I promise to be true to myself...

Well it finally happened. What with the credit crunch, global economic downturn and current atmosphere of gloom and doom so pervasive in the media at the moment, I've decided to make better use of my spare time and take a second job. So what new skill have I turned my hand to? Serving coffee at Starbucks? Burgers at MacDonalds? Well actually, I'm selling cookies. These are no ordinary cookies mind you. These cookies are something of a North American institution, part of the fabric that binds its people, underpins its society and traverses generations. These are Girl Guide cookies. And no, I don't get paid to sell these. My daughter you see has recently joined her local Girl Guide unit and we have recently taken delivery of 2 large cardboard boxes full of the mint chocolate variety. At $4 for a small box, giving to charity never tasted so good. And I am amazed at how these little boxes of goodness sell. Do they really taste that good? What special ingredient in the recipe makes them so moreish? Or could it be that everyone here has a link to the Guides, ex-guiders, ex-leaders, mothers, sisters, daughters etc. The Girl Guides of Canada receive their main source of annual income from cookie sales and people would like to see this institution and what it stands for, continue for generations to come. Whether it reminds people fondly of their own childhood years or encourages the girls of today to strive for a better future for themselves and society, perhaps we can all draw something from the Girl Guides promise which starts, " I promise to be true to myself... ". Hmmm, I wonder what that means exactly.

If you are interested in finding out more please visit: http://www.girlguides.ca/

A Thief in the Night

I was woken up early Sunday by a strange banging noise outside but fell quickly back to sleep. Imagine my surprise when I later discovered our wheelie bin tipped over onto its side and all the rubbish within scattered and strewn across a neighbours front garden. We had had a night-time visitor and a quick glance down the road confirmed that we were not the only ones. Picking up the trail of rubbish into the woods it became clear a black bear had been doing the rounds. September sees a lot of activity from black bears as they try and fatten up prior to hibernation for the winter. It is not uncommon for them to enter suburban areas and raid bins looking for food for this reason. Although slightly disappointed I didn't actually get to see the perpetrator himself (or herself), I was also quite relieved not to have met them face to face. Black bear attacks on humans, although uncommon, are generally best avoided by using common sense and carrying Bear Spray or Bear Mace when out and about in the forest, biking or hiking. Black bears can reach 300lbs in weight and recorded attacks on people usually occur only when they are taken by surprise or encountered in the Spring newly awake and grumpy after waking from hibernation. As for our little night time raid, our visitor seems to have gotten away with it. Hopefully we shall see him or her no more now the bin is safely locked away in the shed. Yet another small difference between living in Worcestershire and BC.

Summer days drifting away

Cycling into work today I felt a distinct chill in the air. This coupled with the increased talk of the rather alarming words "winter" and "snow" around the department makes me think the end of summer is nigh. One work colleague told me today that he turned the heating off in his pool at the weekend which pretty much confirms it. Winter is a big thing here. Compared to anywhere else Canadian winters are hard and long. But life here doesn't stop at a few feet of snow so I'm looking forward to teaching my kids to ski and I could do with brushing up my skating too. Ice Hockey (or just "Hockey") is enormous here. My sons five year old friend across the road plays Hockey for a little league team and flies around on the ice as if he was born on it. Everyone has HDTV here because you can actually see the puck during the game. I can actually picture myself in the beginners skating class now surrounded by 3 year olds. On the positive side, skating is very accessible here. When the cold arrives, they'll flood and freeze all the local basketball and tennis courts so we'll be only five minutes walk from the local rink. Just close enough to pop home regularly and warm up again. At minus 20 degrees (pretty much the norm for winter) I think we'll be needing those breaks fairly frequently.

Taking it easy

I'm still struggling to get used to it, the whole un-busy thing. Starting work at 8 and finishing at 4 means I can still do stuff after work like go to the bank etc. The pace of work is pleasant too. I cover only one modality at a time plus a few plain films and there's plenty of time to look stuff up in books or on the net. It's a 10 minute drive to work or a 15 min cycle when the weather is nice and there is no traffic. Everyone is really friendly in the department and I although I am getting to know people, I still miss the folk in my old department. So what's different? I don't have my own office. "Hot-desking" at modality PACS workstations is fine provided your predecessor clears up after themselves. I haven't a designated secretary and typing is done at a remote site somewhere downtown but you know what? It still all works fine - just different. Oh yes, one more thing, people use the word "awesome" alot around here and it sort of sounds like "ossum".

A Slow Day in CT

So this is it, the long awaited new blog live from BC, Canada. Rumour has it the folks back home I used to work with were hoping for some news. Well here it is - the result of a slow day in CT and a few idle moments (when did I get any of these back home?). Please, please, please post your comments, thoughts and abuse (sic). It would be great to hear from you all.