rob

Pilots are the best on REVs hands down.

Excellent Post, merci

Bienvenue Switchback 2006 Very glad to have you aboard! here's an old pic from your neck of the woods, at the top of the ski lift at massif du sud.

The dollar fell to a record low on Wednesday after the Federal Reserve cut its benchmark interest rate by a quarter percentage point and said the pace of economic growth will slow this year. 1 US $ = 0.9425 CDN $

I might as well say a few words here, as I know people may still have questions as to what happened to cause the sale of HCS. "Contributing Memberships" on HCS were sold as donations. Donations are not refundable. If you want to pursue it further contact the present owner of HCS. In case you didn't know, I sold the website known as HCS in January of this year. You will notice that I don't have "contributing members" on this site just precisely to avoid this kind of situation. HCS was a great site, and I ran it the best that I could. I pioneered absolute freedom of speech on HCS for several years, and I think it led to the rapid growth of the site. I kept it under control largely by doing nothing, and letting everyone have their say. But I gradually grew tired of the constant work that a website of that size required. I went into last fall more or less totally fed up with it. Come Christmas week there was no snow or riding even in the Saguenay where I had always went for needed R&R after my busy season in my 'real' business. And at the same time the upgrade to the then latest version of the Invision forum software HCS runs on had proved to be extremely problematic. When I received criticism of how long it took to get things worked out it was just like the last straw for me, I totally lost my temper. I banned certain members out of anger and frustration, half because I had to cancel my Christmas week trip and I was looking for someone to take it out on. That was a mistake. The bannings led to more trouble, which only increased my anger and frustration, and unfortunately led to even more problems. It was at that point in early January that I decided to sell HCS. I had just had it, 100% burnt out. Fortunately for me, I had a ready buyer in the form of Dan from the Outdoor Shop. I knew he would be good for the site, and I just wanted out. So it happened. Do I regret it? Sometimes. I regret losing my temper more than anything. I was tired of HCS and I know in my heart that it is better both for HCS and me that I'm rid of the burden. As to the members that were banned, well if I had kept control of HCS I would have reinstated all of you, (and you know that's true...virtually everyone ever banned on hcs while I owned it eventually made their way back), and as far as I am concerned now, anyone can join this forum and start from scratch, I'm not holding any grudges, as long as you don't either. Now, let's let the subject of HCS die on this forum....Please.

LOL, why does that somehow make me feel better? Happy Birthday Timbo. :)

Merci Denis. J'espère que l'hiver est seulement un jour en retard, et pas un mois en retard en l'année dernière. ;)

Thanks guys Although the birthdays are coming too close together lately ;)

I normally go up xmas week. In the last ten years, you could ride right out of the Holiday on xmas day 7 years. The other 3 you needed to trailer to the mtns. Last year was the worst in at least the last 10-15 years and was the first time I didn't even go. If there's any riding at all I'll be up there again this Christmas.

our banks now charge a 'foreign transaction fee' on CC purchases, so I find it better to use ATM and pay cash.

I think Bobler was asking if Canadian businesses are accepting US funds at par, without an exchange. Some places used to take Canadian at par (even though they were losing on it) as a way of increasing business. It would be nice to think it may work in reverse now, (but somehow I doubt it will).

That's a great question and I've wondered that myself.. I don't know if Bill or anyone has the answer to that right now. What I'm really afraid of is the rate slipping more by winter. It's going to really hurt if we can only get .90 on a dollar. Man......

not yet.. I had a couple of other unexpected expenses come up this month so I'm holding off for now, (at least until it feels more like winter).

Merci et Bienvenue Dan

At every service, I had the dealer look at the clutches and replace anything that showed wear. Offhand I don't believe he ever needed to replace anything. It's hard to believe I know.

is that the lot at Onatchiway?

it's a matter of principle. And crossing the border is a snap for me. They seem to recognize me, as a frequent border crosser. And it is not a sure thing that "you will need a passport eventually". Our Senator Pat Leahy is working hard to prevent passports from being required.

That's why I don't carry a BC, the stone tablet gets a little heavy NO PASSPORTS NEEDED THIS WINTER. It remains to be seen what happens next summer, but at least for this winter you won't need a passport.

I've never been asked for a birth certificate, I don't have one. And I don't know my license plate number.

Yep, that's it!

last year was the worst in the last ten years at least. But this fall is almost a duplicate of last year at this point, so don't let your expectations get too high.

it is in US funds. and Bill (and the club) is absorbing the Paypal fees, so it really is a good way to pay.

The fact that other countries invest in our currency (own treasury notes), is not a bad thing in itself.. It is only bad if they decide to quickly sell their holdings. The dollar is just another commodity, if people are buying it, the price goes up. If they sell it, the price goes down. Why do countries invest in another countries currency? Because they feel it is a good investment (will yield good returns), and is stable (their investment is secure). For many years, the American dollar was like the world's treasury reserves. It was the most liquid, most secure investment possible. So other countries bought US securities, and this held the value of the US dollar high. However the loose monetary policies of Alan Greenspan and banks offering easy loans helped foster the credit crunch that is only now becoming apparent. Low interest rates mean poor returns to those who hold US securities. So other nations started to move some of their investments away from the dollar, into other currencies such as the Euro. This sent the dollar lower. This month, new Fed chief Ben Bernanke cut interest rates by a half percent. The cuts merely add more cheap credit to a market that that is already over-inflated from the ocean of liquidity produced by former-Fed chief Alan Greenspan. This sent the dollar further into a tailspin, which is likely to continue for months or years. It is not rocket science.. Lower interest rates and easy credit mean less income for those that hold dollar securities. Think about it, how much interest are you getting on a savings account or CD? So it makes sense for countries to invest in currencies that give better yields and hold their value better. If you own US dollars, and the dollar goes down, that means you are losing money. That isn't immediately apparent to us until we do something like traveling to another country, and find our money buys less. But if you happen to live in China and own a lot of US dollars it matters.. And you may start selling dollars and buying another currency. And that drives the dollar down further, more people sell..etc. etc. etc.

As the subject of this post implies, the main reason it is more expensive for US residents to visit Canada now (as compared to a few years ago) is because of the falling US dollar. And the main reason behind the US dollar falling is US fiscal policy. The recent rate cut from the Fed further pulled the rug out from under the US dollar. Economics 101.

That's great!