I definitely can’t speak to all Settlement Conferences that are held but I can speak to my own experience of a Settlement Conference, the first one I ever attended. Hopefully this will help others in what to expect although outcomes will vary depending on the Judge presiding over the Settlement Conference.

I was taken to Small Claims Court by a Company here in Ottawa. Both I and them attended the Settlement Conference self represented. Their claim was that I owed them thousands after resigning for cost of training. In the employment contract there was nothing stipulated regarding remuneration for training and therefore the issue was the contract.

At the beginning of the Settlement Conference we were graced by a monologue by the Judge which went on at length. For the words that came out of their mouth it was obvious they were narcissistic in nature. The Judge went on about how many cases they had worked on and how intelligent they were ad nauseam.

Before I describe what happened next I should define what should happen in a Settlement Conference. The whole point is that the Judge will mediate and both parties or their representatives must openly and frankly discuss the issues in dispute. This way the issues of the claims can be narrowed and hopefully resolved. The Judge will encourage the settlement of the claims and assist the parties in preparation for trial if need be. There should also be full disclosure between the parties of relevant facts and evidence. Settling doesn’t mean that the Plaintiff always wins, the settlement should be in favour of whomever the law deems just, based on the issue at hand.

What actually transpired in the Settlement Conference I attended didn’t come close to meeting any of the previously mentioned points. Once the Judge concluded their wonderful monologue they began to question the Plaintiff in such a manner as to make it appear that I should settle in their favour. This went on for roughly 15 minutes. At one point the Plaintiff attempted to speak directly to me but was cut off by the Judge and advised that everything goes through them. Having said that there was no direct discussion allowed between myself and the Plaintiff. It was obvious to me that by the questions the Judge was asking the Plaintiff and by the comments that were said that they hadn’t read my defence at all. Once the Judge started asking me questions which were very few it became clear that this Settlement Conference was going to be a waste of time.

Since the entire claim hinged on the employment contract once I stated that I had issues with the contract the Judge cut me off and pushed it to trial. The Judge didn’t even let me finish and then berated me for not settling and lectured me on how unpleasant court is with all it’s niceties and expenses etc. I was advised in so many words that the issue with the contract was going nowhere and I would most certainly lose in trial and how I should heed what the Judge was saying. There was no preparation for trial whatsoever, the evidence with all the facts wasn’t even reviewed.

If you read up on various lawyers websites regarding Settlement Conferences you will assuredly come across this tidbit of information: “The opinion of the Judge should be given serious consideration in determining whether to continue or resolve the claim.” Do NOT take this statement at face value. Granted if the Judge “mediating” the Settlement Conference has advised and provided an opinion based solely on the facts and evidence presented by both parties then I would agree that their opinion should be considered. In my case the only serious consideration I gave the Judge’s opinion was whether they should even be presiding over a Settlement Conference in the first place. A Judge that doesn’t even look at the facts or read the Defendants defence…classic.

And so the Plaintiff paid the fee and requested a trial date which was set for 6 months after the Settlement Conference. I was notified via mail by the Court about a month and a half in advance. The Plaintiff had taken the Judge’s opinion seriously and this was to be their downfall. Prior to the trial I served the Plaintiff with a motion to settle, my offer was that the claim be dismissed. They never responded and therefore my offer was not accepted. On the day of the trial the Plaintiff was approached twice with an offer to settle with the claim being dismissed. They were also advised as to why legally they couldn’t win and that they should settle. They were so confidant that they were going to win they rejected any offers to dismiss the claim.

The Plaintiff didn’t know much if anything regarding contract law so I can only surmise their steadfastness was based on what the Judge said in our Settlement Conference. Sadly for the Plaintiff walking into that courtroom for trial cost them thousands more. I won the trial and the Judge didn’t even need to hear closing statements from my side. I was awarded costs and I actually made money off this whole debacle.

So this all goes back to the Settlement Conference where realistically had the Judge actually mediated the issue at hand this would have been dismissed saving the Plaintiff thousands. Instead the Judge’s advice was a disservice to both parties providing the Plaintiff with false confidence and belittling me. Thankfully I’m not a complete pushover.

Unless you have friends who are lawyers you probably won’t hear much if anything at all regarding how Settlement Conferences actually transpire. Even then a lot of lawyers might be reluctant to discuss how effective Settlement Conferences really are. However what I found out is that what happened to me is not uncommon at a Settlement Conference, especially when you’re self represented. Certain Judges will strong arm you into settling without looking at all the facts and evidence. In fact the Judge that “mediated” the Settlement Conference I attended is known in the legal community for taking a position on an issue quite quickly without all the facts.

The trick then is if you’re representing yourself how do you deal with such a Judge at a Settlement Conference. If the Judge is taking a strong position against you and you want to get them to listen to what you have to say without cutting you off you’ll need to take an indirect approach. In other words you’ll need to “lead” the Judge to what they should already be aware of. In my case if I had spoken to how I’d be happy to settle and to do so I would just need to have the Plaintiff point out a couple of items in the contract then I might have had more success at getting the claim eventually dismissed at the Settlement Conference. Obviously it shouldn’t be necessary to play games just to get the Judge to listen to you but sadly it would appear to be necessary in some cases. If you don’t at least provide the appearance of wanting to settle regardless of in who’s favour you’ll most likely get shut down by the Judge.

I could only hope that what transpired at my Settlement Conference was an isolated incident and that it’s not par for the course however I somehow doubt that. Don’t assume that the Judge at your Settlement Conference has clearly read over all the facts and evidence. Be prepared to pleasantly and politely educate the Judge about the facts and evidence. Make it clear that you want to settle, that’s what the Judge wants to hear. You don’t have to elude to the fact yet that you want to settle in your favour even if you are legally entitled. I found being directly honest and blunt will get you nowhere.

To all those who will be self representing themselves, good luck at your Settlement Conference!

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The best reward card I’ve ever had is the PC financial MasterCard.  In the past five years I’ve accumulated almost $700 of free merchandise which is awesome.  It makes more sense to just have one rewards card that you can use everywhere instead of having to go out of your way or shop at specific places which to me is just a pain in the ass.

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Every time I do research to see what would be better it always comes back to the old school method of shaving.  Straight razors or double edge razors.  I have finally relented and ordered my first double edge razor, a Weishi double edge classic and a 10 pack of Astra double edged blades.

I found the website Fendrihan which turns out to be a Canadian business, (even better) that specializes in all things wet-shave related.  They had some very reasonable prices on double edge razors and blades and I thought why not, I’ve tried everything else.  It cost me less then $30, shipping included for my very first double edge razor and a pack of blades.  It’s amazing how inexpensive the double edge blades are.  For a 10 pack it’s only $3.99, so if you can shave with each blade at least 3 times on each side it’s amazing value for the money.  That would basically be the equivalent of purchasing 20 cartridges which would cost anywhere from $50 to $70.

While I look forward to shaving with a double edge razor I realize there’s going to be quite a learning curve and it will take practice and patience to master the art of wet shaving.  Hopefully it will be time well spent and shaving with a double edge razor will become an enjoyable experience.

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I think you’ll enjoy this little anecdote. First of all, a question… What is the biggest legitimate source of paper that makes it’s way into everyone’s house/residence? I’d have to say it’s toilet paper, we all use it (hopefully) and it’s paper that can’t be recycled (hopefully no one is trying). So all this paper comes in, has a one time use and goes back out to be processed through a sewer treatment plant and ends up bio-degrading somewhere.

Ideally we should all be out there somewhere at least once a year planting a few trees to make up for our usage. Things do come full circle after all and we all pay the price for our own decisions somewhere along the way, good or bad.

So there on the shelf I see Cashmere EnviroCare—made with 100% recycled fibre. Right underneath of that it said “Nothing Feels Like Cashmere”. Well I was thinking somewhat skeptically along the lines of; “Nothing Feels like Recycled Fibre on your Bottom”. I thought it was worth a try and would also like to point out that other brands and companies seem to be doing similar things.

After the fact I will say that recycled fibre is not as bad as I thought it might be. It isn’t as cushy or quite as soft as the not so environmentally friendly stuff however it’s really not that bad. It’s good enough that I would keep using it and not worry about losing skin etc.

In addition purchases also help support Canadian Breast Cancer Foundation which is also nice.

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One thing I haven’t tried yet is following someone and I’m not sure how to reply to others. Perhaps you need to be following someone first or them you to get going with replies. At any rate, enjoying the Twitteredness of Twitter which I suppose would really be Tweeting? ;-)

Update: Figured out the whole reply thing, twitter on!

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Since I started using Kijiji a few months ago I’ve made good use of it and sold many things that normally I would have either given away, thrown out or recycled.  More recently preceding my shifting of residences last week I used Kijiji to sell a lot of things I didn’t need anymore.   It’s amazing how fast people can contact you once you put an ad up.  I had my old apartment rented in less than 12 hours after putting the ad up.

Kijiji is something I will definitely continue to use!

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After reading up on Occam’s Razor I continued on my path of sidetrackedness and somehow ended up learning about Solipsism which I find even more intriguing. For some reason I find all things philosophical captivating, perhaps by my very nature I’m philosophical. I’ve never heard of Solipsism before today although through life experience I’m very familiar with the idea of Solipsism which is “My mind is the only thing that exists”. There’s a surprisingly large amount of information that goes along with this philosophical idea. I didn’t get a chance to read through all the info yet but it’s definitely a topic I’ll revisit.

This little surfing expedition combined with the gleaning of information is a classic example of non linear absorption of information. I started out looking at web design concepts, features and implementation and ended up reading and being more interested with in depth philosophy!

I never did go back to doing any more reading on Web 2.0. It’s all pretty boring stuff anyways, Web 2.0 is more like Web 0.5. Less is more, lots of blank space, 2 columns, content content content. It’s all the very basic fundamentals of good web design in the first place. Maybe some people view this as the rebirth of web design. I think things will more then likely stay the same. With all the millions of websites that make up the web there will always be the good and the bad, no matter what you want to call it!

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The first thing that comes to mind when you think of a spoon or stir stick in relation to coffee or tea is the actual use of such items to actually stir your drink.  What does not position itself foremost in your mind is a moral dilemma or the pursuit of making environmentally sound choices between the two.

Keep in mind that all I’m about to write takes up many words but all these thoughts flow seamlessly through my mind in mere seconds.

I put forth my internal debate to you and it is thus:  At first glance when presented with the choice between a spoon and a stir stick, the spoon seems like the better choice to make.  After a little more thought and following along the lines of a French philosopher who said that one cannot excuse themselves as being an exception but with objective perspective you must realize the outcome if everyone made the same choices, therein determining to a greater degree the cause and effect of your actions; it is realized that the spoon may not be a better choice after all.

Stir sticks by their very plastic design cause waste, they have a short lifespan and are used for only 2 or 3 seconds before ending up in the garbage.  They’re not reusable, not recycled and non-biodegradable.  A spoon can be reused a million times if not more and there is no need to throw them out.  However if 500 people a day or a 1000 or more decide to use the spoon then the consequences end up on par with that of using a stir stick.

In cafeterias where one would be presented such a choice between a spoon and a stir stick, dishwashers are of course the weapon of choice to clean everything for reuse.   1000 dirty spoons equates to quite a few dishwasher loads which also means more detergent, more water and more electricity.  Packaging for detergent also causes waste, one would hope the empty container gets recycled and even so there is waste and pollution to be considered on the manufacturing side of things.  To be considered is the additional use of electricity and the source of it.  Chances are it’s not coming from a renewable source and therefore negatively impacts the environment.

Having said all that it becomes quite clear that the best choice to make between a spoon and a stir stick is neither.  It would be best to avoid the use of either utensil and just swirl your coffee or otherwise put the sweetener and cream in first and then pouring in the coffee or tea to achieve the same result.

Are there others who think along the same lines as me?  Let me know if you do…

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Applying just one extra degree of temperature to water means the difference between something that is simply very hot and something that generates enough force to power a steam engine – a beautifully uncomplicated metaphor that ideally should feed our every endeavor – consistently pushing us to make the extra effort in every task, action and effort we undertake.

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There is always energy between people, it may be positive energy or negative. Some people give others energy and certain individuals are energy suckers. Everyone experiences this everyday but probably doesn’t think about it quite in the terms of ‘energy’. Just think of a good time hanging out with a close friend or having a meaningful conversation with them. The energy you feel is much different from dealing with someone rude and obnoxious or conceited and two-faced. We experience a myriad of energies from different people each and everyday with every interaction. I like to think a smile can brighten someones day, even if you are strangers. It’s a simple gesture each acknowledging the other’s existence while sharing something positive. For society to be a better place everyone has to start with themselves!

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