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Lazier day than yesterday as we were very tired today.

Went to two Staples to look for furniture, the first one didn’t have any.  We found a desks and chairs that we liked, both on sale which was great.

We picked up something in Nesters for lunch and had it back at the apartment.

This afternoon we took the bus out to Kerrisdale where we are going to live from next week.  We went into a bedding store but the guy in there seemed a little pushy which we didn’t like.  We went into a small restaurant called Arts Place, looks like a breakfast place and ice cream parlour - we just had the ice cream which was very good.  Kerrisdale certainly does seem quite upper market, nice looking stores surrounded by by large homes with big gardens.  Transport will taking some getting used to for me, no tube!  Picture of 41st Street is Kerrisdale above.

Surprisingly wasn’t suffering from jet lag this morning although did have some problems sleeping.

We had two meetings with HSBC this morning, first one was coffee with their mortgage representative - thought she would be talking a lot of business but didn’t seem to be the case.  The next one was in the branch to get our debit cards and sort a few other things out.  More of less painless.

We then went on to Service Canada to get our Social Insurance Numbers (as known as a SIN).  Even that was relatively painless, no waiting in line, and only took 5 minutes - if only things were that efficient in the US and UK.  I remember trying to get a SSN in the US which was a frightening experience in which I eventually gave up and I have heard some bad experiences in the UK getting a National Insurance Number.  In the same building as Service Canada was a food court so we had a bite of lunch there.

This afternoon we had a bit of a frustrating experience getting a mobile phone, we wanted two on a shared plan.  Went to Bell first, because we were new to Canada they wanted $400 deposit!  Seemed to be a too over the top.  Gave up on them and went to Rogers, they seemed much more helpful anyway and they wanted $50 deposit but no shared plan.  We ended up with just one phone, a Blackberry Curve 8310 for me.  The data plan seemed to be very good as was the value pack, much better than Bell.  Pleased that we went onto Rogers.

Then we went onto my comic store Elfsar, really love this store.  See picture.  On the way back from the comic store we did a bit of shopping and then back to the apartment.  We had pasta for dinner then didn’t do much for the rest of the day.  I worked on apply for jobs.

Finally…the day has come that we moved to Vancouver and I am so happy to have arrived.

Today was a very long day but looking back at it now it was all worth it.  We got up at around 7am UK time and left the hotel as early as we could - the breakfasts there were expensive so we decided to leave quickly.  After a struggle with our bags and by catching the airport bus we arrived at Terminal 5.  Actually the terminal wasn’t too bad at all and going through security was very quick and trouble free.  Inside we were so pleased to have found Amato, our favorite Italian Pattiserie in Soho, at the airport - however, they were pretty much hidden away so I don’t think business is good for there there, see picture.

Our flight was delayed because they couldn’t a vehicle to pull the plane out of the gate, sigh.  The flight was kind of ok, except for the wonky chair.  Throughout the flight I was anticipating what we might go through at Canadian immigration - I was thinking tough questions, bags being searched and so on.  When we did finally arrive there was a LONG wait however the guy who first met us was really nice and helpful, gave us a lot of resources.  After an agonizing 2.5 hours waiting around it took 5 minutes with the immigration officer to be processed, didn’t want to see any papers - none of the evidence we had spent ages on gathering.

We got a taxi to the apartment place we were staying at, the place is owned by what we think is a gay couple, really nice apartment.  We went out to Denny’s (believe it or not) for dinner and onto Market Place to get something to eat for breakfast in the morning.  We then got home and crashed….a good day!

Hooray, we will never see Barker Drive again!!!

We got up at 7am London time and started all sorts of things straight away.  We cleaned out some more stuff, our large computer table and part of our sofa bed into the trash area.  We needed our hair cuts desperately so we went into Camden to do it.  Went back home to clean our some other stuff then waited and waited for the Estate Agent to come round…didn’t look as though he was going to turn up so I phoned them, he was running late - they could have told us.  Anyway it was too late to see him as were were leaving Barker Drive for the very last time at 13:30 - good ridance Camden.

The trip was pretty easy to our hotel and we checked in without any problem.  The room turned out ok.  It was extremely expensive there though - they charged for their internet in their business center; a sandwich, two mochas and an order of fries cost us 20 pounds!  Then later in the evening we went down for dinner and cost us over 50 pounds - completely outrageous.  We did like the little message in the bathroom on how to use a toilet - one day I am bound to forget I am sure!!

In the evening we freaked out over papers and packing.

That is it, the last day at London Metropolitan University.  The day went really slow as I was keen to get home to help out Don with the cleaning of the house and packing of the bags.

On the way in to work I bought some cakes from St Pancras Station, quite a lot of cakes in fact!!  I almost broke my back getting them in.  Oh, I also almost got run down by a guy on a cycle, he went storming through a red light banging me on the arm.  He didn’t turn or look back to see if I was ok, someone else in the street asked if I was ok.

Managed to finish off a few extra bits and pieces during the day, had some extra bits and pieces to sort out, only small stuff.

This afternoon, at 3.30, they gave me quite a send off.  Three people gave speeches and they even organized a trolley full of food.  Some people gave individual presents to me which was very nice but I said that most of my collection should go to charity and I would match it.  I decided to give to the Somali Bravanese Welfare Association as my office had links with them and they look after immigrants, asylum seekers etc who are starting off in this country.  In total 312 pounds went to the charity, not bad at all.

They all walked me off the premises in true Star Trek fashion, Steve disembarks the Starship!  It was hilarious how the whole department came down to the front gate to see me off.

Don and I went into Burger King for dinner - yuk!  Couldn’t get our hair done as it was too busy.  Came home and continued going crazy cleaning etc.

As you can see from the picture I have a Spider-Man in my office, I took this home and will place it in my new office.  Hopefully I will have a job soon where I can stick it!!

Arrrggghhh!!!  I am starting to get worried that we aren’t going to get things done in time now, but we have to I guess.

Too busy to blog really but just wanted to wind down for five minutes in between packing and cleaning.    Started to be more relaxed at work today, should have been this way all along but always had a heaving work load and did long hours.  Won’t have to do that after tomorrow at least.

Everyone was being kind to me at the office today.  People in the doctors surgery was very nice too, went with Don to pick up his medical report.

Oh well, back to the old scrubbing…

Felt really queezy today, was over tired and all the emotions of leaving was catching up with me.

Someone came early this morning taking our bed and dresser, sold via Gumtree.  Very nice chap, polite too.  Its good to know that there are decent people in this country.

Our friends Shani, Michael and Jess came round to say their farewells.  We went to Strada in Camden Town for lunch.  The pizza there is very good, not that I am an expert in pizza but didn’t make me sick so that was nice.  I enjoyed playing with Shani and Michael’s daughter Jess, she has a good imagination, we played flying carpets and flew to different countries checking out food and stuff.

Our friend Ed then came round and took us to dinner at Viet-Anh in Camden.  Had one of their nice Lamb Curry’s - they must have a new chef as it tasted spicier than usual.  See picture.

Later in the evening someone, via Gumtree, came round to pick up our wardrobe.  He was a really nice guy too and evidently a famous talented photographer.  He might even let me re-design his website for him!  Wow.

Readers of this blog will know I am not a fan of bendy buses since we were in an accident with them ourselves.  So many people moan about them about being a hazzard to other drivers on the road but also to passengers traveling on them.  Certainly they keep popping up in the news and this story on ITV London Local News was scarey since they tried to cover up a bus which just caught on fire.  Not good.

This was the most emotional of days leading up to our departure.

One of the worst things about moving overseas is saying goodbye to family even though I am not saying goodbye as I will be speaking to them on the phone and over the internet very frequently.  I guess its the thought that I won’t ‘be there’ is the worst thing.

We went down by taxi to take stuff to my mother.  Went to see my father in the Care Home and he seemed to be in good form, I’m not sure he understands that we have gone to live overseas.  My brother, sister-in-law, niece and nephew came down, all of us went to a Chinese buffet - my Mother hadn’t been to one before.  They all dropped us off at the station and we headed back to Camden.

My mother was of course the most upset even having been through this before when we moved to Denver.  Progress in technology means that internet and cheap telephone calls across the Atlantic helps us keep in touch much more easily.

Another day of things coming to a close in the UK:

• Saying goodbye to some people who are leaving the office before me (seems to be a mass exodus from the University)
• The last time I will ever go to Mega City Comics (not a bad thing since the guy on the front counter was really miserable this afternoon - I was going to say “thanks for everything” but couldn’t be bothered - the lady who serves there is great but she wasn’t on today unfortunately)

Don spent a lot of time today trying to sell some of our furniture, he put some items on Gumtree last night and its proved to be quite successful.  At least one sale anyhow, they came round tonight.

Tonight we went out to Daphne’s, the same Greek restaurant we went to last week, with an ex-colleague of Don’s and his wife.  It was quite a nice meal but I think I’ve had enough of Greek food for a while.

Another major step today in our move to Vancouver and that is the removal company coming by to take our stuff away.  The company we are using is Anglo Pacific, they have been very polite and professional, and their removal people were early and did a very quick job.  I was quite impressed.  They did forget to pack an item and packed something they shouldn’t, but at least it wasn’t a major deal.  Another positive thing was the neighbors from hell were out during the move so we didn’t have any bother with them.

I was working from home today and did manage to get a few bits done so that was ok.  Some of the Carry On movies I ordered came, that is my injection of British culture while living in Vancouver.  They arrived too late for the removal company so I will take them with me on the plane, which is no problem.

Don is now cleaning round the house as I am quite allergic to the dust and been fairly ill over the past week.

Interesting facts
Canada has a land mass of 9,984,670 sq km and a population of 33,357,000 (2008 estimate)
UK has a land mass of 244,820 sq km and a population of 60,975,000 (2007 estimate)
Quite a different between land mass and population

Statistical breakdown of the day: 9 days left in UK, 6 days left at the office - yay.

Really tired going to work this morning, the dust has been effecting me and had problems breathing over the past few days.

This was my last day at the Aldgate Campus and really pleased about that as I prefer it at the other one.  Aldgate seems to be a little stressful to say the least.  Lunch time was good as two colleagues, Shauna and Mark, went to lunch with me.  Didn’t get many of my long term projects done as I had too many interruptions which is not good but well thats the way it is.

My doctors is really stressing me out.  I asked them for my medical records over 3 weeks ago to take with me to Vancouver and they still haven’t prepared them even though they phoned me 7 days ago to say the would be ready.  If they are like this with their paperwork what kind of patient care do they have??!!

This evening we were in mega-drive clearing up for tomorrow’s visit by the removal company.  That will be a big step in getting that out of the way.

This weekend was a three days long with Monday being a Bank Holiday, well needed as we had a lot to do.  Most of it was sorting out stuff to go with us to Vancouver, or not to go as the case may be, so here are the highlights.

On Sunday we went to Chinatown for what is quite possibly the last time, for me at least.  We went in Chinese Experience for Dim Sum and it was not as good as it normally is (the BBQ Pork wasn’t so fantastic) however the Shanghai Dumpings was excellent as usual.

We then got some stuff for the week ahead in the Golden Gate Cake Shop such as BBQ Pork Puffs, BBQ Pork Buns, Almond Butter Buns and more.  See picture of me outside the bakery.  I also found some Chinese Oreo’s which are fantastic, much lighter than the American ones as they are wafers.  Here is a site which discusses the differences.

On Monday I was feeling a little insecure as I hadn’t really progressed that much, or at least that is what I was feeling.  I made good progress certainly in backing things up to my computer.  Everything is triple backed up.  Nervous that something is going to go missing!!

Anyway our friend Ed came round and was very helpful particularly as he took us down the dump to get rid of some of our stuff - see the 2nd picture on this post.  That was great.  He even bought us a pizza for lunch.  We tried to go to Marine Ices, which is supposed to be great for Ice Cream, but the parking there was awful so we never made it!  They didn’t choose a good location.

Rest of the day was just sorting out our stuff.

EEEEEKKKK!  Only 12 days to go, only 6 days of those at work.  Yay.

We got a few things done this morning, the main one getting some papers witnessed by our bank.  They are quite helpful and efficient in there which is very good, they even offered to fax something to Canada for us.

The rest of the day we spent sorting stuff our for Canada.  Cleaning this, boxing that…and so on.  Dust got to my allergies so I had to keep taking breaks - sigh.

Heard today that Stargate Atlantis is being canceled [source Reuters] which is a bit of a shocker but they are coming up with a new series, starting in 2009, called Stargate Universe.  Sounds interesting.  Not really up to date with the Stargate episodes and once we get settled in Vancouver I can see us buying some DVD’s…or maybe that will be on my Christmas list!

Don watched Last Choir Standing, I wasn’t really bothered.  It was interesting to see it being filmed a couple of weeks ago but it hasn’t really made me hooked on the program.  I recorded a Carry On film this afternoon, just in case they don’t have them in Canada, at least I can have an injection of British comedy from time to time.  Watching the X-Factor in the background right now, I have no idea why as its crap, but it has Dermot O’Leary - why is he doing so much crap tv lately, he was excellent when he was younger.

It looks as though Joe Biden might be Obama’s running mate [source CNN] in the US elections according to the news this morning.  It looks as though he has a good track record with foreign relations, which is probably what Obama needs since who knows if he has any expertise in that area!!??

However how does Biden fare with LGBT issues?  Many of these seem to be answered on the “On The Issues” website and according to that he isn’t doing too badly at all.  I am a little peeved that he has never, like Obama, been a co-sponsor of UAFA - so he drops down my ladder of support quite a bit because of that. Not good.

Wednesday already…where is the week going to?

At St Pancras Station this morning I went into Pret a Manger to get my lunch since I didn’t really have time to make it after getting up.  I got myself one of their breakfast sandwiches which are ok.

I took more beannie babies into the office for another colleague who has a new nephew, I’m sure they will appreciate them greatly.

Spent a lot of time at work briefing other people on my work, best that they have the knowledge and access to my files so that the work can continue.  Still some office politics, a day doesn’t go by without them I guess.

On the way home I popped into Peyton and Byrne, hadn’t tried it before, its at St Pancras Station.  Oh my goodness, the cake there is disgusting.  It was chocolate cake, it was very dry and bitter, I couldn’t stand having it in my mouth.  Never again.

Tonight I sorted out my post redirection, did that for 6 months. Quite expensive.

Kinda struggled with this question a little apart from the first bullet point:

• Family and Friends
• Ribena - its hard to believe the range of products that this company now produces.  I remember as a kid there was only 1 choice, the one that supposed to have had 16 sugar cubes per glass.  I think this is still the case with their regular brand but I have the Really Light….which they don’t have in Canada.
• Dr Who - I never thought I would enjoy this series as I thought it was really daft before.  I guess the latest reincarnation done in an American style and written/produced by gay men helps a tad.  Have to say I can’t stand John Barrowman though but like Noel Clarke who I enjoyed a long time ago in Metrosexuality.  Dr Who is broadcast in Canada but I’m not sure how soon that happens after its broadcast on the BBC.
• Cadburys Mini Chocolate Rolls - they certainly have Cadburys in Canada but the products on offer are different to the UK and never seen the mini rolls.
• London Underground - I totally dislike everything about the tube but it does get you there, eventually, after being pushed and shoved by rude British people.
• Amato - one of our regular places to go for Italian coffee and dessert, have seen any similar places in the US or Canada
• Department Stores such as Selfridges and John Lewis, although Canada has plenty of them I don’t think they have a unique feel about them as some of the better ones in the UK
• Paul’s and Le Pain Quotidien - even though they are new to the UK, within the past year, I will miss certain things especially the quiche and brioche rolls.  Despite Vancouver not having these stores maybe we will find something similar.
• Algeria Coffee Store - this is the most unique coffee bean store I have ever seen and where ever I have been they don’t have an equivalent.
• Chinese restaurants such as Chinese Experience…actually none really come up to the standard of this restaurant, but I’m sure we’ll find some favorites in Vancouver since there is a very large Asian community.

There are a few other things but those are the main ones.

Another strike?  Yes, another tube strike pops up every now and again to surprise Londoners, everyone talks about how they are going to be inconvenienced and then they call it off at the last moment [Going Underground Blog].  They seem to call strikes too frequently and people are loosing sympathy for them, at least that is the opinion I hear.

This morning on the way in I picked up a mocha from Berlin Delicious, a new German cafe/sandwich bar round the corner to the Aldgate location where I work.  Its not a bad place at all.  The men have these almost see-through t-shirts that reveal a certain couple of things that seem to get everyone’s attention.  Their almond cookies are the best and I picked up a couple as well.

This lunch time I went over to HR to have my “exit interview“, something they do for when staff leave.  Some organizations have them, most of them don’t.  I wanted it to be as positive as possible so I gave mostly feedback in that vein.  However, I did bring up the office BS that goes on in particular from a certain group in the office, who unfortunately happen to be the bosses (or very good friends of bosses).  It doesn’t seem as though its the first time HR has heard this and whether something will be done I don’t know.

Our “neighbors from hell” had the cheek to ask us (through a note into our letter box) to keep an eye on their place while they spend a week in Southend.  Southend - yeuch!!  After all they put us through they want us to keep an eye open for them?  Sigh.  More about them in another post!

Seems totally untrue that we have only 17 days before we leave for Canada.  So much to do at work and at home I am not sure how we are going to fit it all in.

Don left his office last week so he can concentrate on getting things sorted for the removal people and do some general chores, so that is definetly helpful.  I still have to suffer another 10 days at work, it will be wonderful to get away from the office politics there…its been very unpleasant.

With having to keep a routine of a work day it seems unreal that we are leaving very soon.

Today we met up with our friend Ed to go to Soho Pride.  The event had made it to the news because Boris Johnson had withdrawn some funding for next years event, its only 10,000 GBP from what I can gather so maybe businesses will have a whip round to raise it.  There were collection boxes during the event today to raise money for next year.

Had a bit of a palava in the gay restaurant Balans.  Ed had ordered a decaf however they didn’t have any.  They sent out one of their…not so bright…waiting staff to get some, but obviously didn’t know what decaf was.  In the end Ed accepted an orange juice, but he got it for free so thats not too bad.

We like to go to the event before it gets too crowded and it seemed fairly quiet compared to most years.  Afterwards we went to Chinatown to pick up some duck and BBQ pork.

Been an interesting experience canceling all the various utilities that we pay for in the UK, some has been stressful, some has been surprisingly easy.  I share my experience below and give them a rating.

Camden Council :: Not bad, all done by online form so I didn’t have to talk to a human.  They were slow in sending out a final invoice but all done without any difficulty.  8 out of 10.

Demon Internet :: It’s actually agony dealing with this company with technical or billing issues.  Since they moved to an overseas call center they just cannot get their act together.  You only have to read the demon service newsgroup/usenet group to realise that.  However cancellation was so easy, they were courteous and quick.  The only thing they didn’t do was call me back in 48 hours, as they promised, to “discuss it” - what they wanted to say I have no idea.  8 out of 10.

British Telecom :: This was the worst to deal with.  I have tried to get through to customer service for over a week.  There would either be “we are very busy right now please continue to hold” automated message or their all answering system would take me in such a loop it was impossible to get through to the right department.  After holding on the line for 15 minutes this morning I eventually got through to a human - yes they must actually employ them.  2 out of 10.

TV Licensing :: These people are not very good either.  I canceled back in July and agreed to stop payment with them.  Then I get a snotty letter asking why I had stopped payment.  Ah…hello - what happened to our coversation back in July??  Did they not record it and completely ignore me?  Dumb.  -5 out of 10.

Scottish Power :: Their phone system was a little annoying but got through to someone within 2 minutes and he was very helpful.  Their computer system seemed a bit odd as they couldn’t give me a balance with the guy having to go away and kick the server.  8 out of 10.

Thames Water :: Not bad either.  Got through to someone almost immediately, quite helpful, no hassle.  9 out of 10.

Undoubtedly as you will see from my previous post I was extremely stressed out about today working out, our visit to the BBC to see Last Choir Standing.  This was mostly due to a blog entry someone had wrote in the Daily Telegraph, this made us wise as to what to expect during the day.

We had gone down to see my parents, my father was in good form so that was great news.  I had booked the taxi’s with Addison Lee who are a fantastic company, reliable, polite, and clean, they had turned up on time at 2pm.  Despite the traffic jams through London we arrived at the BBC at 15:20, well early.  However, people had already started standing in line and its just as well we did arrive that early to assure us getting in.  We were in the mid-60’s and they only let about 100 in.  We were lucky.  We had to stand out in the rain for about 30 minutes but that was ok, we were prepared.

We had gone through security and went into a restaurant.  It didn’t look anything like an immigration holding area as the Telegraph article suggested, however, there could have been more seating and the bar staff could have been a bit more cheerful.  The prices were surprisingly cheap.  We were called to go into the studio and made our way through the BBC maze to get there, everyone had good seats.  For our friend who was elderly and with a cane it was a bit of a tiring trek for her, the BBC is not disability friendly, but all the staff were extremely friendly and concerned, offered alternative arrangements.

We were in the studio from 5.30 thru 10.20, a long time.  We were part of them recording clips for the live performance, trailers, the actual live performance between 7pm and 8pm, and the results show for tomorrow night.  It was interesting to see how the three judges of the show be over-pampered, people to open their bottles of water for them, wipe their brow of sweat, fan them and basically all they had to do was sit in their seats and say a few lines.  We thought the warm up guy was a little bit sexist in his jokes and could have toned that down for a family orientated audience.  The BBC were a little ‘cheap’ in looking after us but they aren’t a commercially funded organization yet (well, only their World News).

We were late out of the performance and get stressed as we couldn’t find the Addison Lee person but got him on my mobile - we were waiting outside the studio’s and he managed to get inside.  He was also such a nice guy, quite chatty to my Mum and her next door neighbor.  So all in all a very good and memorable evening, my Mum and her neighbor will be talking about it for weeks to come I’m sure.

Couple of months ago I applied to get tickets for the BBC Show Last Choir Standing as I thought this would be great to take my Mother and her next door neighbor.  I was called last week to say that we got picked to be in the audience and to turn up at 4pm.  My mother and the next door neighbor is very excited about it.

Don phoned the BBC to check on the schedule of the evening and to let them know we have someone with a walking cane.  The BBC said we are not guaranteed to get in, we have to start lining up at 4pm for 90 minutes for a place we might not get.  They certainly didn’t say anything about this to me and I’m quite upset since I am paying almost 200 pounds in taxi fares to get up there and might not even get in.  Then I saw this article in the Daily Telegraph and now I am getting extremely nervous about going up there.

So, we are going ahead with going tomorrow but I’ll be really mad at them if it doesn’t work out especially as we have someone who finds it difficult to get around.  Certainly BBC’s policy of having to stand around for 90 minutes is not disability friendly at all.

Here are some recent gay immigration news items I have found interesting:

The ban to prevent those living with HIV and AIDS has been lifted, finally [source Gay Wired].  This was covered extensively by the media and is certainly a great achievement for Immigration Equality who have been campaigning to get this changed for as long as they have been around.  Go to the IE website for lots of information about these changes.

U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon has said HIV entry restrictions “fill us all with shame” during his opening address at an HIV conference in Mexico City [source AP].

Facebook is new tool for gay refugees going to Canada to prove that they are gay [source 365gay].  I guess there are things about yourself that are easy to prove but sexuality is one of the most difficult ones especially if you don’t have the opportunity to marry or have a civil partnership.

Reuters did an interesting article on gay immigration too titled Gay Marriage Until Deportation Do Us Part.

The Uniting American Families Act has reached its 100th co-sponsor in the House of Representatives on August 1st.  The lucky legislator who hit the great 100 is Lucille Roybal-Allard, Democrat (of course) of California.

In the Senate they are now up to 14 co-sponsors, the latest to sign up on July 23rd and we give thanks to Benjamin Cardin.

So, what does this mean for the taking the act forward?  Probably nothing in this the 110th congress but who knows what the next one will bring!

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