# An American moving to Canada.. Pros? Cons?



## Little Wing (Jun 19, 2007)




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## DontStop (Jun 19, 2007)

Pros: everything except taxes
Cons: Taxes

move to Alberta. Alberta is so great it tried to seperate from Canada once upon a time.


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## NeilPearson (Jun 19, 2007)

DontStop said:


> Pros: everything except taxes
> Cons: Taxes
> 
> move to Alberta. Alberta is so great it tried to seperate from Canada once upon a time.



Lol, so did Quebec


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## DontStop (Jun 19, 2007)

I know. The only difference was is they expected to have all the benefits of the Canadian government and they still expected to use ports in Canada for their own business. And they even still wanted equilization payments. Scummy French.


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## tucker01 (Jun 19, 2007)

Alberta is a booming province right now.  

Even people at McDonalds or Dairy queen are getting signing bonuses as incentive to take the job.

Like was stated earlier  Taxes will be a little bit of a shock.

What are you expecting moving to canada, maybe we can elaborate from there.


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## Gordo (Jun 19, 2007)

What region? Which province or is that up in the air? 

Each area has it's pros and cons... some areas are more affordable than others.

Are you looking to get a house or just rent?
Are you looking for a job or is work relocating you?

That kind of thing.


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## tucker01 (Jun 19, 2007)

Average home price in Ontario... yes Ontario is $300,000


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## DontStop (Jun 19, 2007)

That's about the same as Alberta's. I know B.C is awful. MEGA heavily taxed. Fort McMurry in Alberta is expensive too...mind you people working at Tim Hortons there get $15/h min wage


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## tucker01 (Jun 19, 2007)

IainDaniel said:


> Average home price in Ontario... yes Ontario is $300,000



Actually it is the average home price in Canada over 300K.

But you have to remember that a majority of the population is around large centers, with higher housing prices.


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## DontStop (Jun 19, 2007)

Yah. Edmonton is booming. Hell, look at Calgary.


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## Scarface30 (Jun 19, 2007)

cons - yes definitely the taxes. also if you don't like George Dub-ya Bush, you're coming to a country with George Bush Jr. Jr... Harper/Harper gov't are idiots.

pros - a chance to make some good money depending on where you live. also a better health care system. and depending on how long you live here, Canada has some damn good post secondary education schools for your children. (not sure what the tuition is like compared to the US though?)


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## tucker01 (Jun 19, 2007)

Scarface30 said:


> cons - yes definitely the taxes. also if you don't like George Dub-ya Bush, you're coming to a country with George Bush Jr. Jr... Harper/Harper gov't are idiots.
> 
> pros - a chance to make some good money depending on where you live. also a better health care system. and depending on how long you live here, Canada has some damn good post secondary education schools for your children. (not sure what the tuition is like compared to the US though?)



You do realize you sound like a retard comparing any conservative government in Canada to the conservative party in the States?

Harper and his party would be considered even more liberal then the Democrat party.

Personally I think Harper is a good change, after the Chretien and the Liberals stole and lied to us for so many years.

Harper and his Gov. certainly seem to have a realistic view on the path of our country.  Our health care is falling apart, our military is a joke.


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## Scarface30 (Jun 19, 2007)

the only reason I think Harper is an idiot is because he is pretty much following in the footsteps of Bush...if it weren't for Harper we wouldn't be fighting in Iraq or anything like that. he just did it because he wanted to please Bush, in my opinion...plus what he just did to the Maritimes, taking like 1.4billion from them for this "free trade" thing. that is the last thing I am going to say, because its getting off topic.


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## DontStop (Jun 19, 2007)

Harper is wise making bonds with leaders in the U.S.


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## Little Wing (Jun 19, 2007)

IainDaniel said:


> Alberta is a booming province right now.
> 
> Even people at McDonalds or Dairy queen are getting signing bonuses as incentive to take the job.
> 
> ...




Montreal area in the next couple of years maybe but I'm feeling a bit weirded out at the prospect of not being an American anymore. I need to find out a lot  like about the possibility of dual citizenship?

I found this Dual Citizenship FAQ .


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## tucker01 (Jun 19, 2007)

Why is supporting our largest business partner stupid?  We rely on the US as hard as that is to admit.  Even though we may not agree with some of there decisions, we should stand beside them, just like you would stand beside any close friend in a time of need.

Seeing that you are from Halifax,  I understand you short term problem with  the agreement.  We (global business)are entering a new phase of trade,  for corporations to blindsided by this is just foolish.  There will be a shit load of opportunity in the maritimes to come.


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## tucker01 (Jun 19, 2007)

Little Wing said:


> Montreal area in the next couple of years maybe but I'm feeling a bit weirded out at the prospect of not being an American anymore. I need to find out a lot  like about the possibility of dual citizenship?
> 
> I found this Dual Citizenship FAQ .



Montreal is a very beautiful area, a lot of culture.  Be prepared for a culture shock,  Quebec is very different from the rest of Canada, it has a very European feel to it.  

Are you and your kids Bilingual? Even though Montreal is predominantly English, French will take priority with most business and signs.


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## DOMS (Jun 19, 2007)

IainDaniel said:


> Why is supporting our largest business partner stupid?  We rely on the US as hard as that is to admit.  Even though we may not agree with some of there decisions, we should stand beside them, just like you would stand beside any close friend in a time of need.



No doubt.  If, for some wacky reason, someone attacked Canada, or Canada suffered a huge natural disaster, you know that the Americans (not just the government) would rush to help.

Yeah, our leaders sometimes stupid shit (who doesn't?), but that doesn't mean that the people aren't good.


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## NordicNacho (Jun 19, 2007)

Scarface30 said:


> the only reason I think Harper is an idiot is because he is pretty much following in the footsteps of Bush...if it weren't for Harper we wouldn't be fighting in Iraq or anything like that. he just did it because he wanted to please Bush, in my opinion...plus what he just did to the Maritimes, taking like 1.4billion from them for this "free trade" thing. that is the last thing I am going to say, because its getting off topic.



Canada in Iraq?      They are not that dumb.  i would move in a heart beat if they had better weather.  Im surrounded by idiots who voted for Bush twice.      Thank God I live in a blue state.


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## NeilPearson (Jun 19, 2007)

I can only really compare Arizona and Alberta.

Alberta is cold (damn cold) but Arizona is hot.  Honestly though, Arizona heat is much nicer than Alberta cold.  It is more tolerable.  Alberta gets so cold that you literally cannot stand outside with flesh exposed for more than about a minute.  It is PAINFULLY cold... although the summers are nice.

It is nice to have the sun up until 10:00 PM or later in the summer in Alberta... mainly because you get so little of it.  It is nice to have the sun down in Arizona by 7:00 PM... because you want to get out of it.

Taxes... Arizona has less taxes but Canada isn't as bad as everyone makes it out to be.

Canada has big ass mosquitos and they are a major pain in the ass.  Arizona has less than 1% of the flying insects that Alberta has.  There are more nasty crawling insects in Arizona but unless you are living out in the middle of nowhere, they shouldn't be a problem if you take care of your house.

Living in Canada, there will be times when your car doesn't start because the oil is basically frozen... unless you always plug it in.

Don't expect a car to last more than 5 years in Canada... it will rust out.

Property is much more expensive in Canada than it was a few years ago.  If you want tons of cheap land with a cheap 3000 square foot house, move to Texas.

Canada has much nicer parks, mountains, lakes, etc than Arizona.  The dog park I used to go to in Calgary would take over an hour to walk from one end to the other.  The ones in Arizona take about 5 minutes.

Arizona has extreme rich and extreme poor.  Canada is a lot more even.  Not nearly as many rich and the poor aren't poor by American standards.

Health care is better in the US if you can afford it, if not it is better in Canada.

Drinking attitudes in Canada are much more relaxed than in the US.  Having a beer or two at lunch in Canada is no big deal... in Arizona, employers would freak out.

In my years in Canada, I got at least 10 speeding tickets.  In Arizona, over 8 years I have never received one or even been stopped.  In Alberta they will trap you.  They set up speed traps and pull over massive amounts of people and ticket them.  They will follow you on the freeway in a plane and radio your license plate to cops waiting a couple miles up and they will bust you for going less than 10 miles over the limit.  In Arizona, you can speed without being stopped as long as you are going with the flow of traffic and not driving like an ass.

You don't have illegal immigrant issues in Canada like you do in Arizona.

Canada has curling rinks 

Arizona has way more swimming pools.


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## Scarface30 (Jun 19, 2007)

DOMS said:


> Yeah, our leaders sometimes stupid shit (who doesn't?), but that doesn't mean that the people aren't good.



I have nothing against the American people, I just do not agree with pretty much 100% of what Bush is doing as a leader.


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## NeilPearson (Jun 19, 2007)

IainDaniel said:


> You do realize you sound like a retard comparing any conservative government in Canada to the conservative party in the States?
> 
> Harper and his party would be considered even more liberal then the Democrat party.
> 
> ...



I couldn't agree more.  Right wing in Canda is nothing like right wing the US.


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## DontStop (Jun 19, 2007)

Ahh I'd rather it be cold then Hot.
I'm originally from lethbridge and in the summer, at times the heat itself was intolerable.


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## NeilPearson (Jun 19, 2007)

Little Wing said:


> Montreal area in the next couple of years maybe but I'm feeling a bit weirded out at the prospect of not being an American anymore. I need to find out a lot  like about the possibility of dual citizenship?
> 
> I found this Dual Citizenship FAQ .




Why do you feel you need to give up your citizenship?


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## NeilPearson (Jun 19, 2007)

Montreal would seem really French to an American...


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## Little Wing (Jun 19, 2007)

NeilPearson said:


> I can only really compare Arizona and Alberta.
> 
> Alberta is cold (damn cold) but Arizona is hot.  Honestly though, Arizona heat is much nicer than Alberta cold.  It is more tolerable.  Alberta gets so cold that you literally cannot stand outside with flesh exposed for more than about a minute.  It is PAINFULLY cold... although the summers are nice.
> 
> ...



I currently live in Maine so I'm used to the mosquitoes (we sell joke tiny birdhouses n call them mosquito houses) and the cold. Cars here rust out and have great interiors in Arizona the bodies stay nice and the interiors get cracked from the sun I hear.


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## Little Wing (Jun 19, 2007)

NeilPearson said:


> Why do you feel you need to give up your citizenship?



I guess I wouldn't have to, which is a big relief.


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## DOMS (Jun 19, 2007)

Pro: Global Warming

It'll make the other 70% of their nation habitable.


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## Little Wing (Jun 19, 2007)

IainDaniel said:


> Montreal is a very beautiful area, a lot of culture.  Be prepared for a culture shock,  Quebec is very different from the rest of Canada, it has a very European feel to it.
> 
> Are you and your kids Bilingual? Even though Montreal is predominantly English, French will take priority with most business and signs.



I have The Complete Idiots Guide To Learning French On Your Own.pdf


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## tucker01 (Jun 19, 2007)

What kind of french?  Canadian French or France French.  There is a huge difference


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## Jodi (Jun 19, 2007)

Living so close to Canada all my life and have family roots there I can honestly say I would never *ever *have a desire to live there.

LW why do you want to move there?


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## tucker01 (Jun 19, 2007)

Jodi said:


> Living so close to Canada all my life and have family roots there I can honestly say I would never *ever *have a desire to live there.
> 
> LW why do you want to move there?



 you know you love it up here


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## Jodi (Jun 19, 2007)

Yeah when I was underage and I wanted to party   I think I'm old enough now though


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## Little Wing (Jun 19, 2007)

IainDaniel said:


> What kind of french?  Canadian French or France French.  There is a huge difference



I know.  Vanity speaks French, Italian and English fluently. The book is probably France French but I'm pretty sure I can find a Canadian French one.


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## DOMS (Jun 19, 2007)

Scarface30 said:


> I have nothing against the American people, I just do not agree with pretty much 100% of what Bush is doing as a leader.



You and a lot of Americans.  I agree with only 20% of what Bush does.


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## Little Wing (Jun 19, 2007)

Jodi said:


> Living so close to Canada all my life and have family roots there I can honestly say I would never *ever *have a desire to live there.
> 
> LW why do you want to move there?




Vanity lives there and my relocating makes more sense but I'd love to spend a year in Montreal exploring all the Gothic architecture there anyway. I don't want to buy a home here or in Canada because once Tyler is of age I hope to move to Italy for a year or two...


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## Little Wing (Jun 19, 2007)

I used to live in Vegas and i really liked the desert. But basically I could be looking at the next 20 yrs being mainly in Canada. It's only 300 miles from me so the weather and so on won't be hugely different but yea, culture shock.


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## goob (Jun 19, 2007)

Pros: Whstler. Great boarding.

Cons: Iain Daniels. nuff said.


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## Bakerboy (Jun 19, 2007)

Montreal is great LW I think you would love it- fantastic for the arts, authentic eats from around the world, it's beautiful in the fall, festival's all the time, tons of cool shops that you would never see anywhere else in Canada, old Montreal, the people are great, it's the most liberal place in Canada, the have a great Metro, so many cultures, they are a proud people (Montrealers), they have a lot of groups/ organizations that fight for human rights issues- big and small, the cost of living is reasonable and fair for a city of it's size (10,000,000) ... this is just off of the top of my head... Here are a couple of links...Historic City Center: Old Montreal
Living in Montreal - Cost of Living

A lot of the buildings have these type of steps, with grass lots in the backyards.


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## NeilPearson (Jun 19, 2007)

DontStop said:


> Ahh I'd rather it be cold then Hot.
> I'm originally from lethbridge and in the summer, at times the heat itself was intolerable.



Spoken like anyone that has never lived in 45 celcius.  It is different when you live in it.  Hot summers are easy to deal with.  Everywhere is air conditioned, including your home.  -45 winters would be a whole lot tougher to handle if you didn't have central heating too!

You can't compare Lethbridge heat to Arizona heat... Lethbridge wasn't designed to make the heat comfortable


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## Little Wing (Jun 19, 2007)

Bakerboy said:


> Montreal is great LW I think you would love it- fantastic for the arts, authentic eats from around the world, it's beautiful in the fall, festival's all the time, tons of cool shops that you would never see anywhere else in Canada, old Montreal, the people are great, it's the most liberal place in Canada, the have a great Metro, so many cultures, they are a proud people (Montrealers), they have a lot of groups/ organizations that fight for human rights issues- big and small, the cost of living is reasonable and fair for a city of it's size (10,000,000) ... this is just off of the top of my head... Here are a couple of links...Historic City Center: Old Montreal
> Living in Montreal - Cost of Living
> 
> A lot of the buildings have these type of steps, with grass lots in the backyards.



nice n a friend of mine from there showed me pics of a building just like this where he lives. thanks for the links.


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## Dale Mabry (Jun 19, 2007)

I love Montreal, but would accomplish nothing if I lived there.  The people are very laid back, their females are hot, and every bar sells Canadian beer.


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## Little Wing (Jun 19, 2007)

Dale Mabry said:


> 4/2007-Current  75th Ranked most popular image 1 spot behind Prince's bulge...


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## The Monkey Man (Jun 19, 2007)




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## The Monkey Man (Jun 19, 2007)

I thought you were going to move to New Mexico
and be my mistress?


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## Little Wing (Jun 19, 2007)




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## The Monkey Man (Jun 19, 2007)

Me love you long time -


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## Little Wing (Jun 19, 2007)




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## Little Wing (Jun 19, 2007)

Dale Mabry said:


> I love Montreal, but would accomplish nothing if I lived there.  The people are very laid back, their females are hot, and every bar sells Canadian beer.




laid back is cool n i like beer. you can have the women.


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## P-funk (Jun 19, 2007)

Dale Mabry said:


> I love Montreal, but would accomplish nothing if I lived there.  The people are very laid back, their females are hot, and every bar sells Canadian beer.



you accomplish nothing, no matter where you live....go for it!!


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## The Monkey Man (Jun 19, 2007)

P-funk said:


> you accomplish nothing, no matter where you live....go for it!!


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## NordicNacho (Jun 19, 2007)

P-funk said:


> you accomplish nothing, no matter where you live....go for it!!


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## Little Wing (Jun 20, 2007)

LanguageGuide: Foreign Language Vocabulary, Grammar, and Readings

great site. my talks with Vanity have turned into nightly french lessons. curiosite a tuee le chat.


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## ZECH (Jun 21, 2007)

P-funk said:


> you accomplish nothing, no matter where you live....go for it!!



LMAO..........Poor Dave


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## ALBOB (Jun 21, 2007)

Pro:  BEAUTIFUL country!

Con:  Too damn many Canadians live there.


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## tucker01 (Jun 21, 2007)

Pro:  There are a lot of damn fine looking Canadian women.


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## Plateau_Max (Jun 21, 2007)

As far as heating and cooling is concerned the cold is much easier to deal with than that heat.  Sure everywhere you go is likely to be air conditioned but if you need to be outside for an extended period of time the cold is much better.  In the military I get sent to the middle east where it gets upwards of 150-160 degrees in the July/August months and when I was there ... in August of course, I'd have to be out working on our jets for hours upon hours and believe me, I'd rather it have been 0 degrees.  In our uniforms we can only get down to pants, boots, and a t-shirt, which is still a lot of clothing for 150 degrees.  In Kansas where I'm stationed it often gets around 5 degrees F in the winter and they provide us with TONS of uniform items that help with the cold so we're fine working outside for hours.  In the heat you're just stuck.

I remember telling my dad when I called back home about how if I was standing in the open (no shade) for more than 10 minutes I'd have to poor water on my boots so that when I took a step the steel toe wouldn't singe the tops of my toes.  He couldn't believe it.  I remember when it got down to around 85 degrees one day people were wearing sweaters HAHAHAHA.


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## Gordo (Jun 21, 2007)

IainDaniel said:


> Pro:  There are a lot of damn fine looking Canadian women.


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## NeilPearson (Jun 21, 2007)

Plateau_Max said:


> As far as heating and cooling is concerned the cold is much easier to deal with than that heat.  Sure everywhere you go is likely to be air conditioned but if you need to be outside for an extended period of time the cold is much better.  In the military I get sent to the middle east where it gets upwards of 150-160 degrees in the July/August months and when I was there ... in August of course, I'd have to be out working on our jets for hours upon hours and believe me, *I'd rather it have been 0 degrees.*  In our uniforms we can only get down to pants, boots, and a t-shirt, which is still a lot of clothing for 150 degrees.  In Kansas where I'm stationed it often gets around 5 degrees F in the winter and they provide us with TONS of uniform items that help with the cold so we're fine working outside for hours.  In the heat you're just stuck.
> 
> I remember telling my dad when I called back home about how if I was standing in the open (no shade) for more than 10 minutes I'd have to poor water on my boots so that when I took a step the steel toe wouldn't singe the tops of my toes.  He couldn't believe it.  I remember when it got down to around 85 degrees one day people were wearing sweaters HAHAHAHA.



Yeah sure 0 is more comfortable than 150... but we are talking Canada.  It's gets a hell of a lot colder than 0.  Try -45 with wind on top of that.  You could stand out in 150 and survive.  In -45, exposed flesh will freeze in under a minute.  Besides, there is no where in the US that you are going to have 150-160 degrees.... 110-120 is pretty much the extreme here.  Yeah I would rather have 0 than 150... but I would rather have 110 than -45


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## Little Wing (Jun 21, 2007)

Plateau_Max said:


> As far as heating and cooling is concerned the cold is much easier to deal with than that heat.  Sure everywhere you go is likely to be air conditioned but if you need to be outside for an extended period of time the cold is much better.  In the military I get sent to the middle east where it gets upwards of 150-160 degrees in the July/August months and when I was there ... in August of course, I'd have to be out working on our jets for hours upon hours and believe me, I'd rather it have been 0 degrees.  In our uniforms we can only get down to pants, boots, and a t-shirt, which is still a lot of clothing for 150 degrees.  In Kansas where I'm stationed it often gets around 5 degrees F in the winter and they provide us with TONS of uniform items that help with the cold so we're fine working outside for hours.  In the heat you're just stuck.
> 
> I remember telling my dad when I called back home about how if I was standing in the open (no shade) for more than 10 minutes I'd have to poor water on my boots so that when I took a step the steel toe wouldn't singe the tops of my toes.  He couldn't believe it.  I remember when it got down to around 85 degrees one day people were wearing sweaters HAHAHAHA.



It gets extremely cold here, it's not uncommon for the wind chill factor to make even a short walk outside actually painful. I lived in Vegas for a few years and much preferred the climate there but 150 degrees just sounds insane. On a side note, i think it's very cool that you are in the military.


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## Bakerboy (Jun 21, 2007)




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## Little Wing (Jun 21, 2007)

NeilPearson said:


> Yeah sure 0 is more comfortable than 150... but we are talking Canada.  It's gets a hell of a lot colder than 0.  Try -45 with wind on top of that.  You could stand out in 150 and survive.  In -45, exposed flesh will freeze in under a minute.  Besides, there is no where in the US that you are going to have 150-160 degrees.... 110-120 is pretty much the extreme here.  Yeah I would rather have 0 than 150... but I would rather have 110 than -45



I've lived in Maine most of my life and moved back here because of my family. I'd like to eventually settle somewhere with a desert climate again.


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## Little Wing (Jun 21, 2007)

Bakerboy said:


>




Canada has nude beaches?


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## Bakerboy (Jun 21, 2007)

^ On the west coast- Vancouver, BC they do... Wreck Beach


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## Little Wing (Jun 21, 2007)

Bakerboy said:


> ^ On the west coast- Vancouver, BC they do... Wreck Beach



I'm not sure i want to be around that many open clams...


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## Bakerboy (Jun 21, 2007)

^


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