Wednesday, November 14, 2007

Volunteering

Since I left the UK, just to help me get settled over here in BC. I volunteered to help out once a week at the Canadian Red Cross. It’s quite common over here to do voluntary work, and in many circles it’s rather expected of you at some stage. Angie helps children who are having trouble learning to read, write and do sums, and I help fix aids for the disabled and similar. If asked why I do it I can say this; it lightens my soul. Better than any religion, better than any drug (Legal or not), volunteering with an open heart gives you a sense of, well I suppose you’d call it fulfilment, satisfaction. That and I work with a happy crew. A good mob, you might say.

Last week we were out on a ‘run’ delivering and fitting stuff, but I arrived early and found myself regaling the office with a few ‘war stories’ from when I worked in a UK hospital. Strange now that the memories of that time no longer bother me as they once did. The heartbreak and frustration of losing a patient, getting told off repeatedly for honestly answering patients questions, dealing with (Often violent) drunks in casualty, calming them with a soft word or two (Much to the surprise of the coppers who brought them in). Amusing anecdotes from operating theatre. Getting told repeatedly that I was ‘gay’ (Strangely enough I’m not, never was – didn’t know I had to be).

As I was telling my tales, I had a minor internal revelation. I began to realise that the memory of all the bad things that happened no longer hurt after all these years. The voluntary work I’ve been doing has given me a sound perspective to look back on why the hospital job was a bad career move, but a useful source of knowledge (and amusing anecdotes).

Voluntary work teaches you things about yourself; what you feel comfortable with, what you like and dislike. It’s a great confidence builder. Gives you a bit more character. What a pity that ‘elf & safety’ culture in the UK is killing some sectors. Although in the UK ‘government statistics’ will disagree with this view, and we all know how reliable those are.

Over here in Canada, at least where I live, voluntary work is part of the culture. You help out because you feel more confident that in your time of need someone will come to your assistance. It’s very comforting. I like it. Can I stay please?

Tuesday, November 13, 2007

Hunkering down

So my last post was August 5th? Wow. A lot has happened since then. I've driven coast to coast with Angie and the dog, sleeping in a slightly superannuated Minivan most of the trip, getting eaten alive by the local insect population, and generally testing my marriage to near destruction in the process.

The good news is that Angie and I have now found a place, hopefully sold our old house in England, put ourselves on the immigration merry go round which is more like a rotating door than anything else. One wrong move spits you back out onto the street. Never mind, the novel proceeds well if slowly, but I'm going to have to go back to my old IT career if anyone will have me, as we're trying to regulate the hemorrhaging of our available capital.

When the house is finally disposed of we can pay off the mortgage, which will leave us with a moderate sum to build a new home with; once we have sorted out all the immigration issues that is. For the moment we're hunkering down and conserving our resources. We have rented a small place on Vancouver Island near a village called Cedar, which is nice and with terrific views. Every mornings sunrise is a treat.

All we have to do is navigate the employment maze and perhaps we can stay a little longer.