Graham Freeman's chronicles of emigration

1548 is the page count. The page count is 1548.

The weekend is nearly here. I am tired.

Tony brought in a photo of Tamara, his betrothed. She looks almost like she could be a sister of Sarah's, but Sarah is in England. Anyway ...

Plenty of messages on the board today. Thanks to Steve & Jim, with a little help from Carolyn too.


That's the view we get when joining the 401 from the 400 each morning.

Leafs play again tonight. I might be able to stay away until the end of the game.

4-1 was a popular result last night. Leafs over Philly, and Guelph over Mississauga.

More sport, but this time football. (Soccer, for all you colonials). Canada are playing in Wales, on Sunday 30th May. (Sunday May 30th, for all you colonials). Nice early kick-off, 14h30, (2.30pm, for all you colonials), which makes that half past nine in the morning here. Good planning, idiots. It's a friendly, (exhibition match, for all you colonials), and Canada have a couple of World Cup qualifiers in June. They play a two-leg knock out series against mighty Belize. Normally these affairs are home-and-away, but Belize has given up that option, maybe to cash in on the potential larger gate, maybe for safety, but either way the two games are being played in Kingston, Ontario in June. I'll check the logistics of going to see at least one of the games.

I took some snaps from the car this morning, but I don't have a lead right now for me to pull the images from the camera. I'll post them tomorrow. (You can see the CN Tower from where we get onto the highway). Also, a photo of a Canada Goose on the roof of the building where I work.

Deb & I went snack shopping on the way home last night. We found a great new innovation, in the bulk area of Dominion. Peanut butter filled pretzel pieces. Yummy!

This weekend, we plan to go see the first annual Toronto Police Tattoo. Deb liked the Edinburgh Royal Tattoo so much I think a trend was started. Also on the cards, though I don't know when, is a trip to Canada's Wonderland. Deb wants to try the new Tomb Raider ride. It's like Air at Alton Towers.

Gotta go. Bananas don't eat themselves ...

Hi all. Jim got sunburn over the weekend, back in England, and here it's minus 1 degree (minus 7 with windchill). Tomorrow we are told it will be plus 20 and sunny. The mind boggles. Deb asked whether I like the Canadian climate, heh :-)

One of the things I like here, is the range and display of fresh fruit and veg in the grocery shops. Much better than in England, and you get more room to move around here. In Tesco, you had to elbow people out of the way to get to the cabbage, and corn on the cob was too expensive to have regularly. There's still a good range of grocery shops here - you can go cheap at No Frills, or a bit up-market like Sobeys or Dominion. [link to various grocery chains] You can certainly get exactly what you're looking for from the shops within a couple of miles radius of your home. Assuming you don't live out in the boonies! Not too keen on the trolleys though. Here, the rear wheels don't point any direction other than forward, so you have to steer in a different way. Less control, and if you're used to British trolley pushing, you may tip over your Canadian produce. Beware, you have been warned.

Like the US, Canada's coinage is 1c, 5c, 10c, 25c. Also chuck into that the dollar and two-dollar coins. I miss the option of a 2c coin, and to me, having 20's and 50's is just "the right way of doing it". Reminds me of a Dilbert cartoon (which I cannot find), where Dilbert is at a checkout, and the total is $1.79 so "for simplicity" Dilbert gives the cashier $2.04. Confuses the hell out of the cashier, and to me the funny thing is that you wouldn't get that sort of thing in Europe, 'cos the coins MAKE SENSE there. Grrrr.

Leafs play tonight. They're 2-0 down in the series, and have to get back on top. Looking on the bright side, the last time the Leafs were 2-0 down in a series, they won it. In other hockey news, Guelph play Mississauga (Ice Dogs) in the OHL championship finals. Winner walks off with the J. Ross Robertson Cup. Mississauga won the Bobby Orr Trophy for winning the OHL Eastern Conference final, and Guelph won the Wayne Gretzky Trophy for winning the OHL Western Conference final. The winner goes on to represent the OHL in the Memorial Cup. This is played between the champions of the OHL, the WHL and the QMJHL. The fourth team in the Memorial Cup final is the host team - as the cup finals are played in a different rink each year. This time round, the teams will all compete at this year's tournament in Kelowna, B.C, 15th to 23rd May.

More when I get a few minutes strung together. Take care, and remember more discussions at the Message Board. Check out the new area for "wildlife photos" - available to registered members only. (Free to register!)

1456 page views so far. Keep it up :-)

BBC News story about David Bowie - good to see a mainstream musician in touch with the reality of how people consume, enjoy and use his music. Power to ya, David!

The World Ice Hockey Championships are taking place in Prague this week. Canada opened with a poor performance against Austria, and the only other real hurdle in their group is Switzerland on Wednesday, as they should beat France pretty easily tomorrow. Great Britain don't play in the "World Championships", they are in Division 1. 16 countries play in the World Championships each year, the rest play in divisions and two teams from Division 1 get promoted to the World Championships for the following year, and two teams from the championships get demoted to the divisional format for the following year. Britain had a close shave, almost being demoted from Division 1 this time round. Good job too, else they'd be playing high quality teams such as Spain, Israel, Australia, New Zealand and Turkey. All well known for their ice hockey ...

The Kraftwerk concert was good - made me feel like getting out my CDs, which are in storage. Pah. No further musical outings planned at the moment, but we'll see. Toronto isn't served as well as London for tours and stuff. No way would Sunscreem make it here. Waaah!

Leafs not a good bet for winning their series against Philadelphia. Three key players out - Sundin, Nolan and Nieuwendyk. They felt it bad, and have two home games to save their sorry asses and keep the cup dream alive in Toronto.

Subjects coming up in the blog later - grocery shopping, weird words & phrases, football (not soccer), currency notes and coins, and fast food. To pre-empt this, join in the discussions at the messageboard.

My birthday is 6 weeks from tomorrow. We get our new home 7 weeks tomorrow. The clock is ticking.

Are you afraid of flying? Are you mortally afraid of anything (like spiders, heights, birds)? Do you have an irrational adverse reaction to everyday things (like foreigners, bad drivers, or people who suck spoons)? How do you cope? Do you have any suggestions on therapy? Come on over to the messageboard - discussions just starting on this!

Leafs play the Flyers tonight. A physical game is expected, and the Flyers were not expected to do well in the playoffs, but performed much better than expected. A toughie.

If you use Outlook, you may know that you can store emails in extra Personal Folders that you can create. You can also remove the ability to create Personal Folders, but it's a real pig to get them back. This was a challenge I faced today, but after a couple of hours the user got their functionality back, and I'm left wondering how Microsoft can leave out the instructions on how to do it.


News from the UK seems to be Beckham, Diana photos, and an EU referendum.
In Canada, it's hockey playoffs, federal sponsorship scandal, and the Dalai Lama.

Excuse me, I have 60 computers to inventory ...

Yay! Leafs win their series against the Ottawa Senators! Next four games are against Philadelphia. Not a team the Leafs did well against in the regular season. Still, Bruce - you owe me 20 bucks :-)



I have to pay about forty quid to extend the removal/storage insurance to cover the delivery date, so once the removal company send their invoice to me I'll send off a cheque to them. They said this morning that they'd email it to me, but nothing arrived yet. I'll mail them tomorrow if they haven't sent something by then.

Swiss Chalet for dinner tonight. I wonder if Ueli reads this blog ...

Can you boot from a USB drive? I can't see how, but if anyone knows, please shout. We have an issue at work that would be resolved much easier if this was possible. (We already have a resolution, but it's about 10 times as long as it need be in an ideal world)

Jim sent me a link to a table tennis game. Here it is.

Joke of the day: What's this? A dead one of those! hahahahahaha!!!

Page count = 1308.

Over at the message board I have started topics discussing the ins and outs of moving to Canada, such as getting your visa, moving your goods, and financial stuff like banks, mortgages and getting a job. Please drop by to add your 2 cents worth. Click here to have a look.

It's getting warmer here, 20 degrees yesterday, and it was quite humid too. This must mean that spring is well and truly here - there were thunderstorms and hard winds over the weekend as well. There's more wildlife around, which is apparent by the increased numbers of road-kill, which is an eye-opener for a Brit. Bodies of skunks and porcupines abound on the side of the highways, and I think it'll take a while to get used to that. I doubt it will be any better when we live further west, in Guelph.

Speaking of Guelph, they're 3-1 up in their series against London. One more win and they'll be in the OHL final, against either St. Mike's or Mississauga. They're pretty hot at the moment, and have the momentum to go all the way I think. Unlike the Leafs who stalled against the Senators, and are likely to fail in game 7 tonight. I don't have a good feeling about this game, and it doesn't help that Mats Sundin (Leaf's captain) is out with an inury.

A weekly routine is starting to set in at home now, which is a good thing for me. Only to be interrupted by a trip to see Kraftwerk this Friday. An early birthday present from Deb :-)

Toodle pip.

Yesterday was a sporty day, though not a great day for good results. I went to the Jays v Baltimore game (first image), and then on to Wayne Gretzky's bar (second image) to watch the Leafs v Ottawa game.


Both Toronto teams lost, though the Jays were slammed and the Leafs took the game into double overtime. I'm more upset about the Leafs result ...

Further discussions about this and other stuff at the blog messageboard.

I try to entertain and amuse through this blog, but also inform and educate. Hope you appreciate that :-)

Taxes. The way we pay for the services that we enjoy. Each country collects taxes in different ways, and spends the money collected using their own priorities. Some nations prefer to spend big on defence, some big on healthcare, some on paying for the leader's new fleet of fast cars. Whichever way, the citizen pays for it all, through taxation.

Because all tax systems are different, it's not easy to tell whether a Canadian is better off than a Brit for example, tax-wise. This is where the Tax Freedom Day (TFD) idea comes into it's own. There's a decent write up about it here. This year, the TFD was/will be:

• Canada : 27th June
• UK : 30th May
• USA : 11th April

This doesn't look too good for Canada, does it? It means that for almost the first half of the year, Canadians are working for the government, and the rest for their own pockets. If this goes past 01st July it will be a bad sign, not only because it marks half a year, but also because 01st July is Canada Day.

Taxes come in many forms, but mostly they are levied when money changes hands. You get paid, there's a tax. You pay someone for goods/services, there's a tax. Income tax and sales tax seem to be at similar levels as in the UK, but I cannot see how there's an extra month before TFD for Canadians. Ah well.

There are rumblings of an extra tax in Ontario on fast food costing less than $4. This would add about 10c to a cup of coffee at Tim Hortons! No way!!

Further discussion in the message board.

It decided to snow last night. Just a little, as it's all white now, but when the sun hits the landscape it'll melt pretty quickly and by afternoon I doubt you'd be able to tell. Just reminding us we're in Canada I guess!

I think the message board for this blog is finally ready to roll. I've added a link on the right hand side. If you have a spare moment, feel free to click it, read the "How to use this board" paragraph, and then click Register to sign up. You'll get an email - and there'll be an internet link to click in that email. Clicking the link will complete the registration process and you'll be able to post messages and leave feedback, join discussions etc. If you don't want to register, you can still click the Messageboard link on this page and read the public messages left by other people. Enjoy! (And if you expereince difficulty, please let me know so I can fix it PDQ!)

Here's an image I made for B3ta last year ...


It's the Starfish Enterprise

9 weeks ago, the removal company took our stuff out of our home in England.
9 weeks from now, the removal company will deliver them to our new home in Canada.

In many ways, it feels we've been here forever and the UK was but a dream. It's not the easiest of things, to move across the world, and your life is put on hold until you find your own corner again, gaining control of as much of your existence as you had before. At times, it's fun and amazing. At other times, it's hard going and can test your limits.

It's one of the best things I have ever done, yet without doubt it's the hardest thing I have ever done. And I could not have done this without the unfailing support of my wonderful wife, Deb. Those of you who know her will recognise the qualities of warmth, friendliness and compassion, but a husband sees a lot more. It makes me realise that without her, I'd be half the man I am, and that everything she does I am truly thankful for. She's worked her ass off for us.

So this is for you, Deb, the best thing that ever happened to me.

I am not Canadian, but ...

• I dismiss all beers under 6% as "for children and the elderly."
  
• I know that the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) don't always look like that.
  
• I know the French equivalents of "free", "prize" and "no sugar added", thanks to my extensive education in bilingual cereal packaging.
  
• I know more than 3 guys named Gordon.
  
• I can eat more than one maple sugar candy without feeling nauseous.
  
• I know that a "Premier" isn't a baby born a few months early.
  
• I think -10 C is mild weather.
  
• I know the ingredients for poutine.
  
• I carry empty beer cans from my camping trips home with me in my backpack so I can recycle them when I reach civilization.
  
• I recognize: CPP, RSP, and CCM.
  
• I die a little inside if I can't get my Tim's double-double every morning.
  
• I know the difference between real snow and "television" snow -- the white stuff that passes for snow on tv and in films. I scream, "For Christsake! That should be sticking to their pants!" and "Lookit, it's not melting! That's *so* not snow!" when watching 'Winter' scenes.
  
• Someone accidently stepped on my foot. I apologize.
  
• I stepped on someone's foot. I apologize, then apologize for making them apologize.
  
• I pity people who haven't tasted a "beavertail".
  
• I'm pretty sure I can see Alex Trebek smirking when Jeopardy contestants get the "Canada questions" wrong. Even if I wasn't sure of the answer myself, I consider myself a hundred times smarter than the idiots who always guess, "What is .. uh, Toronto?"
  
• I'm not offended by the term "HOMO MILK"
  
• I understand the phrase "Could you pass me a serviette, I just dropped my poutine, on the chesterfield."
  
• I eat chocolate bars, not candy bars.
  
• I drink Pop, not Soda.
  
• I know that a Mickey and 24's mean, "party at the camp, eh!!!"
  
• I don't care about the fuss with Cuba. It's a cheap place to go for your holidays (not vacation), with good cigars and no Americans.
  
• I know that a pike is a type of fish, not part of a highway
  
• I drive on a highway, not a freeway
  
• I have Canadian Tire money in my kitchen drawers.
  
• I know what a toque is.
  
• I know that the last letter of the English alphabet is always pronounced "Zed"
  
• My local newspaper covers the national news on 2 pages, but requires 6 pages for hockey.
  
• I know that the four seasons means: nearly winter, winter, still winter and construction.
  
• I know that when it's 25 degrees outside, it's a warm day.
  
• I know how to pronounce and spell "Saskatchewan"
  
• I perk up when I hear the theme song from "Hockey Night in Canada."
  
• "Eh?" is a very important part of my vocabulary, and is more polite than, "Huh?"
  
• I know that Canadian Tire on any Saturday is busier than the toy stores before Christmas.
  
• Driving is better in the winter because the potholes are filled in with snow.
  
• I use a red pen on non-Canadian books and fill in the missing 'u's from labor, honor, and color.
  

Thanks to Steve Palmer's blog for the list!

The landscape around Toronto is fairly flat, and in general around Lake Ontario you don't get many hills. This means that driving along the highways you can see quite a long way, much further than in hilly old England. Perhaps that's why the country feels larger (even though it certainly is). If you go west for a couple of thousand miles, you hit the Rockies, and hilly doesn't begin to describe those. Not that I've seen them other than from the window of a jet. Still, working on that one.

So here's a cartoon mentioning Toronto ...




Thought another image may break up the text.

If I get a moment, I'll start to hack the css of the blog template. If anyone knows a decent css primer, please drop me a line.

Bluejays bombed yesterday, going down 7-0 in their opening game. I'm not a huge baseball fan, but I'll watch it, which is more than can be said for basketball or American football/gridiron/carryball. [It's called "football" why, exactly? A foot touches the ball less than a dozen times a game, typically. I say, call it "carryball". Much more accurate.] I wouldn't mind seeing games at other cities, or the Jays if it's a good day out, but not really day-to-day devotion to the game. Sure I'll cheer on the Jays, but not with a season ticket :-)

Yesterday's link to "Mix 99.9" now has an mp3 you can download and listen to, but it's not the "We'll be watching you" thing, it's another Leafs song - specifically bashing the Ottawa Senators. Quite good, but I wish they'd post the Police one. Maybe I'll email them, heheh.

Toodle-pip.

Yay! Over 1000 hits on this blog. 1018 as of this morning.

Added one of my bestest friends as a blog link - Jane. She lives near Seattle, and is an ex-pat Brit like me.

The drive to work this morning was slightly different, as the clocks went forward yesterday here in North America. This meant that the sky was a little darker than usual, and we were early enough to see the full moon just above the horizon. In a clear sky, it looked really cool, right opposite the sun rising. (Well, obviously, as it was a full moon ...)

I said that I'd be a bit more colourful in my blog, so here's a photo of our car for those of you who have asked about it ...





The Leafs blanked the Sens this weekend. 6-0, which I hope will be an indication of things to come, as the Leafs face the Senators in the first round of the Stanley Cup playoffs. It would have been against Montreal (first time in 25 years) but New Jersey choked in their last game, so they don't finish top of their division. First Leafs game is on Thursday, followed by Saturday. As neither games are followed by work days, I think I may have a drink or three and maybe see if there's a bar or some place where I can experience the Toronto playoff fever. Humble & Fred on Mix99.9 FM had a great "bootleg" remix of The Police's "I'll be watching you". It was "We'll be watching you", sounded extremely close to the original, but was all about the Leafs in the playoffs this year. Very clever, very funny, and I hope it'll find it's way out as an mp3 or single release. Go Leafs!

It's a 4 day week, as I hinted at just now, which means I only get paid for 4 days this week, but on the plus side I get a long weekend. I foresee lots of chocolate for the nephews ...

Well, back to work, there's a queue of support tickets that need answering!

What a missed opportunity. I could have pulled an April Fool joke here, but didn't. Ah well.

Another minor (I hope) virus outbreak, which has us beating the damned things with large sticks. Virus writers are right up there with spammers on the "Must Kill First When The Revolution Starts" list.

Friday again - which coupled with the fact it's the weekend tomorrow (for two whole days, yay!) it also means you find me at my most bleary in the morning. So Fridays are now Tim Horton days on our drive to work. Makes things a bit more bearable, though we haven't won anything on the Roll Up The Rim promo yet. Pah.

The band tonight IS a Zep tribute, thanks to Tony for clearing that up :-) I'm sure we're doing something next weekend too, but can't remember what, but the one after that - Deb's off to the spa day I bought for her birthday last year. I may pootle around downtown TO that day.

I got my first Canadian pay-cheque today. Well, paid into my account, anyway. I think I'll go into a bank, withdraw some cash from a teller and ask for some of it in loonies. Then get them to hand over one loonie first - and that will be the first dollar I earned in Canada. It gets framed :-)

There are a few people reading this, I know - but only three of you have blogs of your own. Maybe more, but only three that I know of. If you keep an online diary, drop me a line and I'll add a link to it here. If you don't have a blog - start one of your own! It's interesting to see how friends are doing, and it's easier to let everyone know by writing a blog than it is to send out a load of emails. See, it's ergonomic.

Final word, I think I need more pictures on this blog. Tony was taking a peek yesterday and looking over his shoulder, all I could see was text text text. Didn't look appealing. So more of an effort to be picturesque.

Oh, and Christmas card lists are in tact, in case anyone was worried ...

To those who diss the Canadian hockey team, please read this note from the IIHF. Who's on top? Where's the USA? (Or GBR for that matter)

Still raining out there - which I don't mind but the rest of Canada seems to whinge about it. The mounds of snow/ice are still in the parking lots, and will need a good long dose of direct sunlight before they disappear.

Tony (guy I now work with) has been chatting about wireless LANs at home, and it just makes me miss my highspeed connection. Luckily I can read international news on the BBC site from work, so I keep up to speed with what's happening outside North America.

Tomorrow evening, Deb & I are seeing some band called "The White". I think they're a Zep tribute band, but it's a night out anyhow. Not exactly Kraftwerk, but better than Alanis Morissette. (I forgot her name, so typed "whiny canadian female singer" into Google. That worked.)

Guelph face Plymouth Whalers in the next round of the OHL playoffs. I guess the "O" doesn't really stand for Ontario, as Plymouth is in Michigan. Hmm.

Back to work - lunchtime is over, and there seems to be an outbreak of Spyware in the building, taking over IE search windows.