So, yesterday was the one-year anniversary of our closing date (it will never be hard to remember, since our mortgage payments always come out on the 13th) and our leap into homeownership as Windsorites. I have to say that although Windsor has every amenity one might reasonably want, it's not exactly home (any of our friends from Montreal want to move here, please?). Right now the biggest annoyance in Windsor is the ongoing CUPE strike which means that all sorts of public services have been shut down for a couple of months, including, park maintenance and, most importantly, garbage collection. So right now our garage (which is really too small for our cars anyway, even the Matrix) is holding three big bags of regular trash and eight big bags of recyclables. And all the local parks have wonderful wildflowers, but aren't much good for kids to run around in. I have to admit that I have some sympathy for the striking workers even though virtually everyone else in this otherwise union-friendly town seems to have lost their goodwill. Seems like the city has decided to use the economic downturn as an opportunity to slash costs in the long term by removing some benefits for all newly hired employees. But short-term economic woes don't justify long-term consequences like that, particularly ones that will make it very difficult for the city to attract good workers in the future. And right now the workers are prepared to go to binding arbitration but the city isn't - that tells me something too. The problem is that the city stinks (or so I'm told) and is an eyesore, right in the middle of the big tourism season, and people are understandably less inclined to be generous than they were in April. And at a time when the auto workers are losing their jobs left and right, they aren't too sympathetic to people who haven't even been hired yet losing some benefits, and are sympathetic to the city when it threatens a tax hike to pay for these things (in a city with a declining tax base already). You have to give the city credit for cunning, knowing when they have their workers at the greatest disadvantage, and for having the good fortune to be doing contract negotiations when they have the greatest leverage to extract concessions. Fortunately we compost most of the smelliest of our food waste. There are also a couple of ad-hoc door-to-door services that will take garbage away for people (of unknown legality). Things are all getting pretty tense here, which is probably the biggest annoyance, and weren't helped much by the fact that the Wings lost the Stanley Cup. But I mean, seriously - are we now to believe that the guy who mows the lawn at the park is an essential service? Ah well, it will get straightened around soon enough.

Tags: windsor

Right now a lot of things are kind of up in the air here in Windsor. The fiascos relating to the move are finished, and the boxes of stuff are essentially all cleared out or stored away, but I'm still more unsettled than settled here. I'm not getting paid yet, and won't be until my US Social Security is processed, which could be as early as next week but more likely will be a couple weeks past that. So Julie and I are basically living off of savings until then. I don't think it's really sunk in yet, the new house, the new job, etc., and I don't think it will until the fall when I'm actually regularly at work and Julie is at school and Arthur is at daycare. Right now Julie's mom is still here, which is very useful in terms of getting the house set up, but doesn't contribute much to the feeling of being an adult and a homeowner. But then, most of the time I'm still mentally about sixteen and this is all a weird digression into adulthood anyway.

So, Windsor. Really the city is quite nice for a place that is in the midst of an economic downturn. Inevitably there are more places for sale, and businesses for lease, than there would have been a couple of years ago, given the auto layoffs. Hey, that's why we were able to get a four-bedroom house in move-in condition for a rock bottom price, so it's hard to complain about that. But it does mean that despite the neighbourhood being clean, well-maintained, and pleasant, there isn't a lot of camaraderie - a lot of people are either moving out or have just moved in, it seems. Then again, Julie and I never figured that our community, here in the city, would be based around our neighbours. That raises the question of where exactly our community is, of course. So, we'll have to see.

In many ways the city itself has a lot to recommend it. Even though we live fairly far south in the city, it's only a 5-10 minute drive to downtown, and there is plenty of free / near-free parking to be had. It's big enough to have everything we could reasonably want, but small enough that there is rarely any significant traffic. One really big adjustment from Montreal is the near-complete lack of public transportation here in Windsor. In NDG there were 5 bus routes passing within a block of our place that would take us either right downtown, or to the metro line. Here it's a fifteen-minute walk to the nearest bus stop, which will only take us downtown (and in fact, the monthly transit pass is more expensive in Windsor than in Montreal!). So there is a new car in our immediate horizon, since if one of us needs the car then everyone else is stranded. On the plus side, even with gas at $4.20 a gallon we can save a lot by filling up in Detroit. And it's not like our Corolla is a gas-guzzler.

The park situation is a little bit odd. There are three parks within easy walking distance of our house, all with fairly new play equipment, and all well-maintained ... but none of them have a) good shade trees; b) sufficient park benches / seating for parents; c) enough (any?) garbage cans. The result is that they're all pretty sparsely attended, and really there is nothing more depressing than going with your toddler to an empty park (although honestly he doesn't interact that much with other, strange kids anyway). We were a bit perplexed as to how a neighbourhood with mostly young families could have three parks going totally / mostly unused, but the solution seems to be that in an auto-friendly city like Windsor, most people drive five minutes to one of a couple of somewhat better-equipped parks rather than going to the local ones. *shrug* Just something we'll have to get used to.

One thing I will get used to with great pleasure is the reduction (about 15-20%) in our grocery bill, due to the vastly lower food costs here. I'm not exactly sure how much of that is due to proximity to the US, how much to the general economic downturn, and how much to the fact that southwestern Ontario is a major agricultural producer. In addition, we've found a good butcher / grocer, closer than any of the supermarkets and with competitive prices on everything. Last weekend we went to the farmer's market, which will be a very short drive starting in the fall when a major construction project in the city is finished up.

We are also setting out some plans to explore the area around Windsor as well. Last weekend we went to Colasanti's Tropical Gardens, which is a petting zoo / garden / kiddie park about half an hour away. Arthur enjoyed himself immensely (although he spent a great deal of time throwing leaves into the artificial river to watch them get carried by the current) and had to be pulled away from the rides tearfully. I also have plans to take a trip down to Pelee Island, although whether that will happen this year is still up in the air. Julie thinks (only semi-correctly) that I only want to go because I want to take a picture of Canada's southernmost stop sign. One trip I definitely do want to take over the next couple of weeks is to get down to Amherstburg where there is a British fort and a lot of other interesting touristy-type stuff.

I'm only going across to work one or two days a week right now, and then mostly for administrative reasons. There isn't much to do at work - my computer is in the process of being ordered, so I just have an empty desk, really. Given the season, the faculty aren't around much either. And of course, any of my writing, course prep, etc., can be done here. I should really get on to those book revisions some more this afternoon - I'm pretty sure I can wrap up chapter 6 today, which has been the most challenging one. The border crossing isn't too bad - about 10 minutes wait on average going there, virtually no wait coming back, and that will be reduced even further once I get a Nexus (express border crossing) pass. The more significant problem is the host of construction-related detours, most notably the massive work being done on the US side of the Ambassador Bridge that probably adds 10 minutes onto my daily commute either way, and which will be ongoing for another year.

It has been more than a bit of a hassle getting all the administrative stuff sorted out though, because on the one hand, I am going through an (in my view) unnecessarily complex visa process, coupled with additional hassles for Julie's status as an international student, plus the endless Social Security and taxation forms needed to get me on the payroll, but then we also have all the hassles involved in changing our provincial residency from Quebec to Ontario (e.g., car insurance, which is still ongoing). Nothing has really gone wrong, but it's just so draining of my energy. Hopefully that can all get sorted out in the next week or two, since I still have a course to prep for the fall and a manuscript to get sent off to the publishers.

Tags: windsor

As I am sure that you have all been awaiting the conclusion of the saga, I give you without further delay, the second and final part of The Very Lengthy and Woeful Tale of the Great Westward Move, including Diatribes and Very Naughty Words, in Several Parts for the Edification of our Learned Readership.

Friday: We awoke and after breakfast I decided I couldn't delay any longer, and called our insurance company regarding the car. Apparently, as in most other things, Quebec is crazy, and the fellow I spoke to was really rather confused at first about how to deal with a comprehensive claim in Ontario. At one point he asked the question, "Was there any property damage to the raccoon?" although he very quickly realized that was a silly question. Anyway, although it took a while to sort it all out, the damage was covered under our comprehensive policy, with only a $100 deductible, and we are also covered for a replacement rental car for as long as we need it. Meanwhile, during the phone call, the delivery truck from Leon's arrived with our new mattress, boxspring and bed frame which we had ordered the previous afternoon (Sears, take note ...), solving our bedding problem. Moreover, the Bell technician also arrived to tell us that the problem with the phone was that it had been disconnected at the pole, and that she had now fixed it - and lo, we had a dial tone! So in the span of half an hour, the phone, car, and bed problems had all been taken care of. I went out to rent a car, and took the extended warranty in case I decide to kill any more raccoons out of spite. (The car rental guy informed me that officially he could not recommend this course of action, but unofficially, he informed me that I would be covered should I do so ...). I then went to pick up our new corner media unit. Put together the unit and the bed with the help of my brother, and then my parents and brother headed off, leaving us less frazzled than we had been. The Sears store in Montreal where we originally placed the order called us; the sales representative tried to convince Julia not to cancel the order and to allow them to re-ship the mattress from Montreal (uh, yeah, no thanks). We slept that night on our brand new, very nice bed.

Saturday: Mostly a quiet day around the house. We called Sears since we hadn't heard anything from them since Thursday, to get them to pick up the boxspring and headboard that they had uselessly shipped to us. Picked up the endtables to go with our coffee table, and put them together, thus more or less completing our living room (until we get the new TV). Heard from the repairs on the car also are going to include replacing the front bumper (which wasn't damaged from the front, but apparently was underneath), which is fine with me since it's under the comprehensive and won't cost me anything extra, but the adjuster and the service centre had no problem agreeing on the repairs.

Sunday: Arthur's third birthday! Mostly this is accounted for at Julia's journal here, so I won't repeat much here, except to gripe about Thomas the Tank Engine having two nearly identical styles of train, one of which goes on the wooden tracks and the other of which is barely too small, and to gripe about Chuck E. Cheese for making the world's most addictive place for kids, with the world's saltiest, crappiest pizza. In general, a day of rest from woes and tribulations.

Monday: Apparently nothing happened on Monday, either good or bad.

Tuesday: The day of the revenge of the woes. Called Sears back to ask why they hadn't contacted us regarding a pickup time for the stuff we were returning. Mostly I was calling because I no longer trusted Sears, and with good reason: they informed me that while the mattress had been cancelled, the rest of the order hadn't been cancelled on their system. When I informed them I wanted to cancel this order and have the material picked up, they informed me that there would be a $50.00 pickup fee because the items were delivered to us on time and in good condition. I pointed out that a boxspring without a mattress is not a completed order, and informed them that I would not be paying any such fee. Eventually I got them to agree to this, although I'll believe it when my credit card balance is fully corrected. Called the auto shop, to find out that the new radiator was now going to be delayed until at least Thursday, and so the earliest I would have my car back would be Friday. Called Bell, although this time it was only to have a new phone jack installed in the basement (since we don't have any, contrary to our earlier recollection during our visits prior to buying the house). Spent most of the day over on campus, picking out an office and dealing with various bureaucratic issues.

Wednesday: Julia's mom arrived in the evening for the beginning of a lengthy stay. Took important research findings on the stop signs at the Windsor airport. No significant woes.

Thursday: Last night, around 9:45 pm, a truck pulled up to our house - it was Sears, appearing unannounced to pick up our stuff. Of course, Arthur was already asleep by this point, but fortunately they managed to extricate the boxspring and headboard without waking him.

Friday: Bell arrived in the morning to install our new phone jack, which was uneventful. I scampered around in preparation for crossing the border and getting my TN (NAFTA) visa this morning, only to realize that my department had failed to provide me with a necessary document, and that I would have to pick it up some other day. Ah well, it gave me more time to write this post.

And this brings to a conclusion our sordid tale (for now). One-sentence recap: Sears, Bell, Lion Moving, and all raccoons everywhere should be exterminated. We still don't have our car back (hopefully today or tomorrow), but our phone is working, we have exactly the amount of furniture we are supposed to, I still have a job, and really, the most important thing - the house itself - is exactly as promised, with no obvious unexpected repairs or costs. I've skipped over a lot of non-woe stuff, and we still have some unpacking to do, but otherwise things are starting to get settled. I may even be able to catch up on emails tonight, if fortune favours me.

Tags: growlery, windsor
Current Mood: calm

So here we are, a full week after our arrival in Windsor, and although it is much delayed, I now present for your edification, The Very Lengthy and Woeful Tale of the Great Westward Move, including Diatribes and Very Naughty Words, in Several Parts for the Edification of our Learned Readership.

Monday: The movers did not arrive between 1 and 3pm as requested, but in fact, not until 5pm. This was more than a little inconvenient, since it meant that Arthur was out of day care by the time they started, and it meant that they didn't finish until after 8pm. So, we were pretty cranky already, but fortunately our landlord invited us in to let Arthur play around downstairs while they worked. And then ... they decided that everything wasn't going to fit on the truck. By the time they were half done I knew it was possibly a problem, and when I asked one of the workers he told me that a) the foreman wasn't doing a very good job packing things in and b) they would probably be able to get it all in. So, he was half right. But what annoyed me most of all was that rather than tell me there was a problem and ask if there was something that could be discarded, the foreman decided to leave a solid wood bookshelf from the office, and then say at the end, "Would it be okay if you left this bookshelf behind?", presenting this as a "compromise". That was more or less the last straw and I tore a strip off the guy, using some naughty language in the presence of Arthur. Needless to say we will not be using the incompetent, unprofessional buffoons at Lion Moving again, and neither should you. We left the city around 8:15 and, with the exception of hitting a raccoon on the 401 on the way to my parents' place, had an uneventful trip to Cobourg where we all went to sleep, or would have if Arthur hadn't got his second wind and decided that he wasn't tired any more.

Tuesday: Julia and I switched our stuff into Dad's car and left Cobourg at around 6:30 am, with Arthur still sleeping at my parents' place, fortunately. We drove to Windsor and arrived just before noon, with our movers, our real estate agent, and our Sears delivery truck all arriving at or around the same time. The move into the house was thankfully far less problematic than the move out. However, Sears informed us that while our fridge, stove, and boxspring had been delivered, our mattress and headboard had not, and they couldn't tell us what had happened or when it would be delivered. While this wouldn't be a crisis immediately, we would eventually need that bed once my parents arrived with Arthur. We spent most of the afternoon getting things sorted out as best we could. To our dismay, our phone line was not working as had been promised by Bell (surprise, surprise); thankfully we had my dad's cell phone by this point so we were not completely out of touch with the world. I called to check on the phone, and was told that a hold had been placed on our account by Bell Credit Services (???). We were, however, able to go out to Leon's to buy some living room furniture to be delivered later in the week, and to Zellers to get some other necessary supplies. Because we had had so little sleep the night before, though, we really didn't get that much done before we fell asleep.

Wednesday: Called Sears; they informed me that the missing mattress was on its way and would be delivered between noon and 6pm on Thursday - just in time for arriving relatives. Called the phone company; they informed me that in fact the 'credit' problem was that the previous owners hadn't properly cancelled their old internet service, thus causing some sort of weird conflict, and that it would take another 24 hours to resolve the issue (grrr). We did an enormous amount of shopping (for a new filing cabinet for me, various household, garden and kitchen stuff) but basically the day was devoted to getting the living room, kitchen, and Arthur's room sufficiently unpacked for my parents, my brother, and Arthur, all arriving from Cobourg the next day. And since at this point, it appeared that the bed and the phone would be sorted out by then, that was all good.

Thursday: The morning started auspiciously when our living room furniture arrived promptly and in excellent condition. However, things quickly took a downturn. The phone line was still not installed, forcing us to continue to rely on the cell. Sears arrived promptly at noon - with a headboard, but no mattress, and no indication when there would be a mattress. The delivery guy himself informed us that we were getting shoddy service and should call back and cancel our order. So, we were very cranky. And then ... my dad called to let me know that they were in Windsor, but that my car had broken down about a mile away from our house (fortunately still under warranty, but still, grrr). After driving to their location and picking up the family and taking them home, and then getting my car towed to the local Toyota dealer, I decided that what I really needed was more frustration, so I called Sears home delivery about our mattress, only to be informed that they weren't sure where the mattress was, or when it would be delivered, but wouldn't we please give them 24-48 hours to try to figure out where it got to? At this point I uttered some very naughty words indeed, and informed them that not only would I not do that, but that I wanted to cancel the order entirely. And so Julia and I headed out to Leon's, who had delivered our other stuff promptly and also don't make us pay for it for 15 months. On the way to the store (a 5-minute drive), we got a call from Toyota telling us that in fact, the problem with my car was that there was quite severe damage to the radiator, caused by hitting something on the undercarriage, and that it was accordingly not covered under the warranty. So, yeah ... remember that raccoon we hit on Monday night? Apparently it got its vengeance on us to the tune of $1400+, despite the fact that the car drove 600km+ without any complaint. And what's more, apparently some of the parts need to be shipped from Vancouver, so the earliest our car would be fixed would be next Monday or Tuesday. Again, naughty words were uttered. We glumly went to purchase a mattress set that cost about $200 more than the one we got at Sears, and arrived home to find that our phone line still had not been installed, for unknown reasons. I called Bell and they said they would send out a service person the next day, which would cost us $75 minimum if they had to come in the house. At this point I decided that I had had enough of this crappy day, and would not call the insurance company about the car until tomorrow. We ordered some Chinese food and then slept on the couches.

So, as the first half of our tale ends, our intrepid adventurers have been reunited with their son, but have no working phone, no mattress to sleep on, and a busted car with expensive repairs looming...

Tags: growlery, windsor

The movers will be showing up at some point in the next hour or so, at which point we will be out of here! We will be out of contact for the next day or so, hopefully not any longer. We'll try to post tomorrow night if we have the internet and the energy. Wish us luck!

Tags: windsor

Today is T-1 for the big move. Just taking a minute to have a break in the midst of an all-day packing extravaganza. To my right is a wall of 15 2-cubic-foot boxes (we have around 80 in total, I think). Fortunately we seem to have enough boxes and other supplies, and not to have forgotten anything critical. Unfortunately what with all our dishes being packed, I drank my morning coffee out of a plastic beer cup. I really should have taken an extra Dollarware mug home with me which I could then get rid of. Ah well.

I just took a last walking tour around the neighbourhood. I may never really be in love with Montreal the way some people are, but NDG is a great neighbourhood; I'll miss it, and particularly our immediate environs. I will probably end up taking another foray up the street tomorrow morning, though, to get the coffee that I can no longer make for myself.

Tomorrow the movers come in the early afternoon and then once they're done, are going to take the truck to their warehouse and rest, and then set out on the journey in the middle of the night so that they can arrive in Windsor mid-morning on Tuesday. But we have to be there until they're done packing, and so we will have to set out mid-afternoon, drop off Arthur at my parents' place in Cobourg, then drive on to Windsor and get in late in the evening (midnight-ish) and crash at a hotel. Then Tuesday morning we meet the real estate agent at the house, get the keys, and scurry around for an hour checking out the place before the movers arrive. Then our new fridge, stove, and bed will arrive in the afternoon. I fully expect to be asleep shortly thereafter.

Oh yeah, and it's Father's Day. Woohoo ... ?

Tags: windsor
Current Music: Led Zeppelin - Black Dog

Effective as of today, our closing date, we officially own a house. I don't think I can express quite how relieved I am, and simultaneously terrified. For all my excessive learning, I am still basically a kid at heart: now a kid with mortgage payments.

Today, in addition to being my last day at McGill, and the closing date for our house, was also the only day that I could get for the delivery of the fancy solid wood bookcase I ordered from Sears for the incipient Bruce Trigger Memorial Collection which will be housed at the archaeology lab. It still needs some finishing touches, such as a decorative carpet, a plaque, a photo, etc., but the shelves are in place and are looking great! There is a real space now down there for some really neat stuff, some of which is very hard to find otherwise. I am expecting to be back in Montreal at some point next year for the grand opening.

It did mean that I was up at 5:30 with Arthur, got into work at 8 for an 8am-1pm delivery time, then spent most of the morning organizing stuff down in the lab (with my trusty assistant at hand, thankfully). In addition I had to pack up and load into my car 150-odd mugs from the Dollarware project to take to Value Village ... so if anyone wants cheap mugs even cheaper, that's where they'll be! Really I have no excuse for not doing that earlier, just laziness really, but it had to be done (although I was tempted to just junk them all ...).

After that I made the mistake of trying to find a parking spot close to my office so I could load the last of my books and files into the car. Now, I'm not especially good with driving in stressful situations to begin with, but couple that with exhaustion and lack of lunch and ... well, I had a little case of the rage. 45 minutes later and 5 passes around the block in crazy traffic/construction with turning restricted everywhere, I gave up and parked in a no stopping zone, which had the advantage of being as close as possible to my office but the disadvantage of being completely illegal. On the plus side all that rage gave me plenty of adrenaline to lift the overloaded boxes into the car as quickly as possible. But I am now thoroughly exhausted and the only thing saving me from total insanity was that Julie had thoughtfully ordered some Chinese food for me which was waiting when I got home. But ... househousehousehousehouse!

Tags: academia, windsor
Current Mood: ecstausted
Current Music: Pogues - Fairytale of New York

Arthur is really starting to figure out that we're going far, far away. Maybe he even understands we're leaving forever. This evening after supper, we spent about twenty minutes looking at the big foldout map of Windsor and pointing out the parks and school nearby, where Detroit is (he can now read the words 'Windsor' and 'Detroit', it seems), etc. Then just about five minutes ago, while on the potty (success!), he says "I don't like to leave this house." Perplexed, I asked him, "You don't like to leave the house?" to which he replied, "I don't like to leave this town."

At this point I figured out that he's using 'like' as a synonym of 'want', and so I feel terrible. I explained to him that we would all miss Montreal and that it would be a big change but that there would be a lot of great things about Windsor and he would still have all his toys and books ... like his copies of Archaeology magazine that will sit right above the toilet just like they do here. He then loudly exclaimed 'Secret of the Skulls!', prompting me to pull out the copy discussing the new afarensis juvenile fossil so he could point out, "That's his eyes! That's his teeth! That's his nose!" Crisis averted?

Tags: arthur, windsor
Current Mood: melancholy

I've been a little down of late, partly just move-related anxiety, partly the stupid humidity and resultant sleeplessness, and partly just the same old thing as before. Anyway, I have put together a soundtrack in honour of our upcoming Big Move (now only a week away, eek!), a set of 16 songs that encapsulate various aspects of the change of scenery from Montreal to Detroit/Windsor. Here it is, tracks in order, with selected lyrics:

( Cut for your viewing pleasure )

Tags: windsor

Yesterday we drove 8 hours from Montreal to Windsor (less than the 10 I figured it would be) and basically crashed from exhaustion. This morning we met our broker at 8:30am, started seeing houses at 9 and then worked through a seemingly endless series of houses, mostly in the southern region of Windsor called Devonshire Heights. By 3:00 we were convinced we had seen everything in the city that met our criteria, and after a couple of revisits, were ready to place an offer by 5:00. (Julie will post more on the househunt and the 'loser houses' momentarily). After writing up the contract in a mall food court, our broker took the offer to the seller about an hour ago, and then just met with us at Tim Horton's (one of over 30 in the city!) to present their very reasonable counteroffer, which we signed on the spot and made a deposit.

So, details: It's 8 years old, a 4 bedroom, 2 full baths, with a very big kitchen with an island, cathedral ceilings on the main floor living room/dining room, hardwood floors upstairs and laminate below, a huge family room downstairs, a garage, air conditioning. The neighbourhood is a quiet residential neighbourhood, which will take some adjustment, but is exactly what we were looking for. It is basically the best house we saw all day even though it was middle-to-low in the price range of houses we saw today (some people think *much* too highly of their property). Contingent on financing (which is not a big deal because it is *well* under our maximum price) we take possession May 30 and move early in June.

Woohoo!

Tags: windsor
Current Mood: ecstatic