woods@hao.UUCP (06/14/83)
Please excuse my ignorance, this is my first USENIX meeting, and in fact,
my first work-related travel ever. My question is twofold:
1) The other two people from HAO that are going have received confirmations
and I have not. Do they normally send out only one confirmation for a
double room? I am sharing a room with one of the people who *has* received
a confirmation.
2) The rate quoted on the confirmation form is considerably higher than
the one qouted us by Rogal(sp?). Is this the rate before the USENIX
discount? Is it in Canadian or US dollars? Are the rates quoted by
Rogal in Canadian or US?
GREG
{ucbvax!hplabs | allegra!nbires | decvax!brl-bmd | harpo!seismo | menlo70}
!hao!woods
P.S. Does anyone know what the current exchange rate between Canadian and
US dollars is? Can you spend US money in Toronto or do you have to convert
it to Canadian first? If so, where is a good place to do that? One last
question: Can I use my VISA card (obviously, drawn on a US bank) in Canada?laura@utcsstat.UUCP (06/16/83)
You can spend your money in Canada in most, but not all places. A fair number of places will not give you the current exchange rate either, and are making a profit in taking American money -- I suggest you get Canadian funds. Visa is good here, but if you are making a purchase over x$, where x is usually around 50, (but can vary from place to place) they will make a phone call to see that you have the funds. The thing to remember is that the US visa phone number is not the same as the Canadian one, so if they phone the Canadian one it will erroneously report that you dont have any money at all. Not every Canadian shop-keeper knows this, so make sure they phone the right number. Anything else you should remember? let me see... The bars are not open all night long. They close at 1 o'clock weekdays and at 11 o'clock on Sundays. (I may be a little off on this, but I think I am right. They are definitely not open at 2 am, so if I am off they close *EARLIER*). You cant buy beer or wine in the local 7/11s, Beckers and whatnot. You have to get beer from the beer store (Brewer's Retailers) and liquor (including wine) from the LCBO (Liquor Control Board of Ontario) There are liquor stores downtown, but no beer stores in easy walking distance. I do not know whether this is for a reason, but empirically it is so. Therefore, the liquor stores have been allowed to sell beer, but there is not a lot of selection. Canadian beer is different from American beer. If you dont like it, you can now get Budwiser and Miller beer from the beer stores, but you may have to go to the 'burbs to get it; I dont know whether the liquor stores are selling those brands. Sorry to go on at such length about booze to those who dont drink, but every time I have had a visitor from the US they have been astounded at our Liquor laws. If you want to discuss them, move out of net.usenix and into net.misc or net.politics. Last usenix in Toronto, some American is reputed to have thought that he could ski here. Its summer here now; the temperature is about 80 degrees F. We dont all speak French. If you want to practise your French here, good luck. We have very strict gun laws. If you are driving here and have a gun in your car, leave it at home. Laura Creighton utzoo!utcsstat!laura (with apologies to Americans who have been here before and already know this)