Ups and downs of living in another country
This has been a unique week, as two things have changed for me. First, I bought another car, finally replacing the 1984 model Buick Regal I'd been driving for nearly 2 years. This one is a Buick Roadmaster, 1996, and it's very nice. Only bummer was that the 'service engine soon' light came on immediately after leaving the Secretary of State after purchasing the plate and registration. Oh well, eh? It's a really nice riding car, with an enormously powerful motor. I can't wait to take it on some longer trips, and eventually to Milwaukee for the wedding. :-)
The other odd thing that happened is actually quite troublesome. At my home, which I bought in November, I've been flying my Canadian flag on the flagpole in the backyard. To the best of my knowledge (and the knowledge of my police-officer church member) there are no laws against flying a Canadian flag on my private property. When I looked out at the flagpole last night, I was shocked to see the stars and stripes flying in the place of my Canadian flag! I don't know when the switch was made, though at least when Anne was here two weeks ago it was the Maple Leaf. I went to see if there was a note, or if my old flag was placed in my garage or anything like that, this morning, and found nothing. I was also annoyed that the American flag was completely frozen from the ice storm and couldn't be lowered. We'll see when I get home, I guess.
I'm somewhat troubled because I'm not sure what happened. I have several church members who drive by the house daily and who would possibly do such a thing as a joke, and that's fine, but I don't honestly find it all that funny, and those who know me know that I truly enjoy giving and receiving all kinds of jokes about US/Canadain relations. On the other hand, what if it's a hyper-patriotic neighbour that came over and made the switch? That would scare me, frankly. I wish I knew where my flag was.
The other odd thing that happened is actually quite troublesome. At my home, which I bought in November, I've been flying my Canadian flag on the flagpole in the backyard. To the best of my knowledge (and the knowledge of my police-officer church member) there are no laws against flying a Canadian flag on my private property. When I looked out at the flagpole last night, I was shocked to see the stars and stripes flying in the place of my Canadian flag! I don't know when the switch was made, though at least when Anne was here two weeks ago it was the Maple Leaf. I went to see if there was a note, or if my old flag was placed in my garage or anything like that, this morning, and found nothing. I was also annoyed that the American flag was completely frozen from the ice storm and couldn't be lowered. We'll see when I get home, I guess.
I'm somewhat troubled because I'm not sure what happened. I have several church members who drive by the house daily and who would possibly do such a thing as a joke, and that's fine, but I don't honestly find it all that funny, and those who know me know that I truly enjoy giving and receiving all kinds of jokes about US/Canadain relations. On the other hand, what if it's a hyper-patriotic neighbour that came over and made the switch? That would scare me, frankly. I wish I knew where my flag was.