Tuesday, July 19, 2011

Dies Caniculares


These are indeed the dog days of summer! Hot and humid, the sky is a turbulent muddle of clouds, blazing sunshine and the perpetual threat of a thunder storm. The effect of the heat and the depressed economy combined to stifle any commercial activity today. The streets were empty, as were the parking spaces, normally jammed. Even the clerk at the bakery store where I sauntered mid-afternoon to collect a coffee and a copy of the Ottawa Citizen remarked that she hadn’t been interrupted while making her cookies (which I naturally felt was an odd favour in view of her labour and dedication).


Keeping myself occupied during these doldrums is not pitilessly difficult though I would obviously have preferred to have been more engaged doing things of necessity than discretion. The office is after all a place of work not contemplation. In any event during this lull I did what I could to enlarge my knowledge of BMO Online Banking for Business Service for Global Treasury Management Clients. This elevated title is for me merely the latest gadget in my technological battery to permit me, without having to leave the comfort of my office to wire funds (“Large Value Transfers” as they prefer to call it) to remote parties. I don’t however suggest that the facility is without its challenges. We have for example an associated device championed by Teranet (a conglomerate of private and public billions relating to the land registry system) which permits the transfer of funds between lawyers and mortgage companies. The reality unfortunately is that the process is so abstract as to be entirely unattractive to the common denominator. In the end many solicitors find it is easier to deal with couriers notwithstanding the lack of immediacy and the increased cost. I on the other hand prefer anything that permits self-service. The day of the sole practitioner is for me a reality! As unfashionable as it may be to endure the absence of Miss Moneypenny at the front desk (admittedly a Victorian throw-back), I have to say that the model of total efficiency is for me more desirable.

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