Shoot the Breeze #14: Airbnb Cameras, and A Gun-Toting Lady
Hi Friends!
I received an email the other day asking about the newsletter Shoot the Breeze as its purpose in the grand scheme of things going on here.
Great question, I thought, to which I started pondering an answer that wasn't going well.
The easiest part of the answer came first: to give paying newsletter members something extra for being a paid subscriber. I promised some things for becoming a paying subscriber, and up until I started this private newsletter 14 issues ago, there was nothing. There were ideas about a podcast and other things, but nothing materialized.
Then Shoot the Breeze started.
So, part one of the question was easy, not on to part two, what to include in this newsletter. I wanted to make it a conversation starter for readers—something to brag about or write home about. Well, maybe not write home, but I think you get my idea, or at least I hope so.
So, as, M.G. Sieger, who writes a fantastic newsletter called From Afar, would say, it is an experiment in progress. I learn from the best.
All I can ask is to be patient and hang in there. This, too, will get better!
Thanks for your continued support!
Mark & Patti
Be Well! Stay Safe!
Do you happen to frequent Airbnb spots and dislike the cameras looking in and out located in the home? Do you wonder who’s watching, even though they say there are for your protection? Well here’s some news that might make you happy!
Airbnb overturns policy used by hosts and hated by guests
by Silas Valentino, SF Gate
The San Francisco company previously permitted the use of security cameras and other recording devices inside homes as long as they fell within certain parameters: Cameras were only allowed in common areas, not bedrooms or bathrooms, and hosts were required to disclose their whereabouts on the listing page.
However, starting April 30, all indoor security cameras are banned in listings around the world. Outside cameras and noise-decibel monitors are still allowed. Airbnb’s competitor Vrbo previously took action to ban the use of indoor surveillance devices inside a property.
In a statement about the policy update, Airbnb wrote that “the majority of listings on Airbnb do not report having a security camera,” but stopped short of including any data on the number of units that use the monitoring measure.
One more story for the road!
Lanphere Dunes is pristine Calif. coastline. A gun-toting woman made sure of it.
by Ashley Harrell, SF Gate
The old-growth beach pines and Sitka spruce trees poke up through the ever-shifting sands of the dune. They look much like they did a thousand years ago, when the Wiyot people hunted and gathered on the dunes and visited for ceremonies. Other pristine habitats surround this dune forest: wetlands, mudflats, marshes, and of course the sand dunes themselves, which are crisscrossed with animal tracks and dotted with a striking array of plants, including species found nowhere else.
The Lanphere Dunes rank among the most pristine coastal dunes remaining in all of the Pacific Northwest. They are only accessible through a guided tour, after which a participant can receive a permit to enter separately. Otherwise, they are off-limits to the public.