Tour of Mountain View

[jbailey]

We took a tour of Mountain View with Leslie yesterday. It was nice to look around and see what was actually around here for shopping / things to do / how to escape to somewhere else. It looks like the biggest redeeming feature of MTV is that one can leave. It reminds me of Coquitlam. It's the last place we're considering outside of the city - but considering that we're not going to really be out partying in the next year, the crime rate is very low, and rent is sometimes half of what we'd pay, it's definetly worth considering. It also will keep the commute down to something reasonable (probably 15 minutes on a bike, almost too short).

Weird American thing of the day: Apparently for everything you need your SSN here. At home, the only people who are allowed to ask for the Canadian equivalent (SIN) are people who are going to pay you money. So a credit check can't require it. Your health card can't require it. Your driver's license can't require it. Angie not having one is going to get sticky in a few cases.

I actually walked just under 10,000 steps on Friday. I didn't bike because I wasn't feeling well, and it seems that the walk to the commuter train is somewhere between 2 and 3 thousand steps.

Comments

[(Anonymous)]

Side note: For some reason, it really bothers me when people ask for it by saying "can I have your social please?" I'm not quite sure why that bugs me so much, but it just gets under my skin.

That one bugs me a bit, but it really drives me crazy when people ask for your "sosh"; "name and sosh please". I think in both cases those bug me because they serve as a reminder that the name "social security" has no real meaning, and the name has nothing to do with the actual function people want it for, hence why people abbreviate it.

In theory, we actually have specific laws saying that you can't use SSN as an identifying number for anything other than a few purposes, such as taxes. For instance, its widespread use as a student ID in college breaks those laws. If you complain, you can get an assigned student ID number instead, and if enough people complain or the right people notice, the university switches away from that. Mine did.

[jbailey.livejournal.com]

I haven't been able to find a place that says what these laws are, beyond that some people may or may not require them. It seems largely up to a company whether they want to or not.

Give it for my health stuff seems particularily weird.

[redgirl.livejournal.com]

it really drives me crazy when people ask for your "sosh"; "name and sosh please"

Eeep! Haven't heard that one yet. If I had, it may have required a bitchslap.

they serve as a reminder that the name "social security" has no real meaning, and the name has nothing to do with the actual function people want it for, hence why people abbreviate it

...YES!!! That's why it bothers me.