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

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

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.

Resident complainers

The reporter perpetuated horror stories of abuse by students without verification, not unlike the story of the 23-keg party with the lawn sex. You’d think there should be some effort to check with police to see whether any aspect of the story can be confirmed by a third party, but these terrible acts fit neatly into the narrative he was weaving.

If only there was some way we could check the veracity of some of the statements.

Well here is one we can check.

Many permanent residents have fled Albert Street. Carmody would too, if she could sell her house for the price she wants. Last year she had it on the market for four months and cleaned it three times a week.
[...]
“I would give anything not to live here,” she says. “Except for I can’t lose my life savings.”
— Trapped on Albert: ‘This street is an embarrassment to the city’

She is suggesting that all her savings are in the value of her house and that because of those supposedly terrible youths, she can’t sell her house.

Well, according to the land registry, she and her partner bought their house for $205,000 in 1997, which according to the Bank of Canada is 258,863.64 in 2009 dollars.

I actually looked at the listing for that house when it was on the market last year. It was listed for $489,000.

So, she is trying to equate her life savings to close to a unrealized quarter-million-dollar appreciation on the value of her house. They are, very clearly, not the same thing.

People could surely commiserate with someone who truly was trapped in the way the story describes. It is not the case here. False tears should not guide public policy.

Taking stories like this from resident complainers at face value could be dangerous. They have a personal interest at stake and they very well may value their own wealth above what’s best for the city and the health of the neighbourhood they want to leave.

Troublemakers do not represent students

I attended a Feds UW students’ council meeting yesterday — mainly for a different reason — but I stayed for the discussion about Northdale. They passed a motion of not supporting either vision for the neighbourhood and to send a letter to the municipal councils.

During the debate there was a question about the phrase “mixed-use.” The responses made it seem as though neither the executive nor the organization’s researcher really understood what it meant.

Much of the problem with the debate around student housing has to do with the good majority being uninformed and the prominence of the bad minority. As student councillors try to make sense of city policies, boorish jerks get in the news.

In the news story, the students featured lived next door to one of the complainers.

“It’s not like we do it every single night,” says Pat McDonald, a recent Laurier graduate.
[...]
Some students see tensions differently. Ten students who live next door to Carmody resent being stuck with five $300 noise tickets last fall, within two months.

They admit they can be loud. They even called police on themselves last Halloween, to help break up a giant party. Yet they also feel unfairly targeted and wonder if a way can be found to allow parties without the risk of costly fines.
— Trapped on Albert: ‘This street is an embarrassment to the city’

So, things are working as they should. The misbehaving students get punished. The question is, why after the first few fines, they kept having their loud parties.

Either they are rich enough to pay the fines or they make money off these parties. The writer doesn’t seem to realize that calling the police is a tactic to make more money. If you call the police before opening more beer kegs, you can return them for a refund. The partygoers got less drink than they expect or paid for, but these jerks can just blame it on the police.

Student representatives need to get their act together and not have our story told by these boors, at least one of whom isn’t even a student.

My life in the neighbourhood

I lived in Northdale for several years. I volunteered as a student block captain for the city and I sat on the Student Accommodation Study Advisory Committee.

When my roommates and I had a party, we knocked on the doors to tell our neighbours and gave them our phone number, so they could complain to us before calling by-law or police. Later in the night we’d keep people indoors and go outside to check noise levels. We avoided trouble by being respectful.

This spring, I was looking to buy a house. My preference was to return to the neighbourhood, where I could live close to school, but I couldn’t afford it. Instead, I am buying a house on the bus route, which was a disappointment because GRT service is terrible.

It is dismaying to see people suggest that houses have lost value or that students cause trouble because I know those things to be untrue.

• Area resident tells of 23-kegs and sex on the lawn 13 Sep 2006
• City housing policy flawed uwryan.com 17 Mar 2004
• University and city debate housing uwryan.com 25 Feb 2004
• Students, stand up and be counted uwryan.com 25 Oct 2002

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:

This game started late because Phoenix didn’t have enough players at kick-off time and hadn’t set up the net, and it ended early because the Phoenix bench was out of control, yelling at the officials and showing general deplorable behavior. That being said, I’d be remiss not to point out that the vast majority of the Phoenix team were great sports and were just there to play. As for the game, it was actually pretty good. The first half ended 0-0, but both teams had some great opportunities to score. The best Phoenix chance was stopped by a tremendous save from Fusion’s keeper, off a blazing shot to the top corner. If that goes in, it might be a different game! Likewise, the Phoenix keeper made some great parries off some hard shots to keep us off the board. In the second half, Fusion seemed to exert a bit more pressure in the Phoenix end and managed to capitalize off three scrambles from in close. Phoenix had their chances, but either the Fusion D were able to squelch the opportunities, or Ben made the necessary saves to preserve the shut-out. Phoenix has some good players, and I get the impression that they’ll be much tougher to deal with once the team starts to jel.

Here is the writeup from their captain:

Congratulation and good-luck Fusion.

• Fusion2.0 won TMSL first division indoor soccer 22 Apr 2010

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.

Most articles on the topic refer to studies that say most of the time variable saves you money. This is mainly based on the fact that you pay a premium to lock-in your rate and that the greater volatility results in a lower effective rate. But still the decisions depends on the situation. Clearly, the fixed rate payment is the most you can afford, you can’t absorb the variable rate increasing beyond that.

Other article reframe it saying you should consider whether you can handle the risk emotionally or will you worry about rates going up. The latter is reasonable advice, but is still pretty wishy washy. An quantitative approach would be helpful.

The problem with making a model for something variable, is that you don’t know what it is going to do in the future. For my part, I also do not yet know enough economics to say confidently how current fixed rates and variable rates are affected by the prime rate and bond yield.

Currently, rates are low and we can be pretty sure that the Bank of Canada will raise its prime rate in June or July.

Based on my rough expectations I decided to create a simple model to make a comparison.

Assuming, I made the same periodic mortgage payment (set by the fixed mortgage), that the variable rate increased regularly, and the lender allows enough flexibility of payments, based on on current rates, how much could the variable rate increase to have paid off the same amount of principal by the end of the five-year term of the closed mortgage.

Assumptions:

• Same amount as mortgage payment. At a lower variable rate I would be overpaying initially.
• The variable rate increases by the same amount each period, monthly or quarterly.
• The lender allows enough flexibility to overpay on the variable payment.
• I compared the rates for which I was preapproved 4.1% fixed and 1.75%

Question:

• By how much could the variable rate increase that the same amount of principal is paid off at the end of the five year term of the closed mortgage?

So, I made a spreadsheet calculating the payment and determining the rate changes that met the condition. I assessed interest by month and had payments made by month.

This chart shows how the rate and principal changes for each choice.

You can see how the fixed rate stays the same and how the principal is paid down. With the variable paths the principal line is steeper at first as the overpayment is higher, but then eases as the higher interest charges mean less principal is paid.

I found that the variable rate could increase by 5.08% for the choices to be equal. Since I don’t expect rates to go that high in five years and believe that I can overpay more and earlier, I decided to opt for the variable rate.

This shows how with just a little knowledge you can make a reasonable model to aid in decision making.

• Considering buying a house 1 May 2010

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.

While later a man there asked, “Weren’t you in the newspaper?” I responded affirmatively. It turns out the man Brent was the incoming CEO of the credit union and had read about Waterloo Banking Project in the Record the week before.

We talked for a little bit and he offered to help us if he could, which was encouraging.

The meeting started with a hymn, which I though was great. I had never been to an annual general meeting that had singing before.

The mood was pretty jovial. The meeting moved along well and covered the state of the organization, the finances, election of directors, and bylaw changes.

Well, one bylaw change did take a lot of time. It was the one that would broaden the bond of association to include those who agreed with Mennonite principles though aren’t members of a Mennonite church. A fellow introduced an amendment that only Mennonites be eligible for election to the board of directors. Several people spoke after that.

It was interesting that everyone was so amiable, good natured, and well-mannered about it even though — I would think — they felt very strongly.

The amendment seemed strange. If the bond of association were broadened, that broader membership could vote at a meeting of members. If board membership were restricted would a broader membership approve of it. It would seem to me to be an unstable state notwithstanding the unfairness.

In the end the amendment failed and the bylaw passed.

They also thanked Nick, the outgoing, CEO on his years of service at the credit union.

After the business wound up it was time for . . . the choir.

The DaCapo chamber choir came to perform. Because of the meeting length, they sang fewer songs than planned. The choir director Leonard was energetic announcing songs and quickly telling stories. He was on his way to the Junos because he was up for an award the following week.

After the entertainment it was time for dessert, cheesecake and coffee in the gym.

It was an interesting event. Music and food are clearly good additions to meetings.

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.

Local students want to start Canada’s first credit union for the university and college community here.
[...]
The students like the idea of a banking system run by its own membership, with a special focus on offering money management advice, better returns on investment, and other benefits.
— Local students look to launch credit union for university and college community Waterloo Region Record 6 April 2010

A lot of people saw the article and commented to me or contacted us. “Newspapers still are relevant,” I’d tell people.

After that a university student from Taiwan e-mailed us with questions for an interview. She later e-mailed us a link to the published article. It was written entirely in zhong wen except for the proper nouns.

Prashanth, whom we knew, writes for TechVibes and interviewed Abhi and published it.

In two years, we hope to launch the Waterloo Banking Project with a professionally trained student staff, sufficient investment capital, a partner credit union, a full suite of financial services structured to best serve students, and a share of the student market that we can expect to grow each year after that.
— A Bold New World: Face-off with Abhi Jayakumar and the Waterloo Banking Project TechVibes 20 April 2010

More recently, a writer from TalentEgg, a student and recent grad career site, contacted us for an interview.

One of our priorities for this term and the coming year is to spread the word and share our ideas. This media coverage is helping a lot.

• Thinking about vision, mission, and functions for the banking project 5 Mar 2010
• Media release about launch of Waterloo Banking Project WaterlooBanking.com 21 Apr 2010
• Project featured in Waterloo Region Record WaterlooBanking.com 21 Apr 2010
• Our project has now received ‘international media attention’ WaterlooBanking.com 1 May 2010
• TechVibes interviews Abhi about our initiative WaterlooBanking.com 1 May 2010

“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.

Ken Dryden is pretty cool because of his broad range of achievements ranging from winning five Stanley Cups to being elected to the government of Canada and being appointed a cabinet minister. It is like Homer Simpson going into space and winning a Grammy, or Obama winning the Nobel Prize, a Grammy and doing other cool stuff, or Mike Lazaridis winning an Oscar.

Dave Johnston introduced Dryden referring to their days on Ivy League hockey teams in the 1960s and to attending a graduation ceremony when they each had a daughter graduating.

Dryden was smart friendly and folksy.

The theme of his talk was that the time for Canada is now. He said that Canadians should not limit their beliefs of what they can achieve and really do some good in the world. He told us he was giving his talk at university campuses across Canada.

He referred to the graduation ceremony Johnston brought up. He said the speaker said the yard used to be full of elm trees which were stricken by some disease and then replaced by a variety of trees. It was meant as a lesson in the strength of diversity.

After the talk a bunch of people talked to him and wanted autographs. I got a photo shaking his hand.

Liz seemed to be the only one there with a camera, so she took photos for everyone.

Andrew, who is a big Habs fan, couldn’t make it but wanted an autograph. I told Liz that she should ask Ken to autograph a page of the speech and he did.

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.

The forum, dubbed ValuesJam, joined thousands of employees, joined thousands of employees in a debate about the very nature of the computer giant and what it stood for.

Over the three days, an estimated 50,000 of IBM’s employees — including CEO Sam Palmisano — checked out the discussion, posting nearly 10,000 comments about the proposed values. The jam had clearly stuck a chord.
— Leading change when business is good HBR December 2004

Palmisano referred to it in a speech to shareholders.

So last year we did something that hasn’t been done at IBM in nearly 100 years — we examined our core values

[...]

A typical way to promulgate a company’s values is for the CEO or a special committee to create them, and then propagate them throughout the organization. However, I didn’t believe something as vital and personal as values could be, in today’s environment, dictated from the top.

We had to find a way to actually engage everyone in the company and get them to speak up on these important issues. So we did something that is, to my knowledge, unprecedented in any company. For 72 hours last summer, we invited all 320,000 IBMers around the world to engage in an open “values jam” on our global intranet.

It was risky — we didn’t know what our colleagues would say or what we’d get. But it paid off.
— 2004 IBM Annual Meeting of Stockholders - Speech - Samuel J. Palmisano IBM 27 April 2004

Communication technology allowed thousands of people to have a say. There can be a big difference between the prescriptive views of a few and the beliefs and behaviours of the sum of all people in an organization.

Management was able to benefit from tens of thousands of perspectives in guiding the company into the future. It makes me wonder how a similar process might help other organizations.

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.

Many websites have general information about the process, but only this one will have my story. I find CHMC the most useful, in fact I have found a few real estate agent web pages that have cut and pasted from the CMHC website.

After one of the many times I moved about four years, I started thinking about it seriously. Since coming to university, I had lived in 17 different rental places, now the number is 19.

So, I started paying off my OSAP debt and putting money into my RRSP. If I got rid of debt, I would look like a better risk to a lender.

Putting money into the RRSP didn’t just give me a tax deduction but up to $25,000 can be borrowed from it under the Home Buyer’s Plan.

By last year, I had $20,000 in registered plans, because that was the limit for the plan. In December, my sister told me that the limit was going up another five grand. So, I felt I had to put another $5,000 in. I got an RRSP loan for that part in January.

If I could pay off the loan, the bigger tax rebate would put me in a better position when it came to pay for the cost of buying a house.

• Canadian Mortgage and Housing Corporation
• Canada Revenue Agency — Home Buyers’ Plan