RE: Voting
President and Vice-President are voted on together, governor, senator, representatives and other state and local offices are voted on separately.
Good question! So next month you will be voting for President (and therefore the respective VP) Senators, congresspersons (!!??) and whatever you call the people in your state capital, What are they called by the way?
We have two very different systems, but what I thought was the biggest difference in them (we're having one too, this month ) is that your debates, funnily enough , have been so genteel in comparison to ours, which have been like 'free for all' punch -ups!
I'm pleased that although we can't talk Politics, which is fair enough but Political Science should be OK. Please don't spoil it!
RE: Bright lights in neighbors back yard
As someone who loves looking at the night sky, I find light pollution just as offensive as all the other varieties. Here is a link to an astronomical group that fights this, you may find some ideas that you can use.
http://www.darkskysociety.org/
As for painting the fence, I don't know, he could just paint over it.
I would be tempted to hang a few sheets of aluminized mylar sheets in my yard and reflect his light around the neighbourhood. If there are enough complaints the authorities may do something about it.
RE: Correct English
a phrase I hear often is "bring" something home with you.
As an example,,
In the electronics store not long ago, I was buying a large item.. The salesman ask if I was going to bring it home with me or did I want it delivered. How can I BRING something to somewhere I am not? I could TAKE it with me.. you hear that? and where did it originate?
This misuse of 'Bring' & 'Take' is one of my pet peeves as in some sentences it can introduce confusion.
I find it now being used universally by people younger than myself and it seems to have crept in over the past 20 years or so. It is misused in both Canada & the US, but not so far as I can tell, in the UK. I know that there are some rare contrived sentences where the usage is confusing, but in the most part the usage should be as easy as differentiating between 'go' & 'come', and we do not seem to get these mixed up.
As for 'This is funny because...?' I think you missed the point, as 'because' is a preposition! ;)
RE: Correct English
I was very surprised to hear that the word 'pop' is used in the US. Being British, I always thought that it was only the Brits & Canuks that used that word. I can remember a few years ago, in a pizza place in Washington state using the word 'soda' to try & help out the young kid that was serving me as he was being trained. Amazingly he looked at his trainer and said "What is soda".(He wasn't an immigrant) His trainer said "He means 'pop'" !
Later I found out that the two words are used all over the US in an almost random distribution. Of course in parts of the South & Texas they illogically use the term 'coke'.
RE: Using HELOC to pay down 1st Mortgage.
It is true that the more you can put on your mortgage, the faster it will pay off. By juggling payments on a mortgage, credit card and credit line could result in a faster payoff. However it wouldn't work everywhere as for example , around here, most mortgages do not allow extra payments, unless they are 'open' or a variable rate.
I am also not a big fan of the 'Heloc', (never seen that acronym before) They are a really good product from the lender's viewpoint, but in my time with the bank, I saw too many customers that let these credit lines runaway on them.
Too many customers did not see the outstanding balances on their mortgages & home equity credit lines as being LOANS that would have to be paid off sometime. Instead, they would see whatever equity was left in their home as being some POT OF CASH that they could use for whatever they wanted!
RE: Correct English
Press "1" for English!!! What would John Wayne have said?
I don't think we really have to worry about this until it becomes,
"Press 9 for English" !
RE: An interesting story from Mazatlan
There are two kinds of people who visit & post on this Forum, those who like Mexico and those who do not. There have been many examples of the latter, typically posting horror stories of events that took place in areas rarely visited by RVers. The story is then finished by some statement like "This is why I'll never go there"
Dhu! you'd never go to this area anyway.
These stories are not like that however, these events did take place in areas known to many of us. Many of us have driven through Navajoa, and have stayed in Mazatlan. (I'm sure that the Bull RinK is a typo!)
You will have to click older entries at the bottom of the page as this is old news.
Yes, you do have to click on the 'older news' link to get to the story, but in case you think that this happened years ago, it was actually Sept 27 2008!
RE: Mortgage interest cutting programs
No, No No !!! There is an advantage to making your payment bi- weekly instead of monthly, but it is only slight, probably one or two payments saving over the entire 25 years.
Note though, I am referring to making the SAME dollar amount over the entire year, just doing the payment bi weekly. Where you do get the big savings is by making an extra payment a year by paying HALF of your monthly payment every two weeks. This makes you make an extra payment every year, so your mtge will pay off faster.
RE: 3 way switch in stick house
I just went through this in my house. I wish I could somehow get a copy of the page into my posting as it explains it very well.
I'm thinking that the reason for the confusion is that the switches are wired differently depending on how it is laid out. There are THREE different diagrams here for the wiring depending on whether the light itself, or the fixture, is AFTER, BEFORE or BETWEEN the switches.
Also the light junction box itself is wired differently for each variation.
RE: I need help from the Grammar Police...!
"Affect" can be a verb in special cases, such as psychology. "She displayed a happy affect."
I think its a noun here!
I've often read these explanations and think, "Well, that's easy to remember" and then you get to the exceptions & they always confuse me, such as'
And, effect can be used as a verb that essentially means "to bring about," or "to accomplish." For example, you could say, "Aardvark hoped to effect change within the burrow."
RE: I need help from the Grammar Police...!
Good posting Rob.
I think it's great whoever did it. Or would that whomever?
I used to get confused with this usage as well. Then I figured out that the ANSWER tells you which one to use.
HE did it, means that WHO or WHOEVER is the correct usage.
HIM did it you would not say, so WHOM or WHOMEVER is wrong.
HE = WHO, WHOEVER
HIM = WHOM, WHOMEVER
AH!! English as it is spoke! Interesting.
RE: Winter Olympics
You may want to do a search on here about that. I seem to remember some time ago people saying that all the campgrounds have been booked for quite some time.
RE: The 65 mpg Ford the U.S. Can't Have
A couple of things to keep in mind when looking at Euro and Asian market diesels. First is that mass market cars and trucks in the rest of the world get by with much lower performance than we expect in the U.S. In the U.S., we're now used to cars and trucks with 200, 250, 300 horsepower or more. Some of the very high mileage figures you see quoted for Euro-spec diesels are for small vehicles that would be considered extremely underpowered (very poor acceleration) by your typical U.S. consumer.
This too is nonsense. The new, Europe only, Audi A4 3.00L TDI has 236bhp, 365lb.ft. of torque, at 1500 rpm, has a top speed of 155mph, does 0-60mph in 6.1 secs and returns a fuel consumption of 36/44highway and that's from the little US gallon.
RE: where you get your information?
I'll watch all the biggies. I realise however that as CNN, Fox etc and the other US stations are commercial stations and therefore subject to ratings, their news will be slanted one way or another in accordance with their advertisers wishes. For this reason, I rely on the BBC, which is government funded, but not government run, for the actual news. All the others are mainly for entertainment.
RE: Money Markets-FDIC insured??
If the account is a savings account called a 'money market' account then it is insured. If you have your funds in a 'Money Market Mutual Fund' then no it is NOT insured.
FDIC insurance on something as big as the Bank of America is meaningless anyhow, for reasons as outlined in the other FDIC thread.
RE: UK visitor needs visa advice!!!!
a lot more appealing than a cold wet UK winter.
I just spent most of August in the UK. A cold , wet summer isn't much fun either! Thank heavens the beer is still good.
