A step forward

The immigration consultant that I mentioned in my last post is taking on our case, I say it like this because he operates on a 'no visa no fee' basis and that means that he believes that he can get us a Permanent Residents, (PR), visa. Obviously there are conditions attached, like; we have to pass our medicals and police clearance, and it wouldn't be the consultants fault if Canada shifted the goal posts during our process and long wait, but to me this is a great move in the right direction.

We've signed the contract and sent the wire transfer of £2055, ($4000), over and are just waiting for it to clear. This fee includes a fee for assisting us and an employer with obtaining a work permit if we can find Gman a job in the meantime.

Only a consultant in Canada can deal with our case, because only they are recognised, experienced, and qualified to deal with applications for immigration. A lawyer in the UK would not have passed the prerequisite exams and would not be a member of CSIC, the Canadian Society of Immigration Consultants.

After the payment goes through, we start gathering the supporting paperwork together to send with our application. We will be applying under the simplified skilled worker route but because of my upbringing and job we will need to show the initial immigration officer that views our file, just exactly why and how we qualify for the points.

I'm going down this route now so that we can get in the queue as soon as possible, so far we are struggling to find an employer willing to take Gman on without knowing of him through his Canadian experience. Yes, maybe this would be different in another part of BC or in Alberta, but we really don't want to start anywhere else, just to have another big move later on, another year. We don't want to live in limbo like that and have to settle twice, we'd rather wait until we can get PR and go where we want to be, Black Creek, on Vancouver Island, together with the rest of my family.

I am excited to at least have discovered that we can go, albeit 3-5 years down the line, at least it's not dependant on getting jobs first, and anyway, we will be better off financially then which will ease the stress of settling there.

So I have just spent this years holiday money, and we still have to find the application fees of £616, ($1400), when we are ready to send the application off to the CHC, (Canadian High Commission).

Oh well, anyone know where we can camp for free this summer?

I'll leave todays post with a quote that I found the other day.

If you believe you can, you probably can. If you believe you won't, you most assuredly won't. Belief is the ignition switch that gets you off the launching pad.

Invalid update

No luck so far on the job hunt front for Gadgetman as a way to get us into Canada, but I have discovered something interesting that brings a ray of hope to my heart.

I am so pleased to have this laptop of mine with wireless connection, right now in particular, whilst my ability to manoeuvre is restricted by my leg in cast. Internet research has kept me up way into the early hours most nights, sitting on the sofa with my legs up in perfect uninterrupted peace. Who would have thought that so much research was necessary or possible?

Well, it wouldn't be needed if I found the answers straight away and had a straight forward case, but I haven't so I keep following one line of enquiry until I've exhausted all avenues, then I pick up on something else and explore that.

People keep asking me how it's all going and just don't have any reason to know what's involved in such a huge life change. It's not only about finding the way to get the points or finding Gman a job, it's about thinking about and preparing for all sorts of things that have to be dealt with in anticipation of finally getting that visa.
What happens to child benefit abroad?
Does having a drivers record from DVLA help when getting insurance in Canada?
Can one use ones no claims bonus?
Do you have to pay any tax when taking large amounts of money abroad to Canada?
How does one get kids into schools?
What about getting credit?
What happens to a state or occupational pension?
What about medical care?
What are realistic living costs?
What's involved in taking the BC driving test?
Which shipping company is recommended by others?
Where does one go for the medical for the visa application?

The list goes on and on.

The forum that I've mentioned before is my main source as a starting point, and the other day I happened to find that someone else who was in the same job that I am, has been successful in claiming the vital 'education' points by submitting that our line of work is the same as a two year apprenticeship and therefore qualifies us for 20 extra points. His application was approved and within 4 months he received his visa and was on his way. He was nice enough to email me with details of how he evidenced his application.

I have also been in contact with the forum immigration consultant and filled in initial assessment forms to see what he could come up with. I attached a synopsis of my upbringing too, to explain why I am unable to prove my schooling because of our nomadic lifestyle. He backed up what I'd just found out and has asked for more specific details of my work training and background with a view to claiming points in the same way. This would mean that we are then able to at least apply for permanent residence via the skilled workers route and get in the queue that currently is 4-5 years long! who knows though, we could be fast tracked too.

I know that it sounds a ridiculously long time scale, but waiting is better than nothing and at least we can still look at getting Gman a job in the mean time.

Gadgeteen had his 'academic review' day yesterday so we borrowed a wheelchair from elderly neighbours so that I didn't have to stay behind. His school is on 4 floors and we had 5 minutes in each of his teachers classrooms.

I must say that I am very proud of Gteen at the moment, he has settled in to his new school very well now, and all but his English teacher said that they would like to see him in their GCSE classes. He has been moved up in Maths because he scored above his projected target level, and despite his self-belief, he is top of the class in French. His history teacher said that if he didn't sit with the 2 disruptive kids then he would do much better, but the up side of that is that those 2 kids are hardly ever there due to truanting. Gteen came out of there glowing with pride!

I had a couple of visitors yesterday, friends from work. They'd been out for a ride and popped in to check on the invalid. Persuaded me to sit on my bike and start her up. Mmmmm, can't wait to get out for a ride on her again. At least the engine hasn't seized up in protest at lack of use.

I arranged for an estate agent to visit this week, thought I might as well make use of the time whilst stuck at home. He said that we need to paint the house white, inside and out! Well, he would I suppose. We've still got jobs to do before ready to sell and don't want to sell until we go to Canada anyway but at least I could get an idea of the value. I was disappointed to hear him value it at £20-30 thousand under what I'd hoped but he did say that he couldn't really compare it to anything else because of the layout and the large workshop and recommended that I get another opinion.

Only another 11 days of the cast, it feels as if there are ants in there sometimes, and at others it digs into my leg uncomfortably. I look forward to doing some hard physical work afterwards to build some muscle up and lose some of this weight.

Oh, and this is what it looked like about an hour afterwards, see, it doesn't look obviously broken does it, just swollen. Gman took this on his camera and just didn't get around to downloading it.

Broken Trips

Last time I broke anything I was 7.

We were in the Cape Verde Islands with the mast stretched out on the shore. Dad was working to replace the splintered topmast.

Somewhere in between The Canary Islands and Barbados, Riduna, our little 32’ gaff cutter had a close shave with a super tanker in the middle of the night.

The way I remember Dad telling it is that one night we all came down with tummy bugs, and because there was no wind, and dad thought we were out of the shipping lane, he decided it would be pretty safe to snooze below with the rest of the family.
He awoke in the dark to the sound of waves slightly breaking and figured that there must be some wind, so stuck his head out of the companionway. No wind but he could see the breaking waves in the dark of the moonless starless night. He then looked up and up and up and far above him saw the decks of a HUGE ship. The night wasn’t as dark as he had thought; he was looking out at the hull.

We were lucky; the ship was steaming past us travelling in the same direction. The motion rolled our boat into the hull and the topmast pounded against it. It snapped off and fell down the gap into the sea, taking the forestay with it. As the ship’s bridge passed Dad could hear foreign voices shouting but there was nothing they could do. It takes a super tanker 7-10 miles to stop. He said that the ship took ages to pass, went on and on, and with each roll he thought that we would be goners, or that the forestay that was trailing would get caught up in the mega-sized port propeller and pull us in with it. I’m sure he must have been ‘very worried’, (or crapping himself actually), but the tanker passed by and we were left in a quiet sea and a sky full of stars once more. He could see that the ship was an oil tanker but it was too dark to see any identifying features. In those days we didn't have a VHF or any mod cons, just a radar reflector up near the crosstrees, so no way of contacting the ship even if Dad wanted to. We were on our own. Fortunately, as you will see from the photo above, the loss of the topmast only restricted the number of sails we could use, but nonetheless was enough of an inconvenience to have to do something about. Another job for Dad to deal with.

So, we took an unplanned detour to The Cape Verde Islands, and there I was one day riding cross-saddle on someone's bike along the harbour quay. Somehow I managed to let my heel get too close to the spokes and before I knew it I had a cast up to my knee. I'd broken my heel bone. The biggest disappointment was not being able to swim. Dad fixed the mast, we re-provisioned and we were off towards Barbados again before my cast was due off. I remember Dad cutting it off, (the Cast not my leg), somewhere mid-Atlantic and physiotherapy was boat-based.

37 years later and I was ice-skating with Gadgetgirlie down at Guildford Spectrum. I’ve been several times before and after all, I have been roller-blading since Christmas so my ankles are stronger now. Still, I fell loads, got wet, carried on and then fell awkwardly. I knew I’d done something because it felt like someone had pulled a string tight inside my leg, and I couldn’t get up. Major pain died away after a couple of minutes and I thought maybe I’d sprained it. I could wriggle my toes inside my boot so surely it wasn’t broken. The staff skater said that I would definitely know if I had broken it. Ggirlie and her friend hovered anxiously like ducklings. She made me laugh 'cos she kept repeating, ‘Oh mummy, Oh mummy', in her best sympathetic voice. I wasn’t in agony unless I moved my ankle the wrong way but just didn’t want to try to stand on the ice. The staff skater, (after warning me), blew his whistle and cleared all the skaters to the sides. My bum was cold and wet by then and I was quite keen to get off the ice. I was carted off on a stretcher into the first aid room. I wanted to take the boot off, but the firstaider didn’t.
I took my skate off anyway and showed her that I could wriggle my toes, then experimented with moving my foot around. The ankle was swelling up and the firstaider wanted me to go off to hospital. I didn’t. I wanted to get the car and kids home and reassess once there. I showed the firstaider that I could weight bear and put my shoes back on. So I hobbled slowly out to the car and the girls helped and played as we made our way at a snails pace. My car just happened to be parked in the furthest corner of the overflow car park. It couldn’t have been further away. We made it and I collapsed gratefully into the drivers seat. Just to be safe, I practised manoeuvring my foot between the accelerator and brake pedals, and then practised a couple of emergency stops as we drove out of the car park. I figured we were safe with me behind the wheel so off we drove up the A3 and home, 26 miles). My ankle hurt and I could feel it swelling in my shoe so knew a trip to casualty was on the cards. Once home, I gently peeled my sock and shoe off and put it up on the sofa. Andy cooked dinner then later delivered me to casualty armed with my book and mobile. I was done and dusted in 3 hours. Broken fibula but not displaced so no operation needed. Doc was very surprised that I had managed to do what I had, called me a ‘tough lady’. I was pleased to hear that, good to know that I could cope without panicking the kids with screams of agony but then it wasn’t a bad break and I was careful to avoid the painful ankle positions.



I am now on my second cast and was amused to find that I could choose my colour. I didn’t believe the plaster technician when he offered me glitter too. Thought he was taking the mick, he wasn’t, so here I am in a glittery purple cast for 4 weeks.



I’ve only been back at work for a month so in that sense this is very frustrating, however there is nothing that I can do to change what has happened and don’t see why I should avoid any activity just because I might break something. I just have to take something positive from this time of restricted movement and until I can weight bear and anyway for the next 2-3 weeks I have been told that the only way to avoid maximum swelling is by keeping my foot up.

Gman and the kids are being brilliant; in fact Gman is enjoying me being dependant on him for the first time ever, and has been producing some lovely dinners. He would make a great nurse or carer!

Gteen was a bit unsympathetic to start with, thought I was exaggerating and told me I should be going to work because he believed that I would make him go in the same situation! Even he has been helpful, filling up my flask with coffee when asked.

Ggirlie has taken my spot in our bed whilst I have been downstairs on the sofa; hope she doesn’t think this is permanent. She's borrowed a friends spare crutch and has come out with a sympathetic broken ankle.



They have both been taking advantage of my immobility and eating anything yummy in the kitchen when they come home from school.

I managed to watch one day of daytime tv, too dull to repeat and have other options far more interesting.

I’ve spent most of my time with my precious laptop on my lap.
Not playing games or spending money on ebay or such like.
No, I’ve been continuing the research into our Canada plans.
Everything happens for a reason doesn’t it?

We’ve not had any response to job applications sent so far and I have found out that resumes will be binned if attached in our A4 format so no wonder.

I have investigated us renting out our house, taking some capital out, storing all our belongings in the garage and in the loft, and going to Canada on a 6 month reccy visit, during which Gman could take a couple of gas fitter courses to get his qualifications recognised then applying for any suitable jobs going and being on hand to attend interviews. We could buy a motor home and park on my brother’s land and live fairly cheaply. However this is a big gamble and our plans of Gman getting a job may not be as easy as expected or hoped and without a work permit we would have to return to find a source of income.

I am investigating which colleges offer the courses needed by reading lots of college sites and sending lots of emails. I need to establish exactly which course is appropriate for Gmans level of certification and experience. There is no point in going in as a newbie to the trade but he will have to gen up on BC regs and working practices.

I spend many hours on the expats site, taking what I can from others experiences and saving pages on relevant subjects for future use as needed.

I took a practice BC theory driving test that a member had put on as a link and got 24/25.

I’ve welcomed newcomers to the site in the ‘Meet and greet’ forum as I was when I first joined the forum and contributed in several threads, (cyber conversations).

I’ve managed to get hold of my French tutor from evening classes and he has sent me what I’ve missed and will continue to.

I’ve read quite a few books, James Patterson is my latest easy-read thriller author and I stay up far later than I should unable to put my book down.

A long post but hey, lots of time on my hands, (numb bum), at the moment and need to make up for not posting more regularly. I wanted to attach relevant photos and it was all too complicated to load up the laptop with the software needed sooner.

More Canada research

I've been spending all my spare time on the British expats site researching our options and reading of others experiences with work permits, immigration consultants, the provincial nomination process, jobs etc etc.. It really is such an informative site and a 'must read' for anyone thinking of immigrating anywhere. We are thinking of employing someone to help Gman get a job, and to speed up the process, an immigration consultant as well. There is just so much detailed paperwork to complete and documents to gather once underway. I am not very confident of going DIY, because if I do make a mistake then the major setback is in time. A consultant will ensure that we get it right first time and the expats site will help us to decide which consultants to go for based on others experiences and recommendations. I'll then post my experiences to newcomers on the forum as others have done for my benefit. There are sharks out there that will just be after our money for as little effort as possible so without a site like this, consultants are unknown entities

We've been busy in other ways too.

We met up with friends from Germany with The Ace Cafe as the rendezvous, then during half term last week we went to see Hot fuzz with Gteen and Gadgetgirlie went iceskating at The Guildford Spectrum with friends.

We had a dinner party on Saturday so the day was spent tidying up, hoovering and cooking. Gman decided that he was better off leaving me to it so got on with another of the 'to do' jobs in the back garden. We had a lovely evening with friends and must do that more often - keeps the house tidier...

Back into Canada mode

After long chats with both my brothers, and Pete's girlfriend - I am now back into Canada mode and long to be there with them.

I have applied for another gas-fitting job for Gman and am in the process of applying for a job for him working for one of the local school districts too.

The gadgetkids are really keen and keep asking us when we are going.

It is difficult to sit at this computer after a long day at work and evenings of family routines and scroll through job banks and edit resumes and cover letters but it's our only hope if we want to live to the area that we do on Vancouver Island.

I also need to read and digest the provincial nomination programe web site so that I can encourage prospective employers to consider this program as a way to fill a vacancy by employing Gman. Unemployment in BC is down to 3% as it is in Alberta so filling posts advertised must become more difficult as fewer candidates apply.

My mother has put her house up for sale with the intention of going later this year.

We still have quite a bit to do here on the house but have now finished the front garden, and have had an open fireplace since Christmas too.

Lovely for the chilly evenings.

'Pay as you go' car tax

The information below was sent to me via email this morning so I thought I'd spread the word here as well as forwarding it to all my email contacts.

It affects all of us that use cars so I recommend that you at least click on the link to verify the authenticity - or potentially face horrendous bills for driving your car each month!

The deadline is 20th February.

The government's proposal to introduce road pricing will mean you would have to purchase a tracking device for your car and pay a monthly bill to use it.

The tracking device will cost about £200 and in a recent study by the BBC, the lowest monthly bill was £28 for a rural florist and £194 for a delivery driver. A non-working mother who used the car to take the kids to school paid £86 in one month.

On top of this massive increase in tax, you will be tracked. Somebody will know where you are at all times. They will also know how fast you have been going, so even if you accidentally creep over a speed limit, you can probably expect a Notice of Intended Prosecution for speeding with your monthly bill.

This is on the 10 Downing Street's website. Once you've given your details (you don't have to give your full address, just house number and postcode will do), they will send you an email with a link in it. Once you click on that link, you'll have signed the petition.

Apparently 750,000 signatures are required to stop them introducing this tax and there are about 700,000 signatures now.

If you care about this, please sign the petition on No 10's new website and pass this information on to as many people as possible

There are many other petitions that you may be interested in so have a browse and have your voice heard by signing up to those you feel strongly enough about.

The good, the bad, and the bloody-minded

The good news is:

Gadgeteen is in another school within a 15minute walk.
He has attended every day.
I’ve been able to return to work this week.
We've coped.
Gteen is not dyslexic, dyspraxic or any other kind of ‘ic’.
I’ve learnt a bit of maths, science art and Japanese economy.
He finally admitted that he did do what he was excluded for.
We all go roller-blading together.
Gteen loves playing poker.
He keeps threatening to run away.
We’ve eaten home-cooked meals every day.
Gteen has not gained any weight.
We still want to go to Canada.
He has ongoing support from outside agencies.


The bad news is:

He is on his 3rd detention.
We have to attend a meeting at Gteen's new school tomorrow.
I'm still on the 'happy' pills for now.
His attitude towards school hasn't changed.
Gteen has a bill of £113 to pay for damaged books.
I’ve fallen over a lot.
We play a lot of poker.
He hasn’t run away yet.
I’ve gained 18 lbs.
Canada plans have not been on the priority list.
It's taken 2 months to sort out.

I know that I've done what I believe to be the best that I can during my time off with Gteen and have balanced this with Gadget girles needs too. I hope that this experience has made a difference, though it's not exactly visably measurable at the moment. Maybe in a few years time Gteen will be able to reflect on this and appreciate the efforts we've made now, to encourage him onto a path in a positive direction, maybe he won't. Time will tell.

One-to-one time

I sit here and stare at this empty screen trying to think of how to put into words everything that Gteen and I have been through over the last 3 weeks. It’s been such an intensive one-on-one relationship that has evolved as the days pass to one with much more positive communication between us and a lot less arguing.
We’ve had a combination of appointments with the doctor, visits to the psychiatrist, compromising over the subjects that Gteen chooses to study each day, (and giving different coloured stars depending on the effort put in, then rewarding with a treat, like his current favourite snack – beef jerky), kicking a football around with him outside, (and calling it PE), cooking with him, (Food Tech), receiving and making phone calls to his school, the council exclusion officer, my work colleagues, researching (during the late evenings), on the internet: his school and government education policy, educational psychologists, alternative education & home education, understanding teenage behaviour, and looking for support for parents of excluded teenagers.
I have read articles online from The Independent and Guardian expressing concern about failures within the state schooling system that lead to exclusions and I have read research done by various organisations with suggested solutions too. My head is buzzing with all this stimuli.
I know I am not alone in feeling thwarted and failed by state education and I don’t blame individual teachers. They all have to work extremely hard to cope with the demands of, on average 30 different kids each hour of the school day and must feel equally frustrated that in general, they cannot focus on the needs of individuals, but can only plough through what is expected of them so that they can meet the targets required.
Gteen and I have been dropping off and picking up Ggirlie together, (also PE), then I (or Gteen), have been helping her with her homework. I’ve been actively involved in activities with her and her friends too, (which included having my face painted by her and a friend and making cakes with her and another friend), and of course doing all the usual domestic stuff like cooking healthy dinners, hoovering and doing the laundry, with Gteens’ help too.
We are getting along a lot better as time passes and he is becoming more co-operative, just as I am dealing better with his outbursts of frustration and anger. He is certainly benefiting from having this kind of time with me though I wonder how he will adjust to reintegration into another school.
His freedom is much restricted in that he is not allowed out on his own like before and most of his gadgets have been taken away for the time being. No Xbox or MP3 player, and the spare TV is locked away too. He has earnt his mobile phone back and can have limited use of his Xbox, (which needs the spare TV), during the holidays.
He is still attending Air Cadets but we drop and collect from the door. He can see friends here and indeed have them over for sleepovers during the weekend but visits to see friends will involve us for the transport and be closely monitored too ensure that he is actually there and not out roaming around. Despite all these consequences he is responding really well.
We now have an appointment with an educational psychologist, who is coming to our house in the first week of January. It’ll cost about £700 for a detailed report but will be money well spent in assessing his educational needs. I have been in touch with a behavioural educational psychologist too but she is fully booked until half term in February.
Gteens’ school want to arrange a managed move instead of a permanent exclusion but because we live in one borough and his school is on the nearest border of another borough, the school that has been suggested is just too far away from home so, much to the head teachers annoyance I could only turn it down on the grounds of distance. Anyway it seems to me that they are just not addressing his needs, and his cry for help by his action that started this ball rolling.
Now we have Christmas approaching and I shall finish here with these photos, which we took for this years Christmas card. Gteen made the card on the computer for us as an IT project.





We wish all that pop by a fantastic Christmas with lots of laughter, joy and happiness.

A Gadget crisis

My poor old Blog seems to have taken to the back burner during the last few weeks. I just haven't had the heart to write about anything since Gteen has been suspended from school with a view to permanent exclusion subject to a meeting with a board of governors.
I took Gteen to the doctor on the recommendation of the school, and promptly broke down in tears through lack of sleep and worry, so he signed me off sick from work with stress and put me on happy pills. I don't feel very good about it, I've never taken any of these kind of pills before, and don't like having 'stress' on my sickness record, but it's out of my control really. Gteen means more to me than work and I so want him to have a happy life, both at home and at school. I wish I could sort his unhappiness out for him.
In the meantime, I am doing my best to put him back on the right track again, though the last couple of weeks have been like the worst roller coaster ride that I have ever been on in terms of emotional turmoil.
I've bought a couple of Sats revision books and the school have sent him some work to be doing so I have been setting him daily work to do and we have also been cooking together, giving him 'Food Tech' experience.
I've also been making sure that we spend more time together as a family, last weekend we walked up to the park and all played football with Gteen in his favourite goalie position, something that he loves doing. We all enjoyed the time together despite the kids’ moaning about walking, and how boring they thought it would be without their friends along to play with. This week we went to the cinema and saw Santa Clause 3. We took the bus to the edge of Kingston and walked through the town, enjoying the Christmas lights and being together. Afterwards we walked back through the town and saw a different side to it. All the young people crowding in for the pubs and night clubs, drunk and loud. Yesterday I took Ggirlie and a couple of her friends to the local roller-skate disco.
I feel so guilty and responsible for the crisis that we are now facing and am doing whatever I can think of to put it right, though feeling insecure about the way that I have raised him thus far that has led to where we are now. Our doctor is hoping to get family therapy for us to help us too. I so thought that we did right by our kids and it’s awful to think that we have failed them somehow.

So, not a happy posting, and perhaps many who read this will not bother coming back anymore. There are so many families that have far worse lives than we could ever have, I know, but this is how my life, and that of my family affects me, and for those that do pop in from time to time, at least it’s an update.

Autumn ride

Flat battery, serves me right. Should have been out on her at least once a week. Instead she has been languishing in the garage gathering not only cobwebs, but sawdust too. Gman came to the rescue yesterday and tickle, (trickle ), charged her.

This afternoon I dressed in all my leather finery and was ready for a blast. I sat astride her and pushed the button. Nothing, dead as a dead thing. Gman had to get another gadget out of the garage and jump start her for me. She roared into life and I knew this ride was just what I needed. The painting can wait.

"Mummy, can I come too, I haven't been on your bike since France and I have got leathers now?" (Fake fashion trousers). Ggirlie was full of wishful hoping.

I left on my own and felt at ease with the world as I rode south into the Surrey countryside. I felt autumn in the breeze and wrapped my chilled hands around a hot chocolate at Newlands Corner as I wandered through the bikes. Damn I've got a horny bike.

The skies spat at me on the way home but I didn't care.

I was recharged too.

I love my bike.