574 views
1 Star2 Stars3 Stars4 Stars5 Stars (No Ratings Yet)
Loading ... Loading ...

God bless America

Ξ March 24th, 2010 | → 0 Comments | ∇ Canada, Life |

I’m sure that there are gazillions of other posts like this out there on t’internet but ……..

Just where in the hell do American border guards get off?

I’m pretty sure that getting into the Soviet Union pre the downfall of the Iron Curtain was easier than crossing from Canada to Buffalo.

Firstly, there’s the attitude. Every other country I’ve been to – even Gatwick at five in the morning – the security folks, whilst trying to look shrewd, are armed with “How can I help you?” The in-bred halfwit that we encountered at the border gate though was 100% “Why the fark should I do anything for you?” He was actively pissed off that we weren’t Muslims, smugglers or toting AK-47s – anything to give him a chance to start pumping lead in our general direction.

Secondly, the brains. Or the total lack of. This was clearly an individual who had failed the “this is how you flip a burger” test. After exhausting his list of reasons of why we might be Al-ky-hee-dar, he had to radio over to Duane II to come up with a reason to pull us in. Duane II was clearly slightly brighter and managed to come up with a reason – wait for it – Dad crosses the border reasonably frequently.

Yes, that was why we got pulled over and had to start filling in forms. Because they have no issue with Dad going into the States, they’ve got an issue. That’s persecution of the right.

Lastly, what are they actually trying to protect? Forgive me the denizens of the place but – to be brutally frank- Buffalo is a bloody armpit. It’s a gentle vista of rotting heavy industry and depression. They even have the cheek to show posters of Niagra Falls – and you’d need a bloody long neck to see the images that they show.

So Duane. This post is for you. It’s for you portraying an entire country as a bunch of w@nkers and for slowly driving the entire tourism industry elsewhere.

I kept my green “you’re allowed into America” card. Not because I’m going to frame it, but because it’s meant to be valid for three months – meaning I won’t have to jump through hoops again to get into North Carolina. At least, that’s what it says on the card. Reality? Let’s wait until May to find out.

 

286 views
1 Star2 Stars3 Stars4 Stars5 Stars (No Ratings Yet)
Loading ... Loading ...

A long time again …

Ξ March 11th, 2009 | → 0 Comments | ∇ Canada, Family, Life, Me |

I know, I know. I’ve been ill I’m afraid, but am back up and at ‘em now. So, what’s been happening?

Well, the recent news on the web is how those half-wits the PRS have forced Google to pull all music content for UK IP addresses. If this is impacting you, then don’t panic. If you’re using IE, then Hotspot Shield will get around the problem. If you’re a Linux user, then Firefox has a couple of extensions that will block or spoof your IP address. If the worst comes to the worst, then there are plenty of anonymising proxies out there that you can re-direct through to hide your IP address. All in all then, a totally pointless move by the PRS which will only serve to harm the people that they are allegedly representing.

Other than that, I’ve been runing a comparison of getting Joomla, Drupal or WordPress up and going for a quick TTL site here. Probably going to plump for Joomla – purely because I know it, and the learning curve for Drupal is too much for my schedule right now.

The flights to Denman have been booked and Kit and Robin are talking about spending a few days treking and camping up in the Beaufort Range, so I’ve bought myself and Austrian four-piece rucksack and am loading myself up when walking Shelby. It’s an amazing piece of kit; The main rucksack is attached by a full yoke (two pieces), then a but-pack is attached to a webbing belt (two more pieces) and clipped to the yoke. Very, very comfortable. Very roomy and breaks down into a day-sack too.

Amazon came up trumps and replace the Guitar Heroes game that we got the kids (ahem) for Christmas.

Not only but also, I’m meeting up with Dad again for our now “Official” yearly meet-up in Cary this Easter. Charlie has promised to give me a few golf lessons in the meantime. Gina’s still loved-up. Jenny’s still crackers and Jules is still gorgeous.

 

185 views
1 Star2 Stars3 Stars4 Stars5 Stars (No Ratings Yet)
Loading ... Loading ...

Go Canada!

Ξ July 5th, 2008 | → 0 Comments | ∇ Canada, Henley |

Canada just beat Leander by a canvass.

 

  • Photos

  • © 2009-2010 atomicvindaloo.com All Rights Reserved


    Video & Audio Comments are proudly powered by Riffly