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 3rd
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 16th
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.
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