Interesting and Varied news!

Yesterday was the last day working for EDS, that have closed the call center and is now located offshore in India. However, rumor has it that already a costly mistake was made, which has wiped out any savings the Bank of America thought it would make by moving the call center off shore. It is a case of when they will move it back on shore not if. The last days were mostly people taking photos, as some have worked together for 4 years or more, unlike myself who only joined last August when we moved here. Have made friends though, who already have plans on what to do during the coming summer. It is a little different for me, in the fact that I am unlikely to be able to claim for unemployment, since I am not a citizen, whereas most people will be claiming and having the summer off anyway, and do not have to worry financially.

Suffice to say, that no update since last week was due to the fact that I have not heard from the company about the job that I was interviewed for. The girl I used to work with that was interviewed just before me, actually emailed them at the beginning of the week to ask for an update, but until yesterday had not received a response. I have gone over in my mind what was said about the timing of their decision, and it seems that the week before last was going to be meetings at the school in Florida to get the funding for one maybe two positions, and that we would here from them around the 23rd or just after. One can only assume that either they did not get the funding, and are still working on it, as an explanation for the delay. However, I do remember it being said that if there was a delay, they would let me know. For this job you do need to have the form from the Police to show your record is clean, and I am still waiting to hear form them, as they also said they would call this week to let me know that it was there for collecting. So a visit to the RCMP is in order today I think, to check whether they simply forgot to call me.

Today is our 12th Wedding Anniversary, and we have come such a long way from our very humble beginnings together. Jerry surprised me with a wonderful celtic necklace from a wonderful store in St Peters. Jerry has the unfair advantage, of the fact that he meets up with the team in St Peters, and then leaves the truck there while they all go in one vehicle to the various houses they are working on. My excuse for almost not remembering the anniversary, is that this was our legal anniversary, and a month later we had the wedding that we normally celebrate, for which we wrote our own vows, and was not legal in any way, hence this wedding happened a month before the planned wedding. And I arrive home from Toronto after the visit to Wales for Mum's 83rd birthday, on the day of our 12th wedding anniversary, which is a Sunday, so at least Jerry will not be working and we will have some time together.

The other news is that we are looking at a different style of home for the lot!!! Yes we realise that the sheer size of the foundation we had planned may be too costly, and the fact that the house itself is built out of blocks, would mean paying someone to do that for us. The design we are now looking at has a smaller footprint, and is two floors, and we may even go with a full basement, as Jerry's colleagues are saying a full basement does not cost much more. We had originally gone with the idea that two floors would inhibit the heating to the upstairs, but it appears that this is not the case. It is all to do with correct glazing for both areas. Also the design is of wood construction, and there are quite a few class mates who have already volunteered to help with the construction, and the fact that this will be of wooden construction, will be ideal for the help that is available. Having done more research we realise that the original design was not the only way of achieving what we desire. Also with having a basement, it would make it easier to have the composting toilet we are hoping to install, which does require that the composting part of it is underneath the toilet itself, so this would be a benefit.

Jerry has already asked his new boss if he will give us a quote for the foundation, so the plan is to now go with the new design footprint, and see how that pans out. The quote will include taking the cost of Jerry's labour off the quote, which is perfect as we are very keen to be involved in the house build from the outset.