biggish data

The Vent

Up had coffee, cut the lawn and did the dishes already how sad is that for a Sunday morning. Soon off to starting the laundry and such.

Leafgal

Female

Canada

2008-04-27 08:18:00

Pop Vs. Soda Debate

The State of New Jersey and I think Washington (somewhere out west anyway) have a law that does not allow consumers to pump their own gas, the gas monkeys have to do it. Every other state is pretty much self - serve, and I kid you not, I had NEVER pumped my own gas before I moved down here. NEVER. And I'd been driving for well over 20 years

I always lived and worked near to a full service station and figured I could afford the extra half a penny for someone else to pump it. The smell makes me nauseous even still :

One time I went to rent a car here in town and asked my hubby if he'd go fill it up for me before I left (was driving out to see a friend and he needed my truck to get to work). The lady behind the counter asked if I was from New Jersey, I said "Nope, Canada, I've never had to pump my own gas before

" She thought it was rather a novel idea to have someone pump gas for you.

I have yet to find a full service station in this state. People keep telling me they're around here somewhere, but I can't find 'em.

Reba

Female

2008-12-17 07:17:00

Pop Vs. Soda Debate

Here in Western NC everyone pretty much says coke, no matter what it is they're drinking. Or just a generic drink. "wanna drink with that?" at McDonald's means "do you want a carbonated beverage?" To me however, drink means alcohol, and sadly they don't serve at McDonald's.

My Aunt and Uncle who used to spend A LOT of time in Florida call it soft drink. As did most of their neighbours, no matter where they were from originally. Not sure if that's a Florida thing, or if because of the vast range of nations living in the trailer park, and to settle the argument they all decided to use "soft drink" or what

I had a friend from Port aux Basque Newfoundland that called everything Pepsi, even if she wanted a ginge rale, she'd ask for Pepsi.

To me its all pop, and will be forever. If they don't know what the heck I'm talking about, they'll just have to get used to it

Reba

Female

2008-12-16 07:28:00

Not Eligible for EI

What she said! ^^

And to further that, the stipulation from Canadian law is that in order to receive EI benefits, you must be "willing and able" to work. If you are in a foreign country without work authorization, you are not able to work, so ineligible for EI benefits. So for a K1, once your 90 day I-94 expires, you are not eligible for benefits until you get your EAD (date of marriage has no effect). For a K3 holder, you're not eligible for EI benefits until you get your EAD, which is at minimum 3 months after you enter the US. For a CR1/IR1 holder, it would be immediately after you get to the US.

Reba

Female

2008-12-21 10:48:00

Christmas Greetings on the Winter Solstice

Happy Yule and Christmas and Hannukah and ...

Reba

Female

2008-12-22 19:12:00

I dunno what we've got now, some sort of LG something or other. They're 3 years old now, and I can make one phone call per full battery charge. And we're not about to spend much money on phones we only use sporadically, like "hey honey, I'm in CVS, what kinda itch cream did you want again?" and stuff like that. I have no interest in QWERTY keyboards or text messaging or taking photos or or or. I just want a phone. I don't think they exist anymore.

The reason we went with Verizon was entirely for the all inclusive long distance plan. None of the other carriers at the time had one, or if they did it cost a whole lot more to include Canada in the plan. Our cell phones used to be our primary phones, until we started getting nickle and dimed to death whenever someone from Canada called me! Then I got a Vonage for home, much much cheaper on the budget!

Reba

Female

2008-12-22 19:32:00

New York state somewhere.

Ain't gonna happen now though since the market crashed we can't sell our house here for anything near what it's actually worth, so we won't have money to buy a house anywhere else.

Reba

Female

2008-12-21 10:49:00

Yeah, we have the Verizon unlimited long distance plan, which includes unlimited long distance for all of North America and Puerto Rico. We've had it for 5 or 6 years now.

I hate that with Verizon (and probably other US phone plans) you CANNOT buy a new phone unless you renew the 2 year contract. I never had that problem with Bell Mobility. When my phone died after my initial contract, I just went and got a new phone and continued my service month-to-month. We tried to get new phones last time here and they wouldn't let us without renewing the 2 year contract. So we did, but now those phones are about dead (convenient how batteries last about 2 years innit?

) but since we were thinking about moving we don't want to renew a contract and then find out after we move that our phones don't work or we'd get charged extra fees or something to move the plan out of state

Reba

Female

2008-12-21 10:42:00

I didn't have a contract left with Bell when I moved, I was just going month to month, but I had a helluva time to get them to cancel my phone! I sent them I dunno how many notices that I had moved and please cancel the phone service, and they just kept billing me every month. Luckily it wasn't automatic withdrawl, otherwise I would have had to get medival on somebody's #######. They tried to get a collections agency after me, but I won, because I kept all my records from the first time I asked them to cancel the phone, and every month after that for about 6 months

eejits.

And I think US phone companies nickle and dime you worse than Canadian companies. I mean really, why the heck do they need to charge you for IN-coming calls from some network other than the one you're on? Rediculous

Reba

Female

2008-12-20 09:27:00

Montreal Interview: small purses?

You also cannot take any food, drinks or electronics with you. So leave the cell phone and Ipod and your breakfast at the hotel. When I went they confiscated a tube of lip balm when I went in.

I got it back afterward though.

Just put your interview documents in a plastic shopping bag, or a cheap-o accordian file folder. And don't put any photos in a scrap book or photo album, it won't fit thru the interview window, they need to be loose.

Reba

Female

2008-12-26 10:24:00

Considering Abondoning it all

I'm sorry you're having troubles Brad

I don't have much to add, other than a hug {{{{{{{{{{{{hug}}}}}}}}}}}

Reba

Female

2008-12-18 19:52:00

bananas are not allowed on my diet. Can I have turnips instead please?

Reba

Female

2008-12-27 10:29:00

QUOTE

I said nice and very considerate Americans. Imagine that -- the stereotype isn't set in stone.

I never said it was. You though said you are encouraged by your government to be so. So perhaps it is at least on paper somewhere in your Born American handbook

And yeah, there are tonnes and tonnes of incredibly rude Canadians. The myth that we're all nice and tidy is just that, a myth, of which I am well aware, I did live there for 37 years after all

. And I don't think anyone here has said anything otherwise. However, it still remains true that for some reason, Americans are just not looked upon as favourably in foreign nations as Canadians are.

I know plenty of nice and polite Americans, Italians, British, Greek, and Indians. And I also know plenty of rude and obnoxious ones as well.

People are a world wide epidemic.

Reba

Female

2008-12-26 10:20:00

I dunno Deadpool, I've never heard horror stories about dealing with rude foreign tourists here in the US other than the Japanese clogging up sidewalks while they all stand around taking photos. And perhaps the drunken snowbirds in Florida for spring break. What specifically are you refering to?

Reba

Female

2008-12-25 08:31:00

So Americans are encouraged by the government to be loud and unruly when they visit foreign nations?

Reba

Female

2008-12-24 07:24:00

I hadn't intended to say anything negative at all about Americans. And I don't believe I did. I was just stating that Canadian passports are looked upon more favourably than American ones in some countries. Even my American husband has said so. And my Aunt, who has 3 citizenships, UK, Canada and US, will only travel using her Canadian passport.

I think it has a lot to do with how America (the government, not Americans the people) handles foreign affairs. Which is not always very well unfortunately. Perhaps that will change some day.

Reba

Female

2008-12-22 19:26:00

I stand by what I posted, its not only opinion, but fact. There are countries in this world who view Canadian passports looked upon more favourably than American passports. I believe there are even countries where Americans are required to get a tourist visa before entering, but Canadians are not.

Peter Jennings was an international reporter for how many years for a US network? He NEVER travelled on his US passport. He always used his Canadian passport when out on assignment, and for personal travel.

I have friends who are Canadian of Irish descent. On a trip to Ireland they were stopped on the street at gun point and asked their nationality, they immediately said "Canadian" the soldier said "sorry, we thought you were American, off you go".

Reba

Female

2008-12-22 07:34:00

Once a Canadian, always a Canadian. And even if you get US citizenship thru naturalization, you should always still keep your Canadian passport current for when you travel home to Canada. And for international travel, a Canadian passport is still looked upon more favourably than an American one.

Reba

Female

2008-12-21 10:33:00

The professional categories guarantor rules no longer apply Ant, a guarantor can be any passport holding Canadian citizen.

Reba

Female

2008-12-20 09:21:00

debt when moving

You can keep the accounts active and just change your address on them and they'll send your statements to that new address. You can then either send them payments in US $ on a US bank account, or you can keep a Canadian bank account open to make payments thru that. With the internet you don't really even need to have an exchange of paper, it can all be internet based and paperless.

Reba

Female

2008-12-27 10:31:00

proof of intent to return

Perhaps a letter from your ex-husband stating that he fully expects you to be returning on a specific date to come and get your children back.

Reba

Female

2009-01-01 09:24:00

New Year's Resolutions

I made a resolution about a decade ago to not make anymore New Year's resolutions. Its the only one I've ever been able to stick to

Happy New Year.

Reba

Female

2009-01-01 09:29:00

RRSP's....another money question.

The US doesn't have RRSPs, and there is no consideration for Canadians to transfer funds into any sort of similar US account.

You can either leave them in Canada, but you'll have to do some sort of paperwork with the IRS I think every year to claim it. I never did understand that part, so I just cashed mine in and took the 25% ding on the taxes. But I waited until the new year, so that it would be income for the new year, and not tacked on to my last year in Canada and knock me up into a higher bracket.

I cashed mine and put it into a locked CD, just because I couldn't figure out what else to do with it.

Talk with the administrator of your account to find out what your options are. I do believe however that if you use the money to buy a house, that you have to pay it back within a certain amount of years, I imagine the same may be true for university tuitions.

Reba

Female

2008-09-10 06:28:00

TN Visa

so sayeth zyggy

Reba

Female

2009-01-06 19:55:00

TN Visa

A renewal of TN may well be denied because of your marital status now. If you apply for AOS asap, you may have an EAD within time before your current TN expires (usually takes 90 days from receipt date to get EAD). Yes, you should most definitely apply for AP at the same time as your AOS and EAD. They're all included in the same processing fee anyhow if you submitt them together, so save yourself some heartache and some money. If you submitt them semparately, you have to pay extra.

Get it done as soon as you can. Faster even if possible.

Reba

Female

2009-01-05 07:35:00

TN Visa Changes

QUOTE (Marcus Leon @ Jan 6 2009, 05:34 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>

I received a new TN Oct/08 in Toronto and it was only for one year. I asked about the three year length and they it was still a one year limit. Any ideas?

They hadn't enacted it yet in October I don't think.

Reba

Female

2009-01-08 19:18:00

ADD - ADHD - hyperactive - have you encountered this with your children

I don't have children of my own, and don't know many school age kids here in the US, but back in Ontario, holy #######, the public school systems REALLY try to push ADD/ADHD diagnoses and get kids on drugs. for every child on ritalin in a public school in Ontario, they get an extra $1000. So, any "problem" children they have diagnosed and put on drugs. Its money grubbing IMO. And in most cases, the child is not even a "problem" child, they're just bored.

In some cases, yes, the child has some sort of mental disability, however, because of school pressure to have kids on ritalin and the like, the kids are sometimes being mis-diagnosed and putting them on ritalin is exactly the wrong thing to do. A friend of mine back home has a daughter who was/is quite a handful. She was mis-diagnosed as ADHD, was on ritalin for several years, and never really had much improvement while on it. My friend was THREATENED by the school system to either drug her daughter, or her daughter would be expelled from school, and unable to attend any other in that district! Can you IMAGINE! My friend could not afford to quit her job and home school the girl, nor could she afford private school, she had no choice but to drug her daughter. She's 18 now, and worse off than she was before she started the meds. She refused to take them after a while, quit school, left home and moved in with a boyfriend and got pregnant.

My sister has a son, (he's now 7) who when he started kindergarten she was told by his teacher that he's "obviously ADD" and she should get him some ritalin. My sister asked why, has he been acting up in class? Not paying attention? Having tantrums? Any sort of bad bahaviour usually associated with ADD? The teacher said "no, he's just always off on his own, quiet, doesn't play with others, and he never looks at me and smiles like the other kids do". So, anyone who has half a brain would think "wow, obviously NOT ADD you eejit!" But the teacher and principal forced my sister to take him for evaluation, because the teacher just "couldn't deal with him" and woo hoo! Aunty Becky was right, he's autistic.

I seriously wanted to go up there and beat the ####### out of that teacher, she was just hateful to my sister and my nephew. ugh!

Just before this past Christmas my nephew got an award at school for bravery. He volunteered to go read a book to the kindergarten class

Reba

Female

2009-01-08 19:00:00

silly question

pick the date you decided to start the K1 paperwork.

Parties are parties, rings are rings, they're not "engagement". They are niceties that not everyone in the world adheres to when it comes to getting married. And they're not a prerequisite to getting a fiancee visa.

Reba

Female

2009-01-09 07:26:00

Marriage in Alberta?

QUOTE (Ber + Ter @ Jan 10 2009, 01:17 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>

That's really comforting. <3 The plan would be to get married in February and then send off the paperwork in March before he is deployed.

And for address that I'd be living, could I put his mothers? I'm welcome to stay there until I can move on base or where ever my husband would be staying. xD

Yes, you can use his address of record in the US. Or his parent's address if his address of record is different. Doesn't matter really, you just have to put some US address on it. Preferably one that matches your husband's address.

Reba

Female

2009-01-10 09:19:00

Marriage in Alberta?

um...I thought you said you were getting married in Canada before he's deployed? If you get married in Canada, you can't petition/apply for a K1.

Reba

Female

2009-01-09 20:55:00

Marriage in Alberta?

You get the marriage certificate after the ceremony from the county office in which you get married. Same place you'll have to get the license probably in order to get married. GOOGLE your county offices and look for the "license" office, or registrar or whichever does marriage licensing. Your parents or married friends or family at least should be familiar with the process.

Once you have the certificate I'd suggest you get started on the I-130 petition right away while your then husband is deployed. By the time his tour is done, your CR1 should also be completed and you can move right away. If you wait until his deployment is completed to start it, then it'll be another year after that before you'll be together.

Reba

Female

2009-01-09 07:34:00

Beer Thread

Since I moved down here, I'll drink anything with a Samuel Adams label on it. They're all really good, and I like the seasonal packs that'll have a few different flavours in it. We currently have a 12 pack of Summer Ale in the frige, as they didn't have any seasonal 12 packs at the store

We also have 1 can of Boddington's Pub Ale left (English import)

If I don't buy Sam's I usually buy an English or Irish import. There are a couple of micro-brews around that are good, but we don't get to them often enough. One of them was selling in stores for a short while, but I haven't seen them in quite some time so I guess they stopped.

When at home I like Sleeman's (nope, not available in the US). Algonquin is good too, (Ontario micro, apparently recently bought by Brick.) Trafalgar Brewery (Oakville?) used to supply the Ontario Rennaisance Faire (before it died) and they have some pretty good brews and meads.

I prefer the English style of brews, darker heavier. I don't really like the German or Belgian styles, but there are some that are ok.

Bit of trivia...Canadian brews were styled after English brewers, and US brews were styled after the German. Hence, the difference in major label beers. Anheuser, Coors, Miller, they all just give me instant headaches.

Reba

Female

2008-07-13 08:24:00

Question... Couldn't find it in the guides...

type would be CR1

Reba

Female

2009-01-16 07:11:00

Child born on flight over Canada deemed Canadian citizen

I'm surprised the airline even let her board the flight.

Reba

Female

2009-01-09 07:30:00

So when Canadian soldiers start heading for the US when they don't want another tour in Afghanistan, what will the Coalition say?

buncha eejits

Reba

Female

2009-01-21 18:55:00

QUOTE (charles! @ Jan 12 2009, 11:10 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>

reba, they did those people a favor. anyone overweight in basic is put thru the wringer by the d.i. - and yes, they'll lose weight, but it's very unpleasant.

Of which I am well aware. James is a Marine, he's told me many stories about his DI when he was going thru BT. And he did a couple extra weeksfor specialized training. I know quite a few military types from all branches who have somehow managed to survive BT.

Main reason I never joined up with the Canadian forces (had actually considered it after highschool for a bit) but I knew I'd never make it thru training.

I was surprised in the article that their idea of an "acceptable" BMI is as high as it is at 30. I guess they figure the 6 weeks of jumping over walls and thru hoops will shed some of that.

Reba

Female

2009-01-13 07:29:00

I read an article just today that the US military turned away more than 40,000 potential recruits because they couldn't qualify for BT. Too fat.

http://www.foxnews.c...,479238,00.html

Pretty sad really when the country is up to its eyeballs in 2 wars, and can't even get some fresh bodies over there because anyone who wants to join is too fat

James said he may sign up again just to go to fat farm

Reba

Female

2009-01-12 19:28:00

Yeah, how many US deserters has Canada sent back now? I can recall at least 3, and previous articles I've read said there could be as many as a few dozen still in Canada awaiting trial.

Why do they keep going there if they know the Canadian government is just going to send them back?

Of course, it takes Canada about 3 years it would appear to get them to trial, so I guess they get 3 years of a taste of Canadian life while they wait.

Reba

Female

2009-01-12 07:24:00

not everyone is cut out to be a military spouse though desertfox. I can understand her stressing about it. Its not a life that some people can handle, and understandably really. Even though he wouldn't be "on the front lines" necessarily, he could potentially be stationed somewhere not too pleasant, leaving her behind Stateside or on a base somewhere foreign.

Gal, I suggest you speak with your husband about your concerns, and have him find out for sure exactly what it is he's getting himself into. If even he's not sure right now, (as it sounds), he may be in for a big surprise when he gets to the point of finding out what he's signing up for.

Reba

Female

2009-01-10 09:16:00