Friday, October 19, 2007

Snippets

* The Canadian dollar is worth more than the U.S. dollar these days. But retail prices are still 20% higher than prices in the U.S. They call this the "yawn" - the lag in time to adjust prices to changing currency values. For instance, a meal at McDonalds is around $6.75 here. Or $7 U.S.

* Scary news. A new superbug that causes ear infections has appeared that is resistant to all known antibiotics. It renders its victims deaf.

* Scientists have discovered a field where plants "talk" to each other. If a caterpillar starts eating the leaf of one plant, a signal is transmitted to all the other plants in the field which causes them to chemically alter the "taste" of their leaves so that they are distasteful to caterpillars.

* I've noticed a spike in my clairvoyance lately. I'll think about a person and then I'll run into them a minute later. Or I'll see the word my opponent plays before he/she plays it in Scrabble. Now if I can just tune this thing for the lottery.

* I read an interesting article on the differences between Canadians and Americans. It turns out that there really aren't any. It was interesting to note that North Americans as a whole believe that they are intrinsically good but do not hold that view for foreigners.

* I still don't have a portable digital music device. If I get one, I'll have many hours/days of labor getting my CDs ripped and transferred. So I probably won't get one.

* I won't drink Dasani or Aquafina. Coke and Pepsi make enough money.

17 comments:

jali said...

Hi cutie guy,

I don't know how I lost your link. I saw your comment on Dirk's blog and I remembered your name and I'm glad to find your page again.

I'm saving the link!

Snooze said...

That's terrifying about the superbug.

Anonymous said...

If there are no differences, then why is Canadian life so much more civil than American life. My every encounter with Canadians over the course of my life has been with people of courtesy and kindness.

Anonymous said...

If there are no differences then why can't I marry Mikey my sweet Babboo? I think aboot the only difference in Canadiens is their accent, Ya you betcha!

Polt said...

I remember a quote from, I think, The Kids In The Hall:

"I'm Canadian. That's like an American, just with a gun and better health insurance."

heheheh, so true, so true.

HUGS....

dpaste said...

I just started keeping a used container of Poland Spring and re-filling it every morning and sticking in my shoulder bag. I hopefully will reduce plastic in landfills, but also save a truckload of money.

lattégirl said...

Yeah, bottled treated municipal water at a buck (or more) a pop... no thanks. They can claim to filter it 7 times, I still don't care.

Your other "fun facts" are interesting. I imagine that if one were given the choice to lose just one sense, hearing might be the choice of most people.

GayProf said...

Well, one difference between Canadians and Americans is that the first live in an economy that was not destroyed by 6+ years of evil mismanagement (thus the weak dollar of the latter). It shocks me that Americans are not concerned (read: aware) of the serious implications of the $'s international demise.

Patricia said...

oh but the obsessive/compulsive days and nights of getting one's ipod-like device tweaked is a rite of passage!

the u.s. dollar sucks. being just an hour away from the border, i remember often getting some great bargains. those days are down the bush toilet with all his other crap.

i think you're right about "tuning" your abilities. i think we're all capable of so much more in this area, we just tell ourselves it's hogwash and so we ignore our natural capacities for such things.

don said...

I saw an ad in the travel section of the newspaper this weekend. Amtrak was offering special deals for Canadians, offering "at par" rates for travel and hotels. Hello America, at par would mean that I would now have to pay more. Such a deal.

Steven said...

I'm with you on the portable digital music devices. While it would be easy for me to transfer, I'm not involved in activity or lack thereof that would make one enticing. And the latest news on these superbugs is scary. They said recently that these predominantly exist in hospitals. OUCH! Interesting note on caterpillars and plants.

Cooper said...

I saw a story on the news last week which showed some American stores still trying to give less Canadian value for each American dollar. One place was only giving 75 cents per US dollar. When the reporter pointed this out to the owner, she just shrugged her shoulders and looked incredulous.

I don't drink bottled water either. I just fill two containers each day from the tap.

I have no plans to own a digital musical device.

Anonymous said...

The Reverse Osmosis filtration used in many bottled waters is excellent, they remove all particles down to a hundreth of a micron. Others do use real Spring Water (Ice Mountain) but some are straight from the tap having been run through a normal house type filtration system. Of all those I've tasted I like Ice mountain the best: Pure as the driven snow is their motto.

Anonymous said...

I hate bottled water. Canadians have abundant clean water, go around the world with NGOs building wells and teaching people about filtering their poor water through cloth and then come home to people filling landfills with plastic. No thanks. Pure municipal tap is fine for me.

Superstar said...

can I get a tok? (sp?)

LOL ;o)

You have a kick azz healthcare system...

I like the looney coin...that is a silly quoin...LOL ;o)

dirk.mancuso said...

The superbug and the talking plants things scare the be-jebus out of me.

I will be obsessing over that and the staph infection outbreak for weeks.

Thanks, Torn...

RJ March said...

I love my iPod more than anything, but sometimes I call it my Walkman, which causes iPod to question the depth of my feelings.