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Yep, the winters may be cold, but they are a lot more survivable than the hurricanes, tornadoes, earthquakes and other natural disasters that seem to commonly afflict our southern neighbours.

   

You can be poor and either use the library or get a super cheap discount phone from a smaller carrier in the US (competition is wonderful):

https://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2375644,00.asp

   

My family is in Winnipeg, and many of my friends. However, many friends have died of old age. I escaped winter one year: lived in Miami from beginning of June 1999 through end of March 2000. Every winter I keep asking why I came back. Of course the answer is INS deliberately made my work visa expire the same day as my work contract. We have winter in Winnipeg, but I lived through one hurricane in Virginia in 1996, and two in Miami in 1999. I guess most importantly, I bid on several NASA contracts; the problem every time was I don't live in the US. If I was a permanent resident living in the US, then I could get NASA funding.

I chose an apartment outside the evacuation zone in Miami. It was an upper floor, so no chance of damage from debris. I moved my car to an upper deck of the parkade. Americans call that a "multi-level parking structure". The parkade for my apartment in Miami had 2 tennis courts, one basketball court, and a running track, so no cars could park on the roof. That meant every car had a concrete deck overhead to protect it from debris. Every other parkade I've seen has a concrete wall at the edge to prevent cars from driving off, but the one in Miami had steel cables coated with plastic. That meant no rim of any sort, so rain could run off, and no wind loading. So the parkade was designed for hurricanes. And yes, during hurricanes Floyd and Irene (1999) I did move my car to an upper deck so that if the ground did flood, my car would not be affected. I had a shelf of food that did not require refrigeration, including a box of cereal and a package of ultra-pasteurized milk that could keep for months without refrigeration. My self included an aluminum foil Bar-B-Que with a charcoal, starter cubes, matches, and a grill. I didn't know if the we were allowed to use a BBQ on the balcony, but I figured if a hurricane cut all power so stoves didn't work, then no one would complain about my BBQ. I left the aluminum foil BBQ sealed in its plastic wrap on my hurricane shelf. So I was ready.

WTF am I doing back in Canada? Oh! I have to be. I did apply for work with SpaceX. Applied for work in IT. I did qualify. I was worried they wouldn't want to hire a non-American so pointed out I had worked in the US twice, the second time I had FBI security clearance, and bid on a NASA contract where I had achieved ITAR clearance for my home in Canada. Their HR department didn't reject me right away, but then Elon Musk himself gave a presentation about his Mars plans. At the end he took questions; one person asked why he doesn't hire non-Americans. His excuse was ITAR. Two days later I received notification from HR that my application was rejected due to ITAR reasons. They said I can re-apply if I every achieve permanent resident status in the US (a green card), but to get that you need a US employer to sponsor you. I said I worked in the US twice, both times my employer had me sign a contract stating I won't work for anyone else. That means the first step is SpaceX must sponsor me for a green card. If some other employer sponsors me, then I have to work for them, not SpaceX. But SpaceX said I have to get a green card first. Catch 22. (Expletive! Expletive! Expletive!)

   

Onlookers CHEER as cops arrest looters in midtown Miami during Irma

Also:

   

I would cheer even louder if they were shot!!! Like they should be.

   

Hope they got out OK.

That's some pretty heavy destruction.

   

The storm surge was so bad, the ocean literally disappeared from the Bahamas as it was hoovered up by Irma.



https://mobile.twitter.com/Kaydi_K/stat ... 85/video/1

   

Well they didn't! As they got lucky as Irma changed course to the gulf coast towards Tampa at the very end and they didn't get hit dead center as predicted earlier. Last msg he sent me was 17 hrs ago, saying they are getting pounded by heavy rains and wind, gutters got ripped off the roof and they just lost power.

   

It's good that they are all right. Things can be fixed or replaced. If they can make do for a couple weeks, they'll be fine.



People forget that going outside in Winter can kill you. We are used to it, but I've know people who were new to Canada and didn't understand that going outside in some weather unprotected could mean the loss of body parts, or your life.

It's more predictable and longer lasting than a hurricane, but it's still you vs. nature. And we know who always wins that one!

   

Just received an update. Winds have died down, power is back on, almost none to minimal damage other than having lost a lotta fruit trees in his backyard.

So I guess its all good

   

Good news!

   

95 Canadians barred from Air Canada evacuation flight in Turks and Caicos

   

It feels like a GoFraudMe scam which unfortunately is happening.

   

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