BC Calling

The number is currently 43 and climbing. No, not our ages but the number of Windows updates my laptop is requiring after being dormant since March. And it is taking forever. So this is one con of not bringing it home with me.

After our laptop vs. netbook research in the past month, I thought I would be dissatisfied with my older laptop but surprising I'm not. In fact, I like my laptop more. It has held up to the test of time in appearance and size.

I would prefer that it was 50% lighter but I am content with it and will again, leave it here until I return. Now that I know it will need to catch up for a while, it won't be as much of a shock next time.

We get 99% of our bills online now and this morning our gas bill came covering the period between mid Nov to Mid Dec. In fact, they had just done the reading 2 days before we left for BC.

Natural gas prices did come down significantly from last year. Remember I had mentioned how unsatisfying it was to have reduced usage 50% and still pay the same? Well, I have some hard numbers now to back that up.

For mid Nov - mid Dec '08, our usage was 346 cubic metres costing 33.5 cents per cubic metre. The bill came to $171.55.

For mid Nov - mid Dec '09, our usage was 177 cubic metres costing 19.9 cents per cubic metre. The bill came to $52.82.

As D already segregated the monies for utilities, we now have a small windfall which will go towards groceries and eating out as food prices here are still kinda crazy.

I was shaking my head at the $6.83 tag on a jar of "Classico" spaghetti sauce and the $2.85 can of Campbells chicken noodle soup the other day. Thank goodness we are able to bring some food with us in our luggage.

Otherwise it has been a smooth transition back to our western home. We got to ride up with the same driver who brought me back to the airport in March. I think I freaked him out when I mentioned some of the things we had talked about.

He was the interesting scuba diving, computer programmer fellow who had talked me into taking up snowboarding. He was still shaking his head in disbelief that I would remember him when he left us at our doorstep. D was warned not to ever lie to me...

I hope we meet up again. He and his wife went to Alaska for 2 weeks around the same time I was there and I would love to hear about his experiences.