# Welcome to Calgary on May 29th



## Banned (May 29, 2010)

This was the view outside my window this morning...

It's just wrong, in so many ways...


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## Andy (May 29, 2010)

lol I know eh? I had to brush my car off yesterday and today. Typical Alberta weather.


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## Banned (May 29, 2010)

I know.  I'm getting tired of our four-day summers.  I miss Ottawa summers.  At least it got hot there.  But I'm going in July, so I'll get five days of summer then.  At least the snow makes us busy at work, which is not a bad thing.


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## Andy (May 29, 2010)

Well that will be nice then. You can go smell some tulips too.


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## Banned (May 29, 2010)

Or tiptoe through them...


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## Cat Dancer (May 29, 2010)

I could NOT handle that.


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## Murray (May 29, 2010)

Wow I can't believe you have snow! I'm kind of jealous. It was 95 degrees here the other day which is sooo not typical for May.


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## forgetmenot (May 29, 2010)

no way i don't believe it thank god i am not there  i will take heat any day of snow i hate snow. poor you


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## Daniel (May 30, 2010)

I'm sure it's a wonderful place to live once you get used to the horrors


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## Banned (May 30, 2010)

You said it Daniel .

As much as the lack of summer makes me crazy at times, I do love it here.  I was offered a business opportunity (and a great one at that!) north in Edmonton, or as I call it, Deadmonton, and I declined.  I said I would consider another store in Ottawa in a couple years and the Bahamas .  

I've been trying to figure out when and how I can get to Vegas in the next little bit.  My mom is gone all of June, and I'm cat sitting June, July, and August, plus my dogs, so one of us has to be home.  I do need to go to Ottawa in July, but that's a business trip and doesn't count as a holiday.  So I'm thinking maybe early July I can go down for a few days...after July 4th of course - I wouldn't want to confuse my patriotism.


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## Daniel (May 30, 2010)

> I've been trying to figure out when and how I can get to Vegas in the  next little bit.



I don't see why.  British Columbia is the best place on earth, and they even have the road signs to prove it.


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## David Baxter PhD (May 30, 2010)

Daniel is right. British Columbia is beautiful. Even their license plates say so.


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## Banned (May 30, 2010)

I do love British Columbia, but I'm not sure their weather is a whole lot better, and they have Black Widow spiders, and their taxes are higher.  Hmmm...

However, I think I've managed to fanagle four or five days on Lake Simcoe, doing a whole heck of alot of nothing.

Today, I shopped.  Nothing makes the weather seem better like shopping.  And shopping.  And shopping...


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## Daniel (May 30, 2010)

> I'm not sure their weather is a whole lot better



Everything in BC is not only better, it's the best.  So you may need to change your definition of good weather.


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## Andy (May 31, 2010)

Turtle said:


> I do love British Columbia, but I'm not sure their weather is a whole lot better, and they have Black Widow spiders, and their taxes are higher.  Hmmm...


 
They have black widow spiders in Alberta and Ontario too. The taxes are cruddy in Ontario now too so I guess Alberta kicks both provinces butts.


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## Daniel (May 31, 2010)

> They have black widow spiders in Alberta and Ontario too


And the spiders in BC are the nicest spiders in the world.


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## Andy (May 31, 2010)

Daniel said:


> And the spiders in BC are the nicest spiders in the world.


 
Well yeah, but I wasn't about to compare any Canadian spiders with the kind disposition of the B.C widow.


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## Daniel (May 31, 2010)

That's one reason the taxes in BC are higher: Empathy training for black widow spiders.


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## Andy (May 31, 2010)

lol They must have that training in Ontario then too but, you know how it is there. Most black widow spiders are from Toronto so no matter how much they put into empathy training, a black widow is still a black widow...


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## Daniel (May 31, 2010)

> but, you know how it is there.


 Yes, I know how it is in Toronto.  It's like Gotham City but without Batman to keep things orderly.


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## Andy (May 31, 2010)

Daniel said:


> Yes, I know how it is in Toronto.  It's like Gotham City but without Batman to keep things orderly.


 
Now, now. No need to insult Gotham City.


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## Banned (May 31, 2010)

Oh my.  I leave for a couple hours and this turns into a discussion about spiders and bats and...well...it frightens me.

BC gets way too much rain for my liking.  We might get snow during Stampede and granted we have rattlesnakes, but...it's still cheaper here than in BC and maybe even Ontario now.  Pretty soon I'm going to need to be able to bilocate between Calgary and Ottawa so I guess I should learn to love the best of both cities.


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## Andy (May 31, 2010)

Alberta is Rat free. No other place can say that.:2thumbs:


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## Daniel (May 31, 2010)

> it's still cheaper here than in BC and maybe even Ontario now.



Well, the money goes to a good cause, like making signs that welcome Americans to BC. Without those signs, most Americans would have no idea they just drove north into heaven.


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## Andy (May 31, 2010)

Daniel said:


> Well, the money goes to a good cause, like making signs that welcome Americans to BC. Without those signs, most Americans would have no idea they just drove north into heaven.


 
That's right. When in doubt just follow the signs.:2thumbs:


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## Banned (May 31, 2010)

We're not *really* rat free...we just like other provinces to think we are .

But we're tax free, save for that damned GST that was only supposed to be in for five years.

Ya right.  I'm still bitter over that one.


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## Andy (May 31, 2010)

Of course we are rat free. Maybe the odd one here and there but as far as population, we most definitely are.


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## Banned (May 31, 2010)

Er, clearly you missed that article in the paper a couple years ago about some home in SE Calgary that was completely infested with rats.  It pretty much made us the laughing stock of the country, since we hold our heads so high about our "rat patrol" and being rat free.

I'm assuming, of course, you're speaking of the rodent kind.  I know some two-legged rats, of the homo-sapien variety, and we definitely have a gazillion of them.


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## Andy (May 31, 2010)

Er, clearly you didn't read that article either. Those rats were illegally home bred for snake food and then set free when things got to much. If there really was an infestation then there would have been a bigger problem than that as rats are notorious fro reproducing very quickly. 

Yes, I can agree that there are definitely some two legged rats here. lol


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## Banned (May 31, 2010)

Nah my mom told me what happened.  I didn't actually read the article.  I was too busy calming her down - she was all in a tizzy about having rats here when we're supposed to be rat free.  I told her it wasn't the first batch hanging around out there and likely not the last.

I personally don't have a problem with them.  My friend in Ottawa has two pet rets that I play with every time I go.  They are actually friendly, smart, and inquisitive.


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## Andy (May 31, 2010)

I actually just found the article and it wasn't for snake food it was actually someone raising them for pets not knowing it was illegal. I don't think your mom has to worry about that happening again, it's not likely unless there is another person that does the same thing.  There is a $5000 fine or 60 day jail term for having a rat. Yeeesh

I've never seen a rat before but I have a friend who had one that she loved. I think there cute from the pictures I have seen.


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## Banned (May 31, 2010)

Silly people...although Calgary has some silly pet laws.

When I first moved here I looked into getting a pot bellied pig.  I called Bylaw and they told me I can have anything I want as long as a) nobody complains and b) I get it a license of some sort.  I used to walk Jessie along the Bow River starting at Edworthy Park and there was always a couple down there with their llamas.  The llamas lived in their back yard, apparently and it was perfectly legal.  The Bylaw lady told me of someone else who had a rooster.

They've tightened up the rules - no more llamas or roosters, but I love that you can still have as many dogs and cats as you want.  Although one of my former employees was a bit of a hoarder -- she lived in a basement apartment with 18 dogs, six cats, and a whole bunch of things that lived in cages.  I don't know much about her cause she worked for me less than two weeks...but that was kind of freakish.


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## Andy (May 31, 2010)

There are people that do have chickens/roosters in there backyards. It's been in the news recently actually about making it legal as a lot of people like to have there own fresh eggs. I'm not sure whether the law was passed or not though. It really doesn't surprise me about the llama's though. 

That's sad about your former employee. I hope she got help for her illness.


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## Banned (May 31, 2010)

Oh my gosh...I had no idea the roosters were still kicking around.  They're not in my neighbourhood at least.  We get the coyotes and bunnies.

I just realized the time.  Not good...considering I'm supposed to be trying to re-regulate my sleep schedule.  I just created an online treasure hunt for my staff and told them that if I'm hypomanic often enough we'll do one a week 

Right now I'm zonked...and need bed.


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## Andy (May 31, 2010)

Hm. Yeah the coyotes and bunnies are all over to. The fish and wildlife or police are always having to shoot coyotes down by Princess Island and in children's parks because people see them all mangey and decide to leave them scraps thinking that they are helping them, when really they are more than likely sealing there fate as they move into the city more for more scraps.


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