Forum	Title	Content	Member	Sex	Country	Date/Time
Canada	The Vent	You might find this helpful: http://www.google.co...ge/cse/create/1? It's designed by Google to let you create your own Custom Search Engine. That helps to narrow down the useless junk that's out there on the Internet and when you do find websites that are relevant to your search, you can enter them into the search engine as well, so it'll look at those too. You can also place it on your iGoogle homepage too, which is handy.	DeadPoolX	Male	Canada	2008-08-26 16:21:00
Canada	The Vent	QUOTE (WaitForever @ Aug 26 2008, 02:08 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}> We seem to have enough people processing work visas, investor visas, outstanding persons visas, military visas, refugee visas, pushing for amnesty legislation etc. Did you know that there are only 32,000 K1 visas issued a year, in comparison to the 12 million illegals in this country right now? If you think about it, how long does it take to process 32,000 visas? Most take about 15 minutes. 15 minutes times 32000 = 8000 hours. There are 2000 hours in a typical work year. 4 people working full time could process all the K1 visas assuming that there was no backlog. How many hundreds of people work for the USCIS? You would think that even if they had 50 people working on this full time, the backlog could be cleared in a month. Why not? Bureaucracy. Although I agree with what you wrote, I just wanted to point out that just because 32,000 K1 Visas are issued per year, that doesn't mean there aren't thousands more that need to be reviewed and sorted beforehand. There are many people who get denied a visa to the United States and those cases, even though the visa didn't get issued, still took time and manpower. I'm not suggesting that USCIS should take as long as they do. I'm sure they could cut their time frame by at least half if they just acted efficiently and removed some of the aforementioned bureaucracy. Unfortunately, that probably won't happen.	DeadPoolX	Male	Canada	2008-08-26 15:15:00
Canada	The Vent	My visa to immigrate to Canada was completed in under six months (as I posted in another thread) and yet, my father still believes that if I had used an attorney, the process would have gone faster. I fail to see how it could have been any quicker, really. Especially when compared to the extremely lengthy U.S. immigration process (one which my dad does not believe is anywhere near as long as I state it can be, as well). Of course, my dad also thought that when I was visiting my wife, CBSA wouldn't turn me away (regardless of any proof or ties to the U.S.) simply because "they'd want me to spend money in Canada." Do you get the feeling he just didn't -- and still doesn't -- quite understand?	DeadPoolX	Male	Canada	2008-08-26 10:16:00
Canada	The Vent	QUOTE (Kathryn41 @ Aug 24 2008, 09:16 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}> Ok, my own private vent here - one I don't indulge in often . . . I am frustrated with this own VJ taking so long! Over on the citizenship forum someone who got married September 2004 just had their citizenship test and will receive their oath in 2 weeks. I am happy for them, but heck, we got married in June, 2004, have applied for every single step along the way the soonest that we could apply and I can't even apply for my citizenship until the end of February, 2009, let alone already have it and be able to vote in this upcoming election. These people started the process a year after us and are going to finished it at least 2 years before we are. USCIS sucks big time - sure wish we could end up on the fast moving path for at least ONE part of this process! Big Sigh - so back to waiting for I-751 which will probably be adjudicated sometime NEXT Spring. Kathryn, do you or your SO have any children? I don't know if that would have a significant effect or not, but maybe kids (i.e. dependents) would slow down the process.	DeadPoolX	Male	Canada	2008-08-24 10:28:00
Canada	The Vent	QUOTE (Ron/Sharon @ May 15 2008, 01:24 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}> Didn't want to start a new topic and didn't know where would be the best place here or in off topic, I hope is fine. Just a wee bit pissed off We aren't near to being done and my sweetheart is now working less than half days after spending over 20 days on stress related leave which has been a long time coming. My doctor thinks I may have had a stroke or bad reaction to my medications, the pharmacist says that the medication should not cause stoke symptoms so now we're waiting for test result. What sucks is that neither one of us can be with the other for support and comfort we what and need. P.S. I truely enjoy reading everything being posted, just unable to write competent replies. Sorry, I don't know how you folks keep shining so brightly but I love it and you all. Gotta go before I start crying, bye Ron What medications were you on? I'm only asking because there are some that if you abruptly stop them, you could possibly have a stroke. That's why it's always recommended that you slowly decrease the dosage before getting off a drug. I found this out the hard way, before I ever knew anything about medication. I was on a migraine preventative that my father prescribed for me and for some stupid reason or another, I decided I'd quit it right then and there. Well, I got the worse migraine I had ever had in my life. When I told my Dad about it, he was both concerned and angry. Considering the drug I was on, he said there were two possible outcomes for stopping it "cold turkey." One was a horrific migraine and the other was a stroke. So the moral of the story is: don't go off the meds without at least consulting a medical professional first.	DeadPoolX	Male	Canada	2008-05-15 15:53:00
Canada	The Vent	I have my own view on illegal aliens, Mexican or otherwise, that I shall not recount here. However, I do have a story revolving around Obama and the other presidential candidates. One time when I visited Canada I needed to take a taxi from the airport to my wife's apartment (she was my fiancee then) and when the cab driver found out I was American, he started chatting me up about U.S. politics. Normally, I'm very talkative, especially when it comes to political issues. However, I'd just flown from Texas up to Canada (went through security twice since I took Air Canada and WestJet and customs once) so I was a little tired. I didn't really feel like discussing a topic that I was already bombarded with in the U.S., not to mention the cab driver had a very poor grasp of American politics, but he didn't realize this and believed he was some sort of scholar in "international relations." I'm sure he's driven lots of people from all different places, but that doesn't make him an expert on American politics anymore than my marrying a Canadian makes me an expert on Canadian politics. Needless to say, that was a very long cab ride...	DeadPoolX	Male	Canada	2008-04-30 14:22:00
Canada	The Vent	QUOTE (flames9 @ Apr 26 2008, 04:49 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}> If you put it on paper,make sure you encrypt it. Better to have no evidence!! Watch some law & orders, CSI's to make ur plan. lol There are actually a few really good ways of hiding information (without encryption) on a hard drive from snooping individuals. None of which I shall divulge here. Look around on the Internet hard enough, however, and I'm sure you'll come across them.	DeadPoolX	Male	Canada	2008-04-26 12:19:00
Canada	The Vent	Liz, Trust me, you're not alone in this. I'm a guy (let me check to make sure; yup!) and I've experienced some similar situations. Although my wife tends to do more of the "traditional" female things, we generally try to share household duties work things out equally. But as anyone who has been in a relationship knows, that's a great theory on paper -- in reality, it doesn't always work like that. My wife and I have had some very heated arguments. In fact, last night we had one. We both apologized to each other as we always do. But that doesn't change the fact the arguments happen. We chalk most of it up to the fact we're living apart most of the time, which isn't a natural way to be in a marriage. Being able to talk over the phone, through IMs and e-mail is much better than nothing at all, but it's by no means a substitute. So we get annoyed at the situation and ironically enough, take it out on the one person we want to be with. Oh... and as for your husband keeping his password to himself, I don't see anything wrong with that. I realize my opinion on this matter probably means very little, but there's nothing wrong with a husband and wife having a few things that are separate in life. My wife doesn't know the passwords I use, but I would tell her if there was an emergency; it's the same with her, but in reverse. It's not that we don't trust the other (we do), but since we tend to share so much already, we want something that's mine or hers. Now then, if you'll excuse me, I need to go blow up my bathroom.	DeadPoolX	Male	Canada	2008-04-25 10:00:00
Canada	The Vent	QUOTE (Krikit @ Apr 23 2008, 06:31 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}> QUOTE (autumnchik @ Apr 22 2008, 07:22 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}> and knees scrubbing. So, the hubby wanders in, sees what I am doing and comments, honey don't hurt yourself, it can wait, it doesn't need to be done now. So I ask him, okay would YOU like to do it? NOPE! He just wants me to OHMYGOD, Autumn! WE HAVE THE SAME HUSBAND!!!!! Oooooooooooooooo, I'm getting angry just thinking about it! Wait a second... so that's a bad response? I'll have to remember that if and when my wife is ever in a situation like that. Because the way Autumnchik's husband handled that seemed okay to me.	DeadPoolX	Male	Canada	2008-04-23 09:21:00
Canada	The Vent	QUOTE (IR5FORMUMSIE @ Apr 22 2008, 02:04 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}> Animals tend to have more bacteriostatic factors in their saliva, except for the Komodo dragon and a few others that are mucho toxic. I'd like to think that most people who are likely to bite you believe in a modicum of oral hygiene especially after licking their genitals. That's assuming the animal has been given a chance to let those bacteriostatic factors work and take effect. Let's just assume, for a moment, that Rex, the neighborhood pit bull, has decided one sunny afternoon that he absolutely must spend the next 20 minutes licking his genitals and then sniff another dog's #######. Rex is having a great day; in fact, he's having such a wonderful day, that when he happens to see a jogger pass by, he immediately leaves the dog whose rear-end he's been harassing and chases after the runner, catching up to him and chomping him on the leg. Conventional wisdom would claim that Rex's mouth is cleaner than a human's (had a person decided to bite the jogger), but looking back at what had just transpired before the aforementioned bite, it might make sense to believe that the dog's mouth in this case is not that clean. Maybe a dog's mouth can clean itself faster than a human's mouth in the same given time frame (that much, I'd believe), but if a dog has been sticking his nose who-knows-where and licking-who-knows-what, it's highly unlikely anything you receive from that mouth and tongue will be very cleanly. QUOTE (liz_legend @ Apr 22 2008, 03:08 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}> nope he gets nothing! not even the gift of hearing my voice How do you know he's not enjoying the silence?	DeadPoolX	Male	Canada	2008-04-22 15:36:00
Canada	The Vent	QUOTE (Krikit @ Apr 22 2008, 11:15 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}> Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhh!!!! Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhh!!!! Jesus Mary and Joseph!!! I was just outside watering my potted plants. When I opened the sliding door to come back in, A FREAKING LIZARD RAN INSIDE!!!!! I just stood there and went Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhh!!!! Ran around after him for a bit. More Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhs!!!! (The neighbours were probably thinking I was crazy at this point.) When I couldn't herd him out the door, I ran and got a container and chased him around with that for a while. Little ba$tard ran and hid under the furniture so I was pulling that stuff out into the middle of the living room with super-human strength. Thankfully I was finally able to corral him into a corner and scoop him into the container. Jaysus. QUOTE (DeadPoolX @ Apr 22 2008, 11:38 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}> You live in Florida, so it can be humid there... so those tiny little flies might be "drain flies." Those generally surface when there's leftover organic matter in drains (makes sense, considering the name, right?). Unfortunately, your options are limited if this is the case. Regular extermination techniques won't work. Ohhhhhhhh. Okay, that makes sense. ( DRAIN flies?! Now I've heard everything. ) Thanks DeadPool. I'm going to try the bleach thing first. Sheesh. What a pain. Well, at least we don't have centipedes. Those things are NASTY. I am seriously laughing so hard that I'm crying right now. That little event reminded me of my wife when we were in Mexico and a lizard was by our hotel room door. She started getting all panicky about it coming inside the room. Having lived in Texas my whole life, lizards didn't bother me at all. The conversation went something like this: [Me] "What's wrong?" [Her] "That!" [Me] "It's a lizard, so?" *goes to unlock the door* [Her] "Wait! Don't do that! It might come in!" [Me] I thought you weren't afraid of things like this... [Her] Well... I'm not. So long as they stay outside. When they invade my living space, it's an entirely different matter." [Me] "I see." [Her] "Yeah." [Me] "So what do you want me to do with it?" [Her] "Get rid of it!" [Me] "Okay." *shrugs and attempts to smash it* [Her] *grabs DPX's arm* [Me] "What?" [Her] "Don't kill it." [Me] "..." And so on... The one thing my wife really, really hates -- and is actually terrified of -- are centipedes. When she was briefly living in Ottawa with a few female roomates, the house she stayed in apparently had an infestation of "house centipedes." I've never seen these things in real life, but according to my wife, they are the "worst of a spider and a garden centipede combined" plus it moves extremely fast and climbs everywhere. The part that really freaked her out was that one night, one of those house centipedes decided to run across her face while she was in bed, drifting off to sleep (but not quite out cold). Ever since then, she can't look at a centipede without practically getting sick. In addition, one of her requirements in choosing a place to live is "no house centipedes." She doesn't care if they're outside, but just so long as they don't come inside, she's fine. For the record, we don't get house centipedes in Houston, because they seem to like basements and you can't have basements in Houston. The ground is too soft (almost like New Orleans, but not quite as bad) and if there were basements, they would flood.	DeadPoolX	Male	Canada	2008-04-22 12:13:00
Canada	The Vent	QUOTE (Krikit @ Apr 22 2008, 09:18 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}> Okay, I am SICK TO DEATH of those little tiny flies!!!! I mean.... seriously. #######?!!!!! You live in Florida, so it can be humid there... so those tiny little flies might be "drain flies." Those generally surface when there's leftover organic matter in drains (makes sense, considering the name, right?). Unfortunately, your options are limited if this is the case. Regular extermination techniques won't work. I've dealt with these f#ckers before and as far as I know, only several things manage to have any effect: 1. Fly paper (lots and lots of it; fly paper towers are especially useful). 2. Pouring bleach down the drains. Not too much, usually about two cups worth. This is best done at night before bed, since you have to let it sit for a while and not use the water. When you wake up in the morning, run the hot water through the drains hard and fast for a bit. You may need to repeat this several days in a row if the situation is bad. 3. A special organic matter-eating gel that can be poured down the drain. It's thick, so it'll need to be used carefully and washed out with hot water (like the bleach), but it might work better too. The downside is it tends to cost a lot more for a lot less in terms of liquid container size. 4. Your last option would be to set off "bug bombs" but in order to do this, you would either have to temporarily move most, if not all, of the furniture and important items out of the house/apartment or at least, cover them extremely well with thick plastic and tape. These "bug bombs" tend to plaster the entire area with a powder that's toxic to insects that gets over everything. It can be a real mess and a very tedious clean-up job, but if you have a serious infestation, it might be that or move. One last thing I've noticed is that this problem only seems to surface when it starts getting warm outside (which usually happens around April here in Texas, and Florida has similar weather) and goes away as it starts getting colder. Unfortunately, that doesn't occur until about November or sometimes even December. EDIT: My wife did find a "natural" way of killing the flies once (it involves making some sort of mixtures with household cooking items), but I can't remember the recipe. I'll have to find it again. Edited by DeadPoolX, 22 April 2008 - 10:40 AM.	DeadPoolX	Male	Canada	2008-04-22 10:38:00
Canada	The Vent	QUOTE (IR5FORMUMSIE @ Apr 22 2008, 02:01 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}> QUOTE (Mephys @ Apr 22 2008, 01:07 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}> QUOTE (flames9 @ Apr 18 2008, 02:55 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}> Hospitals are not here to make ya better, there here to make $$$$ Not so sure, but I've had a few appointments lately, and compared to Quebec's Medical services (where they have no time to see you even if you waited 6 hours), I feel like sometimes they do a little more than necessary. Ok they want to cover their bases and avoid any lawsuit, and ok it's not a bad thing for the patient, but still... On Sunday I got bit by a cat at work, and because his teeth cut through my skin, I had to go to the treatment center. Here's what they did: - cleaned the wound - flushed with 1000 mls of saline (It's a tiny hole, deep, but nonetheless small and the saline was just flowing on my fingers) - 3 different views of X-rays of my hand (to make sure there is no pieces of tooth) - Tetanus shot (even if I was current with a shot in 2002, they say the more the merrier) - 10 days of Antibiotiques (which was the ONLY reason why i went to the treatment center....) So do I believe that they are trying to make $$$$ ? Kinda You're right Mephys. When bro' was doing residency first thing he learned was just do the tests, for legal reasons do the tests regardless if they are indicated or not. Animals have really dirty mouths, almost as bad as human mouth. Sad but true. Well, I can say a couple of things about that... 1. I got a bad blister while in Canada the first time I was there, so I had no choice but to see a doctor at a clinic. He opened it up, cleaned it with silver, gave me a tetanus shot, and medication. Perhaps he didn't make me do any tests like x-rays, but they didn't have those available at the clinic either (from what I could tell, if they did, he would've done it). All of this was performed by the so-called "always wonderful, never bad, government-run Canadian healthcare system that doesn't perform unncessary tests" too. Go figure. 2. From the studies I've seen in recent years, it's a myth to say that the mouths of animals are cleaner than human mouths. That doesn't mean you'd want to get bitten by either, but let's look at this logically. Animals lick their genitals, their rears, and anything they tend to see. Humans, on the other hand, generally don't do this (at least quite as often) and most of hopefully brush our teeth, floss and use mouthwash. I'd have to say, just off-hand, that the average human mouth is probably a little cleaner than the average animal mouth.	DeadPoolX	Male	Canada	2008-04-22 07:30:00
Canada	The Vent	I've had the 99.9% of my experience with hospitals in Houston, so when I think of "public" hospitals, the first one to come to mind would be Ben Taub. I realize they've cleaned up their act some over the years, but overall, that place is a warzone and no one I know would ever elect to go there. Perhaps there are some government-run hospitals in the U.S. that are good, but in my experience, I have not seen them. The type of patients entering the hospital do matter to some degree. If the patients coming into the hospital cannot afford to pay for their care and are, for lack of a better word, criminals (I realize homeless individuals aren't breaking the law, but drug pushers and pimps/hookers are), it's never too long before violence tends to erupt. In Ben Taub, for instance, it's not uncommon to see people walking in holding firearms or even, at times, taking a pot shot at one another. You'd be hard-pressed to see this at a private institution in an upperclass area. As for hospitals making money... yes, the main reason hospitals exist is to house the sick while they are being treated. However, they must receive funds from somewhere. Unless they are being completely subsidized by the government, they need to gain income from patients using their facilities. It costs a lot to run a hospital -- how do you think they make use of their medical technology and employ their large staff, which is needed to work around the clock? If a hospital can't make a profit, it will ultimately be forced to shut down and then no one gets care. I fail to see how that benefits society.	DeadPoolX	Male	Canada	2008-04-19 17:54:00
Canada	The Vent	QUOTE (flames9 @ Apr 18 2008, 02:55 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}> few yrs back, wife badly sprained her ankle! Went to the ER. Sat there for like 3 hrs, finally got admitted. Saw the Dr for all of 2 minutes, had an xray to confirm nothing broken, and that was it!! Bil was close to $1500!. Luckily we have insurance. Since she had an xray, they did a pregnancy test, same one u buy at ur pharmacy for $20, they charged $60,lol Hospitals are not here to make ya better, there here to make $$$$ That really depends on the type of hospital you go to. If you head to a private hospital, sure -- they want to make money, why wouldn't they? The only way they can stay in business is by charging patients. They get absolutely zero from the government. However, private hospitals generally have the latest-and-greatest in medical technology and gain the best physicians, since these places are the nicest working environments to be in and offer the highest income potential (this, of course, differs by region). State-run hospitals (and we do have some of these, although they are of much lower quality, as is the case with government-run healthcare) are free to the public. But you can expect huge lines, tons of people (most of whom would you could classify as "unsavory" characters, such as your homeless, drug users, drug pushers, pimps, hookers, and sometimes a dead person is even "dropped off" as well), including a general lack of overall supplies, room to house the patients, and the necessary staff (physicians, nurses, techs, etc) to deal with the high influx of patients. All in all, state-run hospitals are very much a nightmare. However, they don't cost upfront nor do you require health insurance (these are paid for by taxation), so if you are completely broke or some wandering vagabond, these places might be your only bet.	DeadPoolX	Male	Canada	2008-04-19 09:23:00
Canada	The Vent	QUOTE (IR5FORMUMSIE @ Apr 16 2008, 12:40 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}> QUOTE (DeadPoolX @ Apr 16 2008, 07:04 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}> Well, that doesn't seem too gory to me (I've eaten lunch while disecting brains and other organs) Remind me not to come to your house for a BBQ. I hope this is part of some educational program or employment and not some Dahmer-esque hobby. BTW, did you apply for your diener's club card yet? That was during one of my neurological classes. The one thing I dislike about dealing with dead bodies (brains and all) is the smell. Don't bother mentioning formaldehyde, that smells terrible too!. Even after washing well, it still lasts for a while.	DeadPoolX	Male	Canada	2008-04-16 16:11:00
Canada	The Vent	QUOTE (Krikit @ Apr 16 2008, 06:36 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}> QUOTE (DeadPoolX @ Apr 14 2008, 04:54 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}> Speaking of pregnancy (and therefore, eventual birth), have any of the women here ever had an episiotomy? If you have, what was it like? I had one for my first child at an army hospital in NB. The attending physician did it before the freezing took. Either that or he didn't freeze it properly. All I know is that I screamed 3 times when he sliced into me 3 times. Ba$tard. The healing process was horrible. I nearly went insane. Let's just say I had a lot of baths. With my second child there was not time for an episiotomy. My son was born 2 months premature.... the placenta had torn from the vaginal wall (Abruptio placentae). I was hemorraghing and my son had his life's supply cut off, so we were both in danger. They prepped me for a caesarian but I started delivering before they could do it. He was quite small so there was no tearing and no episiotomy to recover from, thank God. There you go. How's that for gory? Well, that doesn't seem too gory to me (I've eaten lunch while disecting brains and other organs), but I know if my wife read it, she'd definitely think twice about having kids.	DeadPoolX	Male	Canada	2008-04-16 07:04:00
Canada	The Vent	Thanks! I already knew the technical details, but I was looking for some firsthand information! As for the "College Republicans" and protests against the Dalai Lama, well... that's just dumb. I tend to be conservative-minded on a number of issues, but I neither refer to myself as Republican or Democrat. I don't like the two parties since they're often too extreme. If I had to catogorize my political beliefs, I'd say I'm socially liberal overall, but conservative on fiscal matters and certain domestic/foreign policies. Needless to say, this mindset doesn't correspond to being a Republican or a Democrat, both of which demand that members see things as they do (i.e. black-and-white, and I don't mean in a racial context).	DeadPoolX	Male	Canada	2008-04-14 20:48:00
Canada	The Vent	Speaking of pregnancy (and therefore, eventual birth), have any of the women here ever had an episiotomy? If you have, what was it like? I realize that's an odd question, but I'm not asking out of morbid curiosity. I'm just wondering more about it in the (hopefully) unlikely event that my wife, whenever she becomes pregnant, might need one. It looks like it must hurt a great deal (but far preferable to the damage what would result otherwise).	DeadPoolX	Male	Canada	2008-04-14 15:54:00
Canada	The Vent	QUOTE (Crikey! @ Mar 7 2008, 08:39 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}> Gravol usually knocks me out. Though you can only get it in Canada. Not sure what the equivalent is here. Dramamine. Both Dramamine and Gravol are Dimenhydrinate. I recall some people on here stating that these two are somehow different, but chemically, that's not possible. The only way that could even be is if you were to take different dosages of each. They'd still be the same medication, but you'd merely have different amounts of each within you.	DeadPoolX	Male	Canada	2008-03-07 10:12:00
Canada	The Vent	QUOTE (Len_and_Bren @ Mar 4 2008, 10:38 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}> Yup, it suckssss. But god forbid we mention anything about universal health care ..... after all, who wants the poor or the middle classes to be healthy anyways????? Actually... I don't have a problem with universal health care at all, so long as private health care remains a viable option for those who want it. I like the ability to choose. Oh and just so some of you know, very few physicians have any say whatsoever in how health insurance providers operate. From the physicians I know and have spoken to (and that accounts for quite a few), I can honestly tell you that the average physician strongly dislikes HMO and PPO interference. Not only do they make it difficult to effectively treat a patient, but they can limit or even withhold payment from the physician himself. Besides... do you think physicians get a "free ride" when it comes to health care? No, they have to pay for health insurance just like anyone else. So not only do they deal with the ####### the insurance companies give them when handling patients, but also the ####### of attempting to receive treatment and medication themselves. I think it's a safe bet to say that most physicians would be very happy to see health insurance companies go away completely.	DeadPoolX	Male	Canada	2008-03-04 14:20:00
Canada	The Vent	QUOTE (Crikey! @ Feb 28 2008, 12:44 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}> The boobs and the kitty pic are JZoom's. I feel really weird whenever I see it, and try not to look at it. It'd be nice not to have to see it. The one thing I do like is the colours, however. Plus she does have a nice set of boobs. And her kitty's really cute too. Am I the only one whose mind went straight into the gutter after reading that sentence?	DeadPoolX	Male	Canada	2008-02-28 14:44:00
Canada	The Vent	I think something is either seriously wrong my installation of Firefox (version 2.0.0.12.) or one, two or more of the extensions I've added are causing it to act weird. When I start it up, it'll load and then shut itself down almost immediately. I won't have a chance to stop it all. Once I restart the browser, it loads correctly. I haven't been able to pinpoint the problem, either. I use the default theme and all of my plug-ins are up to date, so I can't imagine those are the culprits. Again, it's either an installation issue (which I find unlikely, considering I did a clean install) or some extensions are acting up somehow.	DeadPoolX	Male	Canada	2008-02-28 13:29:00
Canada	The Vent	QUOTE (Crikey! @ Feb 27 2008, 03:55 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}> QUOTE (Len_and_Bren @ Feb 27 2008, 04:31 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}> QUOTE (~Laura and Nick~ @ Feb 27 2008, 02:01 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}> People are idiots. I know who you're talking about Lau, and I hereby wholeheartedly agree! (#######.. I could actually spell wholeheartedly without being zinged by the spell check, I'm impressed ) There's an automated spellcheck on here? She's probably using Firefox, which has a feature in it (when enabled) that spellchecks whatever you write. Sometimes it's annoying as it doesn't recognize commonly used words, but at least you can add whatever you want to the spellchecker's dictionary. I've come across this problem in Microsoft Word too. Oddly enough, my version of Word seems to know "Darth Vader." I don't remember ever teaching it that... Edited by DeadPoolX, 27 February 2008 - 07:35 PM.	DeadPoolX	Male	Canada	2008-02-27 19:34:00
Canada	The Vent	QUOTE (bradcanuck @ Oct 18 2007, 06:26 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}> QUOTE (Nini & Bee @ Oct 18 2007, 05:09 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}> I'm also stuck at home with the flu, and T-minus fifteen hours until the courthouse wedding. How exciting! Obviously not about the flu part... Vitamin C overdose time. I'd be careful there, if I were you. Too much Vitamin C can cause diarrhea. That's rarely a fun addition to anyone's weekend. QUOTE (Sprailenes @ Oct 19 2007, 12:17 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}> My uncle asked me on facebook today... "So you gave up free healthcare eh? Oh I'd just like to know what you are planning to do when you and your son get sick and you have to pay to see a doctor" People must think I am stupid. Yea I totally didn't think of this when I decided to move down here in the first place. I will get health care through my soon to be husbands work...it was one of his deciding factors when taking the job. The fact that it had a plan for the three of us. And I didn't give up free health care in Canada, I gave up extreme taxing. Yes I loved our health care in Canada, and I loved having a system that didn't discriminate but it was hardly "free". I would love a universal system down here but I don't think it is ever going to happen. I am just annoyed that people treat me like I am an idiot and didn't take these important things into consideration. Oh and my family has a divorce pool going. Isn't that nice? I have never been married before, and I have been with my fiance for over 4 years. They're being complete ####### - pardon my language. It seems some people just don't understand that there's no such thing as "free healthcare." I suppose the reason many believe it's "free" is because they end up paying with high taxes and not having to pay at other times, so they don't readily notice the money draining. The funds have to come from somewhere, so there's no way it could be "free" and remain operational. As for the "divorce poo," well... that's just sick. You'd like to believe that your family would want you to have a long and happy marriage; not taking bets on when and how you'll divorce! If they ever decide to quote statistics, which state that 50% of all marriage fail, make sure to point out that the numbers also mean that 50% of all marriages survive as well. That little fact gets glossed over, for some reason or another.	DeadPoolX	Male	Canada	2007-10-20 14:33:00
Canada	The loonie's demise	QUOTE (Emancipation @ Mar 9 2009, 09:03 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}> QUOTE (DeadPoolX @ Mar 7 2009, 10:57 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}> The current exchange rate is actually beneficial for me. Although I'm living in Canada, I have tons of accounts full of American money. My two most used credit cards are American, as well. So the U.S. dollar being worth more works out in my favor. You sound like a Nigerian email scam! Who says I'm not?	DeadPoolX	Male	Canada	2009-03-09 15:27:00
Canada	The loonie's demise	QUOTE (trailmix @ Mar 7 2009, 07:06 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}> QUOTE (eyoa @ Mar 7 2009, 01:02 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}> I'm very worried about the exchange rate. I've been saving up for quite a while now and was planning on using my savings to go towards a down-payment on a house when I move to the U.S. Now I'm thinking that I'll have to keep it in my Canadian account and wait until it gets better. I am kicking myself for not exchanging what I could when the dollar was par and better. What we did was open a U.S. dollar account with the TD, when the exchange rate went up we transferred the bulk of our savings over there - when the rate was good - so it would stay in U.S. dollars regardless of the exchange rate when we moved - plus having it online like that you can just go in to 'transfer' and have a look at the 'real' buy rate that day and make your decision then whether to convert to U.S. or not. Reena, as Sapphire said - the TD has a couple of good accounts that you might want to look at, depending on your balance (I'm sure other banks have them too). The value account is like $5 a month with limited transactions - like 4 - the RBC has a similar account. Or if you keep a balance of $3000 or more you have a variety of accounts to choose from where you won't pay any fees. I've got one of those, as well. The current exchange rate is actually beneficial for me. Although I'm living in Canada, I have tons of accounts full of American money. My two most used credit cards are American, as well. So the U.S. dollar being worth more works out in my favor.	DeadPoolX	Male	Canada	2009-03-07 10:57:00
Canada	My brother in the military?	I haven't said a whole lot about my brother on here. He and I tend to get along very well. In fact, I'd say we're best friends. So the following is a little concerning for me. My brother is currently in law school. He's told my dad and me that he wants to be a JAG (judge advocate general) and that has nothing to do with the TV show. I don't think my brother has even seen it as he mostly watches The History Channel and The Military Channel. After talking to all four branches, he decided that the Marine Corps had the best attitude and was the most interested in him. He apparently impressed the recruiters so much they invited him to lunch. I suppose they liked the fact he wasn't some kid with idealistic notions of becoming a hero or using the military as simply an "opportunity to attend college." My brother also knows a hell of lot about the military, ranging from history to weaponry. He could join this year, but he's putting that off. He wants to finish law school first and get in more time to exercise. He's said he'll need to be in perfect shape. So next year sometime, he'll be appointed a second lieutenant after undertaking OCS. The one issue I'm a little concerned about is that the recruiters told him point-blank that he'll get deployed to Afghanistan. My brother said he'd be in the "green zone" (which I assume means he'll be stationed on a base and away from the majority of combat), but you never know. My dad hasn't been told this yet. He doesn't entirely approve of my brother's choice (my dad thinks my brother could do better in a private law firm) and although he's not completely against it, I can't imagine he'll take the idea of deployment very well. All in all, I'm proud of him and happy to know he's doing something he really wants and enjoys. My brother has said that he really wants to "serve his country" and to him, that's more important than making millions.	DeadPoolX	Male	Canada	2009-03-09 15:41:00
Canada	how come processing time for Canada is longer than other countries	I think it's because Canadians are a threat to U.S. national security. Just think about it -- a Canadian coming over could bring steel-toothed beavers that spit maple syrup!	DeadPoolX	Male	Canada	2009-03-10 14:17:00
Canada	Why do I feel 2 inches tall	QUOTE (Udella&Wiz @ Mar 6 2009, 05:37 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}> $#@!%$# .............it gets better, now I'm in a really grump mood. We went and applied for a joint credit card so that I could ride in on my husband's coat tails. Keep in mind this is the man who singularly got our mortgage last Oct in Northern Virginia (to give you an idea of the housing prices)...no problem, his credit score is in excellent shape Wachovia denied our joint application for a new VISA...even though the chick at the bank said that this was a sure way to go, no worries...she even understood the situation since she herself was an immigrant. Not enough credit history they said - which is an obvious comment on my status. I feel like I have no where left to turn since now there are 2 denied inquiries on my record.....and I don't even have a credit score!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! We're going back to our own bank tomorrow to beg I guess and see if they'll use my Cdn SIN to have a look at my Cdn history Get a printout of your Canadian credit history. I don't know if showing it to them will matter, but if they have to do less work, they might be interested in at least examining it.	DeadPoolX	Male	Canada	2009-03-07 10:54:00
Canada	Why do I feel 2 inches tall	QUOTE (J&K @ Feb 15 2009, 06:41 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}> Also, I believe the reason that the US and Canada do not share credit reports are this: We do not have the same type of Socials (which is how they are mainly reported...although you would be surprised that they DO NOT need it to pull your report . And with Collections, there are different laws for the US and Canada regarding Collection Agencies, so how would they be able to regulate that? That's my 2cents on that. I have been reading up and learning A LOT about Credit and how it reports, your rights and such for about 3 years now. My hubby had terrible Credit, and since I handle the finances, I took on the load of fixing and learning what could be done. Also, with myself in building a credit history for myself! I am here to help if anyone wants For the most part, I absolutely agree with you. However, from what I've been told, one of the main reasons neither side checks the other's credit history is because it'd be a hassle on their part. They could do it, but that would mean more work for them since the credit rating wouldn't be readily available. I don't know if TD checked my credit rating (which is absolutely fantastic) when applying for their best credit card, but whatever happened, they gave it to me. The credit limit was lower ($5,000) than my American cards, but I was more than happy, considering the situation.	DeadPoolX	Male	Canada	2009-02-15 12:35:00
Canada	Why do I feel 2 inches tall	I think TD was able to look up my credit history. I was able to get a Visa Infinite First Class credit card (apparently their "best" CC), but then again, I did sign up for their Select Service account. As for the CC itself, there's only a $5,000 limit on it right now. Maybe that seems a like a lot -- and I'm sure it is compared to many secured credit cards -- but my American CC's much, much higher credit limits on them. Something else to consider is that banks in the U.S. have been going through some very rough times lately. They may not be the most lenient when it comes to credit cards right now. I know the OP was talking about a Target CC, but there's a bank somewhere giving Target the permission to use it. I have both a credit card and a rewards card at The Bay and I was initially turned down for the CC. The reason was that the bank giving permission to The Bay thought I have insufficient credit. Edited by DeadPoolX, 14 February 2009 - 12:03 PM.	DeadPoolX	Male	Canada	2009-02-14 12:02:00
Canada	What could be better than 14 babies?	What's really sad about this isn't the mother or the litter she had. It's the publicity the media is giving her. I realize that sounds odd, but the media -- at least for a time -- was celebrating her unusual situation. She not only got the attention she was looking for, but other women may attempt to "do better" and "beat" this woman's record. Once again, that may sound odd, but it's a very real possibility. People can be very weird, especially if they already have a screw or two loose.	DeadPoolX	Male	Canada	2009-02-07 11:40:00
Canada	Embarrassing Moments	This isn't an embarrassing moment, but it certainly counts as a stupid one. One morning my wife was making eggs for breakfast. Out of nowhere, I suddenly said to her: "You know... you have eggs too." My wife took one look at the eggs she was cooking and replied, "Great. Now I can't eat these."	DeadPoolX	Male	Canada	2009-03-13 03:01:00
Canada	Embarrassing Moments	I'm not sure if I'd call either of these my "most embarrassing" moment, but both certainly stick out in my mind. 1. In my Freshman year of high school, I had English class first thing in the morning. High school began at 7:30 AM, so I was always a little groggy. One day I was apparently too tired and I somehow managed to knock myself -- and my desk -- over and onto the floor. The other kids laugh, of course. The teacher walked up to me and said, "Good morning." 2. This took place in Junior High, but one day, in the cafeteria, I had managed to spill spaghetti sauce (or what passed for it) on my shorts. Dropping food on yourself is normally somewhat embarrassing, but when you drop chunky blood-red sauce onto your crotch in Junior High, you're bound for trouble. I raced to the men's bathroom and attempted to wash it off. That didn't work too well and when some other kids came in, they took one look at me and started making "he's having his period" jokes.	DeadPoolX	Male	Canada	2009-02-12 04:09:00
Canada	NEW CANADIANS TO US & US CREDIT	I'd recommend getting a copy of your Canadian credit report. Maybe that won't help, but if you can present that to American banks, they might consider it. It's certainly worth a shot. You're no worse off if it doesn't work.	DeadPoolX	Male	Canada	2009-03-13 02:55:00
Canada	How did everyone meet their american/canadian significant others?	I've tried WoW and I didn't like it. I have plenty of friends who're addicted. My wife and I prefer Guild Wars. Anyway... my wife and I met on an official (and by official, I mean company-run) message board for different Sierra On-Line adventure games. The one forum in which we had the most interaction was for a game called Gabriel Knight. I spent most of my time in the Starsiege forum while she did the same with the Quest For Glory forum. Fast forward a few years and we got to talking in a chat room. We spoke privately and formed a relationship. I then decided I'd like to visit her. She thought that was a great idea. So I did. After that we began visiting each other, but had to space it all out due to work and cost. Traveling from Texas to Canada (or vice-versa) can be a pricey situation. Obviously the relationship progressed and we eventually got married. Around August of 2008, I immigrated to Canada since doing so is a lot faster than the other way around.	DeadPoolX	Male	Canada	2009-02-08 13:07:00
Canada	What am I forgetting?	My wife has been down to the U.S. (mostly Houston, TX) several times and for the most part, she's said food tastes very similar. She did note that the ketchup might have tasted a little different, but nothing really worth noticing. She doesn't eat much junk food and prefers to cook items herself, so some of the products here she wouldn't know if they tasted different or not. I haven't noticed anything tasting different. Maybe I don't eat enough junk food to notice it, either. However, two thing that do bug me are... 1. Why is iced tea automatically sweetened? I hate that! In Houston the iced tea was always served unsweetened and if you wanted it sweetened, you'd ask for "sweet tea" instead. 2. I was really shocked when I found out that restaurants don't automatically offer free refills. I discovered this one time when my wife and I were out somewhere and the waiter asked if my wife wanted a refill. My wife looked at me for some reason, and without thinking, I said yes. Why not, right? They're always free. So when the bill came, I was more than a little annoyed. I figured the waiter shouldn't have offered to get a refill if I had to pay for it or at the very least, he should have specified. My wife said that unless the menu specifically states "free refills" then they don't offer it (which is why she was a little surprised when I immediately said "yes" to the refill). Before coming to Canada, I hadn't been to a place that didn't offer free refills since the 1980s. I didn't give the waiter a very good tip. Whether or not that's the norm in Canada, I felt that a waiter shouldn't offer to get someone something without stating it'll cost the patron.	DeadPoolX	Male	Canada	2009-03-31 16:14:00
Canada	what does the dmv ask for when registering canadian car in us	Try this site: http://www.dmv.org/	DeadPoolX	Male	Canada	2009-03-31 16:51:00
Canada	Canadian High School education vs. US High School education	QUOTE (BermyCat @ Mar 21 2009, 09:17 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}> Phil is a prime example of July09bride's fourth point. He left teaching because he couldn't handle the politics and the obstacles put in his way when he tried non-traditional ways to capture his students interests. It's a shame really. I'm sure he was a great teacher. We've run kids fishing tornaments together and he's just fantastic with impressing the rules and techniques on the kids as well as helping them with the actual fishing. The tornaments ranged from little four-year-olds to teenagers. Now he's an ecologist and helping to preserve the wetlands in Georgia. ~ Catherine I have a friend who was a teacher -- and she loved it -- but she eventually quit. Teachers in the U.S. have their hands tied. They can't enforce any sort of discipline in their classrooms or parents get angry. I don't mean using a paddle, but even if a teacher speaks loudly or makes some sort of disciplinary action, the parents can complain and even bring a lawsuit against the teacher and school. It doesn't help matters that the administration was always on the parents' side on issues. My friend would get in trouble for attempting to maintain order in her classroom. Another problem was that parents refused to take responsibility for their children. If their kids acted up, it was because of the teacher -- not due to anything the parents themselves might have done or not done. It's a shame too. America's supply of teachers is dwindling. Why shouldn't it? Lousy pay, no respect, students and parents gang up on you... the entire field needs a huge overhaul.	DeadPoolX	Male	Canada	2009-03-31 17:07:00