Life in Canada

[KoolBak]

I don't understand the obsession with mexi fries? They're at every taco time. Not a Canadian thing.

[2dimes]

Saxitoxin claimed there are two separate and different chains in the United States that both use the Taco Time name.

In Canada we only have the good one that started in Eugene, Oregon. https://www.tacotime.com/about/index.html

Saxitoxin posted, down there it's only in Washington and Oregon.

Mookie said he could get them when he was a kid. Now he lives in California, excellent actual Mexican food but none of the good Taco Times with tots near him.

https://www.conquerclub.com/forum/viewt ... p=5251069u

[mookiemcgee]

No Taco Times in the 7th largest economy in the world sadly. looks like there are a couple in NV, and one in OR next time I venture out of the greatest state in America.

[KoolBak]

There are 4 within 20 miles of me off the top of my head, all with mexi fries. I pass many others travelling....assumed all the same.

No fooking clue what goes on in Cali....and not gonna find out

EDIT: Quick search turns up 23 in Oregon....

[2dimes]

So now I presume https://tacotimecanada.com broke away from https://www.tacotime.com at some point. Their origin story says they started in 1978 in Lethbridge.

I kind of want to investigate the other chain Saxi was writing abowt. Possibly a bad idea.

No fooking clue what goes on in Cali....and not gonna find out

Fair enough.

I'll tell you what's not going on there...

Delicious crispy Mexi-Fries®.

[mookiemcgee]

There are 4 within 20 miles of me off the top of my head, all with mexi fries. I pass many others travelling....assumed all the same.

No fooking clue what goes on in Cali....and not gonna find out

EDIT: Quick search turns up 23 in Oregon....

I wonder if it's a mix of the two chains? I was looking here - https://www.tacotime.com/locator/index. ... 0&q=oregon
and it seems like there are maybe 5-6 in OR but I'm putting in minimal effort

[KoolBak]

What a weird site.

I enter my zip and there's 5 less than 10 miles away.

I enter OREGON and it shows a total of 5 several hundred miles away

There's a bunch. I see them when we travel and I love the mexi fries, so we stop.

This is the site I found

https://www.scrapehero.com/location-rep ... otime-USA/

[KoolBak]

Let's keep beating this dead horse.

I found a blurb that the IRS thinks 85% of tip income remains unreported annually and that figure amounts to $500MM (that's million in roman). At a punt if 20% fed tax rate, that's $100MM tax revenue.

Our last reported gross national income (income reported by all taxable entities to the IRS) was 27 trillion. At 20% that's some gawd awful huge number. The tip tax doesn't even register as a figure in comparison.

So....yes, a great campaign ploy

Go get em Trump-baby.

[HitRed]

St. Joseph’s Oratory

[Dukasaur]

St. Joseph’s Oratory

Cool.

[2dimes]

OH oh, are you going to break in there?

[HitRed]

In 2019, Canadian mines produced 18.6 million carats of diamonds, valued at $2.25 billion. Canada is currently the world's third largest producer of diamonds by both value and volume.

[KoolBak]

That's very interesting....I had no idea.

I'd be interested to know if there's a standard type of mining used and if they are concentrated in any particular area....

[WILLIAMS5232]

when i imagine life in canada, it goes something like this;



i drove through canada in 2018 when they first opened the all weather road to tuktoyuktuk, my main destination was alaska, and was intent on just passing through canada. along with driving up to the arctic ocean. in alaska you can only drive within a mile, then have to get permissions to ride a tour bus through a chemical plant which was not my idea of exploration. i'll have to say, canada was exceptionally nice. as an american you always hear about the canadians being rude, but they were the nicest people. with the excepetion of 1 chap i met at the gas station behind the counter.

the tombstone mountain range was beautiful, aside from the road being terrible (which is understandable considering the location), it was the best trip i've taken.

i also liked the setup of the provincial parks. US has something similiar, but they seemed more usable in canada as far as payment goes. plus cleaner.

Spoiler

[img]https://i.postimg.cc/RZnD1tGz/cc1.jpg[/img]

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[img]https://i.postimg.cc/cLNjdmf5/cc2.jpg[/img]

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[img]https://i.postimg.cc/fL35ctx9/cc3.jpg[/img]

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[img]https://i.postimg.cc/XNCQX5NM/cc4.jpg[/img]

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[img]https://i.postimg.cc/wT52Qds0/cc5.jpg[/img]

i definately plan to return and spend more time. i'd also like to go up the eastern portion as well. maybe even hit hudson bay on both sides just to say i did it.

[jusplay4fun]

I have never been to Canada, but based on the population, land mass, and your photos, William, it confirms my perception of Canada having LOTS of wide open spaces with very few, if any, people. Beautiful photos, btw.

In 2023, I took a tour of the Western states, (Wyoming, Montana, Idaho, Utah, and Arizona, as well as western Colorado) and that is true of much of that area (but with a bit more people, it seems).

I also travelled into eastern North Carolina, along I-40 west of Raleigh, and was surprised how much of that land had NO ONE and NO buildings around the interstate highway. We travelled for miles and saw nothing but (basically) trees. Now, granted, that was some 30 years ago, but I doubt many people moved there. The same with those regions out West (2023), as I visited 5 National (US) Parks (Grand Tetons, Yellowstone, Bryce, Zion, and the Grand Canyon); very few people moved out to those areas in between those National Parks. America is a HUGE land and driving out West (even west of St. Louis, MO., and the Mississippi River) reveals LOTS of open space with few people, such in much of Kansas and even eastern Colorado (east of Denver and I-25).

I enjoyed my travels, seeing places where many people live and visit (e.g, London, Paris, Dublin, Rome, Edinburgh, Washington, DC, and Disney World) as well as seeing those regions with few people I mentioned above. I got a sense how vast is this world and how insignificant I am when I see all these places and so many other people. It is a beautiful world and we need to be sure it stays beautiful for future generations, such as for my grandchildren.

[riskllama]

That's very interesting....I had no idea.

I'd be interested to know if there's a standard type of mining used and if they are concentrated in any particular area....

they are all located mostly waayyy up north, to my knowledge. used to be good buddies w/a guy who worked at one as a blaster - BIG $$$

[KoolBak]

Interesting....

[HitRed]

74% of mining concessions in Mexico are owned by Canadian companies

Wikipedia

[WILLIAMS5232]

i just sold my position in Vizsla Silver. i kinda wanted to hang on to it.

[jusplay4fun]

SUPRISE: there is SNOW in Toronto, Canada:

https://toronto.weatherstats.ca/charts/snow-daily.html

for comparison, Buffalo, NY: 14 inches (35.6 cm) so far this winter

https://data.usatoday.com/projects/snow ... n-tracker/

[HitRed]

If Day

Never heard if it.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/If_Day

[jusplay4fun]

Speaking of Canada, I enjoy the music of Gordon Lightfoot.

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Gordon Meredith Lightfoot Jr. CC OOnt (November 17, 1938 – May 1, 2023) was a Canadian singer-songwriter who achieved worldwide success and helped define the singer-songwriter era of the 1970s.[1] Widely considered one of Canada's greatest songwriters,[2] he had numerous gold and platinum albums,[3] and his songs have been covered by many of the world's most renowned musical artists.[4] Lightfoot's biographer Nicholas Jennings wrote, "His name is synonymous with timeless songs about trains and shipwrecks, rivers and highways, lovers and loneliness."[5]

Covers of Lightfoot's songs by other acts, including "For Lovin' Me", "Early Morning Rain", "Steel Rail Blues", "Home From The Forest", and "Ribbon of Darkness", a number one hit on the U.S. country chart[6] for Marty Robbins, brought him recognition from the mid-1960s. Chart success with his own recordings began in Canada in 1962 with the No. 3 hit "(Remember Me) I'm the One" and led to a series of major hits at home and abroad throughout the 1970s. He topped the US Hot 100 or Adult Contemporary (AC) chart with "If You Could Read My Mind" (1970), "Sundown" (1974); "Carefree Highway" (1974), "Rainy Day People" (1975), and "The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald" (1976).[7]

Robbie Robertson of the Band described Lightfoot as "a national treasure".[8] Bob Dylan said, "I can't think of any Gordon Lightfoot song I don't like. Every time I hear a song of his, it's like I wish it would last forever."[9] Lightfoot was the featured musical performer at the opening ceremonies of the 1988 Winter Olympics and received numerous honours and awards during his career.

FULL DISCLOSURE: I did GET TIRED of the "The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald" as many DJs put that ON to get a break (5:58).

Composition
The song chronicles the final voyage of the Edmund Fitzgerald as it succumbed to an intense late-season storm and sank in Lake Superior with the loss of all 29 crewmen. Lightfoot drew inspiration from news reports he gathered in the immediate aftermath, particularly the article "The Cruelest Month" published in the November 24, 1975 issue of Newsweek.[3] Lightfoot could also draw upon his personal experience with recreational sailing on the Great Lakes.[4] Lightfoot himself considered this song to be his finest work.[5]

Recorded before the ship's wreckage had been studied, the song reflects some speculation about how the disaster transpired. In later interviews, Lightfoot recounted how he had agonized over possible inaccuracies while trying to pen the lyrics until his lead guitarist Terry Clements convinced him to do what Clements' favourite author Mark Twain would have advised: just tell a story.[6]

[Dukasaur]

We went to see Gowan live in Kitchener last week. Pretty good show. Not exactly a 1-hit wonder, but he is strictly speaking a 4-hit wonder, and 3 of the 4 were on the same album, so yes it is a limited repertoire. Nonetheless, he's an awesome showman and the depth and quality of his catalogue that were not hits is fantastic. It was a great show.



Edit: Since some of our members above seem obsessed with Mexican food in a Canadian context, I can report that before the Gowan show, we did go to https://www.donjuliotacosandtequila.com. Amazing ceviche!

[riskllama]

what are the other 2?

[Dukasaur]

Other 2 what?