So somewhere along the line I lost the weekend? It was crazy busy sorting & packing. I haven't even thought about cleaning yet. Yesterday, my little friend Sydone came over for a visit. Truthfully she wasn't interested in visiting with me, she just wanted to see the boys. Rookie doesn't have much of an attention span these days and Ernie just kept running over to me for protection. I finally put her to work sorting out my knitting needles. Christie & Jason were kind enough to have us over for supper last night which was a blessing because it meant we didn't have to cook!
Today we had the second cruise ship for the season in. This one is a Swiss ship. They are like ladybugs walking around town. They all wear these bright red, floater jackets so you can see them from a mile away. The town seemed really busy with visitors in town for the day. The craft shop opened, the school was opened, poor Ev even had to go into work because someone thought one of the guests had stolen a piece of art. Seriously, if someone can afford to go on a cruise through the Arctic, I think they could afford to purchase the carving. Turns out it was a language barrier.
Speaking of art, we have a number of famous artists in our little community. Stone carvings, hand sewn crafts and print making are the leading crafts here. If you googled Elsie Klengenberg's name, you get 514 hits. How many of us can say that? And for a little community with a population of under 400, four of the artists from Ulukhaktok have been chosen to have their art displayed at various venues during the 2010 Olympics! What an accomplishment!
Well, I've not much to babble about tonight. I need to get back to work, but knew my Dad was probably waiting for a new post! Love you Dad. Hope today went well.
Sunday, August 30, 2009
Friday, August 28, 2009
There wasn't anything funny about today!
I am pooped! From the minute I got up today, I have been going non-stop. Reconciling bank statements so I could file them away. Putting together yet another SALE list for the last minute items. Ev ran them around town and within minutes, we had another flurry of visitors and phone calls. Then I put together a few care packages for a couple of elders and people in town that have been really good to Ev and I that could use the food and other items I put in them. And again, Ev ran around town delivering them. Then I sorted....there's stuff for the movers to pack, stuff for us to take when we leave, items to donate and items to discard. Every room I hit, I go through the same routine. At the rate we are going, we aren't going to have anything for the movers to pack. I completed the bathroom and got half way through the office and then it was time to make supper!
I had to redeem myself for several nights of frozen pizza this week and made Ev a pork roast with mashies and spinach salad. Finished the dishes and am finally sitting down - exhausted and it's 9:00 pm. One good thing about all this moving - I am having no problems sleeping!
I had to redeem myself for several nights of frozen pizza this week and made Ev a pork roast with mashies and spinach salad. Finished the dishes and am finally sitting down - exhausted and it's 9:00 pm. One good thing about all this moving - I am having no problems sleeping!
Thursday, August 27, 2009
What is it with mothers and their son-in-laws?
I can remember in the years preceding 1997 B.H. (before husband), when it was I who was the apple of my mother’s eye, well perhaps after my brother. She would shower me with gifts, both large and small, both thoughtful and inconsequential but treasured nevertheless. She would sing my praises at the slightest provocation. And then along comes the hubby and suddenly the sun is shining out of his many bodily orifices! When we go for a visit he has to bring an empty suitcase for all of the gifts she bestows upon him. (That may be a slight exaggeration. I use the empty part of that suitcase to stash more wool home.) But when he enters any room that my mother may presently be sitting, I swear trumpets start tooting like the Queen (or King as it may be), has just entered the room. What’s worse is that the feelings are completely mutual!
Every time we come back from a visit, I have to listen to my husband go on and on and on about HIS mother-in-law. “She makes the best potatoes!” “Nobody makes French toast like my mother-in-law.” “You can’t top my mother-in-law’s coleslaw.” (I’m starting to notice a food theme here.) Well the last couple of trips to visit my parents, my mom has occasionally folded our laundry and has now set yet another impossible, and useless, standard for me to attempt to match. FOLDING HIS UNDERWEAR! Shortly after returning, he started dropping the hints, truly lacking any hint of subtlety. A quick “thanks, honey” and then an expression of surprise, “Oh! My mother-in-law folds my underwear!” So, like any good wife in a constant state of training, I have done the unthinkable and started to fold his frickin’ underwear. With our household being a bit chaotic the past couple of weeks, planning and executing a very impromptu househunting trip, madly cleaning & organizing the house for our mildly OCD suffering relief member, returning, unpacking, laundering, finalizing the house sale details, filtering and selling some of our belongings, hosting a couple of dinners and gatherings. Well, you get the picture. It’s been frenzied to say the least. To give credit first, my ever appreciative husband comes out and says, “Thanks for doing my laundry,” quickly followed by, “When my mother-in-law folds my underwear, she turns them right side out before she folds them!” There is just no pleasing some people!
I suppose it could be worse. They could hate each other rather than love one another.
Every time we come back from a visit, I have to listen to my husband go on and on and on about HIS mother-in-law. “She makes the best potatoes!” “Nobody makes French toast like my mother-in-law.” “You can’t top my mother-in-law’s coleslaw.” (I’m starting to notice a food theme here.) Well the last couple of trips to visit my parents, my mom has occasionally folded our laundry and has now set yet another impossible, and useless, standard for me to attempt to match. FOLDING HIS UNDERWEAR! Shortly after returning, he started dropping the hints, truly lacking any hint of subtlety. A quick “thanks, honey” and then an expression of surprise, “Oh! My mother-in-law folds my underwear!” So, like any good wife in a constant state of training, I have done the unthinkable and started to fold his frickin’ underwear. With our household being a bit chaotic the past couple of weeks, planning and executing a very impromptu househunting trip, madly cleaning & organizing the house for our mildly OCD suffering relief member, returning, unpacking, laundering, finalizing the house sale details, filtering and selling some of our belongings, hosting a couple of dinners and gatherings. Well, you get the picture. It’s been frenzied to say the least. To give credit first, my ever appreciative husband comes out and says, “Thanks for doing my laundry,” quickly followed by, “When my mother-in-law folds my underwear, she turns them right side out before she folds them!” There is just no pleasing some people!
I suppose it could be worse. They could hate each other rather than love one another.
Spell check doesn't fix stupid!
The good news is, we received confirmation that our house sale was completed without issue today. The bad news is the email from our lawyer informing us was addressed to Mr. and Mrs. Everett. And it gets better. The email from the paralegal said...and I quote, "Congratulations! You are NOT the proud owner of 484 Keppoch Road!" At least the service and spelling errors were consistent.
Do you think I should put a disclaimer on this blog or is my sarcasm understood as comic relief? It's just my way of coping with the stress, so I hope it doesn't offend anyone.
It was still a busy day here. I continued submitting change of address notifications. Did you know that you can activate your satellite service in mere minutes but it takes a month to deactivate your account? Apparently you agree to that when you sign your contract. Of course when you read the contract, it tells you to consult the website for the current list of terms and conditions so unless you print it off at the time you sign it, you're S.O.L.
After a couple of hours of that nonsense, I took Jason's parents out for a guided tour of the coastline. We were trying to find Arctic owls and fox but weren't very successful. We might have seen one, but it may have been a large seagull. We're a couple of weeks early unfortunately so looking at pictures we took last year had to suffice. At one point we stopped to take some pictures and when I opened up my backpack, I discovered the can of 7-Up I had in my bag was punctured and there was a sticky mess everywhere, including all over the camera. Must have been all the lumps and bumps we hit along the way!
Tuesday, August 25, 2009
Where's Waldo?
This is an image from Google Earth. I've flagged some points of interest - Ulukhaktok, Yellowknife, Vancouver, Chicago for my ravioli friend, and our new home. I also wanted to give people an idea of how far North we are and how far we have to go. See Russia to the left of us, Greenland to the right! If you click on the map it should open up in a bigger window so you can read the tags.
Change of Address!
I was slightly distracted the other day. It appears all of the spelling errors throughout the mortgage documents will not cause any delays. The documents arrived safely in PEI from BC and so far so good. Yesterday was spent finalizing some information with the lawyer and her office. Speaking of, did I mention it appears “Daddy” is one of the partners at the firm as well. Go figure. I set up utility , telephone and internet accounts/services and then spent the rest of the day at my homemaker duties. Ev’s boss’ boss is in town. He is enduring a management review. It won’t surprise most of you to know that he has already received numerous compliments on the cleanliness of the office, outbuildings, vehicles and his files.
So back to the list I was speaking of the other day. The last couple of times we have moved, I kept an ongoing list of the people and companies we deal with during the course of our relocation. This is an incomplete list of that covers those individuals that we have dealt with from the time we received our transfer notice – to date. Needless to say, there are a number of balls to juggle here. What always comes as a surprise is that you’ll deal with someone on this list that seems to think they are the only person you have to deal with and can’t understand why THEY aren’t YOUR first priority.
The other thing to keep in mind when looking at this list, some of these people/companies are dealt with numerous, if not dozens of times.
1. Staffing
2. Relocation Services
3. Relocation Reviewer
4. Boss Man
5. Boss Man’s Boss
6. Relief Organizer
7. Travel Agent
8. Car Rental
9. Hotel – Yellowknife
10. Hotel – Edmonton
11. Hotel - Charlottetown
12. Mortgage Company - Application
13. Realtor
14. Lawyer
15. Paralegal
16. Lawyer’s Assistant
17. Insurance Agent
18. Mortgage Company – Closing
19. Mortgage Company – substitutes while our contacts were out golfing!
20. Notary
21. Mom – who has been provided POA to sign our mortgage documents
22. Moving Company
23. Canada Post
24. Bell Aliant – Home Phone & internet
25. Maritime Electric
26. Two Banks x 2 (Ev’s & my accts)
I’ll keep updating it as we go along. I think last time we were over 50!
The other thing I have realized is how many websites I have to update this time. Whether it’s banks, facebook, online shopping sites, etc., its added a whole new component to updated contact information. One more piece of evidence that proves technology has not made life any easier for us!
Saturday, August 22, 2009
You just never know what the day is going to hold
Yesterday was a write-off! Ev came home the night before at 1230 and then we sat up and chatted until 1-130. We then got up early to have breakfast with some of Ev’s coworkers who were in town. I continued to have visitors at the house looking at stuff we had for sale and then I finally couldn’t fight it anymore. I had to have a nap. I turned the volume down on the news I was watching and put my head down, falling asleep instantly. Wouldn’t you know it though – the damn phone rang and when I opened my eyes the same story was on the news so I probably “slept” for seconds. A bit later, with five minutes to spare until it closed, Ev and I ran to the store to pick up our mail and get something to make for dinner. In our mail was a letter from our lawyer but I was so mentally drained, I couldn’t bring myself to read it. I knew it was going to take some mental fortitude to digest its contents and I really just wanted to relax after a hectic week.
So today I woke up with renewed vigour and thought of my blog topic for the day....ALL THE PEOPLE YOU DEAL WITH WHEN YOU ARE TRANSFERED! I started my list and then out of the corner of my eye the dreaded letter from the lawyer caught my eye. I abandoned my list and turned my attention to deciphering the legalese. The letter was dated the day we left PEI, 11-Aug. It was a request for us to provide them instructions on certain aspects of our mortgage and its subsequent closing....a closing that is to take place in three business days! With each paragraph I could feel my blood pressure rising. I could feel the heat spreading from my chest up my neck until it turned my nose a bright cherry red. Just call me Rudolph.
My focus went from attempting to pen some well needed comedic relief to one of writing a scathing email to the lawyer. The letter is asking us for instructions on how they want us to proceed as far as registering title, obtaining fire insurance (we were on that one), purchasing title insurance, etc. All I can think of as I’m reading it is, are these people insane? Do they not know where we live? Do they not know that mail sent to us through the Canadian Postal service can take up to six weeks to get here? How many other requests have they sent us in the mail that we have yet received nor responded to? I guess I should have known it wasn’t going to be great news because they didn’t even spell the name of our town correctly. It’s ULUKHAKTOK not YLUKHAKTOK!, So now I’m starting to questions what else these people have screwed up and then it suddenly dawns on me....THE MORTGAGE DOCUMENTS!
So, before I hit the send button on my email I figure I had better contact my Mom. Because she was the one signing the documents, they were emailed directly to her. I guess it didn’t occur to them that they should send us a copy. Mom emailed the documents to the notary and then made the drive into town to meet with him. She then proceeds to take a lambasting from the Notary because of the quantity of paper and subsequent work required (as if she is responsible for it...talk to the bank Mister!). They signed them and she couriered them back to PEI, sent me the tracking number and she had completed her job. Did I mention it was THREE POUNDS of paper and a whopping $71 to courier? Anyway, I digress; I call my mom and ask her to email me the original documents –four in total. I open the first document – my name is spelled incorrectly throughout. I open the second document – same thing. I open the third – Ev’s name is spelled incorrectly and mine, well, they got it right on that one. Argh!!!!
This is just wrong on so many levels!
1) I have held the same bank account with this bank for 24 years. It is now our joint account and has both of our names correctly spelled on it
2) This is our second mortgage with the same bank. When we originally contacted them they were happy to not have to record ALL of our personal information as it was all on file with our last mortgage.
3) Throughout the mortgage pre-approval and subsequent approval they constantly misspelled Ev’s name and reassured us they would ensure its accuracy on the final mortgage – that that is where it truly counts.
4) We provided the bank with photocopies of our identification.
5) We spelled out or names out while we were at the lawyer’s office, reviewed the spelling and also provided them photocopies of our identification.
6) The mortgage documents & instructions are forwarded to our lawyer for their review – um...can you tell me when the review took place? Did anyone even look at the freakin’ documents?
Needless to say, I added a few choice thoughts to my email, ran it by dear hubby and hollered the all clear. “I’M HITTING SEND!” Well much to my surprise it wasn’t five minutes that had passed and the phone rings. It’s our lawyer....calling on a Saturday! Thank goodness for technology. She was in another province on a holiday and received my email. She attempted to reassure me that all issues on the letter received yesterday had been dealt with based on our original meeting with her and some assumptions on their part. As for the mortgage documents, it was nothing but apologies but her hands were tied until she could see the documents and return to work on Monday. I forwarded her the documents so she could at least review them and have a plan in place for first thing Monday.
You tell me. Am I wrong here or do we have every right to be BEYOND furious?
I guess the only saving grace is that our lawyer is going to have to deal with the seller’s lawyer and “have some ‘splainin’ to do” as he is one of the named partners in the legal firm she works for.
Tomorrow is a new day. Perhaps then I’ll start the list I talked of earlier and add the whole lot of them on for another rotation!
So today I woke up with renewed vigour and thought of my blog topic for the day....ALL THE PEOPLE YOU DEAL WITH WHEN YOU ARE TRANSFERED! I started my list and then out of the corner of my eye the dreaded letter from the lawyer caught my eye. I abandoned my list and turned my attention to deciphering the legalese. The letter was dated the day we left PEI, 11-Aug. It was a request for us to provide them instructions on certain aspects of our mortgage and its subsequent closing....a closing that is to take place in three business days! With each paragraph I could feel my blood pressure rising. I could feel the heat spreading from my chest up my neck until it turned my nose a bright cherry red. Just call me Rudolph.
My focus went from attempting to pen some well needed comedic relief to one of writing a scathing email to the lawyer. The letter is asking us for instructions on how they want us to proceed as far as registering title, obtaining fire insurance (we were on that one), purchasing title insurance, etc. All I can think of as I’m reading it is, are these people insane? Do they not know where we live? Do they not know that mail sent to us through the Canadian Postal service can take up to six weeks to get here? How many other requests have they sent us in the mail that we have yet received nor responded to? I guess I should have known it wasn’t going to be great news because they didn’t even spell the name of our town correctly. It’s ULUKHAKTOK not YLUKHAKTOK!, So now I’m starting to questions what else these people have screwed up and then it suddenly dawns on me....THE MORTGAGE DOCUMENTS!
So, before I hit the send button on my email I figure I had better contact my Mom. Because she was the one signing the documents, they were emailed directly to her. I guess it didn’t occur to them that they should send us a copy. Mom emailed the documents to the notary and then made the drive into town to meet with him. She then proceeds to take a lambasting from the Notary because of the quantity of paper and subsequent work required (as if she is responsible for it...talk to the bank Mister!). They signed them and she couriered them back to PEI, sent me the tracking number and she had completed her job. Did I mention it was THREE POUNDS of paper and a whopping $71 to courier? Anyway, I digress; I call my mom and ask her to email me the original documents –four in total. I open the first document – my name is spelled incorrectly throughout. I open the second document – same thing. I open the third – Ev’s name is spelled incorrectly and mine, well, they got it right on that one. Argh!!!!
This is just wrong on so many levels!
1) I have held the same bank account with this bank for 24 years. It is now our joint account and has both of our names correctly spelled on it
2) This is our second mortgage with the same bank. When we originally contacted them they were happy to not have to record ALL of our personal information as it was all on file with our last mortgage.
3) Throughout the mortgage pre-approval and subsequent approval they constantly misspelled Ev’s name and reassured us they would ensure its accuracy on the final mortgage – that that is where it truly counts.
4) We provided the bank with photocopies of our identification.
5) We spelled out or names out while we were at the lawyer’s office, reviewed the spelling and also provided them photocopies of our identification.
6) The mortgage documents & instructions are forwarded to our lawyer for their review – um...can you tell me when the review took place? Did anyone even look at the freakin’ documents?
Needless to say, I added a few choice thoughts to my email, ran it by dear hubby and hollered the all clear. “I’M HITTING SEND!” Well much to my surprise it wasn’t five minutes that had passed and the phone rings. It’s our lawyer....calling on a Saturday! Thank goodness for technology. She was in another province on a holiday and received my email. She attempted to reassure me that all issues on the letter received yesterday had been dealt with based on our original meeting with her and some assumptions on their part. As for the mortgage documents, it was nothing but apologies but her hands were tied until she could see the documents and return to work on Monday. I forwarded her the documents so she could at least review them and have a plan in place for first thing Monday.
You tell me. Am I wrong here or do we have every right to be BEYOND furious?
I guess the only saving grace is that our lawyer is going to have to deal with the seller’s lawyer and “have some ‘splainin’ to do” as he is one of the named partners in the legal firm she works for.
Tomorrow is a new day. Perhaps then I’ll start the list I talked of earlier and add the whole lot of them on for another rotation!
Thursday, August 20, 2009
T minus 14
Another day done! I couldn't fall asleep last night so I was up until 2ish. I woke up with a start at 9, boot up computer, dogs out, dogs in, poured coffee, look at emails from realtor, call MYm, find out if she heard from the lawyers...she did..they called and woke her up at 6am then proceeded to lecture her about the importance of dealing with the mortgage documents expediently & that they would be forthcoming via email ASAP. Two hours later, no documents! So I call and she says they're coming shortly. Not much later Mom reports the news that they have arrived and she is on her way into town to visit the Notary.
Next job.....I cleaned the carpet in the gym room and printed off the final notices for our SALE. Christie called and asked if Jason's mom could come over this afternoon which I was happy for her to! Ev went around town and distributed our flyer and within minutes our house was FULL of people. I think they must have shut the cash machine down at the bank because everyone & their dog showed up with nothing but $20's. I was giving people change with twoonies and loonies from our change collection! There must have been 30 people show up in the first hour or so and poor Jason's mom was left sitting by herself:( Oh well...I was able to set her up with my knitting library which occupied her and then we had a great visit for a couple of hours.
Ev's off fishing right now with 2 members that flew in from Yellowknife today which is giving me a bit of downtime.....well that is after I walked the dogs, fed the dogs, fed myself, put the house back together because it looks like a bomb went off in here! Remnants of the sale, personal belongings displaced from the gym room, items temporarily relocated because of the sale....apparently the rule goes...if it's not screwed down, it's for sale! People were trying to buy Jason's Mom & Ev's shoes. Would have been a difficult walk home.
Well I gotta go....must knit....
Next job.....I cleaned the carpet in the gym room and printed off the final notices for our SALE. Christie called and asked if Jason's mom could come over this afternoon which I was happy for her to! Ev went around town and distributed our flyer and within minutes our house was FULL of people. I think they must have shut the cash machine down at the bank because everyone & their dog showed up with nothing but $20's. I was giving people change with twoonies and loonies from our change collection! There must have been 30 people show up in the first hour or so and poor Jason's mom was left sitting by herself:( Oh well...I was able to set her up with my knitting library which occupied her and then we had a great visit for a couple of hours.
Ev's off fishing right now with 2 members that flew in from Yellowknife today which is giving me a bit of downtime.....well that is after I walked the dogs, fed the dogs, fed myself, put the house back together because it looks like a bomb went off in here! Remnants of the sale, personal belongings displaced from the gym room, items temporarily relocated because of the sale....apparently the rule goes...if it's not screwed down, it's for sale! People were trying to buy Jason's Mom & Ev's shoes. Would have been a difficult walk home.
Well I gotta go....must knit....
Wednesday, August 19, 2009
Who said it would be easy buying a house in PEI when you live in the Arctic?
Argh! Another day exchanging emails, coordinating details through three different time zones, trying to sell stuff off between phone calls.... We have been waiting for the bank/mortgage company to forward the mortgage & instructions to our lawyer, who in turn needs to contact my mother, who has kindly offered to sign our mortgage documents via the Power of Attorney we have signed over. Of course my mother lives in BC, the lawyer is in PEI. It's a 4 hour time difference between them and 3 hours for us East and 1 hour for us West. The documents have to be signed in front of a Notary and then couriered back to PEI in order to be filed/registered by 26-Aug.
So...the documents are ready, the lawyer who has unfortunately been named Bobbi-Jo (I have now typed her name in error as Bobbi-Ho & Boobi-Jo), has sent an email saying she needs confirmation of the arrangements made for signing the documents from my mom - ASAP! But mom's at her office- the golf course. Many of you know that I am a tad bit of an alarmist, but I think I have some competition.
I called to speak with Mom - got Dad. In my frustration, I tried to explain to him the issues we are up against, not wanting to completely explain all of the details....(they are on a need to know basis) and advise him that they are 4 hours apart from PEI. He says no, I say yes, he says no....I give up! I google a North American time zone map, email it to mom to print off and deposit in Dad's lap. Enough said!
Mom's home, reads all the emails from me, listens to phone messages from the lawyer, calls me, says "Hello", I hear footsteps up their exterior stairs, advise Mom I have to call her back, invite in Rose & her son who are here to buy STUFF, sell her STUFF, escort her out, call Mom back & realize we can't do anything now because the lawyer's office in PEI is closed. Enough spinning my wheels for one day!
It's just about time for Ev to come home so we can all go for a walk on the beach at Jack's Bay. Time to reflect on yet another hectic day plotting our move.
So...the documents are ready, the lawyer who has unfortunately been named Bobbi-Jo (I have now typed her name in error as Bobbi-Ho & Boobi-Jo), has sent an email saying she needs confirmation of the arrangements made for signing the documents from my mom - ASAP! But mom's at her office- the golf course. Many of you know that I am a tad bit of an alarmist, but I think I have some competition.
I called to speak with Mom - got Dad. In my frustration, I tried to explain to him the issues we are up against, not wanting to completely explain all of the details....(they are on a need to know basis) and advise him that they are 4 hours apart from PEI. He says no, I say yes, he says no....I give up! I google a North American time zone map, email it to mom to print off and deposit in Dad's lap. Enough said!
Mom's home, reads all the emails from me, listens to phone messages from the lawyer, calls me, says "Hello", I hear footsteps up their exterior stairs, advise Mom I have to call her back, invite in Rose & her son who are here to buy STUFF, sell her STUFF, escort her out, call Mom back & realize we can't do anything now because the lawyer's office in PEI is closed. Enough spinning my wheels for one day!
It's just about time for Ev to come home so we can all go for a walk on the beach at Jack's Bay. Time to reflect on yet another hectic day plotting our move.
T minus 16....
Today we spent the day....listening to Mom talk to a man about home insurance (a couple of times). She emailed the realtor, Bamboo Bamboo, and asked him yet another favour....like what the names of the utility companies & phone companies, etc., were. Nothing like asking too much of your realtor. Then she cleaned the carpets in some of our house, vacuumed the rest, did some dishes, went to Dad's office to help him with some work. Dad booked our air travel & hotels from Ulukhaktok to Yellowknife departing 03-Sep and Yellowknife to Edmonton 04-Sep.
Rookie thinks he's getting ripped off again & won't be able to sit in the good seats on the plane, with Mom & Dad, like I do. Best not let him know he's correct! It'll be our secret!
Later that night they tried to figure out what route to take to get us from Edmonton to Charlottetown. So far, we've only made it to North Battleford, SK. They did some more packing & still had time to take us for a walk at one of our favourite trails by First River.
Rookie thinks he's getting ripped off again & won't be able to sit in the good seats on the plane, with Mom & Dad, like I do. Best not let him know he's correct! It'll be our secret!
Later that night they tried to figure out what route to take to get us from Edmonton to Charlottetown. So far, we've only made it to North Battleford, SK. They did some more packing & still had time to take us for a walk at one of our favourite trails by First River.
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