The difference between

[Dwarf_Angel04]

As stated already, we do have plasticbags. You have to ask for paper bags anymore. However, ourlocal family owned grocery store has sturdy paper handles on theirpaper bags.

As far as trash goes we have to buy our own trashcans from places likeWal-Mart, K-Mart. Lowesor the local hardware store. Myvillage pays for our trash pick up but that's not common. Thetrash service we have you have to pay to recyle with them as you haveto purchase their blue bags. The trash company does notaccept garden rubbish but a few times a year the village has a 'streetpickup'. This is the time people clean up their yards particuliarly inthe late fall and put their branches and leaf piles near the road. Thestreets are then cleaned by a citizen in the village that the is hired.

As far as snow goes I live on the only section of town that isn'tblowed by the state. Therefore we are the only section ofroadthat doesn't getsalted come winter time. However, the saltthat comes off of the carssome how finds it's way onto thestreet. So my little section of the road is plowed by a localfamily run excuvating business so a tractor plows our road and all theallies. It kind stinks because when we get a big snow the tractorhas to wait till the other 3 sections of road in the village are plowedbefore they can begin.

 

[missyscove]

paper bags are better for the environment, youcan reuse them (our grocery gives you like 5 cents off if you re useyour bags, lol).

Also, most have handles, just like the plastic, you just don't usually see those ones on tv.

 

[jojo]

God that must be hard in your village...

In the UK the state payfor it all, we have 'bin men' (garbage tin? isour bin) and they work daily to collect everyones ruubbish and the samefor recyclable stuff. Apparently the government in th UK will soon beintroducing a fine in a year or so for people that are not recyclingtheir rubbish. Street cleaners are paid by the government too (thrutaxes) -

University must be so expensive too - do you have to pay for ityourselves? When I went 7 yrs ago it was free but now itsabout $1800 dollars per year you have to pay - I heard inAmerica it can go up to $100,000 for Uni -- whoa! Very expensive! Doesthat mean lots of people dont get a chance to go to university?

p.s my bunny has a total obsession at the moment of sitting on the backof my sofa above my head with 2 paws on my head trying to munch my hair- very strange?

 

[missyscove]

Lots of people don't go to college, or apply forfinancial aid, scholarships, or take out student loans. Iknow it's just over $20,000 a year for my brother to go to a publicuniversity and live there, which is the same price for my high schooltuition, not to mention my living expenses.

I can't imagine going to college for free.

 

[jojo]

that sounds a lot of money to pay - I was thelast year of totally free and now people have to pay a small fee (wellin comparison to $20000 a year) and there was total uproar in the UKabout it and still is a bit.

It seems a bit unfair that the rich then get rich and it gets evenharder for poorer people to better themselves -- I guess we do havehigher taxes to pay in the UK generally but also i like the wayhospitals, operations any A&E (accident and emergency) are allfree unless you want to jump the queue - then you go private and paybut you dont actually get a better standard of doctor as the doctorsand surgeons pretty much all do work for the public and onlydoprivate to get extra cash (its not really very accepted tobe a private doctor only as otherwise you never help the generalpublic, and morally you would be critised). But i like the way you canbe the King of ENgland or a homeless person and if you are run over bya bus you will get exactly the same treatment in the emergency ward forthe same price (free) -- but damn it when i look at my paycheck and see the taxes.... !! LOL

Oh yeah and our petrol prices are thru the roof - costs me $85 to fillmy tank in th UK(normal size car)- and if I had a4X4 or pickup it would cost around $130 eeek! Iguess i walk more....!

 

[Haley]

yeah, it does stink having to pay for college. Inow owe 15000 in student loans. However, the interest rate for studentloans is very low and it doesnt really count badly against your credit,since so many people have that kind of debt...

and, the alternative of paying through the roof taxes so that everyonecan go to college does not appeal to me...someone has to pay for it, yaknow?!

 

[cheryl]

Linz_1987 wrote:

Another thing is that Americans on the tv alwayscome back from the supermarket with brown paper bags full offood. Seriously, how can you carry more than one of thembags? They look really hard to handle! Do you all have themeverywhere? Do you not have plastic bags?

Haha,i noticed that for a long time now,in nearly every movie or tvshow that i watch,and yeah i think paper bags would be a bit of ahassle especiallywhen you bring in the shopping from out ofthe car,you wouldn't be able to carry much.



we also have plastic bags for our shopping



cheryl

 

[Linz_1987]

If you go abroad you have to pay for plasticbags if you need one for your shopping! I think that is agood idea really, as there are many different ways to carry yourshopping home other than bags.

I cant believe it costs that much for you to go to uni!

College for me doesnt cost anything. You just have to pay £10for enrollment and an exam fee which is probually no more than £150.

I also get payed for going to college :shock: Its called EMA- Education Maintenance Allowance. It depends what yourfamily earnings are. If they are less than a wage (dont knowwhat now) then you can get up t0 £30 a week if you attend college 5days a week. And if you attend it every week for 6 months youget a bonus of £100!

I think its wrong really to pay students to MAKE them learn.But im not complaining as it pays for my petrol to actually get tocollege and learn!

http://www.dfes.gov.uk/financialhelp/ema/index.cfm?SectionID=1

 

[naturestee]

A lot of the grocery stores use plastic bagsunless you ask for paper now. I like paper bags because I usethem to hold recyclable paper, rabbit and kitten toys, and for dirtykitty litter. They're very handy, plus they recycle betterthan plastic!

 

[Linz_1987]

I suppose it is better to recycle paper bags. Sometimes I think it would be better to have them over here aswell!

Hehe Naturestee - now you have your avator as your bunny with hertongue sticking out I find it hard to take what ever you say seriouslyhah its so funny. They are such clowns!


Oh and also over here you can get a loan to go to university, and youONLY pay it back when you are in a job earning £15,000 andabove! And its like what if you NEVER get in a job that earnsthat much?! would you never pay it back??

 

[naturestee]

I wish we got as much help withcollege. I didn't have to pay back my loans for six monthsafter graduation, and I got some grants and such because my parentsdon't make much money. My hubby was totally screwed withfinancial aid because his parents are farmers, so they own a lot ofland. To the government that means that they have a lot ofmoney, even though farmers usually don't make much at all. Soall he got was unsubsidized loans, meaning that they were earning waymore interest than my subsidized loans were.

I did have a friend who was nearly being payed to go to college by thegovernment, but that's because her dad was paralyzed (and died a weekbefore she started college ) and her mom couldn't even make enough tosupport herself. So she went to college full time for freeand worked 40+ hours a week, sending most of it home for hermom. That's pretty extreme though, most of us "poorer" kidsstill had to pay a lot out of our pockets, both during and aftercollege.

Edit: Ttttthhhhhhpppppptttttt!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[Michaela]

I thought university over here was expensive butmaybe that's just N. Ireland or maybe it's only because i've beenlooking at medical/dentistry courses:?. Anyway, we do have really lowinterest on student loans and you don't have to pay until you'reearning.Although, you need better grades at A Level to getinto university here, a lot of people who don't do as well as they hopego over to England for university because they don't get accepted.

We have plastic bags for shopping too, but over the border (in therepublic of Ireland) they get paper bags or else the have to pay 5centfor a plastic bag

 

[Pet_Bunny]

Haley wrote:

clutch, brake, gas from left to right

My son had his carimported from Japan. Notice thesteering wheel on the right hand side.The manual shifter is on the left side ofthe steering wheel, and theturn signal is on theright. :upsidedown:

Everywhere weshopuses plastic bagsnow. Some stores like SuperStorecharges 5 cents per bag, and 7cents for the thicker plastic bag.

Rainbows!

 

[Haley]

Nice Car!

Is your son able to drive that in Canada? That would be so weird havingthe steering wheel on the other side..do you have to have a specialpermit or something?

 

[Pet_Bunny]

Haley wrote:

..do you have to have a special permit or something?

It just had to pass an Out ofProvince Vehicle Inspection. Other thanthat, the same insurance andlicense.

He does get alot ofstartledlooks,as people are looking attheempty seat on the left side. (Nobody's in the driversseat!)

Rainbows!

 

[cheryl]

Pet_Bunny wrote:

My son had his carimported from Japan. Notice thesteering wheel on the right hand side.The manual shifter is on the left side ofthe steering wheel, and theturn signal is on theright. :upsidedown:

Our steering wheels are on the right side,and occassionally you willsee an American car on the road,and it does look pretty weird becauseeveryone else is sitting on the right side of their car lol

When my son was younger,he seen an American car on the road and it wasso funny because he thought the car was driving by itself.



cheryl

 

[Linz_1987]

Hah thats funny! I have seen about 5trucks in my lifetime with the steering wheel on the left and it didlook funny.

Is there actually a reason though for the steering wheel to be ondifferent sides? Or is it because if you are driving on theleft hand side of the road, but the steering wheel on the left also youcant see as much at junctions or something? I hope I ammaking sence! I always thought it was a bit dangerous driving a carwith a left steering wheel when you are driving on the left and viceversa due to not seeing as much? But I dont really know.

P.S Nice car also!

 

[Haley]

I found something that explains it:

"All early automobiles in the USA (driving on the right-hand side ofthe road) were right-hand-drive, following the practice established byhorse-drawn buggies. They changed to left-hand-drive in the early 1900sas it was decided that it was more practical to have the driver seatednear the centreline of the road, both to judge the space available whenpassing oncoming cars, and to allow front-seat passengers to get out ofthe car onto the pavement instead of into the middle of the street. "

It explains why each country drives on that side of the road and thesteering wheel, etc:http://users.pandora.be/worldstandards/driving%20on%20the%20left.htm#history

 

[Linz_1987]

Agh yeah! Thankz for that I thought there would be a good enough reason hehe.

But it doesnt seem to bother the government that there are left handdrives over here. It doesnt even bother them anymore that thenumberplates are all fancy! I think that isntright. Ive seen a few people driving round without any numberplates on atall :X

 

[missyscove]

They started ticketing people who don't have thefront plates now that they have the cameras at a couple of the redlights.