Provincial plans for loosening restrictions

[damo]

So many congrats to your daughter and her wife! I still can’t believe Guelph is considered the GTA but it sure is . My husband and I are shocked at how much new development there is every time we drive up to visit my brother and family. And the prices are nuts. My daughter and her boyfriend moved into their first home in April. My brother and his wife lived with my parents for a year to work full time and save a down payment and bought a house last month too ! I am happy for these young couples being able to break into the market during all of this. It was definitely a break for all of them, wasn’t it ?

As for the masks , maybe we will experience a small uptick and our region will mandate them too.

Guelph is in the GTA? I thought it was Halton, Peel, York, Durham and Toronto.

https://www.toronto.ca/wp-content/uploads/2017/10/90c1-EDC-Map-GTA-CMA.png

 

[pigletto]

Guelph is in the GTA? I thought it was Halton, Peel, York, Durham and Toronto.

https://www.toronto.ca/wp-content/uploads/2017/10/90c1-EDC-Map-GTA-CMA.png

No not technically.. my meaning was that the Guelph housing market exploded because people started considering it a commutable distance to the GTA. Sorry.. I should have worded that better.

 

[Donald - my hero]

Guelph is in the GTA? I thought it was Halton, Peel, York, Durham and Toronto.

https://www.toronto.ca/wp-content/uploads/2017/10/90c1-EDC-Map-GTA-CMA.png

We're not technically part of the GTA but when you consider that I can hop on either the GO Train or Greyhound (once the dang thing starts running again that is!) and be either in Union Station or directly outside it in just under 90 minutes and that is LESS time than it takes to some people to ride the TTC from home to the downtown core, we are *close enough* I can drive to Pearson in under an hour as well. We call the southern end of the city Guelphassauga because it's essentially a bedroom community with all of the same stores you can find in the GTA -- Longos, Blaze Pizza, Sunset Grill etc.

Whenever word gets out that new housing development is ready to sell people will ride the GO train out on a Friday evening, stay in a hotel and camp out on the street to snatch them up -- they rarely even lasted a weekend during pre-Covid days. Houses were being bought on spec with no conditions, 10's of thousands above asking. Heck we had some condos in the downtown core go for close to 800,000 (yes that's the correct number of Zeros!)

 

[Aladora]

We're not technically part of the GTA but when you consider that I can hop on either the GO Train or Greyhound (once the dang thing starts running again that is!) and be either in Union Station or directly outside it in just under 90 minutes and that is LESS time than it takes to some people to ride the TTC from home to the downtown core, we are *close enough* I can drive to Pearson in under an hour as well. We call the southern end of the city Guelphassauga because it's essentially a bedroom community with all of the same stores you can find in the GTA -- Longos, Blaze Pizza, Sunset Grill etc.

Whenever word gets out that new housing development is ready to sell people will ride the GO train out on a Friday evening, stay in a hotel and camp out on the street to snatch them up -- they rarely even lasted a weekend during pre-Covid days. Houses were being bought on spec with no conditions, 10's of thousands above asking. Heck we had some condos in the downtown core go for close to 800,000 (yes that's the correct number of Zeros!)

The difference between acceptable GTA commuting and acceptable GVR (Greater Victoria Region) commuting is light years apart!

My commute (when I eventually go back to the office that is!) is approximately 8 minutes if I don't make all the lights.

On the other hand, my FIL lives in the GTA and he has no issues with an hour long commute each way and in fact used to drive TO-Ottawa-TO in the same day without any problem at all.

 

[Donald - my hero]

The difference between acceptable GTA commuting and acceptable GVR (Greater Victoria Region) commuting is light years apart!

My commute (when I eventually go back to the office that is!) is approximately 8 minutes if I don't make all the lights.

On the other hand, my FIL lives in the GTA and he has no issues with an hour long commute each way and in fact used to drive TO-Ottawa-TO in the same day without any problem at all.

Ever notice that the way we reference distance between places is in time -- unique to us apparently!

 

[Kaadk]

Yep. I confuse some of my American co-workers with that.

Side Note, around here, since we get so much TV/Radio from Detroit, we tend to measure the temp in Fahrenheit when it's warm, but in Celsius when it's cold. A nice spring day it might be 80 (F) and a mild winter day it might be "2 Below", i.e. -2 C. Don't know how it is in other border cities, but I know our way of talking temps confuses our fellow Canadians when I was working a project in Toronto.

 

[Aladora]

Ever notice that the way we reference distance between places is in time -- unique to us apparently!
View attachment 501498

I always loved this graphic:

 

[TammyLynn33]

The big kids are lost when it comes to measurements after spending time in both countries

 

[Starwind]

We're not technically part of the GTA but when you consider that I can hop on either the GO Train or Greyhound (once the dang thing starts running again that is!) and be either in Union Station or directly outside it in just under 90 minutes and that is LESS time than it takes to some people to ride the TTC from home to the downtown core, we are *close enough* I can drive to Pearson in under an hour as well. We call the southern end of the city Guelphassauga because it's essentially a bedroom community with all of the same stores you can find in the GTA -- Longos, Blaze Pizza, Sunset Grill etc.

Whenever word gets out that new housing development is ready to sell people will ride the GO train out on a Friday evening, stay in a hotel and camp out on the street to snatch them up -- they rarely even lasted a weekend during pre-Covid days. Houses were being bought on spec with no conditions, 10's of thousands above asking. Heck we had some condos in the downtown core go for close to 800,000 (yes that's the correct number of Zeros!)

I am always amazed when I read your posts and read of how much Guelph has changed since my years at UofG.

I spent the summer of '94 commuting from Guelph to TO via Guelph Transit-Greyhound-TTC [Go Transit did not go that far then and VIA Rail didn't get you into TO early enough tho they did have a monthly commuter pass]. 3 hours each way. Those were some incredibly long days, though an awesome job

SW

 

[Starwind]

Yep. I confuse some of my American co-workers with that.

Side Note, around here, since we get so much TV/Radio from Detroit, we tend to measure the temp in Fahrenheit when it's warm, but in Celsius when it's cold. A nice spring day it might be 80 (F) and a mild winter day it might be "2 Below", i.e. -2 C. Don't know how it is in other border cities, but I know our way of talking temps confuses our fellow Canadians when I was working a project in Toronto.

I do this but ascribed it to being part of the cohort of kids where Canada changed from Imperial to Metric partway through our schooling (for us, IIRC it was grade 4).

Then, for me, throw in several years as an adult living in the US and I am all over the place.

But even before the US stint, temps as above, people's height in feet/inches & weight in pounds, long distances in miles. Many things I "think" in imperial and have to convert... or when something is given in metric i convert to imperial.

If you tell me someone weighs 68 kg it has no meaning to me. If you tell me they weigh 150 lb, I understand it. Height is a little better, but only because I relate it to imperial. So if you say someone is 200 cm tall I mentally think "they're over 6 feet tall".

Fortunately, the time we spent in math class that year learning how to DO all the conversions has paid off VERY well -- probably the most-used math instruction from all my years of school because it is something I use nearly every day !!

 

[FigmentSpark]

I watched an episode of MasterChef Australia where Curtis Stone (an Aussie whose lived in the U.S. for awhile) was giving a master cooking class. Someone asked him how much liquid to add to the recipe and he said, without thinking, 4 cups. The show panned to the blank looks of the amateur cooks and he converted it to litres for them.

 

[wdwmom3]

Hey guys I just noticed African Lion Safari is open now. I’m guessing just the drive through part. It’s kind of pricey for just that. But at least it’s something to do with the kids.

 

[bcwife76]

I posted the other day that I had an upcoming dental cleaning here in BC. So just wanted to follow up, as my cleaning was yesterday. I did not have to pay anything extra for PPE. Apart from having to wait in my car and call to say I had arrived, everything was pretty much the same (plexiglass up at the counter, only two seats available in the waiting room, toys and tv removed). But my appt was 'normal.'

 

[isabellea]

Ever notice that the way we reference distance between places is in time -- unique to us apparently!
View attachment 501498

LOL! So true! We do the same in French. I only learned metric in school and use grams/micrograms at work all the time but still use imperial for people weight and height.

 

[bankr63]

I've seen a marked increase in groups socializing since Mother's Day. Our community has very low numbers, so it doesn't seem to have made a difference here.

Mask wearing is about 90% in stores here.

Not sure where your "here" is, but around here (Ottawa) it seems to be around 80-90% at grocery stores. It is closer to 8-9% at any T-related store (Home Depot, Canadian Tire, Lowes). Other types of stores are somewhere between.

 

[damo]

Not sure where your "here" is, but around here (Ottawa) it seems to be around 80-90% at grocery stores. It is closer to 8-9% at any T-related store (Home Depot, Canadian Tire, Lowes). Other types of stores are somewhere between.

Just got back from HD in the GTA and just about everyone was masked.

 

[bcwife76]

I'd say where I am (30 minutes outside of Vancouver), the mask wearing drops down to 30%-40% in any given store. In the past week I've been to Independent Grocer (maybe 10% wearing), Costco (maybe 40% at most), local produce store (barely 10% if that, including the lady who was using her sweater as a mask ) and our local shopping mall (on a Saturday afternoon), again 30%-40%.

 

[TammyLynn33]

Today I went into a shoppers in Kingston saw maybe 15 ppl I was the only one in a mask .
Grocery store ( no frills ) saw three others No staff no one cleaning carts anymore back to charging for bags she told me I could bring my own again .
I guess here ppl think it’s over. We haven’t really got hit yet so that really scares me when we do it will be bad imo

 

[ilovetotravel1977]

DH and I went to Costco today and we wore the free masks they hand out at the entrance. Inside wasn't really busy, but people are definitely starting to not be as cautious with social distancing. I guess people who wear masks feel more confident??

 

[wdwmom3]

DH and I went to Costco today and we wore the free masks they hand out at the entrance. Inside wasn't really busy, but people are definitely starting to not be as cautious with social distancing. I guess people who wear masks feel more confident??

Actually I’ve noticed that the people wearing masks seem to be careful about distance too. But the people who don’t will just stand right by you. That’s the sad part. People are really starting to act like there is no problem. That can get us in a whole lot of trouble.

And I’m tired of the “if you are scared stay home” attitude. I’m cautious so I’m not scared I’m going to catch it. But I am scared that all this stupid behaviour is going to cause things to stay cancelled and possibly close stuff back down