The Canadian Kraut and the Cross-Border Shop

Carnival of the Canucks is at Ghost of a Flea this week. Check it out on Tuesday to see what True Northy goodness ensues.


I'm going to write about that quintessential Canadian passtime: the Cross Border Shop! Today, my target is a satellite radio system from Circuit City in Amherst, U. S. of A. The experience was quite positive: the border crossing at Queenston was empty, the US customs officer (now with prominently-displayed sidearm!) was pleasingly intimidating, and the choice of electronic superstores was thrilling.

So, you're asking. Everything went smoothly- no hiccups, no stories of stripsearches at the border, no nightsticks to the genitals by burly female American G.I.'s (darn!) Why the hell are you wasting our time with this boring entry?

Well, this trip does illustrate a point. My whole goal was to purchase a satellite radio system for our Honda Odyssey. I can't do this in Canada yet. We don't have satellite radio, even though the signal for the U.S. market reaches quite a ways into our vast great land...

I live in, what, the fifth or sixth largest metropolitan area on the continent, and I have to go to frickin' Niagara Falls, New York to get it. Why? Well when satellite radio comes to Canada, it'll be the same CRTC-mandated Canadian-Content crap that's been forced down our throats for a generation. The fact that the CBC is so prominently involved leads me to believe that Canadian satellite radio will be more of the same.

I resent that I have to wait for the best toys to come to Canada a year or so after every last small market town in the States is bored with them. Why no TIVO in Canada? Oh sure, the Rogers version is good; it has changed our viewing habits and times considerably, but it has limits and is the only game in town, unless you want to get a satellite dish...

But the whole Canadian content thing is what's sticking in my craw. What are we so afraid of? Look at Hollywood. Can you say that Canadians are under-represented there? Setting quotas and limits allows crappy artists to flourish and take over the local airwaves.

Remember some of the lousiest music of the 80's were due to Canadian content, and yet our government is terribly afraid of letting all of these losers get real jobs and sparing our ears.

Hopefully all of these crappy artists are confined to one unused channel that I can safely ignore with my new toy...

Books books books

Meme of the week. Books I've read in bold. Via Daimnation!

And no, seeing the movie version doesn't count...

Aftermath of the Sale...

So today is the day that our agent is supposed to call us and tell us that she has the condition waivers and the deposit from the buyer of our house in hand...

I'm not too worried as the 4-hour inspection yesterday went well, with only minor problems specified, not enough to re-open any kind of price negotiation...They would've had to lock me up for murder if we had to negotiate price again.

So today, a lot of the stress Rue and I have been under has dissipated. Rue promptly caught a cold yesterday and I've ordered her to bed to rest, as she wasn't looking too good while she was up. Punkin' and Boo Boo are also sick and mercifully sleeping at the moment...

I myself feel a slight tickle at the throat that always precedes my nasty allergy/headcold double-whammy that always hits me in May-June...

The fact that we've been under stress for so long about selling the house makes it so much weirder now that the stress is gone.

No wonder we've all gotten sick.

SOLD

The first offer came in on Thursday. We liked it, and the inspection was done today. We'll be heading on out to Kelowna mid-June!

Cross-posted with the Pocus.

Offer(s)?

4pm today: the phone rings - it's our agent. "There's an offer," she says.

"The doctor from this morning, who's been here three times? " I say.

"Nope; someone else."

"Really...that's interesting. So, what now?"

"He wants to put in an offer tonight at nine, expiring at midnight."

"Put the screws to us?"

"Yep. So now I call the other interested parties..."

---

Later: "The doctor wants to check the zoning...and then he wants to present an offer tomorrow..."

"Two offers?"

"I told the first one that you were working tonight so they'll both present tomorrow after 7pm."

"They're aware of each other?"

"Yes."

---

This should be interesting.

Here fishy fishy!

So last night we had a visit from an agent and her client, a Doctor who's looking for office space in the neighbourhood. By a fluke of zoning our house is classified as R3-C3, which means commercial use as well as residencial...

Turns out that the Doctor had visited the perpetual open house that happens here every Sunday and wanted to view the house again. He went through silently, his agent chattering away the whole time telling him that he could do this and that, doing a damn good job of selling our place's potential to him.

Well, lo and behold I get a phone call this morning that the same agent wanted to come through at 10AM. For once the place was shipshape first thing in the morning- I even made the bed right away, one of the habits I've NEVER developed consistently. Our agent's office didn't say whether it was the Doctor but I wasn't surprised when the Doctor and what could only be his wife and 2 other family members arrived at our door.

Again they were disconcertingly silent except for some rapid-fire Hindi amongst themselves (an assumption on the language, granted. No comments about cunning linguists, please!) and then left.

That's a total of three visits from the silent Doctor.

The hook is dangling. The bait is ready.

Here fishy fishy!

Hypocrite

I wore a bike helmet for the first time ever today...

Big damn woop. you say?

Well, you see, I never wore one growing up. Nobody wore them. I remember trying some REALLY dumb stunts on my old red supercycle. By the time I moved on to my ten speed I had gone through 6 pairs of handlebars...

When I bought my mountain bike in '97 I bought a helmet too, but since I was sticking mainly to the roads the helmet sat in the closet - I didn't need it. Besides it felt...weird. So I never wore it.

Until today.

You see, I bought my oldest daughter a bike, a cute little purple and white number with training wheels that looks very sporty, that she can't ride outside until we buy her a helmet. She thinks it's cool having the bike inside and has been practising balancing on it.

So why did I dig up my old helmet? Well I didn't want to be a hypocrite. Up until this point I've chosen not to wear it, but it will be hard to explain to my little girl why she has to wear protection and Daddy does not.

So as far as she'll know, Daddy's always worn a helmet. And she will, too.

Because if it's a choice between lies and hypocrisy, I'll choose outright lies everytime, especially if my little one's safety is concerned.

I'll just have to get used to the damned clunky thing...

Severe effin' Writer's Block...

...is plaguing me at the moment.

I'm hoping that this throwaway post will "cleanse the palate", so to speak. I hope I won't have to resort to "walked the dog" "done the dishes" posts that are the last resort of the creatively bankrupt...

***Apologies to any bloggers that happen along who subsist on "walked the dog" "done the dishes" posts, but come on, admit it to yourselves...

Chess Club

Yes, I was in the chess and computer club...

Fallen Jedi

:: how jedi are you? ::


via Flea (your bidding, my master?)