Brian Briggs

A real estate agent mixes up a pair of keys, leading to series of surprising and unfortunate events. Ottawa Digi60 Short Film Festival Catch: The home Timeline: 60 days to complete

I was driving this gentlemen who happens to be the physiotherapist for one of the top 8 men in the world, I hate playing the ask 10 questions game, I mean I would love to get some new insights into how serious this injury is effecting him  or how did you become the envy of every single physiotherapist in the world. (I Googled it after.) Provided you don’t mind the traveling. 

Everyone hates being burdened with questions unless of course this is an interview but this is just a drive from work to home or in this case a private residence. So after he started the conversation I opted for some harmless physiotherapist talk, so do you think the ATP will allow players personal physiotherapists on court in the future?  Anyways long answer short, he said he doesn’t think so. Boring question, I know. We went over the more common banalities where we’re from, the weather.

The ride ended as we approached the picturesque and well landscaped entrance to a private residence, welcomed by a security guard, who informed us that there was a lot of construction going on and it might be slow, with little hesitation he opted to walk, I probably would have said the same, he said thanks for the ride and that was it. You know if it wasn’t for the construction I would have got to witness a private residence where one of the best  players was staying!

 I couldn’t  help but imagine what the place looked like, all I could see was a driveway bordered with palm trees and the mountains and blue sky in the background. but what was the residence, are we talking private resort, golf course tennis court, swimming pools, mansion, I don’t know! I spent the ride back thinking about it and envying the life of the best players in the world, but really when you consider the dedication, hard work and all the other factors, you could always just be a volunteer driver.

And two days later I definitely wasn’t envying his position for our Canadian boy just sent this phsyiotherapist home packing politely speaking, with a big quarterfinal win!

P.S If that doesn’t give it away you’ll have to Google it

Now I wouldn't fall asleep at the wheel knock on wood, but some days are dead. One of the annoying rules at this tournament unlike Toronto, is that when we're waiting in the queue for our next passenger we have to stay in our volunteer portable. Which honestly isn't that bad, its air conditioned, we have wireless, we have tennis on the TV and they supply us with food and drinks. However they don't give you the privilege of walking the grounds and checking out the matches. Which I always take advantage of in Toronto.

This was one of those quiet rides, I could tell by his uniform he was an official and I don't mind the quiet, I've heard some volunteers speak like their entitled to a conversation, aren’t we all special. I was dropping him off at the Marriott I've been their before its about a twenty minute drive from the stadium and the radio was off, its usually off unless the passenger suggests otherwise, I’m one of those people with listener ADD. I often check the presets and if the song doesn't suit me, usually listening to most of that top 40 crap. Crap in the same context I eat a lot of junk food, except it's not tasty, it's catchy and convenient. I tell myself I could be listening to Podcasts on how to make my 1st million or memorizing more lines on why your house is not worth what you think it is but this kept me entertained, every car I drove was different so I always found myself  adjusting the presets after dropping off my ride.... back to the drive maybe I was lost in heavy thought or none at all, sometimes when your driving and you miss a turn or heaven forbid you get lost often you can pretend it never happened especially if its the passengers  first day at the tournament or their are a multiple routes but  Indian Wells is a lot simpler than Toronto so it's a lot harder to fake it. I was looking for this street which hasn't been coming up, I probably missed it but I just kept driving.

I spent a week in Indian Wells for the BNP Paribas Open, it was my first trip to the desert, I've been to the US. Open, Montreal and I've volunteered at the Rogers Cup in Toronto as a driver for the last 5 years. So I thought why not volunteer here, meet some people, get behind the scenes, save some money, and watch some tennis.  We don't get paid accommodations which I know everyone asks me, I mean, it's not like I'm going to Africa to fight world hunger, I'm at a world class tennis tournament, driving around some of the best players in the world, including family, officials, sponsors and more. 

The application process was simple, complete and mail a registration form, (they haven't upgraded to online yet, the majority of volunteers are seniors) the only additional requirement for drivers is that your over the age of 25 and you provide a copy of your license and drivers abstract, (no interview was required unlike Toronto) I couldn't afford to attend the orientation but the volunteer staff allowed me to arrive for my first shift, no training in hand.

Had some second thoughts driving to the venue, the parking attendant told me there's no volunteer parking, I was told that will be $20 for the day and the ticket taker asked me if I paid my fee, I was thinking who pays a fee to volunteer?

Thankfully I was reassured on my walk to the volunteer office, the one-time registration fee is $40 and there's free volunteer parking and most importantly all volunteers have access to the tennis stadiums and grounds up until the final weekend to watch tennis! We don't have access to quarters, semis and finals. Which I thought sucked, I've been driving up to Montreal to catch the semis and finals once in a while with my TO pass, however  the Open does provide a guest pass to bring along a friend and they do have a ton of Adirondack chairs on the lawn in front of the big screen which isn't that bad on a 40 degree day, it definitely beats cramming the Rogers booth or trying to find a seat in one of the restaurants at the Rogers cup, so I'm not complaining.

I share some more of my California trip on here, instead of giving the play by play, I decided to share a couple of stories, you can also check out my California video in the “post when video fails use your keyboard.”

thanks for reading! 

I'm on the chartered bus heading from San Francisco to Hollywood, where  I intend to catch a ride to the airport to pick up a rental car, and drive into the desert, for my volunteer shift in Indian Wells the next day.  In line with keeping my expenses low I decided to book a stay on the ever popular couch surfing website. Now I shouldn't use the term book, there's no deposit, no consideration its free. Which means, you should have a back up plan, as the site strongly recommends. People are flaky.  I had a couple agree to host me tonight and tomorrow, mind you this wasn't easy. I sent over forty plus requests for a stay in Indian Wells, with no bites, kinda of like online dating except definitely more foreign. My friends were unfamiliar with the site so they provided  some amusing worst case scenarios:  like the rapist, the axe murderer, the threesome. I guess I'm lucky to be a guy right now, be safe ladies. And just how you might come across that perfect profile and your heart starts beating faster or not, multiple rejection does have a nice numbing effect, I came across that perfect couch host profile. Was it love at first site? The gentlemen had a picture of himself in the 300's section at  Indian Wells Stadium, how could he say no to a fellow tennis player and fan, and a Canadian one mind you, he got extra bonus points for being in his thirties and married, we added each other on Facebook and agreed we would make arrangements when the date came. 

Two - three weeks later, the date came that Sunday and I can only blame myself for messaging him the day of, do you still have your place available for me? I can assume he ignored the request, no apologies, no explanations and why would he? It's not like we'll ever see each other in the real world and I didn't make a deposit, thankfully  the hostel, the  bus dropped me off at, had one room left.  So I stayed the night in LA. I went to an American Diner, which I think really captured  the Hollywood feel and there's something comforting about requesting a table for just yourself.  I walked along Hollywood Blvd that night passing by Jimmy Kimmel Live and I imagined being interviewed for one of those questions where the audience judges you and decides whether you had a threesome or not in which case, I'd probably say, who knows what could have been, my date cancelled.

Ottawa, October 3, 2014 - Members of the Ottawa Real Estate Board sold 1,133 residential properties in September through the Board’s Multiple Listing Service® system, compared with 1,118 in September 2013, an increase of 1.3 per cent. The five-year average for September sales is 1,103.

“Our community is fortunate to enjoy one of the most stable real estate markets in Canada,” says Randy Oickle, President of the Ottawa Real Estate Board. “This is evidenced by the fact that the units sold and the average sale price in August and September has stayed within a few percentage points from the year before. We are also right on par with sales and average sales price year-to-date compared with 2013.”

September’s sales included 232 in the condominium property class, and 901 in the residential property class. The condominium property class includes any property, regardless of style (i.e. detached, semi-detached, apartment, townhouse, etc.), which is registered as a condominium, as well as properties which are co-operatives, life leases and timeshares. The residential property class includes all other residential properties.

The average sale price of residential properties, including condominiums, sold in September in the Ottawa area was $356,915, an increase of three per cent over September 2013. The average sale price for a condominium-class property was $254,036, a decrease of 1.2 per cent over September 2013. The average sale price of a residential-class property was $383,406, an increase of 3.2 per cent over September 2013. The Board cautions that average sale price information can be useful in establishing trends over time but should not be used as an indicator that specific properties have increased or decreased in value. The average sale price is calculated based on the total dollar volume of all properties sold.

“The $300,000 to $399,999 price range continues to have the highest concentration of properties sold, followed by the $500,000 to $749,999 range, which is closely followed by the $275,000 to $299,999 price range,” explains Oickle. “Condos performed better in September than in August, which could be a contributing factor in the latter price range having a higher concentration of properties sold than in the past.”

I became a member at the Craig Henry Tennis Club this spring and received this “Premium” Ontario Tennis Association Card, the back of the card read “visit tennisontario.com to view offers” curiosity took over and I did a background check. Not surprisingly, I wouldn't call it “premium”. But who’s to judge? What’s good for me, isn’t necessarily good for you, it’s too easy to play critique. I pulled out my keys with my OSSC (Ottawa Sport and Social Club) key tag, on the back reads the sponsors and with it I had a new idea for a blog blog post: Which organization is offering better value to its members? The Ontario Tennis Association or the Ottawa Sport and Social Club?

The OTA Benefits:

Rogers Cup Tickets – There are great group rates available for box suites for OTA members, I would strongly recommend clubs promote this to their membership to see if there are enough individuals interested. So much better than the 2013 offer where OTA provided free tickets to OTA member clubs for opening weekend. If you’ve gone before, you would know that opening weekend is qualifying weekend, no seeded players, mostly unknowns and therefore it’s always FREE!

10% off at Best Western Hotel – this is definitely not the economy option for T.O. bound Ottawa players participating in  weekend OTA tournaments, have we looked at player billeting options, maybe not for every tournament but at least for the provincials?

40% off your Mid Evil Times Dinner & Tournament – I’m guessing this isn’t a favorite among Ottawa tennis parents, looking for more things to spend money on in Toronto.

10% off at Kunstadt Sports – Don’t quote me on this one, I was informed of this discount by a club representative, but it’s not advertised anywhere. However, it would maintain the status quo, when the NCTA provided membership cards members were granted the 10% discount.

The OSSC Benefits

Kunstadt Sports – 15% discount on regular priced equipment and 5% off on bikes. OTA members it’s definitely worth asking for another 5% discount, really not sure why the difference?

The Royal Oak – free wings and nachos depending on group size and minimum individual tab. Now a Restaurant sponsor would not necessarily be supported since a percentage of clubs are licensed but there are still lots of options, what do you want?

Great Canadian Theatre Company – reduced ticket prices, not a hit for me but at least it’s local!

Holistic Clinic – 10% on their services, this seems like a no-brainer, considering the list of injuries you’ll overhear at your clubs next social, we’ve had physiotherapists available at city tournaments and players take advantage of these services, so I don’t see why we can’t make this a tradition on our NCTA Tournament and Club Circuit

Gadar Promotions – sportswear, team jerseys from $12.95, another no-brainer, I don’t know how competitive the $12.95 starting price is, but with the OTA purchasing shirts for Little Aces, NCTA purchasing shirts for the City Championships, let’s consider the City of Ottawa, and hey I got this shirt from Elmridge a few weekends ago so why not take advantage of group discounts!

Beyond the Pale Team of the Week:  rewards 3 growlers to one OSSC team each week, (uuummm sounds cool, the non-drinker I  usually am, Googled Growlers to learn it’s a 1.89 litre jug to carry, you guessed it “beer”) I love the team of the week idea, with 30 plus tennis clubs in Ottawa and the surrounding area, why not reward a “club of the week”. So clubs please submit your most attended, best and brightest group photo and be creative. I strongly recommend researching group wedding photos!

Referral Mortgages will pay for your sports season! And just so your clear they are referring to your season, not your team! It was worth a try. But nevertheless still a good deal and hopefully it works out for Referral Mortgages (OSSC’s newest sponsor) Sorry for going off topic here, but it’s definitely not as big a discount as a Mortgage company in Ottawa who’s brokers provide agents with $500 cash for every $100,000 of mortgage their client requires, and as a result provide far from stellar service. On the same theme, here’s an offer to the tennis community  “buy your house and we’ll provide you a summer membership at your local tennis club!…..Sorry I won’t be offering this anytime soon and lastly this is important,  in no way am I suggesting Referral Mortgages will not provide anything less than stellar service!