SURGERY DATE!

[Mario]

Dennis,

     You probally look more cool riding your bike to work in a shirt and tie anyway. What kind of garb attire do judges wear there? Pam said something about seeing a t.v. show called Law & Order SVU and the canadian judge was wearing some George Washington type stuff?

                                                Marco

[Dennis]

No wigs, that's British. But in Supreme Court, lawyers and judges wear robes. In Provincial Court, judges wear robes, lawyers wear suits.

The barrister's robes are a waistcoat (black), wing collar shirt, tabs, and robes (and pants, either grey pinstripe or black). There's a picture of them on this website: http://www.imperialrobes.com/html/products/legal/court.html

Better than letting lawyers choose their own clothes. I've seen some appalling getups on people in Provincial Court.

Dennis

[Mario]

Dennis,
    Yes, that is the get up that Pam was referring. That looks George Washingtonish to us here in the states. Now we are sitting here going "does he know who George Washington is?" only because we don't know a thing about your government. So don't take offense to my asking about George. I don't even know what your money looks like. Now I feel like I need to be educated. Here, the guy that is hearing pam's case wears jeans with a shirt and tie if doesn't feel like wearing his robe. He is a commissioner whatever the hell that is. Take care now. Bye bye then. (Jim Carrey humor) That would be Pam's obsession.
                                     Marco
                                             

[spike]

  Hello neighbour Dennis. Hello.

You can call me Amy or Spike doesn't matter. Wow this wedding is getting more exciting. I haven't been on Susan's for awhile. Dennis thanks for the tips, Tino is getting top surgery done asap and I hadn't thought of any of that. Denis are you familar with top surgens in the Lower Mainland? Reputation, wait list, work they have done?

[Dennis]

New fellow, Dr. Bowman. Apparently trained in Europe. He's still trying to get hospital privileges (which is quite a bureaucracy). He's the only game in town at the moment. The previous surgeon, Patty Clugston, who did fantastic work passed away in January 05.

So you're looking at waiting for Bowman - who may have issues because if he qualifies to take MSP, he can't take private-pay patients and because of the mess with MSP guidelines, there's a huge waiting list of guys waiting for MSP funded top surgery. Or going south to Brownstein or east to McLean in Ontario. Friend of mine just had his chest done by McLean and is very happy with it. I had mine done by Brownstein and am very happy with it.

McLean is cheaper than Brownstein, and Ontario is cheaper than San Francisco, but Brownstein has extremely consistent good results with guys with low to medium body fat, which is why I went with him.

Any of the private pay guys can usually get you in within a month or two of booking.

Dennis

[Melissa]

Dennis,

     You probally look more cool riding your bike to work...
...wearing some George Washington type stuff

LOL! 

I don't even know what your money looks like.

I love the toonies the best.

Melissa

[Mario]

Thanks Melissa for the money photo. What is a toonie?

                       Marco

[Melissa]

A 2 dollar coin.  The $1 coin is called a loonie because it has a picture of a loon on it and a 2 dollar coin is called a toonie because it is worth "two" and rhymes with loonie.  In fact, the 2 coins on the left in the picture are toonies and the ones on the right are loonies.

I went on a business trip there and stayed up in Canada for 6 weeks and learned a lot.  I stayed in Montreal Quebec (my favorite), Thunderbay Ontario, and Calgary Alberta.

Melissa

[Mario]

Melissa,

     loonies and toonies? Who's idea was this I wonder. With all your money info I thought for a minute you lived there. Good to know though if Pam and I go to Spike's wedding in Tofino next April.

                                     Marco

[Melissa]

No, don't live there, although it kind of felt like it at the time.  The irony is, that I live in Vancouver (in the states), and I've never visited Vancouver B.C., even though it's one of the closest Canadian cities to where I live.

Melissa

[spike]

Hey Mellisa, Dennis, Marco & Pam it sems there are a fr ew of us on the west coast a gatherung would be great! 
Take care ~ Spike

[Dennis]

Spike, are you two in Vancouver?

Dennis

[Melissa]

A gathering would be fun.  There's also Teri-anne, who recently moved up to the Seattle area.  Hopefully she'll come back to the board soon.

Melissa

[Dennis]

It would have to be in Canada because I STILL can't travel outside Canada. Sent my citizenship card in for name and gender change last August. Last month they wrote asking for more information and said they would process it right away when I sent it. Still haven't got it. Geez.

Dennis

[Melissa]

That would be a fun trip.  I think it would take about 6 hours or so  driving to reach it.  I would probably go up as male (to match my ID) and change in the car.  Or maybe they wouldn't care if it didn't match.

Melissa

[Mario]

Melissa and Dennis,

        So now what happens if there is no wedding? We should still get together. Pam and I were going to drive. Way cheaper. Dang Dennis, I hope you got a good deal when you flew here last year to San Francisco! One ticket to Canada was something like 1,200.00.  Havent talked to Spike latley, but the wedding was going to be in April.

                                                Marco

                                               

[Dennis]

Yeah, cost me about 600 bucks per ticket (Canadian) so it wasn't too bad. Hotel was pretty friggin expensive though. So was food - but beer's cheap, so that made up for that. Yeah ok I'm not the posterboy for post-surgical care. Still turned out fine.

Dennis

[Melissa]

If we're shooting for April next year, then I'll definitely be fulltime by then.  I should have my ID updated by then too.  I'll probably look much better too.

Melissa

[Mario]

Looking forward to metting you Melissa.

                                       Marco

[spike]

A gathering would be relly great. Vancouver Island is beautiful. If April for Wolfie (Tino's) & mine (Spike/Amy's) wed doesnt jive for the right date, lets do it in a warmer month like July or Aug. Great times had by all! I look forward to actually meeting you all in person and in the mean time getting to know you all better online.
~Amy~ aka Spike