18 posts tagged “quebec”
The real surprise was the marbles sized hail that came down near the end of the storm. It must have been pretty localized since not everyone I talked to the next day had seen it.
The boys were very excited (as was I) and wanted to go out during the storm and collect some hail. I got them to wait till after the storm died down. I still remember the huge hail we had in Quebec during the mid 1980's and didn't want them pummeled to death.
Donna collected some off the patio shelter for them as anything that had fallen on the ground had melted as it was like 30 degrees Celsius (or 86 degrees Fahrenheit) that day.
A little help from my tweets.
- 19:27 English bands still on bill, says producer tinyurl.com/klt7t8 (via @ctvmontreal) Way to make Anglos fell like 2nd class citizens. #
- 22:48 Anglos win battle of the bands snipurl.com/k75fm (via @montrealgazette) Good to know common sense prevailed. #
With la St-Jean-Baptiste next week on the 24th or La Fête nationale du Québec (if you want to be less political) polictics has once again soured the day. You think by now we'd be used to it.
It really is a shame that there are a small vocal minority that view this day as one for the Pure laine exclusively. At least there is a move to be more inclusive than exclusive as in the past.
CBC has a great meet the leaders and parties page so if you have any last minute questions before heading out to the polls.
Only in Canada would you find people complaining about having to vote. We're so spoiled.
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Quebec's consumer watchdog, Options Consommateurs wants the province to make it illegal for credit card companies to solicit new customers. It might be a little nanny state, but the real problem is that some people do not have the life/economic skills required to deal with having credit. This usually leads to bad credit. I wonder if this is an over correction on their part to the credit crisis south of the border? What's needed is education for some and not taking something away from everyone else. Of course I don't think I would be alone in missing all the junk mail from credit card companies offering new cards we can't afford.
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CBC News has an Econometer (that is updated daily) based on consumers confidence
in the economy. Right now it's pretty evenly balanced from extremely worried to the worst is over. You can weight in on what your feelings are on the subject by completing the poll.
- The OECD says that Canada will be hit by a recession and unemployment rates will increase. Finance Minister Jim Flaherty says that we're not in a recession but we may face a technical one. I'll say that politicians are proficient at double speak. I wonder if a technical recession will be easyier on low income families or people who have lost their jobs.
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Since it doesn't take an economist to realize that spending will be down this holiday season, it will probabley mean better deals as retailers try to entice the few willing to part with their income. I wonder if stores staying open later on the weekends in downtown Montreal will entice more shoppers to spend? Even with the undergound city and extended hours I'm sure the cold and snow will keep a good number of people away regardless of the economy.
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I've heard time and time again that during these troubled economic times, video games are a recession proof sector. The idea being that people are more willing to spend money to nest at home then venture out. It might be true... I've ordered a XBox 360 (as media extender first, game system second). It does certainly seems that the video game industry in Quebec is doing well.
I don't know about you but I can't believe the cost at the pumps the past week, it's like it's 2003 all over again! I'm out of practice guesstimating how much gas I'll get for such a low price.
Of course high gas prices of the past few summers has undoubtedly lead to signs like this below about paying in advance. You've always had to pay first during the night, but i think this is a first for me having to pay during the day.
You wonder why there is so much voter apathy when it seems every two years there is either a Federal or Provincial election. So even though we just had a Federal election we now have a December 8th Provincial vote.
Remember to get out there and vote people!
Having closed the Jonquiere Quebec location in 2005 coincidentally after workers there formed a union, Wal-Mart is closing a tire-and-lube garage in a Gatineau where in August a Quebec arbitrator imposed a collective agreement on the company.
It's a shame that the world's largest private employer doesn't treat their workers better.
There was about 10 people in the line. One looked like a senior citizen and a kid of at most 10 years old and they both looked like they were with family.
Now I'm just waiting for the 2.0 firmware software. Unfortunately it looks like the iTunes store is coming back with an error message.
Sometimes being a minority (anglo) inside a minority (Quebec) brings new meaning to being on the outside.
I think it's a feeling that Anglo Saxon westerns (or any other majority for that matter) very rarely have to deal with, maybe they should. It might make them more respectful.
If you're anglo living in Quebec, you've seen it. Signs with the english covered over or scratched out (like the sign at the entrance to LaRonde last weekend). Stop signs where "stop" has been removed or replaced with 101.
The best example I've ever seen was the side of a Metro spray painted with "ENGLISH GO HOME, FLQ". A little disapointing to say the least that anyone would admire a terroirst organization.
While I know that these acts of vandalism are perpetrated by a very small and vocal number, sometimes it just bums me out thinking that my kids are going to have to put up with this kind of soft discrimination or move to Ontario.
It's really going to suck when they get old enough to notice this stuff and ask why would someone do that.
This spring we went to the Caban au Sucre (or sugar shack) for a menu drenched in maple syrup. We last went three years ago and I was starting to crave it again.
It's always fun to go with a big group of friends and family and hopefully not following a diet.
The kids always enjoy the animals, even the one eyed duck.
We went on a tractor ride through the woods and lucky none of the kids fell off.
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