H2O

There is one immediate, obvious difference between Canada and my beloved Aus: There is water here. Lots of it. Lake-loads. About one-fifth of the world's fresh water is apparently Canadian (or so said a random article I read once, and now quote to anyone who'll listen).
What that means is Canadians will turn the basin tap on before they even put soap on their hands, will wash dishes under a running faucet, and don't get a guilt complex for using a lawn sprinkler.
It also means they do not have any need for ingenious inventions like the Shower Timer.


For the uninitiated, it's basically a small four-minute egg timer with a suction cap attached. The shower timer acts as the angel on your shoulder, telling you to get out of the shower after four minutes.
One arrived in my mail box today, sent by my wonderful Aussie friend as part of a birthday gift of uber-funky reusable shopping bags. (They, needless to say, are almost as awesome as the gal who sent 'em to me.) My wee egg timer is now stuck on the wall of my shower, waiting for morning so I can start recapturing my Aussie water frugality.