Snow again

I am at home at the moment to have my reset so i thought i would write the blog so i don't get to behind again. The first part of the trip took me from Brooks AB down to Columbus NE.  The first part was pretty uneventful until i stopped at Rapid City SD for the night, they had said we were going to have a big snow storm hit that night so i figured the best place to be was in a truck stop.

This is what i woke up to, so i walked into the truck stop to see if the roads where open and yes they were was the reply but take care so i cleared the snow of the hood and truck the best i could and away i went . 

As you can see it was not to bad but the wind brought visibility down to zero at times. It was going great until i had  to turn of the interstate along a 25 mile stretch of road to join the hwy i needed to  take me to Columbus NE

It took me a little while to navigate but we got there in the end. I traveled about 90 miles south and the snow went and was replaced with ice. Deliver done it was off to Darien WI for my reload.  When i was loaded i took this back up into the snow to Calgary AB as i was early for the delivery,  i dropped it in our yard and picked up another trailer to deliver in Lethbridge AB and home for my reset happy days.

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Catch-up

It has been a while since our last post.  Since Christmas there has been plenty of work to keep me busy.  The New Year has so far started off well.  I have mainly been running across the top 4 states of America which i have found to be a nice area to stay within and it has given me more time at home.

I have also been doing some more mentoring and have just come back from a 11 day trip with a new guy.  The weather caused some problems but it was very good leaning for him to experience some of the bad weather and now he has his own truck and i wish him well

Have been suffering a few teething problems with the new truck and tri-pac but think this is an issue with all the newer trucks it seems.  The problems are being fixed but a shame the problems are there to begin with.

Tina & I have got a new vehicle which is helping with the weather we are experiencing.  Tina is managing well with the snow.  We have had to insure the car this time round ourselves.  Our last insurance was covered with the lease.  We have been very fortunate to find a insurance broker who was able to use our no claim discounts from the UK, even though we have been here a year nearly already.  This reduced the premium by a considerable amount.  We have also taken advantage of the cheap price for personalized number plates here in Alberta.  Tina got the plate she always wanted 'Loony'.


We have now seen VRV Global who we are hiring on our behalf to represent us for our PR application.  Unfortunately the length of time for just the first stage of the application has now increased to 11 months and approx. 12 months for the second stage, however with the way things change so quickly this may even increase.  However in the grand scheme of things the wait for the end result will be worth while.   I have also sent in the application for my visa renewal and at this present time renewals are taking 107 or more if you are using a representative, however for a renewal application by yourself this can now be done online and reduces the waiting time by over 60 days.  However you will need to pay the visa cost yourself and then claim any monies back from your employer.  Unfortunately we only discovered this after ours had been sent off.

Kane continues to thieve at school and is now ready to start staying for lunch and will be from March 1st join the Blast program.  This now enables Tina to start working and will start her part-time job working at the Animal Shelter next week.

We have now completed the tax forms and await my rebate which will make all the nights away from home a little more worth while.