Living The Dream

The Hutterites In North America

2011-12-17T17:50:00.002-07:00

Living the Canadian Dream (formerly Lyndon's Trucking Life) is just about to go into it's 5th year and this has been a most excellent adventure. We have gone from being an ordinary family living in the West Country in United Kingdom, me being a lorry driver and Janice my wife being a Royal Mail postal sorter...... To living what we consider to be our "Dream Life".

During the Blog I have tried to cover all aspects of our life and the Country we call home and tonight I have been analyzing what you, the reader, found most interesting. Strangely enough the posts that received most views (or hits) were the articles on the different peoples of Canada. One Community above all others seemed to captivate the interest more than anything else and that is the Hutterite Colonies.

I have put together some collections of books for anyone who is interested in an insight to these Canadian people.

Canadian Educational Requirement for Long Haul Truck Drivers

2011-12-11T23:48:00.001-07:00

Canada is actively recruiting Long Haul Truck Drivers from overseas and it is a fantastic opportunity for lorry drivers who are fed up with the rat race of the European roads, to start a new life in a beautiful country and have the added benefits of being able to also work in the USA.

Certain Canadian Trucking Companies are able to offer 12 month Temporary Work Permits to successful candidates through the Foreign Worker Program. This program ensures that the Company will fly the Driver from their own country into Canada and ensures that they are also provided with return flight at the end of their contract.

Many Drivers coming into Canada intend to make their stay in Canada permanent. Any driver wishing to do this must meet the criteria of the Permanent Resident Nominee Program of their particular Province.

The Alberta Immigrant Nominee program requires the applicant to have the equivalent to a High School Diploma. In United kingdom (where there is no such Diploma) the applicant would be required to prove that they had sat and passed 5 good CSE, GCSE or O Levels

Candidate criteria

As a Candidate in the Semi-Skilled Worker Category, you must:Be currently working in Alberta on a work permit for an eligible AINP Semi-Skilled Occupation (see list above)Show that you have completed a minimum of high school education.

Any applicant that was unable to prove the exam passes would have to complete a Canadian GED course and sit the exams at the end.

What is GED Testing?

GED Testing is for adults who left high school without a diploma.

People who take and pass the GED earn a High School Equivalency Certificate.

The GED was established in 1942 and is recognized throughout Canada and the United States.

What the Tests Show
The GED Tests provide adults who did not complete a formal high school program the opportunity to demonstrate high-school level knowledge and skills.

Why People Write the GED Tests
The GED Tests are for you if you want to:
receive a high school equivalency certificate
qualify for employment
gain promotion within your own organization
apply for admission to an educational or training institution
enter an apprenticeship program
Who Can Take the GED Test
be at least 18 years old
have not graduated from high school
have been out of the school system for at least one full year

CLICK the picture to get the book

What is On the GED Tests

The GED Tests are a set of five tests in the core high school curriculum areas:
Language Arts: Writing
Language Arts: Reading
Mathematics
Part 1 (use of calculator)
Part 2 (no calculator)
Social Studies
Science

The tests measure important knowledge and skills (such as your ability to understand and apply information; to evaluate, analyze, and draw conclusions; and to express ideas and opinions in writing) that are usually
acquired during a regular high school program of study.

Test Questions
The tests contain questions that require the use of important ideas and thinking skills.
Few of the questions ask for isolated details, definitions, or specific facts.
Multiple-choice questions are used for each of the five tests.
The Language Arts: Writing Test includes an essay component that a candidate must pass in order to receive a score for the test.
The Mathematics Test includes the use of standard and coordinate plane grids and a calculator.

Types of Tests
The tests are available in English and French. Special editions and testing accommodations are available to help people with special needs and physical and/or learning disabilities.

The tests used in Canada have been developed especially for Canadians.

We Love Camping World

2011-12-08T19:09:00.001-07:00

If you are a camping enthusiast you must have heard of Camping World.........

If you are new to camping or you are considering going camping.... You need to hear about Camping World.

To say that Camping World is an Industry Leader is an understatement. They sell RV's and they sell fly swatters..... and just about everything in between.

Just look at this little beauty !

Champion 4000 Watt Portable Generator-California Model
Catalog Item # 54136

This Item is In-Stock and Ready to Ship

Internet SALE

$349.99 SAVE $38.89

Pretty impressive eh?

I am really tempted to get one of these and not just for the trailer. If you live in North America you will be used to the power outages when the ice brings down the wires and you spend the next 30 minutes trying to remember where you left the flashlight.... then when you find it you realize that you have not changed the batteries for the last 2 years LOL.

Well all you do now is fire up the Champion in the garage and you will be the only house on the street to have blazing lights when everyone else is in darkness.

This is only one of the amazing bargains at Camping World.

Go check out the shop by clicking on the image..........

Winterizing The Zinger

2011-12-07T08:06:00.001-07:00

Winter is upon us again and the temperature has started to drop below Zero. It's that time of year when we start thinking of winterizing the trailer. I already have a couple of jugs of antifreeze left over from last year so it's just a case of finding the time and making the effort to get the job done.

The major part of the process is the plumbing. Practically all of the pipework in the trailer is plastic which means that any water or moisture left in there will eventually freeze. The problem there is that when the water freezes it expands which in turn cracks the plastic piping. Repair costs can be quite expensive in the spring because not all of the piping is accessible, and you just know that if there is going to be a split, you are going to be ripping walls and cupboards out to get at it.

Now it's not just any old antifreeze, bear in mind that this will more than likely get into pipes that may come in contact with drinking water. So therefore it has to to be NON- poisonous. We don't actually drink the water out of our fresh water tank as we carry extra bottled water anyway but we do use tap water for brush our teeth. Even though the antifreeze is harmless it does taste disgusting (I found this out when I was siphoning last year !)

The process is pretty simple. First you remove the drain plugs from the water heater and the fresh water tank. It is also a good idea to rinse the black and the grey tanks out. We did this at the end of our last trip, we quarter filled the tanks with soapy water and went for a drive over some bumpy roads to shake it up a bit, and then of course dumped the contents in a Sani-Dump. The main thing here is to make sure all of the tanks that hold water are completely emptied.

The next job is to remove the wall that houses the water pump, flip the 3 valves and stick the winterizing pipe into a jug of antifreeze. You then turn on all the faucets, shower, outside shower and flush the toilet until all of the pipes turn pink and the faucets run pink. If you have done this correctly then all of the water should have been replaced with the antifreeze. On our trailer we have the fresh water tank which has been drained therefore we don't put any antifreeze in there, we have also drained the water heater and those three valves will have ensured that no Antifreeze went in there. Apparently, I have been told that if you do get antifreeze in the boiler and you don't flush it out correctly you will never get the taste out of the water. I'm not sure if that would be a problem because who would drink water out of the hot faucet anyway??? Oh yes I almost forgot, DO NOT forget to run antifreeze through the outside shower, this is the part that many people forget.

The next thing yo do is remove the batteries, Zingy has got 2 x 6 Volt batteries so before I disconnect them I take a photograph of the terminals to remind me in the Spring which way round they go. These batteries then get cleaned off and stored safely in the spare bedroom. I put them side by side and reconnect the bridging cable. The reason for this is now I can connect my battery charger (12 Volts) and leave them on MAINTAIN all over the Winter.

While I was doing all of this, Jan's job was to clean everything inside, vacuum the floor, remove any food, clothes, bedding and anything else that we are going to store in the spare bedroom until the spring.

Finally, the last job is to remove all of the batteries from the smoke alarms, remote controls and anything else that uses batteries.

And then wait until Spring 8-)

Camping at Beaver Mines Lake

2011-09-11T14:52:00.000-06:00

This how we spent the Labour Day Weekend.

Our neighbours had just purchased a trailer and were of course eager to try it out. They also ask us if we would like to come along as the campground was highly recommended. Of course we said yes and I was able to borrow another truck as the Titan was still having issues.

I managed to get a Ford F-350 on the Friday and had use of it for the whole long weekend. As soon as work was finished we dived straight home, hitched up and very soon we were heading East towards Pincher Creek.

We got there just after it had dropped dark so it was not particularly easy to find a spot. We drove round each loop which was pretty tight looking for Cindy and Gerald and also somewhere to park. The first two of the three loops were completely full but we found a nice big site on the third (mountain) loop. Once we had parked up we went off to find the central self-registration point, this campground was $20 per night although there was no water, electric or sewer hookups, this is what is known as dry camping and you rely on what is already in your trailer.

Zingy has 3 water tanks, a 40 gallon white tank, which is the fresh water, this is what comes out of the faucets and this is used for drinking (although WE carry bottled water) cooking, washing and flushing the toilet. She also has a 40 gallon Grey tank which is the waste water from the sinks and the shower. She also has a 40 gallon Black tank which is the sewer tank.

I have also removed the 12 volt battery and fitted 2x 6 Volt deep cycle batteries which gives us 12 Volt power in the trailer, this can run all lighting, furnace, water-pump and a few other things. The water heater, furnace (it needs gas and electric), fridge, freezer and power slide all run on propane of which we carry 2 x 30 lbs tanks. I also carry an 800 watt power pack/inverter which allows us to watch TV/DVD when there is no hook up and I have also got booster cables which plug into it so I could boost my truck or after an extended dry camp I could use to boost the 2 x 6 Volts if there was not enough power to get the slide back in.

So, while we were looking to self-register we found our neighbours and their sons family ( in the trailer opposite) they had gone round the mountain a little further and were in a wooded area as opposed to our fairly open site.

Next morning we took a wander round the lake, i could not believe how many people were fishing down there, at some stage I might have to get into fishing myself, maybe next year. I have a couple of things that I want to try out before next season which are a little more adventurous (off-roading) but I will tell you all about that if and when it happens.

Cindy and Gerald invited us for supper that evening so we dived into Pincher Creek to grab some supplies for our contribution to the feast, we did a little exploring on our travels as there was a place down there that we wanted to check out called Bouvais Lake. When we got down there we found that it was okay but quite commercialised. There were loads of facilities and playgrounds end all sorts of stuff, I'm glad we checked it out but I don't think we will be camping down there. Apparently it fills up very quickly of a weekend too.

So that evening we went round to Cindy and Gerald's trailer and had a fantastic supper, as it started to drop dark the temperature started to drop so it was time to head back to our own trailer and fire up our campfire.

One thing I will remember about that weekend was the night sky, the night was very clear and there were millions of stars out, you could make out all the major constellations and the Milky Way was very bright, it was absolutely beautiful, all three nights we sat round the campfire drinking beer, eating bratties and chatting till the early hours of the morning.

On the Sunday we headed off out in the truck again to explore in the other direction. We headed towards Lynx Creek and spent most of the day just driving around the dirt tracks around the mountain ranges. now this is what we really enjoyed. As we pulled off the road we saw there were dozens of trailers and Toy Haulers just parked all along the side of the tracks, these were mostly groups but all had one thing in common....... Off roading.

There were bikes, quads, side-by-sides and all sorts buzzing around...... all ages from young children to grand fathers..... all scooting round on off road vehicles. Now this type of dry camping is completely free and this is what we would like to get into at some stage, I really like those Side-by-Sides where you just get onto a forest path and disappear into the wilderness. I'm not really sure how we are going to transport the thing around but I'm sure we will find a way.

We must have gone for miles along these dirt tracks , we went so far we even ended up on the Highway 3. We could not have wished for better weather for the weekend and I am glad to say we got loads of photos, the ones within this post are just a selection.

Camping at Kinbrook Island Provincial Park

2011-09-11T13:26:00.000-06:00

For those who know the area, Kinbrook Island is just South of Brooks, Alberta. It is a bout a two and a half hour drive from Raymond and this was the first time we had camped in a Provincial Park.

First of all let me explain how the system works with these parks, some of them you can pre-book (not sure about Kinbrook) but usually you just turn up and find a spot to park. All the sites are clearly marked and numbered so once you have found your ideal spot you go to a Central self-registration point, put your money int the envelope provided, tear off the slip to put on the marker post at your site, and post the envelope in the slot... also provided. It was $26 per night and that was for electricity only, there was no water or sewer, however, there were central watering points and an on-site dump station near the exit so you could pump out on leaving the park.

The Park it self is on an Island that sticks out into Lake Newell which is the largest man made reservoir in the area, and incidental stocked with fish, I'm not a fisherman but I'm sure if you Google it you will see what sort of fish are in there. There is also boating there and there seems to be a yacht club.

While we were there the lake was frozen over but was just beginning to thaw, the waves on the lake had pushed all the ice to the shore nearest us and you could see the weird and wonderful formations that it created along the shoreline.

We took Gizmo on this trip and we were so glad we did. He his starting to show his age a little bit now and he has a little arthritis in his back legs. We spent most of the time taking him for short walks and letting him dive into the water and ice. As you can imagine, he is still a young pup at heart so by the end of the day he was completely shattered and sore. By the time it was time to fire up the campfire all he wanted to do was to find a warm spot, curl up and go to sleep.... that is until the BBQ came out, then he was right up close to the fire looking for treats.

I really liked the evenings at this campground, as it started to get dark and the fires started springing up all round the woods you could hear all the different kinds of music, conversations, singing and generally people spending quality time with friends and family.

Kinbrook is quite a large park and well worth a visit if you are camping in the area.

Avelanche in Montana

2011-09-11T12:45:00.000-06:00

Nope this is not a weather warning, a friend of ours asked us to do a favour. There was a Canadian Chev Avalanche broken down in Montana and he asked me if I would mind going down there with a trailer and bringing it back. Well we didn't have any plans for the weekend and it was an excuse to take a Dodge RAM Cummins out for the day so we agreed.

We picked up the RAM and the trailer nice and early on the Saturday morning and we thought we would take a look at the Del Bonita border crossing because we had never crossed there before. Well we got there and had to wait 2 hours to get across into the US, the queue was horrendous, I think in future if I have to cross on a Bank Holiday I will always try to get to Sweetgrass.

We eventually got across and headed south down some very twisty roads heading down towards Kalispell. The Dodge performed beautifully, that engine is amazing, it sounds fantastic and it pulls like a train. The more you demand from that engine the more it seems to offer, i noticed the MPG was very good too, with or without a load, i was getting about 18 to the gallon with an empty trailer and about 13 with the Avalanche on.

We got down to the dealership and found that the truck was left with no space in front or behind to get the trailer in, luckily it was on a bit of a slope so Jan steered and I pushed. We did not have an electric winch with us, only a "Come Along" so Jan steered again and i winched the thing on backwards. I have to say Jan did an excellent job on the steering and it came on straight at the first attempt, it was such a hot day and there was no way I wanted to mess around with maneuvering the thing to balance it out.

Once the Chev was loaded we went in search of food, ideally we would have gone in for a Sizzler (i think we had earned it) but i was filthy and covered in rust from the chains we used to secure the load. In the end we decided on a Subway.

So we finally got going and disaster struck (again) As we were scooting across Highway 2 heading for Shelby we had a sidewall blowout on the trailer. I pulled over and jacked up the wheel using the jack from the truck and loosened the wheel bolts. This is when I encountered the major problem. The nuts holding the spare to the carrier were a different size to the wheel nuts and i didn't have a wrench to fit.

About 5 minutes later a Ford F-450 pulled up behind me and asked if he could help. The Gods must have been looking down on us that night because his wheel brace fitted the carrier, 15 minutes later we were on our way again.

We got to the border at Sweetgrass and the border crossing fun started. The first question was, why were we in the US, my answer was that we were recovering the truck on the trailer. Next question was who did the trailer belong to, i told her it was a friend of a friend, luckily I had the forethought to make sure I had the Alberta licensing documents. Next question was, who did the truck belong to that I was driving, my answer was that it was a dealership in Lethbridge. Then she asked me if the trailer was mine, and I said No....... So to summarize, I was driving a truck that did not belong to me, towing a trailer that did not belong to me, carrying a truck that did not belong to me, and my reason was that I was doing a favour for a friend.

So we were called inside while all vehicles were thoroughly searched then handed the keys back, thanked for our time, and sent merrily on our way. I wish I had taken some pictures of this but unfortunately we were too busy trying to get the job done we missed the opportunity.

Chuck Norris gets Job as Excavator Driver

2011-09-11T12:09:00.000-06:00

Hope they aware of the power lines?

If you go down to the woods today - put the safety on !

2011-09-11T11:49:00.002-06:00

July Camping: Kananaskis

2011-09-10T20:43:00.003-06:00

Do you remember me mentioning Louis from our first day camping when the nose jack collapsed. Well Louis is an avid camper and he invited us and a whole load of his friends to a group camp out in the wilderness of Kananaskis.

Our truck was still dead but I was loaned a truck for the weekend, it was a very nice GMC 3/4 ton extended cab. So as per usual, as soon as work was done on the Friday night we hitched up and headed for the back of beyond. It must have took us about 3 hours to get there and it was quite late when we pulled into the camp ground.

The parking arrangement was, if there is a space you can park there..... so we found a space and parked there. Some of the die hards were still up drinking G&T and beer which was great because they saved some food for us and obviously a few beers.

Next morning was the communal breakfast provided by Louis and his wife Diane, who incidentally is from England. Louis is as passionate about his cooking as he is about his camping and almost single handed fed about 30 hungry campers. Unfortunately we could not take Gizmo because of the loaner truck, it was a real shame because there were loads of other dogs there and he would have loved it.

We went out exploring in the truck that day and bad luck struck again, one of the front tires threw a tread and we had to call out our recovery again as we had no tools (shame on us). He dragged us into Calgary and into Canadian tire where the guys there stuck 2 new front tires on for us and we were off again in about 2 hours. We could not believe the mechanical bad luck we were having.

We got back to the camp ground and unfortunately missed supper, this was not really the end of the world as we always carry loads of food in the trailer anyway. We were in time for the evenings drinks and socialising though which went on quite late into the evening.

Sunday morning we said our farewells and hitched up ready for the trip home, it was a great weekend and i would like to extend a thank you to all who made it a fantastic weekend.

How NOT to start a campfire

2011-09-09T19:51:00.000-06:00

Please don't try this at home kids !

Muddy May Bank Holiday In KOA Great Falls

2011-09-09T19:34:00.002-06:00

This was a fairly good long weekend away bu it started off as a disaster. We crossed the border as normal at Sweetgrass..... but after we passed Shelby things started to go bad. Our engine started making a nasty clattering noise and eventually died. This left us stranded at the side of the road, miles from anywhere at eight o'clock in the evening.

I took a look under the hood and it did not look good, the negative lead off the battery was practically melted through and the battery appeared to be dead. Luckily we have a fantastic recovery service called Coach-Net so i called them and the said that they would have a recovery vehicle out to us in an hour.

In the meantime I decided to make a coffee in the trailer, as I was washing my hands i noticed a large black spot in my eyeball, about the size of a tea leaf. I tried to wash it out and it just went under the eyelid and stuck there, i was in absolute agony. That whole hour i spent trying to wash my eye out but to no avail, it was stuck and it was very sore.

When the tow truck arrived he put the truck on the back of the wrecker and towed the trailer. The service we recieved was excellent, he took us to our campsite (KOA in Great Falls) and even positioned it on the site for us.... he returned the following day to collect the Nissan and take it to a dealership to see what was wrong with it.

Once the truck was gone we had to go down to the hospital because I was in so much pain i could hardly balance. We managed to get a taxi from the campsite and he took us straight to the emergency room. The doctor told me he was going to freeze the eyeball, I was a bit sceptical but as soon as the solution went in, all the pain just disapeared, it was absolute bliss. Five seconds later my eye was cleaned out and we were good to go. $230 but worth every cent, I'm not really bothered about the payment anyway because my company provides excellent international medical cover as a benefit.

We had a pretty good weekend just chilling out in the trailer but obviously we were worried about the truck, we were even more worried when they told us it needed a new engine. There was no way we were going to pay a Dealership to fix the truck, we could get it done much cheaper in Canada.

I phoned Luke (my son) and he jumped in his car and came down to collect us..... at least this would get us back home as we still had to go to work on Tuesday.

Tuesday night we were headed back down to Great Falls in a rented truck and we towed Zingy back home to safety. Wednesday we returned to Gt Falls with a car hauler on the back of the rental truck and recovered the Titan which we took into a friends dealership hoping that he would be able to help us (which he did)

This was an expensive weekend but still great fun !

Sorry no pics on this one, they got lost when the computer crashed.

Brad Paisley - Online

2011-09-07T23:47:00.000-06:00

Time for a bit of Country Music

Easter Roadtrip - Camping Las Vegas

2011-09-07T20:49:00.001-06:00

We have always tried to do something special at Easter and this year I had a few days owing to me so we decided to go camping in Vegas....... and it was amazing !

As per usual, as soon as work was done we were hitched up and gone. We only live about 30 minutes drive from the US border at Sweetgrass so pretty soon we were heading south into Montana. The idea was to just get as far south as possible then "Overnight" somewhere. Well that's what we did, we found a nice little rest area just before the Idaho border and pulled in for the night.

Next morning started with a full fried breakfast and hot coffee, remember I said that Zingy was fully self contained. We took most of the next day to get down to Las Vegas and pulled into the campsite at about eight in the evening.

The next day was spent on the "Las Vegas Strip" just exploring and taking in all the sights. We must have walked for miles and that evening we got back to the trailer absolutely exhausted. That evening we must have spent only about an hour in the local Casino before we were absolutely beat and it was time for bed.

The next day was more of the same, seeing all the sights in the hotels and casinos..... followed by the highlight of the trip......The Lion King Show. If you ever get the chance to see the Lion King being performed live then just go and see it, don't even question it, just go and see it. I wish I could find words to describe it, it was just Awesome!..... and of course a beautiful meal in one of the excellent restaurants in the Mandalay Bay to finish off the evening.

The next day was just as exciting..... we spent more time just looking around in awe.... we absolutely fell in love with Las Vegas. By mid afternoon it was time for something different so we jumped in the truck and headed off to Whiskey Pete's and the Retail Outlet down there. After an afternoon of retail therapy we were completely refreshed so that was our cue for an evening in the Casino again.

On our last morning we just had a lie in and started packing for the long journey home, of course via Mesquite and the great Casinos there.

The journey back was pretty uneventful as it is practically just one road all the way back to Alberta. This was our best camping holiday yet, All the fun of Vegas but at the end of the evening it was nice to get back to the privacy and comfort of our own little cottage on wheels.

First Roadtrip of 2011 - West Edmonton mall

2011-09-07T20:13:00.001-06:00

For those of you that are unfamiliar with the with the weather in this part of the world, let me tell you that the Winters are a little chilly. Our last trip in the trailer was mid November and it was about zero degrees. As soon as the temperatures drop down into the minuses, we tend to Winterize our trailers. This isn't a massive job but it does involve removing all the water and replacing it with an antifreeze solution and removing batteries.

The third week in November we Winterized and Zingy stayed in that frozen state until mid February when we pumped out all the antifreeze and took her out for the first trip of the year.

As usual, as soon as we had finished work on the Friday night we hitched up and headed North. The plan was to get as far as Red Deer and shut down for the night, getting into Edmonton on Saturday round about mid morning.

All went well as we approached Red Deer but disaster struck when we parked up in a turn-out for the night. Before we set off that evening I had set the furnace because I knew it was going to be cold that night. Unfortunately the battery charger had failed and the furnace had killed the battery. I opened the trailer door to be met with darkness and an icy blast. The temperature inside and out was minus ten degrees, that was one freezing cold night, fully clothed and under all the quilts and blankets.

The next morning we called into a trailer dealership and they fixed the problem which took about 5 seconds. Like I always say, "You never stop learning when you are camping".

So anyway, we got to the Glowing Embers Campsite, incidentally with a name like Glowing Embers you would have thought that they would have had great campfires, funnily enough campfires were not allowed on the site, not that it really bothered us in that weather.

There's not really much to tell about the campsite, we couldn't see much because there was about four feet of snow and the individual sites had to be dug out. Most of the weekend was spent in the West Edmonton Mall which indeed was the sole purpose of the visit.

You would have thought that we would have saved money by not using hotel rooms but to be honest, when you add up the extra cost in fuel (8mpg towing) and the small cost of the campsite ($30 per night if i remember correctly) then it all balances out.

On the way down we hit some horrendous weather which managed to get Zingy absolutely filthy so it was a trip into the truck wash when we got back to Lethbridge, also we must have used about 60 lbs of propane just keeping the trailer warm.

Blairmore Alberta - Lost Lemon Campground

2011-09-06T23:16:00.001-06:00

This particular weekend we decided that we would stay in Canada for a change, we had also checked in on the weather as there was snow in Great Falls and also up above Calgary, and those were the 2 areas that we were considering.

Anyhoo, after checking the internet and the maps, we decided to head West along the Crows Nest Trail (Hwy 3) and check out down there. I used to travel along those roads when I used to drive truck but in a Semi you never get the chance to really see the places as you have to really stay on the highways.

So straight after work on Friday night we hitched up and headed off to the Lost Lemon. We got there quite late and it was dark, however, the host was still up and about and they were very helpful and even sold us a few bundles of firewood so we could have the all important campfire.

Friday night was pretty uneventful, i built a fire and we drank beer all night. We took Gizmo with us and it was interesting to see how he coped with the fire, basically, he found a warm spot and went to sleep.

The whole weekend was very peaceful and quiet, we made campfires, we barbecued on the campfire and we drank beer around the campfire. A very successful weekend 8-)

Great Falls Montana - KOA Kampground

2011-09-06T22:56:00.001-06:00

This is our other favourite campground in Great falls. It is located on the other side of town to Dick's and the 2 sites are completely different. Where Dick's is open and flat, KOA is built in a wood which is on a hill, the roads are made of dirt and they are a little lumpy. The sites are quite tight to get into bearing in mind Zingy is a 26 footer which means she is 30 feet from nose to tail. So why do we like this place?????

Well the simple reason is because it is so rustic, apart from the washroom, showers and laundry which are immaculately maintained.

As I said the sites are quite tight but the huge advantages of the KOA are that, not only are you allowed to have a Kampfire but all the firewood is provided free of charge. It is all cut up for you and all you have to do is go and collect it.

We have visited this place about 6 times now and we absolutely love it. The theme of the site is that of eating what is around you. All of the sites are planted with edible berries, apple trees, pear trees, a;; sorts of stuff and you just help your self to it. There are also loads of chickens roaming around but i don't think the Kamp hosts would be too happy if we were ringing a few necks LOL.

Chester Montana - Over night stopover

2011-09-06T22:34:00.001-06:00

One weekend we decided to head on down to Great Falls however I was having a late finish at the office and we knew we were not going to get away until later in the evening. We decided to change our plans and make a stopover in one of the public stopovers in a little town in Montana.

We pulled in just as it was getting dark so I strategically pulled in close to the building just in case someone else pulled in later. I had a little look around and found an electric receptacle, I plugged in so we had TV for the evening.

Not really much to say about this place, there was no facilities and it was free to park, there was a restroom about 20 yards away but it was all locked up. This was not really a problem as Zingy is pretty much self contained anyway.

Great Falls Montana - Dick's RV Campground

2011-09-06T20:28:00.002-06:00

We love Great Falls! The shopping is great..... the people are great.......... the location is great......... and the 2 main campsites are great........ Maybe that's why the call it Great Falls.

The first campsite I would like to tell you about is Dick's. It is literally just off the intersection of the I-15 and one intersection North of the Flying J. This was to be our second camping trip and the first one where we had ventured out of Canada.

We had pre-booked because we did not really know what the etiquette was or even how busy it was going to be. We had already packed the trailer on Thursday night so as soon as work was done on Friday night we were heading home to get ready, hitch up and head on out. This particular weekend was Canadian Thanksgiving which is not a holiday in the States....... the result of this was that Great Falls was full of Canadians. On Saturday morning when I took a walk round the site, all you could see was Wild Rose (Alberta) License Plates.

Seeing as Zingy was new and it was a long weekend..... and seeing that Dick's Campground had water, electric, sewer, cable TV and Internet we took Luke and Gizmo along. We were a bit nervous about how Gizmo was going to react in his new surroundings but we needn't have worried, he behaved himself perfectly.

The thing i liked about this particular site was the fact that it was so open and so convenient. The sites were very flat and level which made it very easy for a novice like me to set the trailer up and level it out. We were still slowly finding out what essentials we needed for camping and luckily there was both a Target and a Walmart very close by........ I think we must have made at least half a dozen visits to both that weekend.

The only downside to Dick's was that there was no facility to have a campfire. Remember though, we were very new to this and hadn't yet learnt just how vital the campfire was to a camping weekend. Instead we had bought a butane cooker from Target so at least we were able to cook outside, in fact we spent most of the weekend outside of the trailer anyway.

Notice the red Throw that we have put over the sofa bed, that was for Gizmo's benefit as he loves to sleep on there.

Collecting the trailer and onwards to Banff

2011-09-06T19:48:00.002-06:00

On the weekend we were going to take ownership of Zingy, we had decided to collect the trailer and head off to Banff for the weekend. So Friday night after work we hopped into our new truck, we had to upgrade from the Ford F-150 because of the weight of Zingy, at 7000 lbs she was a bit too much for the ford so we invested in a 5.7 liter Nissan Titan. This was more like it and along with the Reese weight distribution and stabilizing hitch that I managed to negotiate into the deal...... the combination was looking pretty good.

So Friday night after work we loaded up the Titan and headed up to Calgary, we stayed in a motel for the night and headed over to the dealership Saturday morning to collect the trailer. All was going well so far, we were met by the salesman who took us round to meet Zingy for the first time. There was a service guy who showed us how everything worked and helped us hook it onto the Titan for the first time. There was a slight technical hitch when the lights did not work but this was soon fixed and the hitch, brakes, lights and all the other stuff was set up and we were ready to go.

We were already pre-booked into the camp ground which was pretty comfortable with water, electric, sewer and pretty clean washrooms. I parked in our allotted site and started to un-hitch, i had managed to split the truck from the trailer and moved the truck out of the way, this is when the problem occurred.

Jan was inside putting things away while I was leveling out and dropping the stabilizer jacks. While I was lowering the nose jack, it collapsed and the nose hit the floor, Jan screamed and I used a few choice words at what had happened. The next 10 minutes was spent scratching our heads and wandering what to do next. My first feeble attempt at fixing the problem was to get the jack out of the truck to try to get the nose in the air. When this failed miserably I decided to phone the dealership and ask their advice, the answer I got was to hook it up and go back to the dealership where they would look at it. My answer to that was "How the HOOK am I going to get the nose in the air to attach it to the truck. Their answer was that they didn't know.........

So while all this was going on, the guy in the next trailer along came walking over, looked at the mess for a few seconds and disappeared back to his trailer. He reappeared a few minutes later with a tool kit and 2 bottle jacks. That was when he gave me some excellent camping advice, "All trailers are built like crap, the service at all trailer dealerships is crap, and trailer salesmen talk crap to get you to buy their trailers", he also told me that the wealth of camping information is amongst my fellow campers.

So armed with this alarming revelation we proceeded to jack up the nose, balance the front end on some blocks of wood and we unbolted the nose jack........ Ten minutes later we had removed the jack and were speeding back towards Calgary with a very sick jack, we left the trailer at the camp ground under the watchful eye of our new camping buddy Louis.

Two hours later we were back in Banff, new jack fitted and were sitting outside Louis and Diane's trailer drinking Gin and Tonics. The rest of the weekend was pretty uneventful as we got acquainted with Zingy and how all her "Stuff" worked, and all in the beautiful resort of Banff Alberta.

Road Trip Mount Rushmore: Sept 2010

2011-09-06T00:38:00.001-06:00

Okay, as said before, this was the trip that prompted us to buy "Zingy"

Apart from not being able to spend the evening in Keystone it was a fantastic trip. The weather was beautiful when we went over to see Custer's Last Stand... in fact the weather was beutiful all weekend apart from a little snow (yes snow) as we came through Wyoming on the way home.

If you ever get the chance to go to 1880's Town then you must go, what a great experience. It is basically a reconstruction of a Wild West town and it even has a resident Bank Robber. If you really want to get into the swing of things then you can rent the costumes.

Apparently, the saloon has real acts performing there but unfortunately we didnt see any. One thing we did see though was all the relics and props from the film "Dances With Wolves".

Lyndon's Camping Life

2011-09-05T23:57:00.001-06:00

Well you can probably see from the title that our new (or should I say renewed) hobby is camping. We decided to get back into camping round about this time last year..... in fact it was exactly this weekend last year.

It all started with a planned visit down to Mount Rushmore, you know the place where the Presendents' faces are carved into the side of the mountain. Well we actually planned this trip on the Thursday night, basically the day before we planned to go. We decided to drive down to Billings, spend the night in a motel and head on to Rushmore the following day. We would visit Custer's Last Stand and spend the evening in Keystone which is a little touristy town ant the foot of Mount Rushmore. We would then head East over to 1880's town, spend the day there, spend the night in another local motel, then head back to Canada, arriving home Monday evening.

Well Friday night went as planned, we stayed in a great little hotel in Billings............. actually, i will finish this story in the next post as I intend to write a few posts over the next few days to bring you up to date on where we have been in our trailer (that's North American for caravan)

Anyway we couldn't find a hotel and nearly ended up sleeping in the pickup, so we decided that from now on, whilst on road trips, we would be dragging our home around with us so we always had somewhere to sleep. Little did we know that this thing was going to take over practically all of our recreation time.... and I am so glad it did.

The following few weeks were spent looking for the ideal trailer, we must have looked at hundreds of different models and hundreds of different floor plans until we decided on the Zinger.

So now starts Lyndon's Camping Life..........

New Canadian Adventures

2011-09-05T23:15:00.000-06:00

Well it has been quite sometime since I posted on the old "Lyndon's Trucking Life" Blog. In fact I don't think the name is even relevant any more as I don't even drive a truck for a living.... and I have not driven one now for over two and a half years. So as of today I have renamed the Blog "Living The Dream".

That name is quite apt because in the early days, when we first made the move over here, I used to use that phrase all the time. In fact quite a few people used to make fun or even mock me because of it, however to me the DREAM was all important and that was the reason we moved to Canada..... To Live The Dream.

Anyway, if you know me, you will know that we made the move to Canada and knuckled down to carve out a new life for ourselves. I had eighteen fantastic months on the road driving Long Haul for H&R Transport and I saw some fantastic sights along the way and had a great old time.

So then came the huge change when I was asked to swap my Freightliner Cascadia for a desk and computer and I became a Recruiter. Well I thought my opportunity for telling stories had finished and as I have mentioned in a previous post, there is not much to talk about working in an office. I left the Blog running because I thought (and still do) that it would be an interesting and informative information trail that may help anyone who was looking to make the same move that I made in 2007.

Two and a half years later i am amazed to see how many people still stop by and check in on my old adventures, in between times, I have even started another Blog which is more concerned with my Internet Business and I have been putting a few of my stories on there. Well I have decided to keep that Blog for my business ventures and this one is really going to be about my life as it unfolds in Canada..... and my new hobbies and interests.

So there is the brief introduction...... see you all in the next post.

Click the image to visit the website

2011-07-21T19:20:00.004-06:00

How I Became An Internet Marketer

2011-06-20T01:02:00.002-06:00

I spend so much time on the internet i have decided to try and use that time more productively, and actually make a few dollars out of tapping the keyboard.

I have started a new blog to chart my progress, just as i did when i decided to emigrate. The story actually started about a month ago when i first started looking into this.

"Build An Income Online" by Lyndon Lomanovskis

Believe me when i say it took me hours to think up that name.

I am at the stage now when my first websites are going up and now i am starting to learn how to adjust them. Ive learnt a lot of new skills over the last few weeks and i dont mind admitting that i have had a few late nights.

The eBook that sparked this whole thing was sent to me free and i am also very happy to pass the book along for free. Please take a look.... if nothing else it will show you how to build your own website.

http://www.snowbird.me/

You know its cold when..........

2011-01-03T21:11:00.002-07:00

WOW i never realised it was so cold, we thought it would be nice to bring in the New Year in the Hot Tub so we got everything ready early, chilled the 'Bubbly', set the towels to warm thru, stoked up the wood burning stove with so much wood that i could bearly shut the oven door. It was actually so hot in our basement that Gizmo wouldnt go down their without an asbestos suit, the stove was glowing so hot the whole thing had a red tinge to it.

So the scene is set, and the cans of beer and bottles of fizzy grape juice are stategically placed around the tub.

So two crazy English people go hop skipping and jumping barefoot through the snow followed by 2 splashes and me moaning about the water being too hot..... i dont do really hot water... i like my Hot Tub to be a Cool Tub, even when it is minus 30 outside.

Okay, were in the water, Jan grabs the glasses and i grab the first bottle of Cava. Pop goes the cork (over the garage and into next doors' garden) and then nothing ?????????

Then the slow eruption of a Cava 'SLUSHIE" volcano out of the bottle...............

Well that was great fun trying to eat Champagne flavoured slush..... i think we may have found a niche market. So.... armed with hind sight, the second bottle can float around in the water for awhile to thaw out.

Now...... i also poured a beer chaser while all this frivolity was going on, and guess what... that all froze up too.

2010-08-16T21:47:00.002-06:00

This is an actual radio conversation between a United States Navy aircraft carrier (U.S.S. Abraham Lincoln) and Canadian authorities off the coast off Newfoundland in October 1995. (The radio conversation was released by the Chief of Naval Operations on 10/10/95 as authorized by the Freedom of Information Act.)

CANADIANS:
Please divert your course 15 degrees to the South to avoid a collision.

AMERICANS:
Recommend you divert your course 15 degrees to the North to avoid a collision.

CANADIANS:
Negative. You will have to divert your course 15 degrees to the South to avoid a collision.

AMERICANS:
This is the Captain of a US Navy ship. I say again, divert YOUR course.

CANADIANS:No, I say again, you divert YOUR course.

AMERICANS:

This is the aircraft carrier USS Lincoln. The second largest ship in the United States Atlantic fleet. We are accompanied by three destroyers, three cruisers, and numerous support vessels. I demand that you change your course15 degrees north...
I say again...That's one-five degrees north.... or counter-measures will be undertaken to ensure the safety of this ship!

CANADIANS:

We are a lighthouse. Your call

Luke passes his Driving Test first time.

2010-06-27T22:34:00.005-06:00

Yesterday was another milestone for us and it has hammered home again why we got ourselves off that rock that sits just off the coast of France and carved a new life for ourselves in Canada.

Ask most families why they come over here and the answer is the same "were doing it for the kids, so they can have a better life". This weekend really bought it home for us. Luke was 13 when we came over here and out of the 3 of us, he was the one who was reluctant to make the move. It was all the usual stuff..... apprehensive about starting a new school, leaving all his mates behind, having to make all new friends over here. On top of that we had to sell all of his prized posessions, ie, his gaming machines and games.

Well that was 3 years ago, and now he is a 16 year old Senior High School student with great buddies, achieving excellent grades and is well on track to earning a place in College or University. His English (Wiltshire) accent has gone and has been replaced by a Southern Alberta "twang".

And to top it all....... he can drive a car (at the age of 16), tomorrow we set up the insurance and buy the car. He has been saving hard... and has managed to buy the car himself, we always said that if he bought the car himself we would insure it for him.

For anyone who is dreading that first insurance quote, think about it like this:

At the moment we make 8 trips into Lethbridge every weekend to take him to work and bring him back, and on a Saturday night he always has $15 worth of KFC.

8 x 40 kms x 52 weeks =16640kms / 0.61=10150 miles.

Jans car does 30 mpg therefore 10150/30= 30 gallons= 340 gallons

There are 3.785 liters to the US Gallon

340 x 3.785 = 1286 liters

Pump prices are 92 cents per liter

1286 x .92 = $1183.12 in Gas.

KFC at $15 x 52 = $780 in food.

1183 + 780 = 1963

It costs us $1963 per year just to get Luke to work and back.

If the insurance costs me $1800 like i am expecting then i license his car too which is about $100 per year.... then i am still up on the deal and Jan and I have an extra 4 hours on the weekend.

Woo Hoo......... Congratulations Luke !!!!!!!!!

AFTER EDIT: The Insurance was less than $1400 because Luke has completed a Certified Driving Course..... way to go Luke !!!

Freaky Alberta Weather

2010-05-29T14:36:00.004-06:00

We have a saying over here in Southern Alberta..... if you dont like the weather.....just give it 10 minutes.

Well this weekend was no different, i woke up this morning and it was white over, 3 hours later all the snow was gone.

Believe it or not these 2 pictures were both taken Saturday morning

Dont forget to put your clocks forward

2010-03-14T11:54:00.005-06:00

Most of Canada and US will be moving clocks forward an hour this weekend, unless of course if you live in Saskatchewan and dont recognise DST.

This took place at 2am this morning when the time changed to 3am.

"Just so you know"

Weekend explorers

2009-12-27T17:39:00.003-07:00

Once the big day was over we still had the weekend to amuse ourselves, yesterday we went exploring down on the Blood Indian Reservation. Saw some people down ice fishing on the resevoir. The roads were pretty dry although we cam back through the range roads which were pretty slick.

Today we did practically nothing, a nice lie in followed by a soak in the tub, another huge turkey dinner and an hour walking the dog in an effort to burn off some the calories.

Third Christmas in Canada

2009-12-26T12:05:00.004-07:00

Christmas morning was our normal routine... unwrapping the presents followed by coffee and breakfast.... later on it was a splash about in the tub and walk the dog. The normal trail that we follow was so funny, in some parts there were no footprints and the snow was about 2 foot deep, the top layer had frozen solid so you were literally walking on top of the snow.... except every so ofter there was a softer spot and you would go right through to above the knee.

Gizmo was running round like a maniac until every so often he would fall through and disapear head first under the snow, his little black legs waving in the air.

Christmas lunch was almost done by the time we got back so it was another couple of Egg-Nogs while we got the stuffing and the yorkshire puddings in the oven (we have yorkshires with every roast whether it is beef, pork, lamb, chicken or turkey)

After lunch and a couple of glasses of wine and a chill while lunch digested then it was back out to the tub..... its so weird when your hair freezes solid, i really need to get some photographs of that.

We watched that District 9 too, now that is a good movie, completely different to what i was expecting though.

New wheels

2009-12-22T22:11:00.002-07:00

Finally the new wheels for my pick-up have turned up......

Discovering Canada

2009-12-20T16:10:00.007-07:00

This is how i first had the idea about emigrating to Canada. I was delivering to Morrisons depot in wakefield, i made the delivery and had to wait about 2 hours for the paperwork.

I had just bought myself a little 10" TV and i was using the time to set it up. Anyway i got the thing working and the only channel with a decent reception was one with a news program on. They were talking about a new program that was put into place to address the Canadian trucking industry's lack of drivers.

Apparently they were even expediting applications........

I had tried to emigrate to Canada before but Jan & I just couldn't get the required number of points.

A few weeks later i was talking to a couple of the lads back at the depot and they were talking about it, and thats when i decided to give it a try.

So it was thanks to that little TV and its crappy reception that we made the big move.

My first truck

2009-12-20T15:54:00.003-07:00

I was just going through some old photos and i found this on of when i drove car transporters, bad memories i hated that job, it was hard work.

I was told it had a sleeper cab and i thought they were joking, it was just a big parcel shelf behind the seats.

Who are you calling a redneck eh?

2009-12-12T13:38:00.001-07:00

Elfy Lifestyle In Canada

2009-12-12T13:26:00.002-07:00

Third Winter in the Great White North

2009-12-12T13:05:00.003-07:00

Well its that time of year again, the temperatures are dropping, the white fluffy stuff is on the ground and the annoying christmas songs can be heared everywhere. I hope everyone out there is getting ready for the Big day.

So what has been happening recently...... the answer is, nothing much, life goes on as normal

Last weekend we had some seriously bad weather and a blizzard swept through Southern Alberta, roads were closed, visibility was down to almost zero. Most people battened down for the weekend and all the radio stations were warning people to stay at home if your journey wasnt necessary.

Well we found that all of our journeys were necessary so we were out and about. After spending 2 hours shovelling snow and digging the cars out were were heading into town, some 18 kms away through the prairie.

On the way in we must have passed about a dozen cars in ditches, abandoned from the night before, the roads were still pretty bad and the blizzard was still blowing. I have to say that i was very impressed with Jans SUV.... this thing is part car and part snowmobile, nothing could stop it, it just powered even through quite deep snow.

My truck was like driving a European shopping cart in 2 wheel drive with each wheel wanting to go a different direction but as soon as i hit the 4X4 then she dug in and off we went. i have to admit i have now had a remote starter fitted so i can start the engine from in the house, office or supermarket.... i can let the engine run for quarter of an hour so its nice and warm when i get in. Another thing that we do over here which might seem a little strange to people over there in Europe is that we plug our vehicles into the mains overnight. Most cars over here have a block heater which when you plug it into a household electrical supply will warm the engine block and the oil, this serves 2 purposes, firstly it ensures that your car should start in the morning and secondly it prevents the oil getting so cold it turns to treacle and causes excessive wear on your cold engine.

Anyway... i always keep towing and dragging gear in my truck just in case i see someone in trouble or in deed if i get into trouble. well someone out there was sure glad i did, last weekend wee saw some guys with their car in a ditch literally up to the windshield. We pulled over and i shouted down to them "What are you doing parked down there" the one lad just grinned and shook his head. So anyway i hooked one end of my dragging strop onto the front hitch of my truck and threw the other end down to where they were. 10 seconds later i pulled their car backout of the hole and back onto the shoulder... that was our good deed for the day. I spent the next few minutes trying to refuse the $20 note that the driver was tryuing to force on me but in the end took it and thanked him... i used the money to buy a 3 million candle power spotlight which i keep in the car, so i can help people at night now after burning their retinas out first (only joking.

Anyway here are some piccies of our saturday morning after we discovered our cars were burried.

The reason why some people get strange presents at Xmas

2009-11-08T15:17:00.005-07:00

My FOREX Life

2009-08-23T18:44:00.002-06:00

Double click pic to see it properly

Okay time for a complete change, lets get away from the nastiness, life is too short for bickering and squabbling.... and the weekend is nearly over.

This weekend has been very lazy and i have done absolutely nothing, bought a bottle of Screech and a couple of bottles of diet pepsi (diet... who am i kidding), flicked on the ice making machine in the fridge and spent the evening soaking in the tub, listening to UB40 on the tubs sound system and sipping ice cold Screech and coke.

Screech by the way is a Newfoundland Rum, its got a very interesting history which i may share with you one day which goes back to the days when Johnny Depp stuck a big hat on and sailed the seven seas in ships with big sails.

Anyway that was Friday night, listening to UB40 and watching the sun go down over Raymond, and supper was a couple of burgers and bratties thrown on the barbie.

Saturday i cut the front lawn and took the lawn mower to the lawn mower doctors for a service, followed by taking Luke to work, going shopping then going for a nice stir fry at the Mongolie Grill and a hot chocolate at Tims while we waited for Luke to finish. Oh by the way Luke has found himself a little job which he is really happy about, its for the evenings and weekends.

Last night we watched Porkies Revenge after another late night soak in the tub and today i have played on the computer, back in the tub, sunbathed in the garden then back in the tub, took Luke back to work, came back and by then the FOREX market was open to trade again. I missed out Sunday lunch which was roast beef and my experimental yorkshire puddings which were garlic and lemon pepper flavor.

So, as for my FOREX escapades, im not going to be a millionaire quite yet although the price action seems to be going in the right direction at last. If you remember i opened the trade a couple of weeks ago and i was about $8 in profit, well things went a little pear shaped over the next week and i dropped into a loss. I took out my safety stop which is not a particularly clever thing to do but it looks like it paid off, in all my years trading i have found that the one thing which has always held me back is my safety stop loss, the price always seems to hit it closing me out of the trade at a loss then reversing and showing me the profit i could have made iff it wasnt for the damn stop.

Well i am experimenting with that at the moment and i am trading over bigger moves with less stake, it seems to be working so far and the stakes will only increase in size if and when the size of my account increases. Heres how it is going so far since i opened the trade.

* Alberta Immigration News Flash *

2009-08-14T17:44:00.002-06:00

News of new pilot program released today.

Long Haul Truckers' Wives & Common Law Partners in Alberta can now get Open Work Visas

Click the link below

http://thebigredteam.blogspot.com/2009/08/alberta-immigration-news-flash.html

How to trade the FOREX

2009-08-13T19:26:00.004-06:00

Double click for better image

Most of you have heard me banging on about my long term hobby which is speculating the Foreign Exchange (FOREX) markets so i thought i would give you a little insight into how its done.

Okay, first of all the basics..........

You speculate the currencies in pairs, my particular favorite is the Euro versus the American Dollar. I enter the market at a particular exchange rate and i bet as to whether the Euro is going to get stronger or weaker against the greenback (USD). This is abbreviated to EUR-USD or nicknamed "The Fiber".

You can bet as much or as little as you like and that amount goes up or down as the rate fluctuates. The units that affect your bet are the lowest increment possible in any given pair and is known as a pip.

If you stake $1 to one pip then for every pip it moves in your favor you gain a $1, in my case i bet 10 cents per pip so it needs to move 10 pips to earn (or lose me a $1). When you make your stake you have to state whether it will go up or go down.

There are many different ways to make your decision on how you think things will go, my particular choice is the candlestick chart coupled with a SAR and Full Stochastic indicator, this type of trading is known as Technical Analysis. I also read the news and follow the periodic statements and news releases of the National Financial Institutions which is known as Fundamental Trading.

So you might say i am a Chart Technician with Fundamental tendencies LOL.

Anyway, enough of the techno-babble, above is a chart that i have cusomised to make it "Lyndon Friendly" and a trade that i opened last night and incidently is still open.

First thing you notice is the red and green candles, red means its going down and green means its going up. The blue dotted line is the price that i entered the market (betting to go North) and the last candle shows where the price is at the moment.

The green line is where i intend to claim my profit and the yellow line is a safety stop just incase things dont go as planned. That yellow line is tied to the price action so as the candles rise they drag the stop along with them. As you see the yellow line is now above the blue dotted line which means it is impossible for me to lose money on this particular bet.

This is known in the trade as a "Free Trade" because it doesnt matter what happens now it will be a winner. Or to put it into money terms, the worsed i can win is about $1 or the best i can win is about $25. At the moment i am winning $8.69 but i am hoping for that $25.

(Disclaimer, this isnt a recomendation or any kind of advertisement, FOREX is a high leverage speculating tool and losses as well as gains can be many times larger than the initial stake)

Thinking of Winter

2009-08-11T20:20:00.003-06:00

Theres 2 things you need to know about free firewood:

1. It gets scarse as soon as the weather gets cold coz thats when everyone thinks about stockpiling for the winter.

2. Cutting up wood outside in 3 foot of snow is just nasty.. trust me ive tried it.

Anyway we have started collecting already and my woodpile is about two thirds full, i have about 30 pallets left to cut up then thats the back of the garage full so i might have to start piling it down the side.

There is nothing quite like a real fire when the temperature outside starts hitting the -30's and also it makes a huge impact on the ole gas bill which can rocket over here in the wintertime.

Anyhow, for now the temperature is a nice comfortable 21 at half eight in the evening, the BBQ is just cooling down from supper and there is a huge jug of ice tea in the fridge. The FOREX is being very kind to me (thats why im sat in the home office instead of out in the garden) and i dont really care that the fan (which is on full blast) has just blown all the paperwork off the table.

Well i will give the FOREX another 20 minutes to make me a millionaire (extreem sarcasm intended) then its on with the shorts (im not built for "Speedos" im afraid) and its a hop, skip and a jump into the bubbly stuff with a frosty glass of Iced Tea.

Canada funny questions

2009-08-04T22:10:00.002-06:00

Now that Vancouver has won the chance to host the 2010 Winter Olympics, these are some questions people from all over the world are asking. Believe it or not these questions about Canada were posted on an International Tourism Website. The answers are a joke; but the questions were really asked!

Q:I have never seen it warm on Canadian TV, so how do the plants grow? ( England )
A. We import all plants fully grown and then just sit around and watch them die.

Q:Will I be able to see Polar Bears in the street? ( USA )
A: Depends on how much you've been drinking.

Q:I want to walk from Vancouver to Toronto -can I follow the Railroad tracks? ( Sweden )
A: Sure, it's only Four thousand miles, take lots of water.

Q: Is it safe to run around in the bushes in Canada ? ( Sweden )
A: So it's true what they say about Swedes.

Q: It is imperative that I find the names and addresses of places to contact for a stuffed Beaver. ( Italy )
A: Let's not touch this one.

Q: Are there any ATM's (cash machines) in Canada ? Can you send me a list of them in Toronto , Vancouver , Edmonton and Halifax ? ( England )
A: What, did your last slave die from?

Q: Can you give me some information about hippo racing in Canada ? ( USA )
A: A-Fri-ca is the big triangle shaped continent south of Europe. Ca-na-DA is that big country to your North...oh forget it. Sure, the hippo racing is after every Flames game in Calgary . Come naked.

Q: Which direction is North in Canada ? ( USA )
A: Face south and then turn 180 degrees Contact us when you get here and we'll send the rest of the directions.

Q: Can I bring cutlery into Canada ?( England )
A: Why? Just use your fingers like we do.

Q: Can you send me the Vienna Boys' Choir schedule? ( USA )
A: Aus-tri-a is that quaint little country bordering Ger-man-y, which is...oh forget it. Sure, the Vienna Boys Choir plays after every hockey game in Vancouver and in Calgary , straight after the hippo races. Come naked.

Q: Do you have perfume in Canada ? ( Germany )
A: No, WE don't stink.

Q: I have developed a new product that is the fountain of youth. Can you sell it in Canada ? ( USA )
A: Anywhere significant numbers of Americans gather.

Q: Can you tell me the regions in British Columbia where the female population is smaller than the male population? ( Italy )
A: Yes, gay nightclubs.

Q: Do you celebrate Thanksgiving in Canada ? ( USA )
A: Only at Thanksgiving.

Q: Are there supermarkets in Toronto and is milk available all year round? ( Germany )
A: No, we are a peaceful civilization of Vegan hunter/gathers. Milk is illegal.

Q: I have a question about a famous animal in Canada , but I forget its name. It's a kind of big horse with horns. ( USA )
A: It's called a Moose. They are tall and very violent, eating the brains of anyone walking close to them. You can scare them off by spraying yourself with human urine before you go out walking.

Q: Will I be able to speak English most places I go? ( USA )
A: Yes, but you will have to learn it first.

Storms On The Prairie

2009-08-03T21:10:00.003-06:00

I was just talking to someone in UK today about the weather over here and i was telling them how hot and dry it is................

Looks like i jinxed it, we have had an electrical storm tonight and it has just started to rain so Jan and I are confined in doors, Im trading on the FOREX and doing a bit of blogging and Jan is watching the TV, i think its CSI.. it usually is anyway.

I havent really had time to play on the currency markets since coming over to Canada which is a real shame. When i was out on the road i had a little dabble (with a virtual account) but could never guarrantee that i would get an internet connection when i pulled in for the night. Even now i am office based i dont seem to have the time, im either working late, chasing up some issue or just too plain tired.

Anyway these last few weeks i have been determined to make time to research and to trade (speculate) and at the moment i am concentrating on how the Euro is doing against the American Dollar.

For some twisted reason i find this high stress pass-time very relaxing, i can look at trading charts for hours on end, observing how the big players in the market express their sentiments by making and losing fortunes.

By the way, before anyone gets any ideas about me betting thousands of dollars on the outcome of national economies.............. i'd just like to point out that i play for 10 cents per pip and my average win/loss per trade is about $5 to $10.

Anyway thats what my evening consisted of..... Speculating the FOREX market and listening to the rain splattering against the window, every now and then interupted by the crash and flash of the electrical storm.

... So far tonight i am $6.49 up woo hoo !!

Clinton Kitchen Combo Set

2009-08-03T17:09:00.001-06:00

Change of vehicles

2009-07-19T23:04:00.003-06:00

Last weekend we went into town and did something we have been talking about for the last few months.................... swapping the vehicles.

Now bearing in mind we live out in the sticks, summer is fantastic for driving over here but winter can be a little .................... different.

Last season Jan went off the road twice and went into a snow bank once, this is one reason why we went for the Sebring, its a lot bigger and heavier and i would be able to pull the ford out of any problems.

Well we have now decided that she will be driving an "All Wheel Drive" vehicle so hopefully she wont go in the ditch in the first place.

Also at the same time, i seem to be wishing i had a truck almost every week for some reason or another.

The last straw was at the Stampede, the parking area was across a lumpy field and the Sebring must have bottomed out about half a dozen times. Before that i had to get rid of a load of stinky garden rubbish, time before that i wanted a load of mulch for the garden, last winter it was for carrying firewood............. then i went and rented the Yukon.

Well anyway thats all my excuses so off we went and picked out 2 vehicles.

Jan got a silver Saturn Vue 3 litre V6 AWD, front wheel drive but when the wheels lose traction the AWD kicks in, they have had great reviews for driving in the snow.

And i got a Ford F-150 (half tonne) 4.6 litre V8 in a burgundy red with a full crew cab.

Its a shame to see the old cars go, especially the Focus but never mind, its nice to have new toys.

Only in Canada

2009-07-19T22:41:00.002-06:00

Well today was pretty uneventful, last night we went to late showing of Harry Potter so we didnt get back in till about 02:00, so this morning we didnt get up till about 11:00.

Pretty typical Sunday, Frosties for breakfast then cut the lawns, temperature was (if i rember correctly about 34 - 36 and not a cloud in the sky.

Once the lawns were cut i set up the sprinkler and went to hack through the jungle which was the vegatable patch. This took about half an hour with my scrub cutter attachmen on the old weed whacker, then it was off to tackle the woodpile.

We had a new fence put up about a month ago and we asked the builders to throw all the old wood into our garden, trouble was i didnt realise there was so much.

Anyway, Luke and i spent about 3 hours and have cut up about half of it, i reckon there is enough wod now to se us through most of the winter. Trouble was though the sun was beating down and i didnt realise how burnt i was getting ..................... till i looked in the mirror tonight.

Coz it was so hot today i stuck the hose pipe in the hot tub and bought the temperature down. Well tonight i was doing a bit of FOREX and i was all hot and bothered so i grabbed a glass of juice and dived in the tub..... i can tell you it was fantastic, id got the lights on and a bit of music so i just laid back and relaxed.

After a few minutes there was a small splash, followed by another... and another..................

There was chunks of ice in the water, only little ones but definitely ice, then one bounced off my head and landed in the water (remember this is July), completely bemused by this, i sat back and relaxed again, just listening to the hail hitting the water.

Then it happened................................

The heavens opened and we had a hailstorm ......... dont know if any of you have ever been caught in a hailstorm in just a pair of shorts .................... it definitely wakes you up, i have never moved so quick, i was up and out of the water, shut everything down grabbed my towel and flip-flops and was back in doors in about 2 seconds flat.

Very refreshing..................................................

The Raymond Stampede

2009-07-18T11:54:00.005-06:00

The Raymond Stampede was on June 30th and July 1st (Canada Day). What a fantastic Day, the whole thing started of with a carnival parade which incidently went straight passed the front of our house, followed by a rodeo in the afternoon and street parties in the evening.

Here are some pictures of the day.

Irish Boys Confession

2009-07-18T11:49:00.000-06:00

A young Irish lad goes in to confession:

'Bless me Father, for I have sinned. I have been with a loose girl'.

The priest asks, 'Is that you, Dicky?' 'Yes, Father, it is.' 'And who was the girl you were with?'
'I can't tell you, Father, I don't want to ruin her reputation.'
'Well, Dicky, I'm sure to find out her name sooner or later, so you may as well tell me now.
Was it Mary Walsh?' 'I cannot say.' 'Was it Teresa Brown?' 'I'll never tell.'
'Was it Margaret Doyle?' 'I'm sorry, but I cannot name her.'
'Was it Anne O' Neil?' 'My lips are sealed.' 'Was it Catherine 0' Tool, then?'
'Please, Father, I cannot tell you.' The priest sighs in frustration.
'You're very tight lipped Dicky, andI admire that. But you've sinned and have to atone.
You cannot be an altarboy now for four months. Now you go and behave yourself.'

Dicky walks back to his pew, and his friend Tommy slides over and whispers, 'What'd you get?' And Dicky replied 'Four Months holiday and five good leads".

Driver sticks wiener where its not welcome

2009-07-18T11:32:00.005-06:00

The owner of a southern Wisconsin house might not be in love with the Oscar Mayer wiener right now. The Oscar Mayer Wienermobile crashed into a Mount Pleasant house around noon Friday.Mount Pleasant Police Chief Tim Zarzecki said the 22-year-old female driver was turning the giant hot dog on wheels around in a driveway and thought she was reversing but instead went forward and crashed into the deck and garage. No one was home and no one was injured.Oscar Mayer spokeswoman Sydney Lindner apologized for any inconvenience to the home owner. Lindner said the company will work with insurance companies to fix the damage to the house and vehicle.

A police spokesperson said yesterday that the events could have been far more serious if the lady with the wiener wasn't strapped on.......... oops i mean strapped IN..............................

Calgary Zoo

2009-07-13T22:03:00.003-06:00

oh well, no bears in Waterton so the following day we did the next best thing, we all went to the zoo.

Finally we get to see bears, moose, prairie dogs, deer, elephants, camels, dinosaurs and all manner of native Canadian critters. Well actually the elephants and camels werent native Canadian but apparently they did have landed status.

i also learnt some disgusting things about koalas, i will never see them in the same light again, apparently the mummy koala (called a shiela) has a giant sphincter (bottom muscle) on the front of her belly and the baby koala (called a baby koala) lives in there. After the mummy koala has finished nursing, the baby then lives on its mummies poop till it is old enough to leave the family. Apparently young koalas leave home at an early age.............................

Any way Andy managed to identify 5 different animals as moose despite the information boards instructing differently, but i think we did eventually manage to find one.

well it was a great day out, even the weather managed to stay nice even though it did threaten to rain once or twice.

Bear Hunting in Waterton Lakes

2009-07-12T13:45:00.004-06:00

We had the battlebus for another few days so we thought it would be nice to spend the day down in the Glacier National Park and go and see if we could spot anything wild and dangerous. First thing on the agenda when we got there was food, orange colored mush for Eloise and spicy wraps & coffee for us.

Evergreen is a lovely little town right on the edge of the lake, as you walk along the beautifully kept avenues, you notice the deer that roam freely through peoples gardens and the hundreds of gophers and prairie dogs scuttling around the green areas.

Anyhoo, after experiening the wanders of Evergreen we took to the trails in our huge SUV and went in search of bears, unforunately we didnt see any but we saw some fantastic sights.

Snake Hunting in Great Falls Montana

2009-07-08T21:11:00.004-06:00

After a well earned days rest cosisting of "Tubbing", BBQing and sun-bathing, we headed south as neither Claire nor Eloise (obviously) had never been to the United States Of America. Now the problem with visiting the tates from where we live is there is nothing on the other side of the border (apart from Shelby) till you reach Great Falls which is about 150 miles south.

Well we got there and after grabbing some ice-creams and feeding Eloise we headed off to the Lewis & Clark Interpretive Center. By the way thats the guys who explored most of that region around Montana in the name of comerce and developement.

The museum its self was pretty good with artifacts, memorabilia and other exploring stuff, as you walked round it told the story of their expedition from start to finsh. Next we went for a walk down the river while Andy & I went snake hunting.

Now considering there were quite a few people around, surprisingly we found 6 snakes ranging from about a foot and a half down to a couple of inches. Andy decided he had to flick the tail of the biggest one which i have to sdmit i didnt think was a particularly good idea but he did it anyway and the annoyed reptile went slithering off into the undergrowth.

The little excursion took us down to a fish hatchery, we didnt realise how far we had walked down and by the time we got back it was getting on for early evening.

H&R Recruits in UK

2009-07-07T19:30:00.004-06:00

The H&R Transport Recruiting Team will be returning to UK for another recruitment round, all the dates, times and venues can be found here

>>> CLICK HERE <<<

Busy weekend to West Edmonton Mall

2009-07-05T15:42:00.006-06:00

Well as i may have said before, with Andy, Claire & Eloise over here, we wanted to do everything that we meant to do last time but never got round to it.

So they landed on the Thursday night and at 09:00 the following morning i/we decided that we were going to Edmonton for the weekend, now bear in mind they had just landed and were still jet-lagged.

it seemed like a fantastic idea but we were totally unprepared, i couldnt even put Gizmo in Kennels coz i discovered 2 of his shots had expired a month before, here is a rundown of the days events.

Booked Gizmo in for shots.
Booked Gizmo into kennels.
Booked hotel in Edmonton.
Booked hire car (GMC Yukon)
Took Gizmo for shots.
Took everyone to the annual H&R family BBQ.
Took Gizmo to kennels.
Cut lawns front & back.
Went in hot-tub.
Went to collect rental car.
Spent an hour chatting to neihbours.
Piled everyone into Yukon.
Drove to Edmonton (6 hours)
Stopped off in Vulcan (Star-Trek town) for photographs and beer.
Booked into Radisson Hotel.
Ordered pizza, wings & garlic bread.
Cracked open first beer.
Collapsed on bed.
Drank beer, ate pizza.
Went to bed.

Next morning we jumped in the car and went round the Mall, after going on the rides and going to see the sealion show, we did loads and loads of shopping, ate loads of food, went back into the funfair then shopped a bit more..........

7 hours later we started making our way back to the car and headed back to the hotel for supper and beer.

Next morning we all met up and went down the hotel pool, luckily we had the place to our selves and had a splashing good time till it was time to book out.

It was then a 6 hour drive back to Raymond although the trip was broken up by a quick visit to the Calgary Tower. We dived into Highway 1 West and parked up opposite the VRV office as there is a C-Train station just opposite. We jumped on the train, jumped off at the tower, did the tower visit, jumped back on the train, got back in the car and continued south.

When we got back it was half an hour in the hot-tub and strangely enough everyone was shattered and went to bed........................ no idea why LOL

Claire, Andy & Eloise - Revisiting

2009-07-02T21:47:00.003-06:00

If you remember the last time Claire & Andy vivited, we were at the other house (the one we rented) and Claire was pregnant......................

Well this time there was 3 of them, we now have little Eloise.

This was to be another 2 week visit and Jan and i had already decided we were going to do everything we didnt do last time so it was West Edmonton Mall, Waterton, Great Falls, Calgary Tower and lots N lots of BBQ and tubbin'.

For those of you not familiar with the term tubbin', it means Hot Tubbin', just look at the pictures and see for your self.

A few weeks before the weekend we decided to get one as it would be a nice surprise for them, i am so glad we did, its the best thing i have bought over here and we use it just about every night. The power jets are unbelieveable and give a fantastic massage, just the thing after a hard day ay work.

CHAPTER 2 - The Driver Relations Guy

2009-07-02T21:18:00.005-06:00

So here starts chapter 2.......................

i now work full time in the office, my duties include Driver Relations, recruiting, training administration, and various other little projects as and when required. No more dashing round North America in a big red shiny truck, just a desk, a computer screen and a phone.

This was the reason for the end of the Blog, i didnt realise there was still a story to be told. i must admit i thought there would be nothing else to write about.

But how wrong i was !!!!!

Its not the end of the story its just the begining, the begining of a new era. This was never meant to be a story of a truck driver going round America, it was meant to be a story of one family and their desire to live on a new Continent.

So read on Dear Reader, read on...................................

The Blogmeister returneth.........................

2009-07-02T21:08:00.003-06:00

Greetings everyone.................................

Lyndon is back, not that i ever went anywhere, but im back anyway.

Over the last few months i have looked back at this page and ive been itching to post something, but i have always held back, i said the blog had come to an end and i meant it. The story had run its course, literally, my new life had started and i was moving on.

However...........................................

The driving round North America had come to an end but the story had only finished the first chapter, so i would like to make it official, Chapter 1 left us in the middle of winter in the Great White North, dashing from Winterypeg to Wintery Lethbridge and that is where it ended, finished, kaput, deceased, over and out, snuffed, no more, expired, turned up its toes, blown out the candle, slipped off its mortal coil, popped its clogs................

You get the picture ?????

A big huge thank you

2009-02-15T22:05:00.002-07:00

I would like to thank everyone who sent in the comments on the final chapter post, rather than say thank you in the comments i thought i would post it out here where everyone can see it.

THANK YOU !

The Final Chapter & Beyond

2009-02-02T21:24:00.007-07:00

Well folks, this is it, every story must come to an end.

This was the story of how a normal working class family from the City of Swindon in Wiltshire, United Kingdom, decided one day to sell everything they owned (almost) and jump on a plane to start a new life on the other side of the world.

Most people never understood the reason for the blog or even its real purpose so i think it may be a good time to explain now before we slip silently into the ethernet and take our place amongst the Great North American Community.

It was never about any company and it was never really about trucking. It waswas purely and simply about " Our Dream". It was about making the life choice and deciding where you wanted to be.

We never came to Canada to join H&R and we never came over so i could go sightseeing all round the US of A in a big red Freightliner. We came to Canada because we wanted to be in Canada.

Luckily i was in a trade that was required by the Canadian Government and luckily i was in the right place (give a county or two) when the Big Red Team were recruiting, luckily we found a buyer for our house in UK and luckily we found a landlord who didnt mind pets (Gizmo) in Canada. Luckily i enjoy my job and luckily my family love it here too.

Over the last 2 years i have been accused of many things and i have been the target of many rumours, stories and theories, a man of much intrigue you may say. Countless people have said ive seen the whole experience through rose coloured specs both behind my back and some actually to my face.

Im not going to admit it and im not going to deny it.................... mainly for one reason, it doesnt really matter, it was my story, my experience, and i told it my way. Practically all that has been written has been spontanious writing, no editting and no spell checking and practically no post edit, editting.

Immigrating to Canada isnt easy and its full of pitfalls and people trying to take money off you, my advice is to take all these blogs and forums for what they really are, communities populated by self proclaimed experts (including this one LOL). Please read them and take note of others who have trodden the path before you but......................................

Do your own research from reputable and official sites, if you want to know about immigration go to a Government Immigration Website, if you want to know about flights then go to the airlines website. You get the picture?

When we were in the planning stages of our move, i spent every night studying the internet, i uncovered every conceiviable angle, i asked every question i could think of to ask. I created an immigration plan and i stuck to it, every thing was thought of and i collected every document that i could possibly need.

Then we moved and i still managed to get caught out occaisionally but generally i was on top of the game.

So why did i write the blog ???

It was an information trail, to give others that follow us a guide, i like to think of it as a compass, to steer you in the general direction but the details ive left for you to sort out.

Well thats my story for what its worth, the end of the ride, and its time to move on, what does the future hold for us, who knows and to be honest who cares, life trucks on.

I would like to thank all the readers who have followed our adventures from Swindon to Raymond, youve seen our dream unfold, we wish you every success in yours in what ever you do and where ever it takes you.

Thank You Everyone.

Lyndon

Livin' The Dream

2009-01-28T19:55:00.005-07:00

Hi folks

havent post on here for a little while, life has been a little hectic, ive been helping out and having a look at what goes on in the office. There isnt much to photograph from a desk unless you want to see the back of somebodys head so the old piccaroonies are going to be a bit thin on the ground.

I treated myself to a new car the other week so we are now a two car family again, for the first time since we left the Motherland. Ever since we have been over here i have liked the Chrysler Sebring so i thought "Sod It", and went out and got one.

So now i got a new toy......................

The weather in Lethbridge is starting to warm up now although there is still snow on the ground and some days it peeks up over the freezing point.

The Big Red Blog

2009-01-18T20:06:00.004-07:00

Ive been working on this little project now for some time and i think now is a good time to launch it. It is basically another blog but this time its not a story, its facts.

It is an unofficial H&R Transport blogsite and it will be aimed at people coming into the company both from Europe and Canada, and it will be purely for information, im putting together a list of useful links on all manner of subjects from immigration to schools and utilities. If you feel you could contribute or if theres a subject you would like me to cover (or links to be included) then please feel free to leave a comment either on here or over there and i can get to work on it.

I plan to use the questions to form articles on the various subjects (confidentiallity will be observed) so if you dont want your question to be used then thats no problem i can still answer on a 1 to 1 basis, its just a shame others wont benefit.

I am also hoping to include recruiting and any news anouncements from H&R but remember this is no way affiliated with the company, i am an employee of H&R but this is done away from work and in my own time.

Go and have a read, become a follower, leave your comments and let me know what you want to be included.

http://thebigredteam.blogspot.com/

Lyndon

Alberta Bound

2009-01-17T22:05:00.002-07:00

This hasnt had an airing for a while..............

Enjoy.

The Lomanovskis Family has Landed

2009-01-15T22:31:00.003-07:00

Well thats it the passports are back and that night we drove down to Sweetgrass which is our loacal border crossing. We went into the States, round the flagpole, and then back into Canada to be welcomed as Permenant Residents.

So that my friends is it, we have done it. It has been a 2 year adventure, we had a dream which started back in Feb 2007 when i overheard 2 of my colleagues chatting about Canada, and now 2 years later the dream has been realised.

I really would like to offer a heart felt thank you to all of you out there who has shared this adventure with us, i would like to thank all of you who took the time to send in comments and everyone for the many emails that have been sent in.

So is this the end of the story....................................

Confined to Canada 3 (The Journey Home)

2009-01-15T22:06:00.002-07:00

Sorry about the late update folks, its been a bit hectic recently and running Canada meant that i didnt get a wireless connection very often and im too tight to pay for it.

Anyway what can i say positive about the weather......................

Oh yes the roads werent closed 8-)

The weather was horrendous for practically all of the trip but after the first 8000 kms you sort of get used to it. Anyway it wasnt going away so on we went.

At one stage the whole road disapeared under 2 foot of snow so the intrepid Cascadian Explore decided to blaze a trail through the virgin snow. That was interesting, sometimes it was so deep that it hit the bumper and sent a snow storm over the roof of the cab.

Anyway it was hammer down for a slip slidey excursion into Montreal, that turnaround was perfect, i got into the city, fuelled and dropped the trailer, picked up the one next to it and headed back West.

I was literally squeezing every last mile out of every day and before i knew it i was crossing back into Alberta and thinking of hometime. As i got near to Edmonton i got my next dispatch.....

Oh bugger i should have booked some time off, oh well i wont make that mistake again, and this was a load going back to Montreal.

So..............................

Delivered in Edmonton, scuttled down to Calgary, got my ass under another trailer full of cow meat and started dragging it thru the snow back East. I was then told it was a switch in Winnipeg, which was a relief as the old hours were getting a little thin on the ground and i was starting to get a little worried.

As it was i trailer swapped in Winnipeg and got another Edmonton load.......

Now things were getting pretty tight on the hours, i made the delivery and headed south for home.....................

I finally got back after 14 days away on Sunday afternoon just in time for a huge Sunday lunch (roast beef).

And there endeth an epic snow filled adventure around the Great White North.

For your own perusal

2009-01-06T20:04:00.002-07:00

Someone kindly left a comment on a previous article and i thought it was interesting enough to pass on. Im not offering any judgement in anyway, it just caught my interest.

Have a read of the story but also have a read of the comments people have left a the bottom.

Comment if you like.........................

http://www.thestar.com/News/GTA/article/561188#Comments

Confined to Canada 2 (Dashing thru the snow)

2009-01-06T19:11:00.003-07:00

When to push your truck

(see the TomTom readout bottom right)

When not to push your luck

And when to just knock it on the head
(shut down)

The sun can glare off the icey road

2148 is a dirty little minx

Well it happened..............

tomorrow was another day

i got my load and headed on East. The road conditions were pretty horrendous, i took a few photos to emphasise what it takes to drive a "Big Rig"over here, summer driving is a breeze, its when the elements are at work against you that you suddenly realise what makes Highway Drivers so proud of thier skills and experience.

Imagine hurtling thru the mountains at full throttle, fully freighted and driving on ice and compacted snow. Its about knowing when and where to push your truck and when and where not to push your luck.

Driving in these conditions is very tiring, on top of all the usual things you have to think about while driving a truck, you are literally driving by the seat of your pants, feeling for the slightest twitch on any of the axles, monitoring the snow or ice you are driving on, one eye on the external temperature guage, looking into bends for the telltale shaddow that warns of black ice, seeing what trucks and autos are doing around you. Obvious signs like a truck in a ditch cold tell you that maybe you might want to think about feathering those brakes before you hit the curve.

Oh yes i almost forgot, i ve been here 18 months and up until this trip ive never seen a moose. Well on this little jaunt i saw 2 mooses (is that the correct word) one looked a bit weired though as it didnt have a rack, i thought all mooses had those coat hook things on their heads, unless it only wears them for special occaisons and tourists.

Confined to Canada 1 (bad start)

2009-01-06T18:33:00.004-07:00

H&R in the snow

One huge snow shifter

Well its my first run after the Christmas break and seeing as our passports have been sent off to the CIC to be stamped and whatever else they do, i am not allowed to leave the "Great White North".

So after Santa has done his "prezzie giving thing" and all the turkey had been polished off, Lyndons thoughts turned back to cruising the highways. I phoned in and was told i was collecting a load from Calgary and taking it to Montreal, 4153 kms 1 way just to get me back into the swing of things.

I checked out the weather forcast and learnt that the weather all the way thru was to be on the whole "cold, white and shitty". indispersed with "cold, white and shitty". and later on going back to "cold, white and shitty". Looking ahead into the long term forcast we could expect it to be (yes you guessed it) "cold, white and shitty".

Okay well that solves one little problem then, no need to pack the Hawaian shirt, flip-flops or the surf board.

Well the day rolls round that must load up and head on out, i had a last minute reprieve when the load wasnt ready so it was an extra day at home, woo hoo !!!

The following morning we threw my gear into the car, took a slip slidey drive up to H&R and Jan dropped me off. I recieved my instructions via the magic talking brick (my veh-icular mounted computing wotsit) and went to look for the empty trailer to take North.

I pulled in front of it and backed up to about 2 foot away so i could check it over.

Aagh !!! bald freaking f*****g, b********g, some-of-a-birching tire, aaargh !!!

(Its good to vent sometimes)

Thankyou thankyou thankyou to the driver(s) who couldnt be bothered to pre-trip their trailer or even post-trip the bloody thing. This tire must have been like that for weeks, how many drivers have been dragging that thing round illegally.

Anyway i reported it and was told to take a different trailer (as i was working against the clock) So i wrote out a defect report for the bald tire (took me less than 2 minutes) and dropped it off in the shop.

I run round to get my new trailer, checked it over, found it to be okay, backed under it and did a check tug to make sure the jaws of my 5th wheel had grabbed it.

As i pulled away (err hang on that shouldnt happen) i realised i wasnt connected. No problem i thought so i went back again, and it still wouldnt connect.

I pulled away and checked the 5th wheel, the pin and the trailer again and i couldnt find anything wrong. I backed onto the trailer next to it and it connected perfectly so there was nothing wrong with my 5th wheel.

I phoned in and explained what had happened and that i couldnt find anything wrong, the shop went thru the checks i should have done (i had already done them)the verdict was "Open", dont know why it doesnt work, it just dont.

So it was back to the origional trailer, bite the bullet (it was half way thru the afternoon by now) take it round and get the tire changed and take that one to Calgary.

Got to Calgary and it was dark, oh yes and the load wasnt ready, i wasnt really bothered now so i pulled the curtains and shut down for the night.

Tomorrows another day !!!

Only another 364 sleeps to go !!!

2008-12-26T16:18:00.004-07:00

1st Christmas in our own house

Walking the dog at -20, remember to dress warm

Gizmo with his Christmas bone

No more turkey sandwiches for us, its all gone in the curry

Oh well the big day has come and gone, Boxing Day is here and its time to start eating turkey salads and try to walk off some of that Christmas dinner from yesterday.

Luke has been keeping hisself to himself, testing out all his christmas prezzies, hes now got is own fancy digital phone in his room that he can even send IM and IV across MSN, he's been running round filming everything with his video camera and it took both of us to set up his new telescope with its equatorial mount, barlow filters and other thingamywotsits.

Tonight we are setting it up outside and doing a bit of star-gazing, we got all the star charts ready and using Google Sky so hopefully we should know what we are doing.

I have heard there is a particlarly strong solar wind coming out of Uranus at the moment.........

Must have been too much Christmas pudding Muhahahahahahhah !!!

Anyway its pretty much cloudless at the moment and its just dropping dark, weve just come back from walking Gizmo, there is a fantastic path towards the south end of town and thats the one we normally use. Trouble is though not many people have used it recently so it was a case of trudging thru snow about 2 feet deep, we marched a mile out towards the resevoir but when we got there we were all exhausted, even Gizmo was knackered and covered in snow, in the deep bits he completely disapeared, he absolutely loved it. Anyway we decided to use the roads to come back in and i think even Gizmo was glad.

Gizmo is on the sofa at the moment cuddling his Christmas bone, i dont reckon he will move now for the rest of the night.

Winter freakin' Wonderland

2008-12-24T09:51:00.002-07:00

Okay thats it i am officially bored with the snow, can somebody please now take it all away. Its 10:00 in the morning and i have managed to get the car stuck in 3 snow drifts. The first time was when i dropped Jan off at work, i tried to take a short cut round the servicing bay and hit some deep snow, i thought if i hit it at a bit of a run i could just slide thru it. This worked fine for the first 6 feet then i ground to a halt.

Luckily a bit of deft direction changing, waggling the steers and some swearing did the job and about 5 minutes later i got thru it. Trouble was i was now on a good piece of road but with deep snow in fron and behind.

There was only one thing for it, i hit the gas, there was a spinning of wheels, a big cloud of powdered snow and as the cloud cleared i was miraculasly on the other side of the drift.

The second time was back in Raymond, there was a bit of deep snow between me and where i wanted to be so i over confidently hit it fast and again ended up stuck in the middle. This time i knew excactly what to do...............

Rock the gears, waggle the steers and swear really loudly, and yes it worked again.

The third time was on purpose (okay more on purpose) i was helping out a friend by giving them a boost, the cables were only 12 foot so i had to get right up their drive, and there was a snow drift either side. The plan was to stick my car in the snow drift, boost his truck and he pulls me out, excellent plan eh?

Well i must say i did an excellent job of getting the car stuck again, right up to the headlights. This time it took a few swings of a snow shovel and a bit of a shove to get me going again.

Now i am back a home and enjoying a bacon sadwich and a french vanilla coffee.

The Cup 'n Saucer

2008-12-23T20:47:00.004-07:00

Met up with Steve W today and went over to the Cup 'n Saucer for a coffee and a bite to eat.

This quaint little coffee shop is owned by Marga, who is Steve's better half. Anyway, in we went and sampled the culinary delights within.

I was amazed with this place, its got a sort of European theme and seems half English and half dutch, which is hardly surprising since Steve is English and Marga is Dutch.

If you go in there try the Italian coffee, it is beautifully presented and tastes great. Marga makes all the food herself, try the garlic dip it is superb.

They do a fantastic English breakfast too so why not get yourselves down there and give it your support.

The Cup' N Saucer
309 - 7 Street South
Lethbridge

AB T1J 0P1

Canada

Snow Banks at Walmart

2008-12-23T19:57:00.002-07:00

Got Snow ???

Accepted For Permanent Residency

2008-12-22T16:51:00.003-07:00

At last, just got an email thru from CIC, our application for PR has been accepted. This is a huge weight of our shoulders as it means we are good to stay in Canada. Up to now we have been on Temporary Work Permits which means you can only stay for 24 months then you have to leave for 4 months.

There are also other implications if we didnt get accepted, like when our present visas run out, jan would lose the right to work, we would not get permenant SIN numbers which makes obtaining credit difficult.

So thats it the waiting is over, all we got to do now is send our passports off to Seattle and when they come back we have to take a little trip down to the border, go round the flagpole and re-enter Canada to be welcomed back as Permenant Residents.

Gizmo in the snow

2008-12-22T13:53:00.003-07:00

Goldfish funeral - enjoy

2008-12-22T12:06:00.001-07:00

Calling Tony Beales

2008-12-22T11:35:00.000-07:00

Hey matey

send me an email ilost your email address

Famous Lyndons Trucking Life Blog Readers

2008-12-22T09:21:00.003-07:00

One of the fantastic things about writing a journal such as this, is that you have the chance to reach out to people from all round the world. This includes some unexpected but yet still very, very welcome important people.

I was just checking out my site meter and i noticed one of my more famous readers.

I would like to say "Thankyou Ma-am" for showing an interest in writings of one of your subjects, its an honour to show you a window into my life.

Merry Christmas to you and Prince Phillip and the same to the rest of your family, hope you have a wonderfull holiday and continue to read my blog.

PS. Do you really get a gift of Saskatoonberry jam from the people of Saskatchewan every year, i tried some in the summer and its fantastic on crusty bread (but im sure you already know that)

Lyndon xxx

Life in the slow lane

2008-12-22T07:20:00.005-07:00

The Venue

Famous For Ribs

What I would order if Jan let me

Yep my garden is somewhere under there

My very depleted and snowy woodpile

More pallets to cut up

Note to Canadian Dogs - dont leave toys out in

the garden coz if it snows you lose em

"Yes Gizmo, thats the power chord to the

Christmas lights, and no you can't eat it !!".

Well its Monday morning, ive just took jan to work and im too wake to go back to bed. With a freshly brewed coffee (Tim Hortons & french vanilla cream) and the possibility of a bacon sandwich later i thought i would share a few observations with you about life in Canada, in winter, in Raymond, in the trucking business............ and away from the truck.

As you know i have finished now till 28th although Jan has only got 2 days off, one of those being Christmas day. We have just emerged from the weekend and it came and went frighteningly quick. Its not as though we actually did anything specific, Friday night we planned to go out for a meal, as usual Luke got the privelage of choosing the venue, and as usual it ended up being Montanas, we tried suggesting other resaurants, we even tried bribery but no, Montanas it had to be, he loves it there coz the food is excellent and he gets to draw on the table while we are waiting for the food, well we got there and it was closed for refurbishment, so poor old Luke had to choose again.

Luke couldnt decide, Jan wanted to go to East Side Marios and i wanted to go to Tony Romas, in the end i won and Tony Romas in was.

Its the first time we had used the place, it was pretty good, the head waiter and our server seemed to have a little communication issue and ended up confusing each other which was mildly amusing so they only get 7/10 for service. The food was excellent, Jan and I both plumbed for the Prime Rib, mash potatoes, gravy, corn and a side of coleslaw and Luke sampled the southern fried chicken and we shared a starter of a platter of spicy fried shrimp. The food gets 10/10 and there was plenty of it. The whole lot was a tad over $100 so its not particularly cheap but for the quality of food we would proberbly go there again, 8/10 for value for money.

So that was the extent of our planned weekend, the rest of the time was late mornings followed by leisurely breakfasts, drives into Lethbridge to get last minute presents and bitznbobz that we had forgotten, a little bit of snow shovelling and watching a few movies...........

So why the heck did it go so fast ???

Anyway its gone now so its a snowy, wintery Monday morning in Southern Alberta, it was snowing again as i drove Jan in to town. The roads were a bit dicey with a light covering of powdery snow, 80 kph was the order of the day, it couldnt have been too bad, i only passed one car in the ditch.

Mark Campbell on CJOC-FM "The Lounge" was telling us that snow was falling (no shit sherlock) and the temperature was -23 but with the wind chill it felt like -35.

Not in our car it doesnt Mr Campbell, the heater's on full blast and the butt warmers in the seats were doing their jobs well so it was toasty bottoms all round.

Ive just took a peek thru the blind (behind me in the lounge) and its just getting light which reminds me, my next little chore is to grab some more firewood and stack it in the den, i think i am going to have to cut some more this afternoon, we've got about 15 pallets behind the garage to cut up and my once huge woodpile is looking a bit dwindly (thats not a real word but it describes the woodpile perfectly)

We have used the wood burner a lot over the last few days and i think i may have over done it slightly, i literally shove as much wood in the furnace as will physically fit and the thing with wood burners is unlike a gas fire, you cant turn them up or down. Luke complains it is too hot in the den and Jan goes round opening windows after me and im back down there stoking the flames like Casey Jones' manic fireman ( i think thats what you call them, you know the guy i mean, the one on the steam train who shovels the coals)

I cant believe how fast time is going, this is our second Christmas in Canada and i really does feel as though we have only been here a few months, i just wish Jan had a little more time off. This blog will be 2 years old next month too, i still sometimes go back thru it and reminisce, there has been so much water under the bridge since we first got the idea to come over here. We are just about at the end of our PNP application now, everythings been done and sent away, all we are waiting for now is the "Yes" or "No".

Im not sure what would happen if they said no, of course we would be devastated but at least at the moment we know we are safe until the middle of 2010. Apparently the immigration people at Seattle are snowed under with applications and the waiting lists are ever growing. I got a message that they are even asking people not to turn up in person to get passports stamped. The other option is to send them off and that used to take about 10 working days, at the moment it is taking about 20 days.

The frustrating thing is, all of this that has happened so far has been done with our own hard work and determination, we made it happen and we were in control. This one thing (PNP) is totally out of our hands, we are at the mercy of the authorities. Im not sure what is more frustrating, the waiting or the fact that i have no control over it.

So what do i think the future holds for us....................

In the long term i have no idea, i think we wil have to leave Fate in charge for a while.

In the short term i think the answer is Curry.......................

Yep its definitely curry, i picked up 2 kilo of chicken thighs over the weekend so this morning i am going to use the slow cooker and make a Chicken Rogan Josh, that should be a nice surprise for Jan when she gets home tonight, Chicken Rogan Josh on a bed of wild rice served with chopped onion and tomato, and a side of mango chutney.

Interesting Factoids

2008-12-21T21:13:00.001-07:00

Do you know the names of the three wise monkeys? They are: Mizaru (See no evil), Mikazaru (Hear no evil), and Mazaru (Speak no evil).

An atomic clock is accurate to within 1 second in 1,7 million years.

Thomas Cook, the world's first travel agency in the world, was founded in 1850.

A fathom is 1,8 metres (6 feet).

There are more TV sets in the US than there are people in the UK.

Before the year 1000, the word "she" did not exist in the English language. The singular female reference was the word "heo", which also was the plural of all genders. The word "she" appeared only in the 12th century, about 400 years after English began to take form. "She" probably derived from the Old English feminine "seo", the Viking word for feminine reference.

There are no letters assigned to the numbers 1 and 0 on a phone keypad. These numbers remain unassigned because they are so-called "flag" numbers, kept for special purposes such as emergency or operator services.

After the French Revolution of 1789 selling sour wine was considered against national interest and the merchant was promptly executed.

For 3000 years, until 1883, hemp was the world's largest agricultural crop, from which the majority of fabric, soap, paper, medicines, and oils were produced.

George Washington and Thomas Jefferson both grew hemp. Ben Franklin owned a mill that made hemp paper. The US Declaration of Independence was written on hemp paper.

The word malaria comes from the words mal and aria, which means bad air. This derives from the old days when it was thought that all diseases are caused by bad, or dirty air.

The names of all the continents end with the letter they start with.
On every continent there is a city called Rome.
The oldest inhabited city is Damascus, Syria.
The first city in the world to have a population of more than one million was Rome: see History 303
The most populated city in the world - when major urban areas are included - is Tokyo, with 30 million residents.
Tokyo was once known as Edo.

The pin that holds a hinge together is called a pintle.

The Vatican is the world's smallest country, at 0,44 square km (0,16 square miles).

The US flag displays 13 stripes - for the original 13 states.

To most Americans, the orient is China, Japan, Korea and Vietnam; to Europeans it is the area of India and Pakistan.

The words "electronic mail" might sound new but was introduced 30 years ago. Queen Elizabeth of Britain sent her first email in 1976.

Some 190 billion emails are sent daily - more than 2 million per second - by 1,2 billion email senders. About 70% (133 billion emails) are spam and viruses. There are about 1,4 billion registered email addresses.

Eskimos use refrigerators to keep food from freezing.

MasterCard was originally called MasterCharge.

Neil Armstrong stepped on the moon with his left foot first.

The sentence "The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog" uses every letter of the alphabet.

Lightning strikes men about seven times more often than it does women.

Women make up 49% of the world population.

About 50% of Americans live within 50 miles of their birthplace. This is called propinquity.
The pleasant feeling of eating chocolate is caused by a chemical called anadamide, a neurotransmitter which also is produced naturally in the brain.

From the Middle Ages until the 18th century the local barber's duties included dentistry, blood letting, minor operations and bone-setting. The barber's striped red pole originates from when patients would grip the pole during an operation.

The US nickname Uncle Sam was derived from Uncle Sam Wilson, a meat inspector in Troy, New York.

The living does not outnumber the dead: since the creation about 60 billion people have died.
The electric chair was invented by a dentist.

Midday refers to the moment the sun crosses the local meridian.

Due to earth's gravity it is impossible for mountains to be higher than 15,000 metres.

It is not true that the Great Wall of China is the only man-made structure that can be viewed from space - many man-made objects, including the Dutch polders, can be viewed from space.

Would a beaver really bite off his own testicles

2008-12-21T20:42:00.004-07:00

This is a question that is puzzling me at the moment, i heared recently that a beaver will bite off his own "Beggars Purse". I have researched this phenomenon and im still confused. Apparently Aesop (the fairy-tail guy) wrote about it and i have found pictorial evidence. Apparently Aesop was a drinker and a pervert (can i be sued for writing that) so with that in mind i have to say its pretty believeable, 'i'll buy that for a dollar".

General Attributes
The beaver is hunted for its testicles, which are valued for making medicine. When the beaver sees that it cannot escape from the hunter, it bites off its testicles and throws them to the hunter, who then stops pursuing the beaver. If another hunter chases the beaver, it shows the hunter that it has already lost its testicles and so is spared.

In dietary law
In the 17th century, based on a question raised by the Bishop of Quebec, the Roman Catholic Church ruled that the beaver was a fish (beaver flesh was a part of the indigenous peoples' diet, prior to the Europeans' arrival) for purposes of dietary law. Therefore, the general prohibition on the consumption of meat on Fridays during Lent does not apply to beaver meat. The legal basis for the decision probably rests with the Summa Theologica of Thomas Aquinas, which bases animal classification as much on habit as anatomy.

Wincanton Employees left out in the cold

2008-12-21T19:59:00.003-07:00

I know we have been away from UK for a year and a half now but i still keep in contact with a few friends back at Wincanton in Gloucester. Naturaly i was horrified when i found this on the internet.

My heart goes out to the families of both the drivers and the warehouse staff, the timing of this announcement just beggars belief. I hope you all find alternate work quickly and dont let it spoil your Christmas too much.

Merry Xmas and good luck to all of you from across the pond.

Here is one of the excerpts, its short and pretty much to the point.

Gloucestershire suffered an unemployment bombshell today after
Wincanton announced it was closing its distribution centre at Gloucester Business
Park with the loss of 450 jobs.
Managers at the Brockworth site were told the
shock news this morning following the merger of Wincanton’s chilled food
distrubution business with Culina Logistics which will take over the
work.
Wincanton will close its operations at Gloucester Business
Park and Trafford Park, probably in April. Wincanton’s group marketing director
Holly Porter said the closure of the sites was “extremely disappointing” and
efforts would be made to minimise the impact on employees and their
families.

And the sentiments of one family says it all

Nice to know the managers had a xmas bash the day after the news broke out. We all left now wondering about our future and how the hell we going to pay our bills and the managers seem to have jobs elsewhere??????????? Plus have found out cos my partner not worked there for 2 years he may be given just 1 week notice! O how the news gets better. xx
partner of a wincanton employee, glos.

Republic Of Cascadia

2008-12-21T16:01:00.006-07:00

A little while ago i made some jokey comments about being a Cascadian, little did i know that there is a place of the same name and although its not officially recognised, its definetly there. Here are a few factoids about the place.

Statistics of the Republic of Cascadia:

Name: The Republic of Cascadia (long form), Cascadia (short form)
Capital: Cascadia
Area: 855,762 sq km
Population: 14,220,981 (2005 est)
GDP: US$323 billion (1996 est)
Language: Cascadese (a dialect of English)

Time System: Metric Time
The Republic of Cascadia stretches from 42° to 60° north latitude. Its western border consists of the Pacific coast and a portion of the American state of Alaska. On the east, it borders the American states of Idaho and Montana and the Canadian province of Alberta. Cascadia is divided into three prefectures: British Columbia, Oregon, and Washington.

Government:
Cascadia is a constitutional republic that guarantees its citizens their basic rights, including freedom of speech, freedom of religion, and the right to a fair trial with a jury of peers. It has a strong democratic tradition and universal suffrage. The seat of the national government is in the capital city of Cascadia, which is tucked safely away from centers of urban decadence.

Resources:
Cascadia has abundant natural resources. Vast forests provide it with ample timber for both export and domestic use. Rich fish and shellfish stocks also supply valuable exports as well as powerful brain-food for its citizens. Raging rivers and vulcanism offer cheap and renewable forms of hydrodynamic and geothermal power generation. Its many harbors and protected waterways give Cascadia an edge when it comes to trans-Pacific shipping.

Its natural resources are exceeded only by its industrial resources. The Cascadian software and biotechnology industries lead the world in innovation and market-share dominance. Cascadian-produced software is on 97% of the world's computers, and that figure will continue to rise. (Although it has not yet achieved sheep-cloning technology, it is close -- watch out Scotland!)

The Republic of Cascadia is a nuclear power with the ability to process weapons-grade plutonium and also advanced missile technology. Cascadia has the facilities and technical expertise to produce a wide range of fighter, support, and commercial aircraft, as well as space vehicles. Besides being a global leader in vehicle technology, Cascadian industry is also developing sea-based launch capabilities for orbital payload delivery and possible lunar conquests.

But why conquer the moon when you can win the stars? The Republic of Cascadia has long been sought by movie and TV producers for use in location shooting -- and even production work -- because of its scenic beauty; commercially popular image; and cheap, non-union labor. This is just a part of Cascadia's plan to become a global media powerhouse, the likes of which Hollywood couldn't imagine. Cascadia has a proven track-record in producing trends in music, fashion, food, and other forms of product consumption, which it can profit from by building on its brand recognition and loyalty.

Furthermore, with its space program providing satellite technology and its software industry providing cutting-edge Internet technology, Cascadia is poised to control the means of infotainment distribution -- and thereby consumer demand -- on a global scale.

The Republic of Cascadia is not yet officially recognized by Canada, the United States of America, or the United Nations. Not that it is any of their business.

Finished till after Christmas

2008-12-21T14:36:00.002-07:00

Well thats it, my last trip done till after the Big Guy (Santa) has been and it really is good to have a week (and a bit) off. I was supposed to finish on the 20th but i got back a day and a half early so that was that.

As you know it was a mentor trip with Padraic, Lethbridge to Chicago, Chicago to Toronto, Toronto to Saskatoon, Saskatoon to Calgary, Calgary to Lethbridge.

Just before Saskatoon the truck started to play up again and we started to get warning lights and a few times the engine acually cut out. We limped into Calgary, tipped the load and scooted round to Detroit Diesel for a hook up to the diagnostic computer.

Half an hour later the keys were handed back to me and we headed back to the Bridge. Half way back the warning lights came back on again so poor old 2148 is spending Christmas back at the Freightliner shop.

Has anyone else got one of these DD15 engines in their truck, i would be very interested in hearing any comments about it, especially with reference to cold weather running.

Anyway like i said im back home now and i got a new camera, and as usual when i get a new camera i am being a complete pain in the ass by photographing anything that does or doesnt move.

We got Snow Boots

2008-12-21T14:22:00.002-07:00

Well as we say in colder climes.........

Winter draws on.......................................

Last year i worked thru the winter in just a pair of Walmart $20 sneakers and to be quite honest i thought they did the job pretty well although if i remember correctly i did end up on my ass a few times.

This year we are correctly kitted out, warm coats, quilted trousers, warm hats, toasty gloves and the latest addition to our wardrobe is our snow boots.

Beer, dogs & hats dont mix

2008-12-19T22:49:00.004-07:00

Okay okay before we get any e-mails from any green, tree hugging, herbal tea drinking friends of the earth. No animals were harmed in the making of this post, the camera was made from recycled whachamacallits, the hat was made from the skin of the famous Polyester Bear which apparently is very common in Canada and its body part bi-products are used in many items of essential clothing and mainly found in Walmart.

The only animal affected in the writing of this article was a certain black labrador/spaniel cross called Gizmo who was initially happy to collaborate with the promise of 2 slices of roast beef out of his favourite cupboard (the fridge) although it must be said that this little "Diva" did start to get a little bored after about 3 seconds and a certain amount of force had to be excerted to make him pose.............

So sue me .............................................................................

PS. yep you guessed it, Lyndon has now moved his ass into town and got a new camera, you just know the pictures will start flowing in again 8-)

Let it snow, let it snow, let it.... okay, okay thats enough already

2008-12-14T01:08:00.006-07:00

Just a quick update, had a few days off (as usual) then it was another dash south, this time it was another mentoring trip with a new driver who has just come aross from the Siemens Group, i think he was based at Saskatoon. Anyway he is part of the Big Red Team now. Padraic hails from Eire (Southern Ireland) and we caused a bit of a stir coming thru the border. The border guard took one look at our passports (one English and one Irish) and burst out laughing. After a few quips about the insanity of putting an Englishman in a truck with an Irishman he waived us thru and kept our passports..............................

Yep there was a problem with the load manifest and we were called inside, i was getting a bit nervous because it was getting a bit close to the meat inspection closing times. Anyway, in we went, made a quick dash up to the broker, got the problem rectified and stood in line to get booked thru.

10 mins later we were scooting round to the Inspection depot and 20 mins after that we were on our merry way. Tonight we managed to get thru Minneapolis and now we are parked up for the night.

It looks like a lot of North America is battened down for a bit of severe weather, we drove through some horrendous blizzards today although the last few hours it eased off a little. After Chicago we are heading up into Toronto, there has been freezing rain storms in New England so hopefully we can get in and out before it comes across. I think this will be my last run now before Xmas, i booked a week off, this trip should get us back just in time.

I treated myself to a trapper hat on my last run, mostly for fuelling up in minus 20 conditions, hey i might look a tit but at least im a warm tit 8-)

Time at home goes too fast

2008-12-13T00:42:00.000-07:00

Home time was a little hectic this time (and great fun) as previously posted, i was awoken by the phone....................

Mick & Cath http://cathincanada.blogspot.com/ who have just started with H&R, Mick is doing his driver training over at SK Training, were checking to see if i was in town.

Half an hour later i got another phone call, this time from Mick & Barbara who are over here for an interview.

Well that was it, its party time so i phoned Jan to let her know what i was going to do (and get permission) and we invited everyone over for a Canadian Winter BBQ.

Good food (though i say so myself), good drink (hic) and good conversation were the order of the night and i hope everyone enjoyed themselves. Luckily we live in a 5 bedroomed bungalow so there was room enough for everyone to crash and we didnt need designated drivers.

Two nights later we recieved an invite from our neihbours to go to a Christmas party at the local Mormon Temple. That was another fantastic night, most of our close neihbours were there so it was a great opportunity to meet everyone, the entertainment was put on by members of the community, who were very surprisingly talented. One guy there, a retired RJH School Principal was excellent, a bit like a Canadian Mike Harding.

Then the food was served, excellent roast beef then Cindy (our next door neihbour) insisted on introducing every one to us, everyone wanted to speak to us and i must have told our immigration story a dozen times, it was so nice that these people made us (English & non mormons) so welcome in their community.

I am so glad we chose to make our home in Raymond....................

Valerie

2008-12-10T17:17:00.001-07:00

The madam opened the brothel door and saw a rather dignified, well-dressed, good-looking man in his late forties or early fifties.

"May I help you?" she asked. "I want to see Valerie," the man replied. "Sir, Valerie is one of our most expensive ladies. Perhaps you would prefer someone else," said the madam. "No. I must see Valerie," he replied.

Just then, Valerie appeared and announced to the man that she charged $5,000 a visit. Without hesitation, the man pulled out f ive thousand dollars and gave them to Valerie, and they went upstairs. After an hour, the man calmly left.

The next night, the same man appeared again, once more demanding to see Valerie. Valerie explained that no one had ever come back two nights in a row -- too expensive -- and there were no discounts.

The price was still $5,000. Again the man pulled out the money, gave it to Valerie, and they went upstairs. The following night the man was there yet again. Everyone was astounded that he had come for a third consecutive night, but he paid Valerie and they went upstairs.

After their session, Valerie questioned the man "No one has ever been with me three nights in a row. Where are you from?" she asked. &nbs p; The man replied, " South Carolina " "Really" she said. "I have family in South Carolina " "I know," the man said. "Your father died, and I am your sister's attorney. She asked me to give you your $15,000 inheritance." The moral of the story is that three things in life are certain:

1. Death

2. Taxes

3. Being screwed by a lawyer.

Nice Beaver !!!

2008-12-10T16:43:00.004-07:00

GREEN campaigners called police after discovering an illegal logging site in a nature reserve – only to find the culprits were a gang of beavers.
Environmentalists found 20 neatly stacked tree trunks and others marked with notches for felling at a beauty-spot in Subkowy, northern Poland.But when officers followed a trail left by a tree which had been dragged away, they found a beaver dam right across the river as reported by the Austrian Times.A police spokesman said: "The campaigners are feeling pretty stupid.

There's nothing more natural than a beaver."

And who would argue with that.

Dashing thru the snow - on a 455 horse open sleigh

2008-12-10T13:44:00.005-07:00

So windy the bridge was bending

The last post was written in a Flying J truckstop in Corfu New York, i was loaded with goodies for Canada. Next morning i grabbed a coffee and headed for the border. The delivery was pretty simple followed by a run into Mississauga for a trailer swap then a dash thru the snow to Alberta for yet a few more days at home.

With the delivery complete i scooted round to H&R yard to find the trailer swap had been cancelled, damn, blast and buggery.

My new assignment was a load that would be loaded the following morning and i could collect it first thing. At first i wasnt best pleased coz i wanted to get going, the sooner i can get home the sooner i have my days off and the sooner i get back out earning again, plus its getting close to my christmas holiday.

I went to grab some food (spaghetti and sauce) from the Husky while i pondered the change. After i checked my recap (weekly cycle) i found that it wasnt really asa bad a deal as i first thought. I didnt have many hours left so on the origional dispatch i could only drive 11 or 12 hours per day to get home so obviously it would take a little longer.

Now i was forced to take another short day (5 hours driving) it freed up a load more hours, i could now work for 14 hours per day for 3 straight days which was enough to get me home. So really i wasnt any worse off.

Well the next 3 days were pretty draining, driving thru Ontario i was pretty much the last truck thru before the roads all got closed down, now that was a bit of luck. Most of the journey was blizzard conditions and driving either on ice or compacted snow.

Winterypeg was particularly fun, the roads were like sheet glass and in places there was no traction what so ever. When coming up to lights it was a very carefull and when about 2 truck lengths away just dab the brakes and see what happens. Usually there was no braking effect, just a slight twist in the direction of the truck as the tires failed to get any purchase.

As i was slip sliding across Manitoba i got a phone call from Mick & Barbara who were over here for a week for an interview with H&R. About an hour later i got another call from Mick & Cath who had just started with H&R, Mick was just doing his driver training. This gave me an idea and an oportunity to show off my barbeque and beer making skills, so Lyndon started plotting and scheming and trying to work out away to get everyone together.

The last leg into Calgary was particularly treacherous but before long i was trailer swapping and heading south down towards Lethbridge. I actually got into Lethbridge at about 03:00 in the morning, Jan said she would still pick me up (bless her heart) but i said it wasnt worth it. I closed everything down, completed the paperwork then got my head down for a couple of hours, Jan then picked me up on the way to work, i dropped her off and headed home for a few more hours sleep. I didnt realise how tired i was, when Jan arrived at the truck and woke me up i had no clue who i was never mind where i was, it did take her a few minutes to get any sense out of me.

Anyway i got back home, fell on the bed, i think i was back asleep in mid air long before i hit that lovely fuffy comfortable, kingsized, 3 matressed, 4 pillowed friend. God i love that bed.

Thru the hazy veils of my sleep world, someone was ringing a bell, im not sure what i was dreaming about but someone was definitely ringing a bell somewhere. As my blurry dreamword started to shift into focus and my sub consious raced back into the real world i realised it wasnt a bell ringer it was the phone.

Goodbye bed (for now), hello world................................................

Avon Calling

2008-12-04T22:00:00.002-07:00

oh well, enough of butt breathing turtles, extra terrestials and all the other weird stuff, its back to the plot...................................

i am on day 6 of this latest little whirlwind american visit, this morning i woke up in The Bronx NY and tonight i am going to bed in Avon NY. This morning was a bit of a nightmare but i eventually got unloaded, made a swift exit left out of the concrete jungle, scooted over the George Washington bridge, thru Upstate New York then out west thru Pensylvania and back into New York state. My journeys involved a steaming hot shower, a luke warm buffet, and an icey cold wash-out for the backend (the trailer that is)

Im now reloaded with goodies for Canada and parked up for the night ready to cross in the morning. All the paperwork is axed over so we should be good to go and make the delivery tomorrow lunchtime.

Im not sure the buffet was a good idea but i was very hungry, im regretting it now with a poorly tummy and i feel sick. i tried to make it better with a ham and cheese salad and a large bottle of Clamato juice but now i feel even worse.

i had a bit of excitement earlier, a cop who was overtaking me went speeding up the road, there was and flash of brown fur, a screeching of brakes, and for a split second the deer and the cop car became one. Then the whole scene was blood, guts, fur and metal, all bathed in a sea of blue and red pulsating lights. The deer lying at a rakish angle, innards (now outards) steaming in the cold night, legs in the air and a pair of unseeing eyes seemingly staring accusingly at the metal mostrosity that only seconds before had took its whole future away.

Some redneck family are gonna eat well tonight, heee hawww !

Blow it out your ass

2008-12-04T19:53:00.004-07:00

First of all i would like to thank all of you who emailed or commented on whether a turtle can actually breathe thru its own little "Sherriff's Badge".

Well i like to think that Lyndons Trucking Life can tackle just about any subject and i think over the last couple of years we have covered most things from genocide to genitalia and from giant statues to intra and extra terretrials. Now its the turn of the turtle, or to be more accurate the turtles bung-hole.

Please read on and prepare to be hejucated...........................

I have read that turtles can breathe through their bums. Is this true, and if so, why did they evolve such a talent and what are the mechanics of this trick? --Steve Carr

My understanding of physiology is that animals (including humans) draw in air by expanding the volume of the chest cavity. How does a turtle, with a fixed chest cavity determined by its shell, draw in air? --E. Nolan Cooper

When turtles put their heads in their shells, what happens to their spines? Do they buckle or contract?

— Daniel Calarese

How turtles breathe, how they pull in their heads--these are worthy topics. But when you get to whether turtles can breathe through their butts, that's when you know you're on the cutting edge of science. We turned to George Angehr, Smithsonian ornithologist and Straight Dope curator of critters. His reply:

"With an ancestry going back more than 200 million years to the late Triassic, the 200 or so species of turtles are the most ancient surviving lineage of land vertebrates. They are also one of the most distinctive life forms on the planet. My herpetology professor started his 'Identification Key to the Reptiles' with the couplet: 'A. Turtles. Any damn fool knows a turtle. B. Other reptiles.'

"The most notable turtle characteristic is the rigid shell, which is composed of the flattened and fused ribs and vertebrae, plus bony elements that don't exist in other vertebrates. Also unlike other vertebrates, the shoulder and hip girdles of turtles are located within the rib cage, instead of outside it. Many turtles partly compensate for the rigidity of the body by having exceptionally flexible necks. The two main groups of turtles are distinguished by the way they pull the neck back into the body.

Most species belong to the cryptodire ('hidden-neck') branch, which can fold the neck in an S-bend in the vertical plane to fully retract the head. The pleurodires ('side-neck'), two families restricted to South America, Africa, and Australia, can only bend the neck back against the body in the horizontal plane, leaving it partly exposed.

"The rigid rib cage also places restrictions on breathing. Turtles have two special sets of respiratory muscles. One set pulls the body contents outward, toward the openings at the front and rear of the shell. This expands the body cavity and draws air into the lungs, which are located in the top part of the shell. The other pushes the viscera up against the lungs to expel the air. This system has the drawback that both inhalation and exhalation require energy--in most vertebrates, elastic energy can be recovered from the rib cage so that exhalation requires little exertion.

"Turtles have extraordinary anaerobic capacity--they have survived up to 33 hours in a pure nitrogen atmosphere. (Most reptiles have a high anaerobic capacity compared to mammals, but even they can't survive much more than 30 minutes without oxygen.) Although basically air-breathing, many aquatic species have developed ways to pick up oxygen even when submerged. Of these the most remarkable, which some turtles share with dragonfly nymphs, sea cucumbers, and certain televangelists, is the ability to breathe through one's butt.

You've heard the expression 'Blow it out your after regions?' It's no mere figure of speech. Many species have a pair of sacs (bursae) opening off the cloaca (combined digestive and urogenital chamber). These are heavily vascularized to facilitate the uptake of oxygen.

"The champion in this regard seems to be the recently discovered (1973) Fitzroy River turtle Rheodytes leukops ('white-eyed stream-diver'), which is confined to its namesake river in Queensland, Australia. It lives in shallow rapids where the water is highly oxygenated. One can detect the keen sense of discovery in the account by the scientists who found it, John Legler and John Cann: 'One of our vivid early impressions of Rheodytes was that adults of both sexes swam with a widely gaping cloacal orifice (up to 30mm in diameter). The orifice remains open when individuals are out of the water.

We first became aware of the large cloacal bursae when a female was examined in bright sunlight; the carapace transmitted enough light to illuminate the coelomic cavity and produce a spectacular view internally for at least 100mm, via the cloaca, revealing a large sac lined with vascular, villose mucosa. . . . Water is pumped in and out of the bursae of captives and experimental animals at rates of 15 to 60 times per minute' (Legler and Cann 1980). Only dedicated herpetologists could characterize the vista up a turtle's gaping bunghole as a 'spectacular view.'

But you can understand their enthusiasm--since the turtle's shell is only 260 millimeters long, a 100-millimeter-long bursa is relatively enormous. Up to 68 percent of the turtle's oxygen uptake is accomplished through the cloacal bursae, so it rarely needs to come to the surface to bask or breathe.

"Find the subject of butt-breathers fascinating? Then here's some more info: Dragonfly nymphs, which are aquatic, take water in through the rectum and absorb oxygen through gill-like structures in the hindgut. They can also travel by jet-propulsion by expelling a powerful stream of water from their rear end. Sea cucumbers, related to starfish, have elaborate respiratory trees branching from the end of the digestive tract, through which they breathe.

They also use the anus in self defense. Some can shoot out sticky threads that can entangle an enemy. Others actually disembowel themselves when disturbed: they eject the digestive tract and respiratory tract from the anus. The innards crawl around by themselves for awhile outside the animal, and as they are sticky they can also entangle an attacker. The sea cucumber then blithely crawls off to regenerate its digestive tract."

Dont get caught !

2008-12-04T07:29:00.000-07:00

A woman and a man were involved in a car accident. Both of their cars were totally demolished, but amazingly, neither of them were hurt. After they crawled out of their cars, the woman said, "So, you're a man - that's interesting. I'm a woman. Wow, just look at our cars! There's nothing left, but fortunately we are both unhurt. This must be a sign from God that we should meet and be friends, and live together in peace for the rest of our days."

The man thoughtfully replied, "I agree with you completely. This must be a sign from God!"

The woman continued, "And look at this, here's another miracle. My car is completely demolished but this bottle of wine didn't break. Surely God wants us to drink this wine and celebrate our good fortune."

Then she handed the bottle to the man. The man nodded his head in agreement, opened it, and drank half the bottle. He then handed it back to the woman. The woman took the bottle, and immediately put the cork back in, and handed it back to the man. In surprise, he asked, "Aren't you having any?"

"No," the woman replied, "I think I'll just wait for the police..."

Useless Trivia

2008-12-04T07:25:00.001-07:00

There's no Betty Rubble in the Flintstones Chewables Vitamins.

The first product to have a UPC bar code was Wrigley's gum.

February 1865 is the only month in recorded history not to have a full moon.

Leonardo Da Vinci invented the scissors.

Maine is the only state whose name is just one syllable.

The winter of 1932 was so cold that Niagara Falls froze completely solid.

"Typewriter" is the longest word that can be made using the letters on only one row of the keyboard.

Women blink nearly twice as much as men.

The king of hearts is the only king without a mustache.

Al Capone's business card said he was a used furniture dealer.

Babies are born without kneecaps. They don't appear until the child reaches 2 to 4 years of age.

There are two words in the English language that have all five vowels in order: "abstemious" and "facetious."

Pearls dissolve in vinegar.

Venus is the only planet that rotates clockwise.

It's impossible to sneeze with your eyes open.

No words in the English language rhyme with "month", "orange", "silver", or "purple".

Tigers have striped skin, not just striped fur.

Oak trees do not produce acorns until they are at least fifty years old.

"Stewardesses" is the longest word typed with only the left hand and "lollipop" with your right.

No piece of paper can be folded in half more than seven (7) times.

A duck's quack doesn't echo, and no one can explain why.

Turtles can breathe through their butts.

Winston Churchill was born in a ladies' room in a dance hall.

The second U.S. President who's name contains all the letters from the word "criminal" was William Jefferson Clinton.

The first was Richard Milhouse Nixon.

Another trip east

2008-12-04T05:45:00.002-07:00

It looks like i have fell into a bit of a routine, i dont really mind coz the works pretty easy, it pays well and it keeps me out of the way. You may have noticed i tend to get sent east either midwest or east coast, then i get a backload up into Montreal or Mississauga then another load back to Alberta.

The other nice thing about doing that is its pretty flat so not too many nasty weather surprises, i can do over 1000 kms per day and the only real chance of getting bogged down is Ontario or Quebec.

So this last little jaunt...............

The load was a little late coming out of the factory so i got a couple of extra days at home followed by a quick (well quickish, my truck has been reprogrammed to only do 59 mph now and i believe the bhp has been turned down too) dash east down to Philly, that was pretty unaventful. I made that delivery yesterday morning and discovered a fantastic snack bar outside the warehouse. Its about as close as you could get to a UK burger van and the cheese and ham hoagies are excellent.

We are now also coming to the end of our Permenant Residensy application so we are hoping to get an answer before Xmas, that is the big thing we are waiting for, 18 months of uncertainty about to come to an end, hopefully.....

Im a Truck Driver - Get me outta here

2008-12-04T05:13:00.003-07:00

Well its 07:15 and the the sun has been up and over the concrete jungle that is the Bronx NY. My booking time was 05:00, i was stood at the shipping office at 04:45 and ive just gone for a walk round to see if anything is happening (it isnt).

I have to say i hope i never have to deliver to this particular customer again. I got here yesterday afternoon and parked up. i thought i would be cheeky and ask if they would tip me. They gave me a horrified look as though i had just asked a nun if she pole danced.............

I took that as a "No" but they were very helpful in informing me that there were 3 good restaurants in the center of the complex so i dropped the papers back off at the truck and went in search of food.

I found the first one............ and it was shut.
I found the second one........... and it was shut.
I found the third one............ yep you guessed it.

So with a heavy heart and a light tummy i returned to the truck and contemplated supper.

Quarter of a bottle of diet coke.
An inch of water in my water bottle.
Half a box of Ice Breaker mints.
Full box of Ice Breaker sours.

Well i am no dietician but even i can tell you that not all the major food groups were covered in that little lot, so it was time for a film then try and get some sleep.

So i awoke this morning feeling rough and groggy, went and handed my paperwork in and asked if they were calling me onto a door by cell or CB. The answer was simple, find an empty door and back on it. Fantastic, there was no line, nowhere to park in the yard and battle with the half a dozen other drivers (mostly New Yorkers) to get tipped.

Well i got onto a door and basically thats it, or should i say thats been it for the last 2 hours, at least i can rest easy in the knowledge that i have earned my $100 New York bonus, or "Depression Allowance" as i prefer to call it.

I am so looking forward to getting back over the George Washington Bridge and get back out into the clean air of rural USA. Why on earth would so many people want to live here, high crime, high pollution, high stress, high congestion, high toll costs. I was listening to the CB this morning and now i can understand why there is so much racial tension in the city, and that was just the CB.

Happy (American) Turkey Day

2008-11-27T17:56:00.001-07:00

Happy (American) Turkey Day Everyone !!!!!

Back to the Bronx

2008-11-27T14:36:00.003-07:00

Okay heres the update, my truck is still on the SL&L list (sick lame and lazy) and we are waiting for parts i beleive, either way its sat round the other side of the estate been pampered by the good people of Freightliner.

Ive got my dispatch and ive accepted it (via phone) and it doesnt deliver till the middle of next week so there is no rush to get my ass in gear. Thanks to Jan working now this isnt a major issue and its really made a difference.

When we first came over Jan wasnt allowed to work because of the immigration system we were using. This made things awkward if i wanted to have a few days off because it meant no money was coming in, this mean the pressure was always on me and i always had to ballance between what wanted, and what had to be done. Weeks like this would be a nightmare coz it can mean missing either 1 pay check or sometimes even 2.

Well now life is a lot less stressful although we do miss the time together when i am back at home, still life is life i guess, no matter where you are. Also Jan feels even more settled here now as she is out and about and interacting in the community.

So its back to the "Dirty Side". Not sure how many drops, but one thing is for sure, im going into the Bronx, thats in New York for those of you who may be a little geographically challenged. Most of my runs now seem to be sending me either into the Mid West or through the Mid West, i dont really mind as i like those types of runs, it keeps me out of the way.

I would say though that this will probably be my last but one run before Xmas, by the time i get back i should be able to squeeze a California in and then it will be the holidays, hurrah !!!

By the way has anyone noticed how mild the weather is this year, hope i havent jinxed it now !!

Optical Illusion

2008-11-26T13:44:00.003-07:00

Stare at the dot in the middle and move closer

to the screen, the wheels start turning.