I need to Vent

In the seventies my Grade 9 Math teacher had a nervous breakdown in class after a couple weeks of yelling at us and throwing chalkboard erasers, chalk and once a stapler, which narrowly missed one student's head.

He ended up taking some time off and then went to teach Inuit kids in Nunavut. I met him years later and he seemed like the nicest guy... I wonder what was chewing him up at the time of his breakdown ??

Also, in the nineties, during the last year of my Translation Certificate studies, my translation thesis prof quit to move to BC to study to become a lawyer. This was bad news for me since his replacement hated his guts from the day they met and transferred that hate to me since I was his favorite student. Let me explain one thing... my thesis prof was from Belgium and spoke fluent Dutch. I lived in the Netherlands for a year before going to university so I spoke Dutch as well. Therefore him and I would yalk along in Dutch and we got along great.

Anyhow, his replacement took over my thesis project and basically scrapped everything I had done so far. The excuse she gave was that the previous prof did not know what he was talking about and I had to start over using new instructions and standards. When I attempted to redo my work to her specs she scrapped everything again, using the vague excuse that I was not following her instructions correctly. I think she was just intimidated by the text I had chosen to translate and analyze. It was a realisitc but albeit technical and scientific document about planning a trip to Mars and the colonizing and terraforming of the planet. I had ordered special books from France and was corresponding with a famous French science author on the subject.

I immediately went to the dean and explained my situation, including the long-standing feud between the profs. He listened and explained that he would try to do something for me. I was finally given a passing note with the work I had done so far, received my translation certificate and have been working in the field of translation ever since... much to the thesis replacement's chagrin.

Ha !!

hey dude what is it you do? what is the field of translation?

My first job was translating French insurance claims from Québec into English for the head office here in Manitoba.

Then I went on to work for an investment company who had about a third of their market in Québec so they needed all of their forms, prospectus and such translated into French. This is where I started doing less hands-on translating and hiring contractors in Québec to do the bulk of the work.

I now work for Manitoba Health as the Coordinator for French Language Services. There is a French-speaking population in Manitoba and I am responsible for making sure that all the departments of Manitoba Health that deal with the public provide French material and services.

So far I've done stuff like act as a liaison between the Francophone community and Manitoba Health, consult with various departments on French language needs, help update our Website, give info sessions on the dangers of Crystal Meth, attended national conferences on primary health care in French in Canada, etc... It's all pretty exciting.

i don't know what it is like in canada but here in the states if you plead guilty or no contest, there is loop hole. say your ticket is 150 dollars, all you need to do is send in a check for 160 or whatever you want that is over the amount that you are supposed to pay. then they will send you a check for the difference in amount. DO NOT cash the check, tear it up and throw it away, and it will never go on your record. but that may just be here, ask the xcopper about it. L88

is french like the 2nd language to canada as spanish is to the us?

French is one of the official languages of Canada and is used, along with English, by our politicians, be they federal, provincial or municipal.

All of our federal institutions offer bilingual services, we have French and English newspapers, schools, universities, etc...

The largest population of French speakers is in Québec but large numbers exist accross Canada, which the percentage diminishing the farther West you go.

Cheers !!

cool!

sounds like youve had a rough bout man, i wouldnt know what to do about the school stuff, but as for the ticket, if you fight it the J.P. (justice of the peace) will more than likely drop the points and you will just pay the money, but you must plead guilty to the offence, and im not being an ass but when an officer pulls you over there is no right or wrong way for him to do it, he can flag you down or pull infront of you, there is no "by the book" on that,

good luck with it and keep us updated on what happens

Well I took it to Pointts and to XCopper, and both of them wanted an insane amount of money to fight it...
I was going to do it, but I found out that the points aren't going to affect my insurance. So... I spoke to the Justice Of the Peace (which took way too long... ) and got the fine lowered. Justices' of the Peace can't do anything about points though.

in the end, i got the fine lowered from $135 to $35...
But when i went to pay it they tacked on an additional "Victim Surcharge Fee". essentially, i PAYED them for my right to protest the ticket. They were gonna get money either way.

It's not that I have it out for the cop either. I was speeding I admit... but i was NOT doing the speed he said i was, WHERE he said I was.

I'm a sore loser when it comes to getting caught by the cops I'll admit... But i STILL don't believe I was going as fast as he said...

In the end I guess it doesn't matter... But I actually took the time to go to the scene and measure out how far it was from where he pulled me over, to where he said he caught me speeding... and He lied on the ticket. he said he caught me at 600M... but he didn't... it was actually somewhere in the range of 1100-1200M away that I was speeding.
LiDar is only accurate and allowable as evidence in court when under 1000M. Thats not to say it's not accurate at 1000M... but apparently at 1000M... The cops aim is the deciding factor.

Don't worry haymaker... I've learned alot about how much authority cops have... Theres really nothing they CAN'T do.
I found out FROM a lawyer, that they can pull you over for speeding if they THINK you were speeding... and as long as they can prove in court that the officer is a good judge of speed (usually by showing videos of cars going by at certain speeds and having the officer estimate the speed) then the ticket is good as gold.

Regardless... it's done... and now i have another two years of driving like a granny to avoid another ticket.

remember everybody! Drive slowly! (or don't get caught!)