Canadian Health Care

Just saw the first pre-emergency snow broadcast on TV.  LOL.

Layne,

Will the National Guard be called?  LOL!!

Please keep us posted as this monster storm heads your way!

I remember when Toronto called in the troops for the snowstorm.  We were so amused!  Then again, we always try to make fun of Toronto!! 

Linda, UGH!  Quebec referendums!  I lived through two of them.  I hope we never have to go through another.  

The army getting called in to TO by the mayor is definitely one of those legacy things for that poor mayor.

Oh my, $2.69 for a gallon of milk is CHEAP!  Of course, your dairy farmers are subsidized (shhhh, by the government).

But 6-12 inches is a goodly amount of snow for cross-country skiing -- gotta work off all those cookies, Layne!

mke, I agree that the problem is finding a place to store snow.  We had that problem 2 years ago as well.  It snowed so much that year!  You know we like to kid Torontonians 

Layne, I want to hear the funny story!

What is an MLK snowstorm?

Snow, snow, snow. I often wonder why my parents immigrated from Germany to Midland, Ontario. I mean really, why not California, Arizona, Bali? Of course I am the one who has chosen to stay here, hmmm. 

Layne and E, did you get the storm?

Barbe, I know what you mean by lake effect, but I think we are even worse than Barrie. When I drive up from TO, the first line is around the 88, then after Barrie, there seems to be another line right around Waverly - must be lake effect from Georgian Bay.

My worst snow storm was back in 90 (I think) in Montreal. My friends and I went there to visit some friends. I drove a little Dodge Omni at the time. Driving into the city I couldn't believe how empty the roads were. We later found out the highways were closed. We checked into our motel, then walked to the restaurant to meet our friends. I've never walked through such a storm.... Somehow we managed to get back to the hotel. The next morning the snow was so high it came up to the side mirrors on my car. Unbelievable.

PIP - let us know how the torch relay goes. It is coming to Midland, and I'm wondering if I should bring my kids, or will the not get the significance (they're 5 and 8). 

I took my five year old grandson to see the Olympic flame when it was here on Tuesday. He is in SK and it was his day off. He mostly got it but I think more preparation might have been helpful, mostly the part about how it goes by really fast. There are trucks that preceed it and make it difficult to see how close behind it is - and flags given out that almost celebrate the Olympics as much as the two main advertizers. My daughter still remembers seeing the torch for the 88  Olympics when she was 10 so I think it is worthwhile.

The Aurora parade is still at night but it seems to have more advert floats now.  I really shouldn't comment though as I haven't seen it for the last three years.

The torch run was fun.  We were near the start so they were right on time.  It does go quickly.  I remember taking my 3 preschoolers in 88.  You get caught up in the moment.  

My friends and I went back to one of their houses and had coffee and treats after.  That was the best part!

Well, I must say, that bar of soap is doing something.  Whether or not it is physical or psychological, I don't know.  But when I took it out, I started having cramps again.  It has been 3 nights of cramps now, so tonight it goes back under the covers!  Fingers crossed!

A bar of soap under the sheet is an age old remedy for legs jittering and jerking and cramps in the night.  I don't know where I first heard it - must be 30 years ago.  It works for me, but I don't know why.

The big snowstorm hits tonight!  The latest predictions I've heard (via mom and sis) are up to 2 feet.  There's talk of this being an historic storm.

So I stopped at the grocery store tonight and the panic item of choice this year is soda.  One guy was ranting to him mom about the 'snow people' as he stacked 8 12-can cartons of soda in his cart.  I snickered to myself as I pushed my toilet-paper-laden cart past them.

What?  I really needed toilet paper!!  :-)

Mary, I have to ask -- is that your little kitty in your photo?  She's so sweet!  But don't let her outside -- she would get lost in a snowbank and you'd never find her!

E -- still can't get over the toilet paper (oops, I mean bathroom tissue!) emergency thing.  I bought some today, even though we're green again and only a 45% chance of a white Christmas in these parts...and I'm keeping fingers crossed about it!

Although I've only been back in ON for a short while, my onc doesn't like them, too much exposure to radiation when you add on the CT scans and MRIs to confirm the PET findings. I used to be a big cheerleader for PETs until I found out about the risk.  So no, I don't expect to get a PET for a while. :-)  I did get a full body (including brain) CT the other day though...