This slideshow requires JavaScript.

Setting up a bank account in new location isn’t the most fun chore, but hardly the most difficult.  One takes their money to a bank of their choosing, talks to a new accounts rep, executes a bunch of paperwork and voilà – you establish a savings and checking account.  You’re locked and ready to go, a stash of temporary checks (or cheques as spelled in Canadian English) in hand.

The Canadian TV universe is as different from the American as Jupiter is to Venus.

Cable TV is a weird hodgepodge consisting mostly of Canadian and American networks or channels interspersed with odd imports.  Even basic cable subscribers get a lot of channels thanks to timeshifting – a concept rarely seen in the United States taken to an extreme in British Columbia.  Our combined digital and basic cable package with HD tier includes stations from across Canada plus Detroit and Rochester, New York.  On top of that, we get nearly all stations, including independents and smaller networks, broadcasting out of the Seattle/Tacoma/Bellingham, Washington market.

One unanticipated hazard of job hunting in Canada is what happens when the writ is dropped.  Leads go colder than glacial ice and they stay that way for weeks.  Wise Canadian job hunters keep an eye out for the possibility of that thunderous event coming from Ottawa, the nation’s capital.

Langley could be the Fermat’s Last Theorem of municipal governance.

Remember Fermat’s Last Theorem?  Mathematician Pierre de Fermat scribbled it into a margin of the mathematics book Arimethica in 1637.  He claimed he had a proof, but opted not to include it because it wouldn’t fit into the margin.

Langley, British Columbia is a bundle of contrasts enough to merit a diagnosis of Multiple Personality Disorder.  With more personalities than Sybil, Langley, bordered on the north by the Fraser River, south by the U.S./Canada border, west by Surrey and east by Abbotsford,  is known as the “Community of Communities”.

The job ain’t over until the paperwork is finished.

- Graffiti commonly seen above rest room toilet paper dispensers

Moving into Canada from outside the country requires preparation of reams of paperwork for presentation upon arrival at the border.  Getting started in Canada heralds a fresh batch.

Carter

Until the moving truck’s scheduled arrival the following week, only a few furniture items – the very few that fit in our trailer – occupied the house.  One of those pieces was our futon sofa with its very comfortable queen-sized cushion and mattress.  It became our bed.

“Welcome to Canada.“

With that greeting came instructions to park Donovan and go inside the Canada Border Services Agency office just behind the Pacific Highway checkpoint booths for processing.

Monday morning, April 11, 2011.  Our time was now.

Paul and I were a bundle of nerves.  Neither of us enjoys dealing with often snarky immigration and customs personnel.  Today promised a double dose that filled me with dread.

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

Paul and I have an odd relationship with Spokane.

Spokane is pretty.  But on this, our second car trip to the area, finding our way around was no easier than the first.  We’re sure we could discover something interesting if only we could find our way to it.