The Super Dooper Canadian Thread (now with 47% more Canadian Bacon)
Guys, guys. Guess what?
I went to the doctor two weeks ago and got a full check up with full spectrum bloodwork, and a Tetanus immunization. Got a prescription for a steroid nasal inhaler as well. And I PAID NOTHING.
I went to the doctor two weeks ago and got a full check up with full spectrum bloodwork, and a Tetanus immunization. Got a prescription for a steroid nasal inhaler as well. And I PAID NOTHING.
I can do that, too, as long as I use a military treatment facility. No copay. No deductible. Just my husband leaves for 6-8 months straight about every other year.
So what you're saying is it's win, win, win??
Just kidding, deployments are hard.
But you do live in the most beautiful state. so that's a good thing.I tell people I married him for his furniture (mine at the time was shot), his shorter last name, and the health insurance. It is win, win, win! Hahaha! Deployments suck no matter where you live. You just make the best of it.So what you're saying is it's win, win, win??
Just kidding, deployments are hard.
9 times out of 10 he's on a ship so I don't think much about him being shot. I do think about all he's missing out on as far as what our children are doing, birthdays, our anniversary, holidays and other special dates. I think about how it sucks that I'm married, but still a single parent for 6 -8 months. I think about how it would be nice to have a tight hug and a kiss on my forehead when my days are particularly crappy. I wish he was home when the kids get sick and then I come down with it once they're well. I think about how I haven't gotten an email from him, or to him, in days because the ship's email server is down...again. Am I sharing too much on FB? Did I post enough pictures for him because I can't email them since the ship's servers bounce them all back to me. I worry about him getting enough sleep, being able to eat on a semi-regular schedule, is he sick, is he cold, is he as lonely as I am, does he even have time to think about any of this craziness that goes through my head because being in his job means that sometimes he is running for days with about 2 or 3 hours of sleep total. I worry that maybe this time will be the one that breaks us beyond repair (which is more of an irrational thought than a true concern). I worry about how defeated and tired he sounds in the last call I got from him while they were in port. I make excuses to celebrate with my kids as each month passes because it means it is that much closer to him being home and we are making it through. I worry about my son who holds in his feelings until he finally breaks down in a sobbing mess because he misses Daddy so much. I think about what homecoming will be like - have I gained too much weight, does the house look clean enough, will he be truly happy to see us, will the switch from ship life to home life be overwhelming?
So, yes, the deployments themselves are bothersome. Most of us military spouses just don't let that show because we get sick of hearing "you knew what you were getting into when you married him (or her as the case may be)". We're expected to handle it like pros, with grace and a casserole to put in the freezer.[DOUBLEPOST=1392497768,1392497619][/DOUBLEPOST]Sorry for hijacking the Canadian thread. :/
I grew up in Calgary. This could be almost any month of the year.
Christ is this one true. Not this year though, March 1st is going to be a deep freeze this year.
Dammit, Calgary's mayor is the mayor Toronto needs, but not the one we deserve. We get Rob Ford, because we deserve a loud mouth cracksmoking bully for a mayor.
http://www.theglobeandmail.com//new...lan/article17170003/?cmpid=rss1&click=dlvr.it
http://www.theglobeandmail.com//new...lan/article17170003/?cmpid=rss1&click=dlvr.it
I'm with you, Mr. Nenshi. I don't get it either.
Ya, well, Calgary City Council in general (I have not lived there since Nenshi has been in, so I will not comment specifically) has the most idiotic track record on mass transit. Go downtown where there's massive density of jobs? OK, makes sense. Then where do you go when you expand mass transit for totally new branches? Not just extending existing lines. Do you go to:
A) A high-density industrial area where there are many jobs for the lowest-income people, so that those who are most likely to use it (low income) can get to/from their jobs easily, rather than 1.5 hour times due to multiple bus transfers. (Foothills industrial Park)
B) An area of high growth of relatively-lower income suburbs that are growing quickly so that the same reason as A), but at least they're getting ON the trains close to home. (Just about anywhere except where they chose to go with it)
C) To the airport so we can actually connect the international airport to the transit system like most other big cities do (Vancouver, Chicago, LA, and I'm sure many MANY others).
D) To the area of the new hospital in the extreme south-east, that just so happens will also serve case A), as well as some other new office developments like Quarry Park.
E) High-income housing near Million-plus-as-a-rule housing for those who least needed it. (Westhills and beyond)
F) Dead-end inside of a community so you can never expand it further. (North-east line)
If you chose E) and F), that's what actually happened. They could have kept going to the airport easily if they'd kept going STRAIGHT on the north-east line, but instead took a right turn and decided to dead-end it in a community, so it's kind of stuck now without bulldozing a lot of houses. Heck, diverting and going for new communities up there may even be fine, if they didn't then paint themselves into a corner. F) is Westhills and further up the hill to the west. They put it into a high-income area with decent (nowhere is great) access via car.
They should have put transit through Foothills industrial park DECADES ago, and then just keep running it south-east down to where the SE Hospital is now. That would have been ideal. Run it under and/or near the Calf Rope Bridge near the existing CN yard and Inglewood, etc. Or even up 17th Ave SE, and then turn right (south) along 52nd and go all the way down south. There are multiple ways to make it work. And last I heard it IS officially in the plan... for someday... maybe. They'll just keep putting it near their high-income donors first so they can "ride the wind" once or twice a year when they're not either cycling or driving in their BMWs.
It's lunacy. Has been for many many years.
P.S. "Ride the wind" is the slogan for transit now, since they're buying all their electricity via wind power for mass transit. Which I'll actually say might be halfway plausible since it's always f'n windy in SW Alberta where they have a bunch of wind farms. And apologies to anybody in older or cheaper housing near the new west branch of the C-train, but it really is a hugely high-income developments one after another out there for the most part and not full of people that have necessity to use transit due to income levels.
/rant off
What he's commenting on though, is that here in Toronto, the city council spent a bunch of money getting experts to assess the situation, they agreed with the provincial government assessment that an LRT extension was the most appropriate route. The provincial government agreed to pony up the cash for it. Rob Ford said "No. No LRTS. Subways. Because reasons." More money spent on surveying the situation, experts come back with "Yeah, subway doesn't really make sense here, Rob. LRT is the way to go." Provincial government says it won't provide the cash for a subway. Rob Ford says "NO. LRTS. SUBWAAAAAAAAAAYS". Somehow, eventually, his stupid subway gets approved. Then gets mad when the city council approves a tax increase TO PAY FOR HIS SUBWAY.
So he is spending more (Municipal tax money as opposed to provincial handout) to serve less people (Due to the nature of building these things, the subway stops have to be located in far less convenient places for the Scarborough residents who would be taking it than where the LRTs would have been located. )
Also the money being spent here out of the city's coffers could have been spent on the Downtown Relief line the city needs far more but which doesn't ever seem to be in any serious consideration due to its cost, which would serve just about the entire city's worth of TTC riders by relieving congestion on the two biggest lines, instead of serving the 1/6th of the TTC riders who would be taking the Scarborough line. Again, could have served more people that way. Granted the cost of this subway extension would be a drop in the bucket of what the Downtown relief line will cost, but the money would help.
Whether Nenshi and Calgary's transit works or not, he is right in his assessment of Ford. He was told by the Provincial Government and every transit infrastructure expert, city planner, financial expert and surveyor that an LRT made the most sense, was offered a handout to get it done, and refused because in his mind LRT= streetcar, subway= magic re-election spell (The sad thing is he may very well be right about the last part).
Well, they subsidise the rest of Canadian media...
So, according to moneysense.ca, my little suburb of Edmonton is the best place in Canada to live. Suck it down losers.
http://www.moneysense.ca/canadas-best-places-to-live-2014-full-ranking
http://www.moneysense.ca/canadas-best-places-to-live-2014-full-ranking
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The end of March break. Everyone's headed home. It's the first best place to stop for the night on the main route south out of eastern Ontario. Pittsburgh is too expensive, little Washington and Waynesburg are always sold out. We're next.
Is it just me or is the ridiculous conservative 15 second commercials slamming Trudeau over and over and over...... the past few months simply making them want to blindly vote the for the guy?
If that's their plan, they achieved it. God knows I can't vote for a party who wastes this much time, money and effort with baseless accusations on this guy and I'm not voting for the PQ....
If that's their plan, they achieved it. God knows I can't vote for a party who wastes this much time, money and effort with baseless accusations on this guy and I'm not voting for the PQ....