Adventures in Kansas and Nova Scotia

One of these days I’ll update my blog when I intend to… but I’m definitely not holding my breath!

I did get my first ever filling… and my second on the same day, about four hours after the first when the first one came out at work. This, to say the least, shocked my dentist who said he’d never had that happen to him before. Can’t say I was particularly happy about it! It would also appear that local anesthetic doesn’t work that great with me as I needed a lot, it took a long time to kick in and it still wasn’t totally effective, much like the times I’ve had it in the past, which of course made it all a little more fun. Thankfully the second attempt appears to be staying put.

On related notes my pyshio had pointed me at a doctors that was accepting new patients and I had a new patient appointment that week as well. Nothing exciting to report there. Also saw the pyshio again and as progress was being made and my insurance would only pay for one more visit we agreed to hold of on that for a bit.

That Sunday (the 9th) I went hiking along a disused railway track at Nictaux Station. To be honest it wasn’t the most exciting hike but there were some cool ice formations towards the end of it and the frozen lake at my turn round point was worth seeing. In total I hiked 10 miles and, boy, could I tell that I had. My fitness is definitely coming back but still has a way to go yet. Photos are here.

Fairly sure that nothing much exciting happened during the next week so we’ll jump forward to the next Sunday when I went for a hike again. This time I went to Uniacke Estate Museum Park. I found some of the views around the lake really quite scenic and quite enjoyed myself. Didn’t get as much hiking done as I’d have liked as there was still a lot of small and ice around and this week it was making walking rather difficult and I didn’t want to risk my ankle more so I turned around less than half way round the loop I was planning to do. Will have to go back and do the full loop at some point once the snow and ice has gone as I think I’ll enjoy it. Photo from this day are here.

Well something mildly exciting happened at work during the next week. The Masters student in our lab successfully defended his thesis. This took place in Truro, where my faculty is based, and which is about a two hour drive from where we are based. Didn’t get a chance to see much of the town or campus really as it was a bit of a flying visit but at least now I know roughly where it is. I also spoke with one of the members of staff there who suggested I might teach a course. I will have to talk to Sean about this as I want to do so as teaching is sadly lacking from my CV and it will need to be there if I’m to apply for faculty jobs on this side of the pond.

That Sunday I once again went out for a hike and, once again, was somewhat thwarted by snow and ice. I headed back down Mahone Bay way to hike an old railway track and have a bit more of an explore. The railway bed turned out to have significant stretches of pretty much sheet ice so after a couple of miles I took an alternative way back along roads. As it turned out this was by no means a bad thing as the roads hugged the shoreline and were really quite scenic. Photos from this bit of the day are here.

Next up I drove along the cost a bit to Graves Island provincial park. I’d seen this last time I was in the area but hadn’t had time to explore. Although the park was all gated for winter you’re still allowed to walk in and explore. As the name suggests it’s an island, quite a small one, and I walked all the way around it sticking as close to the shore as I could for a total of two miles. Was really quite enjoyable even if the weather was slowly getting worse and the wind starting to build up to the point it was uncomfortable. Photos from this bit are here.

Finally I drove to Peggy’s Cove. This has quite the reputation as a tourist spot but although really quite scenic I think I’ve seen nicer bits of the coast. Maybe it’s its proximity to Halifax that makes it so well known. Or maybe my view was just jaded a bit as by the time I got there it was quite late in the day, the wind had picked up, and it was unpleasantly cold. Will need to go back on a nicer day for a bit more of an explore and maybe a small bit of hiking, especially as some of the rocks looked quite cool so I can see it being quite nice if you escape the crowds. The final photos from the day are here.

Well that’s me caught up to the point at which I went on a birthday trip to Colorado and Kansas City which I’ll cover in my next post.

Well less than a month this time but still slightly longer than I was expecting. Starting where I left of last time, I didn’t get that apartment as they’d already rented it. They must have known that was a good possibility when they showed it to me but no-one mentioned anything. Turns out, however, that they did also have the apartment above it available from May and I’ve now signed a lease for it. It not being available to May makes things a little complicated as I’m out of my current place at the end of April and will be back in the UK at the end of April / beginning of May so will have no way to move my stuff so I’m going to have to put my stuff in storage for a couple of weeks. On the positive side it gives me more of a chance to recover, money wise, from moving out here and booking flights to England. It’s also a top floor apartment so no noise from above and, for some reason, I liked it more than the one below although that may have just been because it was much tidier.

Well I have been going to physio for my ankle. I’ve been four times so far and it definitely seems to be helping. I think a lot of the progress has just been learning to trust it again and knowing what it’s going to do. I’ve been four times but my health insurance will only cover 6 visits so hopefully good progress will continue to be made and that will be enough. I would pay for some more visits myself but at $60 a visit I’m not going to want to pay for many. She did advise me to hold of on all climbing for a couple of weeks so there’s been no progress on that front, although she did seem quite positive about me being able to boulder again soon so it wasn’t all bad. One other advantage of seeing the physio was that she knew that a couple of new family doctors in the building were accepting new patients and I’ve now signed up with one. Apparently there’s a bit of a shortage of family doctors around here so I was expecting it to be rather harder finding one that’s accepting new patients. I have a “new patient” appointment tomorrow so I’ll see what I think of him.

I’ve also been for a dental check up, which was somewhat overdue because I was last due to go for one just as I was leaving Kansas. It generally went well although apparently I need a filling as I’ve chipped a bit off one of my rear teeth by grinding. This would be my first ever filling and I’m not sure how I feel about it. Apparently the dentist said it had probably been like it for a while and it’s not giving me any pain or anything so I’m wondering whether it’s worth it. I’m currently booked in for it on Wednesday but I’m thinking I may try to chat with him before hand for a little bit more discussion of the pros and cons – I think when they mentioned it to me I think I just wanted to get out of there having been there for an hour having a scaling so not sure I really took it in properly.

Last Tuesday I went to a Venture Scout meeting to see what they were like and to see whether I wanted to become a leader there. I have to say it was much more like the Scouting I was used to in Britain then the Scout meeting I went to in America. Apparently it’s easier to justify having an unchecked adult there if they’re actually doing something so I gave a presentation on climbing. Well when I say presentation I brought my gear along and chatted about it for quite a while. Still seemed to go over well and they seem like a good group so I’m going to start the process of becoming a leader. This seems to require even more background checks etc than the UK and no one’s quite sure how it’s all going to go with me not being Canadian but I hope to get the ball rolling tomorrow by going to the RCMP and asking for a criminal record check.

Last Saturday I went to Blomidon State Park to go for a hike. This is only about 30 minutes drive from me so seemed like a good place to visit. When I turned up there it was quickly obvious that there was still rather more snow on the ground than I’d been expecting. Still now I was there I decided to do at least a bit of a walk. Well I managed a mile in over an hour as the snow was deep enough to be quite hard work and my ankle was really not enjoying it. After a mile I reached the park road and decided that it was probably a good idea to head back to the car. Although the distance was about the same by the road the walking was a lot easier so I was back at the car in a reasonable time. Was a bit disappointed not to get a longer walk in but it was certainly quite scenic and somewhere I’ll have to go back to and explore some more.

After finishing my hike I decided to explore the coast some more. I soon stopped at a small harbour I’d seen on the way to the park to take some pictures as it was really quite picturesque. The next place I stopped was Baxter Harbour were, down a good dirt road to the edge of the sea, I found a rather stunning waterfall. I’m sure normally it wouldn’t be too impressive but it had been a bit warmer and a lot of the snow was melting. The fall had clearly once been frozen and there remained a sheet of ice in front of the falling water and that looked very cool indeed. A totally unexpected find that really made me day. After the water fall I headed to Hall’s Harbour – where the ice climbing had been – and this time actually took a few photos. Unfortunately my ankle was hurting from the hike so I didn’t fancy the bouldery beach and what with the sun being right behind the ice climbs I was unable to get any photos of the climbing from where I was. Photos from the day are here.

Yesterday I also went for a hike. This time I headed to the south coast of Nova Scotia to an area which which was meant to be one of the more scenic areas of the province. I first went for about a four and a half mile hike at Gaff Point. My ankle didn’t like the walk along the pebbly beach much but other than that it was really quite enjoyable with some really nice coastline. After this I went to the towns of Luhenburg and Mahone Bay which were both very attractive although I get the impression they’d both be best enjoyed by having a walk around them. However it was a bit cold for that! Also as it was winter a lot of the shops and tourist attractions were shut. So they’ve gone on my list of places to visit in the summer, probably when my parents visit as I think they’re enjoy them. After a bit more driving, including finding a random harbour – wish I had a tripod with me – I headed home. Another very cool day – Nova Scotia has some really nice coastline! Photos from this day are here.

Well that’s what I’ve been upto. Well that and arguing with KU about my pay stubs and taxes which a) will bore you silly and b) I don’t want to talk about. I did take some photos of the apartment I’m currently living in and my car in case any one wants to see them.

Hard to believe it’s been a month since I last updated the blog. As you can probably guess it’s been a month of mostly settling in. So what have I been up to? Starting with the boring stuff. Work has been going mostly well. Still been mostly reading and admin stuff so far but I’m meeting with the boss tomorrow and will hopefully be able to start doing something more exciting. I’m now mostly settled in – I have a new laptop, have an office key and am getting to know my colleagues. However I still have to get a visitor pass everyday. Apparently when my faculty changed from being an independent institution to part of Dalhousie University a new agreement had to be signed between our hosts, the federal government, and us concerning our presence in their building. This is bogged down in Dalhousie’s legal department and until it’s sorted they’re not going do the backgrounds checks on me that would allow me to get a staff ID pass and building keys. I have a horrible suspicion this is going to last the whole of my two year post-doc. After I’ve yet to come across a university administration that is efficient.

In other work related news I’ve agreed with my boss that I’m going to go to a couple of conferences this year. First up is Evolution in North Carolina at the end of June. I went to this last year and found it both enjoyable and a good networking opportunity so am pleased to be going again. I plan on visiting Denver and climbing for a few days afterwards. Then in September I’m off to St Louis for a plant genomics conference. Hopefully this will allow me to meet people in my new field and get a better idea of what others are up to. My current plan is to go and see friends in Kansas City for the weekend afterwards – assuming any of them are still there. On the subject of trips I’m also doing a Denver / Kansas City trip for my birthday. Brought the flight with accumulated United miles so doing it nice and cheap and means I got to do a climbing birthday trip again.

I now own a car. Guess what it’s a Ford estate (UK) / wagon (US/CAN) again! A Focus this time. I looked a couple and decided I like this one more. I went to try and look at it the second Friday I was here but I went to the wrong site. Anyway they agreed to deliver it to me the next day and let me test drive it for the rest of the weekend. I decided I liked it and so agreed to buy it. The nice people at the dealers let me drive it while I was organising the money to buy it so I no longer had to rely on lifts from colleagues. Once I had the money I brought the car, they took it off my hands for the day to update the safety tests (as was legally required) and then returned it to me. Insurance is costing me a fair bit but that’s to be expected given my lack of Canadian driving record. Finally got the tags and everything sorted for it yesterday so it even feels completely like my car now. Hopefully this car will behave better than my American one but I’ve brought CAA membership just to be safe! Photos to follow at some point I hope.

My ankle has still been playing up although it’s definitely getting better. Last week I decided I wanted reassurance that it was healing OK so took my self of to a doctor’s. I would have done this sooner except I didn’t have my Nova Scotia health card previously so would have had to pay up front. Anyway she agreed it was taking a long time to heal and suggested physical therapy although she didn’t seem too worried about it. She confirmed that it probably wasn’t broken as apparent breaks are a lot easier to spot once they’ve started to heal and as my x-ray was done so long after they would probably have spotted any break. Physical Therapy isn’t covered by the government here but is covered by my work health insurance so having spoke to them I’m hoping to go and see someone next week.

I haven’t had much chance to get climbing yet, although I did manage to go ice climbing last Sunday. Top-roped three routes which was really rather enjoyable – I miss swinging my axes even if I’m still not very good at it. Met a few people there who I hope to go indoor climbing with although two of the three are away for a bit so it may be a while before I actually get to go although I’m hoping I may be able to arrange something with the third next week. I’ve also started swimming again. Still feeling unfit and a bit useless although I’m slowly building back up towards what I was doing before I hurt my ankle.

Haven’t done too much exploring yet – the weather’s been a bit too cold and snowy for it so far. The snow is more of a stopper than the cold as my ankle doesn’t much like walking on the snow. Still the weekend for last I went for a ten mile hike. This was the same hike I did when I came up for interview except this time I saw it through to the end. The views at the end (photos) were nice but probably not worth the five mile hike each way to see as the rest of the hike wasn’t that scenic. Last Saturday I also went for a shorter hike along the dykes around Wolfville (photos) which was more scenic if a little unpleasant at time due to the cold winds. It reached -20 C the other night but tonight it’s getting as high as +11 apparently before dropping off again to about -10 over the next few days. I’m looking forward to Spring!

Today I also looked at another apartment which is available from the beginning of March. This one is unfurnished and more of a long term option. I liked it really quite a lot so popped off a few questions to the letting agency. If the reply’s are what I want I think I may have found my home for the rest of my time here. Fingers crossed. I shall obviously let you know what happens in my next post.

Well there’s quite a lot so it wouldn’t surprise me if I’ve forgotten something but I think that’s about all my news. In summary things are going well and I’m getting off my arse a lot quicker than I did in Kansas so hopefully I’ll get settled in quicker. Don’t worry friends in Kansas I’m not going to forget you and a very enjoyable 18 months any time soon!

Well the weather made the trip from Denver to Halifax somewhat exciting. Before even leaving for the airport it was obvious things might get interesting as my first flight was already showing a delay. By the time I’d arrived at the airport the delay was already long enough that I should have missed my connection but that flight was also delayed so I was off to Toronto… eventually. The flight was now scheduled to leave about 3 hours late and we did board at a time where we would have only been about 15 minutes after that. However we sat at the gate a bit, then got pushed to another gate as our gate was needed and we weren’t ready to leave before we finally started taxiing. But even then we weren’t done as we had to go and get de-iced so we were running even later.

My connection was meant to be about two and half hours and given the delay I thought sure I’d missed it but checking the monitors when I arrived in Toronto showed that that flight was also delayed and I had about 45 minutes to make the connection. Given that I had to go through immigration, pick up a work permit and go through security again I knew this was going to be tight! I was thankful that I’d already had my work permit application accepted as I’m sure that sped things up. I even managed to get the end date changed from my original, based on starting straight from Kansas, date to my new end date so that was a definite plus as it means I won’t have to pay $160 to apply for a new one if I stay the full length of my contract. Anyway after some running and rather more fast walking I just made it my connection. This leg I was flying business class, as it was the cheapest option when I was booking, and I was rather glad for the meal I got served… and the wine!

So I did make it to Halifax even if it was a couple of hours later than planned. I was pleased that I’d decided to get an airport hotel rather than try to get up to Wolfville that evening as I could just walk to the hotel and relax. Next morning I got breakfast and then got my shared ride to Wolfville and get checked in to the B&B where I’d be staying until I could sort something more long term. The rest of Sunday was spent getting dinner, getting a few food bits and generally being lazy.

I started work on the Monday and it was pretty much all spent doing adminy stuff. A lot of the time was spent getting a Social Insurance Number. The actual getting it was pretty quick but I ended up having to wait about two hours before I got to actually see the person who would issue it. Still was worth it as without it I couldn’t get paid. I also sorted out an appointment at a bank to open an account which I duly did Wednesday morning. I didn’t really do much proper work the first week, apart from a little bit of reading, as I was still getting a lot of other things sorted. Thankfully one of my colleagues was given me lifts to and from work so at least I didn’t have to faff with buses.

Wednesday evening I went and saw an apartment but unfortunately I didn’t really like it and the landlord was also looking to sell them so it didn’t seem like a very good option. Thursday I went and looked at a furnished apartment in a motel that was available to the end of April. It was a tad pricey but would give me time to worry about other things (such as finding a car) and a chance to make sure I was happy here before committing to a year’s lease as it was rented on a month-to-month basis. I liked the apartment so I agreed to move in Saturday. I’ll try and take and put up some photos soon.

That weekend I rented a car mainly so that I could move easier, run down to Halifax to do a couple of thing and to do some food shopping. Friday evening I went and sorted a Nova Scotia driving license. Thankfully they could just swap my slightly out-of-date American one so I didn’t have to pass another test or anything nor do I have to give up my British license. Saturday morning was spent moving before I run down to Halifax to get a pre-paid sim card, buy a big down jacket and look at a few car places. The first two were successful, the last less so. I think I’m going to look at cars that are a little more expensive than I first was – my parents have agreed to loan me the extra money as long as I pay them more than they’d get in a saving account – they see it as a win-win situation. Sunday I had a nice long lie in before doing nothing much more than some food shopping and looking around a few of a local shops to get an idea of who sold what. Nothing much exciting to report!

That first week was mostly below freezing and so the snow from the weekend stayed around. Also meant that the snow would meet a bit during the day before re-freezing making for some nice icy conditions. My ankle did not like them! Still managed to not injure it more and am getting used to the cold – even if it did start getting warmer towards the end of the week.

Well that pretty much sums up my first week in Canada. Rather pleased with how much I got sorted as I’d done most things on my to-do when I arrive list except sort a car which I always thought would take a bit longer. Hopefully things going reasonably well will continue.

Well the Saturday after Christmas saw both me and my parents up really quite early for the trip to Heathrow. Things didn’t really start getting eventful to I was checking in and they decided to put me on an earlier flight. I agreed to this thinking it wouldn’t be a big problem but I’d failed to take into account security that wanted to go all through my hand luggage and some stupid extra immigration check. You see my first flight was to Dublin and the UK and Ireland are in the Common Travel Area – once you’re in one there’s no checks when you enter the other. Because I’d gone into the departures lounge (you have no choice) the theory goes you could now be an arrived international passenger with no right to enter the UK/Ireland so they have to check you’re the same person that checked in. All seems unnecessarily complex to me! Why not just have a way of not going into the main departure lounge. Anyway all that meant I only just made the flight – I certainly wasn’t running with my ankle!

Not too much interesting happened in Dublin. They have US pre-clearance and the immigration officer told me I didn’t need a visa, although he agreed better safe than sorry. Not sure how much I believed him anyway – not sure he really understood my situation. There was a small delay while they catered my plane but I was soon on my way to Boston. After some time hanging around Boston, which included a couple of beers, I was on my way to Denver. I spend most of the flight asleep and my sleeping continued on the way back to Kim’s after her and Kyrie had picked me up.

Sunday the plan was to go snow-shoeing. No one had a particularly quick start to the morning – at least I had the excuse of over 24 hours travelling the day before so we didn’t actually spend too much time snow shoeing – especially as we had a couple of young children, Kyrie’s boyfriends children, with us who quickly tired. Still it was thoroughly enjoyable and I’d like to do more in the future although at the time I was mostly quite pleased with not doing much as what with the tiredness, the ankle and the altitude, which I was not yet used to, I’m not sure I could have done much more. Photos are here.

Monday daytime I left to my own devices as Kyrie and Kim were working. About the most exciting thing I did was find the local Subway for lunch. Once Kim had returned from work we went to the local wall for a while, where I past both the belaying and lead tests, and did the first climbing, of any kind I’d done since Jackson Falls. Good points – nice wall, I got to lead, good company. Bad points – the price and my ankle which hurt more than I’d hoped it would. After climbing we went for some food and then headed back to Kim’s and watched some Firefly. I’d seen the pilot when I’d visited Adam and Kate and Kim decided I must see the rest so watching Firefly became a regular occurrence during my time in Denver.

Tuesday was New Year’s Eve. Everyone else was working again so I decided to walk to REI and Best Buy – about an 8-mile round trip. I’d intended to get the bus back but just missed one and then my stubborn streak kicked in so I walked. Didn’t buy anything at either. Did get Chipotle for lunch which upset my stomach a bit – I’ve clearly become less accustomed to hot Mexican food. 🙁 Once Kim get home we watched some more Firefly before heading over to Kyrie where we joined her and her boyfriend watching more Firefly and drinking. We got kicked out just before New Year (hmmm….) and went back to Kim’s where we saw in the New Year and watched some of the fireworks across the city. Carol unexpectedly called from Vegas to wish me a New Year which was a really nice and totally unexpected surprise.

After being up to about 2 we once again didn’t have the quickest start on New Year’s Day. Once we were finally up we went and joined Kyrie and Patrick (her boyfriend) at IHOP for lunch before Kim and I went for a hike in the hills near her. When we started out it was really quite nice but by the time we finished it was snowing and getting dark. Still had a good time – it was quite scenic – even if I didn’t like walking on ice with my ankle. Definitely think that Kim and Kyrie chose a good place to live what with being on the edge of the city and so near the hills – photographic proof is here. That evening was spent playing games with Patrick and Kyrie. I discovered that the Americans think that Cluedo is called Clue. Wierdos!

Thursday daytime I was back to occupying myself but didn’t get up to anything exciting. The plan had been to go indoor climbing again once Kim was home but she was tired and no one really fancied it so the evening become one of getting Chinese food and finishing watching the Firefly series. The next day Kim had to work again but had had enough quite early in the day so headed home. Kyrie and Patrick were also done early so we all headed out climbing and we managed to get a couple of climbs in before it got dark. Although it was one of Colorado’s more accessible locations I had a really good time, especially as it was my first time outdoors in a while. However the time at my parents and the effects of my ankle showed as I’d last a fair bit of stamina and ended up resting on a 5.7. 🙁 As well as a nice time climbing there was also a stunning sky around sunset, of which I took far too many photos – there’s also some climbing photos! On the way back from climbing we got food before Kim and I finished my Firefly marathon by watching Serenity. Saturday would see me flying to Canada to start the new job.