Thoughts on Not Living in Canada and Voting there with Scenery of North Eastern Ontario
View this post on Hive: Thoughts on Not Living in Canada and Voting there with Scenery of North Eastern Ontario
View this post on Hive: Thoughts on Not Living in Canada and Voting there with Scenery of North Eastern Ontario
Catching up a bit this morning, I enjoyed this post @abitcoinskeptic. Wonderful pictures!
Good humor!
Curious @abitcoinskeptic, how much of this air quality in Korea is uhhh … “native” to the Korean peninsula vs. “coming down” from China? Which I understand to have the worst air quality anywhere on earth …
Overall, enjoyed getting your perspective. From one who has obviously experienced a lot. I am thankful to be middle class, with no desire to change that, as both “up” and “down” from there are problematic in ways which I would personally prefer to avoid. Living simply seems the healthiest. All things considered …
P.S. And living simply in small towns, even better ... 😉
I do remember being in high school and one day it was like 5C after a week of -20C and we were all in T-shirts outside. I've also heard stories of Inuit in southern prisons. In both cases, hardly role models.
Studies have shown around 40 ~ 70% of the pollution in Korea is from China. I think it's closer to the lower end of that, but it's still significant and gross. China is (on average) around 500km away.
I remember Canadians used to complain about Detroit and other such 'rust belt' towns. I used to say, per person we pollute just as badly. I feel the same way about China to Korea. It's just one of those things, you can't really point fingers. I don't like the Chinese government, but I believe they are trying with air pollution.
Small towns are great, I live on the outskirts of a megacity and I must for my job, but if things change or when I retire, I'm moving.
Yes sir ...
... that is the choice most of us face, at one time or another. As a general rule, at least at our time in human history, opportunities are just much fewer and farther between in smaller population centers.
We were very fortunate to live in one, but ... Our children were unable to figure out (and lost interest in even attempting to ...) how to "make out" living anywhere close to us, so ... I ended my career in a much larger population center than we'd prefer. Where we were in much closer proximity to them and our grandchildren.
Yes, absolutely @abitcoinskeptic. If you can ... Depending on what "change" is at hand, any of us so inclined may be faced with a real challenge in doing so, with many others attempting to do likewise.
We are facing another one of those big "Ys in the road of life" ourselves, in deciding whether to move again. In advance of such a potential "stampede" ... We personally find it increasingly difficult to be optimistic about what's coming ...
It's another concern of mine. I don't know if raising teenage children in the countryside is fair for them. I would definitely need to consider sending them away for university. In my case, I'd be happy moving now, but I need a few more years until I can risk it and another few years to convince others in my household.
I think living in the countryside is ideal from about 55 to 75. I'd have to sacrifice too much to retire before then and after 75, I don't know if I would want to be so isolated and far from hospitals and family.
Yes, good points @abitcoinskeptic. We are talking about "legacy" and what we realistically think we might yet be able to do, at this stage of our lives. Declining strength, health, etc. is just an unavoidable reality, when reflecting on the future and what might be ...
But ... We like to encourage each other with "I'm not dead yet" and continue on ... 😉
I have never heard your whole story and I am totally fascinated by your story!! I want to hear more!!
I do love Canada and I loved Korea when I was there. I also agree that many Westerners have misconceptions about it!
Vote Trump! :P LOL
!tip
I'm starting to slowly tell my story. Maybe after a few mixed up posts I'll do a recap or something. I have no experience with autobiography and it's difficult to answer the important questions. "because I like it" is deeply unsatisfying especially because I don't dislike the alternative.
There are a few people on Steem who've been to Korea for more than a short vacation and lived as expats for some time else where or have immigrated. There are even a couple of people on Steem I know who probably have a similar experience to me. However, they may be from different countries or chose slightly different paths.
The leader of Ontario is Doug Ford, he is a little bit like Trump - right-wing populism (he won by promising buck a beer). His brother was the mayor of Toronto who got caught smoking crack. Trudeau was worshipped for the longest time and he got caught doing blackface at least 3 times since Rodney King.
It's just politics. We have to vote for them based on enacted and planned policies, not their Twitter feeds or what the media makes of them.
What @abitcoinskeptic ...
... are you suggesting? 😧 Making well informed decisions for ourselves?! 😏 You are definitely a "radical!" 😉
I try my best to see through the politicking. All political parties prefer people who just vote for them no matter what.
Yes absolutely @abitcoinskeptic. Just having a little fun with you, as at least from where we are in life, people with your mindset seems to be in the steadily shrinking minority ...
Being pretty much an "across the board" contrarian, I am not personally a fan of "herding" the "sheeple" to the polls to vote on whatever they have been brainwashed to believe. If they will not take the time to properly educate themselves, I would prefer they just stay home ...
Being well aware, of course, that whether or not one is "properly educated" is a matter of opinion ...
I like this opinion. 'Properly educated' does sound like a suspicious term. When I use that term, I generally mean people who are 'critical thinkers'
These 'rock the vote' campaigns to get youth and disillusioned people voting are a waste of time and money in my opinion. They are free to vote at 18. I don't believe people who say "I didn't know" or "I can't figure out how to do it." It really seems like a pathetic excuse. There is plenty of information. At least the people who say "I don't care" or "I can't be bothered" are being honest.
Yes @abitcoinskeptic ...
... agreed. I can tell pretty quickly whether a person has a well informed position on a topic or is simply parroting the latest "30-second talking point" ... And from which they couldn't put together a coherent response to a reasonable question, if their lives depended on it ...
The "critical thinking" shallowness of too many of my countrymen at this point in our country's history is of genuine concern to me.
To be fair to your countrymen I think the media works hard to paint everyone who disagrees with their narrative as racist morons. Sure it may describe some of them quite well and it's pretty easy to find morons to prove it. However, I've never found that to be the case. A lot of people just roll their eyes and keep quiet when these talking heads come around.
I have tried to find a mix. A little bit of country mixed with some covienences of the city. I like clean air and lake living, but I like my internet as well. I am enjoying hearing your story.
Clean air, lake and good Internet seem like an excellent combination.
The Internet in Korea is absolutely top-notch. As for the others...not here.
I've never actually done a 'introduceyourself' post. It would be funny to get all the auto links if I tagged that. I just might. I think it's fair play once a year, especially if you have enough new information.
I distinctly remember those frigid Calgary winters. Winters are so cold, of course, that vehicles have 'block heaters' in the engine which need to literally be plugged into an electric outlet at night to keep the engine warm so it'll start in the morning. Funny story. When I moved from Calgary to Windsor, ON, for graduate school, I remember being harassed about this "plug" hanging out of the front of my car. I remember asking why I had to pay for a parking spot where there was no outlet!
That's a great story.
I remember those plugs and when I was younger I was naive enough to think they were electric cars or just to help start it up. Windsor can still get fairly cold the odd time, but nothing compared to Calgary.
I always wondered why cars rarely have any insulation. Also, the gas burns at a very high temperature, but it's just waste most of the time.
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Not too far from home. Definitely nice country up there.
If you are voting for the person and not the party, hopefully Andrew Sheer creeps you out as much as he does me. :)
Sheer reminds me of a young Mike Pence.
If he came to my house I would probably just make fun of him until he figures it out and leaves.
I'd actually be happy to talk to Trudeau but not about politics.
I don't know what I'd say to the other leaders, they really don't interest me.
Actually, as an expat voter, it makes the most sense for me to be a party voter. I don't think the leaders are too important under the Canadian political system when there isn't an election happening and none of the people in my riding are going to be in the cabinet unless something truly shocking happens.
Honestly, I'm still undecided, but I better mail it in soon, so I have about a week to figure it out.
Might as well.
The leaders are so void of humanity by the time they reach that position that they don't matter. The promises they make are just to get elected so that doesn't matter. The shame games they play during the campaign are to detract from the real issues and appeal to the morons so that doesn't matter.
Surprisingly enough, voting matters.
I love discussing politics, but I unfollow people who post too many political things on their SNS. It really depends on the nature of it. If it is policy that's cool. If it is party politics, propaganda or scandals, good-bye.
Voting definitely matters. I mean it's our only hope other than joining the circus itself.
The only thing that slightly bothered me was JT promising election reform then scrapping it. That is directly messing with us cause that kind of system would definitely make people who live in non-swing ridings feel more important. The only issue is it could make it seem unfair for less populated areas. I'd love the senate to be PR and actually matter somewhat, but now I'm starting to sound boring.
That first picture is awesome.
We have those "block heaters", too. (Finland). In fact, all cars sold in Russia, the Nordic countries, Northern USA and Canada (I wouldn't be surprised if they were installed in cars sold on Korea, Northern Japan and Northern China as well) have an electric heating element inside the engine block, but using them is not absolutely necessary anywhere. Modern cars nearly always start if he ambient temperature isn't stupidly low like -40 C or something but warming the engine block in the morning or during the day at work before driving will reduce wear and tear on the engine.
Thanks, I have a few more but there are boats or other structures in the photos that ruin the nature scene.
In Canada, they switch the gasoline type in winter to something called winter gas so it doesn't freeze. People also warm up there cars. Until the mid-1990s some models were actually plugged in at night. I'm not sure how that issue was solved, but I think better engines combined with winter gas helps. I know the road salt really does damage to cars.
The best part about warming the car up is you don't have to get into a freezing car. I remember quite a few people who didn't have a walk in garage had a remote car starter. In my case I learned how to start the car when I was around 10 years old because my parents tricked me into thinking it was fun. After the first few times, I finally realized what they were doing.
Beautiful nature shots! I can’t tolerate the extreme cold, and don’t really enjoy the heat either! 😉. It was 99 degrees here yesterday!
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99F is absolutely awful. Hopefully, it is a dry heat and not humid at those temperatures. I perfer slightly cold, but no one likes frigid.
Nope! It is very humid here! When I take a warm shower I start sweating right after I towel off, making it extremely difficult to get dressed!
I choose the cooler times of day to mow the grass and wind up raining on myself!
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I can't imagine that kind of weather. In July and August here I get extremely lazy and it rarely gets above 95 with humidity. At 100, sweating doesn't even work.
Yes this summer has been awful! I’m seriously considering moving to a cooler place!
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Great photos 😍😍
Happy Voting 👍👍😎🍁💗🙏
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Thanks so much!
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