Coz strazer said so! (UPDATE: 12 October 2011)

[Wonkyth]

Come to Australia, we sleep on scorpions here!

[ddq]

As of the last time I went to Canada, that fine nation did indeed require a passport to enter into its glorious domain. Also, from what I've heard, the cost of living is somewhat higher than in the US, at least in terms of real estate and food. But RT is much more qualified in this regard.

You could try to monetize the incredibly valuable Oceanspiritverse that you apparently own. Aside from that, maybe sell your body on the street?

[monkey0506]

Apparently, I just read up on Canada, you could leave the U.S. into Canada without a passport, except:

1) Canada won't allow U.S. citizens to enter the country without having the legal right to re-enter the U.S.
2) The U.S. Passport laws have changed in accordance with recent border law, and you now have to have a passport to enter (but not necessarily to leave) the U.S. from Canada.

So basically the U.S. says, "Yeah sure, you can go to Canada without a passport but we'll never let you back," and Canada says, "You can only come over here if the U.S. is willing to take you back if (when) we don't want you any more."

It's actually the U.S. re-entry laws that require it (which inherently causes it to be required for all travel across the U.S./Canada border). That's dumb.

Well, Drew seeing as you responded here why don't you let me live with you?

Spoiler

I really hope that nobody's as bitter about my professed creatorship of the OSDenniverse as you sounded there Drew. I mean, when we talked on the phone and I pitched the idea to you it seemed to have gone across fairly well, but I do ponder on occasion whether I might have inadvertently stepped on any toes for the sake of a bad joke.

[close]

[Ponch]

What the hell? Are all the Square-Peniks members chatting on the phone? I never get any calls! I get no respect around here at all.  :'(



(  )

[Ryan Timothy B]

Don't do it, monkey! It's a trap! Canada has the metric system! And their milk comes in bag form!!1! 

Mmmm I love bag milk. You can't get any closer to a tit than a big bag of milk.
As for the metric system. What sounds better: my penis is 6 inches long, or my penis is 15 1/4 centimeters long. Hmm? Need I say more?
I definitely won that argument.

I would totally move to Canada and be RT's cleaning lady.

I hope you wear skimpy little clothes too.
My house isn't unbelievably filthy, it just lacks a little cleaning. Like sweeping the hardwood or vacuuming. That's pretty much the only thing that's horribly dirty. So most of the time you'd be sitting on your ass, Ben.   And that's no fun for me if you're wearing skimpy clothes. haha

And they have those bugs that are a cross between roaches and scorpions!!!!

I know nothing of these scorchions. But we do have mosquitos and deer. Watch out for the deer, they like to accidentally attack cars.

As of the last time I went to Canada, that fine nation did indeed require a passport to enter into its glorious domain.

Oh now you sound like you're just trying to suck up. I'm not the prime minister. I can't get you citizenship unless you marry me.

Also, from what I've heard, the cost of living is somewhat higher than in the US, at least in terms of real estate and food. But RT is much more qualified in this regard.

Well minimum wage here is $10.25 and according to wikipedia US is approximately between $5-$8. So yes, food and the cost of living should be a little higher. I know McDonald's and other fast food restaurants is nearly half the price in the US, which pisses me off every time I drive down there. A case of 24 beer bottles is no cheaper than $28.95 (I believe I'm correct on that figure). And the sates is probably around $15-20 at the most. Damn alcohol taxes. Hell even Quebec has beer that's 2/3's the price of Ontario's.

I know my father has spoken of buying land in the US since it's dirt cheap compared to here. My house was $212,000 and it's a semi-detached (meaning my house is attached to another person's house making two houses one - but divided down the center. no idea how popular these are in the US).

So yes. The cost of living is a little more expensive than what you're used to in the US.

Is that a serious offer to move to Canada? Coz if it's even remotely serious then we should discuss it.

I was half joking, half serious - just putting it out there. I know if I didn't own half this house with my twin brother, I would definitely be down for it. But he may not be. And since he makes almost $10 more an hour than I make ($15 versus $24), I kinda need him to share the mortgage and bills. lol
He's gone for the week so I wouldn't be able to bring it up to him.

With you living somewhere near Texas, that would be one hell of a climate change for you, especially considering summer is nearly half through and you'd be jumping into our lovely winter soon. lol

And IF you'd be able to move in here, I do have a spare bedroom that you'd be able to pretty much live in. I'd of course have to move several boxes out of it. lol. The day we moved in we placed literally every box that wasn't important into the spare bedroom and haven't touched them since. lol Damn we're lazy.

It's a brand new house that we built (Travis, my twin brother actually framed it). The basement isn't finished yet. Grass hasn't been laid yet. But I think it's pretty nice.

But there is actually one really large problem, monkey. It's a very small town. There are only a few businesses here that you could actually get a job at. No taxi's. No buses. 25 minute drive to the nearest city / large town, fortunately there is one in nearly every direction of us.

I'm currently working in the grocery store in town. It used to be my father's business but he sold it in March and I'm sticking around for now. You can Google it if you want, you may only see Wellington street on the street car view thing, the satellite view is low res and blurry. It's Drayton, Ontario, Canada (n0g 1p0). You'll actually be able to see the grocery store too, but other than that, it's varieties stores owned by Asians and there several churches - actually way too many for such a small town.

[Ponch]

I'll admit, 5.08 cm does sound a lot more impressive that .16 feet. I may have to rethink this whole metric system thing. And I'll have you know I like my milk in a hard, plastic jug -- just like a badly done boob job. 

[monkey0506]

Well, with no passport it would be somewhat difficult I think. I'd have to contact the Department of State to get a valid copy of my birth certificate before I could even get a passport ($50.00 plus any type of notary fees to get the request notarized). After receiving that in the mail (I don't know for sure, but I'm guessing probably at least 2-4 weeks), then I'd have to apply to actually get a passport. That's another $165 ($225 for expedited service) plus 4-6 weeks (2-3 for expedited service). Then if I booked a flight in advance (at least 3-4 weeks) (I'm guessing here because looking for the nearest airport to Drayton yielded no results meaning that you'd probably have to drive a fair distance to actually get there?), I could get a flight for probably around $165.

So, 10 weeks, and say, $400 later, I could be there. It's that 10 weeks in-between that's the immediate issue though.

Oh, and Ponch, yes, I've actually been talking to every member (except you) on pretty much a daily basis. Didn't you get the memo?

[bicilotti]

Since that point, I have moved around and I have been trying to fully recover from the move to San Antonio (which retrospectively was my biggest mistake). At the present, I actually have somewhere around $600 of credit card debt (which is growing exponentially since it's actually over the card's limit), and I have to get my truck fixed. So to just get my finances stabilized would probably be around $1000. For me to actually get back on my feet will actually depend how long it takes me to find a job once my truck is running again. So to answer bicilotti's question, that's where I'm at.

Well then, first things first. If you need it and can eventually pay it, I can lend you 1000 USD.

No interest; I would just ask you to pay paypal/bank fees (if any) and let me know how long you think it will take for you to pay it off.

[monkey0506]

I think somebody's gunning for the Most Generous AGS Forum Member Lifetime Achievement Award (or as it's more commonly coined, the MGAFMLAA).

So with help from bicilotti I'll be able to get my truck fixed and then brow-beat my roommates into letting me stay for another 10 weeks while I prepare for the move to Canada!

Actually, I have one door that's been sitting there in a semi-opened state that has been somewhat overlooked, so I'm checking into it now. Hopefully there's not any zombies hiding behind it, but if there are then I guess problem solved! : Actually, the potential opportunity I'm referring to would be slightly more advantageous for various reasons, not the least of which would be the costs involved in the move.

Again (again, again), thanks for all the love and ..er..the kind words of support and encouragement! I appreciate it guys! 8)

And bicilotti, whatever you decide to do, I can assure you it will be most appreciated. Thanks!

[bicilotti]

Good luck pal

[Ponch]

Oh, and Ponch, yes, I've actually been talking to every member (except you) on pretty much a daily basis. Didn't you get the memo?

Of course I didn't get the memo. I'm being completely ignored over here. And good luck in Canada. Don't let the snow drifts eat you. 

[ddq]

Not sucking up about Canada. Actually really liked it when I visited, have considered moving there after my education is finished. And certainly no offense taken with regards to the OSDverse. I didn't mean to sound bitter because I think that making an OSD game is like making love to a beautiful woman: you are completely free to do/take ownership of whatever you want. As long as you wear a rubber while coding. And no, you can't live with me as my living situation is also quite ethereal.

[Bror_Jon]

No! Don't move to Kanada! Move to Sweden! It's just about the same as Kanada, but with a really silly language! 

[voh]

really silly language!

From the POV of an American, that describes nearly all of the rest of the world

[monkey0506]

Well, I got my truck in the shop today. It was quite the adventure, but it's there. They said it sounds like the starter is the culprit, which considering how (relatively) recently the starter was rebuilt, kind of upsets me. They said if it is, since it's been rebuilt before, it will have to be replaced. Awesome.

Anyway, I'm starting to feel hopeful about my scenario instead of just blindly soldering onward. Don't have definite plans yet, and I don't know what I'm gonna do, but I'm gonna be alright. Jon, if that's an offer, I'll take you up on it (so long as it means you'll pay all of my passport fees that I described above, and buy my plane ticket). Anything to put me closer to Finland and Santa Claus is a step in the right direction.

voh's right though. I mean, really, why doesn't everyone in the world speak Amerikaan Engrish? That's ridiculous and anyone who doesn't learn our way of doing things, our way of thinking, and most importantly, our way of speaking, is ignorant and not worthwhile at all.

Actually, I'm somewhat surprised that through these forums and into my young adult life I have learned a fair amount of how much other countries really do know about "us" in comparison to how relatively little I know about all of you. Movies like "Finding Superman" (which I haven't seen and am only aware of the premise and purpose of), exemplify the root cause of the problem (insofar as I understand the movie which I haven't seen ): the Amerikaan public education system is borked.

Anyway, I'm really holding out for one of the current options I'm looking into to come through for me, but if it doesn't I have other plans to fall back to.

By the way, found out today that apparently a warrant was issued for my arrest (which should be getting canceled, or voided or whatever the terminology is) in relation to the traffic ticket I think I must have mentioned somewhere in this thread. I have a court date set for next month (17 August), and have the paperwork that shows that, but apparently without telling me the court set a "pretrial" for last month. Awesome! So I called them today and got the pretrial reset for September. When does that push my actual court date back to? No idea exactly. But I'll probably just try and pay the $210 and get it over with.

[Dualnames]

You can come and live in Greece. We'll burn the parliament every night and sleep on the benches during the day. 

[Bror_Jon]

Jon, if that's an offer, I'll take you up on it.

If I had the money... 

[monkey0506]

UPDATE:

Got my truck out of the shop today (again!). It's running for now! Hopefully that's the first step in getting me back on my own feet..next up is finding work again. Regarding the living situation, I've been granted an open-ended partial pardon by the roommates. I believe I already mentioned it's a married couple I'm staying with. Anyway, she (of the couple) said the other day, "If you're about to get your truck fixed, then what's the difference with you staying till you find a job? The main reason we said you should stay with your mom is because we didn't know how long your truck was gonna be down again."

I'm not sure if I discussed the reasoning why I didn't move from north of Houston to San Antonio with my mom, so if I haven't (I forget who all I talked to about it, and I'm too lazy right now to re-read this thread ), and you're really concerned, feel free to ask. It's pretty complicated, which is why I wanted to keep it as a "last resort".

Anyway, as a very nice bonus, which I'm sure Dual would love in particular, the shop decided with my truck breaking down on me twice in a month, that I must be a penniless hitchhiker, and gave me a free towel with my new starter!



It just randomly happened to be in the back of my truck when I picked it up. Pretty cool I thought! Kinda helped cushion the blow.

[Wyz]

Hey great to hear things are looking brighter for you monkey. I hope you'll get back on your feet soon. And hey, a free towel, you never know when that might come in handy. 

[monkey0506]

Especially one that disguises me as a shark, and even says "SHARK" all over it in case the pictures weren't clear enough.