They will suck you drier than the Sahara

In a world where difficulties beset so many people in third world countries, it's no surprise that those who have no conscience whatsoever will stoop to whatever it takes to slither into your sympathies and suck you dry.I have no room in my compassion box for those who would so callously use the misfortune of others for their own gain nor for those who use legitimate agencies to hide behind (I'm

Whoa! Just a minute there!

This was forwarded to me as part of an email response and supposedly is an application form. Aside from some of the questions being illegal (read your provincial Residential Tenancy Act), there are some questions which go beyond acceptable bounds in a world where identity theft is becoming far too common.Do you know which ones I mean? (I'll help you out by highlighting the worst one...)Hello,

Let's revisit Why I Do This

Last night I was talking on the phone to a young fella who had sent my roommate a resume for a job he had advertised. He was relocating from Ontario to BC and had saved just enough to pay for a month as he was confident he would find employment in the construction trades here (and he would be right on that ~ there's TONS of work for those who know which end of the hammer to grab).I didn't ask him

Part deux of Extra! Extra! (Remember the fence...)

First I'd like to take a moment here to thank the people who have shared a lot of information - names, copies of emails, information on communities, etc... Give 'em a mental round of applause too, if you don't mind - they are speaking out.And then there is a very small group who have individually gone beyond anything they needed to do. They are inventive (and sometimes awfully funny) in pursuing

Extra! Extra! Read all about the Orange County invasion!

Yesterday while I was wandering around Craigslist, I first tripped across this ad in the Calgary section. When I looked at it, it fairly screamed 'ripped off from real estate ad' to me (c'mon - I bet you can see it...) so I looked it over a little closer.I've been a renter for ooooooh... mmmm... decades and I can honestly tell you that the only time the roofing materials counted were if they

Get out the hankies....

This one, posted at Craigslist by an anonymous poster responding to an ad I questioned the veracity of, just tugged at my heartstrings... *sob*I thought I would *wail* share it with you ~ it's a real tearjerker so get out the hankies first, eh?My name is Sandy Hart the owner of the apartment, My father is the owner of a juice company called ladu juice in west Africa, my mother left i am my father

I'm packing my bags...

I live on the west coast of Canada and I don't think that it's a national secret that the cost of housing is rather painful here - trust me on that one. To live in the main core of the city can be pretty debilitating to one's income and the 'burbs where I rent are reasonable but I can see where the cost is beginning to climb.Living in a city where housing is expensive is hard on those with

There is some eye candy in housing ads

I guess if you chase them around long enough even they are bound to notice. For the last few weeks I have been following one particular ad around from city to city, hoisting it up in view every time it was posted and pointing it out for the scam it is.It's not like it's been particularly hard to find because, though they kept changing the email address attached, it was always the same pictures

Coming attractions

(As fast as I have time to research and write 'em)There will be other posts added, if you're interested - I don't have firm dates for them yet.Perils and Pitfalls of scam ads with fake websitesJust what are Nigerian scams?Nigerian scams: Response to poverty?Who yah gonna call?If you want to suggest a topic or have one you want to submit, lemme know...Meanwhile, the lists are updated as people

In case anybody wonders...

I have absolutely no axe to grind with Craigslist - I've been a fan of the site for some years and have watched it evolve into something quite..... uhhh... gigantic. It is because I am a fan of theirs that I use their site for the bulk of the material I use here. It helps, too, that their layout makes it easier for me to look at and review what's being posted. :)A month or so ago, I emailed