What's happening at BTR II .. and report issues here

[apoppin]

California gas prices peaked close to $5 a gallon, about 3 weeks ago. It went up from $3.25 within ten days. Of course, it takes much longer to come down ....

[SickBeast]

Here it's about $1.13CAD/litre which is about $4.60/gallon CAD so a little under $4/gallon USD. We pay much higher fuel taxes in Canada though in exchange for no tolls on our roads or bridges.

[apoppin]

There are no toll roads or bridges in SoCal that cannot be easily bypassed.  The toll roads here are just for those who will pay to get to work more quickly.

Northern California has some toll bridges in the Bay Area.

You pay more taxes in Canada - period.  But then you do have some advantages to living in Canada besides your awesome weather
:D

[SickBeast]

Well they do say that we enjoy a higher quality of life here. The one big thing I notice between Canada and the US is that we have very few ghettos here, and none of our ghettos approach just how bad some of them are in the US. We don't have the poverty here that you guys have. Our poor people enjoy a much higher standard of living and they have free health care.

Other than that I find that the two countries are very similar. We pay more tax but our tax system is fairer; we tax the rich more than the US. We have a progressive taxation system. I don't mind paying more tax considering all that I get for it (free health care, much cheaper post secondary education).

[apoppin]

Well they do say that we enjoy a higher quality of life here.  The one big thing I notice between Canada and the US is that we have very few ghettos here, and none of our ghettos approach just how bad some of them are in the US.  We don't have the poverty here that you guys have.  Our poor people enjoy a much higher standard of living and they have free health care.

Other than that I find that the two countries are very similar.  We pay more tax but our tax system is fairer; we tax the rich more than the US.  We have a progressive taxation system.  I don't mind paying more tax considering all that I get for it (free health care, much cheaper post secondary education).

The USA has free health care for the income disadvantaged since Obamacare.  However, not all states implement it very well; California is one of the best.  

How much does a higher education cost in Canada?  Going to community college here is reasonable for the AA degrees, and there are always online Universities like Phoenix (with real degrees)

The conditions of the roads in the USA are deplorable.  Much of our infrastructure is old.

[SickBeast]

Well they do say that we enjoy a higher quality of life here.  The one big thing I notice between Canada and the US is that we have very few ghettos here, and none of our ghettos approach just how bad some of them are in the US.  We don't have the poverty here that you guys have.  Our poor people enjoy a much higher standard of living and they have free health care.

Other than that I find that the two countries are very similar.  We pay more tax but our tax system is fairer; we tax the rich more than the US.  We have a progressive taxation system.  I don't mind paying more tax considering all that I get for it (free health care, much cheaper post secondary education).

The USA has free health care for the income disadvantaged since Obamacare.  However, not all states implement it very well; California is one of the best.  

How much does a higher education cost in Canada?  Going to community college here is reasonable for the AA degrees, and there are always online Universities like Phoenix (with real degrees)

The conditions of the roads in the USA are deplorable.  Much of our infrastructure is old.

It varies by province.  I went 15 years ago and I paid about $4500/year in tuition and my program was one of the most expensive.  Generally it was about $4000/year for university and $2000/year for community college.  In Quebec it costs about half of that.  Keep in mind that our public universities are much better than the American state schools (but not as good as the expensive private schools).

Professional schools here cost more (i.e. med school or law school) but in general higher education is affordable for everyone.  If you're lower income you can get all kinds of bursaries and interest free loans that they even forgive quite often.

If you want to pick up a skilled trade here it's almost entirely covered by the government AFAIK. The trades pay extremely well here as well. I have a friend who's an electrician and he makes over $100,000/year and is able to take care of his family of 5 without his wife having to work.

[apoppin]

Not bad!  

I will have to say that the free public education opportunities in the USA were greatest in the early 1950s through the 1960s.  At one point, the Russians had launched Sputnik successfully into orbit and the USA was shamed into having nothing.  They determined to spent a lot of money on education and it really paid off  for my generation. Even college education was relatively inexpensive.

A general free high school public education in California in the late 1960s was very close to an expensive college education today.  In 1970, California axed the education budget and many teachers left for Industry.

[apoppin]

Amazon already sent me Fedex tracking. 390X will be here on Tuesday

[SickBeast]

That's great. :)

It will be interesting to see how it compares to the Fury X at 1080p resolution. With the 390x at 1100mhz it's going to be close.

[apoppin]

I won't be able to compare them directly since my Fury X benches are on Win 8.1 and 390X benches will be on Win 10.