Going to Canada eh ?

The first thing to understand is you don’t shop in a shop. If you want to buy something you go to a store or a mall and a strip mall is a row of stores. Go into a shop actually means taking your car or vehicle in for service or repair.

Not being able to do food shopping on line we are re discovering the “joys” of pushing a trolley around the super markets.

Here even comparatively small shops stay open until 8 or 9 o’clock and in Red Deer the Supermarkets are open til 11 and if you are really desperate the gas station convenience stores are 24hr. Some of these even have in store bakery facilities.

Some of the large Supermarkets have in store pharmacies and of course sell toiletries and medicines.  Conversely the Drug Stores (= Chemist shops) sell food, drink and stationery.

We find we are using debit cards more frequently than in the uk. Possibly because ATM’s charge if it is not your own bank and HSBC only has one machine in Red Deer.

It still seems funny to find that all the packaging and instructions are in French and English but apart from government buildings all signs are in English only.

Some electronics also have Spanish instructions as they are made in Mexico. With the ” domestic” market of Mexico USA and Canada to aim at many items will be cheaper than in the uk because the market  is so much larger. Products made for the UK need different a operating voltage and mains plug and so the potential market is much smaller. Hence UK prices are higher.

We are sure some will say that the main reason for us moving was so that Pete could find a new audience for his old jokes.

However many jokes don’t work over here because differences in the life style etc.

For example:

When the clocks went back one hour this guy stayed up all night trying to work out how to change the time on Ceefax. This doesnt work because they dont have teletext here. I dont know if its because most people have cable rather than broadcast television.

The man who bought a black and white dog because he thought the license would be cheaper.

This plays on the UK TV license fee for black and white  being cheaper than colour. Over here there is no TV license fee however they do still have dog licences. We have one for our cat, and as she is black is she cheaper than a colour one ?

Finally there is the man who goes to the doctor having swallowed a snooker ball and the Doctor says ” get to the end of the queue”. A play on the words cue and queue sounding the same. Doesnt work here because they dont have a queue they have a line.

This weekend the temperature has hovered on either side of zero which seems to have been the cue for workmen to step up their snow removal. Layers of compacted snow have been scraped up in the main streets of Blackfalds and dumped on the sides of roads or waste ground. Elsewhere what was once “winter wonderland” of nice pristine snow is now a mass of dirty horrible brown slush.

The warmer temperature did give Pete the chance to scrape a better path across the deck to the cars and also to remove the lump of compacted ice that had built up in the driver’s foot-well of his car.  Lin uses a hammer she keeps in the bus, to remove compacted ice on the steps and any that forms near the rear emergency door.

However the temp is now falling again and a dusting of snow blew in this afternoon, so driving could once again be “interesting” tomorrow morning. As the slush freezes to ice and is then hidden by more snow.

At The Bus company’s Christmas party Dave met Father Christmas

He also got involved in the traditional game of trying to burst open a paper monkey full of sweets. This turned out to be a Mexican tradition adopted over here.

  Dave and this weeks best friend Donovan

  Dave learning to ice skate with the aid of a frame. This was at a local open air pond where they play Abba and Neil Diamond over the PA (to drown the screams?) Pete said last time he went skating the music was hits from the 60’s (and they were current).

Back in the summer we posted a picture of this place and commented that the ski jump looked out of place with a lake below it. Now the lake is frozen as are most of the rivers, it looks just right.

This is the only surface water we have seen that is not frozen. Most of the rivers have thick layer of snow and ice and are covered in tyre tracks. One of the winter pass times is driving your ATV up and down them.

Several houses put on quite a light show for the holiday. These are two neighbours who really go to town on it. Unfortunately the night Pete remembered to take the camera one of them had parked his truck in the driveway and the best views were blocked.

The following tips may be of use to other motorists moving here.

1 When approaching the car to get in remember the driving wheel is on the left hand side of the car. Its hard to break a 35 year old habit.

2 When pulling away from having waited with the gears in neutral remember pushing the stick forwards makes the car go backwards and vice versa. This may be referred to as counter intuitive or bl**dy stupid. Other people seem to regard this as normal, but then they are used to driving on the wrong side of the road as well.

3 When topping-up the engine fluids even though the anti freeze and engine oil are both in black containers fortunately the anti freeze is bright green and you should be able to notice the difference before you put too much in the  oil filler.

4 Not closing a door properly can lead to the interior light being left on all night. This can compromise the battery’s ability to start the car in the mornings.

5 If the boot release will not open it because the lid is frozen don’t worry it will thaw out and spring open next time you go over a bump in the road.

6 If the lines marking out the car parking spaces are not visible under the snow,don’t worry, park where you like, as long as it it is reasonably in line with at least one other car in the car park. Who is to say who is right or wrong ? (NB This rule applies to trucks at any time of the year).

With no sign of Reg Varney in sight. This particular bus Lin learnt to drive in, and is newer than the one she usually drives.  It seats 72 children and has massive red and amber warning lights, which is apparently called 8-ways.  They flash when children get on or off. Passing a bus with its red lights flashing is illegal, and will result in huge penalties and demerits, if not a complete ban.  However, in Red Deer they have a bye law that prohibits the use of these lights inside the city. Apparently they are more interested in keeping the traffic flowing than protecting lives.