Random Rants LXIX: Life is a Dismal Chore

[Takhisis]

DIsgraced aristocrats often flee to the colonies. It happened/happens in the British, French, Spanish, Portuguese, etc. empires, so I don't see why the US shouldn't do the same.

 

[Valka D'Ur]

Bagpiping has been kept alive in large part to annoy the English, and playing music of spite is the very definition of punk.

Huh. Most people in Canada, that I've noticed, like bagpipes. There was a local pipe band that used to practice outside at the Armouries at the end of the block where I lived in my grandparents' house. I'd put the dog on the leash and we'd go over, find a log to sit on, and listen.

Mind you, it can be a bit much when the annual Highland Games are held on a field nearby. There were pipers playing all day and I started hearing pipe music even when it wasn't going on.

I don't like moving apartments.

I had to do that earlier this year; I'm still not entirely settled in the new place. Best of luck to you, and I hope you've got reliable people to help you.

Why is it so unthinkable to spend ten years in Canada?

It really shouldn't be that difficult. Except for the week or so (spread over 3 separate trips lasting 2-2.5 days each) that I spent in Washington state, I've spent the last 54 years, 5 months, in Canada.

I've survived the experience so far.

If I were to head for Canada, my destination of choice would be Vancouver, which I believe is the warmest [i.e. least cold] city in Canada.

It's pretty rainy, though. And it's not safe to swim in the ocean (Vancouver's sewage treatment policies aren't the brightest).

It's nice to visit, but too expensive to live there. And I discovered a long time ago that I don't function well at sea level. If I had my druthers (and the money), I'd move to someplace like Canmore (can't live in Banff proper since residency there is limited due to it being in a national park). Being surrounded by all those beautiful mountains and forests would be wonderful, and I'd have a constant view of my favorite mountain (The Three Sisters).

 

[Lohrenswald]

DIsgraced aristocrats often flee to the colonies. It happened/happens in the British, French, Spanish, Portuguese, etc. empires, so I don't see why the US shouldn't do the same.

I heard once that that was a major contributing factor to the settlement of Iceland, but I'm not sure how true that is

 

[Ajidica]

I heard once that that was a major contributing factor to the settlement of Iceland, but I'm not sure how true that is

Less a matter of disgraced aristocrats, more aristocrats too violent for civilized society so they got kicked out.
The nobles too violent for Scandinavia ended up in England.
The nobles too violent for England ended up in Iceland.
The nobles too violent for Iceland ended up in Greenland.
The nobles too violent for Greenland ended up in America.

 

[FriendlyFire]

Less a matter of disgraced aristocrats, more aristocrats too violent for civilized society so they got kicked out.
The nobles too violent for Scandinavia ended up in England.
The nobles too violent for England ended up in Iceland.
The nobles too violent for Iceland ended up in Greenland.
The nobles too violent for Greenland ended up in America.

What about Australia ?
(Penal colony for criminals)

 

[Ajidica]

Australia is for capitalist convicts and kangaroos!
Not proud Viking hirdmen!

 

[Gori the Grey]

barrump, tisss

Rant: there's no rimshot smily

 

[Lohrenswald]

Less a matter of disgraced aristocrats, more aristocrats too violent for civilized society so they got kicked out.
The nobles too violent for Scandinavia ended up in England.
The nobles too violent for England ended up in Iceland.
The nobles too violent for Iceland ended up in Greenland.
The nobles too violent for Greenland ended up in America.

not really
like they didn't want to get ruled by the king

also I've read Egil Skallagrimsons saga, and "too violent" wasn't a thing

 

[Takhisis]

Yeap, Lohren-san is right. A lot of people just fled from Harald's tyranny. Others fled from the pressures of overpopulation. A few did flee as outlaws (not outlawed by the kings, but by the local Thing for murder).

Huh. Most people in Canada, that I've noticed, like bagpipes. There was a local pipe band that used to practice outside at the Armouries at the end of the block where I lived in my grandparents' house. I'd put the dog on the leash and we'd go over, find a log to sit on, and listen.

Mind you, it can be a bit much when the annual Highland Games are held on a field nearby. There were pipers playing all day and I started hearing pipe music even when it wasn't going on.

The best moment is when the pipes just go on in your head even after they've stopped playing.

It really shouldn't be that difficult. Except for the week or so (spread over 3 separate trips lasting 2-2.5 days each) that I spent in Washington state, I've spent the last 54 years, 5 months, in Canada.

I've survived the experience so far.

Ah, so you have had to spend time in notCanada. I must perform some research.

 

[Valka D'Ur]

Ah, so you have had to spend time in notCanada. I must perform some research.

It was voluntary. The first two times were for the purpose of cross-border shopping in Wenatchee, Washington.

The third occasion was a trip to Spokane, Washington to meet Sylvester McCoy. Back in 1987 he went on a cross-USA PR trip to visit all the PBS stations that were showing Doctor Who. Since he had just succeeded Colin Baker as the Doctor, this was a way of literally introducing him to North American fans.

How this happened was a friend in Calgary phoned me up a few days before Labor Day (first Monday in September here) and said, "I've been back in classes for two days and I'm bored (she was attending SAIT, which is a technical college) - let's go to Spokane this weekend and meet Sylvester McCoy!"

I told her, "I'll call you back in 20 minutes." I was a bit cash-strapped at the time (since it was just over a month since I'd blown most of my money at the annual SF convention and hadn't had time to get much new typing business that fall) and figured it would take that long to convince my grandmother to help me out a bit with expenses for gas, meals, and motels, and yep, it was 20 minutes later when I called her back and said I could go.

Then there was the issue about ID. I didn't have any government-issued ID, and while this was long before the whole passport/visa/a gazillion irrelevant questions about religion and your opinions of the current US president, there was still the possibility the border agents would ask for ID. So the quickest way to solve this was my dad took me to the local ALCB store (Alberta Liquor Control Board) to get a photo ID. Normally those were for the purpose of proving a person's age, that they were old enough to purchase alcohol, but it was an incredibly handy (and cheap) form of government ID for people like me who never learned to drive and didn't have a passport or visa.

I still have that card, and other than a minor change in hairstyle, I still look like that 30-year-old photo. I've used it as photo ID a couple of times in the past year or two.

So I got my ID... and then I got sick. Chills, fever, and my grandmother was actually happy I was sick. She'd convinced herself that me going off to the U.S. with a couple of friends would result in disaster - we'd drive over a cliff, get carjacked, get turned back at the border, get robbed... you name it, she was convinced it would happen, so she said happily, "Maybe you won't be able to go!"

I think sheer determination got me through the next day and a half. I basically told the fever to go to hell, and it did. I was a little wobbly on Friday morning when I left for Calgary, but I made it. And when I got there, I found out it would just be the two of us - she'd invited another friend, a guy who was in the same film course she was in at SAIT. Turns out he couldn't get the time off work, so he couldn't go. I never told my grandmother he didn't go with us. She would have freaked even more at two women going off to the States by ourselves. The only reason she was even a little okay with the trip in the first place was because she thought there would be a man along to protect us.

It was a wonderful trip, even when I discovered that my friend has an aversion to asking for directions when lost (we were looking for the TV station). We knew the address, but not how to get there. So I finally told her, "There's a gas station. Let's pull in and ask someone, or at least get a map." She finally agreed, we found the TV station, and ran smack into the "it's a small country" attitude some Americans have about Canada. The station manager was a nice lady, but when she heard we'd come from Calgary, she said, "You gals are from Calgary? There's four fellas here from Edmonton - maybe y'all know each other!"

My friend was a bit put out by the suggestion that we knew them, but I reminded her that this was a Doctor Who event... maybe they just might be guys we'd seen at the recent convention a few weeks earlier. But nope, we didn't know them. Four complete strangers. It turned out okay, though. We hadn't found a motel in Spokane for Saturday night, so we stayed at the motel they were at, and after we met Sylvester McCoy, listened to his talk (and watched a video that included a Tom Baker Q&A at a convention), went through the exhibits (I got to sit in Bessie, the Third Doctor's car!) and did our shopping (jelly babies are yummy!), we all went back to the motel, ordered pizza, got our first taste of American Coke, and watched Doctor Who (complete stories - 90 minutes each - were shown on Saturday nights at that time).

The guys and my friend got into an Edmonton-Calgary rivalry (there's a lot of rivalry over their respective hockey teams and other things), and one of the guys asked me why I wasn't saying anything. I told him, "I'm from Red Deer and am strictly neutral!"

On the way home we took a different route, so instead of crossing back into Canada in BC, we went through Idaho and crossed into Alberta via a border crossing in Montana.

So I got home in one piece, and still have my autographed picture of Sylvester McCoy propped up on my bookshelf right now.

Thus was my third (and last) trip to the U.S.

 

[Traitorfish]

Less a matter of disgraced aristocrats, more aristocrats too violent for civilized society so they got kicked out.
The nobles too violent for Scandinavia ended up in England.
The nobles too violent for England ended up in Iceland.
The nobles too violent for Iceland ended up in Greenland.
The nobles too violent for Greenland ended up in America.

"And that, children, is the true meaning of Leif Erikson Day".

 

[Lohrenswald]

Leiv Eirikson kthnx

 

[Traitorfish]

Leiv Eirikson kthnx

Leabh mac Oighrig.

 

[Arakhor]

Ua Oighrig!

 

[Snerk]

Leifur heppni Eiríksson, tho..

 

[Lohrenswald]

Leabh mac Oighrig.

no, Trhaitach O'Phicsch

 

[Cutlass]

My mother's health insurance plan is getting cancelled. So the replacement plans are going to cost at least 6 times as much. And probably even more than that.

 

[tuckerkao]

My mother's health insurance plan is getting cancelled. So the replacement plans are going to cost at least 6 times as much. And probably even more than that.

Obamacare is the best for those who has pre-existing conditions. Maybe it's just the destiny of her life having to deal with Trump's new policies as the president.

 

[Cutlass]

Obamacare is the best for those who has pre-existing conditions. Maybe it's just the destiny of her life having to deal with Trump's new policies as the president.

No. She had insurance as a retirement plan. And the company dropped the program she was in.

 

[shadowplay]

Damn, dude