... Fruit Flies Like a Banana *

At the certainty of sounding cliche, it sure doesn't seem like all that crashing around to sell the house in The Old Country was a whole year ago. We had to drop the price twice with the additional insult of ponying up part of the closing costs for the feckless gits who bought the place.  I'm sure they they think of us as slobs, what with Dearest apparently thinking that the rollout dumpster was a Tardis, and my poor timing which resulted in the place not being vacuumed before we rolled out.  (For the record, Dearest had a second dumpster brought in and I sent over a professional carpet cleaner.  Neither of which lessens my embarrassment at the memory of the whole debacle.)

The first trek north was more than a bit surreal, partly thanks to sleep deprivation--and probably just the sheer life-altering change being finally realised.  But after it, I figure I can never count on another bit of luck in my life, what with the left-behind wallet being picked up by a Chicago gas station clerk, plus rain when and where snow and ice should have been a statistical certainty.  The second run for the balance of our stuff (this time in a single vehicle and no critters to worry about) was still a warm summer breeze by comparison.

No question it's worth it.  Even living in one of the "have-not" provinces.  Even having--at the last minute--to switch to contractor status (and thus lose perks like paid time off).  Even living outside the city (with the technical and interpersonal network setbacks that entails).  Even with the disadvantage of being mostly uni-lingual and facing a steep learning curve.  I see the maple leaf and bars flying by our driveway, and think that the battle against rolling back society to the 1880s (on so many levels) is more winnable here.  Mind you, Harper and his goons will put up one hell of a fight--as will the cronyism at the provincial and local levels.

But it'll be over three years until I can vote for or against anyone, so in the meantime, it's best to go heads-down learning French, building up the business, trying to make the local economy a stronger place, and studying for the citizenship exam that I am sooooooo taking the minute I'm eligible.

* Groucho Marx:  "Time flies like an arrow.  Fruit flies like a banana."