Movin' Day!
It comes closer every day....
I have always loved the Holy Model Rounders. It was a couple of decades later that I understood the Appalachian traditions that were behind their lovely, quirky tunes.
And I've played this song just before every move in my life - so more than a few times.
Right now we're up to our ears in planning last minute details for going to Cambridge. We'll be cat-sitting for a couple of weeks in Vancouver, then jumping on a (thankfully) British Airways flight to Heathrow. That will be followed by British pet-sitting, then a semi-permanent home. Hopefully furnished.
It's kind of staggering to find that rents in Cambridge are about the same as in Vancouver. On the other hand, the traffic density, noise, and dirt will be much less. For me at least that's a big bonus.
In the last few weeks it feels as if the temperatures in Vancouver have climbed, and windows have opened, and at the same time the volume of auto traffic outside our windows has increased, as have the number of stupidly loud cars and bikes. Yes, it has been insufferable, but next week we'll be moved down to Granville Island to care for two sweet cats in a very nice co-op.
Also today, my latest column is up at the Globe and Mail. "Why I added my name to the long ballot in Pierre Poilievre’s by-election" is about why I'm a candidate - along with 200+ other people - on the Long Ballot in Battle River-Crowfoot. In short, we really need to fix the election laws so that we get real people running and not just career politicians.
Now it's time for cleaning the oven and fridge, and everything else, and deciding what goes to the Island for storage next week on the last trip, and to make some decisions about mail forwarding, and where we stay the last day in Vancouver, and first days in London.
It took an hour and a half yesterday at Scotiabank, but we finally have managed to move a large enough sum from Scotiabank to Wise. That includes the surprise security phone call an hour later to confirm that no, we are not international diamond smugglers.
I will say that after living in Europe it is staggering how badly Canadian banks handle the relatively ordinary task of moving money from one country, and currency, to another. It's as if no-one at Scotiabank has ever lived outside the boundaries of Canada.
And I'm still amazed that my account at the tiny LaHave River Credit Union in Nova Scotia does this stuff SO MUCH better than the behemoth that is ScotiaBank.
One thing we have found in dealing with people in Cambridge - at the University, or looking for rentals, or anything else, is that people just seem so nice. Emails are friendly, clear, and actually seem to be trying to help, not just fob you off into the wasteland that is Chat. And we're finding that people there have connections to Vancouver as well. Our Girton College contact at Cambridge has a friend who lives, literally, in the apartment building next door to us on 16th Street!
Despite the hassles, despite the expense, despite the usual hassles involved in an international move, I'm actually incredibly excited by this next phase of our lives. Despite my intense discomfort with the current British government, I think this will be a wonderful adventure.
And, as an avid BBC TV watcher, I'm excited to see how the real Cambridge matches what we've seen in Ludwig.
