The south end of the beach at Hua Hin, Thailand.
Where are Kevin and Ruth now? Hua Hin, Thailand.

Where are Kevin and Ruth going next? Maldives on March 23rd.

Wednesday, September 10, 2014

We are officially Saskatchewan residents!

Sorry for the delayed report today. We had a lot to do on our weekly trip into town today, and wouldn't you know it...we slept in!

I know, getting up at 7:45 am isn't really sleeping in to a lot of people, but it is to us. Usually, we're up before seven. But I guess the near freezing temperature outside (!!) must have made us just want to stay in bed.

We needed to load up the little blue car with as many empties as we could to do another run to the recycling depot in Swift Current  45 minutes away, and we had an 11:30am appointment. But first, we also needed to go into the nearby town of Cabri to finalize our post office box and pick up my new camera case that had arrived.

We were also going to get our new Saskatchewan driver's licences! And, we found out that we could do the whole process in the little town of Cabri rather than standing in line at the main office in Swift Current.

But boy, do they make you jump through hoops to change your driver's licence. You need to be able to satisfactorily prove that you are a Saskatchewan resident. That's normally pretty easy for most folks as you can present a lease agreement or mortgage document, but since our accommodation is part of our employment agreement, we don't have either. But you also need to show a bank statement or credit card statement or electric bill or water bill...something that shows your address. I had only changed the address on our credit cards a week or ten days ago, and had only one statement that showed the new address.

But, you could also get a guarantor form signed by someone "of standing" within the community. The local town mayor is also a seasonal camper here at the park, so I asked him to sign the forms for us.

Anyhow, it was all enough and we are now officially Saskatchewanites! Now that we have the driver's licence, we can go ahead and finish the application for the Saskatchewan Health Insurance. Canadian health insurance is far from "universal", in fact it's administered by the provinces and each province does things a little differently. So when you change provinces, you have to jump through hoops to change your health insurance too.

Then it was off to the small city of Swift Current. We did some more running around there and picked up some groceries. Got all that done, and did the 45 minute drive back to the campground. Busy day.

And it's cold out...feels like early November, not September! Supposed to get a little closer to normal by the weekend.

Oh, so remember that I ordered a new camera bag from Amazon.com? I told the story back on August 26th. But I wanted to update you because there was a little confusion as to how much it was actually going to end up costing.

Here's the case that I bought...

Ape Case Compact Digital SLR Holster Camera Bag (ACPRO600)

Now, when I bought it, it was $14.10, so I see that it's gone up a little. But it's still a great deal, because it's over $30 here in Canada. Anyhow, with the shipping to Canada and the exchange rate it came to $23 at the time, which is much cheaper than I could buy it here for. And it showed up at the post office yesterday...with no additional charges for any other taxes or duties or anything!

So, proof that you can sometimes buy items from the American Amazon.com website and have them shipped to Canada and still save!

A great camera bag, and despite the broken zipper on my original one, I still really like the case....which is why I bought another one!










15 comments:

  1. Moving can be such a chore even when it's all paperwork. So congrats on your new status and your new home.

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    Replies
    1. You have that right Jim and Sandie but it is easier when you don't have "stuff" to move. :-)

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    2. Now that is a good thought! We did not have to move our posessions to Sioux Falls either!

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  2. Love that header pic, I almost jumped out of my chair, Too bad people have a fear of border states. Viva Nuevo Leon!

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    1. Yep, we love that picture too Chris. It is not only the fact that people fear the border states but they also fear any road that isn't a toll road or a "main" road! Boy are they ever missing out on the best parts of Mexico!

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  3. Just FYI, just got notified of a huge solar flare, so keep an eye out for the aurora borealis, you new Saskatchewanderers you!

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    1. Thanks Dugg, unfortunately last night was overcast but we are waiting for a very clear and cool night in order to set the alarm to go off at some ungodly hour in order to go out and hopefully get a chance to see them. It's that time of year again!

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  4. You picked a lovely Province with a great economy to become a resident of. Congrats!

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    1. Thanks Cheapchick, we think so too, just wish we had more time to explore it!

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    2. Thanks Cheapchick, we think so too, just wish we had more time to explore it!

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  5. Hey, at least everything is in English. Getting an Austrian license was a bunch of fun, let me tell ya.
    And...congratulations!

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    1. Yeah, that doesn't sound like it would be fun or easy!

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  6. Wow! That sounds hard work. But you both sound like you enjoy hard work!
    Exciting times ahead.

    Your header scenery is beautiful.

    Thanks for the link to the Pittsburgh tour. That was fascinating. I love architecture too. And sounds like you had a great guide.

    I left you a note about North Korea in your previous post.

    Sft x

    http://349sfttoseetheworldchallenge.blogspot.co.uk/

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    1. Don't know that I would call it "hard" work but it was frustrating and time consuming!

      We love architecture too so we really enjoyed this tour and yes our guide was great and very knowledgeable. We have also done one in Chicago www.travelwithkevinandruth.com/2012/05/chicago-greeter-tour.html which was again excellent. We will be doing another one when we are in Seattle in November, which we are looking forward too.

      Thank you for the link about the North Korea tour company, we haven't had time yet to look at it but we will.

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  7. Sounds like your weather is much like ours in South Dakota. Thank goodness it is going to warm back up to the 70's this weekend. Hope it does the same for you.

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