My family had the green cards back in the 60s, Jan, and we went back and forth fairly often between our original home in Ontario, and our new home in New York State. I also fear and dread entering the USA at the border, always have. Customs agents can be some of the meanest, most autocratic people in the world. Some of them are like little Gestapo people in uniforms, the way they treat travellers.

Sadly, this is also often true of Canadian border officials. There was an article just the other day her in Ontario about outrageous cases of Canadian and American travellers being harassed and abused in various ways by Canadian customs officers, and I've heard tales of horror from travellers going either way through BOTH sides of that international border.

Once you actually do get across the border into Canada, though, the sense of relief at being in a much calmer, saner, less stressful society is palpable. I certainly can't say the same about getting across into the USA.

*****

I think you're pretty much right about Mudcat, aside from the music forum, being a "total waste of time"... ;-) However, it's become a daily hobby for some people here...or you might say it's become a habit. And habits (addictions?) can be very hard to break.