Settling In

 It's been a crazy week; now that we're off quarantine and are no longer viewed as lepers, we had a lot to do. Exploring the area, checking out Summerside, changing license plates on the cars...we're getting there.

One of the interesting things about moving so far away is that you have to get used to a whole new weather system. Obviously, we knew we'd be in for more snow; that much I remember from when I was a kid here in the Maritimes. But I wasn't expecting the winds.

Our neighbour across the road let us know that the winds we had last night weren't more than 80-90 km/h. They get better numbers in the winter. And the wind can go on for a few days, blowing snow right across the area. My son's snowplow will get some good work in over the winter.

Mind you, the winds we got the other night were impressive enough, even if they didn't get to hurricane or even gale-force levels. Actually, 80-90 is a gale. It felt like one, too; it tore a huge limb off a tree in the front yard. We just spent the afternoon cleaning it up and cutting it down into logs. The winds also pulled some siding off the garage. And there's stronger winds to come, apparently. I'm looking forward to it.

Of course, moving across the country means more than just weather; things work differently in another province. We got a striking example of that when we went to the nearest provincial government office to get our drivers' licenses and plates changed over. In Ontario, putting a graphic license plate on your vehicle costs over $80, not including taxes. In PEI, the graphic plate costs a grand total of...$15. Stickers are cheaper, too. It's quite eye-opening.

We're slowly unpacking the remaining boxes of stuff; I would like to get them all dealt with before the snow flies, because it's a pain to carry them through three-foot snow drifts. Especially when the boxes are full of heavy books. Blankets and clothes, those are fine. But books? Yikes. And I have a lot of books.

Speaking of books, I haven't been talking about them very much lately. I haven't been talking much at all lately, for that matter. I'm still not back up to the blogging schedule I want. But, I do have a few books available on Amazon for people to look at. If you want sci-fi, you'll want to check out Bard Conley's Adventures Across the Solar System, which is as pulpy as I could come up with. No allegories, no allusions to real-world events. Just action and adventure in space, purely for the fun of it. Check it out; you won't regret it.