The last few days haven't really had much in them to warrant new entries - there aren't many ways of spinning distribution of resumes, endless trawls through craigslist for furniture/back up houses/jobs etc. However, today (and yesterday afternoon) saw some breakthroughs.
We signed the lease on the house Thursday (a day after agreed with the landlady, and with no good reason, worryingly) but we've managed to convince her that we have the means with which to pay rent, and that we won't hold orgies on the front porch. And I watched her watch me watch her take the "for lease" signs out of the window as we walked off down the street. She's a funny old lady - one moment seems lovely and sweet and concerned for us, and the next threatening all sorts of unmentionables should we fail to pay rent. Maybe that's what the basement is hiding - the dry bones of previous unruly tenants? Anyway, it's ours now, or else we'll be threatening all sorts until we get our deposit back!
Friday I had an interview at a store called Eco, which sells outdoor clothing/shoes/bags etc. Really cool store. It was less of an interview and more of a "go out on the shop floor and let's see how you do for an hour". A few nerves, but a fairly quiet beginning and really friendly co-workers helped. And after a while, I got into the whole chatting to customers who walk in, asking if they're OK, etc etc. Thankfully for me, one guy walked in, immediately started talking to me, asking all sorts of questions about everything, and looking for a whole load of gear. We covered trousers, shoes, sales, bags, jackets, and by the time the supervisor took me off for a debrief chat, we were still discussing jackets, he was trying things on. I spent most of the time winging it and improvising but if you do it with conviction...!
I realised this job is basically shopping, but spending other people's money instead of mine. I'd hate doing that in England, as no one likes sales assistants coming up to you, but it's expected over here. And everyone is just open to it, and plain friendly. So after some very positive feedback, I was told to call back on Tuesday when they've spoken to the manager, and hopefully I'll either be in that one, or another across town. But the girl said she wanted to keep me here! Which was very encouraging :-) I got really good vibes from all the people who worked there, and I thought it would just be a really cool environment to work in. I really want this job!
Another satisfying, and equally important point is that I have organised something to sleep on Sunday night! Found a futon bed on good old craigslist for $150 (which is on the more expensive end of what I wanted to pay) but it looks in very good condition, and more to the point, I don't have to go get it! He offered free delivery for today, but I emailed and said I wanted it, and would pay a bit extra for delivery on Sunday, but he's delivering it for free anyway!
Kev and I went skiing Thursday night, up Grouse Mountain, one of the ski areas in Vancouver. We stayed up til 10pm as it's all floodlit and open late. It was great! Mainly blue runs, but found some more challenging areas - we left the blacks as Kevin hadn't been skiing since he was 12. But it was great just for the evening, and to warm up the ski legs and get back into it. Amazing views over the whole of Vancouver and the coast line from up the top as well. As of Monday, there's a rest-of-season pass for Mt Seymour (the biggest of the three hills here) available for $99 which we're going to go get, as job or not, it's a massive bargain, given that last night cost $40 and then rentals on top of that.
I'm looking forward to real life starting. Having a job, building relationships with colleagues, making our house a home, settling in. Having Quentin here. It's now on the global announcement service that is facebook, so it may as well be here, and end the very sporadic, subtle references! Yep, Q and I are an item and he's arriving in Vancouver in just over two weeks' time on a working visa as well :-). Am looking forward to being able to spend time with him that doesn't involve battling sketchy skype connections and negotiating time zones!
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