Monthly Archives: September 2008

Economic crisis in the US affecting Canada?

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I just read that the “Bailout” plan in the US did not pass.   A lot of people, pundits, stockbrokers and politicians are saying that the US is heading for a huge economic meltdown and crisis.

I am wondering how this might affect Canada.  Will people in the US start moving to Canada in droves (thus making the rental market even tighter?).   Will the bad economy of the US make those folks stop visiting Canada and spending money here (especially at the resorts this winter – Banff, Whistler, etc)?

I am not an economist by any means, but I can’t imagine that Canada will escape the effects of what is going on with our next door neighbour.

Thoughts?

Site down equals stressful weekend

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My site over the past month had been experiencing a number of outages – for whatever reason, the server my site was on was just not performing well, causing a lot of errors, and strange things happening.  I spoke to my web host on Friday, and they said that they would transfer my site to a new server over the weekend.  The disturbing and stressful thing was that they said that there should be no downtime.   Well, I shoulda known.  The site was down for 20 + hours, and I was pretty stressed about it.  My web host made several mistakes and misled me on what was involved (I actually knew what was involved, but stupidly chose to believe them when they said “no down time.”

I do like my web host – or, I want to like them.  The reason is that I believe that they do try hard, and they are for the most part polite and responsive.   I think it was the fault of the guy in the “sales” department who misled me about the details of transferring a site to a new server – I think he just didn’t know any better.   As I told them this weekend, this is not some hobby site posting photos of my cat – it is a big part of my livelihood and there is a lot at stake.

The site is back up now, and I think is working -  If you submitted a listing on Thusrday or Friday,  and you don’t see it on the site, please let me know.  There also may have been some loss or corruption of information with the database transfer.  I am checking into that too.

At any rate, I apologize for the site being down – hopefully those days are behind me for the time being.

David

Will we ever learn?

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Ok, I don’t know how many friggin’ times I have said in my blog, on my website, and screaming it at the top of my telepathic and mental lungs – never, ever EVER do business with someone from Nigeria. I have nothing against the Nigerian people, and I am sure most of them are nice people trying to make the best out of life. However, the ones that are online and contacting people abroad, almost without exception, are scammers. EVERYONE should be aware of this by now.

So it disturbs me when I come across a forum where someone is talking about an email transaction that took place from a rental posting on my site. The woman went on to say in her forum post.

“I was originally suspicious at the very first when he said the word Nigerian,BUT we have had many responses from out of country persons looking for accommodations….”

Jaw dropping to me. This is precisely why they (scammers) keep at it because people like this don’t have enough common sense to just say no to these scams.

I am now officially speechless.

Sun Peaks Accommodations page

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Imagine a heavy snowfall – the kind that adds up to a perfect, knee-deep powder day – while you are soaking in a hottub steps away from your slopside chalet!
Yes! Ski season is almost upon us, and I am kicking myself for not having Sun Peaks on my site as a choice for accommodations.
Well, I just added it, and already I have a great chalet listing on this page for a ski-in ski-out chalet!
Sun Peaks is a great area and village. It has over 3,600 acres of terrain and almost 3,000 vertical! From Hotels and Lodges to Chalets, and even Bed and Breakfasts, Sun Peaks has it all!
Plan your vacaion today!

Cottage Rentals Increasing?

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I have been seeing an increase in the number of “Cottages” being listed on the site lately. I wonder if “Cottaging” in Canada is more of a late-summer/fall thing?
The listings I have been getting have been mostly in the Kawartha Lakes area and various other small towns in Ontario.
Do people cottage in the winter? I assume so – but to do more winter-type activities. Or, does this market fade away when the cold weather comes?
Someone, please educate me!