How many DU'ers (Lurkers Included) really did move out of USA during Bush/Cheney?

and..how many are thinking seriously about it now. If you left under Bush/Cheney are you happier now? Please tell us your experience. If you didn't leave then tell us why you are thinking about it NOW? :shrug:

My Dentist from Canada just went back to Canada. His wife is a Ph.d in Communications specializing in the Obama Programs of getting patient's records into computers and creating a system where doctors have to abide by the "best treatment" and not what the Drug Companies tell them. They both came down from Canada to live here in NC and my Dentist's father is a Big Wig up in Canada for better treatment for Dental Patients by doing implants.

They both took a "good ride" on NC BOOM...where they could start their own businesses...but starting in November they decided they had to go back to Canada to be with family. They had a big stake here in NC..where both sought opportunity. If the opportunity for America is gone..then what does that mean for the rest of us?

THEY ARE LEAVING... to be "closer to their family."

Still gone. Not looking like Im coming back anytime soon.

You seem to be "private" so if you could just answer in a general way...that would be helpful. What did you encounter...was it hard...do you wish you hadn't or is everything just great?

:shrug:

Its definitely more expensive. :)

I like to social aspect more. People aren't so polarized and don't take any chance they get to balk about politics and make their own punditry

I like universal healthcare. I mean, I love it. Its incredible.

Sometimes things seemed strange a bit, but it feels like home now. Ive only been gone about a year.

Im glad I did. I learned tons so far. Socially, politically, etc. I have no regrets Ive left. Im not even 30 yet. Im not about to chain myself down in an existence I have disdain for, for the rest of my life. Its nice to get out and adventure when young with only a few children.

many of us did it and it was GOOD...but there are always downsides along the way. Opportunity only "knocks Once" was some old expression by some writer in my past...but if it "calls" take it.

No place is Paradise...but if what works for you is good...then it works.

Thanks.

:yoiks:

:shrug: Hey... I moved to NC before Bush Stolen Election....I'm looking to get the hell out...

:hi:

I hope things are well with you...do you think it worked out?

:hi:

We just squeeked Debra Bowen in there before there was enough corruption to kill our elections. :scared:

But I made the mistake of coming back before he ended his second term.

What prevented me was depression, apathy and paralysis.

Honestly, I had no energy at all after he was re-elected and fell into a really bad state where I could not do anything.

but we stayed and worked an fought. I'm just wondering about how those are doing who left. Because many of us might be thinking about it in the future.

bounce to this thread, so everyone who made the move sees it.

Managed to miss 6/8 of the Bush years, had total job security, a good salary, a great apartment...

Came back to help take care of sick parents and I can't find *anything* in the US. The frickin' temp agency laughed in my face and said come back in a year.

Kind of sucks to have a Masters degree, great portable experience, first rate references and not to even get a call back when I apply to work in a grocery store.

one goes about transferring standing. Their response was, basically, "Not interested." That was the extent of my efforts. Still, that was something.

It's too cold for me...but then what's the alternative these days.

I was pretty sure I couldn't move there without a job waiting, and if the church wouldn't grant standing, that was pretty much the end of that.

And yeah, its tougher if you are older unless you are highly educated (or wealthy)

you intend to start a business, or buy a fast food franchise, and you're quite welcome, no matter what your age.

They don't want people who will be drains on their economy, they want people who will contribute to it. If you're, oh, over fifty five, you're not going to have an easy time of it.

I don't know where things are Globally ...and maybe it's better to stay...but I'm not feeling good stuff about USA future. I'm thinking Eco-Farming and all the rest folks say..but who knows where that will go. And, I'm too old to be tractoring the fields...but not decrepit...in that both of us have lots of life knowledge....but does anyone want to hear it? I think not.

I don't feel the "Cheney boot" on my neck anymore.

A Canadian buck is worth much more than an American one, right now. They can work "for less" at home and still make "more."

Yeah, its strong relatively, but not that strong. It climbed over parity for a moment last summer, but that was it (and dropped to 78 cents before climbing again this summer). It seems to follow gas prices a bit.

They could work for 10% less in the US and still make the same.

giving a twenty percent discount to Canadian dollars.

Here's why:



Canadian Dollar Plunges on Risk Aversion as Stocks, Oil Decline
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601082&sid=aw2OrLJwg0qg&refer=canada

By Daniel Kruger and Chris Fournier

June 3 (Bloomberg) -- Canada’s dollar tumbled from near the strongest level in eight months as investors sought a haven from risk on concern asset prices have appreciated faster than the global economy’s growth can sustain.

The currency weakened 2.7 percent, the most since Jan. 12. Oil fell for a second day as the U.S. dollar rose against 15 of the 16 most-traded currencies tracked by Bloomberg amid demand for the safest assets. The greenback advanced after a report showed gross domestic product in the euro region shrank 2.5 percent in the first quarter, the most since 1995, raising concern about whether signs of a global recovery will persist.

“The Canadian dollar hasn’t been moving on its own fundamentals in this recent upswing,” said Douglas Porter, deputy chief economist at BMO Capital Markets in Toronto. “It’s been powered higher on the flip side of a weak U.S. dollar, increased risk appetite and a surge in commodity prices.”

Canada’s currency traded at C$1.1108 per U.S. dollar at 4:54 p.m. in Toronto, compared with C$1.0812 yesterday. One Canadian dollar buys 90.02 U.S. cents. The loonie, as Canada’s dollar is known, touched C$1.0785 June 1, the strongest since Oct. 3.

:)

Toll booths in Maine are idiots if they are giving discounts of 20%. They should of been charging an extra 10% or more on CAN currency.

I check almost daily since I live here. Its huge deal when it reaches parity, and hasn't for almost a year.

CAN currency over memorial day--I was right up at the border, and the parking lots were crowded with cars from Canada.

The rates over the past month were lower than ninety cents. They are creeping up (which is good, because I am taking a bath every time I go over the line).

http://www.oanda.com/convert/fxhistory

Conversion Table: CAD to USD (Interbank rate)

Time period: 05/01/09 to 06/04/09.
Daily averages: 05/01/2009 0.83640
05/02/2009 0.84050
05/03/2009 0.84390
05/04/2009 0.84390
05/05/2009 0.8460
05/06/2009 0.85210
05/07/2009 0.85090
05/08/2009 0.85540
05/09/2009 0.86150
05/10/2009 0.87010
05/11/2009 0.87010
05/12/2009 0.86660
05/13/2009 0.85950
05/14/2009 0.86030
05/15/2009 0.85220
05/16/2009 0.85260
05/17/2009 0.84950
05/18/2009 0.84950
05/19/2009 0.85320
05/20/2009 0.86250
05/21/2009 0.86930
05/22/2009 0.87660
05/23/2009 0.88570
05/24/2009 0.89370
05/25/2009 0.89360
05/26/2009 0.88960
05/27/2009 0.88870
05/28/2009 0.89730
05/29/2009 0.8940
05/30/2009 0.90960
05/31/2009 0.91630
06/01/2009 0.91640
06/02/2009 0.92040
06/03/2009 0.91920
06/04/2009 0.91890

Grad school for him and her here in NC...and I'm thinking they might have started those businesses with HELOC loans on their houses...to fund their businesses.

Anyway...I'm sidetracking my post on this...but my Dentist (a really cool guy) cuts out and sells his practice after November (crash) and I know he didn't want to leave here and go back into practice with his father in Canada... It was weird..

Anyway...I don't want to sidetrack...

I came back home in 2004 because I thought that there was no way that he could cheat another election. And look what happened...

But we'll see how that goes in 10 years.

and given what the times are we are living in...I think it's a good thing to always "move forward." I worry that the opportunity we sought is not here in America anymore...where we made it...but elsewhere.

Good Luck to you...and always take that chance...it's worth it to do it...if you have a safeguard of some stability where you left...and even if you don't .

"Follow One's Heart".... well that can be crash cart or good...depending...but OMG...it's worth it ..if it works.

It was hard to convince the kids, pay wasn't that great, many hoops to jump through . . . it just never quite happened. Would be harder to do now but still very appealing.

health care. I'm sick of living in fear of a major illness...and I have "good" insurance. I really doubt Obama will accomplish anything positive with regard to health care. Don't get me wrong...I'm thrilled he's our President..but I've never been happy about the way he views health care.

Shed that fear. It feels good.

did the research necessary... bear in mind I MOVED to the states due to the messes of the Mexican Government in the 70s and 80s, my parents thought there was far more of a future here than there... and in that sense they are right. Mexico makes the US looks like paradise, at least in some ways.

That said... we didn't take the final step. Why? We decided we both took oaths and that we needed to live up to them. Which means be ready to fight for this country. We are two cynics who still believe this country MIGHT be saved. That means doing plenty of demonstrating and writing and calling and all other activist shit. And we already earned the careful eye of your neighborhood IRS. Which means... keep records, of fucking everything. Hope that answers that for you. This said... I do need to renew that Mexican Passport... since you never know just when you might need to ahem, run.

but they ended up in the parts where the wealthy live. They talk about servants and stuff and sound very elitist...from what I've seen. I thought they "sold out." Maybe they just had "ENOUGH!"

Still..."servants." Not a good thing to me...

mind you, One of them is in her 80s, as in 87 so work, not so much. But she does not want to go home to the kids, or retire. And my parents have taken care of her for decades. She came to my wedding too. And she is my nanny in many ways. The other is my age. She needed surgery recently, my parents paid for it. And she is also raising her kid at home. Mind you, my parents are the exception and they are in many ways part of the family. But yes, there is that sense. In mexico that is something that is very common even for mid upper middle class people. It is expected.

Hell I talk over the computer mind you, to my nanny's daughter in law regularly, and every time we go to visit we visit. Next trip will take a lappie for her as well... she wants one and they are about 40% cheaper here... but as I like to say, we are the exception not the rule. Then again me being a medic for ten years in Tijuana was very rare also... well bred kids don't mix with them masses if you get me drift. Her son has a career, college degree, and a descent life, but his kids have moved to Canada... true story, due to the economy.

When my dad broke his hip... you should have seen my niece's face. She is a classic teenager, but has no chores at home. Hi how are you? We don't have help here, so guess what, your chores will be to help set the table, pick up dishes and nobody will wash your clothes.

Oh boy the face... it was worthy of a piccie.

here, where they force you into retirement. So...I can see much good coming for folks in other cultures as to what you say.

thanks...for the info. The kids going to Canada...amazing.. From Mexico to Canada..quite a culture/weather shock, I would think.

to wait at least two more years until we retire. And then we have to contend with the fact that we would be leaving Sonny Nay and Grandson Nay behind. We love Canada and would move there in a NY minute, but for that. We are trying to convince the kids to go with us, but that's not going well. The job situation may change their minds, however. Jobs SUCK for Sonny Nay, even though he is an electrician. He has a job for a year, but after that....who knows what will happen.