Wednesday, March 31, 2004
Two entries in a row - wow!
Gas prices went from 63c to 78c again yesterday. Over 20% jump in one day. It can't be the price of oil, as that didn't jump 20% recently ...
The weather has warmed up - been a few days since it was below zero, and all the snow has gone. Only a few mounds where the snow ploughs have pushed the snow that was on roads - and they're 20 feet tall anyway. So I bet they'll be around for a while yet. Rain has taken over, and it feels a little more like England now, with wet roads and overcast skies for the moment. Spring has sprung it seems, and warmer weather should be around the corner. However, some old-timers are warning that there may be a dump of snow later - Mother Nature can be fickle.
On the work front, I still need to get a pass to enter the building. A large company has its paperwork and GE is no different. From office to office and pillar to post I have plenty of forms I have filled in, I've had my picture taken, and I've even sat an exam for the card. But no sign of it yet ... Other than that, it's going great here.
Guelph Storm finally won their first round series, in game 7, beating Owen Sound. Leafs have two games left, are two points behind Boston first place, and Boston have a game in hand. Oh well...
Baseball season has started, though Toronto don't play until Monday. That's the Bluejays :-)
More tomorrow!
Gas prices went from 63c to 78c again yesterday. Over 20% jump in one day. It can't be the price of oil, as that didn't jump 20% recently ...
The weather has warmed up - been a few days since it was below zero, and all the snow has gone. Only a few mounds where the snow ploughs have pushed the snow that was on roads - and they're 20 feet tall anyway. So I bet they'll be around for a while yet. Rain has taken over, and it feels a little more like England now, with wet roads and overcast skies for the moment. Spring has sprung it seems, and warmer weather should be around the corner. However, some old-timers are warning that there may be a dump of snow later - Mother Nature can be fickle.
On the work front, I still need to get a pass to enter the building. A large company has its paperwork and GE is no different. From office to office and pillar to post I have plenty of forms I have filled in, I've had my picture taken, and I've even sat an exam for the card. But no sign of it yet ... Other than that, it's going great here.
Guelph Storm finally won their first round series, in game 7, beating Owen Sound. Leafs have two games left, are two points behind Boston first place, and Boston have a game in hand. Oh well...
Baseball season has started, though Toronto don't play until Monday. That's the Bluejays :-)
More tomorrow!
Tuesday, March 30, 2004
Hey, I can post from work! Don't tell anyone ...
Actually, I won't get much time, as things are usually very busy. Having to learn the ropes and all. Heh.
Maybe time for a quick word about money. I've adjusted to thinking in dollars, and all that goes with it. I no longer compare prices to pounds, and the numbers in my head are geared totally on Canadian.
The comparison is generally 1:1 in that something in the UK costs a pound, it often costs a dollar here. Some things don't compare that way, but as a rough guide, it's about right. Same with salaries, more or less. Of course there's some leeway, all the way out to the exchange rate, currently about 2.4 dollars to the pound.
This means it's great to visit Canada from the UK but to go the other way it sucks. Emigrating to Canada is a one way trip buddy :-)
Thanks for the emails of congrats about my job. Very nice of you all. I've been told that it'll take a week for GE to decide how to employ me, and then there's paperwork involved. So it may be a while till I'm definitely in, and then the 3 month probation period starts.
Who said it was a quick and painless exercise, moving continent? :-)
Actually, I won't get much time, as things are usually very busy. Having to learn the ropes and all. Heh.
Maybe time for a quick word about money. I've adjusted to thinking in dollars, and all that goes with it. I no longer compare prices to pounds, and the numbers in my head are geared totally on Canadian.
The comparison is generally 1:1 in that something in the UK costs a pound, it often costs a dollar here. Some things don't compare that way, but as a rough guide, it's about right. Same with salaries, more or less. Of course there's some leeway, all the way out to the exchange rate, currently about 2.4 dollars to the pound.
This means it's great to visit Canada from the UK but to go the other way it sucks. Emigrating to Canada is a one way trip buddy :-)
Thanks for the emails of congrats about my job. Very nice of you all. I've been told that it'll take a week for GE to decide how to employ me, and then there's paperwork involved. So it may be a while till I'm definitely in, and then the 3 month probation period starts.
Who said it was a quick and painless exercise, moving continent? :-)
Sunday, March 28, 2004
Page count = 891
Wow. The busiest week so far. We picked up some of our transported stuff from the warehouse, we watched a hockey game (Guelph lost 2-0), I was interviewed for a contract job, got accepted, started work, was asked to go full time permanent. So it's been a hectic week.
And I have a job now :-)
It's desktop support for GE. You may have heard of them - they're the 5th largest company in the world and the Financial Times voted them World's Most Respected Company for the past six years. Yup, I'm looking forward to a long and happy career there! Emails of thanks most welcomed!!
The NHL regular season is winding down. Leafs only have three games left, and it looks very much like they'll be facing Ottawa in the first round of the play-offs. Toronto/Ottawa has been a severe grudge match for the past few years. It's now worse than Toronto/Montreal, so that's saying something.
I'm sipping Tim Horton's coffee, typing a blog about how great Canada is, in a basement (something new to a typical Brit), and marvelling at how far things have come recently. We have a car, a house, both have jobs, and in less than three months it will be almost as though we've been here forever.
The "we" is my wife & I. Deb was so thrilled when I told her that GE wanted me full time. She bought some champagne and we celebrated with a couple of glasses that evening. A nice surprise for me :-)
Apart from a broken key on the laptop keyboard, things are going great. Once I get a moment, I'll start sifting through the backlog of emails that has built up over the past few days.
Sees you all anon!
Wow. The busiest week so far. We picked up some of our transported stuff from the warehouse, we watched a hockey game (Guelph lost 2-0), I was interviewed for a contract job, got accepted, started work, was asked to go full time permanent. So it's been a hectic week.
And I have a job now :-)
It's desktop support for GE. You may have heard of them - they're the 5th largest company in the world and the Financial Times voted them World's Most Respected Company for the past six years. Yup, I'm looking forward to a long and happy career there! Emails of thanks most welcomed!!
The NHL regular season is winding down. Leafs only have three games left, and it looks very much like they'll be facing Ottawa in the first round of the play-offs. Toronto/Ottawa has been a severe grudge match for the past few years. It's now worse than Toronto/Montreal, so that's saying something.
I'm sipping Tim Horton's coffee, typing a blog about how great Canada is, in a basement (something new to a typical Brit), and marvelling at how far things have come recently. We have a car, a house, both have jobs, and in less than three months it will be almost as though we've been here forever.
The "we" is my wife & I. Deb was so thrilled when I told her that GE wanted me full time. She bought some champagne and we celebrated with a couple of glasses that evening. A nice surprise for me :-)
Apart from a broken key on the laptop keyboard, things are going great. Once I get a moment, I'll start sifting through the backlog of emails that has built up over the past few days.
Sees you all anon!
Monday, March 22, 2004
Today's entry comes to you thanks to the joys that are Cut and Paste.
A fun weekend, with lots of wine and beer, and certainly too much enjoyment from charades. Must be getting old.
We met up with Robin & Jim, stayed the night, yet totally missed the Guelph University "College Royal" event. We drove past it at 10am, and it looked like it was a few hours from being constructed, so we drove on and went to see a film instead. Mr J Depp in "Secret Window" - a good film if all you want to see on screen is Deppy-boy.
The next few days are jam-packed. Today I have an interview, tomorrow we are staying in Guelph to watch the Storm playoff game (they're 2-0 up in the best-of-7-series so far) and sink a few bevvies with one of Deb's friends. Then on Wednesday we have to pick up some of our house stuff from the warehouse, which cleared customs without a hitch. Most of it has to be stored until we move into our new home, which will incur storage charges, but the 60 day insurance we paid for will run out before we move, so we have to pay more coverage. I must ask the removal company if they can deliver our goods on a Saturday ...
Leafs continue to win more than they lose, so they've definitely secured a playoff spot for the cup. This means at the very least, two cup games at the ACC. These matches will be sold out, guaranteed, and the ticket prices rise for playoff games.
I do have a ticket to go see Kraftwerk next month. I last saw them over 10 years ago, at Brixton Academy. Twice. On consecutive nights. I also managed to score a signed copy of The Mix :-) I won't be so lucky this time, as I have an assigned seat - I'm not down in the standing area. More on this as the gig approaches.
To pass the time, I think I may start a record of the petrol pump prices here on the outskirts of Toronto. If you live in North America and you're reading this from somewhere not very close to Toronto, can you let me know if the gas prices fluctuate a lot please? I want to know if this is a Toronto thing, an Ontario thing, a Canadian thing or a North American thing. If you don't know my email address, click the gfreeman.com link on the right, then click CONTACTS. I'd love to hear what things are like elsewhere, and you needn't write more than one line if you don't feel like dropping me an email. But please, let me know what it's like where you are!
I may be able to squeeze in another entry before the game tomorrow, otherwise the next one will be a match report :-)
A fun weekend, with lots of wine and beer, and certainly too much enjoyment from charades. Must be getting old.
We met up with Robin & Jim, stayed the night, yet totally missed the Guelph University "College Royal" event. We drove past it at 10am, and it looked like it was a few hours from being constructed, so we drove on and went to see a film instead. Mr J Depp in "Secret Window" - a good film if all you want to see on screen is Deppy-boy.
The next few days are jam-packed. Today I have an interview, tomorrow we are staying in Guelph to watch the Storm playoff game (they're 2-0 up in the best-of-7-series so far) and sink a few bevvies with one of Deb's friends. Then on Wednesday we have to pick up some of our house stuff from the warehouse, which cleared customs without a hitch. Most of it has to be stored until we move into our new home, which will incur storage charges, but the 60 day insurance we paid for will run out before we move, so we have to pay more coverage. I must ask the removal company if they can deliver our goods on a Saturday ...
Leafs continue to win more than they lose, so they've definitely secured a playoff spot for the cup. This means at the very least, two cup games at the ACC. These matches will be sold out, guaranteed, and the ticket prices rise for playoff games.
I do have a ticket to go see Kraftwerk next month. I last saw them over 10 years ago, at Brixton Academy. Twice. On consecutive nights. I also managed to score a signed copy of The Mix :-) I won't be so lucky this time, as I have an assigned seat - I'm not down in the standing area. More on this as the gig approaches.
To pass the time, I think I may start a record of the petrol pump prices here on the outskirts of Toronto. If you live in North America and you're reading this from somewhere not very close to Toronto, can you let me know if the gas prices fluctuate a lot please? I want to know if this is a Toronto thing, an Ontario thing, a Canadian thing or a North American thing. If you don't know my email address, click the gfreeman.com link on the right, then click CONTACTS. I'd love to hear what things are like elsewhere, and you needn't write more than one line if you don't feel like dropping me an email. But please, let me know what it's like where you are!
I may be able to squeeze in another entry before the game tomorrow, otherwise the next one will be a match report :-)
Friday, March 19, 2004
I said in a previous entry that the national game of Canada is lacrosse. I can't speak for other provinces, but in Ontario it appears that the provincial game is "Drive As Badly As You Can On The Highways".
There are bad drivers everywhere in the world, but I've never seen it so bad as here. Maybe it's complacency - which would certainly explain the ridiculous costs for motor insurance in Ontario.
Yesterday, I was quoted $7,675 for one year's insurance, and I have been driving since my early twenties (I am in my late thirties), I have never had an accident - never made an insurance claim, never even had a speeding nor parking ticket. Somehow, I'm classed as a risk - more risky than 16 year olds who have never had insurance before. This is stunning, and it leaves me reeling. How can this be the case?
It's not just one particular insurer, either. It's all of them. I've called half a dozen of them, and they all say the same thing. Please take into account though, that the Canadian Insurance Industry is having a hard time, post 11/Sep/2001 [for our US readers, "9/11"], which is why they only made a piffling profit last year of TWO POINT SIX BILLION DOLLARS.
So you think they'd make it easy to take this $7,675 off me, right? Hahahaha. Go to a website and try to plug in your details, and you won't be able to enter your previous address because the post code is not in the format that they recognise. Silly me, I'm only an immigrant. Canada only has an intake of 300,000 of us a year, that's 1% of the population annually.
Back to my original gripe though; the quality of driving. Perhaps if people wouldn't drive at 20+ kph over the limit while drinking coffee and/or on the phone, there'd be fewer accidents. Fewer accidents means less payout by the insurers, which means cheaper premiums.
Wake up people - weaving from lane to lane without signalling is not clever, and it's likely to leave your kids without a parent. Not that I care - it's Darwinism at it's finest, but you're costing me dollars, man.
See, living next to the Americans has made a capitalist out of me. Only took 5 weeks...
There are bad drivers everywhere in the world, but I've never seen it so bad as here. Maybe it's complacency - which would certainly explain the ridiculous costs for motor insurance in Ontario.
Yesterday, I was quoted $7,675 for one year's insurance, and I have been driving since my early twenties (I am in my late thirties), I have never had an accident - never made an insurance claim, never even had a speeding nor parking ticket. Somehow, I'm classed as a risk - more risky than 16 year olds who have never had insurance before. This is stunning, and it leaves me reeling. How can this be the case?
It's not just one particular insurer, either. It's all of them. I've called half a dozen of them, and they all say the same thing. Please take into account though, that the Canadian Insurance Industry is having a hard time, post 11/Sep/2001 [for our US readers, "9/11"], which is why they only made a piffling profit last year of TWO POINT SIX BILLION DOLLARS.
So you think they'd make it easy to take this $7,675 off me, right? Hahahaha. Go to a website and try to plug in your details, and you won't be able to enter your previous address because the post code is not in the format that they recognise. Silly me, I'm only an immigrant. Canada only has an intake of 300,000 of us a year, that's 1% of the population annually.
Back to my original gripe though; the quality of driving. Perhaps if people wouldn't drive at 20+ kph over the limit while drinking coffee and/or on the phone, there'd be fewer accidents. Fewer accidents means less payout by the insurers, which means cheaper premiums.
Wake up people - weaving from lane to lane without signalling is not clever, and it's likely to leave your kids without a parent. Not that I care - it's Darwinism at it's finest, but you're costing me dollars, man.
See, living next to the Americans has made a capitalist out of me. Only took 5 weeks...
Wednesday, March 17, 2004
Today's page count is 744
This week sees us running around finalising the paperwork to buy the house. We won't be moving in until the weekend of 12th June, but we have until the end of this week to produce a waiver.
A waiver is a legal document waiving our conditions of purchase, which we placed on the offer that was accepted by the vendor. Basically, we said we'd buy the house on the condition that we could get a mortgage, and that our survey (inspection) didn't throw up anything that caused us concern. The seller agreed to these conditions, but only if we waived them by the end of this week. This gives them the right to put the house back on the market if we decide to pull out for lack of mortgage or bad inspection results.
Once the waiver is delivered to the seller, the whole thing is legally binding. They have to sell the house to us and present it to us in a habitable state by 11th June, and we have to buy it from them at the agreed price and present them with the cash, also by 11th June.
We have the mortgage agreed - we're going to see the bank tonight to decide what KIND of mortgage we want. We had the inspection yesterday, and on a scale of 1 to 9 where 5 is average and 9 is good, our house came in at a "6, for it's age". We're happy - there are a few things to note, but nothing that screams to be fixed. Photos of the house will be available when I get the film developed (I forgot to take the digital camera). We're looking forward to moving in :-)
Our shipment of goods have arrived from Britain. They're in the customs building awaiting clearance. We have to be there for the customs officials to clear them, and we need the paperwork from the removal company to give to customs before they'll give us our goods. This paperwork is currently working its way through Canada Post. (I'll devote another blog entry later this month to that fine institution ...) So when we get the removal company's paperwork, we go to customs, clear the goods, and fax the stamped paperwork back to the removal company who will then store our stuff until we move in June. This assumes that the customs officials don't have a problem with our stuff, but I don't see why they should. Everything is listed, nothing is on the prohibited list, and there's no duty to pay on anything either. Straight in and out, pay for the extra insurance and storage charges (as the removal company have to look after our stuff for a few more weeks than anticipated) and BAMM! We're moved.
One last note today about the weather. It was a balmy plus two or three degrees until yesterday, when a snow storm came in and we're now facing 15 inches of snow for the next couple of days. Spring starts in Canada only in retrospect. "When did it stop snowing? THAT'S when spring started".
This week sees us running around finalising the paperwork to buy the house. We won't be moving in until the weekend of 12th June, but we have until the end of this week to produce a waiver.
A waiver is a legal document waiving our conditions of purchase, which we placed on the offer that was accepted by the vendor. Basically, we said we'd buy the house on the condition that we could get a mortgage, and that our survey (inspection) didn't throw up anything that caused us concern. The seller agreed to these conditions, but only if we waived them by the end of this week. This gives them the right to put the house back on the market if we decide to pull out for lack of mortgage or bad inspection results.
Once the waiver is delivered to the seller, the whole thing is legally binding. They have to sell the house to us and present it to us in a habitable state by 11th June, and we have to buy it from them at the agreed price and present them with the cash, also by 11th June.
We have the mortgage agreed - we're going to see the bank tonight to decide what KIND of mortgage we want. We had the inspection yesterday, and on a scale of 1 to 9 where 5 is average and 9 is good, our house came in at a "6, for it's age". We're happy - there are a few things to note, but nothing that screams to be fixed. Photos of the house will be available when I get the film developed (I forgot to take the digital camera). We're looking forward to moving in :-)
Our shipment of goods have arrived from Britain. They're in the customs building awaiting clearance. We have to be there for the customs officials to clear them, and we need the paperwork from the removal company to give to customs before they'll give us our goods. This paperwork is currently working its way through Canada Post. (I'll devote another blog entry later this month to that fine institution ...) So when we get the removal company's paperwork, we go to customs, clear the goods, and fax the stamped paperwork back to the removal company who will then store our stuff until we move in June. This assumes that the customs officials don't have a problem with our stuff, but I don't see why they should. Everything is listed, nothing is on the prohibited list, and there's no duty to pay on anything either. Straight in and out, pay for the extra insurance and storage charges (as the removal company have to look after our stuff for a few more weeks than anticipated) and BAMM! We're moved.
One last note today about the weather. It was a balmy plus two or three degrees until yesterday, when a snow storm came in and we're now facing 15 inches of snow for the next couple of days. Spring starts in Canada only in retrospect. "When did it stop snowing? THAT'S when spring started".
Tuesday, March 16, 2004
Hands up if you know what the national game of Canada is.
If you said hockey (or ice hockey), then you are wrong. But it IS the national obsession, even if not the national game. (That honour goes to Lacrosse. Huh?)
Back in the 1960's, there were only six teams in the National Hockey League, and four of them were in the States. So for every Canadian team, there were two American ones. Thesedays, there are more teams, and the ratio of Canadian:American franchises is now exactly 1:4. There are currently six NHL teams in Canada, and I follow the Toronto Maple Leafs (the "Leafs").
The Leafs have a great rivalry with the Montreal team, nicknamed the "Habs". I've yet to see one of those derby games live at an arena, but I've watched a few on TV. Plenty of history behind the match-up, and this year the Leafs are chasing the cup, last won by them in 1967. People in Toronto usually resign themselves to another year without a cup, but this year many feel the Leafs have a team capable of going all the way and bringing the cup back to Toronto.
Bit of a cheat - the cup lives in Toronto anyway, at the Hockey Hall of Fame. :-)
There's definitely something Canadian about watching a game, sipping a beer, and cheering on the good guys. Saturday night is even officially Hockey Night in Canada during the hockey season. Luckily I come with a well developed love of the game, so I fit right in here.
Go Leafs!
If you said hockey (or ice hockey), then you are wrong. But it IS the national obsession, even if not the national game. (That honour goes to Lacrosse. Huh?)
Back in the 1960's, there were only six teams in the National Hockey League, and four of them were in the States. So for every Canadian team, there were two American ones. Thesedays, there are more teams, and the ratio of Canadian:American franchises is now exactly 1:4. There are currently six NHL teams in Canada, and I follow the Toronto Maple Leafs (the "Leafs").
The Leafs have a great rivalry with the Montreal team, nicknamed the "Habs". I've yet to see one of those derby games live at an arena, but I've watched a few on TV. Plenty of history behind the match-up, and this year the Leafs are chasing the cup, last won by them in 1967. People in Toronto usually resign themselves to another year without a cup, but this year many feel the Leafs have a team capable of going all the way and bringing the cup back to Toronto.
Bit of a cheat - the cup lives in Toronto anyway, at the Hockey Hall of Fame. :-)
There's definitely something Canadian about watching a game, sipping a beer, and cheering on the good guys. Saturday night is even officially Hockey Night in Canada during the hockey season. Luckily I come with a well developed love of the game, so I fit right in here.
Go Leafs!
Sunday, March 14, 2004
Aw, man... Too many days since the last entry. Sorry. But I have a good excuse.
We bought a house! It's here. Note that it's really close to a mall, AND a couple of parks and a preservation area. It's a quiet, dead-end street, and the house itself is exactly what we were looking for. Detached, 3 bedrooms (so you can come visit if you let us know when you'd like to pop in!), nice little garden with grass, and decking for barbecues ... Ah, bliss...
So that's why I've not been too close to the computers - busy arranging the mortgage (which is now approved), the inspection (which is on Tuesday), the lawyers and so on. I also went for an interview on Friday, which was kinda weird. Well, the job more than the interview. It's a contract, through an agency, but I'd be working for Microsoft - get this - in SEATTLE. (Well, Redmond, but only locals and geeks know that). The odd thing though, is that they're looking for a Brit recently arrived in Canada. That sounds like me ... They want to "localise" some US-centric sites and pieces of software. I'd be testing them for suitability with a mind to publishing into the UK market. I'm eminently qualified for that, just have to convince Microsoft. I already convinced the agency :)
So things are moving at a pace, and we move into our new house sometime in the middle of June. Our household contents from the UK have arrived, a month early. This causes a problem, as we'd expected to be able to store them and deliver them to our new house just in time for the insurance etc to run out. However, the early arrival means we have to arrange additional insurance. I have to talk to the removal company in England, as the Canadian one are just doing what they were told. Anyway, we paid the UK company, not the Canadian one.
Spam remains a problem. Plenty of people still send out jokes and stuff to everyone in their address book, which is OK, but it means that everyone in their address book now has access to the details of everyone else in their address book. Not good. People - PLEASE - if you're going to mass mail jokes and stuff, put everyone in the BCC field. It protects you and your friends from potential virus spam attacks.
More later, whenever I can get to a keyboard!
We bought a house! It's here. Note that it's really close to a mall, AND a couple of parks and a preservation area. It's a quiet, dead-end street, and the house itself is exactly what we were looking for. Detached, 3 bedrooms (so you can come visit if you let us know when you'd like to pop in!), nice little garden with grass, and decking for barbecues ... Ah, bliss...
So that's why I've not been too close to the computers - busy arranging the mortgage (which is now approved), the inspection (which is on Tuesday), the lawyers and so on. I also went for an interview on Friday, which was kinda weird. Well, the job more than the interview. It's a contract, through an agency, but I'd be working for Microsoft - get this - in SEATTLE. (Well, Redmond, but only locals and geeks know that). The odd thing though, is that they're looking for a Brit recently arrived in Canada. That sounds like me ... They want to "localise" some US-centric sites and pieces of software. I'd be testing them for suitability with a mind to publishing into the UK market. I'm eminently qualified for that, just have to convince Microsoft. I already convinced the agency :)
So things are moving at a pace, and we move into our new house sometime in the middle of June. Our household contents from the UK have arrived, a month early. This causes a problem, as we'd expected to be able to store them and deliver them to our new house just in time for the insurance etc to run out. However, the early arrival means we have to arrange additional insurance. I have to talk to the removal company in England, as the Canadian one are just doing what they were told. Anyway, we paid the UK company, not the Canadian one.
Spam remains a problem. Plenty of people still send out jokes and stuff to everyone in their address book, which is OK, but it means that everyone in their address book now has access to the details of everyone else in their address book. Not good. People - PLEASE - if you're going to mass mail jokes and stuff, put everyone in the BCC field. It protects you and your friends from potential virus spam attacks.
More later, whenever I can get to a keyboard!
Wednesday, March 10, 2004
Our real-estate agent decided it's too far to travel to see us, and handed our business over to another, more local outfit. She didn't say that exactly, but I can read between the lines. We're picky :-)
So tonight, we're off to see some more houses - we hope. Also, this weekend. On paper, it's not always easy to whittle down the list of properties available. There's certainly a bunch of them on the market in Guelph for under $200K, but we want certain things, and these are not always searchable on the web. Having a garage is important - unless you like digging your car out of snow in winter, and burning your backside on the seats in summer. So the method we're employing right now is to print off the list of houses in the price range we want, delete those with not enough bedrooms/bathrooms, get rid of those with no garage, and dump the ones that do not have Forced Air Gas heating/Air Conditioning. After that, it's down to locale. Too close to railway lines or next to a school will get a property the chop from our list, as will being too far away from the 401, or right next to any major road. Did I mention we are picky? Updates later on this as we find more properties that we want to look round.
The Leafs are back to winning some games, and the trade deadline has passed, so no more new players until next season. This time round, they have a good depth of experience, some young blood, and a couple of old-timers to help steer the ship. I think they can win the cup this year, after a long drought.
Weather update - brisk and bracing, but dry. Most of the snow is going or gone, getting ready for the next dump which will no doubt be along in a week or two.
So tonight, we're off to see some more houses - we hope. Also, this weekend. On paper, it's not always easy to whittle down the list of properties available. There's certainly a bunch of them on the market in Guelph for under $200K, but we want certain things, and these are not always searchable on the web. Having a garage is important - unless you like digging your car out of snow in winter, and burning your backside on the seats in summer. So the method we're employing right now is to print off the list of houses in the price range we want, delete those with not enough bedrooms/bathrooms, get rid of those with no garage, and dump the ones that do not have Forced Air Gas heating/Air Conditioning. After that, it's down to locale. Too close to railway lines or next to a school will get a property the chop from our list, as will being too far away from the 401, or right next to any major road. Did I mention we are picky? Updates later on this as we find more properties that we want to look round.
The Leafs are back to winning some games, and the trade deadline has passed, so no more new players until next season. This time round, they have a good depth of experience, some young blood, and a couple of old-timers to help steer the ship. I think they can win the cup this year, after a long drought.
Weather update - brisk and bracing, but dry. Most of the snow is going or gone, getting ready for the next dump which will no doubt be along in a week or two.
Tuesday, March 09, 2004
Back to bitching, cos I know you all like it.
TV in North America consists of continuous advertisements interspaced with the occasional program, a few of which are quite watchable under the right circumstances. Radio is similar, except they don't interrupt songs to broadcast ads (though I guess it's only a matter of time ...) Typical "30 minute" programme would be ads to start off, then the first scene, some ads, then the opening credits. These are followed by more ads, and you get rewarded by 5 minutes of uninterrupted TV. This lulls you into a false sense of security, because after that there's more ads, a bit more programme, ads, another scene or two, ads, and then the final scene before segueing into more ads. THEN you get the closing credits, and you guessed it, more ads. Case in point, the series "24", which captures an entire day of a federal agent having a bad day, is broadcast in 24 episodes, each an hour long. Take out the ads, and you get 44 minutes. Maybe his bad day started when he got sick and tired of all the ads on TV.
The amount of choice you get in supermarkets is good, and there's usually lots of it, especially fresh fruit and veg. There are a few things I miss though, that are probably specific to Britain, or Europe. Robinsons juice, for example. To make sure I drank enough water to keep the health experts happy, I used to buy a bottle of Robinsons "Fruit & Barley" and dilute it into 5 used Robinsons bottles. Drink a bottle a day and that's a litre. Handy hint there :-) Anyway, there are about 3 bottles of dilutable "squash" type drinks in Canada, and two of them are in BC. The other was bought by a little old lady in front of me, so bang goes that idea. The Canadians drink fresh juice, or bottled water. Or Tim Hortons ... All expensive stuff. Probably a marketing opportunity there. Are you listening, Robinsons?
Best show on TV here, if you ignore the ads: "The Red Green Show". It's inherently Canadian. i.e. mild, harmless, amusing, and intelligent.
TV in North America consists of continuous advertisements interspaced with the occasional program, a few of which are quite watchable under the right circumstances. Radio is similar, except they don't interrupt songs to broadcast ads (though I guess it's only a matter of time ...) Typical "30 minute" programme would be ads to start off, then the first scene, some ads, then the opening credits. These are followed by more ads, and you get rewarded by 5 minutes of uninterrupted TV. This lulls you into a false sense of security, because after that there's more ads, a bit more programme, ads, another scene or two, ads, and then the final scene before segueing into more ads. THEN you get the closing credits, and you guessed it, more ads. Case in point, the series "24", which captures an entire day of a federal agent having a bad day, is broadcast in 24 episodes, each an hour long. Take out the ads, and you get 44 minutes. Maybe his bad day started when he got sick and tired of all the ads on TV.
The amount of choice you get in supermarkets is good, and there's usually lots of it, especially fresh fruit and veg. There are a few things I miss though, that are probably specific to Britain, or Europe. Robinsons juice, for example. To make sure I drank enough water to keep the health experts happy, I used to buy a bottle of Robinsons "Fruit & Barley" and dilute it into 5 used Robinsons bottles. Drink a bottle a day and that's a litre. Handy hint there :-) Anyway, there are about 3 bottles of dilutable "squash" type drinks in Canada, and two of them are in BC. The other was bought by a little old lady in front of me, so bang goes that idea. The Canadians drink fresh juice, or bottled water. Or Tim Hortons ... All expensive stuff. Probably a marketing opportunity there. Are you listening, Robinsons?
Best show on TV here, if you ignore the ads: "The Red Green Show". It's inherently Canadian. i.e. mild, harmless, amusing, and intelligent.
Monday, March 08, 2004
Page count today = 527
I seem to have bitched about all the things I don't like about Canada. Let me tell you straight - it really is great here, and I'm in no mind to return to Britain. The people are friendlier than anywhere else I've been, the scenery is just as pretty as any other place you care to mention, and life feels like it's going somewhere, rather than you're just existing for the hell of it.
The drive into Guelph this morning was very scenic. The sky was overcast pure white, and there was a sprinkling of snow on the ground, maybe an inch. It had settled on the trees, making the entire landscape appear black and white. Shame we didn't have a camera in the car. It was a wonderful way to start the day.
We went house hunting on Saturday, and saw a few houses in Guelph that were not right for us. Kitchen was too small, or the back yard wasn't private, or too run down and needed a lot of time, effort and money spent. We decided on Sunday to cast our nets a little wider, and we've been given a lead that there are a few houses in southern Kitchener near the 401, within our price range. We'll check them out this weekend coming.
As a landed immigrant, I can get a mortgage without having a job, if I put at least 35% down as deposit. This is handy, as we're assured that financing is in place now if we find the house of our dreams and have to put an offer in straight away. At least one bank has said "Yes" to us, and rather than approach many lenders, we'll likely go with that one bank. It seems that if you get too many credit checks on your name, it adversely affects your credit rating, so one mortgage offer is fine, especially as it appears to be at the lowest rates we've found so far.
Buying/selling a house in Canada is a lot different from doing it in Britain. Some bits are better, some worse, but the whole process is done in writing to agreed timescales, so that much takes out a bit of worry and uncertainty. There's also a central service, listing all properties for sale, called MLS. You can search the database of houses for sale, specifying price range etc. For example, if you wanted to search in Guelph, you'd go to the Guelph MLS. Not a bad idea :-)
I got my Maple Leaf card in the post - it's my Permanent Resident status card, proving that I have the permanent right to live in Canada, as long as I stay here at least 3 years out of any 5. Once I've lived here for 3 years, I can apply for citizenship, so come 14th February 2007, I'll be lining up at the CIC, application form in hand!
Just to let you all know that life here isn't sucky. It's great, and I'm really enjoying it so far.
I seem to have bitched about all the things I don't like about Canada. Let me tell you straight - it really is great here, and I'm in no mind to return to Britain. The people are friendlier than anywhere else I've been, the scenery is just as pretty as any other place you care to mention, and life feels like it's going somewhere, rather than you're just existing for the hell of it.
The drive into Guelph this morning was very scenic. The sky was overcast pure white, and there was a sprinkling of snow on the ground, maybe an inch. It had settled on the trees, making the entire landscape appear black and white. Shame we didn't have a camera in the car. It was a wonderful way to start the day.
We went house hunting on Saturday, and saw a few houses in Guelph that were not right for us. Kitchen was too small, or the back yard wasn't private, or too run down and needed a lot of time, effort and money spent. We decided on Sunday to cast our nets a little wider, and we've been given a lead that there are a few houses in southern Kitchener near the 401, within our price range. We'll check them out this weekend coming.
As a landed immigrant, I can get a mortgage without having a job, if I put at least 35% down as deposit. This is handy, as we're assured that financing is in place now if we find the house of our dreams and have to put an offer in straight away. At least one bank has said "Yes" to us, and rather than approach many lenders, we'll likely go with that one bank. It seems that if you get too many credit checks on your name, it adversely affects your credit rating, so one mortgage offer is fine, especially as it appears to be at the lowest rates we've found so far.
Buying/selling a house in Canada is a lot different from doing it in Britain. Some bits are better, some worse, but the whole process is done in writing to agreed timescales, so that much takes out a bit of worry and uncertainty. There's also a central service, listing all properties for sale, called MLS. You can search the database of houses for sale, specifying price range etc. For example, if you wanted to search in Guelph, you'd go to the Guelph MLS. Not a bad idea :-)
I got my Maple Leaf card in the post - it's my Permanent Resident status card, proving that I have the permanent right to live in Canada, as long as I stay here at least 3 years out of any 5. Once I've lived here for 3 years, I can apply for citizenship, so come 14th February 2007, I'll be lining up at the CIC, application form in hand!
Just to let you all know that life here isn't sucky. It's great, and I'm really enjoying it so far.
Thursday, March 04, 2004
I had a really bad headache yesterday. I felt sick in the car coming home, and when we finally did get home - I went straight to bed and slept for 90 minutes. I woke at about 8.30pm and had something to eat, watched Raymond & King of Queens and went back to bed. I feel a bit better now though.
The phone interview wasn't so great yesterday. They're really looking for someone with Exchange 2000 installation experience, so they advised me to go do a course and come back to them. Ah well. I got another call though, from an agency wanting me to work for a company a bit too far from Guelph, so I had to turn it down. I'm concentrating on getting applications off to companies that are within decent driving distance of Guelph.
Deb got her mobile yesterday - we got a package that lets us phone/text each other for free as we're on the same network (Fido). It's $30 each plus tax, but I also have the CLI and mailbox option, so that's another five bucks. Mailbox has been useful so far, as I've had a couple of people leaves messages already.
The snow has almost gone from the built-up areas, but Guelph is still mostly white. The temp has been above zero during the day for about a week now, but it still drops low at night.
Back to the petrol (gas) prices. Tuesday it was 67c, yesterday it was 82c, and today it's 75c. Why do people put up with this? Is there any sensible business reason for the pumps to change their prices so often? I can't see it myself, but I'm not Canadian. Maybe it's a Canuk thing, eh?
You never feel better than the day after you felt really bad, so I hope today will be great - we're off to see a mortgage broker to discuss our options for buying a house.
The phone interview wasn't so great yesterday. They're really looking for someone with Exchange 2000 installation experience, so they advised me to go do a course and come back to them. Ah well. I got another call though, from an agency wanting me to work for a company a bit too far from Guelph, so I had to turn it down. I'm concentrating on getting applications off to companies that are within decent driving distance of Guelph.
Deb got her mobile yesterday - we got a package that lets us phone/text each other for free as we're on the same network (Fido). It's $30 each plus tax, but I also have the CLI and mailbox option, so that's another five bucks. Mailbox has been useful so far, as I've had a couple of people leaves messages already.
The snow has almost gone from the built-up areas, but Guelph is still mostly white. The temp has been above zero during the day for about a week now, but it still drops low at night.
Back to the petrol (gas) prices. Tuesday it was 67c, yesterday it was 82c, and today it's 75c. Why do people put up with this? Is there any sensible business reason for the pumps to change their prices so often? I can't see it myself, but I'm not Canadian. Maybe it's a Canuk thing, eh?
You never feel better than the day after you felt really bad, so I hope today will be great - we're off to see a mortgage broker to discuss our options for buying a house.
Wednesday, March 03, 2004
Have you noticed that North American teenagers (usually girls) speak as though they are asking questions? This bugs me? I'm sure it bugs a lot of people? So I was, like, on the phone? And I was totally talking to this recruitment chick today? And she was all "So what do you know?", and I was, like, "WhatEVER", and she was asking these questions? And I had to answer them as best I could though I was totally in the zone and all. So like, I get off the phone after talking to her and she says she'll call me back? And like, now I'm waiting, like, for her to call me back? This totally blows, waiting you know? So earlier today? We were all at the library? And, like, we learned all about the books they have there, and resources? For, like, getting a job, you know? Anyway, it was totally engrossing for bookworms and all, but I was, like, thinking about my phone interview all the time? And then we had lunch which was, like, SO good, and then we started class again? And I had to make this phone call and now I'm waiting for her to call back?
WhatEVER ...
WhatEVER ...
Subscribe to Posts [Atom]