Things I learned visiting Montreal last week as an American

[EmilyG]

I do have trouble starting my car in the winter, but it’s mostly because I don’t drive my car very often in the first place.

@ElvisL1ves

No way it’s happening unless Montreal can show the environment has changed sufficiently to support a team now. Bringing in a AAA franchise and showing it can sell tickets would help a lot, so would a commitment to building a modern ballpark. Without those, all Montreal has to offer is pleading against its own ugly history. Sorry.

Yeah, try telling that to the mayor, who seems to think that baseball is the most important issue here in Montreal.

The mayor doesn’t seem to care much about public transit, for instance. Bus service on several routes, including one I use often, was recently cut, because the city didn’t give enough money to the transit company.

Maybe the mayor just wants people to drive their cars more so the cars won’t have trouble starting in the winter.

[russian_heel]

@Cyros

I will confirm that there were several stores in the Presque Isle Maine area that offered Canadian dollars at par. I haven’t looked lately though. The last time I really paid attention to that was 10 to 15years ago and I think the dollar was around 80 cents US or so.

Perhaps they keep it 1:1 as an inducement to get Canadians to cross the border to buy goods? If you have a very high markup, why not.

[Slow_Moving_Vehicle]

@Kenm

Yes. The true block heater is an electric coil that sticks into the engine through a hole created by removing a frost plug (some larger engines have a block heater on each bank of cylinders).

A frost plug is supposed to fall out of the block if freezing coolant expands because of lousy antifreeze. Rather than cracking the block, the expanding ice forces out the frost plug. In theory. There is, I think, more than one frost plug, so replacing one with a block heater is safe.

The block heater has a long enough wire with an electrical plug on the end that sticks out through the grille, or the hood closes on the wire or whatever. An electrical extension is required at that point, so the block heater can be plugged into a socket.

Less-expensive heaters include the true cheapies that replace the dipstick. Others can be attached to the oil pan.

They are needed on the snow-swept prairies, even if it’s proven that a car can start without one at –40°, because in cold temperatures, motor oil, even full-synthetic 0W-20 or whatever, won’t flow properly, if at all with thicker oil.

Extreme engine wear is the result. As well, the starter motor turns much faster when a car’s been plugged in for four or five hours and there is much less strain on a battery that could be operating at 50-per-cent power or less in the cold. Less wear all around.

My parents had a six-volt '51 Chevy that never failed to start on January mornings if it was plugged in — and sometimes if it wasn’t.

If you’ve never heard a six-volt battery at half-power because of the cold turn over an engine in the winter, you’d wonder how the damn thing could start at all.

There are battery warmers, as well, electric blankets that wrap around the battery and are plugged in. And electric car warmers that heat the interior — the plug wires go through an existing hole in the firewall or a new hole is drilled. Or a car door closes on the wire.

Car warmers keep frost from forming on the windows if the car is parked outside (does nothing for snow) and make a car interior less uncomfortable until the car’s heater kicks in, though as soon as a door is opened, much of the heated air is lost.

There are fewer of those than before, probably because with today’s small cars there is less room for them.

Ignorance fought! Thank you.

But I’m very happy to live in a place that has no need of such things.

[Muffin]

And yet the batteries last longer up here rather than down your way. (They don’t like heat: “Batteries in the northern US had an average life of 56 months compared to those in the south which had an average life of 43 months.”

[glowacks]

@russian_heel

Perhaps they keep it 1:1 as an inducement to get Canadians to cross the border to buy goods? If you have a very high markup, why not.

Yeah, it’s just like sending a 25% off coupon to everyone that has easy access to Canadian currency. For places with a high margin that have excessive service capacity, it makes a lot of sense so long as they aren’t giving the customer some other “draw in the crowd” deal on top of the favorable exchange rate. Hell, I got my hair cut recently for 6 bucks via a coupon (that was only good for one week) when the full charge was 13; the chain has to pay the stylists whether people show up or not, but this way they at least get someone in and get some revenue. For someone whose gross profit rate is fairly high (if not close to 100% for some services), it makes a lot of sense.

[esmeralda2]

I like this thread. Thanks for the info. Someday in the next couple of years, I’m going to visit Montreal.

[stui_magpie]

@mhendo

I was just in Australia, and it’s the same there. Many merchants were rather bemused at my quaint American credit card with no RFID and no PIN. The US is actually the “old-timey” one here; we’re behind plenty of other countries when it comes to consumer banking tech and security.
Yep, same in Australia. I had to swipe, then when it asked for my PIN, i hit ENTER, and it then printed out a receipt and required a signature. My Aussie friends just inserted or tapped, and were done.

I noticed the reverse when in Vegas recently. In Aus I can tap and go for amounts up to $100 and require a PIN for amounts over that. I never have to sign.

In Vegas I had to sign for every transaction whether on paper or screen and was asked to show my ID 90% of the time as well.

[EmilyG]

@esmeralda2

I like this thread. Thanks for the info. Someday in the next couple of years, I’m going to visit Montreal.

It’s a lovely place to visit. There’s always plenty to see and do.

[Slow_Moving_Vehicle]

@EmilyG

It’s a lovely place to visit. There’s always plenty to see and do.

No doubt. Mrs. SMV and I intend to visit in the next couple of years. But which city is the more French, Montreal or Quebec City? Mrs. SMV, the francophone ex-Strasbourg resident, wants to see the city that has been described as “the nearest thing to a European city that one can find in North America”; but I can’t remember which city was described that way.

[Raygun99]

That’s Quebec City, by far.

[EmilyG]

Both Montreal and Quebec City are quite “European” in looks. Quebec City is far more Francophone/French-speaking. It’s easier to get service in English in Montreal than in Quebec City.

I usually try to speak to restaurant people and store clerks in French here in Montreal, but even with my lifetime of living in Montreal and studying French, sometimes people hear my anglo accent and switch to English when speaking with me.

Oh, and it is possible to visit Quebec City and Montreal around the same time, if you or anyone else is thinking of visiting either city, because they’re not too far from each other (about 3 hours by car, bus, or train.)