place soaked cedar plank on grill and leave for 3 to 4 minutes or until you can smell or see smoke. Immediately turn plank, salt it liberally and place fish on top, skin-side down.

4. Close cover and cook for 12 to15 minutes or until fish is just cooked. Remove plank from grill and slip salmon off, onto serving platter.

Serves 4

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This Weekend in Sports (27-Apr-2007)

NBA Playoffs

Friday and Sunday will see the Raptors and Nets in game 3 and 4 in New Jersey. The Raptors were able to pull out a win with only seconds left in game 2 to even the series 1-1. That was a big win for the Raptors because all their young players now know that they can win.

If the Raps went down 0-2 with the next 2 games on the road you know the pressure would too much for them to handle and the series would be over before they knew it. Jason Kidd, the Nets captain, did not practice on Thursday so he could have his knee looked at by a doctor. Apparently there was some swelling, but that won’t keep Kidd out. This will be a tough series that will go 7 games.

Detroit is showing why they were number one in the Eastern Conference. They are up 3-0 over Orlando and really the Magic haven’t shown anything to make anyone believe they will win the next game. Orlando is a one dimensional team with Howard in the middle. The rest of the guys just can compete with the experience, team work, and skill of the Pistons.

A big surprise in the Western Conference was Golden State beating Dallas in game one. Dallas, the best team in the NBA in the regular season, won 67 games and only lost 15. Of those 15 loses 4 came against Golden State who were only 2 games over .500 for the season. After that scare Dallas came back and one the second game to even the series. I expect Dallas to play with a lot of determination now and win the series in 5 or 6 games, but it’s hard not to route for the underdog in this series.

NHL Playoffs

The second round of the playoffs are upon us with 8 teams competing for Lord Stanley’s Cup. Ottawa was able to handle the future of the NHL in Sidney Crosby and the Pittsburgh Penguins and now have an even tougher battle with the New Jersey Devils and future Hall of Famer Martin Brodeur. As much as I hate Ottawa I think this is their year. The core of the team has been together for a while, the overall talent cannot be beat, and they are getting good goaltending out of Ray Emery. I see Ottawa facing the Anaheim Mighty Ducks in the finals.

Anaheim has the best defensive tandem in the league in Chris Pronger and Scott Niedermayer. They also have arguably the best goaltending tandem in Ilya Bryzgalov and J.S. Giguere. With those four players doing their best to keep the puck out of the net it is going to be very hard for any team to knock the Ducks out over a 7 game series. On the offensive side Teemu Selanne has had an amazing resurrection of his scoring touch over the last two years and the once no-body, Andy McDonald is now a serious scoring threat. If Ottawa and Anaheim meet in the finals it will definitely be a series worth watching.

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Make Beer at Home

Make Beer at Home with a Couple of Buckets

Who loves beer? Who loves beer?
I love beer!!

As I mentioned in the 20 Million Dollar Dream Cottage article brewing beer is a weekend hobby of mine.

For anyone that has gone to a U-Brew shop to make beer you probably thought you would get a lot of beer for a cheap price.

Then you found out that you got a lot of cheap beer!

Pint of Beer

The most common recipe in U-Brew shops requires a malt extract. This looks like a dark thick syrup and provides the sugar needed to create alcohol. The problem with malt extracts is that they usually don’t provide the best flavour and always leaves the finished beer way too sweet. I like to compare malt extracts to concentrated orange juice. They provide a cheap alternative to the real thing, but never taste nearly as good.

Recently products have come on the market that are called Ready Brew kits and let home brewers make professional quality beer from home. Magnotta, a brewery in Ontario, won the Canadian Brewer of the Year for 2006 and produces a ready brew kit called Festa Brew. The Festa Brew kit consists of 23L of wort (unfermented beer), a pouch of dry yeast and instructions. The wort is the same stuff that is sold to the public in their award winning beers. All the home brewer has to do is put the wort in a bucket with the yeast, let it sit for 5 days, transfer it to another bucket, and 10 days later transfer it to bottles or a keg. That’s about it. The end result is professional quality beer made right at home for about $10 per 24 bottles.

If you are interested at all in picking up this hobby I would suggest starting with one of these ready brew kits and simply follow the instructions.

Happy Brewing!

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MyBlogLog Community Booster

Looks like people have been climbing aboard the Technorati Favorites Train. Many people have commented on how effective it’s been in boosting a blog’s Technorati ranking.

Well, folks there’s a new campaign on the block and it will take advantage of another popular blogging tool, MyBlogLog!

I currently have over 150 MyBlogLog Members and the community has been responsible for sending a ton of traffic my way. Not bad, but it can be better! My friend Shawn Knight has created this new promotion to give all of you a chance to cash in on some extra MyBlogLog traffic as well. Here’s how it works!

***Start Copying Here:***

Here are the rules:

1) Write a short introduction about how you found this list and include a link back to that blog.

2) COPY the rules and ENTIRE list below and post it on your blog.

3) Take “My New Community Members” and move them into the “The Original Community Members” list.

4) Find 3 new blogs, join their MyBlogLog Community and add them to the “My New Community Members” section. Remember to also add the “Join the Community” link next to your new blogs. ( Example: http://www.mybloglog.com/buzz/community/shawnknight/ )

5) Join as a member to each Community listed here by clicking on “Join the Community”. The goal is that all of the new Members listed will join your community, and you should do the same!

My New Community Members
The Passionate Ailurophile – Join the Community
thepisstaker – Join the Community
derrich – Join the Community

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Pitfalls of Building a Cottage…A Continuing Saga

Pitfalls of Building a Cottage…A Continuing Saga

As I’ve mentioned in my first article I expected unforeseen pitfalls and there have been unforeseen pitfalls. Just as things are looking like construction will soon start I get hit with these pitfalls and I’m delayed. It is a complete rollercoaster of emotions.

Let’s go back to when I first found the lot. There were two lots side by side, both up for sale for the same price by the same owner. We looked at the two shorelines and thought the one that we have now had the better shoreline. Plus we thought to ourselves why would we want the other lot when it’s got this huge mound of dirt on it? So my wife and I were very excited that our offer on our lot was accepted. I arranged for a septic contractor to come to the lot some time later to take a look around and figure out what kind of septic system we would need to put in and how that would be done. Within five minutes of us being at the site he said we’re going to have to bring in about 35 dump trucks of earth to fill in the back part of the lot for the septic bed. It turns out that our lot is at the same height as the water table and we can’t have our septic sludge leech right into the water. Now I know why the other lot had a big mound of dirt on it, the septic bed was already there, we could have saved thousands!

So last week I received my building plans, which I was very excited about. I sent a copy to the foundation contractor to get an estimate from him and fill out my building permit applications for approval. I figured construction will start soon! I called my septic contractor to get some finalized prices. I had estimated the fill for the septic bed would cost me somewhere around $5000. He told me $11,000! I don’t have a lot of leeway with my budget and this threw it all out of whack. The septic contractor is a good guy too so I don’t think he trying to rip me off. Now I’m thinking “how am I going to pay for all of this? I might have to scrap this project and salvage whatever money I can.” I calmed down, went home and came up with a financial budget that will allow me to pay the extra money, but man will things be tight.

With that “taken care of” I contacted the Building Dept. to see when I can meet with them to get the plans approved and obtain my permits, another exciting time in the process. As a side note in the conversation the inspector mentions that buildings have to be a minimum of 800sqft. Well my cottage is only 575sqft and I’ve committed a lot of money towards it. I don’t have the money to build an 800sqft cottage. What am I going to do?! The building inspector tells me I’m going to have submit an application for Minor Variances to the Planning Dept. I said fine I will do that and contacted my builder to let him know what was going on. The permit will cost $375 and according to my builder it will take at least 90 days to find out the result of the application. After 90 days and $375 more I could find out that the permit has been rejected and then I’m screwed!

This ride has gone from pure joy of finally owning a cottage property and being that close to realizing a dream. To gut wrenching sickness finding out I bought the wrong lot and the lifetime of money I have spent might be a huge waste because of ignorance. I can only hope that things work out well. I’ve got one more trick up my sleeve and I will see if it works. Keep you fingers crossed and I’ll keep you updated.

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Automatic Golf Tee

With spring here the driving ranges will be opening so that everyone can get their swing back in shape after a long cold winter. When on the course golfers have the luxury of having someone carry their clubs and pull the pin for them so why would they want to tee up their own ball while practicing at the range?

Now the laziest golfer gets his wish! The Automatic Golf Tee can hold 35 balls and will perfectly tee up the ball every time. No more bending over to grab another ball potentially straining your back or ripping the seat of your pants! In reality the Automatic Golf Tee lets you concentrate on your swing. You don’t have to get out of your stance so if that is not the problem you can analyze other aspects of your swing. Golf is all about repetition to train your muscles what the correct swing feels like. Without having to hesitate between swings training the muscles will be easier.

The Automatic Golf Tee is lightweight so it can be taken anywhere and is only $50 US. It seems silly at first, but the more you think about it the more this seems like a decent product for golf lovers….plus golfers will buy anything!

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