So um?

[mudshark]

Originally Posted by Mighty Jalapeno

I fail to see how a length of engineered wood will help.

Okay, I had to look that up. Too geeky for me.

[Mighty Jalapeno]

I'm a building technologist. It's what I do.

[mudshark]

That would explain it.

[Nate the Great]

So what makes a building technologist different from a civil engineer? Just wondering.

[Mighty Jalapeno]

A civil engineer designs roads, site retaining, soil compaction, pile-and-pier design... pretty much everything except the building.

[Nate the Great]

I must respectfully disagree. I have a B.S. in Civil Engineering, and we design the building too. You see, there are five subcategories in civil:

Water Resources
Geotechnical
Structural
Transportation
Environmental

[Mighty Jalapeno]

... are you Canadian, or American? Civil designers, up here, are not affiliated with structural in any way. Structural Engineering is a separate discipline, associated with architecture, not civil design.

Ah, I see your location. American. I think I've hit upon a cultural misunderstanding here.

[Nate the Great]

It would appear that way.

By the way, I love Canada, except for the predilection of French/English signs (pick one already! ) and the fact that your dollar is just a little off from ours. I can understand 2.25 Canadian to 1.00 American or 0.76 Canadian to 1.00 American, but the last time I was there it was like 1.15 Canadian to 1.00 American. That's just so close that it bothers me.

Ever seen the Dudley Doright movie? I have a question about Americans vs. Canadians, but it wouldn't make sense if you haven't.

[Mighty Jalapeno]

Damn right. The animated one, or the one with Brendan Fraser?

Also, blame your dollar for continuing to fall on the world market, it just brings you closer to our dollar. Canadian Dollar keeps getting around $0.90 USD. Yay us!

And I'm in BC.... you only get bilingual signs above Prince George (uhm.... way north). We just have bilingual products. I am now reading the French side of a box of "Oat Squares".

[Nate the Great]

Live action Brendan Frasier. The scene goes something like:

Whipflash: These are all American. Where are the Canadians?
Homer: Canadians like to think about doing things. Americans just jump.
Whipflash: It's a good thing they do.

Do Canadians really see Americans as reckless idiots? Not saying that that's an inaccurate assessment, by the way.

[Zeke]

I find the current Canadian dollar situation almost impossible to get my head around. All my life, our dollar has been a joke compared to yours. $1 USD = $1.50 CAD was a safe rule of thumb. Now they're actually comparable, and it just makes no sense to me.

(It's hardly a historical constant, of course. In the 50s, our dollar was actually worth ten cents more than yours. But it's a constant in my personal history.)

[Nate the Great]

As long as we've vaguely arrived on the topic, I've read some lists of pros and cons for the concept of an Amero to unify our currencies, comparable to the Euro. Comments? Ridicule for the idea?

As a subtopic, anyone else know that pennys now cost more than their worth? Does anyone actually think that removing pennys from circulation and rounding to nickels will result in a net loss for the public?

[Nate the Great]

As long as we've vaguely arrived on the topic, I've read some lists of pros and cons for the concept of an Amero to unify our currencies, comparable to the Euro. Comments? Ridicule for the idea?

As a subtopic, anyone else know that pennys now cost more than they're worth? Does anyone actually think that removing pennys from circulation and rounding to nickels will result in a net loss for the public?

[Nate the Great]

Sorry, the site made me think that it didn't go through the first time.

[Mighty Jalapeno]

Not "reckless".... just, by and large, not the type of people who think about consequences. This is on a large scale, though... individually, we're just like you. Just with free health care.

Also, I don't want am Amero... right now, your country isn't EXAAAACTLY being friendly with ours, what with the bombing Canadian troops in Afghanistan, your president calling Canada a breeding ground for terrorism, blaming us when you guys get Mad-Cow-infected cattle, for ruining third-world food supplies with your farmers subsidies and then getting mad at us for our softwood lumber subsidies which are ruining YOUR wood supplies...

You know, that sort of thing.

[Mighty Jalapeno]

Not "reckless".... just, by and large, not the type of people who think about consequences. This is on a large scale, though... individually, we're just like you. Just with free health care.

Also, I don't want am Amero... right now, your country isn't EXAAAACTLY being friendly with ours, what with the bombing Canadian troops in Afghanistan, your president calling Canada a breeding ground for terrorism, blaming us when you guys get Mad-Cow-infected cattle, for ruining third-world food supplies with your farmers subsidies and then getting mad at us for our softwood lumber subsidies which are ruining YOUR wood supplies...

You know, that sort of thing.

[Nate the Great]

Current events depress me. That's why I don't watch the news or read the front section of the paper.

[Mighty Jalapeno]

Originally Posted by Infinite Improbability

Current events depress me. That's why I don't watch the news or read the front section of the paper.

Ignorance is bliss.

[Zeke]

You're new, MJ, so you didn't know this, but I have a rule about politics at this forum. The rule is "no." (Be glad you missed the period when the rule was "NO!")

[Nate the Great]

Thanks, Zeke, for getting the song "The Word is No" stuck in my head. I'm not sure if that's sarcasm or not.