If you would please, learn me Langley, British Columbia, Canada.

The_Jed wrote: It just keeps sounding better and better! Hopefully it's not bad form to ask about a prospective employer but, is anyone familiar with a company called Sicom Industries Ltd.? @Danvan: Back when I was a diesel grease monkey I serviced and rebuilt hydraulic systems for liftgate trailers but that was... more than ten years ago. Is that what you mean by "Hydraulic experience" or do you mean manufacturing hydraulic application specific parts?

I don't know a thing about them (Sicom), but Google Maps shows Dead Frog Brewery just down the street! If you are into the microbrew, BC (specifically the lower mainland) is the best in Canada for it.

I grew up in the mountains of BC's Interior, but am living in Alberta now. I would love to move back one day, but I have a pretty good job here that would not be easy to find back where I grew up.

Found these interesting videos on youtube, good for a lol and comparison between where I live and where TransMaro lives.

Pekin, IL

Langley B.C.

I used to spend a lot of time in the Pekin area...I actually got thrown out of Peoria by the police once.

So, when are you moving here?

If the place you're looking at is in Glouchester, you're on the outside of town and it opens up living farther out where property can be a fair bit cheaper.

Or you can spend the same money as in town and get yourself a couple acres in Glen Valley.

Shawn

If it were up to just me and not the company, we'd be there already! We've found a few nice houses in Chilliwack.

Do you ride a motorcycle?

It's riding heaven up here and my bike stays insured year-round.

Chilliwack is nice, I had some friends who used to live there, I think bearmtnmartin is out that way.

Shawn

I have a bicycle, the wife has an XS400.

I'm in Agassiz and my office is in Chilliwack.

The thing every one forgets to mention is the commute Chilliwack to Langley about 30 miles or so count on spending 2.5 hours a day in you car that's if it all goes well. I love the lower mainland and it is a great place to visit but the traffic is hell.

danvan wrote: The thing every one forgets to mention is the commute Chilliwack to Langley about 30 miles or so count on spending 2.5 hours a day in you car that's if it all goes well. I love the lower mainland and it is a great place to visit but the traffic is hell.

Chilliwack to gloucester is around 20 minutes. That would be 40 minutes a day in your car. I can be in North Vancouver in 90 minutes from my house in Agassiz if I get my ass out of bed.

In reply to danvan:

You must drive like an old lady on her way to church.

In reply to bearmtnmartin:

You maybe able to do that on Sunday but I will put $100.00 on it if you can make that between 6am and 9am Monday to Friday. I was not trying to be negative just stating what I thought to be the facts..

???? I do it all the time. And Chilliwack to Gloucester is a short hop in moderate traffic.

Traveling through Vancouver is hugely improved with the new 5 lane bridge and approach roads.

But six am is not getting up early around here. Horseshoe Bay is 2 hours if I leave at six.

In reply to Morbid: I have a couple of ex-pat American coworkers. I had a chance to speak to them on Friday. They both stated that the transition wasn't seamless but overall they're happy. The suggestion was that you keep in mind that the tax rate is higher up here, houses tend to be smaller, we generally drive smaller cars and universal health care isn't scary once you've tried it. To the last point they suggested I tell you about our company benefit package. We are covered for travel and treatment outside of Canada if the system cannot provide state of the art treatment in a reasonable amount of time. "Reasonable" is a sliding scale based on severity of the condition. We have a couple of thousand employees spread across Canada and so far not one person has had to use this benefit.

If you guys are wondering about the socialised healthcare this might help.

We do pay for healthcare up here, monthly, just like an insurance payment.

Not sure what you're paying for health insurance down there but for my wife and I it's about $130.00, total, every month. Sometimes your employer will take this off your pay for you or you may need to send it in yourself.

And, despite what the guys up north may tell you. Four months of winter beats seven months of winter any way you look at it.

It's the shortest day of the year and I still haven't needed my snowshovel.

I pay just over $320 per month for E36 M3ty family coverage which would be $650+ per month if we didn't participate in the company wellness plan. We can only go to certain doctors that have been specifically selected to be the most inconvenient and we continually get bills for the total amount and have to argue with the insurance company to get them to do their part, etc...

I for one would welcome Canada's health care system.

How good is your Chinese? Vancouver itself is better known as "Wangcouver"

Cars can be tricky to import as mentioned.

Insurance is high in that province

As a rule of thumb, the worst crime areas in Canada are on par with the best areas in the US. This excludes all native reserves where all bets are off.

Stuff cost 10% more in Canada and our dollar is worth 10% less, so factor that in. Houses are stupid expensive in Canada, but insane in the area you are looking at. Single income at $33/hour is not going to cut it.

Not sure how you plan to get around the immigration thing; easy to do if you have a unique skill, but machinist is not an obvious in. Is there a specialty involved?

As far as geography and climate, I would love to live in the area.

I have immigrated to Canada twice now, so there must be something compelling about the place

You speak english and have a job waiting for you...

They probably won't let you in the country.

Make sure you bring all your extended family along and cal yourself a refugee. You'll get in for sure.

Food and gas cost more here, meat and dairy are nearly double what they are in the USA. The good thing is, you'll be close enough to the border to just buy everything in the US, just like a real Canadian..

Stop shooting holes in my plan. You'll make me panic.

Yeah, but if ~we~ can survive living in the Great White North, ~he~ can survive living in the Great White North. You might not make it rich, but Langley isn't a bad place to live.

Oh, and my last tank of gas was $4.50/gallon for Premium (but gas is cheaper in Abbotsford)....

Trans_Maro wrote: The good thing is, you'll be close enough to the border to just buy everything in the US, just like a real Canadian..

Just don't be a shiny happy person when pillaging Bellingham like so many metric folk do.
But by all means, say hi to me at the Bham Costco when you visit.

Don't worry, I won't set foot in that Costco.

All the customers there can rot in hell.

They don't know how to shop! It's not one or two people doing the shopping, it's the whole damn extended family.

They take five or six people shopping, then they all stand in the middle of the aisle and discuss every damn purchase for five minutes before they put it in their cart and move another ten feet down, just to repeat the process.

The first and last time I was in that store I ended up shoving people out of the way with my cart.

All those people who can't drive a shopping cart then go out to the parking lot and get in a car....

I shop at Cash and Carry now. No lineups, no stupidity, prices are the same.

In reply to Trans_Maro:

Lots of people on the internets look at me funny when I profess my deep and abiding hatred of metric folk.
You, sir, understand from first hand experience.
Disclaimer: Most Canadians IN Canada (ex: the ones I autocross with) are totally decent folk

And excuse you sir, at Costco we don't have customers, we have members.
snicker

I feel for you man.

I've always thought that anyone who deals with the public should be allowed to rip into one customer per month without fear of termination.

It would make for better customers.

Good luck with your members...