The movie starred Cary Grant, Peter Lorre and Toronto's own Raymond Massey. As I recall it's about spinster aunts that kill hobos and bury them in the basement. Matilda is not a hobo unfortunately. BTW, saw Raymond Massey in a WW2 propaganda film, 49th Parallel a few weeks ago. Any movie that has Laurence Olivier as a Qubecois fur trapper can't be all bad. Massey was not playing a Nazi but Andy Brock a soldier who owns some land near Beamsville, it was the only time "Abe Lincoln" ever played a Canadian. Strange but true. The movie was filmed on location in Canada and Newfoundland (wasn't part of Canada yet), interesting to see what downtown Winnipeg and a few other places looked like in 1940. They filmed some scenes during Banff Indian days too. It was designed to get America to join the Allies.

The Quebecois are full of fire, really, how come I never heard of it? On second thought, I guess that's why they call it the Quiet Revolution. Boy have I got a lot to learn, all this time I thought that Mephys was an ardent supporter of Duplessis.

I received a letter from my (ex-)employer today. They fired me effective June 20th.

That sucks Necrotica. Have you filed a complaint yet?

I'm going to.

Surprisingly, I still have access to my e-mail. As tempted as I was to send a message to all of Medicare stating in 72-point bolded Arial font that my company sucks fat, hairy d*ck as was done two days ago by a fellow disgruntled employee, I refrained and alternatively sent an e-mail to the co-workers I was closest to saying goodbye, that I enjoyed working with them, and that I wish them all the best in their future endeavors. That felt kind of nice.

*sighs*

That took a lot of class Necrotica to say goodbye in that way!
I hope things start going your way, cause it sure sounds like your company treated you in a terribly unfair manner. Hope karma kicks the HR person right in the keester.

Ahhh my first VENT ... So I quit smoking last night (with the aid of the patch) .... safe to say I am a lil annoyed with small things ... so we sent out K1 package two days ago through USPS in Chicago .... well I went online to check the tracking thing and it is still sitting in the damn post office .... this is the same message that has been on there since we sent it

Your item was accepted at 4:18 PM on June 24, 2008 in OAK FOREST, IL XXXXX. Information, if available, is updated every evening. Please check again later.

Ummm yah 2 days sitting in a post office uggh I guess I am just used to Canada Post being so quick my fiancee warned me that Chicago has a crappy postal service but I never thought something would sit in the post office for two days!!!

Okay I am done lol if I had those smokes I would be able to calm down quicker lol ....

Forgive me...I am confused! I just responded to your other posting, and I'm DUH! I thought you were checking at the USCIS site instead of USPS. *sigh* It might just say that, and it's on it's way. The USPS doesn't update a lot of times until it's received.

Other than my comment about taking a breath, and your quitting smoking, you might want to just disregard the rest of my message in the other thread!

Why why why do men choose to be so sexist?
I am not deck fluff!
Hmph.

Deck fluff? Is that like deck decoration??

Who is the sexist, out him and give us his email and we will spam him!!

Precisely.
And this after I do the work of three people and assist in us winning our race yesterday short crewed on a 40.7 foot boat.
What the...?!

Guys just don't get it.
And some girls too.
Just because you just blew into town does not make you a green sailor.
And just because I do not like nor enjoy talking the talk (technical crap, yawn!!), does not mean I do not have probably many more ocean miles under my belt than them and can handle anything.

Perhaps lake sailors are envious of us salty dogs. Who knows.

He didn't even ask me about my experience and made an assumption based on??? I have no idea.
I was replying to someone about gear they might need for bad weather...as well as something else. I forget.

I am used to this kind of crap from people who really don't know me.
The kind that have the puffy chests and are usually not so good on the water.
I have grown some thick skin to deal with crap.
And still...it get to me at times.

And truly I do not want to have "thick skin".
You know?

argh, I am so annoyed.. our stupid MP3 player we bought back in March or February (that hubby desperately had to have but then only used for a few weeks ) isn't working anymore.... it won't connect to the computer so I can download songs on to it and charge it.... something is wrong with the connection...

I wanted to take it when we go camping but I guess I am going to have to take the old fashioned portable MP3 player the one where you put the CD in

Congrats on the quitting smoking!! I have been quit for almost 3 months now. This probably was harder than anything I have EVER done. GO GIRL!!

Congrats to all who've quit smoking. My Joel has quit too...58 days now and not a smoke in sight. He used the gum, but barely used it. Our daughter tells that he smells soooo good now.

my hubby says he is quitting smoking... he says he is smoking less and less but who knows

Oh Necrotica, I just read back and saw your last posts.
I am so sorry to read this.
And after watching Michael Moore's Sicko i can see that the U.S. is no place to be taken care of by the employer who insured you or even the insurance companies themselves. I may be barking up the wrong tree here.

I hope you get a quick resolution.

That sounds like a great movie Mumsie!
One worth looking for.
I love to see places before they became overly developed.

For those quitting smoking, apparently an entire group of co-workers at a seedy bar (imagine) in Vancouver all bought a book that helped them quit.
I will see if I can get the name for you.

I wish there was some quick and just resolution to your problem but now that your POS employer has decided to screw you over, you must reciprocate in kind. I'm relieved that you left without causing a problem or commotion, no point in giving them a pretext or any kind of excuse. It is better to give than to receive and it's about time they were on the receiving end, follow through with your complaint and watch'em squirm.

Spirit, I should watch Sicko, the messages in that movie were lost on me the last eleven times that I saw it. Michael Moore may be an alarmist but I don't see it that way. My civility goes out the window when people denigrate Socialized Medicine. Bro's told me some horror stories about colleagues doing necesary procedures and then getting less than 50% of costs from the HMO so they no longer take on certain kinds of patients. Bro doesn't turn people away, he's strange that way, he thinks that he's there to heal the sick. What a concept.

Yup, that's the thing!
Doctors take an oath, right?
And so, how could a medical association put a person in their hospital gown and into a cab and sent off?
And how could they refuse treating someone knowing full well they could die?
And how could people who worked their entire lives and paid into the system be forced to liquidate their homes because they are old and need medical attention?

Oh the list is long.

Kudos to your amazing brother Mumsie!

I remember one patient who was a middle-aged palliative care nurse who had a procedure done in the clinic but developed scar tissue and the greedy b*stards at the HMO wouldn't cover a visit to the clinic to have it removed.  She was suffering so bro' invited the nice lady to his apartment and we did a little living room surgery.  I think it's pretty sad when it comes down this, a multi-billion dollar corporation that won't part with $100.  Bro's patients love him, is it any wonder, he's one of the few that practices Old-Time Medicine.  Unfortunately most grads these days are money grubbing MDs who are totally cosmopolitan and don't look to the old country doctor as their model.  

This is precisely why they can afford to pay in the millions to their administration and to the lobby groups and government.
It all disgusts me.






Your brother still rocks Mumsie!!! as do you.

Thanks and so do you.

Grrrr - I hate, hate, hate, hate mosquitoes! I have to water the vegetable garden most every day because we aren't getting any rainfall. So, I spray on insect repellent, I put on long pants and a long sleeved shirt even though it is in the 90s outside, and I water the garden or set the hose so it waters itself for a while. I can be out there for only five minutes but I still come in covered with mosquito bites - I don't even see the little beggars but they find me! Grrr - itch, itch, itch and now I am covered with Benadryl lotion and they are still itching! I think these Georgia mosquitoes must like exotic Canadian blood ! I don't ever remember them being this bad before.

Exotic blood...that must be it.
Funny, you wear all that protection and it is like an invitation to them.
Maybe it is like a cat-burglar looking for the house on most lockdown to break into it because it must have more valuables.
Try going out there naked and see if you get a bite.


Speaking of scratching, I wonder how sweet Liz faired with her strange ailment/itching????

I'm sure she'll get a bite, from what I can't say but I'm sure she'll get bit.

Isn't it interesting how mosquitoes seem to prefer some people! Thankfully I am not one of those people, however they do love to snack on Mike.

You need a bee keepers suit Kathryn!

That's it! A Bee Keeper's suit! hehehehe. Yeah, my husband Joe is usually not bothered by mosquitoes but they have always liked me. The one reassurance in all of this is that he is finding them troublesome this year as well, so it's not just me (VBG) !

Ok - prize for hugely terrible customer 'technical' support goes toooooooo

Roomba

So for Mother's day I bought my Mom a docking station for her roomba - for which I received the golden child award - but I digress.

So my Sister was over there yesterday and she's going to set it up for her, but the roomba manual says 'push the spot button and the clean button at the same time'. Easy enough except there is no 'spot' button.

So I call 'technical' support:

Thank you for calling irobot, how can I help you.

Blah blah blah (as above).

One moment maam......which roomba do you have.

I tell her.

What is your name?

We establish my name then she says she has two Maureens - am I blah@blahblah or the other (she actually gives me the other customers email address - not good). I tell her which email address belongs to me.

Ok, you have the whatever model.

Yes I do.

(She is madly looking up stuff the whole time we are talking).

Ok, so what you need to do is press the Spot button and clean button at the same time.

Can't do that, don't have a 'spot' button.

(I've edited here - I have actually told her the problem about 3 times at this point).

Oh, ok, can you repeat to me what the problem is.

So I say....I don't mean to be rude, but are you listening to anything I am saying??? I have already told you 3 times why i'm calling.

Bottom line, she finally tells me, you cannot use the docking station.

Ok, fine.

Is there anything else I can do for you today maam?

Well....how do I return these?

Oh, you don't need to return them, you can keep them.

Ok....but then how do I get my money back.....

At that point she transfers me to customer service where the person tells me to ignore the spot button etc etc and tells me how it will work.

First, it has to suck the money out of your wallet? Seriously this sucks, BTW, I went to school with a Joe Blah, any relation?

That's gotta be my favourite question from a customer service rep who provides you with no service other than to tick you off royally. My response is usually "No. You've done quite enough already, thank you."

He missed his f-ing connection from Vancouver - ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh.

By 'he' you mean your Husband!?

He was probably in the Tim Hortons line up,lol Hope he get son the next flghht

I hope they can get him on another flight without much of a wait.

That boy does love his TimmyBits =) but he caught the next flight and will be here in an hour. Yeah - it was kinda nice, I actually had time to clean a little bit more and finish up a few things. Oh well, he's on the plane and it took off with no delays.

We're off to the Northwest Territories tomorrow to see my fam - and he wants to do some fishing. Can't wait.

glad it worked out. dont forget the mosquito spray.

I want to meet my mother-in-law, brother-in-law, and nephew.

Sometimes I forget that I even HAVE this new family because they're all the way in Québec. Not like I'd be able to talk to my mother-in-law and nephew anyway, since I can't speak or understand much spoken French and they can't speak English... but still... family has always been so important to me since I've always been so close to my own...

Also, this next part is in no way a vent, but it ties in with the above vent... today is my parents' 35th wedding anniversary! How ironic that it happens to be on Canada Day.

Ahh so my mother in law decided to throw a little below the belt comment in this morning. We're moving out in two weeks so I think maybe she's gone into mean mode...I have no clue.

I was making my husband a bagel with cream cheese and he asked: "Is that cream cheese whipped??"

And she jumps in and says: "YES MIKE ITS WHIPPED, JUST LIKE YOU!"

Then he looks all hurt and she says sorry to him, said she was joking and then throws herself on him and stands there holding him for an awkward 3 minutes.

Soo ya I think the woman needs to seriously grow up.

Thank god for our new apartment.

Things were going really well until we told her we were moving out. I don't get it.

umm, you don't? ...lol she doesn't want her son to move out ...

I am glad you found your own place to live... I get along great with my in-laws but I don't think I could stand living with them....

You'd think though she'd be happy that we're finally getting on our own. I mean we're literally down the road about 15 minutes away by car.

I think its a control thing too.

Ahh whatever. I don't really care but I do but I don't.

Things were going well...I guess it can't always be a barrel of sunshine.

Still think shes being a total B*tch about it though.

yeah it isn't fair... is he an only child or the youngest child or something??

Nope not even. He's the oldest and he has a little brother who's 23.

Before when we were moving, she wasn't like this. I mean I have my son here, lucky he's in Canada right now visiting my mom. But its crowded and hectic with all of us here. She should be happy. And stop the low blow comments. Like I just want to tell her: "Okay, its fine that you will miss your son, but you need not act like a teenager about it"

He's moved out before. I think shes nuts. Yep thats it. Shes nuts lol.

Can't wait for you to get the heck out of there Sprailenes so you and your husband and son begin your NEW life free of this MIL! I've read over the year the family dynamics, and can't help but think that everything will be SO different once you're out of there. Best wishes!

So true what Carla said.

No your MIL can't be happy for you, whether it's a control issue or her Son moving out or controlling her Son moving out

Grrrrr ..... I have tried to post a new topic twice ... and it never shows up. It will probably show up as a repetitive post next.

umm if it is about your baby.. it has posted twice already ..

and I am sorry you have to go through that

Can anyone tell me why some people get their conditional permanent resident card (aka green card) in 3 months and why some people have been waiting for years?
It is not like they even had an RFE.

I hope I haven't fallen through a crack.

I'd like to have this process completed so that I do not need to think of it anymore, and my partner and I will have more options open to us.

Mine took almost 7 months, so you're doing fine. They probably got a hit on your name and have to go through the verification process. It'll come.

Thanks for your response Krikit.
I appreciate someone getting back to me.
LOL

Yes, Krikit's a bottle of Chateau Lafite Rothschild, the rest of the folks here are just swill.

BTW, Mom and Pop got theirs in one month and Pop went through AP so maybe they felt guilty. On the other hand, that would imply some form of a conscience...

Oh no no not swill darling!
There is plenty of love to go 'round.

(Just not for the governmental types.)