Monday

We met Hans at 8.45 and went for our drug test (pee in the cup) then we went and exchanged our UK licence for an Alberta class 5 licence. Got my national insurance number then Hans dropped us at the hotel until 13.45 then we have to go and open up a bank account. Going to take a drive around to H&R office to meet everyone over there, looking forward to that.

Sunday no work or test

I thought Sunday would be boring as we could not hire a car. But I met up with George an H&R driver. We had a nice long chat about everything and anything. I asked him what the trucks were like inside, he said if I wanted we could walk around to the yard and have a look in his truck it was only a 20 minute walk so I jumped at the chance, it would help the day go by. We meet up with Eddie he came with us but just as we were going one of the dutch lads said he would give us a lift great only had to walk back lol. It was nice to see the trucks I have spent months just looking at the pics but it feels good siting in one. We went and had lunch then me and Ed jumped on the bus and asked to go to Wal-Mart the bus driver said it would be a long bus ride as we got on the bus on the wrong side of the road but hey we had plenty of time so what the hell. It was actually better than hiring a car because you saw more of Lethbridge. Spent the rest of the day looking around shops and walking to get something to eat got a great deal on an ipod, much cheaper than in the UK. True what they say, if you didn't know you were in Canada you'd think you were in America. Can't get over how clean the place is, it's lovely.

Air brake test

Did my air brake course and test today and I passed. The course took about 8 hours then you have to answer 25 questions I got 2 questions wrong so not bad for someone falling a sleep while reading the book lol. After we had done the course we went back to the hotel and I chatted to my wife Dee on Skype with my web cam. (Anyone coming over here and leaving family behind Skype is a great way to keep in touch I have paid a fee of £54 a year and I can ring any landline in the world for free). Don't know how anyone managed without all this technology, it must have been hard. After chatting with Dee, me and Ed went for a walk and we met up with Ian (another new H&R driver) and his wife and daughter we all went and got something to eat. We all wanted to hire a car for Sunday but you have to have a credit card to hire one so we will have to jump on the bus tomorrow. This is a real pain as I don't believe in having credit cards but it would have been useful just for the car hire. It looks lovely here from the little I've seen in Lethbridge. Just wish we could hire a car then we could have a really good explore.
Any drivers coming over to do the training don't need to worry about the courses they are easy enough and the guy who is training you Steve is a nice guy and will help you in any way he can.
As for the hotel it's great, nothing posh or over the top but its really clean and the staff are really friendly, oh and i've got a 6ft bed all to myself, heaven!

In lethbridge at last

I have been in Lethbridge 2 days now and its great. The plane was 4.5 hours late taking off from Gatwick so Thursday was a very long day. I had to be up at 6am to go on a course (Friday) the taxi picked us up at 7.15am. The course took about 6-7 hours. After the course I went back to the hotel and met an Irish guy by the name of Eddie (who will also be driving for H&R after he has done the training) we both went for a walk to have a look around and get something to eat. Looks beautiful here and its in the 80's, hot! I went to my room laid on my bed reading my book about air brakes I was supposed to meet Eddie an hour later but I woke up at 3am (sorry Ed) lol. I was so tired from jet lag i fell asleep fully clothed!

Pic of dongle

T-mobile dongle

The T-mobile dongle I have works in the same way as a mobile, you just plug it into your laptop and if there is a signal (just like the signal you get with a mobile) you can pick up the internet. After I signed a 2 year deal with T-mobile I found out about H&R. I was just going to leave it in the drawer and forget about it but I rang T-mobile and told them I was going to be driving around America and Canada. They told me I could take it but it would cost me (now there's a surprise)! I pay £20 a month for 3 gig so I will still be paying the £20 but I will have to pay for every gigabite I use at a cost of £1.50 a gig. If you are lost now so am I lol! In the UK you get 3 gig for £20 a month but abroad you get nothing for £20 but it will cost you £1.50 a gig. I have used it since December 2007 in the UK to go on line to chat and to look at websites. I don't down load music or videos and since I have had it I have not used 1 gig. Now you get to use 3 gig every month so it looks like it will only cost me an extra £1.50 a month. DO NOT USE 3 OR ANY OTHER DONGLE because you use up your allowance by just looking at web pages just ask in Carphone warehouse they will explain more. Another thing, if you are new to computers down load Skype I have paid for a years subscription of unlimited calls to landlines and I have just brought a USB phone. When I am over the pond I can plug the phone into my laptop and ring any landline in the world for free. (It works I have tried it lol)

2 days to go

I've had 3 days off from work, I thought I would take it easy haha not with my wife, she worked me like a dog to get all the small jobs in and around the house done before I fly off for my jolly in Canada. Well its Tuesday now and when I have got dressed we will be going to get my dollars both American and Canadian. My wife and daughters were going to take me to Gatwick but we both know everyone would be too upset when it came to say goodbye and the last thing I needed was to walk through the airport upset so I am going to catch the coach to Heathrow and then on to Gatwick (I never said leaving my family would be easy)! Its going to be a very long day on Thursday but it'll be worth it. On the plane I will be reading a book on airbrakes (Thanks Ian from Smarts) ready for my test on Saturday morning. I am so happy I am going this week to work for H&R and make a new life in Canada ready for when my family will join me. We both know its the best way to do it and we will be in touch everyday by phone or the internet. I have a T-mobile dongle which lets me pick up the internet anywhere in the country and I have been on to the company and they have sorted it out for me so I can take it with me and all it will cost me is an extra £1.50 a gig, I have been using it since Christmas time and I have not even used a gig yet. We have just joined Skype and set out web cams up on there and wow its great and I can ring my house from my computer anywhere in the world for free as I have paid for unlimited calls to land line. I have brought my wife a mobile that has Skpe on the phone all I need is to buy one myself in America then we can ring each other using Skype all for free.