Victoria Day!!!

[Morgan]

Happy Victoria Day to all my Canadian friends, eh.

[Gina D.]

Canadian friends must explain the traditions of Victoria Day.

What is it and why do you celebrate?

[Sharon Herman]

Canadian friends must explain the traditions of Victoria Day.

What is it and why do you celebrate?

Yes, please.....

[Booker B.]

Short Answer: State holiday!

Long Answer: Victoria Day (French: Fête de la Reine) is a Canadian statutory holiday celebrated on the last Monday before or on May 24 in honour of both Queen Victoria's birthday and the current reigning Canadian sovereign's birthday.

While Victoria Day is often thought of as a purely Canadian event, it is also celebrated in some parts of Scotland, particularly in Edinburgh and Dundee, as well as in the Cayman Islands, where it is also a public holiday.

In many parts of Canada, the Victoria Day long weekend is known as the May Long Weekend. In Ontario, Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba, and some other parts of Canada, this holiday weekend is also known as May Long, May Run (mainly in Timmins, Ontario, and some other regional communities of Northeastern Ontario), or May Two-Four, as above.

Though, as a federal holiday, it is still an official holiday in Quebec, the Quebec National Assembly has dedicated the same day as a provincial holiday: National Patriotes Day (Journée nationale des patriotes), which commemorates the English-Canadian and French-Canadian Patriotes of the Lower Canada Rebellion of 1837. Before 2003 the holiday in Québec was referred to by some as the Fête de Dollard, after Adam Dollard des Ormeaux.

"Direct From Wikipedia so it has to be right.. right?"

[Gina D.]

We have one next weekend, Memorial Day.

It was originally a day to honor those passed in wartimes, service men and women, but seems to have morphed into a day of remembrance for all passed. I know my family went to the cemetery up on the "hill" in SW Portland each year armed with flowers and we went to every grave of every relative that was there.

There are still many federal ceremonies for those that have given their lives while in military service each year. Mostly, now, the holiday marks the first weekend of summer. It's a great weekend to stay out of campgrounds, tho I may go to one this weekend and check out the atmosphere, see if the economy has slowed folks outings some.

[Booker B.]

Whoops, left out an important part of the answer =)

In some parts of Canada, the holiday is colloquially known as May Two-Four. This phrase has two meanings: the holiday always falls near the date of May 24, and a two-four is Canadian slang for a case of 24 bottles of beer, a common packaging of the drink in Canada (and a common purchase of those planning to celebrate the weekend).

[David Swinnard]

To add to what Booker has said... the two-four goes hand in hand with the fact that in a lot of areas, this long weekend marks the popular "start of summer". In the Vancouver area, the local outdoor water parks and swimming pools open, and other out door facilities open too. Campsites are booked, people hit the road, the golf courses, and garden centres. Two-fours are purchased and dealt with. The local constabulary members are on high alert for people drinking on the beaches and other public places. (with the attendant news items to ensure we've all been duly informed.)


The theory being that the good weather is just around the corner. This weekend has seen two sunny days in Vancouver - record breaking on Saturday. Monday morning, as I write this, has cooled off and brought a few showers but sun is promised again for the end of the week and next weekend!!!!

[Doug Mager]

.....This l'il bit of 'warmer weather' is playing havoc with my 'puter!! It seems that SHE (or most likely the monitor) does NOT like heat and the screen gives me a pop up "No Signal, no communication, going to sleep" and shuts off, but the computer stays up and running....WEIRD!!!

[Morgan]

We have one next weekend, Memorial Day.

It was originally a day to honor those passed in wartimes, service men and women, but seems to have morphed into a day of remembrance for all passed. I know my family went to the cemetery up on the "hill" in SW Portland each year armed with flowers and we went to every grave of every relative that was there.

There are still many federal ceremonies for those that have given their lives while in military service each year. Mostly, now, the holiday marks the first weekend of summer. It's a great weekend to stay out of campgrounds, tho I may go to one this weekend and check out the atmosphere, see if the economy has slowed folks outings some.

Gina,

As a young whipper-snapper, you wouldn't know, but when I was growing up it was called Decoration Day (Is whipper-snapper a gender specific term, if so, I owe you an apology).

[Gina D.]

hey!

That's Spaghetti Snapper to you!

[Booker B.]

Hey Doug, sounds like you got the spring dust bunny blues.

Over the winter your computer power supply and/or CPU fan have filled with dust from having the house closed up (we have a woodstove which seems to spread dust everywhere). Now that it's warming up your fan is trying to work overtime keeping your computer cool and the dust is blocking the air path. The computer looks like it is running but in fact has shutdown to protect the power supply.

Ok, there is the right way and the wrong way to fix this. I always use the wrong way because I am a IT guy and hate computers. The wrong way is to grab your vacuum (we have a built in) and throw on a plastic head. Unplug your computer and then start sucking away at the big fan opening at the back of your computer, that's the power supply. It makes a really cool sound when the fan starts spinning really fast.

If your computer keeps shutting off then you will need to pull off the side panel and suck at the front of the power supply in the box and then maybe the big fan on your CPU for good measure.

This is a COMPLETELY evil thing to do, COMPLETELY not recommended and will totally void any warranty you may have now or in the future. The RIGHT way is to get some compressed air in a can and get a grounding strap and gently blow out the dust.

Booker =)

[Lainey]

To add to what Booker has said... the two-four goes hand in hand with the fact that in a lot of areas, this long weekend marks the popular "start of summer". In the Vancouver area, the local outdoor water parks and swimming pools open, and other out door facilities open too. Campsites are booked, people hit the road, the golf courses, and garden centres.

That is the case here in Alberta also - the May Long is the "official" start of camping season, gardening season, lakes and swimming pools. It is supposedly the busiest weekend for greenhouses as before this date people don't really plant many annuals outside due to the risk of freezing (although I've planted my plants on May Long only to have them covered by snow the following week...) Many campgrounds have instituted alcohol bans during this weekend to attempt to keep people under control. My official camping season starts the following weekend, once all the party folk are back at home with their quads and hangovers.