The anniversary of my landing in Canada was spent in the States. Yes, I've been here for a year - officially.Crossing the border into the States at the Peace Arch turned out not to be a problem. There is an electronic sign just before you get there, advising you of how long the delay is likely to be. On a Friday evening, I felt I was pretty lucky to get away with 40 minutes, 40 minutes it said, and 40 minutes it was.
Inside the Peace Arch are gates, low, iron gates. Along the side it says, 'may these gates never be closed.' That is to say should relations between Canada and the US become too frosty, or too heated, the gates may close and none shall set foot in the other country. Unless of course, as with the Maginot line, you just walk around the side.
The weekend was rainy, as forecast. Friday afternoon - bloody, intolerably hot. During the night, rain started drumming on the roof and kept up most of Saturday and today.
Nonetheless, I walked a trail in the State Park, I enjoyed that, and I went swimming in the pool on the complex.
And I whinged at Kevin.
'Why do they have one dollar bills? Why don't they have coins like us and Europe? It's stupid, it's not convenient, it's backward,'
'Their currency is very important to them, they don't like anyone messing with the greenback.'
'Hrmph. Why isn't there any recycling?'
'Yes, that is a good question, people obviously want it on site, they pile recyclables separately by the garbage,'
'Maybe you can ask at the reception,'
'They don't know where there is any recycling,'
'Hrmph.'
'Why doesn't anyone make sausages as good as Walls?'
'That's your opinion,'
'These are inedible, that's not my opinion,'
'It kinda is,'
'Hrmph.'
But it is nice to be surrounded by even more flora and fauna than usual. Naturally I had decided my camera battery would last, and it didn't, it died.
Between swimming and walking, we watched the first series of Boston Legal a series we came late to, and only then after several reminders from Sleepy. And thank goodness.
I am considering whether Shirley Schmidt should replace Kate Janeway as my top Top Woman. I love them both, I think I'll have to leave them both in place.
It reminded me also of something else I always knew to be true, the word 'naughty' has to be said in an English accent to sound truly, truly naughty. That's not just my opinion, that's the truth.
6 comments:
We have dollar bills in the US to use in the vending machines. Vending machines are not made to take $1 coins. Besides, $1 coins are very unpopular here. Several years back they came out with the Susan B. Anthony one dollar coin. Nobody would use them and they were confused with quarters. They were a bit larger than quarters but they were silver, like the quarters. So, next the one dollar coin was Sacagewa dollar. That coin is a bronze color. Its not been well received either. The latest dollar coins will be a series of President coins. The first has been issued, of George Washington. Four new dollars will be issued this year. In several years, the gov't will run into a problem. Some regulation states that a president needs to be deceased a certain number of years before a coin with their image can be made.
Why do the government give ppl a choice? If they just replaced notes with coins, everyone would have to use them.
The 'choice' would be that democracy thing in action...
(I nearly kept a straight face typing that! It's gone now! hehehe)
Look who they have as Presdident? The whole country is '9Y4', they couldn't cope with counting coins either!
Sorry!
Was that Naughty?
(Full, North London, English Accent with that one!)
When we were in Borders across the border, they were selling a 'Countdown to the end of Bush's term' calendar. The assistant said it was their hottest selling item. I said I hoped the last page was a picture of Hillary.
Funnily... That was NOT what I was hoping for on the last page!
Post a Comment