I was going in the other direction Chris, it was just as bad, took me two days to get back from Lethbridge First day I sailed through to Moose Jaw at normal pace, pulled into the J for fuel and then it went the shape of the pear very quickly I only had 5,000lbs in the trailer, so a big north wind and an icy road meant my grip on the seat cushion was very tight 2hrs 15mins to get to Regina and I cancelled, 40km/h was about as fast as I could go, at least I wouldnāt hurt myself much if I did fall off the road, the westbound side was a total gong show, lorries, cars, plows, you name it, if it had wheels, they were in the ditch
Next day was much of the same, the ice mostly cleared up at Indian Head, but it was still patchy, so being cautious was the name of the game, some were too cautious, the left lane was covered with powder snow, so with the north wind, it would not be good practice to try and pass and white people out with the dust (unlike the prick in the Day & Ross wagon who did that to me and put the pick up I was following in the ditch, Iāll see you somewhere ā ā ā ā ) so I stayed in a little convoy doing 80-90km/h, slower than I wanted to go, but such is life, at the MB border, it totally changed, dry roads and it was hammer down time
newmercman:
I was going in the other direction Chris, it was just as bad, took me two days to get back from Lethbridge First day I sailed through to Moose Jaw at normal pace, pulled into the J for fuel and then it went the shape of the pear very quickly I only had 5,000lbs in the trailer, so a big north wind and an icy road meant my grip on the seat cushion was very tight 2hrs 15mins to get to Regina and I cancelled, 40km/h was about as fast as I could go, at least I wouldnāt hurt myself much if I did fall off the road, the westbound side was a total gong show, lorries, cars, plows, you name it, if it had wheels, they were in the ditch
Next day was much of the same, the ice mostly cleared up at Indian Head, but it was still patchy, so being cautious was the name of the game, some were too cautious, the left lane was covered with powder snow, so with the north wind, it would not be good practice to try and pass and white people out with the dust (unlike the prick in the Day & Ross wagon who did that to me and put the pick up I was following in the ditch, Iāll see you somewhere [zb] ) so I stayed in a little convoy doing 80-90km/h, slower than I wanted to go, but such is life, at the MB border, it totally changed, dry roads and it was hammer down time
In future when you see those ā ā ā ā ā ā ā ā ā blinding people ease over and give him some back , seen too many people hit the ditch because of those idiots ā¦
He was sitting right up my arse from when he joined at Balgonie, so close that he was in my left mirror one minute, then the right, where he couldnāt see the road to line himself up, scruffy looking git with just got out of bed hair in a rental Cascadia and one of those little 40ā vans with a taillift, locked firmly in my memory, I was very tempted to return the favour, but decided against it in the end, must be getting old and sensible, it was behaviour that wouldāve guaranteed fisticuffs a few years ago
Like I said, the lot I caught up were going too slow for my liking, but thatās driving, sometimes you have to sit back and ride it out, I couldāve easily passed everyone and I wouldāve been safe, but I wouldāve whited everyone out and thereās every chance it wouldāve caused a big accident, thatās not how you should behave, causing other people to crash is not good driving, the bull wagon behind the Day and Ross thought he would come around me too, I prevented that with a little drift into the left lane as he approached, I donāt know (or care) whether it was because he realised that he would white me out after seeing how much dust my left wheels kicked up by going into the left lane, or whether he assumed (correctly) that I would push him in to the median before I let him come around and white me out, but whatever, he stayed behind and we both stayed on the road, happy days
Iāve got material for my January column in Truck News/West from it anyway, so every snow cloudā¦
newmercman:
Itās all gone a bit quiet on the other forum, first of all, as FTTM said, you had Dusty Bin and his mate from Manchester telling everyone they were on ten grand a month, but since theyāve actually got out here and started they havenāt mentioned the dollar at all
Congratulations on the job offer and good luck, you know where we all are if you need advice. You have your mate out there already, but heās fairly new, so maybe an idea to speak with Mr Mat to confirm or deny any advice you get from the other recent settlers, heās been out there for a while now and knows the area well, from my experiences I can say that is the best way, as everything is new, itās very easy to make mistakes on the most basic things when you first get here
Thanks NMM, I would always ask a seasoned local for their opinions anyway as new settlers can be slightly blinkered sometimes when it comes to reality
So to take the thread off at a bit of a tangent, a question for anyone already out there - if you could only give 1 piece of advice to someone coming out there, what would it be (apart from - dont !! ).
Youāll be spending dollars and earning dollars, so donāt keep converting the purchase price back into pounds and thinking things are cheap . As NMM rightly said donāt go spending more than you need , atleast until you have a regular income which you can budget on .
Maybe not so much nowadays ,but back along guys were arriving and signing the finance for the big house/truck / SUVās/Quads etc etc and getting into all sorts of bother when the promised wages didnāt match the lifestyle . One step at time mate ,the toys will still be available next year
I totally agree FTTM, fortunately we are pretty good with money over here and dont really go down the materialistic route, have no debt and have managed to save a good pot to take with us but we`re planning on being extra careful with the dollars till my wife is allowed to work.
I think the one thing i will miss is my car, its not a flash motor but its only a few years old and the newest motor ive ever bought. If youve any tips on car buying by the way, i`ll take those too
nianiamh:
Best of luck to ya, hope it all works out
The best advice I was given was to look at getting your monthly out goings to around the $1200 dollar mark when I was starting out at BFS, so glad I listened
Have you seen how much the rentals are in Regina ā ā
newmercman:
Itās all gone a bit quiet on the other forum, first of all, as FTTM said, you had Dusty Bin and his mate from Manchester telling everyone they were on ten grand a month, but since theyāve actually got out here and started they havenāt mentioned the dollar at all
Congratulations on the job offer and good luck, you know where we all are if you need advice. You have your mate out there already, but heās fairly new, so maybe an idea to speak with Mr Mat to confirm or deny any advice you get from the other recent settlers, heās been out there for a while now and knows the area well, from my experiences I can say that is the best way, as everything is new, itās very easy to make mistakes on the most basic things when you first get here
Thanks NMM, I would always ask a seasoned local for their opinions anyway as new settlers can be slightly blinkered sometimes when it comes to reality
So to take the thread off at a bit of a tangent, a question for anyone already out there - if you could only give 1 piece of advice to someone coming out there, what would it be (apart from - dont !! ).
Youāll be spending dollars and earning dollars, so donāt keep converting the purchase price back into pounds and thinking things are cheap . As NMM rightly said donāt go spending more than you need , atleast until you have a regular income which you can budget on .
Maybe not so much nowadays ,but back along guys were arriving and signing the finance for the big house/truck / SUVās/Quads etc etc and getting into all sorts of bother when the promised wages didnāt match the lifestyle . One step at time mate ,the toys will still be available next year
I totally agree FTTM, fortunately we are pretty good with money over here and dont really go down the materialistic route, have no debt and have managed to save a good pot to take with us but we`re planning on being extra careful with the dollars till my wife is allowed to work.
I think the one thing i will miss is my car, its not a flash motor but its only a few years old and the newest motor ive ever bought. If youve any tips on car buying by the way, i`ll take those too
Wonāt your wife get an open work permit as spouses of long haul truckers do in Alberta?
mickfly:
Wonāt your wife get an open work permit as spouses of long haul truckers do in Alberta?
I know that in NB the spouse only gets an open work permit once PNP has been granted and the next set of work permits are activated from that. Thats why so many people here struggle because only the man is working down the road, earning nothing like he was promised, though with a bit of prior research he could have found this out quite easily and before long they are living a hand to mouth existence paycheck to paycheck and then repeatedely put off their PNP/PR applications due to lack of money and thus enter the vicious circle of being stuck in a crap job, but cant get out of it because they dont have PR to go looking at the better companies.
mickfly:
Wonāt your wife get an open work permit as spouses of long haul truckers do in Alberta?
I know that in NB the spouse only gets an open work permit once PNP has been granted and the next set of work permits are activated from that. Thats why so many people here struggle because only the man is working down the road, earning nothing like he was promised, though with a bit of prior research he could have found this out quite easily and before long they are living a hand to mouth existence paycheck to paycheck and then repeatedely put off their PNP/PR applications due to lack of money and thus enter the vicious circle of being stuck in a crap job, but cant get out of it because they dont have PR to go looking at the better companies.
She wonāt be able to get a work permit for the first six months until we apply for pr which we were told at the interview but as Iāve said we are careful with our money and have factored in the costs for our pr apps too
russjp:
She wonāt be able to get a work permit for the first six months until we apply for pr which we were told at the interview but as Iāve said we are careful with our money and have factored in the costs for our pr apps too
Thats good. Iām not sure how long the processing time is in SK for PNP, in NB I think its about 4 months so on that basis youād be looking at 6 + 4 months before your wife can get an open work permit, but so long as you budget that shouldnāt matter. Youād be suprised at just how many people do arrive here with no preparation at all. As Iāve said in other posts, there are several I know here who I used to work with that now cant even afford to get back to the UK, let alone ship furniture back and such like, and theyāre all now approaching their 4 year limit and dont have any sort of PNP/PR application in the system. February to May is going to be an interesting time in this part of NB for a few familes, for all the wrong reasons.
Buying a car is one of the most difficult things to do, thereās so much choice and theyāre are some really nice motors within budget, but after 6 months you start to see things differently and something you really liked when you first see it, is not so nice now (a bit like pulling a bird in a nightclub )
I bought an old yank tank for a grand, which is still around (kr79 is its new custodian) and then bought a decent (more expensive) car a year or so after being here, by that time I was completely over the Mustang thing and in love with the Dodge Chargers, so thatās what I bought, still got it now and glad I waited until all the novelty had worn off before I pulled the trigger
So, advice, buy an old snotter for a while, until you know what you really want or need, that way you donāt make decisions you come to regret in the future
newmercman:
Buying a car is one of the most difficult things to do, thereās so much choice and theyāre are some really nice motors within budget, but after 6 months you start to see things differently and something you really liked when you first see it, is not so nice now (a bit like pulling a bird in a nightclub )
I bought an old yank tank for a grand, which is still around (kr79 is its new custodian) and then bought a decent (more expensive) car a year or so after being here, by that time I was completely over the Mustang thing and in love with the Dodge Chargers, so thatās what I bought, still got it now and glad I waited until all the novelty had worn off before I pulled the trigger
So, advice, buy an old snotter for a while, until you know what you really want or need, that way you donāt make decisions you come to regret in the future
Yeah thats what i was planning, something around that level to just get us by till we get more financially stable plus i figure ill be spending most of my time in a wagon and not a car so no point having a $500 a month lease car parked in the car park all day and night. As sad as it seems, i quite like classic cars over here so the thought of owning a big old yank tank doesnt really deter me that much
russjp:
She wonāt be able to get a work permit for the first six months until we apply for pr which we were told at the interview but as Iāve said we are careful with our money and have factored in the costs for our pr apps too
Thats good. Iām not sure how long the processing time is in SK for PNP, in NB I think its about 4 months so on that basis youād be looking at 6 + 4 months before your wife can get an open work permit, but so long as you budget that shouldnāt matter. Youād be suprised at just how many people do arrive here with no preparation at all. As Iāve said in other posts, there are several I know here who I used to work with that now cant even afford to get back to the UK, let alone ship furniture back and such like, and theyāre all now approaching their 4 year limit and dont have any sort of PNP/PR application in the system. February to May is going to be an interesting time in this part of NB for a few familes, for all the wrong reasons.
Were hoping to work and live as we do here really, weve always worked on our outgoings being affordable on just one of our wages just in case the worst should happen and one of us couldnt work for any reason. It may sound boring but ive done all the big debt thing and flash motors and spent ten long years paying it off, wisdom comes with experience and owning a brand new car and a ridiculously mortgaged house with a 60" plasma in it does not outweigh the fact that it only takes one accident or illness to plunge you into the abyss and in the worst case scenario, have to fly home penniless. We are trying to be as prepared as possible but are fully committed to what we are doing - no point going if youre not sure and were more than sure and are sort of prepared lol
russjp:
Iāve done all the big debt thing and flash motors and spent ten long years paying it off, wisdom comes with experience and owning a brand new car and a ridiculously mortgaged house with a 60" plasma in it does not outweigh the fact that it only takes one accident or illness to plunge you into the abyss and in the worst case scenario, have to fly home penniless. We are trying to be as prepared as possible but are fully committed to what we are doing - no point going if youre not sure and were more than sure and are sort of prepared lol
Same for me russjp, sold house 2007, sold fancy cars 2009, paid all debtās off, we are ready to goā¦ well, i amā¦ Iām gonna do 3 months alone at first (donāt want to disrupt daughters school)
Too many people here in UK living a Champagne lifestyle with a Lemonade income, i think Canada is lessā¦ lets sayā¦āworriedā about what the āJonesā have gotā¦
Speaking of Jonesāsā¦ ive heard on the grapevine that we may need to learn to speak Welsh because Alberta is becoming infested with themā¦ and they are spreading into other provincesā¦ with fieldās of leeks growing as far as the eye can see! ā¦ the Americans are also complaining that the singing is drowning out the sound of their engines ticking over in truckstopsā¦
russjp:
Iāve done all the big debt thing and flash motors and spent ten long years paying it off, wisdom comes with experience and owning a brand new car and a ridiculously mortgaged house with a 60" plasma in it does not outweigh the fact that it only takes one accident or illness to plunge you into the abyss and in the worst case scenario, have to fly home penniless. We are trying to be as prepared as possible but are fully committed to what we are doing - no point going if youre not sure and were more than sure and are sort of prepared lol
Same for me russjp, sold house 2007, sold fancy cars 2009, paid all debtās off, we are ready to goā¦ well, i amā¦ Iām gonna do 3 months alone at first (donāt want to disrupt daughters school)
Too many people here in UK living a Champagne lifestyle with a Lemonade income, i think Canada is lessā¦ lets sayā¦āworriedā about what the āJonesā have gotā¦
Speaking of Jonesāsā¦ ive heard on the grapevine that we may need to learn to speak Welsh because Alberta is becoming infested with themā¦ and they are spreading into other provincesā¦ with fieldās of leeks growing as far as the eye can see! ā¦ the Americans are also complaining that the singing is drowning out the sound of their engines ticking over in truckstopsā¦
Hi all.Iām merely curious,no critisism whatsoever as i am a quarter Welsh myself and have also lived for a time in Quebec.
Is there any particular reason why there seems to be an influx of Welsh people going to Canada now.I assume that in relation to the UK in itās whole that the economy in Wales is no better or worse than the rest.So why so many,and why now.
Obviously Welsh people can only enhance any environement into which they settle so its good news for Canada in general.
If only the fact that Welsh is a more melodious and romantic language than Russian Take care now Mike
hutpik:
Hi all.Iām merely curious,no critisism whatsoever as i am a quarter Welsh myself and have also lived for a time in Quebec.
Is there any particular reason why there seems to be an influx of Welsh people going to Canada now.I assume that in relation to the UK in itās whole that the economy in Wales is no better or worse than the rest.So why so many,and why now.
Obviously Welsh people can only enhance any environement into which they settle so its good news for Canada in general.
If only the fact that Welsh is a more melodious and romantic language than Russian Take care now Mike
My cheeky comments are just ādrivers banterāā¦ but I have no idea why there are quite a few Welsh lads are in Canada, iām sure you will get an answer from a Welshman in Canada soonā¦ it might even be in Welsh!
mmm,IMO i beg to differ i find the cradle canadians out in the sticks and i am generalising must have all the toys ā¦a snowmobile, a quad soon to be replaced by a side by side,a big, 4x4 ,a cabin /or a biggggg camper.new rifles.
ok it might be the area im in but compared to rural south west Scotland where it was make do and mend i find it amazing that guys i work wae on the same money & they have a mortgage ! and just must have the Mexican holiday in february.an all the toysā¦ok ok pot calling the kettle black we have a 4x4 &a big camper but only when we could pay for them.
Welsh mmmmā¦i recon more scots and irish incomers round our way.
Mind though an accident at work is not the end of the dream as workers comp. is a lifesaver at 90% of average wage .The 4months i was of work in 09 after my fall was a lot less stressfull knowing money was still coming in.
jimmy.
Hi all.Surely this is a common occurrence with almost all of us that have moved to another country.We move to have a better life.This includes quality of life and lifestyle[which includes all the āāgadgetsāā].Its the same all over.Up here all of the people have a āāmust haveāā list of things.As you so rightly say the problem is that people donāt have the patience to wait until they can pay for things and so get into the āādebt trapāā which turns often into a downward spiral.
Obviously i āāhad to haveāā the scooter,quad,etc but was able to buy them cash.[only because iām too old to be burdened with debt]
Iām off to do a bit of snowploughing now Mike
First day I sailed through to Moose Jaw at normal pace, pulled into the J for fuel and then it went the shape of the pear very quickly 
I only had 5,000lbs in the trailer, so a big north wind and an icy road meant my grip on the seat cushion was very tight 
2hrs 15mins to get to Regina and I cancelled, 40km/h was about as fast as I could go, at least I wouldnāt hurt myself much if I did fall off the road, the westbound side was a total gong show, lorries, cars, plows, you name it, if it had wheels, they were in the ditch 
) so I stayed in a little convoy doing 80-90km/h, slower than I wanted to go, but such is life, at the MB border, it totally changed, dry roads and it was hammer down time 
and they are spreading into other provincesā¦ 
