Happy Holidays

I wanted to go back out Sunday but unfortunately i had to wait till monday,due to the fact i had a meeting with the PNP girl.All this went well i now have in my possession all my docs plus my pnp letter to submit,hopefully this should also allow The Fresh Prince to get an open work visa as well as LadyPen so we will see if that is the case when we come back in September.Work rang me asking if i could come in straight away as they had my load already in the yard for Toronto, that makes a nice change,well it was sort of my load i had to do a change over in New Brunswick with a guy who had loaded mine for the US (he had just sent his passport off so had to stay in Canada).Give me the US anytime i much prefer running down there than over to Ontario.My delivery of Fish was just south of Boston a place called Taunton.Now i hadn't done much around this area until recently but since the fish deliveries have started it seems that its become very regular, alot of the drops are actually in the city centre so you get to see how nice Boston is, i really like it and have made a note Definately one to visit.(Just check out the picture of the advirtisement hoarding outside the Boston Red Sox Baseball Stadium, this was taken on a previous trip).Delivery completed very quickly i was asked to make my way down to New Jersey ready for loading in the next day,i headed down the i95 into Rode Island ive not been here before (its not an island so not sure where the name came from)everything was going to plan until i hit the Bronx just before the George Washington Bridge there had been an accident which resulted in massive tailbacks and due to the extreme temps (early to mid 40's) they are having on the east coast at the moment meant my little old truck was struggling to keep its temp down, eventually 2 hours later im heading south down the NJ Turnpike then realising im seriously low on fuel (my load was heavy so i ran down with just enough fuel to get me down here)i forgot all about this minor thing DIESEL, derrrrr (mainly because i fuel in either New Brunswick or down in Bangor)why is it when the needle is low we start to tap the gauge is this a magically way of fueling up,well it didnt make a difference so having a quick look at my fuel book its telling me the nearest point is about 75 miles away from where i am and 90 to where im actually going,now this was squeaky bum time.I used to always run out in the car but never done it in a truck, i can only imagine how the phone call goes to the Boss and the reply that follows,one saving grace is that ive got a reefer so if i had a tube and a jerry can i could syphon some out of that tank, unfortunately i had niether.Well here goes i haul my ass down the Turnpike then actually forgot about the junction i was taking until i went passed it, NOOOOO.I was enjoying the sun and all that goes with it, nod, nod, wink, wink (i know im a dumb ass but we can't all be perfect)i made it to Carneys point NJ on fumes and very relieved i was to see the sign welcoming me on the horizon.My reload was out of Delaware a town called Laurel just of hwy 13 i had heard a few stories about the length of time they take to load here so i was fully prepared (or so i thought).After tracking the girl down she made a load plan asked me to follow her down to the loading bay and immediately they start loading watermelons on me,i was told they were waitng for a bus load to come in to complete my load (2 pallets),they load old school buses up in the fields then palletise them in the produce market,so i decided i would get a little sleep,the next thing i knew was the motion of someone in the trailer nice one i thought the rest of my load has arrived,well no it hadn't the girl had got my load mixed up, they were unloading it all and i had to go down to a farm in Maryland where my load was.Ok things not going to plan but with directions in hand off i head down to Hebron which is a small vilage on hwy 50 west of Salisbury,now anyone who has done these loads out of farms etc will know that there not the best places to load, some very tight narrow roads and god help you if you either miss your turning or go past the place which is very easily done as signs are pretty much non existent, i went straight passed the old oak tree with a yellow ribbon on it, but luckily realised and only had to reverse back about 2 miles (Lol).But my luck was to continue as soon as i backed onto the loading bay the guy there was already bringing my stuff out, to the amazement of another driver who was parked by the side of me, he had been there nearly 36 hours and still hadnt got one pallet (i know how that feels).Loaded up i head for Canada,the load was going to Kitchener, ON for the next morning i missed my delivery time by about 4 hours but was sorted out straight away which was sound.Now on my way up im listening to the radio and i always listen to Chris moyles on Radio 1 they were stuffing themselves with loads of crap food,this inturn gave me a yearning for a Maccys so off i shot around the corner for some crap but actually quite enjoyable mush (its only once in a while so please forgive me).My reload came as im devouring my double big mac (well if your going to eat crap its got to be the big one)a load out of Cambridge back to Moncton so i made my way down there not expecting to much,well i was pretty lucky it only took them a couple of hours to load me, and im away leaving everyone else who had been there longer than me still twindling there thumbs.My delivery is for sat morning then its back to the island for me ready for the BIG Off,Yes its that time im off back to Blighty next week it feels kinda strange now, ive been wanting it to come for so long, thinking that its taking forever yet now ive started to look back i can't believe how fast my time has gone here.Ups and downs ive had many as im sure everyone is aware but the good does certainly out weigh the bad,things are going to be different when i come back,as mentioned The Fresh Prince will join me till Christmas, but not only that i will not be returning to the Sunny King, Myself The Elder Statesman and the Welsh Wizard have rented a Chalet just out of town till next may so we will finally have a home. Happy Holidays

To Dream A Great Dream

It was never my intention to come to Prince Edward Island,infact i would have to admit i hadn't even heard of the place until i started to look at other prospects of work.The island is the smallest province of Canada but probably the one thats steeped the most in history,and is commonly known as the "The Birth Place Of The Confederation".Anyone who wants to research Canadian history will find straight away how much this tiny island resting off the east coast has played a major part in how Canada is today.Having been here since December, although i frequently travel into Charlottetown i haven't really took time to take in the history of the place so today my mission was to do just that.Charlottetown is our capital city but on the scale of other capitals is relatively small, more like a big town in UK size,the lifestyle here as the rest of the Island is slow,but does attract quite a few tourist, as i said in a recent post we have cruise ships visiting throughout the summer which hepls bolster the coffers.One of our main attractions is "Province House"which is now a national historic site of Canada.In september1864 23 political leaders began the discussions that led in 1867 to the Dominion of Canada.For five days the delegates met privately debating the merits of the Canada plan,by the end of the conference all the delegates had reached an agreement of the Union.Although nothing was actuallly signed in Charlottetown, all further details were hammered out in Quebec a month later, then in London in 1866.On july 1st 1867 the Dominion of Canada was born ironically Prince Edward Island rejected the colonial plan which resulted in the island not becoming part of Canada till 1873 some 6 years later.Province House was designed by a yorkshire man Isaac Smith, there was a competion held to design this colonial building in which he won first prize.All visitors are allowed in the building for a tour (free of Charge)and a brief film,feel yourself being transported back into history to when this memorable event took place,the building is still used to this day for the seating of parliament. Outside the Province House each afternoon throughout the summer,there is an reactment of the Confederation all characters are dressed as they were in the 1800's it gives you a taste of how things were.Throughout Charlottetown you will come across Malls shops,bars and restaurants most giving you the opportunity to sample PEI's delicious seafood,as you are probably aware by now fresh Lobster is a must but around the island we have an assortment of seafood,whether you like mussels,oysters,cod,haddock you will find most are freshly caught to please your taste buds.What i have found since ive been here is how laid back it is,its definately not like the hustle and bustle of the larger citys making Charlottetown a rather pleasureable and safe place to visit.

As you walk along the streets you will find a mixture of brick and wooden building many stemming back into the relms of history it doesn't take long to realise how quaint the place is. St Dunstans Basilica is a prominent church in the city and very beautiful it is.Just on the edge on the city we have Peakes wharf, there is an abundance of gift shops etc and each day various artists will perform a concert in the Pavillion gardens(weather permitting),so take a seat and enjoy while eating some of the fantastic ice creams COWS has to offer.When you live in an area you tend to take it for granted and not appreciate the Architure and the history thats goes with it,unfortunately the weather wasn't on my side and i had to cut my trip down memory lane short.

PNP Nomination Acceptance

The PEI Pnp scheme is available to skilled workers, and what this actually means is The Province of Prince Edward nominate you for Permanent Residency,this is supposed to be a quicker way off getting your PR.Each province is different so i couldn't comment on how the others do it and what requirements are needed.
Our requirements are as follows you need to be employed on the Island for 6 months or more in a catorgory of workers they require,i decided i would save money and do this without any sort of agent then hopefully i could save myself a few $$$$$.The application is pretty straight forward its all on the goverment website including forms i needed to fill in,then i duly got work to fill in there part (they have nothing to do with the process all they are required to do is fill in the form stating im employed there etc)our manager filled this form and returned it back to me within 20 mins so its not a great deal for them.I decided to get ahead of the game and get my application in early only to recieve a phone call from the girl in the office saying id not submitted everything,this was actually a blessing as i found out,i made an appointment to see her and what a delightfull girl she is, what made it even better was i could contact her at any time (within reason i dont think midnight would be a good idea)if i had any probs.My full application was submitted on 7th july and we've recieved acceptance of the Province on to this scheme, so pleased i am and now were ready for the next part, hopefully i will be able to get in to see her either tomorrow afternoon or monday morning so she can explain the rest,the actually PR application gets submitted to Buffalo, so its the Americans who process it, why im not sure.I read that people have started this process in other provinces, but when they have left the company and started with a new one they have had to retract their application, because its bound with that particular company its not like that here as long as im employed by a company on the Island doing the same job, i could move employers if i so wanted to and it still stands,im also very interested in how long this will take doing it on our own and how much i will actually save,a friend of mine totted up how much it cost them to use an agent, for the 5 of them with goverments fee's and medicals etc the agent charged him nearly $10,000, im hoping to do it for around $3500-$4000 for 4 of us.

A Little Fishing Trip on the Gentle Island

I really wanted to stay out a couple more weeks but the job we were doing, running West finished,the customer who we haul for usually run frieght West via rail, but due to the massive rain falls they have had over that side this had become a problem hence run the frieght on the road.The miles are very good and they had you running back empty so bar the 2 hours to tip the trailer you were constantly moving resulting in my best ever month money wise.So i got back to the Island Monday afternoon, i planned to take 3 days off and try some of this relaxing stuff so many keep going on about,i did have a few things to do, sort my money out as i wanted to get some dollars changed into pounds, also replace my suitcase which got a bit damaged on the way out here.A few gym sessions were definately on order but most of all get myself to the pictures and watch Toy Story 3.We have a drive in movie place here but thought i would look like a bit of a sado stting there on my own, so i opted for the pictures i was going to ask a mate if his son wanted to come but i eventually went on my own and how pleased i was, and to rub it in back home as it hadn't come out over there yet,sorry David i had to lol.The island has become a bit touristy at the moment we had Regis and Kelly here for a couple of days drawing in over 30000 people (i think they are the Americans equivilent to Phil and Fern)thats what i was told anyway so Charlottetown was heaving, we also regularly get cruise ships coming in i think there is 43 this season,the summer has certainly brought the island to life and how exquisit it looks, i must admit when i arrived in December i didnt think i would stay long but as the months advanced ive been really taken with the place and it has found a big place in my heart.I got a phone call Thursday morning from work asking if i was available for a random drug test, so after a bit of a discussion and a phone call back an appointment was made for me for 2 pm,i thought i would do a big run first at the gym then head off to there after.Well the test consists of a urine sample and could i do one, after an hour of embarrassment still nothing, even after giving the old man a little talking to nothing.This is a big problem if i dont produce a sample its considered as a postive, i have 2 more hours till that problem arises so after my allocated water intake i pace up and down trying to work a bit out, well i managed in the end to my relief, unfortunately i then spent every 10 mins after that getting rid of the rest.My 3 days eventually eneded up into 4 which i was pleased about as the previous night while having a few buds with the Elder Statesman a little fishing trip was mentioned,so off we set to North Rustico which is about 35 mins from where we live, for an evenings fishing in the Atlantic on a small chartered boat, also with us was Arjan and his family (actually it was him who put the idea into our heads)this guy owns the motel where we live at the moment.Well my rod(Fishing Rod that is) was only out a few minutes before the first of many was on its way into the boat,(by most of us nod nod wink wink not mentioning anyone in particular who was a little shy in this department)we first fished for mackerel then when we had enough off them we went further out fishing for cod using the mackerel as bait, well it wasn't long before we started catching, unfortuantely the biggest one of the night in which was on my line came off as i was reeling it in so no pictures of that, i will leave the glory of the second biggest to a young girl on the other side of the boat,(have you never heard off fishermans tales).

The last Dance, Maybe!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

To Be brutally honest im not sure where i go from here this blog was suppose to be for me and my family/friends and was suppose to about how im getting on in my quest for a better life.Unfortuantely the thing i was adament i wasn't going to discuss has taken over and has become the for front of talk among many.I wrote 2 posts last week and recieved some comments in which were 90% accurate but 10% way off the mark, but having time to digest what really was said felt that its maybe time to become less personel with certain matters.I feel very disappointed in myself to let certain things take over my life and start to destroy the very thing im trying to achieve.We decided to do this our way and felt it was right for us, having researched long and hard this was the easiest solution,i come out first then Ladypen to follow when PR is near,i was prepared for this i thought i knew what to expect the only thing you cant plan for is your emotions as many know this has been an ongoing problem for months.Unfortunately what has happened and what maybe came to a head last week was the sheer and utter resentment of the people,the drivers and most of all Canada for keeping me away from those i want to share all this with,maybe i was looking for every excuse possible to quit and go home, bitter and twisted if thats how i came across i can assure you im definately not,the only thing damaging my life is me sometimes the self descruct button is to easy to press, and believe me there are days i dont want to be in my life either.The bigger picture sometimes looks the size of a postage stamp, the short term loss long term gain feels like empty words,i struggle to unwind, i do believe its an ongoing thing,a certain person has taken it upon himself to help me in all that and speaks with good reason has certainly helped in which im truly greatful.
It isn't the people's fault, it isn't the drivers fault, and it surely isn't Canada's fault that im in this situation,the opportunties here are massive this is why ive believe its worth fighting for, there is no way i would contenplate doing all this if it wasn't,there is no way i would of missed the most important year in my daughters life,there is no way i would let my son give up a job in which he's been in for four years to come and stay with me from september, and there is no way i would want to be away from Ladypen if we didnt think this is where we want to live.Yes its more friendlier place to live a great place to bring kids up, the children seem to have respect for others, PEI has now took a very big place in my heart, yes there are bad things here too but isn't that the same everywhere else,yes i have to back track a few times maybe i was to single minded and to quick to condem certain things and places and maybe i really was looking for the exit,the easy route home,no one said it would be easy some people have maybe fitted in straight away for others it might be all so different,i read on a forum how a dutch guy said if he had to go through the first 2 1/2 yrs again he would go back to Holland he's now been here over 6, that says it all to me and now im looking forward to future and hopefully i can look back in 6 years plus and say that this is my home because i feel it really is worth it.

ON and ON and On and ON

What a contrast in journey it is coming from Toronto to Cagary,lovely nice scenery in Ontario then as soon as you hit Manitoba BANG the most boring drive in the Whole of Canada now awaits you all the way to Calgary.The praries in which Manitoba and Saskatchewan are, are actually soul distroying,ive done this run a few times now and im only commenting on the places ive been through so if you live in these areas Provinces maybe you could stick up for them but i do know Canadians who were born here and they say they wouldn't return but each to there own.This part of the Trans Canadian in which you travel on to Calgary and the Yellowhead highway in which you travel on to Saskatoon then on to Edmonton if you like is just endless.Maybe its because where im from is on the edge of the Pennines so the rough hilly terrain is what i like, maybe thats why British Columbia,New Brunswick,NovaScotia appeal to me more than a mundane flat fields of nothing.So tomorrow i tip in Cagary then ive been informed that im running back m/t again which suits me fine we dont get paid for pick up and deliveries (the first pick up and first drop)so i'll be back in Toronto friday dinnertime all been well and who knows where im going after that.