Houston vs. Calgary. Houston wins.
All right, I have now been in Calgary for four months and I can tell you right now, without hesitation, that Houston is a much better place to be. This is based on my own experience, do not believe anybody else since I am the quintessence of objectivity:
- In Calgary, my commute is so short that I barely have time to listen to my IPod. Houston is much better from that standpoint because I enjoy listening to my IPod.
- I have to commute by bike, this is not as comfortable as a car, especially in my body most sensitive parts. It takes me a while to change when I arrive at work. This is clearly not efficient and sometimes my legs hurt.
- My trousers are too loose, no longer fitting and I will soon need to add an extra hole on my belt. I clearly did not have this problem in Houston. Loosing weight can be troublesome.
- I now enjoy Sushi because it is very difficult to find a TexMex restaurant around here. I used to avoid Sushi because it was not nutritious enough. Now I love it. What's wrong with me?
- Wasabi green color is not as nice as Tabasco red color. Which reminds me that I need to try Sushi with Tabasco.
- Chopsticks are not as convenient as your hands when eating.
- Last time I ate Salmon it had been caught in Alaska by the cook's husband. This is less convenient than going to Rock Fish Seafood Restaurant.
- There are no Becks Prime in Calgary.
- I have trouble finding Tabasco in stores and many restaurant do not serve it.
- Food portions are smaller in Calgary
- There are too many pedestrians in Calgary and I have to stop for them when I drive my car. Houston is much simpler from that standpoint. You don't have to stop for pedestrians and this greatly simplifies driving.
- I feel unsafe in Calgary because there are no police cars at every street corner.
- The sky is often without clouds and the air is quite dry. This is disturbing because I like clouds and humidity.
- You barely notice when there is a federal election in Calgary. In Houston, you at least know two years in advance that something is coming up.
- There are many political parties in Calgary and the Green party is growing in size. It is much easier in Houston where you only have the republican party.
- George W. Bush is from Houston and John Stephen Harper is from Calgary. I guess we have a tie on that one.
- Calgarians insists on recycling. In Houston, it is much simpler to trash your stuff.
Please comment if you have additional useful comparaisons that shows how Houston is so much better than Calgary.
Hurricane Ike affects Calgary
This morning, I called some of my friends and neighbors in Houston and I was glad to hear that Ike moved over Houston without too much damage, at least in the area where I used to live.
However, I must exclusively report that Ike has affected Calgary in unsuspected ways and I have unaltered photographic proof to illustrate my discovery.
This morning, Melissa and I traveled to the South East of Calgary and we came across a building stuck in the ground reminding me of the scene in the Wizard of Oz right after Dorothy arrives in Munchkinland and in which the ruby-slippered Wicked Witch of the East get smashed by Dorothy's house.
I am convinced that Houston is now missing a church and that this church can be found in Calgary.
It appears that some people try to discredit my findings and have been too far in claiming that "Device to Root Out Evil, a work in steel, aluminum and glass by New York artist Dennis Oppenheim, looks like an upside-down New England church with its steeple planted in the ground."
You will certainly agree with me and I need your help to locate the site in Houston where this church comes from. Please report your findings in the comments to this post.
Back in Houston for a few days
I am back in Houston for a few days. This is the last stretch in Houston.
Today, Allied sent a team of three persons to pack the house. They arrived at 08:00 and by 14:00 the whole house was packed. A truck will pick everything up on Monday. Their speed and professionalism was amazing. Two of the packers had over twenty years experience.
It was really weird to come back to Houston after a month. I guess that I am having such a blast in Calgary. I can't wait for the six of us to be in the house in Calgary on Tuesday evening.
Transferring funds
I thought that It would be simple to wire money to my new account in Calgary. It would have been a simple matter of calling the bank, proving my identity and have the funds wired. Unfortunately, deep down hidden on my USA bank web site, you can read that this can only happen if you previously obtained a pin number by going to a branch in person. As a consequence, Melissa had to go to the bank and wire the money.
Nevertheless, I surprisingly had to assist the banker over the phone since he was not familiar with transferring money to Canada and was confused between the SWIFT and the ABA number. Then, the transfer failed because he wired the money to the wrong name. A day later, Melissa fixed the situation.
In retrospect, I should have gone to the bank beforehand to get the pin number or bring more funds with me as I entered the country. Live and learn.