Saturday 30 August 2008

Adventures in a New Town

We have been in Woodstock for almost a entire month. What a great little town this is...

I've been travelling to Fredericton everyday for training which has added an extra 2 hours on my day but I'm finally done with training. I start back in the Woodstock site on Tuesday after a 3 day weekend. I'm very excited about getting to work finally. Training was great but I'm ready to rumble now.

We have been exploring our options to replace the car... I was renting a car for the past 3 weeks to travel but now it's time to own something of my own. Cory has been in contact with a car dealer ship and these are my choices....
  1. A used 2007 Cobalt for $14 K - no warranty and a monthly payment of $331 (9% interest)
  2. A used 2002 Grand Am for $5 K - no warranty and a monthly payment of $220 (13% interest)
  3. A new 2008 Pontiac G5 for $18 K - a 5 year warranty and a monthly payment of $260 (0% interest)

So it looks like the G5 is the winner. I'm a little floored that a new car is the way to go but why fight it. With the G5, I am getting a standard transmission which is perferred and I get to pick the color. I'm actually a little pumped about getting my first new car.

At this point I just want wheels again. There is so much adventuring I need to do and I've been stuck in my neighbourhood except for cab rides.

A cab ride within the town is only $4.50 so it hasn't been that much of a hardship except that they double and triple up passengers. But that also means that I get to meet people and see different parts of town. My glass is still half full. Honestly, the biggest downfall has been the cab drivers great love for loud bluegrass music. Thankfully the rides aren't that long.

Thursday 7 August 2008

Adventures in Moving - Final Chapter

Well... what an adventure in moving. They say the two most stressful things a person can do in their life is buying a home and changing jobs. Doing both at the same time should have been hell. I have to say with the short deadline, I never had the chance to truly freak out. I think if I had more time, I would have lost my mind.

We ran out of time packing but fortunately a fantastic friend finished everything up for us after we left. Thank you Jason!! You rule!!

We hit the road at 7 am on Aug 1 with 2 cars. One packed with the cats and the other with the stuff we would need to live for up to a week without our stuff. The first two hours went great with the exception of one cat that had taken it upon himself to mark every 5 second mark of the trip with a meow. And then the second car decided to die on the side of the road... died, dead... towed the rest of the way to Woodstock.... 4 hours... that was a little stressful... ok a lot stressful.

The house closing had some flaws... the mortgage hadn't been transferred to my lawyer yet. It didn't actually happen until the 5th due to the long weekend but the owner allowed us to move in anyway.

Our stuff was delivered on the 7th and now we are almost unpacked. Our neighbours are amazing. The people across the street have lent us anything we need including their car. Our next door neighbour came over to make sure it was ok that he continues to mow our lawn.

I started my new job on the 5th and am still amazed on the people focus of this company. Everyday I learn something new about the company that increases my level of awe. I feel like a princess...