This was taken well after sundown, but a combination of the ambient light and the snow seemed to make the whole town glow.

It was the first time I had ever seen snow on a beach...

My new job is with a small company called boats.com. They're actually part of a much larger American company called Trader. They're basically the ones responsible for selling the magazines people flip through when they're looking for cars, bikes... and boats! I'm part of their online team so it's going to be development work.

An indicator of their culture would be the foosball table they have. Unfortunately for me, I'm getting my ar$e handed to me every time we have a 'meeting.' :)

Just a word of warning to those thinking of finding a job in the IT industry (and I suspect many others) in Canada. It would seem that companies will operate at their own pace. Generally, this means that it may be weeks before you hear from someone regarding a resume you submitted. On top of that, the interview cycle is also in the order of weeks. I can think of a few companies and potential employers that REALLY took their time getting back to both Tim and I. I had become so used to the lags that by mid-Jan I thought having a job at the end of Feb would be a reasonable thing. What else can I say? 8 months to go on the visa.

I'll add a link for the sake of it. Those who know Vancouver will realise how close it is to Robson. mmmm Robson during lunch == good.

Poor Tim suffered a spleenic contusion the Friday before New Years. To quickly glaze over the details, here are some keywords; jump, crash, dizziness, hospital, ambulance, speed, better hospital, MRI (or x-ray), "don't need surgery but no skiing for 6 weeks".

5 weeks after the accident, we went up and planned to take it easy, so:

and

and

We came out unscathed, but endured a few Kirsten evils when we 'fessed up.

The kicker was the powder day a week later May-N and I experience. It was the day after 3 day snow storm. I can't remember the metrics, but all of the trees were noticably shorter and looked as if the heavens had dropped a bag of icing sugar. In riding terms, it was champagne quality baby!

The powder was so fresh and deep we kept sinking every time we walked around to take this picture. The entire day was all about cutting fresh tracks and floating on the pow. I have never, ever skied on anything that floated like this back in NZ. It wasn't even off-piste!

CHEESE.

As I say, both sides of the road, watch out! May-N got hers too! :)

So there we were with our faxed copies from LTSA and after waiting for half an hour we were told that they don't take faxed copies, only originals are accepted. That kinda made us panic a little cause with the mailing holiday overload we weren't sure that the certs would arrive in time - we have till end of Jan.

After much debating we were finally allowed to start the process by taking the theory test. There are 50 multiple choice questions and you have to get 40 to pass. Easy sure but there are 2 answers that are right and you have to choose the more correct one, basically choose the answer that matches the rode code word for word.

Anyway I got 40/47 shameful I know but Lamont got 40/50! He just passed and took longer as well. And yes for all the guys reading this I've been told that women are better at the theory while men are better at the practical. So that's round 2 when we sit our practical after we give them our original certs.

Cars n. - typically four wheeled transportation vehicle. Available to own in 'beater' models mainly around the Whistler area. Such examples can be found for "1988 Dodge Campervan. New tires & brakes, runs well, $800obo"

BC Driver's licence n. - some neither May-N or I have.

Whistler n. - town of over priced accommodation and under paid workers with typically unreliable hours.

For these reason's above, we've decided to put our Whistler experience on hold.

In the mean time, May-N's secured some short term contracting work and I am currently sitting on my arse, updating our blog. I hope to change this situation soon.

*sigh*

This particular one is just out of our budget.

"Exec Golden Bear Chalet. Spacious & elegant on Golden Bear Place. 4bdrm+den, 2.5bath. 3500sqft luxury hme near Nicklaus North Golf Course. Fully furn & equipped. Avail 5Dec-23Jan '06. $20,000/mo. Whistler Exclusive Property Management 604-xxx-xxxx"

So the search continues...

It's been tough going and each stage to employment seems to take a week to come about. So far, for me, it has taken three weeks to get a job. I have had three interviews, each time requiring us (or just me depending on who has the interview) to catch a two and a half hour bus ride from Vancouver. The worst part about it, it's a cashier position! :)

However, before you all accuse me of setting my sights below minimum wage let me tell you to perks.
- 50% off all intrawest restaurants at Whistler
- 20% off all intrawest shops (e.g. stores that sell snowboard and ski gear)
- free season pass (normally valued at CA$1600)
- 'cheaper' rent
- rent-to-own deal that will cost $400

In essence, they make everything cheaper for us because they're paying peanuts. Effectively they're just paying for labour, at cost.

Having said this, I'm really excited about the place I'm going to be working for. The a restaurant called Glacier Creek, it's halfway up the Blackcomb side of the mountain, meaning I have to gondola and ski to work. The most interesting part of the day is the end. We are the last to leave the mountain and have to race the sunlight back down to the village.

It should be a good test for my new twin tips. (see above)

Salomon Teneighty Foils, baby!

Anyway, I have training next week. Food safety 101. aka why blood from raw meat and everything else doesn't mix.

Wish me luck!