Nataly

I voted again

That *must* be worth a "There is no problem so bad you can't make it worse." - Chris Hadfield « Sors le martinet et flagelle toi indigne contrôleuse de gestion. » - my boss

Bump (because I haven't remembered to vote enough!!)

It's true!! "There is no problem so bad you can't make it worse." - Chris Hadfield « Sors le martinet et flagelle toi indigne contrôleuse de gestion. » - my boss

I've dreamt that as well, but I don't *quite* have the balls to do it!! "There is no problem so bad you can't make it worse." - Chris Hadfield « Sors le martinet et flagelle toi indigne contrôleuse de gestion. » - my boss

Wow.. Harsh.. Were you not able to recover any of it? Is there a period of time after which you can get it back?? I mean, all my important stuff fits in 2 suitcases.. But to loose everything.. I'd be absolutely gutted. "There is no problem so bad you can't make it worse." - Chris Hadfield « Sors le martinet et flagelle toi indigne contrôleuse de gestion. » - my boss

Thanks 'Twardo - you've just made me feel SO much better!! "There is no problem so bad you can't make it worse." - Chris Hadfield « Sors le martinet et flagelle toi indigne contrôleuse de gestion. » - my boss

I've lived in 3 places over the past 5 and a half years... You would think that because of this I wouldn't have very much stuff - because I *did* de-clutter each time I moved... I'm about to move and I'm triaging all my stuff... I'm finding that a. I have absolutely TONS of stuff despite living in a one-bed apartment! b. my "keep" pile is WAAAYYYY bigger than my sell / throw away / donate to charity piles all put together!! D'Oh!! How did this happen??!!! I hate shopping so where did all this stuff come from??!! Eek! Anybody else unwittingly amassing tons of "stuff"?? "There is no problem so bad you can't make it worse." - Chris Hadfield « Sors le martinet et flagelle toi indigne contrôleuse de gestion. » - my boss

All I kept thinking (between fits of giggling) was - oh MAN he must have gotten hay where hay does NOT belong!! "There is no problem so bad you can't make it worse." - Chris Hadfield « Sors le martinet et flagelle toi indigne contrôleuse de gestion. » - my boss

If you can't be bothered to read through his posts (and my already outlined objections to them), why should I take the time to give you a synopsis of all the stuff that has already been said?? Do your own reading and make up your own mind!! "There is no problem so bad you can't make it worse." - Chris Hadfield « Sors le martinet et flagelle toi indigne contrôleuse de gestion. » - my boss

Ok.. Well, this wasn't about politics, guns or religion, so not sure why this got moved here.. But now that it is I'm going to politely step away because I'm not interested in talking about any of the above in relation to this topic. Happy posting. "There is no problem so bad you can't make it worse." - Chris Hadfield « Sors le martinet et flagelle toi indigne contrôleuse de gestion. » - my boss

"There is no problem so bad you can't make it worse." - Chris Hadfield « Sors le martinet et flagelle toi indigne contrôleuse de gestion. » - my boss

N/A

Yeah. You're probably right. They probably don't talk much about Canadians, though, largely because there aren't many of us here. (Or maybe they talk about us all the time and I just never hear it!! ) There is an awful lot of anti-Americanism, however, and I *do* get a lot of flack for being "American" (no one over here seems to know how to spot that I'm a Canuck despite all my Canadian-flag apparel, my funny pronunciation of "a-boot" and my insistence on saying "eh" instead of "huh"!) "There is no problem so bad you can't make it worse." - Chris Hadfield « Sors le martinet et flagelle toi indigne contrôleuse de gestion. » - my boss

Ah. Gotcha. Well, illegal immigration is a whole other topic (discussed at length in SC, I'm sure!!)... This wasn't what everyone was discussing last night... I just couldn't agree with my ex colleagues' apparent view that immigration as a whole is a BAD thing... I also couldn't reconcile the feeling that by "foreigners" they meant a certain stereotype, which in fact is quite at odds with reality... I certainly can understand that the mix of different ideas / cultures will inevitable lead to conflict / problems - it just seems like people often discount the *positives* that come from it. And to me this seems pretty irrational. "There is no problem so bad you can't make it worse." - Chris Hadfield « Sors le martinet et flagelle toi indigne contrôleuse de gestion. » - my boss

The really funny thing is that I kind of think of "foreigners" as "them" as well (despite actually falling in the category myself)... But it's still strange that if you're from an affluent/English-speaking country you're perceived as not belonging to the group that gets discriminated against (Andy had a good point...). It's a weird/interesting dynamic... If people like me aren't "foreigners", what are we??! "There is no problem so bad you can't make it worse." - Chris Hadfield « Sors le martinet et flagelle toi indigne contrôleuse de gestion. » - my boss

You always have the option to do what you like - it just so happens that there are consequences to your actions (even in "real life"). On here, if you call someone a fucktard, you get banned - it's an established and known consequence. I'm not generally fond of rules, but as long as they exist for a good reason, they tend to be preferable to the alternative. I think this is one of those rules. "There is no problem so bad you can't make it worse." - Chris Hadfield « Sors le martinet et flagelle toi indigne contrôleuse de gestion. » - my boss

Purely as a matter if intereset (given that we have our own very serious problem down here), what is your ratio of success stories vs hard-luck stories? Honestly, I haven't a clue. I would think that the success stories are the exception... Honestly, the odds are stacked against them... Not speaking the language; different educational backgrounds; different belief/value systems; less access to funds, et cetera, et cetera. But that doesn't mean their contribution is worthless. "There is no problem so bad you can't make it worse." - Chris Hadfield « Sors le martinet et flagelle toi indigne contrôleuse de gestion. » - my boss

Purely as a matter if intereset (given that we have our own very serious problem down here), what is your ratio of success stories vs hard-luck stories? Without pushing this into SC, just what "serious problem" are you referring to? I mean, I'm not saying there aren't problems relating to immigration - I just think your comment could do with some expansion... "There is no problem so bad you can't make it worse." - Chris Hadfield « Sors le martinet et flagelle toi indigne contrôleuse de gestion. » - my boss

Ahhh.. The Navy.. By land, by sea, bi-sexual!! "There is no problem so bad you can't make it worse." - Chris Hadfield « Sors le martinet et flagelle toi indigne contrôleuse de gestion. » - my boss

Well, I'm not defending (or agreeing) with Shah's views, but I have to say, I respect him for defending his views without attacking anyone else (despite the frequent PA's he gets). I do think he's actually a nice guy because of the respectful way he responds to all the criticism, although I think the way he approach relationships / women is not conducive to him finding a good life partner. It's constantly surprising to me that he appears to be so open-minded on *many* issues, and yet so narrow-minded in other ways. I like to think that at least *some* of the shit he posts is just to get a rise out of people, and so I find myself torn between chuckling at the outrageousness of his posts and wanting to smack him for the outrageousness of his posts!! In any case, he was the one who made me discover Ted.com, so for that alone I suppose I should thank him - he actually has broadened my perspective on many topics Anyway, I'm sure we can all agree that this place wouldn't be the same without him!! "There is no problem so bad you can't make it worse." - Chris Hadfield « Sors le martinet et flagelle toi indigne contrôleuse de gestion. » - my boss

Ha ha! I love the beginning sequence complete with grossly exaggerated sound-effects!! And the zoom-in and zoom-out of the camera to show the intensity of their stare-downs!! Still, an *excellent* scene. "There is no problem so bad you can't make it worse." - Chris Hadfield « Sors le martinet et flagelle toi indigne contrôleuse de gestion. » - my boss

Funny conversation last night... So I went out with some colleagues from my old workplace and the conversation turned to "bloody foreigners".. (That's "bloody" in the swear sense of the word - not the "wounded" foreigners!!) These guys went on and on about how the government is doing nothing to stop the bloody foreigners from entering the country, and these bloody foreigners are taking all "our" jobs, and having lots of babies and sucking "our" resources, et cetera, et cetera. And I'm sat there dumbfounded... HELLO!! I'm a bloody foreigner!! Their response? "No, you don't count.. You're Canadian.." Ohhhhhh... Well, it all makes sense now. So probably they were talking about the millions of "unskilled" people who move to this country.. But seriously?? Taking all "our" jobs?? Because you *wanted* to go around offices and clean toilets or be a bin collector or work on assembly lines or flip burgers at McDonald's? You *wanted* that one-bedroom government housing to raise *your* entire family in? And you've *never* paid a Polish builder cash because they re-plaster a whole room in half the time and at half the price and do 10-times the quality of work as your "local" builders in the yellow pages? Come on. I think if all those "bloody foreigners" left the country tomorrow, the country would fall apart. Granted, there are moochers who "cheat" the system.. But I think the majority of free-loaders are not in fact the "bloody foreigners"... I love this country, but this frequent debate about "bloody foreigners" is one I simply don't get... Perhaps that's because deep-down, I know I'm technically one of "them"... "There is no problem so bad you can't make it worse." - Chris Hadfield « Sors le martinet et flagelle toi indigne contrôleuse de gestion. » - my boss

A bunch of skydivers all got together to test out a local go-kart place that had just opened up - there were about 20 of us... Well, unsurprisingly, we got banned for treating the (new) karts too much like bumper cars! I think we all left there feeling like the ban somehow made the experience that much more fun! "There is no problem so bad you can't make it worse." - Chris Hadfield « Sors le martinet et flagelle toi indigne contrôleuse de gestion. » - my boss

I *wish* I had a yard!! (Without dog poo!) Yes. Smokers - there are designated cigarette bins *everywhere* here - how fucking hard is it to put your cigarette butts in there?? Rant on Shroppy - these are important social issues! "There is no problem so bad you can't make it worse." - Chris Hadfield « Sors le martinet et flagelle toi indigne contrôleuse de gestion. » - my boss