Rumours and things

From time to time we do get those people at the door selling religion or how to save us money on our gas bill. This time it was different. A young man came to the door and when I answered he immediately told me he was with GE and made sure I saw the logo on his shirt. He had some books in his hand was happy that we had an alarm system and he wondered if he could put one of his signs in our yard because he said our neighbors agreed to it. I still didn’t know what he was talking about.

I believe he was trying to sell alarm systems although I am not positive of that. I answered with, "I don’t want any signs in our yard." Yes, he went away still pointing at the GE logo on his shirt sleeve...

Oh my goodness this is getting serious. Ads running in the classifieds with the promise of cash and free gifts from Harris/Decima (Decima Research) in exchange for performing mystery shopping or quality assurance studies. These classified ads are scams.

Harris/Decima one of our most respected research houses and never conducts mystery shopping or quality assurance studies that require you to cash cheques or wire the company money.

If this has happened to you or is about to happen to you get in touch with me and I will give you further information...

“Keep Your Heads Up Kids: The Don Cherry Story” a miniseries being filmed in Manitoba with a young Winnipeg actor, Jared Keeso, in the title role. This series starts in Don’s boyhood in Kingston and ends with him meeting Ron MacLean in mid 80s...

CIBC will have a new home in West Kelowna when the bank opens their new location on August 10. It is part of the Hub II complex. Staburn Properties is the owner of the site and Steve Henderson, the man in charge, tells us there is one more building to go and that a lot of restaurant chains are interested in the location...

I guess Tim Hortons gets credit for it because who else feeds us donuts everyday of the week, twenty-four hours a day? Canadians consume more donuts per capita than any other country in the world. All this began with one store owned by the ex-Toronto Maple Leafs in 1964. In Canada at retail seven out of every ten cups of coffee that are sold are sold at Tim Hortons. Who counts all this stuff anyway?...

Last week I wrote about the telemarketing calls you are getting on a regular basis from a company trying to sell you a car warranty because yours is about to expire. Well that group is now in court in the U.S. although the credit card scam along the same lines continues to make calls. I thought they were both together and still could be. The companies, according to the court documents, are charging between $2,000 and $3,000 for this fake warranty and supposedly since 2007 the crooks have made $1 billion.

It is called vishing and that comes from combining the voice with phishing an on line scam to get people to give their personal information.

Be suspicious of all unknown callers. Over and over again we write about this stuff and there are still those people out there who get caught in these crime schemes. The easiest thing to do is hang up or if the call is from an unidentified caller don’t pick up the phone, it will go away in four rings. Please don’t get mixed up in this one...

Some 3.7 million Canadian boomers are between 56 and 64 years old, prime retirement age according to Stats Canada. What change will we see in those numbers if people stay on the job or decide to go back to work for whatever reason? But in less than ten years that age group will hit the roof at one in five Canadians.

Twenty eight per cent of the people polled in the Royal LePage survey said they intend to sell their home as part of the retirement plan and move to a warmer clime. Some have been planning this for a long time and may be prepared to take a small hit on the house they’re living in now. Granted the downturn has affected some plans I’m sure but not all and some already own property in the Okanagan.

Whether it’s a condo, bungalow or a spot in one of those adult communities that spring up in the valley and are gaining in popularity. No question these buyers are going to demand certain amenities to complement their active lives and that’s how builders have to plan these days...

In a 1991 Pepsi commercial, supermodel Cindy Crawford steps out of a red Lamborghini at a remote roadside rest stop. Wearing a white tank top and denim cut-off shorts, she flicks her hair and saunters over to a vending machine, where she buys -- and drinks -- a can of ice-cold Pepsi. She's oblivious to the two young boys who are watching, spellbound.

The Pepsi commercial, which was created by Omnicom agency BBDO and last aired during the Super Bowl 17 years ago, was rated as the sexiest TV commercial among 35 viewed by eight judges from the advertising industry.

The ad vets rated it and several other sexy-yet-understated spots higher than more explicit commercials, including a Carl's Jr. commercial featuring Paris Hilton washing a car and a perfume spot with Britney Spears hooking up with a fellow guest in a hotel. The judges said they liked racy ads that left something to the imagination. They thought that even sexy ads should relate to a product's supposed benefits.