Random sighting #1:

What's more random than spotting a blue hippo on your way to an appointment?


Talk about out of the blue!

She sits there in front of a glass repair shop in Edmond, Oklahoma, holding onto an American flag. You almost expect her to wave it. Not sure what the reasoning behind this oddity is. She sure is cute though. Odd, but cute. Reminded me of my days travelling around with hubby in his semi-truck. You never knew what you might find around the next corner.

Random sighting #2:

A veterinary hospital next to a Chinese restaurant. (sorry, no picture). Now, there's just something not right about that!

Tornado Day

As you all must know, May 24th, 2011, was an active tornado day here in these Oklahoma City parts. With all of the tornado action going on in the States lately, I guess it was our turn.

Hubby and I were having a quiet day in the apartment that day with no TV or radio; as such, we had no idea of the possibility of severe weather. This is how we learned of it:

Around 4 p.m. we curled up to chat before hubby had to leave for work at 5. The discussion turned to tornadoes. Hubby commented that the day was exhibiting perfect conditions for one. We heard a motorcycle accelerate in the distance. I told hubby that the sound of that always gives me a quick adrenaline rush because it sounds like the warning sirens starting up. He agreed. I noticed that the sound wasn't going away. "What is that?", I asked. Hubby kinda chuckled, "That's the sirens!" No way! That's when the radio got turned on.

Tornado activity taking place about 20 miles away. Check Internet. Looks like it's not on a course toward us. That's good. But what if something changes? Hubby assures me we'll be fine. Ya, except that you're going to work. Not only will you be leaving me here alone, you'll also be heading TOWARD the storm. Perhaps you should postpone heading off to work. Nah, hubby says.

Warnings on the radio announce new areas close to us under tornado alert. I give hubby 'a look'. He tells me the sirens we're hearing are in Oklahoma City, not the local ones. "And if the local ones go off?" I ask. He replies, "So you get in the closet and cover up." Again he assures me we're not in the tornado's path and he points it out to me on the computer screen. Since we have no television, we Google for live footage. Holy crap! That's all taking place just a short drive away from here?! Hubby senses I'm a little tense, so he starts gathering pillows and blankets and puts them on the floor of the closet. He tells me to get out a pair of running shoes. He opens the window so I can hear what's happening outside better. "You'll be fine" he says, and with a kiss and a hug, off to work he goes. He's stubborn that way. I tell him to be careful and jokingly remind him that we haven't upped his life insurance yet. (lol)

As soon as he leaves, Mother Nature decides to call. NOW??!! Don't you have enough going on?! Geez! While quickly taking care of business, I notice a spider. Since arriving here a few months ago, I think I've seen one spider. Just before hubby left, there was one on the computer screen. Now here's a second one. Upon returning to the computer screen, I would find yet another one. The first one was lucky...hubby was still home. He always picks them up and puts them outside. Me, I squish 'em! Made me wonder. Can spiders sense intense weather? Weird.

Things progressively start to intensify. New tornadoes are popping up. The sky is getting quite dark. Raining. Thunder. Power starts flickering. Friends on Facebook begin urging me to sit in the closet 'just in case'. When what sounds like the local sirens going off, I start to get a bit freaked. Outside I go to take a look. A little weird. Not a soul is out here. Hmmmm. Just me, the crazy Canadian! I'll take that as a hint. Time for the closet! But first, my kitty cat. Must get her into her little carrier case so she won't claw the heck out of me should things get bad. Mistake! As soon as she saw the thing, there was no catching her! Damn.

I gather a few more items (ie. bottled water, cell phone, portable battery operated radio, Bible), put on my runners and into the closet I go. I give my daughter a quick call....just in case. Then I'm on the phone with hubby. I hear a warning for Del City, only a few miles away. Hubby is pulled over in his semi-truck getting pelted by hail and leaves and rocked by strong winds. At one point he says, "This isn't good". "What?!! What do you mean?!" The noise is so loud I can no longer hear him. I take the phone away from my ear to hear Tinker Air Force Base announcing over loud speakers for everyone to take cover. I'm trying to listen to the radio, the outdoor announcement, hubby...all hard to do when you're trying to keep beneath blankets and pillows and at the same time trying to comprehend just what might happen as well as coaxing your cat to come into the closet so you can close the door. She just looks at me strangely and won't get near enough for me to grab her. Damn.

I hear a rumbling noise. Overwhelmed I tell hubby I'll call him back. Closet door gets shut. Sorry kitty! I cover my head, turn off the radio so I can hear, and wait. I hear more rumbling. Not sure what it is, but I'm hopeful it doesn't get any louder. The bright side in this situation? I'm not on the upper floor.

Shortly afterward, things seem still again. I open the door to notice sun peering in through the blinds. I climb out and notice people are outside. Out I go. I see we were hit by hail, strong winds (leaves everywhere) and there had been a torrential downpour. The parking lot is now a fast flowing river. Kids are excited that they "survived a twister!"(lol). All is well again. For us at least.

And that, my friends, was my experience. :)

To be honest, had I known earlier in the day about these storms, I most likely would have been out driving around trying to catch a glimpse of a tornado. Crazy, but it's on my bucket list. I wonder...Did I miss out on my best chance?

And I also wonder...maybe it wasn't such a good idea to squish the spiders after all!

After the storm:

The cubby hole:


The breezeway just outside my door:


Hail:
Parking lot river:


The next day:

Some gathered branches at the apartment complex:


In search of a repeat:


Might as well grab a Cherry Slush while we're out and about. It is Happy Hour after all:


(look closely for the plane in this one)
Alive and well and still loving the clouds here.

I'm Fine

I'll post about my experience later today or tomorrow, but for now, if you want to see what it was like in my area, watch these YouTube videos. They were taken in my neighbourhood (Midwest City). Hubby figures this tornado got as close as 4 miles from us. FYI: Tinker Air Force Base is about a 5-7 minute walk away from me. The sirens and warning announcement are what I heard.

Tinker Air Force Base: view here
(pardon the language in this one)

Near Tinker: view here

Midwest City: view here

A State of Awe

That's what I was in this past Saturday evening, May 21st.

As I entered a Mardel store, I had no idea that an hour later my eyes would behold one of the most awesome sights I've ever seen. Upon leaving the store at approximately 8 p.m. I was awestruck by the cloud before me. Truly a wow moment. Also a Kodak moment, but with no camera in vehicle (argh!), I scrambled to figure out the camera feature on my newly acquired cell phone. I managed to snap several shots, but without the proper USB cable, I'm unable to transfer them from phone to computer. I shall have to purchase me one of those. In the meantime, I was happy to find a picture on-line that someone else took and shared of the SAME cloud (confirmed by date and location). I have almost the exact same one. Here it is....


Now isn't that incredible?! Of course it goes without saying that the picture doesn't do it justice. I was looking around, expecting people to also be gazing at this beautiful wonder, but no one seemed to be taking note. Hello?!! Are you not seeing what I'm seeing??!!!!

The next day (Sunday), hubby called around 6:30 p.m. to tell me to pick him up from work in a half hour. He ended the conversation with, "Be sure to look at the clouds". This is what I saw from the parking lot of our apartment complex.


When I picked him up, he shared with me the pics he'd taken with his iPhone earlier in the day, a couple of which I now share with you. I'm amazed at how the clouds seem to be just sitting on the horizon...



Driving home we approached the wall of clouds before us...

(clicking on pics gives a larger view)
To the right of us was a mushroom cloud that had dissipated:


It's difficult to describe what it's like being in the midst of it. Like being in a dream, or a movie, or ... something!

Unfortunately, about the same time that I was in awe of these cloud formations, Joplin, Missouri had been hit by one massively destructive tornado. :(

License Plates

In Oklahoma, a license plate is only required for the rear of the vehicle, as opposed to front and back in Ontario. As a result, a lot of people here opt to display a plate of their choice on the front. This is a common one...

OU stands for the University of Oklahoma.

Another common site...


Oklahoma can be referred to as 'The Sooner State'. Sooners is a term commonly used for a sports team. I'm unclear whether it's for football only, or whether it's for all sports teams here, or whether it's for University of Oklahoma teams only. I'll have to clarify that with hubby. I remember him telling me, but I've forgotten ...it's an age thing (lol).

At the moment, I'm displaying my Ontario license on the front of my Echo, but I'm considering getting one of these, which I saw on a vehicle here recently:

Yay...a fellow Canadian! Hubby shouldn't be too opposed, given that he was born in Oh Canada. At times I still marvel at the fact that I married a guy from Oklahoma City whose father is buried in my hometown of Sudbury, Ontario. What are the odds?

Being close to Tinker Air Force base, we see license plates from all over, even from Alaska, but I was totally surprised to see a Hawaiian license plate several weeks ago. Now that's a rare sight! Ah, memories of Maui. Tried to convince hubby to move there, but he wasn't interested. Obviously he's never been there!

I'll sign off with a little history on how Oklahoma became known as 'The Sooner State', if you're interested. Have a good day, eh!

(quoted from http://www.netstate.com/states/intro/ok_intro.htm)
"Unassigned Lands in Oklahoma were offered to settlers through a series of Land Openings where newcomers initially competed for the land in horse races. The Land Run of 1889 began the process of disposing of these Unassigned Lands. The Homestead Act of 1862 provided that a legal settler could claim 160 acres of public land, and those who lived on and improved the claim for five years could receive title.

People who entered the district illegally to lay claim to lands, before the designated entry time, were called "Sooners." The name came from a section in the Indian Appropriations Act of March 2, 1889, that said that nobody would be permitted to enter upon and occupy the land before the time designated in the President's opening proclamation and that those that did would be denied rights to the land. This section became known as the "sooner clause."

Early legal settlers had a very low opinion of Sooners of course. This began to change by 1908 when the University of Oklahoma named the football team the "Sooners." Like many nicknames, this one's negative connotations faded over time and the name, Sooners, is now worn with pride. Though not official, Oklahoma is popularly known as "The Sooner State."

5 Mistakes

Today I wrote the performance test for an administrative assistant position with the State of Oklahoma. The last test I wrote was for a clerical position. I figured this one would be tougher, and it was. I still scored 94% though. Not bad. Got 80 out of 85 questions correct. Last time I got 95 of the 100 questions correct. 5 mistakes seems to be the norm for me.

It seems the State of Oklahoma gives preference to Veterans. I had an interview scheduled for the first position, however they later cancelled advising there were 2 Veterans who qualified and, as such, they would be hiring one of those. Wonder if that will always be the case. I decided to take the test for this new position and then that will be it for writing tests for the State. Takes me over 2 hours to write them. We'll see if an interview develops from this one. The main reason for wanting to get on with the State is for their benefits.

While there, I saw something new. Waiting for the elevator, there was a sign similar to our "What to Do in Case of Fire" postings back home, except this one was for "What to Do in Case of a Tornado". Now that's a first for me.

And of course for the ride home....you guessed it....a Happy Hour Sonic slush. Tried a different flavour this time...blue coconut.

I'll sure miss Happy Hour once I get a job.

My Day

The day started off with hubby's work calling to let him know the run he was scheduled for this morning had been post-poned. He took that as an opportunity to run Betsy (our 8 year old Toyota Echo) over to the dealership to have them look at the air conditioning ... again! We'd just had it in a few weeks ago and had the compressor changed at a whopping cost of $1,500.00, but that didn't seem to have solved the problem. We've now learned that Betsy's evaporator core is also shot, which will cost another $1,200.00! Not a good way to start the day. Vehicles... they're so darn expensive. We've decided to put off the repair for now while we contemplate our options. I will simply have to endure Oklahoma's heat, although I must say that it hasn't been bad so far. We're having an unusually cool spring this year, which is fine with me!

After hubby's noon meeting with his supervisor, we enjoyed lunch at a Mexican restaurant called 'On the Border'. It wasn't bad...a little pricey though. I did order my first ever Mojito. It was goooood. (Debbie, ever since you mentioned having those at The Keg, I've been wanting to try one. Glad I did...or maybe not...lol).

We drove around afterward and found ourselves in the neighbourhood of the house we have an offer on, so we decided to swing by. As the property is vacant, we are able to drive into the yard. It wasn't long before a cat joined us. A neighbour's cat? A stray? Left behind by the former owners? Not sure, but I do know for certain my Zeeta won't be impressed. I can hear the cat screams now!

It was lovely to just sit there and enjoy the sights and sounds of nature. A lot of birds around. Some I'd never seen before. In particular, a little red coloured one. Not a cardinal (although I've enjoyed seeing a couple of those around the apartment complex). And there were several blue jays. For such a pretty bird, they sure have an annoying call. A little white and black bird perched up high in the birdhouse didn't stop chirping the whole time we were there. A squirrel somewhere in the bush joined in nature's conversation for a few minutes. Butterflies were fluttering around. Insects were mating. The rose bush was casting off a wonderful fragrance. Birds were swooping to and from, up and down from the several mature trees in the yard...a pecan, oak, silver maple, cypress, pine, cedar, sweetgum, mulberry.

A portion of the backyard...


The birdhouse; look close...


The pine tree I'm hoping won't die because of the lack of rain...


Walking around the yard I came upon some bushes planted at the front of the house displaying a flower I'd never seen before. Some online sleuthing revealed it to be "lantana"...

Isn't it pretty with the two colours like that?

Also came upon several weeds. With the owners long gone, the weeds are taking over. The place definitely needs some TLC. One particular thistle we'd noticed last time we were there had grown to a supersize! It stood at about 5 feet!!

Darn near big enough to be a sunflower!

And here's some uniqueness added to the walkway...do you recognize it?

(for those of you who don't, it's the shape of the state of Oklahoma).

As we were leaving, I waved good-bye to the unnamed kitty curled up on the doorstep. I also waved good-bye to Mr. Squirrel. He just sits in the same place all the time and doesn't move. Perhaps because he's blind? Whad-da-ya think? (heehee)


Ah yes, I hope we get the place. :)

And of course for the drive home, a Sonic slush was in order. After all, it was Happy Hour. My choice today was Cherry.

I'll finish off today's post with a picture of what was waiting for me when I got home. A Jesus Fish on my bathroom mat. How cute is that?

No blog yesterday. Blogger's been having issues. Although you could see my blog, I couldn't post. It's now up and running again.

Happy Hour

Every day between 2 and 4 p.m., it's Happy Hour! At Sonic.

Sonic is what our A&W's used to be like when I was a kid. You'd pull into one of the many stalls with your car, each equipped with a menu, press the button when you were ready to order, wait a few minutes and then a carhop would come out with your meal and you'd pay him/her.

I'm now addicted to Sonic Slushes. Between 2 and 4 p.m., drinks are half price. I can't resist! Cherry, Watermelon and Cranberry are my flavours of choice.

Sonic boasts that it's America's Drive-In. Just like our Tim Horton's back home, they can be found on almost every corner. Even the smallest of towns will have one!

And those carhops, they're just oozing with happiness. Always joking around and being super polite. Just the other day I went through the drive-thru. My change was 2 cents. The guy told me he had a guy once ask for his two cents. His reply: "Well I can give it to you but it probably won't amount to much". Ah, ha ha ha ha!

Sonic would also be a favourite of my daughter's if she were down here. When she visited a few years ago, we went and she loved it. I can't help but think of her whenever I go...with a little twinge of guilt. :)



Okay, it's now 3:30 p.m. I must make my Sonic run! I think I may have replaced Starbucks with Sonic.

Friday the 13th today. Mwahahaha! Enjoy your weekend. And remember...Don't worry, be happy!

Blah Day

Rainy day here today. Thankful for the rain...we sure need it...but it's left me in a blah mood. I did manage to make some spaghetti sauce but that's about it. (Well that's not entirely true. I did tend to my crops and such on Farmville. :)

And thanks to my blah mood, that's also it for today's blog. Tomorrow's another day. Gonna call it an early night.

Exercising the Brain

I recently started applying for jobs. Not many, but I'm picking and choosing what I apply for. One of the jobs is with the State of Oklahoma. I received an e-mail stating that I qualified for the position and inviting me to take the performance test for it, which I did this morning. Was in two parts: typing and written. My typing speed was 70 wpm which I believe to be low for me. Add in the nervous aspect and the different keyboard with a backspace key that was in an odd spot and it resulted in a lower number than I wanted. Would have liked to at least get an 80, but oh well. So it goes. The written part consisted of 100 multiple choice questions. I scored a 95. A few frustrating mistakes, but I suppose I shouldn't complain...95's not bad. It actually felt good to use the brain again. :)

The deadline to write the test for this position is tomorrow. They will take the top 10 scores and choose persons to interview from those, then hire someone. I have no idea how many wrote the test, so I really don't know if I stand a chance or not. If not, I'll keep plugging along.

I must say that I'm not really looking forward to attending interviews. It's been like some 23 years since I did that. And being a recent immigrant, I kinda think that might work against me. No doubt companies would prefer to hire one of their own.

A frustrating part of being an immigrant is having no history; in particular, a credit history. A few days ago I applied on-line for a Visa credit card for the specific purpose of establishing credit down here and I was granted one with a mere $500.00 limit (lol). I feel like a teenager just starting out in life!

I think I'm too old for all this. :)

The Great Wall of Bins

When there's only one room and it simply won't do, just pile up the bins and make it into two. Introducing our room divider...the great wall of bins:


Behind the bins is our office/dining room. In front, the bedroom. How's that for close living quarters? Actually, we do have a small kitchen and a bathroom as well, so don't feel too badly for me. :) This is what you call a "studio apartment" in these parts. Thankfully it's temporary. It served its purpose while hubby was waiting for the immigration paperwork to be processed. Now that I'm down here, it's time to move on. We've put in an offer on a small house and it has been accepted (yay), but there are several things that need to come together before it's a done deal, so please hold off on your congratulations. We're hopeful though. Sure would be nice to be in a house again. In the meantime, my life remains binned up.

Here's a picture of the house we hope to get. We love the backyard...not only is it a decent size, it's private and has lots of mature trees. And hey, how about that? A red vehicle in the driveway. Imagine that.


I end today's blog with a picture of the apartment complex we're currently in. I look forward to the day I leave it in my rearview mirror. Actually, I doubt I'll even look in my rearview mirror.

Sticky Notes ...

That's what you'll see a lot of when you walk into the laundromat here on site at the apartment complex. They act as warnings to stay away from that particular machine. And they are everywhere.

It sucks to have to be in a laundromat again. Last time I had to do that (excluding when I was out on the road with hubby) was over 20 years ago. Feels like I'm moving backward in life rather than forward. But what sucks even more is feeling the need to drive to another laundromat when there's one just a 30 second walk away from my doorstep. Not only is the laundromat here in desperate need of repair (half the machines don't work), it also needs a good cleaning. I've lost more than a few dollars putting my clothes into a machine, only to discover that it doesn't work, and neither does the change return button. Hmmm. Lovely. Sticky note! Where's the friggin' sticky note?!!! Several complaints by residents have been made to the manager, but her response is simply that the laundromat is contracted out. Basically, not her problem. It is quite frustrating.

I hate using public machines. Who knows what grossness has donned those machines before my arrival. Ewww! I so look forward to the day that I have my own machines again.

I do always try to look on the bright side of things. I suppose the one plus side about doing laundry in a laundromat is the ability to do all of your loads at once. It results in a lot of folding afterward, but it's all done in one shot. I did 5 loads today...at an off site laundromat. Beats fighting for the working machines here. Haven't had to fist fight for one yet, but it's best to avoid that. Last time I did laundry here, during my short walk there I noticed another woman with clothes basket in hand. Suddenly our walking pace sped up. Who's going to get to the door first? She did. Fortunately there were enough working machines for the 2 of us, but once we put our loads in, that was it. There wasn't a washer to spare. And only a few dryers were available. Figured there'd be a race back to get our clothes out of the washers once they were done. She beat me! Just as I was going in, she was coming out. And I was right about my earlier gut feeling that she was a b-i-t-c-h. She totally ignored me and let the door slam in my face...literally. Ya, you have a nice day there chicky poo.

Have a good weekend! And a Happy Mother's Day to all my mother friends.

Surreal

I have to admit that when I first arrived here, I had a bit of a mini-breakdown. Was totally unprepared for it, but hey, I suppose it can happen. We arrived during the evening and I don't know what else to say other than reality must have hit. The reality of leaving my beloved home, friends, family, job, my daughter...basically everything...to be here in a studio apartment, sans bedroom. It was a bit rough in the beginning, but fortunately things are looking up for us now. :)

While hubby was unloading the UHaul that first night, I was making friends with the Kleenex box and a bottle of Fireball Whiskey. Not being a drinker, it didn't take long before I felt the effects. Once hubby was done with the unloading, I parked a lawn chair outside the door to the apartment, in the breezeway ...alone... and found myself staring dazedly at the USA and Oklahoma flags (which are found at the entrance to the apartment complex) flutter in the wind. Suddenly I began to hear some faint music. Wait? Am I hearing things? Or maybe I'm dreaming. Sounds familiar. What is it? No way!!! It can't be! Yup...it's that haunting yet comforting song played at military funerals.

"Day is done
Gone the sun
From the lakes
From the hills
From the sky
All is well
Safely rest
God is nigh."

Taps (click on the little red speaker and open to hear)

WOW...talk about a surreal moment! (lol)

The next day, being sure, yet not entirely sure, of what I'd heard, I mentioned it to hubby who confirmed that I did indeed hear Taps. Tinker Air Force Base is within walking distance of us and every night at lights out (10 p.m.) they play it. Similarly, in the morning at 6 a.m. they play that perky morning wake-up song, Reveille. Sure enough, it's true.

If you happen to be at work while reading this and need to kick your butt in gear, give a listen to Reveille. Bet it works!

Reveille (click on the little red speaker and open to hear)

By the way, hubby was stationed at Tinker as a Security Police Specialist from 1983 to 1987.

And my first pet was named Tinker. Just thought I'd throw that in. :)

Exclusive Viewing

An exclusive viewing is what hubby and I enjoyed last weekend. We were the ONLY ONES in the theatre of the movie we went to see. How cool is that?!

Not really any time to blog today, so I'm just gonna end here with a few pics snapped at the movie theatre. Colourful.

State Symbols

Since my blog yesterday was a bit winded, I thought I'd keep this one simple by sharing with you some of Oklahoma's State symbols.

We'll start with their bird: The Scissor-Tailed Flycatcher

Pretty, isn't it? Driving down a backroad one day, a bird swooped down in front of us. I remarked, "What in the heck was that?". It looked different than any other bird I'd ever seen in flight. Hubby replied, "That was a scissor-tail." As you can see, its' tail is long and split. Makes it very interesting to see one fly.


Next is Oklahoma's State flag:


Their license plates used to display the same Native symbol.

(I later discovered that green and white are the State's colours, representing the foliage and berries of mistletoe, which is the State's floral emblem).

The license plates have changed, and I am not a fan...too blah:


The State tree is the Rosebud. I blogged about rosebuds in a previous post, but here's a pic for convenience sake:


Oklahoma also has a State rock...the Barite Rose, more commonly known as the Rose Rock, which forms in the sand:


During my first trip here to Oklahoma back in 2005, hubby made sure to bring me to the Timberlake Rose Rock Museum. A cute little place. Here I am in front of it:


And here's a pic I took inside of the clustered rose rocks they had on display:


I find them amazing little creations. Here's a picture taken several years ago of hubby and his beloved late buddy Keylock searching for single ones by the lake:

The following is a quote taken from State Symbols USA: "Oklahoma designated rose rock (barite rose) as the official state rock in 1968. These rocks were formed by barite rock crystals and resemble blooming roses. They are found in only a few rare places around the globe. Barite Rose Rocks can be found in clusters with only two roses to as many as hundreds of roses (some clusters weigh hundreds of pounds). In Oklahoma, the distinctive red soil colors them in hues ranging from reddish brown to cinnamon - rose rocks are sought after and prized worldwide. An old Cherokee legend says the rocks represent the blood of the braves and the tears of the maidens who made the devastating "Trail of Tears" journey in the 1800's to Oklahoma."

Lastly, I leave you with an outline of the State itself.

Bang, bang!

Election Day

Well, it's Election Day up there in Oh Canada. Did you check out Google.ca? Isn't it cute? Anxious to see how it all turns out. I encourage everyone to get out there and exercise your privilege to vote.

My thoughts are with my former boss who is the Sudbury Liberal candidate. Having worked for her for 20 years, I know the kind of person she truly is. Sudbury would certainly benefit if she were to be voted in. Good luck Carol! I must admit that I wish I had been around to experience her campaign in person. :(

My prediction: Another Conservative minority government. We'll see.

On the topic of voting, being a US permanent resident, I am entitled to all of the rights offered to US citizens, except that I cannot vote. That right is reserved for US citizens only. Should I choose, I can apply to become a citizen after being here 5 years. I was surprised when at the time of obtaining my Oklahoma driver's license, I was presented with a form where I was obliged to check off "Yes" or "No" as to whether I wanted to receive a voter registration form. Now, I'm supposing that a lot of immigrants would probably check off "Yes" to this question, not being aware of the fact that it is illegal to vote unless they're a citizen. Of course their application could, and should, be denied once it reaches the appropriate office, but I wonder??? And what business is it of theirs what your political affiliation is? That question actually appears on the application form. Why bother with the secrecy on election day then?

Another issue that I thought was messed up when I applied for my Oklahoma driver's license was the fact that if you did not have a Social Security Number, they would not grant you a license ... if you had already applied for a Social. However, if you had NOT applied for one, they would grant the license to you. Now, does that make sense? So at first, they weren't going to give me one because at that point in time I had applied for it, but hadn't yet received it. In the end, they did grant me a temporary driver's license and once I received my Social Security card, I brought it in and had the temporary designation removed. Silliness.

Once the guy did grant me the temporary license, I had to then go to another office where they actually print off your license (what a rigmarole). Because he'd entered "CA" as the license I was surrendering (I assume he was thinking CA for Canada), they wouldn't do it because CA stands for California! I had to go back and get that fixed. When I did, the guy asked his co-worker what the abbreviation for Canada was. I was just about to say it was Ontario that he needed to input when she answered him with something like, "Isn't Canada divided into parts or something?". That's when I educated them about Provinces. Guy was nice enough, just didn't get many Canadians transferring their licenses over I guess. He told me with enthusiasm that he one day would very much like to visit Canada.

Another issue I had was with getting a prescription filled down here. Prior to leaving Sudbury, I obtained all of my refills except for one! Somehow I forgot about that particular one, so I had my pharmacist transfer the repeats to here. That was a process and I still don't think I have the right ones...they look different and cost a whole heck of a lot more! But anyway, the guy serving me when I picked them up tried to get me a discount. He had to call the doctor's office to obtain a certain number to input into the computer. He too didn't have a clue as to Provinces! Gee whiz! But he was thrilled that he actually got to call Canada. Said it was his first time and he just couldn't believe it (lol). He had a big smile over that one.

In summary, it appears most Americans don't have a clue about Canada, but they do seem to like us Canadians at least. :)