Graham Freeman's chronicles of emigration

A long time since the last entry - sorry. Things have been busy here, mostly at work, and I've not been sleeping that well either.

Update on the moving saga - we take possession in 4 weeks, and we've started to shop for appliances. I confirmed with the moving company that they'll be delivering our stuff on Monday 14th, and I took out buildings insurance. I have to check with the lawyers next week that they have everything they need to complete the transaction for us.

A couple of new names on the messageboard - hopefully the number of posts will continue to climb, there are some good discussions going on over there.

Insurance on the car starts for me this weekend, which means that I can drive at long last. We'll be picking up some errant mail and doing shopping on Saturday, getting ready for the move, while on Sunday we'll be going to Wonderland, as we didn't get there last weekend. I have a season pass, which I fully intend to make use of all summer long, mostly in the water park bit. I like water parks :)

On TV at the moment, there are lots of season finales. Frasier, Friends, ER, West Wing, Charmed, Raymond ...

Probably more that I can't bring to mind right now, too.

Other stuff on TV thesedays is war in Iraq. I didn't want to get political in this blog, but come ON. The only way the whole thing could have been more badly handled is if the British government were running things, not the Americans. A big pile of poo from start to finish, whenever that will be. That and Canadian Idol starting soon, I think I'll be watching reruns from now on.

I don't feel like posting a blog today.

Last week gas prices were sixty-something cents per litre. This week, over a dollar in places.

I'm going for a lie-down ...

It's been a busy week at work. First, lots of support tickets to actually get through, and there's an office move we had to endure as well. So my stuff is all over the place, and I'm on hold to get the local admin password for a PC that has a virus. Heaps of paperwork to plough through, because I'm a new employee, and in my spare time I have to think about how to support a new domain.

In my spare spare time, I have to check out prices for new white goods we'll need for our home in Guelph. I get discounted GE equipment, but to log into that part of the intranet I need my employee number which I don't have yet. That takes about a week from returning the offer paperwork - so that's next week sometime.

Tomorrow we're having an early Mother's Day dinner, and on Sunday (weather permitting) Deb & I are off to Wonderland, so Deb can try out the new "Air-type" ride. Monday back to work, natch, and at the end of the week I can apply for my OHIP card. Like the NHS, but with more maple.

Did you know that Toronto is as far south as central Oregon?
Toronto, ON is 43° 41' N, 79° 38' W.
Salem, OR is 44° 55' N, 123° 1' W.

Sorry about the brevity. More later, I promise.

Thank you for reading Graham Freeman's blog.
Your call has been forwarded to an automatic voice messaging system. Please choose from the following four options.
To hear about yesterday's antics press 1
To hear about last week's antics press 2
For service in French please press 3
To repeat this menu, press 0
#4
You have pressed an incorrect option
To hear about yesterday's antics press 1
To hear about last week's antics press 2
For service in French please press 3
To repeat this menu, press 0
#2
Last week's antics are not yet available.
Please select another option
#0
Thank you for reading Graham Freeman's blog.
To hear about yesterday's antics press 1
To hear about last week's antics press 2
For service in French please press 3
To repeat this menu, press 0
#1
Your call has been forwarded to an automatic voice messaging system. Please choose from the following three options.
For yesterday's antics press 1
To return the top level menu press 9
To repeat this menu press 0
#1
Yesterday's antics
Hi, I'm not in right now, but yesterday#3était tout à fait un jour. Pas beaucoup produit.#9#9#9#9En fait, il ennuyeux vraiment#9#9#9#9
<click>
Thank you for reading Graham Freeman's blog.
Your call has been forwarded to an automatic voice messaging system. Please choose from the following four options.
To hear about yesterday's antics press 1
To hear about last week's antics press 2
For service in French please press 3
To repeat this menu, press 0
#1
Your call has been forwarded to an automatic voice messaging system. Please choose from the following three options.
For yesterday's antics press 1
To return the top level menu press 9
To repeat this menu press 0
#1
Yesterday's antics
Hi, I'm not in right now, but yesterday was a quite day. Not a lot happened. In fact it was really boring. So let's talk hockey.
6 teams left in the NHL Stanley Cup, and Toronto is one of them. Maybe not after tonight, but let's hope, eh?


GO LEAFS GO!

So now I'm officially in full-time employment, the next hurdle is to move into our new home successfully. A couple of way-stops en route - getting my OHIP registration done and becoming insured to drive in Ontario. The first is just form-filling, the second is waiting for the new policy to kick in next week.

Today at work has been a succession of quick fix mini-problems, the kind that makes our stats look good. A zillion calls, all fixed in 5 minutes. Better than the half-a-dozen calls we've had open for the past two weeks waiting for third party input. Not our problem, but you still have to explain the overdue tickets to the boss.

I now have to fight with my voicemail system to get the damned thing working before I post this. I hope it works out OK. I'd hate for#3qu'il tourne mal. Pépin de toodle!<click>

Three items of major-ish news. Don’t know whether to do them all now or string them out over the next few days. We’ll see how things go as I type.

First news is just what we did on Saturday. We went downtown, pottered around the Eaton centre, had a meal at JJ Muggs (where the waiter was soooo sloooow we curtailed his tip), then went to the Tattoo in the Ricoh Coliseum. It wasn’t a bad do, and no doubt they’ll put on a much better performance next year. It was a good night out, anyway, despite having a smelly cab on the way home. I took out another credit card, so we could get 10% off the purchases made in The Bay (Deb’s cosmetics), and we posted a small package off to Jim & Sarah (clothes for their soon-to-be little ‘un).

Next up, on Sunday, we bought a new bed for delivery when we get our new house. $2,500 for somewhere to sleep, but it’s an excellent bed. Can’t wait to get back into one where I don’t hang off the edge :-) We started out at Leon’s, then went to The Brick (ugh!) and ended up at Sleep Country. We actually found the one we wanted at Leon’s, but Sleep Country has a promise to undercut any other shop by 5%, so Leon’s $1,999 became $1,900 – then add tax and extra warranty and sheets etc.

Third piece of news (looks like you’re getting it all, then) is that today marks my first day as a GE employee. The offer pack arrived on Saturday with a letter and a gazillion forms to fill out. I get health benefits after a month, and I have to work six months of probation. Pay should just about cover our outgoings when we move, but we’ll see how it all works out.

Leafs were crushed last night, 7-2. They have to win both the next two games to stay in the cup. Guelph play tonight in game 3 of their series on the back of two wins, while as I type Canada are halfway through their World Championship game against the Czech Republic (3-1 down right now).

I have some letters to post to the UK, so I will nip off right now and see you all tomorrow.