Until I was 28 years old moving into my first house in Almonte in 1976 (shortly after having been called to the Bar in March of 1975) I had little interest in household furnishings or accessories. Until then I had largely lived in furnished dwellings at boarding school, undergraduate university residence, law school fraternity house and shared student rentals, Pestalozzi College and Don’s residence at Devonshire House, University of Toronto while attending the Bar Admission course at Osgoode Hall. What little of my own I had until then was primarily discards from my parents’ basement – much of it essentially garden furniture (aluminium or plastic tables and wicker chairs). My first bed cost $80. It was a water bed (something by the way I don’t recommend at any price). I enlarged the expense by buying a wooden frame for it on the floor. At the time I was articling at Messrs. Macdonald, Affleck Barristers &c., 100 Sparks Street earning an annual salary of $4,000 – which also explains why Harvey’s was my idea of dining out. Thankfully the By Ward Market was at hand and I was able to purchase loads of fresh vegetables for a song. I weighed 155 pounds, cycled 100 miles per week and never drank alcohol.
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