GETTING CLOSER..........

We are getting closer to arrival in Bermuda. Having quit my job and sold pretty much all our worldly possessions, we are now down to the finish line or the start line depending on how you look at this! We just spent the last two weeks in Jamaica for a well earnedvacation whose primary purpose was to help us become acclimatized to the heat and humidity as well as to de-stress. We also got the best tans we have ever had in our lives -we are SO BROWN!This was the first time in years that we have been able to take two consecutive weeks off from work to just chill- it was so nice to realize that it was month-end and I was NOT drafting financial statements for the first time in my career. I did have a fleeting moment while I was lying on the beach drinking my strawberry daquiri when I was wondering how Karen was making out for her first solo month end but it passed quickly and I have no doubt she came threw with flying colors!) We went to Sandals Ochos Rios and it was FANTASTIC! We have done the gamut of all inclusive vacations over the years but Sandals does it BEST!

If we ever do another one it would be at another Sandals as we have been ruined for any other resort. Imagine an all inclusive where the meals are actually something to look forward to because the food is outstanding, where all your watersports are included with no limitations, (even waterskiing at Dunns River), free golf and golf lessons (unlimited), free DIVING (2 dives a day, all equipment included at no additional charge)- it truly is the ultra all inclusive and deal finder that I am, it was relatively inexpensive and well worth even twice the price. Even the spa, which is extra was reasonably priced and I loved my hot stone massage and manicure and pedicure. It was so much nicer than Oasis or Eveline Charles. Some snapshots are uploaded- we took tons of pictures but have not yet downloaded most of them so these are but a glimpse- there is one of me as I have to show off my tan!)We had a big scare the day our house sale was supposed to close as at the last minute the buyers were ready to walk away from the deal. In the end it all worked out but the two weeks before we left were madness with selling the car (the day before we left!,the rest of our furniture, packing and cleaning and fighting with the lawyers over the sale agreement! - I thought we were going to both have heart attacks- by the time we left for Jamaica we sure needed some R&R.

So what about Bermuda you ask? We were supposed to fly there today, however, those who know the story o this point in time will not be surprised to hear that Yes, there is another!%$@## delay and so instead of boarding a flight to Bermuda at 8:05 this morning, we boarded a shuttle bus that took us to Enterprise Rent a Car just a few minutes away from YYZ and as I write this, I am sitting in a lovely hotel room called the Fireside Inn in Kingston, Ontario instead of my guesthouse in Bermuda. We have been informed (last night when we landed in Toronto if you can believe it) that it will be a week from Friday before all the paperwork is resolved so we are touring around Ontario for a day or two. Big plans like doing laundry, catching up on email and paying some bills. After that is all looked after, we are likely going to do another shorter vacation for a week as it is cheaper to leave Canada while we wait........... I now have free internet access so my next plan of action after I update this blog is to scour the web looking for deals to somewhere.(The resort in Jamaica did not have cheap internet access which is normally not a concern as I have never in my life taken my laptop with me when I travelled, but being homeless I did not have a lot of choice and also needed to stay in touch with Bermuda) My new employer keeps telling me not to worry about these delays, they are going to look after me once we arrive...reimbursing us for our additional expenses, having me on salary even though am not yet working (downside is that until we get there, cannot access our Bermuda bank account as we have to pickup our debit cards in person at the Bank of Bermuda - cannot even do online transfers without having the debit card numbers and so we are laying out cash, trusting that when we arrive all will be well.

STILL NOT THERE YET!

It has been one gong show after another with immigration but it looks like in the end that it will work out for the better! After waiting for months to hear about my work permit, we got the sad news that it was declined early in the new year. Immigration felt the job should have gone to a local candidate. The employer did not want to hire this person and re advertised the job, so I reapplied and once again was successful in landing it. Having been disappointed once already with the immigration authorities we were not nearly as excited as when I got the offer the first time. In the meantime while I was waiting to hear if I would land the job for a second time, I had been interviewing with other Bermuda employers and as luck would have it, ended up with the original job offer and a far superior offer within days of each other. The new job which I have accepted is with a very reputable insurance firm that is considered a good corporate citizen and they assure me that they have a very good relationship with the immigration folks and that there will be no issues such as I encountered my first go round. They wanted to fast track this application however, due to our previous experience we were very hesitant to do so- We do not want to end up selling everything we own and leaving a great job when it’s still not a sure thing in our minds until that little permit is in our hot little hands .

They say everything happens for a reason and while we certainly did not understand it at the time, the way things have turned out we couldn't be happier. I will be in a job that will fully utilize my education and experience, rather than being slightly underemployed in the other job (but we would be in Bermuda which was the primary goal so that was not a big issue) working for an employer that has outstanding benefits. If all goes according to schedule we will be out of here by the end of May at which time we will start posting on the adventure of living in Bermuda

NOT QUITE EXPATS YET

As I write this first posting, we have not yet arrived in Bermuda nor do we know exactly when we will arrive. We are still waiting for immigration to approve BW's work permit which was filed for on August 23rd with the exception of the police clearances which were sent mid September. We are finding the wait to be interminably long as its getting cold here in Calgary and we were really hoping to have received word two weeks ago! Once we get word, we still have to give notice at our jobs and then we are outta here!

Varying accounts we have read and people we have talked to indicate the process can take anywhere from four weeks to several months, with the average time being in the neighbourhood of three months so we are keeping our fingers crossed that its sooner than later.

In the meantime (and very useful in making our decision to move) we continue to do our homework by using the fabulous website www.bermuda-online.org which has the most comprehensive information I have ever seen on anything and everything anyone could ever want to know about living in Bermuda, cost of living, how to get a drivers license, fees for car registration, culture etc. We have been looking at all the websites for realtors and rental agents which we found in the Bermuda yellow pages- this is probably the best online phone directory we have seen as it has website addresses in it. We are also visiting emoo.com to search out potential apartments for rent, used cars and the like and reading the local papers on line.