Impressions across the border

[shootingstar]

After living/working for 8+yr. in Vancouver, then here in Calgary longer ,with one foot pyschologically and location-wise in VAncouver because of my life with dearie, I've seen some differences how long time locals in British Columbia may view Albertans and vice versa:

*Alot of long-time Albertans that I know face-to-face,  do love BC. They appreciate  province's natural beauty and things that it offers. Alot of vacation in  Canada for them, is in that province. If one has enough money, Alb ertans buy a vacation home in B.C.  or retire there.  After all, to drive over through the Rocky mountain isn't super far. The green lushness and more treed forests is in stark contrast to Alberta, except  we do have Banff and Jasper National parks. Otherwise, Alberta has no other huge tracts of wilderness tree forests.

*Hence, I know alot of Albertans are not interested in visiting Ontario nor Quebec..unless they have family or friends. They really look west to B.C. They would rather spend same amount of money there.

*Horrid floods in B.C. (and not over yet. 2 huge rainfalls are predicted within next 5 days) and washed out major highways..means it's tougher to drive from Alberta to Vancouver, if one doesn't fly. 

*Current B.C. floods remind some Calgarians who had seriously flood damaged homes and city workers dealing with damaged municipal infrastructure for  months and now, still several yrs, later for flood mitigation / repair... Many Albertans are sorry what is happening next door. It reminds especially Calgarians and even those living west along our mountain snow fed river,  of our scary river flood time and destructive power of Nature.

*Probably alot of B.C. coast folks who don't have family nor friends in Alberta, rarely spend time in Alberta, have stereotype of redneck mass in Alberta, our ongoing effort to lean on oil and gas economy.  Oh well. I had that misperception too before I lived here. 

*Then as someone born/lived in Ontario lst 40 yrs. and worked in Toronto for 18 yrs., it amazes me the cluelessness of long-term Albertans who truly don't understand the economic strength of Ontario, especially southern Ontario.  .not unless they were educated/lived/worked in southern Ontario, for several years.

joys of living in such huge country like Canada. Never a dull moment.

 

 

[Wilbur ★]

So, where will you retire to? 

[maddmaxx ★]

6 minutes ago, Wilbur said:

So, where will you retire to? 

Duh.  Florida.

[Dottleshead ★]

2 hours ago, maddmaxx said:

Duh.  Florida.

I think you meant Floriduh?

[Wilbur ★]

9 hours ago, maddmaxx said:

Duh.  Florida.

That would be really unusual for western Canadians.  They tend to go to Palm Springs, Sa Diego, Arizona and southern Texas. 

[shootingstar]

3 hours ago, Wilbur said:

That would be really unusual for western Canadians.  They tend to go to Palm Springs, Sa Diego, Arizona and southern Texas. 

Yup, I agree. Florida is too humid for westerners. Someone from our city, has a vacation home in Hawaii ..that's how "far" they went in terms of choosing an U.S. place. That's expensive for an U.S. destination but in terms of a place that has a very different cultural history, geologically different and different vibe, it's a better tropical choice  where it's still not feeling too insular because of the  pan-Pacific Asian people mix and history.

Once upon a time, I tried applying for jobs in Hawaii. But realized the professional salaries in my occupational group, are lower.

 

 

[shootingstar]

13 hours ago, Wilbur said:

So, where will you retire to? 

 Staying put for awhile.. one thing for certain, housing markets in other big cities are quite expensive.  Thank goodness, it's not  Edmonton (which is 300+ km north of us). Snow hangs around alot longer, more super cold winter  days, and further from mountains.

Even the city where I grew up as a kid, has become $$$. 

[Wilbur ★]

Just now, shootingstar said:

 Staying put for awhile.. one thing for certain, housing markets in other big cities are quite expensive.  Thank god, it's not  Edmonton (which is 300+ km north of us). Snow hangs around alot longer and further from mountains.

I lived there for 3 very long years.  The year I left Edmonton had snow on the 4th of September and it stayed.  Coincidentally, Toronto had snow on the ground until late May.  I never want a repeat of that.   

[maddmaxx ★]

15 minutes ago, Wilbur said:

I lived there for 3 very long years.  The year I left Edmonton had snow on the 4th of September and it stayed.  Coincidentally, Toronto had snow on the ground until late May.  I never want a repeat of that.   

You'd really like Key West.  We had no snow and what we didn't have never stayed on the ground for more than 1 min.  I did go through a hurricane there however and that was "interesting" as there were rocks flying through the air.

[Wilbur ★]

1 minute ago, maddmaxx said:

You'd really like Key West.  We had no snow and what we didn't have never stayed on the ground for more than 1 min.  I did go through a hurricane there however and that was "interesting" as there were rocks flying through the air.

I love Key West although, I haven't been there since the last hurricane.  I did fly through that hurricane while it was churning up the gulf though.  

[Dottleshead ★]

3 hours ago, Wilbur said:

I love Key West although, I haven't been there since the last hurricane.  I did fly through that hurricane while it was churning up the gulf though.  

Lot's of gays.  The kind of place you could be getting loaded at the bar and find yourself on the wrong end of some meat if you're not careful. 

[Wilbur ★]

9 minutes ago, Dottles said:

Lot's of gays.  The kind of place you could be getting loaded at the bar and find yourself on the wrong end of some meat if you're not careful. 

It isn't fashionable to be gay anymore.  Trans is where the cool kids go these days.    

[Dottleshead ★]

1 hour ago, Wilbur said:

It isn't fashionable to be gay anymore.  Trans is where the cool kids go these days.    

Non-binary??

[Wilbur ★]

30 minutes ago, Dottles said:

Non-binary??

Binary, non-binary. Whatever it takes.  

[Ralphie ★]

31 minutes ago, Wilbur said:

Binary, non-binary. Whatever it takes.  

Dodecadecimal!

[maddmaxx ★]

Key West was not the place it is today back in the day.  It was a naval base, a navy school and a nearby island was a naval airbase with no place to live or do anything.  Because of that it was very much a navy town and many of the houses were navy housing.  Duval St. was and endless series of bars and locker clubs (where we kept our civilian clothes).  The artist corner down by Hemingway's hangout was a square block.  

The island is all grown up different now.  Probably much nicer.

[shootingstar]

2 hours ago, Wilbur said:

It isn't fashionable to be gay anymore.  Trans is where the cool kids go these days.    

Becoming or being transgender maybe pretty tough going. Truly becoming, transgender  is really the frontier specially if one takes the medical route for permanent bodily change. 

Changing one's body to another gender via surgery and hormone therapy...is a very serious matter. Then there's the whole psyche adaptation. Dearie's brother's stepdaughter became transgendered..became a guy. For the longest while, the family didn't hear much about her. All I know is her mother, has difficulty accepting this. Don't where the money comes from for surgery... the family doesn't have it.

 

 

[Wilbur ★]

18 minutes ago, shootingstar said:

Becoming or being transgender maybe pretty tough going. Truly becoming, transgender  is really the frontier specially if one takes the medical route for permanent bodily change. 

Changing one's body to another gender via surgery and hormone therapy...is a very serious matter. Then there's the whole psyche adaptation. Dearie's brother's stepdaughter became transgendered..became a guy. For the longest while, the family didn't hear much about her. All I know is her mother, has difficulty accepting this. Don't where the money comes from for surgery... the family doesn't have it.

 

 

We have friends whose 23 yo son went the other way.  It solved nothing. He is just as depressed and feels isolated from friends and family.  It is rarely a fix. 

[shootingstar]

4 minutes ago, Wilbur said:

We have friends whose 23 yo son went the other way.  It solved nothing. He is just as depressed and feels isolated from friends and family.  It is rarely a fix. 

I read somewhere that for transgendered folks, the suicide risk is high.

Becoming a woman, you really have to put up with how you might be treated by some folks. Sorry, I know we live in the 21st century but not in all quarters of society, being woman is being heard equally or being viewed as  "aggressive" when the woman is merely being assertive. 

Coming out as a gay in North America these days, maybe a tad  easier in terms of acceptance by friends, family and society.

[Dottleshead ★]

5 hours ago, Wilbur said:

Binary, non-binary. Whatever it takes.  

My dad used to refer to that as "Any port in the storm."

[Dottleshead ★]

5 hours ago, maddmaxx said:

Key West was not the place it is today back in the day.  It was a naval base, a navy school and a nearby island was a naval airbase with no place to live or do anything.  Because of that it was very much a navy town and many of the houses were navy housing.  Duval St. was and endless series of bars and locker clubs (where we kept our civilian clothes).  The artist corner down by Hemingway's hangout was a square block.  

The island is all grown up different now.  Probably much nicer.

It's a cool place.  The only reason I know it's a big gay area now is that my family-in-law has a time share in Marathon and we've been down a couple times at the end of October (when it becomes available to us) and they advertised some kind of Halloween gay parade/festival there each time. During the day, it's mostly filled with tourists doing the shopping/drinking thing so at that point the orientation thing becomes moot.  At least that's the way it was for me travelling to the big tourist traps there. 

[Dottleshead ★]

5 hours ago, shootingstar said:

Changing one's body to another gender via surgery and hormone therapy...is a very serious matter. Then there's the whole psyche adaptation. Dearie's brother's stepdaughter became transgendered..became a guy. For the longest while, the family didn't hear much about her. All I know is her mother, has difficulty accepting this. Don't where the money comes from for surgery... the family doesn't have it.

 

 

I worked 6 years with a gal that did this.  Dude?  Sat right next to me across the aisle at work.  It was a trip -- mainly when she (I think officially a he at this point) began taking hormone therapy.  This great person I knew became somewhat of a whiny little bitch.   I didn't have much choice in the matter.  She eventually moved on.  She is an incredible person and worked through it.  To this day, she remains one of the best engineers I've ever worked with.  Mostly it didn't bother me.  I don't really care -- do what you gotta do -- just don't stick it in my face and expect me to be out the front lines carrying your banner.  In fact leave me out of any and all of your causes promoting gender transitions.  I guess I'm glad it's available for those who want it or need it.  It's a helluva lot to go through.  And I agree with Wilbur -- no matter what avenue they pick -- their lives are going to be difficult and mostly unhappy.  I would expect a lot of substance abuse in their future.

[shootingstar]

46 minutes ago, Dottles said:

I worked 6 years with a gal that did this.  Dude?  Sat right next to me across the aisle at work.  It was a trip -- mainly when she (I think officially a he at this point) began taking hormone therapy.  This great person I knew became somewhat of a whiny little bitch.   I didn't have much choice in the matter.  She eventually moved on.  She is an incredible person and worked through it.  To this day, she remains one of the best engineers I've ever worked with.  Mostly it didn't bother me.  I don't really care -- do what you gotta do -- just don't stick it in my face and expect me to be out the front lines carrying your banner.  In fact leave me out of any and all of your causes promoting gender transitions.  I guess I'm glad it's available for those who want it or need it.  It's a helluva lot to go through.  And I agree with Wilbur -- no matter what avenue they pick -- their lives are going to be difficult and mostly unhappy.  I would expect a lot of substance abuse in their future.

She sounds like she may be ok in the end if she has self-discipline on the job which could translate well/help her overall. Hopefully she sees this in herself /himself.

 

[Dottleshead ★]

10 minutes ago, shootingstar said:

She sounds like she may be ok in the end if she has self-discipline on the job which could translate well/help her overall. Hopefully she sees this in herself /himself.

 

She’s a rockstar. Somebody will higher her. 

[MickinMD ★]

On 11/26/2021 at 6:36 PM, shootingstar said:

Probably alot of B.C. coast folks who don't have family nor friends in Alberta, rarely spend time in Alberta, have stereotype of redneck mass in Alberta, our ongoing effort to lean on oil and gas economy.  Oh well. I had that misperception too before I lived here.

The B.C. attitude sounds like the attitude we Marylanders, the highest avg. income state in the USA, have of our neighbor West Virginia, one of the lowest avg. income states. We also think of it as redneck country along with its coal mining industry.  Many say W.Va's State Motto is, "Nothin' says lovin' like marryin' your cousin."

But W.Va. keeps doing things to reinforce that stereotype.  For example Maryland and Virginia, states strongly bordering on W.Va, are among the 10 highest % COVID vaccinated states and W.Va is the least vaccinated state in the USA, with only 41% of the population fully vaccinated: no other state is less than 45%.  Thousands of West Virginians drive into Maryland each workday for jobs they can't find at home - the cross-state expressways crawl at 20 mph into MD in the AM and out in the PM.  Apparently, they think their "freedom" to stay unvaxxed means they have the freedom to cross state lines and infect others!

"We ain't gonna need no vaksy nations - they done put computer chips in it so they can track your movements!"

[shootingstar]

5 hours ago, MickinMD said:

The B.C. attitude sounds like the attitude we Marylanders, the highest avg. income state in the USA, have of our neighbor West Virginia, one of the lowest avg. income states. We also think of it as redneck country along with its coal mining industry.  Many say W.Va's State Motto is, "Nothin' says lovin' like marryin' your cousin."

But W.Va. keeps doing things to reinforce that stereotype.  For example Maryland and Virginia, states strongly bordering on W.Va, are among the 10 highest % COVID vaccinated states and W.Va is the least vaccinated state in the USA, with only 41% of the population fully vaccinated: no other state is less than 45%.  Thousands of West Virginians drive into Maryland each workday for jobs they can't find at home - the cross-state expressways crawl at 20 mph into MD in the AM and out in the PM.  Apparently, they think their "freedom" to stay unvaxxed means they have the freedom to cross state lines and infect others!

"We ain't gonna need no vaksy nations - they done put computer chips in it so they can track your movements!"

I haven't checked our vax, covid numbers  and those who resist. To me, if there are enough folks who have moved in from another province /country, that can change the tenor of the  dialogue or simply greater awareness to push past "stereotypes" which sometimes it's true in some quarters.

Just 1 yr. prior to covid start, the provincial premier was polling Albertans if interested in separation from Canada. This little movement now will be shot down for a long time:  covid has made it screamingly obvious we absolutely need the federal government to communicate across the provinces, make health care funding transfers to provinces, deal with our borders, the level of coordination required when our hospital ICUs were full, we were transporting covid patients..to another province! Now with the floods in B.C., is a very stark illustration how any province under disaster stress can't fund their flood repair/mitigation work independently.   (Alberta had its own flood river disaster a few years ago which required capital funding from provincial and federal govn't.)  

If anything covid has amplified our  interdependencies among provinces and at the national level. 

[Zealot]

On 11/27/2021 at 4:21 PM, Wilbur said:

We have friends whose 23 yo son went the other way.  It solved nothing. He is just as depressed and feels isolated from friends and family.  It is rarely a fix. 

That’s not completely true, Wilbur. I personally know quite a few trans folks. And of those who went on to transition completely, their daily lives / self acceptance became much better. Most are as happy and content across the demographics as are their cisgender counterparts. 

The problem, and what I think you’re referencing, is the issue of comorbidity. An example - if you’re trans and you’re also bipolar, having GCS will not change the bipolar issue. Or, if you’re trans and deal with issues of childhood trauma, GCS will not assuage the childhood trauma. See where I’m going? Depression, addictions, self harm, PTSD, etc.

Some trans people (and some people who erroneously believe they are trans) start down the path of RLT, HRT and GCS and are disappointed when whatever other issues they may be dealing with aren’t magically ‘fixed’. Many trans folk believe, and are sometimes correct, that their comorbid issues are in place because of their transgender or gender dysphoria issues.   Trans folks with alcohol or drug addictions often fall into this category. But transition alone won’t solve those issues. 

The whole person needs to be treated. 

And a point of note - one doesn’t really ‘become’ trans. If you are truly transgendered, you always were. 

[Wilbur ★]

41 minutes ago, Zealot said:

And a point of note - one doesn’t really ‘become’ trans. If you are truly transgendered, you always were. 

It doesn't help that we coach them along in their childhood misunderstandings either.   I would like to know what the actual number of "truly transgendered" people is as a percentage. Something tells me it is nowhere near the number of claimants we have these days.  As a gay friend of mine said, it is easier to be trans than gay in our "progressive" world.  I think he is correct. 

[Zealot]

24 minutes ago, Wilbur said:

It doesn't help that we coach them along in their childhood misunderstandings either.   I would like to know what the actual number of "truly transgendered" people is as a percentage. Something tells me it is nowhere near the number of claimants we have these days.  As a gay friend of mine said, it is easier to be trans than gay in our "progressive" world.  I think he is correct. 

Truly, I agree with you. I do think in many ways it’s become ‘chic’ to be trans in some circles. And I do think some parents sometimes see a quality in a child and then jump the gun. Not every boy who might play with dolls is trans, nor wants to be. 

Society/People are losing their way. When there is no compass, it’s easy to do. 

However, for those who truly are trans, it’s often a very difficult road. Public aplomb is usually not wanted.