Friday, February 27, 2004
Site count today = 352 visits
Happy Friday to one and all. I'm now learning the ins and outs of Exchange 2000. Funny how priorities change, but I need to be fairly well adept at E2K by Wednesday.
We have the car, it is insured and there's a place to park it. We've driven along the highways to and from Guelph in it, and nothing's dropped off. Bigger fuel tank, more economical engine - we go further now before having to fill up. More accurately, we have a better chance of filling up at less than 70c per litre.
Leads me onto another gripe about Canada (and the US, and some other places I am sure). Why not add the tax to the displayed prices of stuff? How difficult is it, huh? C'mon - suck it up and show us the prices we actually pay.
I'm looking forward to not setting the alarm clock tonight. Sleep - we could both do with an hour or two more in the morning. Bed at 9.30pm thesedays, last night - halfway through CSI. I may be able to keep awake for the Leafs game tomorrow night.
It's really dry here. The winters in Britain are damp and awful, but here it's dry and bright. Great for banishing SAD, but terrible for your skin. My nose started bleeding today - I could feel my skin drying out, and even drinking lots hasn't helped me settle down yet. I'll get used to it one day, but in Summer it's really humid here.
If you'll excuse me, I have large binder full of MS Exchange details that I have to memorise by next week ...
Happy Friday to one and all. I'm now learning the ins and outs of Exchange 2000. Funny how priorities change, but I need to be fairly well adept at E2K by Wednesday.
We have the car, it is insured and there's a place to park it. We've driven along the highways to and from Guelph in it, and nothing's dropped off. Bigger fuel tank, more economical engine - we go further now before having to fill up. More accurately, we have a better chance of filling up at less than 70c per litre.
Leads me onto another gripe about Canada (and the US, and some other places I am sure). Why not add the tax to the displayed prices of stuff? How difficult is it, huh? C'mon - suck it up and show us the prices we actually pay.
I'm looking forward to not setting the alarm clock tonight. Sleep - we could both do with an hour or two more in the morning. Bed at 9.30pm thesedays, last night - halfway through CSI. I may be able to keep awake for the Leafs game tomorrow night.
It's really dry here. The winters in Britain are damp and awful, but here it's dry and bright. Great for banishing SAD, but terrible for your skin. My nose started bleeding today - I could feel my skin drying out, and even drinking lots hasn't helped me settle down yet. I'll get used to it one day, but in Summer it's really humid here.
If you'll excuse me, I have large binder full of MS Exchange details that I have to memorise by next week ...
Tuesday, February 24, 2004
Today is Tuesday. The last entry was on Thursday. We have been busy, and it's often frustrating not being able to do the stuff we're used to doing. Gone are the days of my daily blog entries - at least until we settle down into a home of our own.
I've started a job-finders training course, called "Job Seeking for New Canadians", a 5 week stint Monday to Friday, 9am to 2.30pm. For me, it sort of slots in with Deb's job, at least in that I can get a lift to Guelph each day. There are some good tips in this course, and as it's funded by the government, I signed up and it's made a positive difference to my outlook on jobseeking here.
With luck we'll have our new car delivered tonight, and YAY! we have somewhere to park it. Thanks to some people up the street who have a spare space next to their garage for our car.
The weather drew in a bit today, with a fresh sprinkling of snow. We passed about half a dozen instances of cars that had spun off the road, sometimes hitting something on the way to being stationary. Even at 6am, there was a lot of traffic going West into Toronto, but luckily we drive East in the mornings, out to Guelph.
Rob has started me learning Citrix, which is interesting, and one day I hope to sit the standard "I Know Citrix" exam. Maybe more on this later ...
Apologies for the long delay in this entry, I hope it won't be so long next time.
Today's "By Golly It's Different Over Here": The price of petrol (gas) can change in a matter of hours, from say 66c per litre to 77c and back again AT THE SAME PUMP. What on earth is that all about?
I've started a job-finders training course, called "Job Seeking for New Canadians", a 5 week stint Monday to Friday, 9am to 2.30pm. For me, it sort of slots in with Deb's job, at least in that I can get a lift to Guelph each day. There are some good tips in this course, and as it's funded by the government, I signed up and it's made a positive difference to my outlook on jobseeking here.
With luck we'll have our new car delivered tonight, and YAY! we have somewhere to park it. Thanks to some people up the street who have a spare space next to their garage for our car.
The weather drew in a bit today, with a fresh sprinkling of snow. We passed about half a dozen instances of cars that had spun off the road, sometimes hitting something on the way to being stationary. Even at 6am, there was a lot of traffic going West into Toronto, but luckily we drive East in the mornings, out to Guelph.
Rob has started me learning Citrix, which is interesting, and one day I hope to sit the standard "I Know Citrix" exam. Maybe more on this later ...
Apologies for the long delay in this entry, I hope it won't be so long next time.
Today's "By Golly It's Different Over Here": The price of petrol (gas) can change in a matter of hours, from say 66c per litre to 77c and back again AT THE SAME PUMP. What on earth is that all about?
Thursday, February 19, 2004
I hate dial-up, and though there's a long list of things I'm not too keen on (I'm a grumpy old git) and dial-up 56k internet access is way up there, a few notches higher on the list is broken bones. This entry goes out to Edith, my mother-in-law. I hope you get well soon!
I have a bank account now, and I've applied for a SIN (Social Insurance Number), we bought a car, and Deb got a job. All this, however, does not a happy Graham make. I still need to get a job, and I've applied for dozens so far, yet all I have to show is a handful of rejection emails. We bought a job paper, and there were a few jobs in there, but who knows? The getting a job thing is on the critical path of being an immigrant, at least in my book. after that, it's all pretty easy (famous last words ...)
On the plus side, I have a cellphone, but I still have to get my head around the idea that I pay for incoming calls. As for where to park the car, that's a bit of a problem that we're trying to sort out before it's delivered.
The weather is dry, with temperatures now above zero for a few days, but the forecast is for more freezing stuff, and it'll likely keep that way for another couple of months. I'll try not to think of the daffodils that we left poking out of the ground in England.
We've agreed with my brother-in-law to do a spot of baby-sitting on Saturday night. Big plus (apart from seeing our nephews) is wireless cable internet, and lots of cable channels to flick through. But mainly the fast internet connection.
I hate dial-up.
PS: page count today = 247
I have a bank account now, and I've applied for a SIN (Social Insurance Number), we bought a car, and Deb got a job. All this, however, does not a happy Graham make. I still need to get a job, and I've applied for dozens so far, yet all I have to show is a handful of rejection emails. We bought a job paper, and there were a few jobs in there, but who knows? The getting a job thing is on the critical path of being an immigrant, at least in my book. after that, it's all pretty easy (famous last words ...)
On the plus side, I have a cellphone, but I still have to get my head around the idea that I pay for incoming calls. As for where to park the car, that's a bit of a problem that we're trying to sort out before it's delivered.
The weather is dry, with temperatures now above zero for a few days, but the forecast is for more freezing stuff, and it'll likely keep that way for another couple of months. I'll try not to think of the daffodils that we left poking out of the ground in England.
We've agreed with my brother-in-law to do a spot of baby-sitting on Saturday night. Big plus (apart from seeing our nephews) is wireless cable internet, and lots of cable channels to flick through. But mainly the fast internet connection.
I hate dial-up.
PS: page count today = 247
Tuesday, February 17, 2004
There's something about being able to go into a bank at 8am to pay in money. Admittedly, it did take 30 minutes to deposit two sterling cheques, as it's not something they do everyday in this part of town. We had a coffee on the way home though - but not Tim Hortons. TH is pretty much a Canadian institution, and it's not hard to see (taste?) why. Yummy coffee and tasty snacks to boot, worth coming to Canada just for a Timmies.
Bit of a discovery day, as we were tied to the house waiting for the lost luggage to arrive, among other things. We discovered that the nearest HRDC office is quite close, just about walkable in summer, but we'll take the car thank you. It's there that I get my SIN (Social Insurance Number), which is needed to get a job. Pretty handy then ... We also discovered that it would be a good idea to open a bank account at ING to earn interest on the house deposit money while we still have it, and discovered that it would be a good idea to connect my laptop to the internet rather than use the PC at Deb's parents house. Also discovered that it would be a good idea to buy the printer/scanner we need, sooner rather than later.
So after staying in waiting for the luggage, it finally arrived, and I now have clean clothes. Also, the wine we bought in South Africa was in tact, as was the box of Belgian chocolates I bought in Brussels for Deb's Valentine's present. Only two days late, but it was appreciated anyway.
Deb's been eyeing up some cars, and at the moment it looks like we'll get a domestic, as they're cheaper, less expensive to fix, and the insurance premiums are lower. The big problem is where to park it when we get it, as in this neighbourhood you cannot park on the street at night.
I've got 12 job application letters ready to print out, and I've spotted a couple of decent jobs on Workopolis. However, there are small technical problems in the way, which will take a day or two to iron out.
More tomorrow folks :-)
PS As it's difficult to post right now, the blog is usually written offline and uploaded the next morning. Also confusing the issue is that I haven't updated the location flag yet, so times are 5 hours out. So please don't expect the date & time stamp to reflect the date and time I am banging on about in my entries. Sorry, but normal service will be resumed just as soon as normal life is reached.
Bit of a discovery day, as we were tied to the house waiting for the lost luggage to arrive, among other things. We discovered that the nearest HRDC office is quite close, just about walkable in summer, but we'll take the car thank you. It's there that I get my SIN (Social Insurance Number), which is needed to get a job. Pretty handy then ... We also discovered that it would be a good idea to open a bank account at ING to earn interest on the house deposit money while we still have it, and discovered that it would be a good idea to connect my laptop to the internet rather than use the PC at Deb's parents house. Also discovered that it would be a good idea to buy the printer/scanner we need, sooner rather than later.
So after staying in waiting for the luggage, it finally arrived, and I now have clean clothes. Also, the wine we bought in South Africa was in tact, as was the box of Belgian chocolates I bought in Brussels for Deb's Valentine's present. Only two days late, but it was appreciated anyway.
Deb's been eyeing up some cars, and at the moment it looks like we'll get a domestic, as they're cheaper, less expensive to fix, and the insurance premiums are lower. The big problem is where to park it when we get it, as in this neighbourhood you cannot park on the street at night.
I've got 12 job application letters ready to print out, and I've spotted a couple of decent jobs on Workopolis. However, there are small technical problems in the way, which will take a day or two to iron out.
More tomorrow folks :-)
PS As it's difficult to post right now, the blog is usually written offline and uploaded the next morning. Also confusing the issue is that I haven't updated the location flag yet, so times are 5 hours out. So please don't expect the date & time stamp to reflect the date and time I am banging on about in my entries. Sorry, but normal service will be resumed just as soon as normal life is reached.
Sunday, February 15, 2004
Yay! Done it! I'm in Canada, I wasn't stopped at the border, and though there were plenty of small hiccups along the way, I'm finally here.
Left blighty under patchy clouds, with a possibility of drizzle and a temp of around 8 or 9 degrees. Fairly warm, especially when the sun came out. Here, it's really sunny this morning with nary a cloud and a bracing -18 degrees out, with -24 factoring wind-chill. Yup, definitely in Canada :-)
Leaving the hotel was a blog chapter in itself, but I now have a page full of complaint items about the hotel. Getting to the airport was made difficult by the hotel ordering the wrong sized taxi, to the wrong terminal, but finally we got there. If India ever produces a Formula One driver, he'll be related to the guy who drove us yesterday morning. He must live for high G-forces, and I'd wager he took not the shortest route, but the one with the most interesting chicanes.
So we get to the airport, and half of South East England has decided to see us off! We were touched until we saw that they were all queueing up to get into the terminal building - it's the start of half term. D'oh! We were in line outside for 2 hours, and a further 60 minutes inside before checking in. Luckily we got bored at the hotel and rather than arrive at noon for the 3pm flight, we arrived at Heathrow for 11am. I took a couple of photos of the crowds - it really was a sight to behold. "Thronging Masses" indeed.
The check-in guy bumped us to Business Class - result! But getting through to airside only left us with about 20 minutes before the flight was due to close. This put a crimp in my plan to buy Deb an "emigration" ring, to mark the day we arrived in Canada forever. As luck would have it, we found a jewellers, picked out a ring that Deb liked and paid for it (the credit card authorisation took ages. Hmm) and we got to the gate just in time to be told that the flight will be delayed by a while. Not that long really, as we got our breath back and then got on the plane ... during which we were told that our boarding passes had the wrong seat numbers on. D'oh! "Back to cattle-class" I thought, but no, we were bumped again to First Class!! Double result. Ah, sipping champagne, being able to lay flat while watching the movies, three course meal ... Not bad, if it wasn't for the grumpy stewardesses with no capacity for remembering orders.
Landed about 10 minutes late, got through immigration pretty well, but one of my bags wasn't on the plane and had been left in London with about a dozen other bags of other passengers. Normally this would be an annoyance, but I had to fill in a lot of forms for the customs officers, to declare what I was bringing into Canada that was not accompanying me. Grrr. Eventually I got the paperwork done, and the whole process was complete in under an hour. Less if I'd have had my missing case (containing most of my day clothes). At least I have my suits and work shirts ...
I have plenty of other forms to keep me busy today - National Insurance application, Ontario Health card application and the like. Tomorrow will likely be queueing-up-at-government-offices day.
Lots more to say, but this is a dial-up connection, and I'm hogging the phone line. I think I'll try to write tomorrow's entry off-line, and use the old Cut'n'Paste routine.
Left blighty under patchy clouds, with a possibility of drizzle and a temp of around 8 or 9 degrees. Fairly warm, especially when the sun came out. Here, it's really sunny this morning with nary a cloud and a bracing -18 degrees out, with -24 factoring wind-chill. Yup, definitely in Canada :-)
Leaving the hotel was a blog chapter in itself, but I now have a page full of complaint items about the hotel. Getting to the airport was made difficult by the hotel ordering the wrong sized taxi, to the wrong terminal, but finally we got there. If India ever produces a Formula One driver, he'll be related to the guy who drove us yesterday morning. He must live for high G-forces, and I'd wager he took not the shortest route, but the one with the most interesting chicanes.
So we get to the airport, and half of South East England has decided to see us off! We were touched until we saw that they were all queueing up to get into the terminal building - it's the start of half term. D'oh! We were in line outside for 2 hours, and a further 60 minutes inside before checking in. Luckily we got bored at the hotel and rather than arrive at noon for the 3pm flight, we arrived at Heathrow for 11am. I took a couple of photos of the crowds - it really was a sight to behold. "Thronging Masses" indeed.
The check-in guy bumped us to Business Class - result! But getting through to airside only left us with about 20 minutes before the flight was due to close. This put a crimp in my plan to buy Deb an "emigration" ring, to mark the day we arrived in Canada forever. As luck would have it, we found a jewellers, picked out a ring that Deb liked and paid for it (the credit card authorisation took ages. Hmm) and we got to the gate just in time to be told that the flight will be delayed by a while. Not that long really, as we got our breath back and then got on the plane ... during which we were told that our boarding passes had the wrong seat numbers on. D'oh! "Back to cattle-class" I thought, but no, we were bumped again to First Class!! Double result. Ah, sipping champagne, being able to lay flat while watching the movies, three course meal ... Not bad, if it wasn't for the grumpy stewardesses with no capacity for remembering orders.
Landed about 10 minutes late, got through immigration pretty well, but one of my bags wasn't on the plane and had been left in London with about a dozen other bags of other passengers. Normally this would be an annoyance, but I had to fill in a lot of forms for the customs officers, to declare what I was bringing into Canada that was not accompanying me. Grrr. Eventually I got the paperwork done, and the whole process was complete in under an hour. Less if I'd have had my missing case (containing most of my day clothes). At least I have my suits and work shirts ...
I have plenty of other forms to keep me busy today - National Insurance application, Ontario Health card application and the like. Tomorrow will likely be queueing-up-at-government-offices day.
Lots more to say, but this is a dial-up connection, and I'm hogging the phone line. I think I'll try to write tomorrow's entry off-line, and use the old Cut'n'Paste routine.
Saturday, February 14, 2004
This is the last entry to be written in London. Or England. Or Europe ... We fly out in about 6 hours.
Thursday we went to see my mum, I set up her printer/scanner, we had tea, chatted, and said "bye". There weren't that many tears, for which I am grateful. I'm sure there'll be some if there hasn't been already, but I didn't want to make saying goodbye any harder than it was. Same with my brother Julian last night. A tear or two, but no more. Not painless, but I found it hard to say goodbye. It's not a nice thing, but as human beings we're selfish creatures - else parting would be a breeze.
Thanks to the gang who used to work at CIX with me, back in the mid '90s. Most of them were there at a bar/restaurant in Kingston last night, mainly to say "hi" to Steve Palmer, but it was nice to see them stand at the bus stop with us as Deb & I waited for our bus. I'm assuming they didn't do it just to make sure that "those bastards" really left the country. I'll be keeping an eye out for a geeky rabble trying to bribe BA to get our flight off the ground early.
This hotel continues to amaze me. On a room rate that includes breakfast, we've been charged for breakfast. And the toilet roll ran out this morning with no replacement. Perhaps their logic goes that if punters are charged £30 for brekkie, they won't eat, therefore toilet roll consumption goes down. All very environmentally friendly of course, but it plays hell with my colon. (Too much information there, sorry).
The final act of magic will be performed this morning, of packing my entire life into half a suitcase. It's a law of nature that given four suitcases, the wife uses four and a half. There's a similar law that governs bathroom shelves and bedroom drawers. E=mc^2 takes a back seat to this baby.
A big "Thanks" to the author of the email that came flooding in about the blog. It's nice to get feedback, but no, my penis doesn't need enlarging, nor do my breasts, I have no plans to buy V1agra and please give my regards to your Nigerian father-in-law. It sounds like he deserves a bit more luck in his life.
Ta-ta from jolly old England. Next stop "C-eh?-N-eh?-D-eh?"
Thursday we went to see my mum, I set up her printer/scanner, we had tea, chatted, and said "bye". There weren't that many tears, for which I am grateful. I'm sure there'll be some if there hasn't been already, but I didn't want to make saying goodbye any harder than it was. Same with my brother Julian last night. A tear or two, but no more. Not painless, but I found it hard to say goodbye. It's not a nice thing, but as human beings we're selfish creatures - else parting would be a breeze.
Thanks to the gang who used to work at CIX with me, back in the mid '90s. Most of them were there at a bar/restaurant in Kingston last night, mainly to say "hi" to Steve Palmer, but it was nice to see them stand at the bus stop with us as Deb & I waited for our bus. I'm assuming they didn't do it just to make sure that "those bastards" really left the country. I'll be keeping an eye out for a geeky rabble trying to bribe BA to get our flight off the ground early.
This hotel continues to amaze me. On a room rate that includes breakfast, we've been charged for breakfast. And the toilet roll ran out this morning with no replacement. Perhaps their logic goes that if punters are charged £30 for brekkie, they won't eat, therefore toilet roll consumption goes down. All very environmentally friendly of course, but it plays hell with my colon. (Too much information there, sorry).
The final act of magic will be performed this morning, of packing my entire life into half a suitcase. It's a law of nature that given four suitcases, the wife uses four and a half. There's a similar law that governs bathroom shelves and bedroom drawers. E=mc^2 takes a back seat to this baby.
A big "Thanks" to the author of the email that came flooding in about the blog. It's nice to get feedback, but no, my penis doesn't need enlarging, nor do my breasts, I have no plans to buy V1agra and please give my regards to your Nigerian father-in-law. It sounds like he deserves a bit more luck in his life.
Ta-ta from jolly old England. Next stop "C-eh?-N-eh?-D-eh?"
Wednesday, February 11, 2004
We sold the house.
The money is in our account.
I asked the bank to transfer funds to Canada (I think they thought I asked them to create a faster-than-light spaceship, they were a bit phased by what I wanted). Anyway, 60 minutes Deb had to sit in the car waiting for me to finish dealing with Barclays, but it's all done, and I assume the cash will be there on Monday for us.
I am currently at the hotel at Heathrow, which boasts that it was voted best business airport hotel in the world seventeen times running (or some figure similar). Within minutes I had three things to complain about. 1) They didn't have our reservation, despite me having provided a booking reference printed from the internet. 2) The room safe doesn't work, so we complained to reception who says that all safes in the building are broken due to some weird network error. 3) There's no "guide" to the hotel saying what's available, when it's open and how much it costs - or even where it is. We're in room four-thousand-and-something. Gives you an idea of how big this hotel is, and we have no idea what's on offer. Pitiful.
Did I say three? I meant four. Their internet cafe is broken, and I have to type this using their business suite, which makes me feel like I'm imposing as men in suits keep popping their head round the door saying "Will you be long?" Hmm, I'm in jeans and t-shirt, typing a blog in an business suite. They can stuff right off, I'm paying half a grand for three nights here, and I wanted better service than this. Gripe, gripe. (Oh, and their car park barrier was broken when I tried to park the car).
So I'm carrying a load of stuff in my backpack, because it's not in the safe. I am not a happy bunny.
Apart from the fact that I'm homeless now. Amazing how you can be glad about things like that, but I am. I don't live in Ponders End any more and I will probably never visit Enfield again. Next stop, Ontario!
The money is in our account.
I asked the bank to transfer funds to Canada (I think they thought I asked them to create a faster-than-light spaceship, they were a bit phased by what I wanted). Anyway, 60 minutes Deb had to sit in the car waiting for me to finish dealing with Barclays, but it's all done, and I assume the cash will be there on Monday for us.
I am currently at the hotel at Heathrow, which boasts that it was voted best business airport hotel in the world seventeen times running (or some figure similar). Within minutes I had three things to complain about. 1) They didn't have our reservation, despite me having provided a booking reference printed from the internet. 2) The room safe doesn't work, so we complained to reception who says that all safes in the building are broken due to some weird network error. 3) There's no "guide" to the hotel saying what's available, when it's open and how much it costs - or even where it is. We're in room four-thousand-and-something. Gives you an idea of how big this hotel is, and we have no idea what's on offer. Pitiful.
Did I say three? I meant four. Their internet cafe is broken, and I have to type this using their business suite, which makes me feel like I'm imposing as men in suits keep popping their head round the door saying "Will you be long?" Hmm, I'm in jeans and t-shirt, typing a blog in an business suite. They can stuff right off, I'm paying half a grand for three nights here, and I wanted better service than this. Gripe, gripe. (Oh, and their car park barrier was broken when I tried to park the car).
So I'm carrying a load of stuff in my backpack, because it's not in the safe. I am not a happy bunny.
Apart from the fact that I'm homeless now. Amazing how you can be glad about things like that, but I am. I don't live in Ponders End any more and I will probably never visit Enfield again. Next stop, Ontario!
Tuesday, February 10, 2004
Page views so far, 137, and this blog entry comes from the back room, as it's easiest to plug straight into the cable modem.
A good day today; a trip to the dump, taking photos of Deb with her favourite goat, and giving away a stuffed lion. Hmm, I just re-read that sentence, and I think I qualify for a session at the shrink. Anyway, decent wine with our last dinner in Enfield, posting all but the last one of the eBay packages, and probably the worst bit was having to interract with boneheaded Barclays staff. If you work for Barclays, WHY?
Tomorrow is get-the-money day. Or at least the solicitor gets the money, and we give away the keys. After that I'm assured that the solicitor wires the money directly to our current account, followed by another bout of try-to-get-sense-out-of-Barclays. With luck (ha!) we'll be transferring dollars to Canada on Thursday.
Got the hire car, got the suitcases ready, plus a few plastic bags for good measure, and we're off once we get the call and take the meter readings for gas and electric. How simple is that? What could go wrong ...
A good day today; a trip to the dump, taking photos of Deb with her favourite goat, and giving away a stuffed lion. Hmm, I just re-read that sentence, and I think I qualify for a session at the shrink. Anyway, decent wine with our last dinner in Enfield, posting all but the last one of the eBay packages, and probably the worst bit was having to interract with boneheaded Barclays staff. If you work for Barclays, WHY?
Tomorrow is get-the-money day. Or at least the solicitor gets the money, and we give away the keys. After that I'm assured that the solicitor wires the money directly to our current account, followed by another bout of try-to-get-sense-out-of-Barclays. With luck (ha!) we'll be transferring dollars to Canada on Thursday.
Got the hire car, got the suitcases ready, plus a few plastic bags for good measure, and we're off once we get the call and take the meter readings for gas and electric. How simple is that? What could go wrong ...
Monday, February 09, 2004
It's all gone. The house is empty but for us, our luggage and what we're leaving behind. We have another 36 hours or so here, before we decant to the hotel at Heathrow. The actual moving out process was more boring than painful. A flurry of activity as the removal guys started their work, half a dozen cups of tea, and then sit on your backside waiting for the stuff to be packed. From about 9.30 to 4pm non-stop. Well, they stopped for a few minutes for tea and a smoke.
The stuff was packed well, no qualms about stuff being broken unless a container gets dropped. The estimate (for which we paid) was 407 cu/ft, and the actual was pegged at 400. Close enough for me.
I have to collect the hire car tomorrow morning. This means jumping on a bus to Seven Sisters and then getting the underground. After that, we'll drop off some rubbish at the council dump, and post most of the remaining eBay items. In the evening, we'll go to the Navigation Inn for dinner, then back home for our last night in our house, because on Wednesday, we'll be handing over the keys and escaping Enfield forever.
I missed the All-Star game, though I caught the score on the BBC news site. I'd have liked to have seen the game.
Off to bed happy now, as all but one of the big tasks of leaving have been done now. After completing the sale of the house, it only leaves the tasks involved in setting up home in a new country. That's going to be a rich vein for the blog. Toodle pip.
The stuff was packed well, no qualms about stuff being broken unless a container gets dropped. The estimate (for which we paid) was 407 cu/ft, and the actual was pegged at 400. Close enough for me.
I have to collect the hire car tomorrow morning. This means jumping on a bus to Seven Sisters and then getting the underground. After that, we'll drop off some rubbish at the council dump, and post most of the remaining eBay items. In the evening, we'll go to the Navigation Inn for dinner, then back home for our last night in our house, because on Wednesday, we'll be handing over the keys and escaping Enfield forever.
I missed the All-Star game, though I caught the score on the BBC news site. I'd have liked to have seen the game.
Off to bed happy now, as all but one of the big tasks of leaving have been done now. After completing the sale of the house, it only leaves the tasks involved in setting up home in a new country. That's going to be a rich vein for the blog. Toodle pip.
Sunday, February 08, 2004
Tense, nervous headache? Yup. Move continent, that'll learn yer.
Pretty much everything ready for the removal guys tomorrow. Must have a decent night's sleep. Yeah, right, like that's going to happen. Anyway, whatever isn't taken away tomorrow either gets packed into four suitcases, or gets left behind. (For "gets left behind", read "gets thrown away").
I took photos of collections, like DVDs, CD-ROMs, books, CDs and the like. That way, if stuff goes astray, we know what we have to replace.
A fairly sullen day. Tomorrow I guess will be shellshock day, as everything gets carted off. I suppose I'd better eat my banana, and then go to bed.
Pretty much everything ready for the removal guys tomorrow. Must have a decent night's sleep. Yeah, right, like that's going to happen. Anyway, whatever isn't taken away tomorrow either gets packed into four suitcases, or gets left behind. (For "gets left behind", read "gets thrown away").
I took photos of collections, like DVDs, CD-ROMs, books, CDs and the like. That way, if stuff goes astray, we know what we have to replace.
A fairly sullen day. Tomorrow I guess will be shellshock day, as everything gets carted off. I suppose I'd better eat my banana, and then go to bed.
Saturday, February 07, 2004
I think I have packed all my clothes now. For the most part, we are going to live out of suitcases for the next week. Let's imagine that we're on holiday for seven days, shall we? There are a few items of clothing that are going to be shipped, but I won't be needing them until spring/summer.
In Britain now, it's getting warmer, and even in Brussels it was 17 degrees. I think it's going to be a shock to get to Canada and not see an end to snow until, er, August? How long does it take to melt six feet of snow? [Answers please on a postcard]
Julian took the printer to mum's, and a couple of tables too. The back room (computer room) is now empty but for the computers themselves, and part of the library. Nothing in the visitors' bedroom is being shipped, so that's where we'll stash the stuff we're taking ourselves as the removal men do their thing on Monday.
Shipping eBay stuff isn't as easy as you'd think. Because we're leaving the house on Wednesday, we've arranged for the post to be redirected from Tuesday. This means that it would be difficult to accept cheques for the eBay sales, so I asked buyers to use PayPal only. Out of 12 items, half of the buyers have asked where to send the cheque ... ARGH!
Tomorrow is last minute panic, Monday we "move", Tuesday we clear up, Wednesday we hand over the keys, Thursday we see my mum, Friday see Steve Palmer, Bruce Ure et al, and Saturday ... EEEEEEOOOOOWWWWWWWW. (Sound of a 747)
In Britain now, it's getting warmer, and even in Brussels it was 17 degrees. I think it's going to be a shock to get to Canada and not see an end to snow until, er, August? How long does it take to melt six feet of snow? [Answers please on a postcard]
Julian took the printer to mum's, and a couple of tables too. The back room (computer room) is now empty but for the computers themselves, and part of the library. Nothing in the visitors' bedroom is being shipped, so that's where we'll stash the stuff we're taking ourselves as the removal men do their thing on Monday.
Shipping eBay stuff isn't as easy as you'd think. Because we're leaving the house on Wednesday, we've arranged for the post to be redirected from Tuesday. This means that it would be difficult to accept cheques for the eBay sales, so I asked buyers to use PayPal only. Out of 12 items, half of the buyers have asked where to send the cheque ... ARGH!
Tomorrow is last minute panic, Monday we "move", Tuesday we clear up, Wednesday we hand over the keys, Thursday we see my mum, Friday see Steve Palmer, Bruce Ure et al, and Saturday ... EEEEEEOOOOOWWWWWWWW. (Sound of a 747)
Friday, February 06, 2004
Number of page views so far:94
So I open my mouth to tell you about bookcrossing.com yesterday, and today some prat starts to spam one of the book journals I have there. Typical. Half a dozen abusive postings which I reported to The Powers That Be of bookcrossing, and that should be the end of it. Darn.
The dozen auctions on eBay finished today, and I sold the lot. I walked to the post office twice, posting three of the lots in the process. I'm still a box short for one of the items, but I can pick that up tomorrow. My brother Julian will be here tomorrow to pick up the printer/scanner/copier that we're giving to my mum, and to take away some of the stuff that I've been storing in the loft for her. We'll see Julian again the evening before we fly out, but I'll have to arrange to go see my mum next week. Probably on the Thursday.
Those cheeky people buying the house contacted us (through the estate agent) to ask if they could come over to measure up for curtains. Our home here is in the process of being dismantled, and there are piles of things all over the place. Last thing we want is a group of people wandering around muttering "are you leaving that" and "I hope you're taking that with you". So we said NO they cannot come over until the sale is completed. Sheesh, it's less than a week. If they want to get in so quickly they should instruct their agents/solicitor/bank/whoever to make sure they cough up the cash at 9.01am on Wednesday. Then they can move in as soon as we get the call and drive to the estate agent to hand over the keys. I lost patience with them when they screwed us over every detail, so I am not interested in their "plight" surrounding curtains.
Deb cooked a chilli before we went to Belgium, and stored it in the freezer. We thawed some out today and nuked it. Yummy. Nice and spicy, bit of baguette, can of Palm beer, mmmmm. Speaking of beer, I asked a barman for a local brew in Brussels, and he poured out a beer into a bell-bottomed glass. The glass was propped up by a wooden stand, which is standard equipment for this brew, oddly named Kwak. Sounds Czech to me, but I am assured that Kwak is from Belgium. Great name for a beer though.
It's the NHL All-Star game this weekend, and my gruntle is dissed that I am missing it. If you live in Canada, and can video it for me, I'll swap a chocolate bar for the tape. Deal? Go Quinn's Easterners!
On the packing front, tomorrow we start to put stuff in suitcases. Deb's already sorted a lot of the kitchen into piles to be given away. It's getting quite bare in here now, but nothing like it will be on Monday evening. Hoo-boy.
A special mention for Jenny - get well soon!
So I open my mouth to tell you about bookcrossing.com yesterday, and today some prat starts to spam one of the book journals I have there. Typical. Half a dozen abusive postings which I reported to The Powers That Be of bookcrossing, and that should be the end of it. Darn.
The dozen auctions on eBay finished today, and I sold the lot. I walked to the post office twice, posting three of the lots in the process. I'm still a box short for one of the items, but I can pick that up tomorrow. My brother Julian will be here tomorrow to pick up the printer/scanner/copier that we're giving to my mum, and to take away some of the stuff that I've been storing in the loft for her. We'll see Julian again the evening before we fly out, but I'll have to arrange to go see my mum next week. Probably on the Thursday.
Those cheeky people buying the house contacted us (through the estate agent) to ask if they could come over to measure up for curtains. Our home here is in the process of being dismantled, and there are piles of things all over the place. Last thing we want is a group of people wandering around muttering "are you leaving that" and "I hope you're taking that with you". So we said NO they cannot come over until the sale is completed. Sheesh, it's less than a week. If they want to get in so quickly they should instruct their agents/solicitor/bank/whoever to make sure they cough up the cash at 9.01am on Wednesday. Then they can move in as soon as we get the call and drive to the estate agent to hand over the keys. I lost patience with them when they screwed us over every detail, so I am not interested in their "plight" surrounding curtains.
Deb cooked a chilli before we went to Belgium, and stored it in the freezer. We thawed some out today and nuked it. Yummy. Nice and spicy, bit of baguette, can of Palm beer, mmmmm. Speaking of beer, I asked a barman for a local brew in Brussels, and he poured out a beer into a bell-bottomed glass. The glass was propped up by a wooden stand, which is standard equipment for this brew, oddly named Kwak. Sounds Czech to me, but I am assured that Kwak is from Belgium. Great name for a beer though.
It's the NHL All-Star game this weekend, and my gruntle is dissed that I am missing it. If you live in Canada, and can video it for me, I'll swap a chocolate bar for the tape. Deal? Go Quinn's Easterners!
On the packing front, tomorrow we start to put stuff in suitcases. Deb's already sorted a lot of the kitchen into piles to be given away. It's getting quite bare in here now, but nothing like it will be on Monday evening. Hoo-boy.
A special mention for Jenny - get well soon!
Thursday, February 05, 2004
A pox on all spammers, virus writers, and those who are too stupid to use AV scanners.
Not only were (both) the Brussels internet cafes scummy and useless, but the final download this evening after only three days away was in excess of 1500 emails. 95% were spam or viruses. Grrrr....
Before I forget, a book I left on a train a while ago has been found. (If you're not familiar with the bookcrossing site, have a look. It's great. Leave your old books for people to find, and they tell you what they thought of them after they've read them.) The person left a note saying that I had really cheered them up by leaving a book. It's nice to have made someone's day, by simply getting rid of excess clutter.
Brussels was good, many more chocolate shops than I had thought. The beer wasn't so good, and about the only wine in the country seems to be "red", "white" or "rose". (All variations of vinegar, by the tastes of them.)
As it's late right now, I'm afraid that's your lot for today. Sorry, but more tomorrow.
Not only were (both) the Brussels internet cafes scummy and useless, but the final download this evening after only three days away was in excess of 1500 emails. 95% were spam or viruses. Grrrr....
Before I forget, a book I left on a train a while ago has been found. (If you're not familiar with the bookcrossing site, have a look. It's great. Leave your old books for people to find, and they tell you what they thought of them after they've read them.) The person left a note saying that I had really cheered them up by leaving a book. It's nice to have made someone's day, by simply getting rid of excess clutter.
Brussels was good, many more chocolate shops than I had thought. The beer wasn't so good, and about the only wine in the country seems to be "red", "white" or "rose". (All variations of vinegar, by the tastes of them.)
As it's late right now, I'm afraid that's your lot for today. Sorry, but more tomorrow.
Monday, February 02, 2004
My, oh my.
Firstly, this is being typed on a Belgian keyboard. Imagine that a 4-year old has replaced all the keys on your keyboard in a random fashion, and sometimes every third character requires you to press SHIFT. Add to that, the fact we had to walk hours through seedy back streets to find an internet place open, and you kind of get the level we're at here. As cities go, Amsterdam is by far the more attractive.
The Eurostar was quite good, and we found a nice place to eat this evening. The beer so far is nice, and Deb has been drooling at every other shop (either leather shoes/handbags, or a chocolate emporium).
Weather permitting, it'll be the Atomium tomorrow, after some chocolate sampling :-)
Firstly, this is being typed on a Belgian keyboard. Imagine that a 4-year old has replaced all the keys on your keyboard in a random fashion, and sometimes every third character requires you to press SHIFT. Add to that, the fact we had to walk hours through seedy back streets to find an internet place open, and you kind of get the level we're at here. As cities go, Amsterdam is by far the more attractive.
The Eurostar was quite good, and we found a nice place to eat this evening. The beer so far is nice, and Deb has been drooling at every other shop (either leather shoes/handbags, or a chocolate emporium).
Weather permitting, it'll be the Atomium tomorrow, after some chocolate sampling :-)
Sunday, February 01, 2004
Heads-up. Blog reading 101. You at the back - sit up straight. And now we begin ...
On the right there, you see some links. The top ones are to some sites I think you'd enjoy. The ones below that are to the archives. More of those later. The ones at the bottom (well, at the moment, one) are links to other blogs, made by friends of mine. Hopefully that includes you. If not, why not? Click on the "Start your own!" link and get rolling.
Now, to those archives. I have put the settings for this blog to archive every month. This means that you'll only see one month's worth of blog entries on this page. If you want to see more than the past 30 days, click on one of the archive links. Right now, you'll see two of them. The one with the most entries will be "January 2004", which contains all the entries I made during January 2004. It's that simple.
OK, onto the real stuff now.
Yesterday wasn't a bad day. It was great right up to the point that Jim & Sarah had to leave. I think Deb's over that now, at least outwardly. I'm up for the trip to Brussels to get my mind off stuff like that, and when we get back there'll be about four days until the removal company come in. Gulp.
I've filled in the insurance form - there's about £20K of stuff to insure. We'll post it off tomorrow, along with the cheque to cover the premium. Let's hope it's not needed and it all turns up AOK.
Some really good news - the Ontario Transportation Minister has ruled that from 01st March this year, British driving licences can be exchanged for Ontario licences without the need for a driving test. Woo-hoo! I don't need to take a test now, which is a great relief.
We've been moving stuff around in the house, and though we're not really packing yet, the place is starting to look a little bare. Once it's all gone, we have two days here without the "luxuries", though the TV and couches will still be here, along with the kitchen electricals, so we can survive from Monday through to the Wedenesday when we complete. It's now getting to the point that the small niggly things start to crawl out of the woodwork, like what to pack in the suitcases, what to take as carry-on, what to leave and what to throw away.
In the morning, as I said, we're off to Belgium for a few days. I'm sure the Hilton has internet access available to it's guests, if not, there'll be an internet cafe somewhere. If so, I'll try to post the blog from there. If you come back here and there's nothing, then we're either dead from chocolate and beer overdose, or Belgium hasn't yet joined the internet age.
So off the top off your head, do you know any sites from the .be domain?
On the right there, you see some links. The top ones are to some sites I think you'd enjoy. The ones below that are to the archives. More of those later. The ones at the bottom (well, at the moment, one) are links to other blogs, made by friends of mine. Hopefully that includes you. If not, why not? Click on the "Start your own!" link and get rolling.
Now, to those archives. I have put the settings for this blog to archive every month. This means that you'll only see one month's worth of blog entries on this page. If you want to see more than the past 30 days, click on one of the archive links. Right now, you'll see two of them. The one with the most entries will be "January 2004", which contains all the entries I made during January 2004. It's that simple.
OK, onto the real stuff now.
Yesterday wasn't a bad day. It was great right up to the point that Jim & Sarah had to leave. I think Deb's over that now, at least outwardly. I'm up for the trip to Brussels to get my mind off stuff like that, and when we get back there'll be about four days until the removal company come in. Gulp.
I've filled in the insurance form - there's about £20K of stuff to insure. We'll post it off tomorrow, along with the cheque to cover the premium. Let's hope it's not needed and it all turns up AOK.
Some really good news - the Ontario Transportation Minister has ruled that from 01st March this year, British driving licences can be exchanged for Ontario licences without the need for a driving test. Woo-hoo! I don't need to take a test now, which is a great relief.
We've been moving stuff around in the house, and though we're not really packing yet, the place is starting to look a little bare. Once it's all gone, we have two days here without the "luxuries", though the TV and couches will still be here, along with the kitchen electricals, so we can survive from Monday through to the Wedenesday when we complete. It's now getting to the point that the small niggly things start to crawl out of the woodwork, like what to pack in the suitcases, what to take as carry-on, what to leave and what to throw away.
In the morning, as I said, we're off to Belgium for a few days. I'm sure the Hilton has internet access available to it's guests, if not, there'll be an internet cafe somewhere. If so, I'll try to post the blog from there. If you come back here and there's nothing, then we're either dead from chocolate and beer overdose, or Belgium hasn't yet joined the internet age.
So off the top off your head, do you know any sites from the .be domain?
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