We're having a ...

This picture is the only clue you're getting. If you can't guess from it, give me a shout!


HAHA! It was great! Karen (the nurse type lady) covered Mel in gel (which was warm!) and started using the probe-y thing to have a look about.
We hadn't told her what package we wanted yet, but she knew that we wanted to have the gender determined ($50 - but she's not charged us!).
When she found out she asked us if we could tell, and I could! I was dead chuffed! :)

Oops, that's another clue...

After we got to see how extrovert the baby was (i.e. not hiding), Karen asked us what package we wanted. She gave a wee gasp when we told her that we wanted the premium package. She was dead nice. She kept pausing the ultrasound and putting wee captions on it.

The scan lasted aaaagggeees! She was only meant to give us 10 minutes (the next one's meant to be half an hour) but she was determined to get us a good picture of the face!
I've been a bit cruel with this entry, I mean firstly, I won't tell you if it's a boy or a girl, and secondly, I've waited until now to show you the 3D pics, but they ROCK!

Don't they!
They also gave us a DVD of the whole 33 minutes that we were there, a teddy bear with a recording of the heartbeat, and a photo album.

I've included the Heartbeat here! My limited knowledge of HTML, however, means it'll take you to another page, or it'll need to download in the background. Try it and let me know how it goes!
Heartbeat

You won't believe the trouble I had in getting this video from the DVD to the blog, what with avi encoding and size limits. This is just a few tasters of the DVD, and I think you'll agree, worth every penny!

I said I'd keep e-mailing!

Hi everyone,

I've been quite pleased with my blog. Most of you have been on there, and some of you have left comments. I've only replied to one so far (Elaine, you should have a look here.) I've had fun making it, but I'm sure that there'll be a drop off in the amount of work I put into it. I'll try to make sure that it's later rather than sooner.

I don't know if you know, but I work in the Atlantic Technology Centre. There are two glass fronted radio studios on the ground floor looking out. Stephen mentioned something about "crap radio stations" in PEI before we left. These just might be them! Although we listen to one, and it's not too bad. They are "K-Rock", a 24hr rock music station, which barely gets out of the 80s, but has a good morning show, and "Ocean" which is like Clyde One.

Anyway, this morning, we heard the guy on the radio shout "There's a guy on a Unicycle!" They were in fits of laughter for like the next 5 minutes. This would seem to be a bit off the wall, but I know the unicycle guy! It's Bob, he's one of my workmates! he was unicycling around the 4th floor balcony the day before, haha.

We've got a lot to look forward to in the next couple of weeks, firstly the 3d scan (www.babynus3d.com), which I'm very very nervous about. Not that I have to do anything (except pay!), but it's totally new to me, and I feel like... wow.

Then we've got the Monster Madness Tour, monster trucks. That'll be cool. It's in the hockey stadium, so I hope they plan on covering the ice, lol. I'm gonna try and get some pictures, but I think that the stadium is gonna be too small for anything big. And monster truck don't do small.

I'm getting tired of typing, so I'm gonna go and fill my new cup.

see ya

David

Around Town

Here's some photos I've been trying to find a place for for a while. Just a picture post!



Don't Walk!







Jay Walking









St. Dunstan's Basilica









This is made of Sweeties!








Well...






This is Confederation House. This is the building where they made Canada a country! (Well, the process was started here.)






And this is the road they walked along to get there!









The view from my office!

Before and After

Hi everyone,

Chris and I have finally got the haircuts we deserve. We look great! Here's a before and after of me.









I'm quite pleased with it. It just so happens that the lassie who cut my hair was about 5 months pregnant. I told Mel to take Chris to the same place, but It was closed, unfortunately. They went further along, and found an old guy. He came out with a golf club in his hand. We don't know if he was protecting himself, or if he was going out for a quick round (there's plenty of courses around here).
Mel thinks that Chris should've gotten a buzz cut, but that's mainly because he looks older now. See for yourself. Same old Chris though. Still a poser.








While they were out, they picked up the things we made in "Just Kiln Time". they've really turned out well! I've even had hot coffee from mine.








Well, this has been fun. I'll go now, mainly because I'd be pushing it for any more before and after pics!

Much Love

Muggins Here

Well, this was going to be a boring post. I was going to tell you all about how the snow had melted (something I'm sure you already knew). I was going to pepper the page with photos of wooden houses. (here's one, it's ours. Well, half of it.)
But, instead, I can tell you two interesting things! Well, perhaps not "interesting", but at least not completely boring.
Story number one. Chris doesn't want me to tell this one. We were on our way to the Co-op (Food Basics, Liz) to get bread and milk. The plan was that we'd get dinner at the Harvey's that's in that mall, then pick up the messages on the way back. It was not to be, however. I had the camera in my pocket, and I decided as we passed a park, that I should get a picture of Chris on one of the jungle gyms."Go Down the Chute!" I shouts. So without a care in the world, down he goes. SPLASH! The water goes everywhere. There was a wave about three feet high. Poor boy was soaked all the way from his waist to his feet. His mum took him home and sent him into the shower, while I went for the bread and milk. We still had a Harveys.

Story two isn't really a story. It's just a thing that we did one day. Saturday to be exact. Mike, one of the designers in my work, sent an e-mail round the office. He was planning on going to this little place called "Just Kiln Time". (sounds like "Just Killin' Time". Took me a while to catch on...).
This place sells little plaster models, you sit and paint them. Whenever you're done, you put the model on the counter. They give you a wee bit of paper with room for your name, phone number and a description of the piece. They put them into a kiln (or oven), and fire (or bake) them.
Sounded like fun, so we went along. They tell you that the paint colours change in the oven, and so they have tiles on the wall that are like colour swatches. It was good, but we don't have our items back yet. we pick them up on Tuesday. This is what they looked like when we left.
The teddy was Mel's, the Car was Chris', and I wanted a cuppa. I'll let you how they worked out soon.

see ye.

Instruction Leaflet

Well, This is the first REAL blog entry, and might not even qualify as that.
It's kind of an introduction to the blog. Sort of a bit of an instruction leaflet.
Below is an extended picture of the blog page, with some labels.
If you can't read it, click it to enlarge it.
Don't be confused, it's two screens worth.




OK, that was easy. now the comments page:





OK, any questions? leave them in the comment box!

Late, breaking news.

Hello from PEI!

Some of you (naming no names, Stephen) have noticed that my weekly updates have been less than regular. To be honest, no news has been good news. We're settling in quite well, and my work has been fun. Chris and his new friend have been driving Mel up the wall, running around in circles so fast that she gets dizzy just watching them. The temperature is on the rise too. Today my computer tells me that its a whopping 14 degrees centigrade (or Celsius, whatever)! Mel's got an appointment to see the Obstetrician (pregnancy doctor), having spent a grueling 5 minutes with his nurse, who wanted blood. Mel gave her paper and told her to make do.

*Mel explains, I had already had my blood-work done in Scotland. I just gave her my notes.

We found a place that does 3D ultrasound scans. They cost a bit, but we're gonna go for it anyway (only likely to get one chance!).

*Mel says "too bluddy right! you're no getting another one!"

We'll get some photos, and some 3D images, and a DVD of the scan (4D, as in 3D over time), and a teddy bear with the baby's heartbeat, and some other things... on the 30th April, and then a few weeks later. Looking forward to it, and I guess I'm a bit more excited than I usually care to admit.

Most of the snow is gone, and we don't really expect more (we've been told not to be surprised if it snows anytime before May tho). I've heard various grumbles of "winter's sooo long here," and "how long till summer?" from everyone. And I've still not met as many foreigners before. The last taxi we got was driven by a Hungarian.

The choppers are out in force (no, not the flying ones, Harley's and the like (the like?)). We're told that it's a sure sign of spring, but we aren't sure. We still haven't seen a leaf or a green blade of grass.

It is really quiet. There's no planes (well, one or two) there's no highways (there's one a street over! It's only got 2 lanes!) and there's no trains. None. They tore up the tracks. Really.

*Mel says there's one near the beach (that was the beach with the frozen sea as far as you could see). A bit of track that is about a foot long.

I've decided that you really know that you're on an island when you find a car with a number plate that only has the letter "C" on it. I've seen that car.

Chris' birthday was great. We gave him some Wii games and some Transformer toys (Yup, he finally got them!) and we took him to Burger King. He ate a large Whopper meal (no onions or pickles (I'm sure someone raised an eyebrow there)). We offered to get him a cake from Dairy Queen (You've got to try it!), but he didn't want one.

and I think that's it for just now.

I'm off to learn some Python.

See Y'all later, eh?

David, Mel and Chris (and the Bump)

Work In Canada

Hi guys,

just sent this out to you as a mass message. I've been here for a couple of weeks now, and I've been working on a game for a little machine that's not out yet (for kids). It's still 2D work, but it's not as much of a 24/7 job as you thought it'd be.
I'm working directly with 2 guys with years of industry experience (Mick's been an artist for 20 years, and Christian has been a programmer for 16) and they say that it's not unusual to get bogged down in the work yourself to the bone culture, and that's why you find guys taking year long sabbaticals and the like, but that they can tell whoever they work for that they only work during work time, or they get paid for the overtime.
On the code side, I was pretty much told to look at the code and familiarise myself before getting started (but you can't get familiar with code without messing about with it, can you?). I pretty much had my hands dirty straight away. It's good fun, and although I don't have any resting time (with setting up a house) except Sunday, when the world shuts down, I only work 8 hours, 5 days.
It seems that source control is a bit funny sometimes on different platforms, especially when you have to work on virtual machines, and with stuff that the manufacturer has sent out, an to be honest, you're about as organised over there as this lot are. Sprint tasks, milestones, etc. You know?
And we're having fun, but it's fuckking f-f-f-freezing! Its usually between -15 and -5, but it's getting warmer. we've not had any snow for 4 days. It all gets piled up in car parks, theres big blackened piles of frozen slush in all of the mall car parks, where the ploughs have dumped the stuff off of the roads. The sidewalks are caked in the stuff, and where the homeowners haven't shovelled the snow or gritted thier bits, it's treacherous, slippy, ice caked fun.

I'll see you guys later perhaps. I see you online often, but I'm at work (we're 3 hours behind you, until your clocks go forward, then 4), and I don't like to spend long chatting from work.

bye for now
David

PS, this message was for the kodetank boys, but I thought I'd add Danny and Stephen at the last minuite, in case you were interested :) .

Quick Un

Hi, just a quick un. To those of you who didn't know, the webcam has arrived, and we are connected. We're still using the laptop, and it's not ideal (a separate webcam on a laptop's a bit wierd), but we can be contacted! Until the clocks go forward over there, there's only 3 hours difference, so I'm in the house around 21:00 - 21:30.
Mel's usually home otherwise.

Home - Out of range

Hi everyone,
I'm sending you a quick e-mail, letting you know that we are all fine and that the new house is quite lovely for us. The phone and internet will be installed tomorrow and we will be able to get in touch with you again. We managed to get a table and chairs, 3 tables (one bedside, one telephone and one coffee), a recliner and footstool, a queen size bed and a twin (single) bed, and 3 chests of drawers for $850. so we're just about set.

I'm the only one who can access the internet today, so I thought I'd pass on the love of the other two, and they wrote a little note each on the laptop yesterday, which I'll copy and paste now:


Chris wrote:

Hello everyone,
Chris here to say WE ARE IN OUR NEW HOUSE! I've started school as well as David started work. I'm in Grade 6 at SCHOOL and he works at the ATLANTIC TECHNOLIGHY CENTRE.


Mel wrote:

Hi everyone, Mel here,
Well that's us moved into our new place. After being stressed out for a week worrying how we were going to manage to get everything, and making myself ill, I feel a lot more settled now, and a lot happier. and I have to say it's so cool, the wee house is really great. (will send pictures soon)
We are going a bit loopy with no t.v. But I'm sure we will survive. You will not know how much you rely on tv for entertainment lol.
I have to add my washing machine and dryer are huge and I'm loving them. Did all my washing then thought, `i wish i had more'. Well i better let David add his bit will talk to everyone on Tuesday if possible, love everyone miss you all loads, Melinda.


We'll be in touch soon!

Luvs ya

disaster! (continued)

Hi All,

I was writing this for my Dad to start off, but I thought you'd all like a read, so...

Yeah, Louise, the girl who's house we're renting, has been this enduring presence since we arrived, having taken us to get our health cards, to visit the hospital, to the house twice, and to Wal-Mart. she's really nice (as most of the people here are) and all, but Mel thinks she's a know-it-all (she is a bit you know), and when we were invited out for dinner, we had to decline.
the Salvation Army gives stuff away! but they've got no stuff, cos they gave it away. so we have a big online community (strange, cos we've got a small actual community) where second hand stuff is privately bought and sold. we're looking at some of it, and trying to pick out the good bits and the not-too-dear bits, all the while comparing prices with the big stores (Wal-Mart, the Brick, Zellers and Home Depot, among others). We're also looking for second hand or thrift stores, but there seems to be only one who still has stock!
I went into work to see what I'd be doing, and it's not what I expected. I'm still looking forward to it, tho. I wish that we'd gotten moved in before i had to start, but sometimes you've just got to play the cards you're dealt.
The snow is really piling up, there's a storm today, but until today the weather has held for us. it's been cold, but not intolerably so. -2 one day, and -16 the next. it's supposed to heat up this week, reaching 8 (0 with the wind chill) but i wouldn't hold my breath. the piles of snow at the side of the road are as tall as me or chris, and some of them do reach Mel's height!
Taxis are fixed rate, $7 inside the city (which can be as far as 10 miles i suppose). $17 to and from the airport. some people say that cars are too expensive to run inside the city, and there are buses, but we've not been on one yet.

Oh! Dad, you can pass it on to Flemmo if you want.

disaster!

Hi everyone,
There's been a holdup on the house, and we wont be able to move in until next Saturday. this is a major nasty, as it means we need to be hotelled for a week!
We opened a bank account today, RBC.
starting out expenses are the biggest worry, where mattresses cost more than beds, and a sofa is a few hundred dollars.
Mel's fine, and Chris still thinks he's on holiday.

I'll give you a better update soon

missing you guys

What's That?

ok, so this blog is about me and my family moving from Scotland to Prince Edward Island, Canada. It's started life as a bunch of mass e-mails, so early on, you'll only see comments from me.