Done and almost dusted

Today we have 1) sent off all the extra information that the High Commission wanted in order to finish processing the application. 2) faxed the documents to reserve our accommodation for the first 2 months we are in Vancouver. Yes, you guessed it, we went for the over budget downtown accommodation.

Now we're just waiting, totally paranoid, for the letter from the docs saying that everything is fine and they've sent the results to CHC. It'll be a load off my mind when that happens.

I've got to go to the docs tomorrow though. I've not been feeling right for weeks - uncomfortable stomach and now a pain in the area of my spleen. Hope it's nothing too serious :(

Last weekend we went to London and had a last trawl around the touristy places, although it was hot and we were tired on Friday, busy meeting internet folk on Saturday and hungover on Sunday, so we didn't get as much done as we planned. Spent a fair bit of time around Leicester Square as they had an event there, with excerpted performances from a lot of West End shows. The best we saw was the Blue Men, an experience made even better by it coinciding with the fly-past for the Queen's 80th Birthday - that was pretty cool.

The Internet folks were mostly a really nice bunch. Thank god - it would have been such a disappointment if I hadn't liked any of them in real life having spent a good part of 2 years in their company day to day! We sat outside The Trafalgar pub in Greenwich in the sun and drank too much and eventually left at midnight. I'm trying to organise a Bristol Meet now before I go off to Canada.

Off to Devon tomorrow night. We're staying with my parents in the Budleigh Salterton flat for 2 nights, then to Brixham for 1 night and spending Sunday with Graham's grandparents. That's going to be emotional as it'll probably be the last time we see them for a long time (unless they come to Ade and Ellie's wedding at the end of October and I'm able to get back for it).

Sorting out things in a Canadian style-ee

That's a bit misleading. I mean sorting out all things Canadian, not sorting those things out in a Canadian style.

My head has been full of organising things recently. We've had to get more information together to send off to the High Commission - current work contracts, proof of funds, police certificates - and sort out payment of landing fees. We've had to get more passport photos done for the medicals, which are taking place tomorrow morning. At the moment we're still waiting for a bank draft to come through to pay the fees (because of course you can't pay by credit card or by cheque, you have to pay by a banker's draft made out in Canadian $, so it takes longer and costs you more) and the police certificates which seem to be taking an age this time around.

We'll take the medicals tomorrow (full examination, eye test, teeth check (cos obviously people with bad teeth are dangerous to Canada's welfare), cough test for Graham, blood samples, urine samples and chest x-rays) and the results should be sent to CHC the next day. If there is nothing wrong with us we'll hear no further from the docs. Then we'll send off all our information that we've got, and send the police certificates later on when we get them. Then we have to sit and wait for another few weeks to few months whilst CHC do more processing, and eventually they will send us a letter saying we've been approved and should send in our passports for them to stick the visas in.

Graham applied for a career break last week and was granted it Monday. He has told them that his last day of work at Avon and Somerset will be 1st September, give or take a couple of weeks. Once I have done the medicals and I know there's nothing wrong with my health I will be in touch with my bosses to tell them that I intend to resign on that same date. It's a difficult call as looking back at people's timelines in the past there has been anything from 10 days to 4 months between the medical results being sent to CHC and them sending out passport requests.

We hope to be out in Vancouver by the beginning of September, but it could be as early as mid-August or as late as late September/early October. I'm trying to sort out accommodation for when we arrive as we'd rather not go into a hotel, but not knowing a date is making things a bit difficult! We may end up paying a month's rent for only a few day's stay, but hopefully that won't happen.

At the moment I am torn between 2 currently available accommodations and still looking for more options at the same time. The first place is under budget - $950 a month incl. utilities (apart from phone) and high speed internet access - and is located in West Point Grey which is the most desirable neighbourhood because it is close to great beaches and pacific spirit park which is a huge expanse of forest. It is close to UBC, which would be great if we ended up working there, 7 mins on bus to campus and is only 5 blocks to W.10th Ave which has a fair few shops, restaurants and services. The downside is that it is about 20 mins by bus to downtown and that the apartment (700 sf, 2 bedrooms) is on the dated side and doesn't have a proper kitchen to speak of, which may just infuriate me. It has a sink, a microwave, a toaster oven (grill?), a kettle and 2 electric hobs, but no sign of any prep area. And it is only available for shorter term lets - 2-3 months.

The second place is well over budget at $1300 all inclusive (incl. local phone calls). But it is right in the heart of downtown - on Robson Street (the main shopping street in downtown with loads of good restaurants also) which is right in the middle of everything, but at the back of the building so it won't be particularly noisy. If we stay there we will be able to walk just about everywhere and have the best access to transit should we need to get out of downtown for jobs. It is month-month rental so if we wanted to stay there the entire time until our apartment is built and ready to move into then we can, or if we find somewhere cheaper in the meantime then we could move after 2 or 3 months. The place is also 700 sf, no second bedroom but a sofa bed in the living room, looks fairly modern and comfortable, has a roof deck the floor below, and has a huge kitchen!

So, do we pay $950 a month for an apartment that doesn't quite meet my criteria, but lies in a desirable neighbourhood - quiet, safe, and close to beautiful beaches and parks OR do we pay out more and live in the hectic bustle of downtown but with everything we need literally on our doorstep (west end, stanley park and the seawall are just a few blocks away and sunset beach/english bay are 10-12 blocks away). Both are very tempting. Seeing as when our apartment is going to be built we will be living downtown, should we spend the first few months of our time in Vancouver sampling the delights of a different neighbourhood, a different sort of lifestyle? Or should we live downtown/west end since that is what we have always wanted and see if we really like it, so if we find we don't we can sell our apartment when it is ready instead of moving into it?

I was checking the UBC job listings the other day and found perfect jobs for both me and Graham. There was no point applying for the library assistant job because that will be gone in a flash, but the one for Graham was a repost so they obviously have had trouble finding the ideal candidate, and I notice it was posted again in this week's listings. Graham has applied for it saying that he is landing in September, and is happy to come to Vancouver for an interview before then if they want. I don't expect he'll hear anything about this particular job, but hopefully they will take notice of him and at least put his resume on file for future positions.

There is a lady on the Brits2Vancouver website who has recently passed her Master in Library Science and has just started her first professional librarian post at UBC. I'm going to get in contact with her nearer the time to get some advise about applying for library assistant posts at UBC - the one I saw the other day was exactly the same as what I do now, so hopefully I should be able to get somewhere with that!

Granddad

Well it has finally happened – my Granddad passed away last Thursday, 1st June – the night before my Gran’s birthday and 6 days before their 65th wedding anniversary.

He was a fantastic guy and I couldn’t have wished for a better Granddad – he was always my favourite. But I’m not sad that he is gone, in fact I’m happy that he has at last found release from the prison of his own mind and body. He had suffered from dementia, originally caused by arterial sclerosis, for the past 15 years or so. For the last 10 of those he had been living in a nursing home, for the past 7 he hadn’t known who I am and in recent years he didn’t know who anybody was, he became unable to speak words, do anything for himself and eventually became quite frail physically. He didn’t deserve any of it. If he had known how he was going to live the last years of his life I think he would have been mortified – he was such a strong, kind, intelligent, loving man.

I feel a bit mean not being sad at his passing, especially since my Mum and brother are taking it so badly. But there was a time, many years ago when I knew that Granddad no longer knew me and things could never be the same, when I grieved for him. Big, sobbing, painful grieving. After that I visited less and less, and accepted my loss of him, and moved on.

My Mum and Gran also grieved for him whilst he was still alive, but it’s different for them because they continued to visit him once, twice sometimes three times a week so they had no way of moving on – he was still very much alive to them, and he was still him, just a different sort of him. In the weeks before his death he even had a slight recovery of speech, started speaking proper words, held my Mum’s hand when she visited…so of course it is harder for her to accept that he’s finally, properly, gone. My Gran is feeling sad but relieved right now, but her life is going to change so much now, probably in ways she isn’t expecting. After 10-15 years of routine there is now emptiness – she is right to be keeping herself as busy as possible at this time.

As for my brother – I haven’t seen him this upset in a long while, but he’s never been able to deal with illness and death very well. Granddad was his favourite as well and I think he’s managed to ignore everything that’s been going on over the last 10 years, to blank it out. He didn’t grieve when I did, so he’s having to do it now. It’s unfortunate that he doesn’t have a partner at the moment to help him through it. I feel for him, I feel for my Mum and Gran, and of course when it comes to the funeral I’ll genuinely be crying with them as I remember his life and what I have missed out on for all these years and what I have now lost forever. But I am thankful for all the time I got to spend with him growing up, and I am thankful at how loved he made me feel, and I am thankful that he no longer has to suffer.

If there is a heaven I hope he’s up there right now having a blast and making up for lost time, because he damn well deserves it.