Apologies for using this medium rather than private email, but although we have broadband access where I currently am, for some reason it doesn't like my laptop and so I can't (yet) send email.

Just letting all who are interested know that we have arrived safely in Canada and gone through the immigration procedures - we are now Canadian permanent residents!! Currently staying in Toronto; tomorrow we drive down to London and start house-hunting. And once we find a house and have our permanent resident cards, we'll be off on that big trip I've mentioned to some people - looking forward to seeing those who live on or near our path!


Wendy (very tired, but very happy )

Yay! Glad you made it. I'm so excited for you!

Yvonne

Glad you arrived safely, Wendy! Talk to you soon, I hope! We already miss you lots on this side of the Atlantic!

Kaethel

Congratulations!

I still think it is a hoot that you are going to live in London , Canada.

James

YAY! Glad you made it safely!

Wendy moved?

Tank (who wonders how he missed that)

Welcome to this side of the Atlantic, Wendy . I hadn't realized you were moving so soon. (Gosh, I've really been away from IRC.) I'm glad you make it safely.

Did you know London, Ontario Canada is directly across Lake Erie from Cleveland, Ohio US?

- Laura

Yay!!! This is great, Wendy!

Way to go, Wendy!

Just remember - keep on the right side of the road <g>.

And I'm sure I'll see you soon - London's on the way between Chicago and Buffalo when we take the Detroit/Canada/Niagra Falls route.

Congrats,
Lynn

Welcome to the New World, Wendy!

Good luck with the house-hunting.

Welcome to Canada!

At least you are not living in Toronto (which way do you say it?) It is a common joke here to dislike pple from Toronto. Maybe you have to live here to get it.

I hope you like London and I'm glad you made it here in one piece!

Now...you live in a multi-cultural country...BUT you now must love hockey. Repeat "I love hockey, I love hockey." It's not ice-hockey, it's hockey. Now everyone will think you live in an igloo.

Here are some funny sites:

So you wanna be...

operation

We don\'t live in igloos.

Glad you made it safely to the other side, Wendy. Have lots of fun in your new life!

Saskia

That was quick!

Do you have a Canadian accent yet? <g>

LabRat

Thanks, guys! Roo, thank you for those hilarious sites - we've just been laughing our heads off at them. No, no Canadian accent yet, but we've known what a Timbit is for four years now (for the uninitiated, go here and click on What's in Store, then donuts/timbits).

Wendy

Can I just tell you, Tim Hortons is my all time favorite place to get doughnuts. Plus I'm told they have excellent coffee. No joke - my husband had sent away for information about opening a TH franchise here in Chicago, but alas, legalities don't allow TH franchises in Illinois at this time. In the meantime, we get our fix everytime we head to NY. On our way out of Buffalo last week, we picked up half a dozen doughnuts and they were gone before we reached Toledo.

Lynn

Congratulations, Wendy!

AnnaBtG.

Tim Horton's does have the best coffee as well as the best donuts! My roommate and I sometimes drive the 5 hours to the Canadian border to get Duty Free alcohol and Tim Horton's coffee and donuts! When we were in Toronto a few months ago, I'll bet we went to Tim Hortons 2-3 times a day for an iced coffee fix (we don't even like donuts that much ).

- Laura

Yay! I've been thinking about you and John all weekend, Wendy, and I'm very glad to see that you've arrived safely!

Irene
doing the happy dance because she's going to see Wendy and John soon!

(Oh, yeah, any ideas when???)

P.S. If you want to stop in Kitchener briefly on your way to London tomorrow, I'm working from 12 to 5 in the afternoon, but I don't expect it to be busy so I could probably slip away for a little while, or a long while, because I am the boss after all, and I do deserve to enjoy the perks once in a while, and, um, what was my point again? Oh yeah, if you're not in a hurry, you could stop by to say 'hello'... or not, I don't want to be pushy!

And visiting Americans want a spa. <G>

Glad you had a safe trip, don't forget to get your number out when you get your new cell!!

Can't wait to see you!!

Wendy, I'm so glad you arrived safely.

Tricia

Wendy and John,
I am so glad that you picked up on my subtle hint and decided to drop by the store this afternoon. It was great to see you both!

I'll call you tomorrow about the weekend.

Irene
still smiling!

Well, it's been a very interesting day! Got to see Irene again (




Wendy

Welcome to the true north strong and free, Wendy.

Hope you enjoyed the trip from Toronto to London.

Nice set of wheels.

If you're ever back in the Toronto area, let me know.

gerry

Wendy, you say you can't *send* emails, but can you *read* them?

Yvonne

Congrats! You got to Canada safely, AND your permanent Canandian Residents!!!! I'm so happy for you! I wish I could ride in a Lois Lane jeep! Hope your having a blast!!! Ride around the block for me in that Jeep will you? lol! Congrats again!!!!!!

Later Days!
Andie

Yvonne, yes, I can receive emails on my usual account, but at the moment can't send from that account, which is irritating - but I have just set up a free webmail account and will use that.

So, anyone waiting for an email from me, or who has sent me mail and hasn't had a reply, be patient - I'll get to it as soon as I can. We're out and about house-hunting at present, as well as sorting out other things.

Thanks for the good wishes, all! And, Gerry, I'll definitely be in Toronto again in the next few months.


Wendy

Not sure if this is too late, but...

Try setting your outgoing mail server to be the server you're using to connect. In other words, if the Hilton mail server is mail.hilton.com, that's what you want your outgoing server to be.

I could go into the technical mumbo-jumbo of why you don't have to change the incoming mail server settings, but I am not sure anyone cares...

Hi Noelle,

Thanks for the suggestion - it prompted us to try pinging the Hilton mail server (which, apparently, is mail.promus.com) - it seems to be down, which would explain why outgoing mail won't go. Receiving mail works just fine. Anyway, for now I have a webmail account through which I'm sending mail, so it's not insurmountable!

Oh, and news... we've had an offer accepted on a house! The survey was completed yesterday, with an excellent report, so it's all systems go for moving in mid-September. Before then, Grand Tour of Canada and the Northern US, here we come!

Wendy

Well let us know how far north in the US you will be Wendy maybe some of us could meet you again. Laura

Hi Wendy,

Welcome to Canada!
Wow, I'm impressed - you found a house already. How far across Canada are you planning to travel? I am from Vancouver, British Columbia but currently in Pittsburgh, PA, USA for school.

A permanent resident card? Hmm ... I don't recall ever having one back when I first immigrated to Canada in 1990. Just had some paper stapled to my passport. But then again, I was 8 back then and didn't care much about such things. :p

Cheers,
Simba

My family is from England...well my biological family is. Rest are scattered around Britan. Every once in a while we get a visitor come over. They are always facinated by the prairies - how flat everything is and how it seems to go on forever and then bam, a few hours off the edge of it and you get mountains. Well I don't know if you've been in that area before, or plan on going, I just thought I'd say I think it's cool. Then again, lots of pple think it's boring too! LOL. Any of you know what it's like driving through Manitoba, Saskatchewan and Alberta. Ack. Ten hours of torture.

Can I tell you a funny story? Well I guess no one will stop me b/c no one is here.....eh hem..

I had a prof from Scotland. He's the best. He came to Canada and thought he'd take the post offered in Winnipeg b/c he thought he could go up to Churchill on the weekend to do some of his studies.....little did he know Churchill is so far and HARD to get to !!! LOL. He thought it was just a hop, skip and a jump from Winnipeg. Poor fool. He said he was used to the small distances he found in Europe and his home island.

The sad part is he did his PhD on earth sciences. He was a geographer!!!!!

He retired a few years ago and now works at a bike store (a chain one here in the city). It is his hobby and decided to work there more. He did both before.

Congrats on your safe move.

I already said it, but I'll say it again: welcome to Canada!

Of course you have to pass by Toronto sometime soon.

Julie

P.S
Since when?????