Further North

Thanks for elaborating on the weather more. Honestly, I think it's something I can handle. As I said at the beginning I grew up in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. On Lake Michigan and north of Toronto and Ottowa latitude wise. An early snowfall could occur in late Oct. and a late snowfall was liable to still happen in April or early May even. Freak 1 day snow storms in May or June were very rare though. Often times our average "cold days" were somewhere in the range of -11 C. A "REALLY cold day" could dip into the range of -28 to -34 C but those were few and far between. Usually lasting for a week tops. Spring (if you could call it that) is tumultuous period between late March and early to Mid May where temps could climb up to +5 C, drop to - 7 C for a week, climb to +15 for a day, and then drop back to -10 C. Basically by Mid May it was finally consistently +10 or more and climbing and it started to feel remotely like Summer. Summer is a brief 3 month flirtation with sunshine that can go cold as early as Mid - Late Sept. 15 C is considered a cold summer day. 20 - 23 C is average, and 35 is unbearably hot to us. Sometimes in early Oct it could hit - 7 c, or it could be an "Indian Summer" and we could stay in the +10 to +15 range for a few weeks. As I said before by Mid Nov snowfall usually starts to really begin to accumulate. By Christmas time we usually should have around 25 to 30 cm of snowfall. Honestly I would say that I'm GLAD that I grew up in generally cold climate with miserable winters. So many people from the South or out West that move to the Midwest find themselves absolutely miserable and end up quiting their job, selling their house, and moving back to someplace warm with in a matter of a couple years! The I look at it to is you can always add a layer when it's too cold, but at some point you can't take any more off when it's too hot! I think I would whither up and die in a place like Florida, Texas, or Arizona. No thank you. We stay bundled up inside, but they have to seek refuge by an air conditioner all summer because it's 45 C and they can't do a damn thing outside without risking dehydration or sun stroke. Not really a better deal in my mind.

I don't have a DUI actually. It's my Dad and my brother who do and my concern was whether or not they would be able to visit me in Canada. I love them both but honestly that isn't going to be a deal breaker in my mind if they can't visit me in Calgary. I'm the one that makes the effort to visit them, not the other way around. Even since I've moved 4 hours closer and only 3 hours away, my Dad still hasn't made any additional effort to visit ME. If it means I take a week off around the holidays to come home then so be it.

LOL, so apparently I'm setting a trend here. I complain about something, and then something positive related to it happens! The company president called me just now! He said he's been on the road, etc. They're going to be sitting down and planning on their next round of new product development soon too.

Ugh, still no reply from them. I'm probably going to try again tomorrow. I'm bordering on that point where I'm going to start ticking them off soon. I was really hoping this could have worked out.

Just curious, how big of a deal is Canada Day as far as celebrations and work stoppage goes? I'm sure it's not like Chinese New Year where we assume everyone there is trying to communicate with their dead anncestors and partying for a week, but does it usually cause a big slowdown in work around that holiday? The reason I ask is I haven't heard back from the company since before the 1st and I'm wondering if they are open or just getting back to business. Three years ago I approached a company from Toronto in similar fashion and I think they had shut down for the 1st 2 weeks of July!

One of the funniest experiences I've had with my accent was when I was in Italy. I was talking to a group of German students, and one of them said to me, "Your accent sounds different then the rest of the group." Accused of being Canadian again! No offense to you guys BTW. It's just that people look at the Upper Peninsula as a whole as being some kind of strange remote backwoods wilderness and sounding Canadian is part of their perception and a reason they poke fun at us. Granted it is a very small population compared to other parts of the US, but I don't see how it should be perceived as being any more isolated then Northern MN, N. Dakota, Maine, etc. I also met a German girl on that trip that actually had an accent that sounded slightly Southern when she spoke in English! So much so that I wouldn't have guessed she was German if she had only spoke English.

Great! I've been doing quite a bit of oil painting over the last few years and I've gotten pretty serious about showing my art as well. I'd love to be able to continue that. Especially since my focus is landscape painting and I can imagine living that close to the mountains would give me endless subject matter!

Thanks! Looks like my Dad may have a better chance of getting in because his DUI was over 10 years ago, but my brother's DUI was in the last 5 years. I don't know if it's worth taking a gamble on flying to Calgary, or driving 2 days to get there either!

YOOP YOOP YOOP YOOP! LOL So what part of the UP are you from? I grew up in Gladstone. Lived there for the 1st 20 years of my life and moved to Grand Rapids for college(hated that place). Then I took a job in Chicago and most recently in Sheboygan, WI. All my life I've heard people say "You sound Canadian" when they hear me talk. It's a slight accent compared to many other Yoopers out there, but if I say words with "ou" combinations then it comes out. Usually when someone pokes fun of me I say "Out and About in a Boat" to humor them and move on to a new subject. :angry: I've always been astounded by the fact that they named a city up there "Houghton". It's IMPOSSIBLE to say that name and NOT sound Canadian! Of course if I move to Calgary I'll probably never shake that. At least when people are bad mouthing Americans and I'm standing there they might not realize I am one. LOL

I'll definitely give that idea some thought. I always used the trains in Chicago whenever I could. I can count on one hand how many times I've paid for parking in Chicago, and most of them were before I lived there.

The thought of being that close to the mountains really does excite me. I grew up in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan where I was pretty much surrounded by the wilderness. 5,000 people in my hometown and the biggest "city" in the region was 60,000 people! I spent most of my life camping, hiking, canoeing, fishing, and hunting. It's a cultural norm there for most families to own additional property for hunting or to have a cabin. My family has 40 acres of land and some other lake front property too. I'd absolutely LOVE to be able to drive 45 min. to get to the mountains and do a weekend backpacking trip. I consider hiking to be somewhat akin to "recharging my batteries" in a mental and spiritual sense.

Thanks! This is very helpful. Sounds like that wouldn't be too outrageous. Ouch. Although gas in my area runs from $2.69 on the low end in cheaper rural areas, and $3.29 on the extreme end if you're dumb enough to fill your tank up in downtown Chicago. $4 won't kill me I suppose. That does suck though. I'm paying $56 a month for full coverage right now. Does Canada have "No Fault" insurance like the US does in some states? Basically, if you have an accident for which you aren't at-fault, and you live in a "no-fault" state, your own insurance must pay for your medical bills. The "no-fault" part comes from the fact that even though someone, say, plowed into the rear of your car while you were stopped at a red light, your own carrier must pick up the ambulance, hospital, rehabilitation, etc. It's generally more expensive in the states. I'd say an average of $30-$40 or more a month.

Thanks! I'll have to look into those areas. I think I may be generally more inclined to seek out Kensington if that is more of a vibrant area. I REALLY hate urban sprawl and the entire 3 years I lived in Chicago I rarely visited the suburbs because I couldn't think of a good reason to. IMO the 'burbs are for buying houses or raising kids, and I'm not expecting to be doing either soon! That's not too bad. Some people on other forums were saying $1200-$2000! I'm assuming that is for a prime expensive area. I won't have oil money and a ferrari to park in front of a wine bar! $600 - $1200 is about in line with what I was used to when I was living in Chicago. Having had several roommates over the years I'd probably look for one again. Having twice as much space for half as much money in exchange for slightly less privacy has always been appealing to me. I'm not expecting a World Class Art Scene like New York or anything like that. I'm more interested in going to Art Gallery openings and Gallery Walks, entering my artwork in exhibitions, etc. I'm currently living in Wisconsin close to Milwaukee and there's a small but close knit art scene there that I'm active in and that makes me happy. I've read more then a few times that Edmunton has a more cultural and arts orientated feel to it so I guess if push comes to shove I could see myself participating in events there if it came down to it.

Sorry I should clarify my question more. I meant as far as allowing people who have a prior DUI on record in the US to visit the country. I have read that they are more lenient in allowing entry if you are flying in vs. driving in, but I'm wondering if it varies by province.

LOL I'll make sure that I don't pee behind any dumpsters in the alley then! Canada's view on drunk driving is one adjustment I'll have to take very seriously for sure. I've always abstained from driving after drinking as much as possible, but like most people in the US it hasn't been that out of the question that if I've only had a few beers over a long period of time that I would drive home afterward. Not a risk I'm willing to take anymore up there.