The Vancouver Chronicles

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The Vancouver Chronicles

Apparently Sprocket has signed up for the 'Neighborhood Watch" program.  (See photo below)  She dutifully is at her assigned post most days from 10 AM - 2 PM.  (Before 10 she has more important things to do naturally.)  After 2 PM is prime naptime, so of course, no spying can happen then.  But you can see her at her post 10-2.

She has spied several black squirrels, a few of the local dogs patiently walking their owners (so nice of them to give the folks a walk) and watch the recycling truck pick up every Monday.  She is busy, oh yeah.

It rained most of this weekend (Canadian Thanksgiving).  Thanksgiving is not such a big deal here.  I am used to the isles in Albertson's dedicated to cranberry sauce, pumpkin pie fixings, Mrs. Cubbins Stuffing Mix, gravy jars, sliced almonds and of course cans of green beans.  Nope nothing like that here. 

However, they do try their best to have Black Friday Sales (figure that one out, Canadian Thanksgiving is on Monday.)  Well, being good Americans and helping the economy we went to Sears and bought a bed!  Yeah!  We get delivery October 30th.  So happy.

I joined a writing group called "Just Write" basically a bunch of writers get together and well, write.  It's a great support system.  I find it's challenging to write when I'm home, all sorts of odd jobs distract me like dusting the top of the refrigerator.  Anyway, as there is always 'one' in every group, in Canada it's the wacky French Canadian!  I got to meet my first FC at a "Just Write" in trendy Killarney Park.  I will keep going to that one and I have signed up to facilitate one in my not so cool suburb of New West. 

I finally got a chance to take the bags of bubble wrap to the local dump.  The dump is in Coquitlam.  One drives up a long ramp, gets weighed, gets told which lane to follow, told which bin to dump your trash, then gets weighed and pay the difference.  So, I'm in Jeff's truck with the bed full of stuffed dark green trash bags.  The man asks me what have I got, I tell him "Bubble wrap".  "Follow lane 1"  Okay. 

As I slowly drive along lane 1 there are lots of signs, kind of like the old Burma Shave signs.  But these are telling me what not to do.  "Do Not Get Out of Your Car", "Do Not Use Your Cell Phone", “Do Not Speed".

I pull up to a gentleman obviously directing the other vans and rented Budget Trucks full of I don't know what.  Things like old recliners, mattresses, bed frames, sofas and what not.    The man comes up to my window and says "So, you're bring your California Bubble Wrap here?"   (He had to have gotten beta from the main guy back at the scales) I explained we just moved here and the recycling in New Westminster won't take bubble wrap.  We chat about what brought me here "all this way from California". 

He approves of my story and says, "Okay, bin 2" I say, "I've got a red spider wrap holding the trash in the bed I need that back."  He looks at me.  I say," Well, the sign says not to get out of the car." He smiles and says, "You take the stuff out of your truck. We just don't want you walking around the yard."  Oh!  Got it. 

So I pull up to bin 2 and get hit with the ripe smells of garbage.  Not deterred from my mission I begin playfully tossing my bubble wrap filled bags on the heaps of garbage, kicking the bags, serving the bags like a volleyball.  So fun!

Then I'm done and go back to get weighed again.  The man at the booth who first weighed the truck looked at the results and laughed, 'bubble wrap'.  "Young lady, sorry it's $10.00."  I guess there is a minimum they have to charge you for using the facilities.  Paid my $10.00 and got a compliment from the guy.  He liked my scarf.  Go figure.

 It's getting colder and darker in the evenings.  Tee-hee.  I might have to start wearing socks!

Miss you,

Brie

The Puppies Adjust

Hi,

Here are some photos I took yesterday.  

The first one I was trying to both walk the dogs and get picture of some fall color appearing in our neighborhood.  Sprocket lunged at something, maybe an errant leaf or an evil invisible troll hiding in the grass, I don't know something.  She pulled me and I got a lovely picture of her butt. 

The next one is a more successful shot of the trees.

The third shot is a section of our back porch.  Yeah, it's a porch not a deck.  As you can see it's got full access to the back yard.  BTW the bench is where Sprocket loves to spend her mornings when there is sun.  

The next shot is the back yard.  The garage/bonus room is just off frame to the right.  FYI Rook is recovering very well from her surgery.  She might be taking Pepcid AC for life as to get one's stomach stitched to your rib cage so it doesn't flip 360 degrees again can cause some heartburn.  That is the least of our worries.  She has recovered, put some weight back on and is playing in the yard.  It's all good. 

The last one is Sprocket and Mace getting ready for the evening romp on the rug runner.  The back porch is out the sliding glass door at the end of the photo. 

I will take more photos inside the house but it's not House Beautiful here yet, I mean we still live out of boxes.  There are some crucial pieces missing for us to get completely settled.   One is we have no closet in the bonus room (our bedroom), so we need to buy something, an armoire or a closet organizer kit to set up.  Second, we are still waiting for a section of Jeff's computer desk from our moving guy, Robert.  Unfortunately it's one of the critical shelves that with out it the desk doesn't go together.  You know what I mean? The shelf was trapped in the van enmeshed in other things.   We saw it, however couldn't dig it out.  Robert doesn't get paid until it's all cleared so you'd think he would be pretty committed to getting it to us.    Hopefully this week when he is back from LA.  (Another move from LA to Vancouver)

Hope you are well. 

Much love,

Keeping a Foot in Two Places

Just a few notes to catch up on the last time since I’ve connected with you all:

The floors in our house are linoleum, all covered in fine fake wood floor linoleum.  It makes for a slippery time for the dogs especially when they get excited, which is often.  After witnessing Mace splay full out and hurt his shoulder, we finally broke down and got 46’ rug runner that we could lay out from the back door to the dining room.  No sooner had I begun to roll the rug out the dogs began to play on it.  They knew it was for them.  They then began a game of chase and keep the game on top of the rug.  It was delightful to watch.

I mowed the lawn on Sunday.  In all honesty, I mowed ¾’s of it.  We bought an electric mower.  It was on sale at Canadian Tire, the Target of Canada.  I plugged in the mower to the extension cord and began my task of mowing.  I completed the back yard easily.  I began the trickier task of mowing the front yard. I quickly discovered the shortness of my extension cord.  The front yard encircles the house so my little 50’ extension cord couldn’t get to the entire yard.  Ah well, I will have to figure out how to get the 1/3 of the front yard I missed in this next week.   I’ll need an edge trimmer to help clean up those pesky weeds along the fence.  That too will be a next week expense. 

Both Jeff and I were surprised at how fast the grass grows here.  When we arrived, just three weeks ago, (seems like 3 months.) the lawns were brown from a dry summer.  I was disappointed to see the brown hills not knowing what to expect.  In just one rainy weekend and boom!  The whole place turned a beautiful green. 

Jeff started work Monday.  The dogs and I walk him down the hill to the train station.  It’s only 3 blocks away.  There is a crossing guard at the school that we pass and she holds up the stop sign for us as we cross the ‘big’ street. (This isn’t an LA big street; this is a small town big street.  You know a car every 4 minutes or so, and big trucks drive on it, come on) She crosses for the school and church that is at the corner of 8^th Ave and 22^nd St.   It’s very sweet.

Also people park around our house and walk down the hill to the train station.  Our street has no restrictions in parking.  Crazily enough someone with my exact car, same color, same make, same year, parks right across the street.  Go figure!

Got my first round of flu.  I don’t know what came first the migraine or the flue but I was in bed for three days.  Whew, hope that takes care of me for the rest of the season. 

That’s it for now.  Miss you all

Brie

Sunday October 5, 2014

One day while Jeff and I were making the trek to Costco he said, “If anyone visits us we’ve got to drive ‘em to Costco because the views are gorgeous! “  Then we both realized, any drive here is breathtaking.  Mountains, rivers, forests and the Pacific Ocean surround us.  So, whoever visits first gets that cool drive.  Ha-ha.

Good News:

We got a new renter, Martha Jeannine Dominigue and her daughter, they move in October 17^th.  You may recognize the last name.  Stephen Dominigue owns the Rajin Cajun.  We have known ‘Jeannine’ for years.   We are hoping for a connection for RC sauce.  We don’t think she knows that it is our condo she’s renting.

We are not sure of our rights in taking legal action against the renter that signed and bailed.  There is a thing called a Buyers Remorse clause that gives people 3 days to finalize any contract, but I am not certain if that includes rental agreements. 

We are still sleeping on the $40.00 Target air mattress. (A dam fine buy.)  It’s comfy and easy to keep clean just a little challenging to get up from the floor at 6 AM with my 61 year old knees.  I guess it’s more yoga everyday for flexibility so I can get up off the floor with ease. 

I’ve lived in a few cities, St Paul Minnesota, Chicago Illinois, briefly in Athens Ohio, and Los Angeles.  (Well mostly the South Bay;  Palos Verdes, Manhattan Beach, Redondo Beach, you get the idea) I’ve discovered each city has a distinct personality. 

St Paul is a community city.  I knew every one of my neighbors names, their children and grand kids, I knew what anniversary they were celebrating, if graduated from high school or college, when they got a new job or promotion.  I saw them every day either we were digging each other out from the 10-20” of snow in the alley or I was visiting the neighborhood mom’s house Jackie McEiver.  But also, if I went to the downtown library some woman would walk up to me and say, “Oh, your Jack Scott’s daughter.  I knew your grandfather quite well.”

Chicago is a city made for and by men.  I’ve got no complaint about that, it’s just a city of men, big men, men that look like Ernst Borgnine and could star in The Expendables with Sylvester Stallone.  These guys could be 20 years old but had the faces of 45 rough lived years.  Chicago is fondly called the city of big shoulders.

LA is a city dedicated to hustle. Hustle is what’s important, doesn’t matter what just hustle.   I worked for a small business referral club called Leads Club.  Many mornings I was up and on the freeway by 6 am driving to Arcadia or Calabasas or Burbank to give a presentation to a group of 20-30 business professionals about best business practices or how to successfully connect with clients.  No matter the time of morning or the number of the freeway  (the 405, 10, 134,101) traffic was always cooking.  People were busily on their way to something urgent.  It is always urgent in LA. 

I haven’t quite groked* Vancouver BC yet.  New Westminster is friendly, kind and compassionate. Except in parking lots, then a completely different beast rears it’s ugly head.   It’s crazy there.  Downtown is like many downtowns; people with a lot of self-importance wearing black and walking to something in a determined clear-headed way which only singles out the new in town as they do not know exactly where they are or how to get where they are going.  Consequently they hold maps and study the sky train grid.   But mostly it’s beautiful views and clean air. 

Anyway, Happy Sunday.

Miss you all,

Brie

*Grok /ˈɡrɒk/ is a word coined by Robert A. Heinlein for his 1961 science-fiction novel, Stranger in a Strange Land, where it is defined as follows:

Grok means to understand so thoroughly that the observer becomes a part of the observed—to merge, blend, intermarry, lose identity in group experience. It means almost everything that we mean by religion, philosophy, and science—and it means as little to us (because of our Earthling assumptions) as color means to a blind man.

Moving In and MOving On

Day 12:  Of Screen Doors and Banana Bread

The day started out slightly wet and dizzily.  Still happy to be away from the hot summer in LA, I’m content wearing my hoodie.  We went to our bank branch in New Westminster, a sweet 10-minute drive to uptown.  We parked across the street nod at the one homeless person and go in the bank.  Next we get in line for a teller.  A line?  It was almost strange to experience a line (queue) in New Westminster.  But we braved the situation and stood firm, waiting a good 5 minutes to get served. 

We deposited the cash we got yesterday from our trip to Blaine and did the dance of this money goes to this account and that money goes to that account.  Our Teller, Leticia, was very helpful and made sure we were served completely.  It was a wonderful experience. 

Then back to Lowe’s to repair the screen door that Mace broke.  Two days ago, he raced through the screen door to bark at something passing along our fence and completely bent the frame.  On his behalf, he is accustomed to a dog door that gave him easy access to the deck on our Condo.  But the screen door won and Mace bounced off it shaken but not hurt.  He is 90 lbs. of muscle and energy, but the door won.

Lowes has replacement frames so we decided to replace both the main house and bonus room screens, as both were rusty and difficult to operate. While at Lowes just down the street and across the bridge we get a fantastic employee to help us find what we needed.  We also found a metal screen protector for both doors. One: to help the dogs ‘see’ that the door is closed and two: to protect the screen from tears from excitable dog paws. 

Back home and doh!  Our doors are 2 different sizes.  The bonus room is 36 x 78; the house door is 30 x 78.  We bought two 36 x 78 doors.  Ah, measure twice cut once.  Or in our case, actually measure at all! Well, we replaced the bonus room successfully and chose to return the too big screen on Saturday.

Then I needed to go back to the bank and pay our gas bill.  The Gas Company does not accept any of the methods of payment I currently have.   Our checks from our checking account won’t arrive for another 10 working days.  That is not acceptable to the Gas Company.  Back we go to RBC in New West to do the paperwork for the bank to make the transfer of funds for the $463.01 bill. 

Nice, huh?  We have to pay a $450.00 security deposit, as we have no credit in Canada.  Yeah, this whole no credit in Canada is wearing thin.  At some point I’ll go through all the trouble we are having getting a credit card here.  Why get a credit card?  Well it’s the old you’re stuck in a box and there are no openings or cracks and the instructions to get out of the box are written on the outside routine.  AKA: You can’t get there from here.

Yeah, we just might decide to build credit the old fashioned way by paying our bills on time for a year and then they just might allow us a credit card. (BTW we always pay our bills on time.)

Anyway the weather cleared up and the sun poked out from the clouds and Jeff got busy working on securing the gate and taking steps to organize his garage.  I made banana bread and unpacked more boxes.

With the banana bread done and still slightly warm I packed up a few loaves and knocked on a few doors to say hello, introduce myself and give bread.  I met the older couple across the street in the Pepto Bismal pink house with the huge satellite dish in the back yard.  Elaine and Ed, a cute couple on their second marriage with 16 children and 25 grandchildren between them.  They were sweet and had seen me walking the dogs. They would have told me their entire life story but I begged off saying I needed to deliver more bread.

Then to the folks that we woke up last Saturday at 9AM with Robert’s moving van.  Ricky, Sean and Siam greeted me at the door and knew all about us, that I was a Massage Therapist, that Jeff worked in the movie business and that we just arrived from LA.  Wow, news travels fast here. 

As Jeff and I ate dinner I said we need a day off from moving.  We look pretty worn out.  Sunday is the day of peace and quiet.

Much love,

Brie

Day 14 a day off from dealing with bureaucracy. 

There is a price one pays emotionally in a big move/change.  It sneaks up on you and bang!  You are in the middle of a rage fest/crying jag/uncontrollable laughing fit.  As yet I have not experienced the laughing or the crying but the rage, ah, yes.  Bingo!

It’s not pretty.  All I can do is catch myself early enough to intervene and breathe.  I take deep breaths a lot these days.  I have been looking up yoga classes trying to find one in the New West area so I can give myself the gift of class.  Soon, I tell myself, soon.

Sprocket loves the backyard.  All the dogs do but Sprocket seems to take on a new dimension of running and racing in circles back there.  It is a pleasure to see her have so much fun.  That helps with the rage thing.  The dogs have helped in granting us humans compassion and understanding.  They are such a gift.

One of Jeff’s friends from Rhythm & Hues, Adam Ballantine, came over for dinner.  He relocated here year and a half ago and seems comfortable with the ins and outs of living in Vancouver.  We asked way too many questions.  He was gracious and answered as best he could.  Of course we plowed him with beer and lasagna as a bribe.  It was great to have a friend from ‘back home’ in our house.  BTW our back porch is fantastic.  It is a great space for conversations.

That’s all for today. 

Much love,

Brie

Day 15:  The DMV of Canada.

It’s remarkable that the DMV in Canada is similar to the DMV in California and if memory serves me the DMV in Minnesota. 

The differences in the Canadian DMV is the office we went to was:

 1. It was located in a mall and 2. The counter workers were very friendly and kind. 

But much of it had that familiar smell.  Like long lines, odd parts of humanity hanging around, the numbering system as in take a number please and wait to be called.  Complete with the red lighted blinking sign and the loud ‘DING’ calling out: A4301, G7931, K2205, Yes all that was the same. 

Once we got to the counter I was the lucky one.  My CA driver’s license had been renewed over 2 years ago therefore I was accepted and went through the process to convert (give up) my CA driver’s license to a Canadian license.  I had a lovely chat with the counter worker (Judy) as we went through some of the differences of Canadian driving laws, my eye test and took my photo for the license.  Meh.

Jeff wasn’t so lucky.  He renewed his California license this last January

(01-10-14) and did not meet the requirement of holding a current drivers license for more than 2 years.  (I know, right?)  He will need to contact the California DMV (I know, right?) for a copy of his driving record send either by fax to the Canadian DMV or sealed envelope to us and we unseal it in front of a worker at the Canadian DMV.  (I know, right?)  OMG.

That was the straw that broke poor Jeff’s spirit.  After a trip to Costco to replace the printer we ‘lost’ during the move we set up our PS3 and television finally and watched Anthony Hopkins and Helen Mirren in “Hitchcock”.  It is a fabulous, wonderful movie about Alfred Hitchcock and the 1960 filming of “Psycho”.  Full of the spirit and humor that Hitch was famous for.  Anthony Hopkins was amazing as Hitchcock.  I highly recommend it!

Thank you for reading this, it means a lot to me to be able to connect with you!

Much love,

Brie

Day 16: We got a renter in our Condo & Downtown in the Rain

Great news, we got a renter in our condo, a Mrs. Alexandra and her two daughters.  She wanted to rent our condo so much she wrote us a personal letter letting us know a little bit about herself and why she felt so strongly about living in our place.

Jeff and I breathed a big sigh of relief. 

BTW our team, Hunter Mason Reality, have been fabulous.  They have helped us through each step.

We signed the rental agreement and off we go!

Next back downtown on the sky train to sign the final documents with our bank to get a credit card so we can build our Canadian credit.  I’m suspicious that Americans before us have been rather shady in dealing with Canadian Banks, hence the hoops we must jump through to build our credit in Canada.  Once again I smile at the remarkable resemblance of RBC downtown has to Gringot’s Bank from Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone. 

We meandered around downtown and Gastown in the misty rain and strolled into a Brew Store.  It was a tiny shop with odd assorted bottles of beer, wine and spirits.  We had a lovely talk with the clerk and he was very helpful guiding Jeff to a selection of micro brews.  He got a Hound of the Barkersville brew and a Hoyne Wolf Vine.  We sampled the Barkersville last night and both were pleasantly surprised.  

Back home to pick up Jeff’s truck from it’s inspection so it can get license plates from BC.  There were a few hiccups.  The truck does not have day running lights (a requirement to drive on Canadian roads) so that kit needed to be installed and a question about the passenger side door lock.  But after rechecking the guidelines and a cool $400.00 later the truck passed.  My car will be inspected today.  Wish me luck!

And yes, car insurance is unbelievably high here.  With my good driving record and our multi vehicle plan through State Farm to insure my car and me was $1100.00 per year.  Here it will be $2000.00 and that is with the 40% discount as we go through all the inspections and get our drivers license from BC.  Expensive to live here?  Yeah I’d say so.

Much love,

Brie

Movie the Second Part

 

Day Eight Monday:  Wow, the Internet!

Jeff and I are still amazed that we talk to real people when we call for customer service.  We called around 10 AM to Shaw Cable Service and asked about the different service plans they had, chose one and was told that the man might come later today if he was in the area, if not for sure first thing Tuesday.  Okay, great.

Off we went to start our day of errands to the bank and into uptown New Westminster.  There is a teachers strike going on here and all the schools are closed and have been for two weeks.  As we drove past one big high school teachers were out sitting in lawn chairs with signs.  We waved they thanked us. Americans in a Californian plated car, not much we can do but wave.

We got into uptown and found an IHOP and had lunch then to the bank for more questions and to make a deposit. The teller was really wonderful actually they all were as we asked several international questions and our teller had to ask her manager.  So far the reputation of how polite and gracious Canadians are has held true.

We found a Vet recommended to us by our neighbor.  Marne and Mark used to live in the house we live in now.  They had an old Golden Retriever who passed away in August.  Very sad for her but she did know the best Vets in the area.  So, we stopped by and made an appointment for Rook to get her stiches out from her surgery.  I told the receptionist I like to bring in all my dogs so they can have a good experience of being at the Vet.  I want them to know that not every time will they get pinched, poked and had their temperature taken.  So September 3^rd we all go in.

We got back to our house around 2:30 PM and I was thinking, “Well, we won’t see the cable guy today. It’s getting on in the afternoon.”  But just as we got in the man showed up at our door and in less than 15 minutes we were hooked up!

Now we don’t have to go to MacDonald’s to get connected.  Wow, these new modern gadgets.  

We did make one Skype call to Barbara and Hugh to show them our house and let them know we made it safely.  If any of you have a Skype account lets hook up.  Mine is:  briester510.

Today is Tuesday, we take the Sky Train downtown for more banking business and maybe to take in a movie. 

Much love,

Brie

Day nine:  The Bank and SIN numbers and Canadian Tire and a new lawn mower

It was another day that started out in chaos only to end up with ease and accomplishment.  Apparently, we made an appointment with our bank back in August for September 16^th at 2 PM.  (Go figure.)  The only thing that stirred our brains was the reminder call we received.  We did manage to connect with Christine Wong, our bank specialist, and she reminded us that this appointment was to go over our credit card application.  We needed to bring the signed copy of the contract between Jeff and Scanline.  We had a copy but it wasn’t signed, as Jeff hasn’t started work yet.  So, we called Scanline and got Adam, the HR person, and he said no problem come on in and we can complete that part of your paperwork so your first day in October is easier.

We didn’t have to find the printer and hook it up so we could print out the unsigned pdf Jeff had on his laptop.  (Thank goodness he backs up both his desktop and his laptop.) Okay, one less thing to freak out about. 

After all that panic we settled down and got ourselves on the sky train (a short three block trip down the hill from our front door) and in 25 minutes we were in downtown Vancouver.  A brisk 8-minute walk and we were at Scanlines front door to meet with Adam and get the paperwork.  Adam happens to mention, “Oh, while you are in the area, you can get your SIN card at Canadian Social Services as they are just across the street from RBC (Royal Canadian Bank).”  He gives us a map of the streets and as it’s noon we head on towards the Canadian Social Services.  At this point I’m thinking we are so naive, it’s noon, okay we can get a bite to eat before we get in line, but can we really get our SIN card and documents in less than 2 hours and make it to our bank appointment?  Not in LA you can’t.  But okay we’ll give it a go.

We grab a slice of pizza for breakfast/lunch and head on down the hill to the Canadian Social Services building.  An old security guard asking us if we need assistance politely greeted us.  He gently points us to the door we need to enter and down the marble staircase we trot.  By this time it is 12:30.  The lobby is not filled but not empty.  We get in the first line and give our names as most people are here for SIN numbers.  We answer the questions:  Yes we have work permits and passports.  Okay, just sit over there and we will call you, it is lunch it may take about 30 minutes or less.   The promise of ‘or less’ is repeated to each person who gets in line behind us.  We sit.

It’s a lovely old marble building that is going through some renovations; a railing being repaired here a staircase being revamped there.  In 30 minutes are our names are called and in less than 20 minutes we are set up with the Canadian Social Services.  We are told that it is not health care, that will fold in after we have worked here 90 days, but to get a job and to file our taxes we need a SIN number. 

Back up the stairs we go to cross the street and our bank is right there!  In we walk to a bank that looks exactly like Gringots from Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone.   Like this:

Our bank specialists greets us and we proceed to go through the finer things about banking in Canada and how to make international transfers, how to build a positive credit history in Canada.  I guess they needed to be sure we were who we said we were, there was much checking of passports, work permits, what cars we owned, our condo’s address and on and on.  But many of our concerns and questions were addressed and we left slightly more clear-headed than we entered.  A good thing but not common in speaking with banks about money.

Back home we went and to Canadian Tire (a kind of OSH Hardware of Canada) and got a lawn mower, fire extinguisher, tub matts, shelf liners, replacement lamps as several of ours didn’t come off the moving van in workable conditions.  Way too much money was spent but we are beginning to feel like we live here.  The dogs have adjusted faster than we have.  J  It helps that they do not have to deal with banks.

Tomorrow we take Rook to the new Vet to get her stitches out.  I will let you know how it goes!

Much love,

Brie

Days 10 & 11:  Introduction of Mace, Rook & Sprocket to the new Veterinarian and Back to USA.

Wednesday started out cold and a little misty.  It wasn’t declared rain, just partly cloudy.  However, given that we’ve been in the heat wave in LA for so long the break in the sunshine to misting/partly cloudy was a welcome relief.

It is wonderful to wake up to raindrops lightly tapping on the roof.  The air is slightly cooler and grey clouds hide the sun.  Yes, rolling out of our air mattress is slow on such mornings.

We introduced ourselves and our three kids to the Veterinarian.   We explained needed Rook to get her stitches out.  She was a trooper and only got a little nervous for the last few stiches that got slightly dissolved and needed tugging to be removed.   The Vet was very impressed by all three and their good behavior while Rook was checked over. 

Then we checked the microchips.  Mace had Avid an international company.  But Rook and Sprocket had Home Again, a USA company.  Any company outside of the US won’t find the US chips.  So we had to re microchip the girls.  We asked the Dr. to check Mace.   He couldn’t find his.  So, we had him redone as well.  Now an international company covers all three.  If they get lost or jump the fence they have the chips in their necks and can be returned to us.  Our next task with them is to get licenses with the city of New Westminster. 

When we weighed each dog we were surprised to find each had lost around 5 pounds.  I knew they weren’t eating as much as they had at home, but I never figured they were losing that much weight.  For dogs 5 pounds is a lot!  Now it makes better sense to me that they have been doing all they can to steal treats. 

We made it back home unpacked more boxes and are making a significant mountain of trash in our driveway.  We will have to load up the truck and take it to the dump in the next day or two or risk getting dirty looks from our neighbors. 

Jeff has recently gotten into board games, he has been watching a show on YouTube called “Table Top” hosted by Wil Wheaton: AKA Wesley Crusher on “Star Trek: The Next Generation”.  It’s fun watching people play board games and you learn how to play the game faster without reading the horrible instructions they pack with the game.   Have you ever read those?

Jeff got several games before we left Redondo and our nights are filled with playing a game rather than anything else.  We started a game called Eldritch Horror.  It’s a cooperative game, which means you play against the board not each other.  You have to work together to win the game.  To call it a detailed game is to put it mildly.  Go on YouTube and check it out and you will get a taste of what I mean.   We accomplished one third of the game and had stop as it was after 11 PM.   More accurately I had to stop.  I was falling asleep in my chair.  We decided to pick it up where we left off the next night.

The Move LA to Vancouver!

Our relocation trip: Day One or “How to Change a Californian to a Cali-nadian.

Much to our delight, we were loaded up and in our cars by 5:09 AM September 9^th.  To accomplish this goal meant a 3:45 AM wake up call.  I didn’t need an alarm as I was wide-awake at 2:30 AM and could not fall back to sleep.  I tried my ole, “I’ll just meditate and fall back asleep”.  It’s worked every time before. But not today, pal.  L

Anyway, we got the truck sorted and packed and had our last walk through of 2407 Carnegie Lane #2 as homeowners.  Jeff thanked it for being such a great place to live.  We both thanked it for being a place for friends to gather and laugh, share stories, share children, dogs and family and companionship.  It was a wonderful place because you (yes, you) were with us. 

It isn’t the place that’s great it becomes great with friends and family making memories of laughter and love.  You made our Carnegie Lane place great.  Thank you for being a part of our growth and development. 

But back to our drive, we were on the 405 by 5:15 AM and it was busy, not bumper-to-bumper but moving at a clipped pace.  The business of the 405 at 5 AM validated our choice to get going early.  The moon was beautiful, and had a kind of luminescent glow that morning.  Our first stop was just past the Grapevine.  Gas was a pricy $5.19 per gallon!  Luckily our family gave us gas cards so the pinch wasn’t too horrible. 

The dogs did very well their first day.  After the third rest stop they realized this would be the game of the day, drive in the car with Mom, stop, get out, pee on new bushes, see Dad then back in the car for another go.  It all became fun for them.  (I love that)

Our plan is to get back on the freeway by 6 AM Wednesday and drive to Tacoma.  A long day but if all goes well, we will be in our New Westminster house Thursday!

We are resting peacefully in Williams CA in a Ramada Inn, having just had Straw Hat Pizza.  Life is good. I’ll keep you posted. 

Much love, Brie

Day Two:  Or how to survive strange places with strange customs

What strange custom you might ask?  How about do the states of Oregon and/or Washington allow right turn on red?  What is the speed limit in Oregon?  (Do Oregonians even care?)  Do you know the difference between St. Helen’s OR and St. Helen’s WA?

Again, our day started early, up by 5:00AM and on the road with full tanks of gas by 7 AM.  The morning drive was easy, no traffic on our two-lane Hwy 5, with a few truckers and assorted cars moving along with us.  The drought is overwhelming with dead and dying trees and fields. It wasn’t until we drove into Oregon that we saw green trees and grass. 

Oregon is filled with sparkling rivers and twisting roads through breathtaking canyons. A welcome sight after the greys and yellows of drought filled Central California.  We both enjoyed traveling through Oregon and wished we had the time to stop to get a photo or two.  But not this trip, we are still on a tight timeline. Blaine, Washington and our appointment with border crossing awaits. 

After wonderful uninterrupted hours of driving freely, we got snagged into a classic traffic jam in Portland.  Again, being in a strange place with strange customs we didn’t know that some left lanes disappear into carpool lanes from 3-6 PM and then magically revert back to regular lanes after 6 PM.  Or that some left lanes shoot off into other highways to parts unknown.   Nor did we know that there is a 405 Freeway in Portland?  And there is a St. Helen’s Oregon and St. Helen’s Washington? 

For all of you Mace, Rook and Sprocket fans, they are doing very well. However, when I take them for walks I sometimes wonder if they are sniffing around for the old homestead.

Well, this is all I can write and focus my eyeballs on.  Big day tomorrow!

Much love, Brie

Day Three:  Just how much patience do you have?

(I wrote this after three days of little to no sleep, I’m going to leave it as confusing as it is to remind myself of how tired shows up. J)

Day three held both the majestic and the crude.  And by crude, I don’t mean anything to do with the beautiful trees and snow-capped mountains. The crude was in the horribly communicated steps to take to get our cars exported and ourselves immigrated into Canada. 

The views were pristine as we drove on the I-5 toward Vancouver BC.  Mount Rainer, Hood and St. Helen’s were snow-covered.  And when we weren’t in bumper-to-bumper traffic in Seattle the drive was relatively smooth and stress free.

But we made up for it during customs while we were told to wait in one line and then told that was the wrong line, and all the while the puppies were in the sun baked car waiting for us.  All the windows were down but both Mace and Sprocket have trouble in warm spaces and tend to get overheated quickly.  (I worried about that more than I should, but what can you do?)

After more than 2 + hours we were finally approved to cross the border and then to find our new digs in New Westminster.  Neither of our cell phone GPS’s worked effectively so we were trying to get directions off the Internet using my T-Mobile cell phone as a hot spot.  We got the basics and headed into Vancouver during rush hour. Rush hour is just that in Vancouver it’s from 4:30-5:30 PM.  A normal Los Angelina would call it nothing.  We drove 35MPH the whole time.  However, considering our nerves were frayed beyond repair, it was one more straw on our poor camels back. 

We finally drove into our new driveway about 15 minutes later than we had told our landlord we would arrive.  (A faux pas in our world to be late, right?)  But got in the house and the dogs to the back yard.  Wrestling between Sprocket and Rook burned off some of the pent up energy of the day. 

Now we get to put the pieces together of our life here, figure out the best places to eat, shop, and get coffee, bank and all sorts of stuff.  J  I don’t mind that part. 

I have a few “thank you’s” Thank you to the person who gave me the 5 hour energy…it’ works.  And Thank You to the person who told me to just sip it, do not gulp the whole thing.  That worked too!

I have more but am too tired to write.  I will keep you posted of our progress.

Miss you all!

Brie

Day Four:  Finding out what works and doesn’t work in our new home

Glory halleluiah, we made it to our new home and had our first night as residents. We slept, as they say, ‘like the dead’ on our $40.00 air mattress from Target, in our new house, in our new neighborhood.  To say it’s a quiet neighborhood is an understatement.  I believe I heard a car start around 6 AM.  Go figure, if a car started at the Carnegie condo I never heard it.  It was a busy neighborhood to say the least.  Even as I sit and write this on my porch in the middle of the day the surrounding noise is minimal.

The night was cold for us, which was a new sensation from the hot box of our bedroom in Carnegie and the last few days of 90+-degree weather driving through central California. As all our fluffy blankets and comforters are still packed in boxes and on the moving van, we were left with the dog blankets.    The dogs made several attempts to get on the air mattress with us cause that’s where their blankets were!   Sprocket took the opportunity at 2 AM when Jeff got up to use the facilities and curled up with me and would not leave.  I finally realized that the dogs were cold as well when Mace tried to snuggle in with us.  I nestled down with them as best I could to spread some body heat.

We discovered several light switches that do nothing and a few switches oddly located to turn on lights at opposite ends of the room.  J Ah, the character flaws of old houses.

We just may have to use the bonus room as our bedroom.   The house is similar in square footage as the Carnegie condo, but broken up in smaller sections.  We have one day to figure out what goes where before the van arrives.

Our  ‘Moving Guy Robert Johnson’, called at 8 AM waking the five of us from a deep slumber to confirm meeting him at customs to get our stuff approved for delivery the next day.  (I know, right?  Me?  Sleeping until 8 AM? Who would have thought it possible?) 

A clear sunny morning greeted me at 11 Celsius.  (Do you know what that is in Fahrenheit?  See what I’m talking about in moving to a new country?)  I let the dogs into the backyard for smelling and romping.  I warmed up the coffee I got the night before from MacD’s and sat on the deck.  Lovely.  It truly is remarkable here.   

(FYI, MacD’s is where we get free Wi-Fi to send email.  We are not hooked up to the Internet at home yet.)

We hope to get to Costco this afternoon and get cell phones and more blankets for tonight!

Anyway, miss you all.   Onward to the next phase of our adventure. 

Brie

Day Five:  Some times miracles show up as more work.

I’ve asked myself many times, ‘what do I think constitutes a miracle?’  Is it like Jed Clampet of the Beverly Hillbillies?

Come and listen to a story about a man named Jed
A poor mountaineer, barely kept his family fed,
Then one day he was shootin at some food,
And up through the ground came a bubblin crude.

Oil that is, black gold, Texas tea.

Well the first thing you know ol Jed's a millionaire,
Kinfolk said "Jed move away from there"
Said "Californy is the place you ought to be"
So they loaded up the truck and moved to Beverly.

Hills, that is. Swimmin pools, movie stars.

Really?  Is that what I think?  Like win the lotto and all problems will be solved?  A bit naive I think.

However when I check my experience of miracles, it is quiet different.  Sometimes they show up as more work, annoyances, and wrong turns on the freeway.  But that miss step is exactly what put me in the position to get the gift given an hour, week, month or even a year later. 

Many things on our moving to Canada adventure have been frustrating, upsetting, pull your hair out and cry type things only to give us the biggest miracles imaginable moments or days later.  Things like the desk clerk that turned the other way when we brought three dogs into the hotel room when they had a limit of 2 pets per room and we would have to rent a second room to follow their rules. 

A different example happened yesterday, we were in Costco checking out the cell phone carriers and plans.  We finally find one that seems to be the best for our needs and in the last moment, the carrier denies us an account.  We have no credit history in Canada, it doesn’t matter we have credit scores in the high 800’s in the USA; in Canada we are an unknown. (We could be Drug Lords for heavens sake!)

The sales guy, Dennis, went to bat for us and demanded that the cell phone company sign us up.  It was amazing to be present to someone arguing with his upper management and take a stand for us as customers.  He doesn’t know us, but he was willing to stake his reputation on us.  Wow!   He then proceeds to give us $150.00 Costco cash cards for signing up.  It’s like an instant rebate, but really that instant?

Anyway, he has been such a great help, not just at the store but two times after with data problems that we invited him over to play board games with us.  He accepted.  We agreed as soon as we get a little more settled in.   I shop at Costco about every 10 days or so we will see him regularly.  J

There is a lot more, but Saturday is get our stuff day!  Wish us unbroken stuff,

Brie

Day Six:  Funny how reuniting with your stuff makes you emotional.

Another early morning and Jeff and I were up and ready for the arrival of the moving van.  Did I mention we live in an old neighborhood?  We have traffic circles on our streets and no sidewalks that might give you a sense of how quaint (aka: old) to date our neighborhood.    So when the neighbors heard a big rig driving down their street at 9 AM Saturday morning it was a bit much for them.  I waved and nodded, gave them the “It’s just us, your new neighbors from LA” kind of smile.  Thank goodness they accepted me and went back into their houses.  J

What we did next was to keep track of the boxes and check them off the master list.  Each box, stick of furniture and assorted item (like the elliptical) was numbered with a green sticky.  We had to tell the guys which room to place them. 

OMG, like we knew?  Yeah sure the basics like kitchen or bathroom but the rest of it we still couldn’t see where things were going to work out.  I mean the ‘bedroom’ in the main house is 10x10.  The former tenants used it as a closet that’s how small it is.   

We were thinking of following their lead and using the living room as a bedroom but that seemed too weird, so we finally agreed on the bonus room as our bedroom.  It’s big and comfy, but not attached to the rest of the house.  So that’s just a little strange at this time, I’m sure in a month or two it will seem natural.  

With a three-man crew our stuff was off the van and inside our home by 1 PM.  We tipped Robert and his crew and bought them some beer and Subway sandwiches.  Kokanee Beer, a BC favorite.  Tastes like Miller, but they like it. 

You would think we’d take the opportunity to unpack.  Nope, we passed out on the couches.  The dogs followed our lead and napped on the floor.   As I fell asleep I remembered my first relocation trip in 1964.

My mother closed up her life in Minnesota, had a massive garage sale (mostly she sold our kid stuff like books toys and clothes) packed us four kids up in her Buick Electra and drove to Palos Verdes Estates to start her new life as a masters student at USC.  She was given a full scholarship so she could teach English.  (Those were the days, right?)

We arrived in Palos Verdes Estates late one night after a weeklong road trip seeing the sights of Wall Drug, the Rocky Mountains and the Grand Canyon.  We drove along Palos Verdes Drive West probably at 11 PM, and made it directly to our new rental home at 2120 Via Pacheco across the street from Palos Verdes High School.  When she walked in and saw the movers had put the dining room table by the front door and not the desk per her implicit instructions she burst into tears. 

She had given the movers a diagram of where she wanted each stick of furniture.  They had made one mistake.  It was too much for her.  “It’s all wrong,” she moaned over and over.  “Didn’t they see my drawing? The desk goes here not the table.”   She pointed it out to each of us.  Everybody’s got a breaking point and that was hers. 

At age 11 I really didn’t understand why she was so upset. I thought “Gee just move the table and desk.  What’s the big deal?”   I have more compassion now as it was probably the thing that broke her fantasy bubble of how perfect her new home would be away from the gossipy society of St. Paul, Minnesota, her ex husband and her family with which she had a love/hate relationship.  This was going to be her newfound freedom and so much hope and expectation burst in seeing that dining room table where there should have been a desk.

 It is curious how emotional we get about our things.  The memories we store in objects.  We see an old wallet of our fathers and a flash of a face or a sound from times long gone fill our senses with the sound of laugher in the old kitchen, the ripping of wrapping paper being torn from presents, or the smells of a family feast.  Emotions cascade like raindrops from joy to regret to love to sadness simply by holding a ring or a watch. 

Well, it’s late; I mean it’s like 8:45 PM!  A new day tomorrow!

Brie

Day Seven:  Ah, Sunday. 

Yes, after a long and dramatic day for Jeff we have a legitimate day of rest.  I don’t expect to see Jeff until 11 AM.

The dogs and I have walked and had breakfast and are comfortably resting in the sunny living room.  I am slowly attacking the mountain of boxes, and we still need to figure out what we want in what area.  The joys of moving.