The Best Mall for Spring Shopping in Calgary

Spring in Calgary means wet, cold days, where snow may appear more often than it does in November.  Calgary is one of those cities where spring leaves you wondering whether it will snow 5 times in a week, or only 3 times.  What's a person to do when the weather is damp and cold......shopping at one of Calgary's fabulous malls! Market Mall is close to Centro Motel and is beautiful inside, easy to navigate, plenty of parking, and has a new Target opening up this summer!

A huge perk of Market Mall is the ease and accessibility of parking- both underground and above ground.  With over 200 stores to choose from, and being a mere 5 minute drive from Centro, it is the perfect choice. 

Calgary is an excellent option for shopping in Alberta, and is only a short drive from the many small towns in southern and central Alberta.  Market Mall also has delicious dining options, both with an expanded food court, Moxie's, and Milestones! Another perk is the fact that Market Mall is just one level, saving on those pesy elevators and escalators at other malls around the city.

A Brand New Hotel Scam (Or, One Day My Nigerian Prince Will Come)

Scamming Credit Cards is considered a sport in some countries, most notably Nigeria and Indonesia, and there's a new scam out there that specifically targets hotels.

Here's how it works. Credit Cards are assigned in series, so all the scammer needs is the last four digits of any credit card and they can guess what expiry date the next card issued has. For example, if you have a card number that ends in 5897 there's somebody out there with a card that ends in 5898. Since most cards are issued with a 4-year expiry it's not as overwhelming as you might think.

Once they have a card that they know will work, the scammers will contact a hotel offering them a deal most hoteliers would never pass up. Usually, this is a group booking for an imaginary tour company. However, there's a problem with the booking. Unfortunately, their tour operator in (insert your city/country here) has no way to process credit cards. So, all the hotel has to do is charge their credit card for their stay, plus a large amount to be then transferred to the “Tour Operator”. After this is done, the hotel booking can be cancelled, and the amount refunded. But, it doesn't really matter as it will be three weeks before the hotel finds out that they just charged someone in Newark for a booking coming from Germany. So, the hotel loses however much money it 'forwarded', and the scammer gets away scot free.

Here's an example of a typical e-mail from one of these scammers.

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Hello Sir/Madam,

Greetings ,

My name is Mr. Adam Smith Scammy McCheaterface. aviationspecialists.company
Company Plc]. I want to make a reservation in your Calgary motel for some 4 staffs and 2 trainees uncomplaining them as they all coming for course Training .

Details:
..................

Arrival: 10th of March. 2012

Departure: 21th of March. 2012

No. of Rooms: 6

Type of Rooms: Single or double
No of Guest: 6

Duration: 10 nights

Please Confirm availability and get back to me with your rates and total cost. and let me know dates that are available if you don't have this date available
Hope to hear from you soon. Please write back to me with my private email (totallynotascam@yahoo.com)

Kind Regards,
Adam Smith Scammy McCheaterface

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From: Centro Motel
Subject: RE: HOTEL RESERVATION
To: totallynotascam@yahoo.com
Date: Tuesday, September 27, 2011, 10:14 PM

Dear Mr. Smith McCheaterface,

Thank you very much for your inquiry! Yes, we have rooms available here at the Centro Motel, and the best price for you is $99.00 per night, per room for our queen size bed suite.

Thank You!

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From: totallynotascam@yahoo.com
Sent: Thursday, September 29, 2011 1:49am
To: Centro Motel
Subject: TOTAL COST FOR HOTEL RESERVATION

Thank you for your mail and confirmation of the 5 rooms availability for the 6adults Which will be shared amongst them.I am grateful to that but i will like to have the total cost of their stay/ breakfast for 10 days summed up and sent to me calculated in Euro, USD or GBP so that I will make Deposit of your cost services through my credit card for you to hold the reservation for us. Arrival: 10th of March.2012 Departure: 21st of March. 2012 No. of Rooms: 6 Type of Rooms: single or double No of Guest: 6 However, I wish to inform you that we also made an arrangement with a travel agent who will be handling the travelling arrangements/logistic needs of my Son and the people coming with them. Hope to hear from you soon Best Regards, Adam Smith Scammy McCheaterface

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From: Centro Motel
Subject: RE: TOTAL COST FOR HOTEL RESERVATION
To: totallynotascam@yahoo.com
Date: Thursday, September 29, 2011, 4:44 PM

Dear Mr McCheaterface

I can hold 6 rooms for you from March 10th till march 21th for 11 nights Queen Bed room type at rate of $99.00 CAD. Total Amount In CAD is $9558.66, and in USD it's $9240.84 with all the tax included. We can hold your rooms only for 2 weeks, so kindly confirm me with in two weeks.

If you have any other questions please feel free to ask.

Thank You!

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From: totallynotascam@yahoo.com
Sent: Friday, September 30, 2011 6:43am
To: Centro Motel
Subject: PAYMENT DETAILS FOR HOTEL RESERVATION

Hello, Thank you for your mail below. The staff along with the trainees coming with them has agreed to stay in your hotel rooms for the period of time requested,Anyway, just to ease up the total cost,I will be making a part payment with my credit card to enable you hold the reservation for us. However,Like I told you earlier I also made an arrangement with a prepaid travel agent who will take care of traveling documents and logistics need for the group during their coming and entire stay in your hotel,but because I will be making a trip soon to Chicago Usa ,for a Conference, I called the travel agent this morning to send my credit card details for them to charge for the services but they informed me that they don't have a credit card facility to charge my credit card. So I have decided that only your hotel will have to charge my credit card. I will send to you the credit card details as soon as I hear back from you. Once you receive the credit card details I will direct you on what to do. Because I will like you to settle the agent from my card. So upon the receipt of my credit card details you are to run the charges of $10,000 and deduct $3,000 for your service and send the remaining $7,000 to the agent whose information will be sent to you Finally,confirm this arrangement and provide me with your information below i will be completing the total payment of the reservation 2 weeks before arrival for the group. (1) Your hotel full name/address................. (2) Name of the Manager/Owner.................. (3) Hotel's telephone and fax numbers......... Regards. Adam Smith Scammy McCheaterface

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At this point we just told Mr. McCheaterface that we wouldn't, under any circumstances, forward any funds off of a credit card. He stopped e-mailing us.

Hillhurst/Sunnyside Farmers Market

If you're the type of person who is running an illegal chicken coup in your backyard, but you're sick of not getting any recognition for your achievements in black-market poultry, you're probably pretty excited right about now.

This... this isn't what that is, right? Can someone explain the appeal to me? Please?

From October 3^rd to the 7^th, the Hillhurst Sunnyside Community Association’s (HSCA) Harvest Market will be running its last farmer's market of the year. Now, if you're wondering what this has to do with illegal chicken coups, just bear with me a minute. This year, you can win an award for the best illegal chicken operation, as well as for the best Guerilla Garden.

It's less armed bands of soldiers, and more just planting stuff wherever you can get away with it.

Anyways, if you have a garden in Calgary, you can send in a photo of it doing it's thing to be eligible to win gift certificates to the River Café, Pages Books and the Sunnyside Garden Centre. There's even a prize for a free one-day rental of a bouncy castle.

The Centro Motel is Calgary’s first Boutique Motel. Located in the Montgomery neighbourhood, just south of Calgary’s Motel Village. The Centro offers stylish, trendy rooms at competitive prices. For more information on booking, rooms and rates, check out the home page, or Contact Us.

3 Things You Need to Know About The Calgary Folk Festival

Who's Playing Where & When

There isn't just one stage at the Folk Fest, there's Seven. Keeping a schedule on hand so you know who's playing when is pretty much the only way you can be sure to find the bands you want to hear, and identify the unknown bands that you've just learned you love (or hate).

For a full schedule of all their events, click here.

What To Bring

There are a few items that make any Folk Music Festival awesome or, if you're attending against your will, a better time. Mostly it's common sense but, make sure you have

A Folding Chair

Not that Folk Music isn't good, and I'm sure there's going to be lots of dancing, but if you buy a whole day pass you;re going to want to sit down eventually. While sitting on the ground is always an option, you can up your level of enjoyment by bringing along a comfy little camp chair.

Snacks

There will of course be vendors working the Festival, but the snacks can get pretty pricey. Also, sometimes the vendors are a long ways off from the concert you want to check out.

A Blanket and/or a Sweater

This is the Prairies. It gets Cold here when the sun goes away.

Where You Can Park (Nearby)

The closest major parking lot is at Eau Claire Mall, but it gets pretty full pretty quick. There are other parking options, but they involve a short walk. You can park in some of the closer lots and parkades downtown, but who really wants to drive downtown if they don't have to? Anyone? No? Yeah, that's what I thought.

It can also be convenient to park on the other side of the river from Prince's Island. The closest parking lots are in Kensington, a 15 minute walk away, and you can also try your luck parking in the residential areas along Memorial Drive. Although, I wouldn't recommend that option due to the chance of getting a stiff parking fine, or even getting towed.

The Centro Motel is Calgary’s first Boutique Motel. Located in the Montgomery neighbourhood, just south of Calgary’s Motel Village and now on a completely unintuitive, yet direct, path from the airport. The Centro offers stylish, trendy rooms at competitive prices. For more information on booking, rooms and rates, check out the home page, or Contact Us.

The Top 4 Reasons to Get Laser Eye Surgery

Due to our proximity to the Gimbel Eye Center, we see a lot of people going to get laser beams shot at their retinas. It's a moderately expensive procedure, and there's always a slight risk of failure. So, why do it? Sure, it helps your vision, but then again so do glasses and contact lenses.

#4. You Can Finally Stop Squinting at Everything

Above: Two of the most accomplished squinters in contemporary history.

As effective as squinting can be (according to Seinfeld), it's no way to go through life. Unless you're George Costanza. or Clint Eastwood. At any rate, it actually doesn't help your visual acuity in any way, and it'll give you wrinkles. Which, again, is probably fine if you're a Cowboy but otherwise is something to be frowned on.

#3. It Costs Less In the Long Run

While the operation can be expensive, it's not very much when compared to the cost of buying new glasses and contacts for the rest of your life. You also save in time. You only spend a few days recovering from having the lasers gouge out bits of your eyes, and then you'll never have to fiddle round with glasses or contacts again.

#2. The Longer You Wait, The Less Effective It'll Be

 

The effectiveness of the surgery depends somewhat on the rigidity of your corneas. The older you get, the more rigid your eyes become. So, while the length of the term is measured in years and decades, it is true to say that the longer you wait, the smaller the benefit you'll see from the surgery.

#1. You Get To Stay With Us! Yay!

 

With our top of the line mattresses, excellent customer service, quiet rooms, and proximity to the Gimbel Eye Center, why would you stay anywhere else?

The Centro Motel is Calgary’s first Boutique Motel. Located in the Montgomery neighbourhood, just south of Calgary’s Motel Village and now on a completely unintuitive, yet direct, path from the airport. The Centro offers stylish, trendy rooms at competitive prices. Also, our parking lot is just massive. For more information on booking, rooms and rates, check out the home page, or Contact Us.