Friday, February 13, 2009

So WHEN is this happenening?

Hello friends;

yes, it's been a while since I posted. That's party because I have been working so hard to get Egeria going, but I cannot neglect the blog any longer!

So here are a few tidbits of what is happening and stuff.

1) I am a couple of days from hiring a local web design company to complete the building of the Egeria site. I have interviewed a couple of firms, and I'm honing in on what I think is the best option. The site is pretty heavy on the technology, and we'll need to be readily expandable, so I have to proceed with caution.

2) I have been reading about a couple of the more 'out there' uses of home exchange. One was an article in Wikipedia about how home exchanges are being arranged by some folks to escape violence in war-torn areas, eg Iraq, the Mideast etc. Lord, have mercy. The idea is that if you are a Shia living in a predominantly Sunni area, and a family you know are the opposite, you switch homes so that you will be surrounded by more of your 'own', and therefore safer. It's sad, but it's a good idea while things are not going well in the peace and brotherly love department.

The other was about how, given the dire economy, some ingenious people are already arranging permanent home exchanges when they can't sell their houses for a good price! George wants to move to Chicago, Ringo wants to move to NY; they somehow find each other , ascertain that their homes are comparable -- and switch!

It's funny -- the idea is so intuitive on one hand, and so new and radical on the other. I don't know whether this is happening in other places; so far I have only heard about it in the States.
If you're in a pickle trying to sell your house so you can move to another city, you may want to give this option some thought! I imagine agencies for permanent house exchanges are popping up as we speak. In fact, I think I will Google that phrase and see what comes up, out of curiosity.

I will post back to keep you updated about the timeline for launching Egeria. Once we meet with our web developers in a serious way we will have a better picture about when we can expect to go live and accept memberships!

Thanks for reading and for sticking with us -- Egeria really will happen!