Reasons to be cheerful - and not

Ups;

Reason 1: The voice activated switch my Tetra volunteers made worked beautifully first time. It allows the lady we made it for to call for help and also answer her phone. LifeLine are dead chuffed and so am I.

Reason 2: Angie won an award for her work at the museum, and I managed to make two new lightweight tampions for the Bastion display cannon out of resin. Because of problems with getting the right mould release material (Detergent & other mould release agents reacted with the resin) there was a lot of finishing work to do. However, good result.

Reason 3: We've been bumped up the queue for our permanent residency processing by a staggering 18 months! My jaw hit the floor, and Angie and I did a little dance of joy.

Reason 4: Bought a new fishing rod, and now have both Fresh and Salt water permits for all of BC, which should be useful for when Brothers in Law are over this summer. The girls can do their thing (Shopping), while we load up the Bronc with beer and sandwiches and go off and do ours. Yeah.

Downs

Reason 1: My current work contract has not arrived for signing which means no money until it is returned. We've been having a number of late deliveries recently, especially since all the post was re-routed via Victoria.

Reason 2: I have to find my old school and college certificates going back over the last 30 years. This is not much fun as we have to get them a.s.a.p. Also I have to pass a test in French. This is not much fun as although I can get by quite admirably in France, Quebec left me tongue tied and embarrassed at my paucity of fluency.

Reason 3: Immigration Lawyers seem to be incapable of answering a simple question in plain English and getting documents from the BCCT to support Angie's application looks like a real Everest of a task.

Reason 4: Mother in Law is here for the next few months starting Monday; and while Lily is a decent old stick she does tend to turn on the old waterworks at the first hint of trouble. All I can say is that Doctor Who would have signed her up as his 'assistant' in a picosecond as she would fall and twist her heel forcing all the men to get massacred by the nearest Dalek.

Well, the scores on the doors look about even, and I'm inclined to think that none of the reasons not to be cheerful can't be adeptly turned about to our advantage.

On the 'down' front; Reason 1 means I get three paychecks together when my contract documents are finally signed and sealed. Reason 2 means I just have to do some French revision between now and May 30th. Reason 3 is just a matter of asking the right question, and reason 4 isn't so bad as Mother in law will be living at Sister in Laws place in town.

I can always go fishing.

Brainstorming meeting over coffee this weekend for my Tetra guys to work out some solutions to a few problems that have been thrown our way. I have to write some 500 word pieces for the local press so we can get some much needed publicity. Time to get on with it.

Big month

What with one thing and another, early July 2008 has been quite intense. The best news of all is that I passed my British Columbia class five driving test first time. Written exam was Tuesday, the actual driving test this morning.

The test centre is a far cry from the miserable, dour experience of an English Driving test as I recall them. The staff smile. They chat, they banter, they celebrate your good news and commiserate with your bad.

I can understand the principle, Canadians like to be happy while they work because there's no percentage in being a sourpuss. Their business is to check your competence as a driver, not put you in a pressure cooker and send you through the whole bloody business several times because your nerves got in the way of your driving. They go out of their way to ensure you are relaxed and paying attention to the job in hand, which is driving a vehicle on the road. A big thank you to Elizabeth one of the counter clerks, Ken the examiner, and the irrepressible and very much larger than life Kat at the Nanaimo Drivers center.

In addition, the Tetra Society of North America, the disabled charity for whom I am Nanaimo's area co-ordinator undertook and completed their first project recently to help a little girl with a long term degenerative disease of her nervous system. All we did was fit some additional bannisters in her home so she could get up and downstairs more easily, but that's the way things work here. People give of themselves because they want to. I just wish we could find a few more projects for the local volunteers. There's a lot of legwork involved, and being new to Vancouver Island just drives home how personal everything is. Stuff is arranged through contacts, and to be honest, I'm struggling a little at present. However, nil desperandum and I'm putting my other talents to good use for the local Red Cross and the shortly to re-open Nanaimo museum.

The Local branch of the Canadian Red Cross has moved, and all the volunteers put their shoulders to the wheel. I helped out with a bit of computer wiring and some of the decoration, and everyone else has just pitched in and worked wonders.

As for the museum, Dave the curator handed me an ancient piece of movie technology and asked me what I could do with it. The Powers Cameragraph Model 5 was in pretty fair condition for a hundred year old hand cranked projector, so I've cleaned it up as best I can and it goes on display shortly, sponsored by the Shaw, the local cable company. Dave has intimated that he has another piece of kit he wants me to perform the 'laying on of hands', (A very useful talent for the IT support engineer as I once was) on an ancient phonograph.

I really feel like we're beginning to belong here.

Update: I got an award from my friends at the Red Cross last night! Totally bowled over, chuffed to bits and generally speaking quite pleased with myself.