I had contributed to Mel’s Diner expansion through Groupvestor.

I got an e-mail today saying that the contributions would be returned because they didn’t make the $10,000 target.

The website doesn’t seem to have the announcement, but has the total raised at $3,520.

(Update: It now 18:16 (says “133 Total Contributors, $2860 Pledged of $10000 Goal”)

Here is the text of the e-mail.

Dear GroupVestors,

We would like to Thank You for your generous support for the Mel’s Diner reconstruction project. It was an excellent endeavor, and we are proud of the community’s support. The GroupVestor philosophy revolves around a small contribution equaling a large one. This is why we set predetermined funding goals, and time-lines. We hope to achieve reasonable expectations with reasonable chances of success. Unfortunately, we were unable to reach the $10,000 goal and as promised will be returning all contributions. Please expect to receive your funds in the next 5 days through PayPal.

Jerry would also like to give his thanks to all, and is very happy to have seen all the community support. If any contributors are still interested in being a part of the new Mel’s Diner, please drop us an e-mail, and we will pass on your request to Jerry.

We wish you all the best in your endeavors, and feel free to reply to this e-mail if you have any questions or concerns!

Team GroupVestor

It is the first of July, which is Canada’s national holiday. Today we commemorate how 143 years and five months ago delegates from three British North American colonies drafted a constitution act.

The date actually marks the anniversary of the enactment of the British North America Act, which can be seen as strange because our country was created by what is now a foreign government, but, at the time, I guess, was our government.

I hav eto work this afternoon, so no fireworks watching for me, just producing for society. But I hope to go to Columbia fields celebration at Waterloo for a few hours.

• Canada Day 2009 rain in Waterloo 3 Jul 2009
• Canada rules but is too jingoistic 3 Jul 2009
• Canada Day in Canada (Waterloo) 4 Jul 2007
• Happy Canada! 3 Jul 2006

Waterloo city council is scheduled to consider the staff report about the Northdale neighbourhood, which is located near both the city’s universities.

I have a keen interest in the issue. I was and am again a student at Waterloo. I lived in that neighbourhood for several years and participated in the city’s student-engagement programs and in a study of student housing.

Much of the debate over housing issues isn’t productive because residents make arguments based on misguided self-interest and fabrication and students are uninformed, aren’t well-organized and the worst of students get the most attention.

These problems are well illustrated in a newspaper article published just over a month ago. Ostensibly, it was part of a series about statistic on calls to police, but it focused on the supposed conflict between students and residents on Albert Street, which runs through Northdale.

The story seemed to suggest that students are unruly and that their neighbours are trapped. I saw that some residents are troublemakers and others are intolerant.
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We opened the season last week with a loss to Suspects 0-3 in the cold wind and rain. This week we beat Phoenix 3-0 in a milder Tuesday evening.

Last week was wet and mucky and their goals were well placed, but came off defensive errors on our part.

We came at this second match wanting a win. The other team wasn’t ready to start the match at kickoff time and was still putting up the netting at their end while we waited to play. They slowly walked the corner flags in after kickoff.

They had some speed and skill on their team, but also a lot of complainers.

The match was scoreless at the half, but we scored three in the second, all close in the box.

Near the end of the second the referee confronted a guy who had been complaining and harassing the linesman throughout the match. The referee told him to leave the area. The guy refused, so the referee called the game.

Here is the writeup from our captain:
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Once I was ready to start looking at houses to buy, I felt I should get preapproval.

In some ways preapproval is a way for lenders to get you in the door and begin their escalating commitment. On the buyer’s side it is helpful in knowing how much they are ready to lend to you and find out about the terms.

I actually got preapproval from two places because with one the fixed rate was lower and with the other the variable was lower. Once I had both preapprovals I could put off the decision between fixed or variable, but I had to decide eventually.
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Melba and I went to the Mennonite Savings and Credit Union annual general meeting on 12 April. We drove out to Rockway school and got the second last parking spot.

We walked into the school and we got the agenda agenda. They called it an “order of service.” We went in and took a seat on the left in the second row. We flipped through the annual report.
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We launched our student-finance survey for Waterloo Banking Project on a Thursday at the beginning of April. The following Monday I had a media release prepared and sent it out to local print and broadcast outlets as well as student media.

The next day a reporter from the Waterloo Record called Abhi to interview him. On the Wednesday morning a Record photographer took our photo and on Thursday an article was in the newspaper.

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Just over a year ago, someone asked me whether I was going to Last Lecture, it was being delivered by Larry W. Smith.

“What?” I exclaimed. I associated the name of the lecture series with the one Randy Pausch a professor at Carnegie Mellon who delivered a heart-warming final lecture while he had terminal cancer.

“No, it’s not like that,” my friend explained.

It turned out that it could have been better named: “Last (Day of Classes) Lecture” because it was targeted at graduating students as a student life and alumni affairs event.

“So, Larry’s not retiring or anything?” I asked to confirm. “No.”

This year Ken Dryden delivered the Last Lecture. I attended with Liz and Matt.
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Five years ago last Christmas I was heading back west by airplane. The service staff offered me a choice of magazines and I chose the Harvard Business Review.

An article that stuck in my mind was one that was based on an interview with IBM CEO Sam Palmisano. The man had recently taken over for Lou Gerstner who had turned the company around as retold in his memoir Who Says Elephants Can’t Dance? Inside IBM’s Historic Turnaround. Palmisano moved from being president and chief operating officer in 2000 to become CEO in 2002 and chairman in 2003.

The article focused on the “culture jam” the company had held as a part of reviewing and reforming the companies values.
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I had been thinking about buying a house for a while. It never feels good to pay rent when you know that you could be be paying off a mortgage and building equity in a home you own.

I am currently in the process of buying a home and intend to write about my experience, but I intend to write in the sequence of events, so I’ll have to look back further to start.
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