Fill-up that A-hole

Sales is brisk this week given the holiday seasonal promotions. My colleague R and I were re-stocking the fast-moving electronic games shelves. The games are divided into sections and arranged alphabetically within each section.

Being more experienced, he was up on the ladder picking up the titles for re-fill. My role was to scan through the shelves and shout to him the sold-out titles -- a.k.a. "holes in the display wall" -- that need to be replaced by new titles. We were quickly running out of new titles.

When we were almost done, I shouted, "We still need something to put into the 'A' hole."

Colleague R, still up on the ladder, turned around and laughed, "You're funny!"

I looked somewhat puzzled.

R, still tickled, teased, "That's a naughty thing to say."

"Oops, I didn't mean it that way!" I replied. And I started laughing too.

Financial Consumer Agency of Canada

This is a place-mark entry for those interested in migrating to Canada.

Financial Consumer Agency of Canada is a good website to learn about managing one's finances in Canada. There are interactive tools for selecting loans, bank accounts, etc.
http://www.fcac-acfc.gc.ca/eng/consumers/ITools/default.asp

IMHO, the "Which bank accounts are right for you?" --> "Which chequing account is right for you?" tool is pretty cool.

2nd month's expenses

My total expense for the 2nd month (1st to 30st November) is around CAD1,140, broken down as follow.

Amount (CAD) : Category

Once-off expenses - Nil

Monthly expenses

• 500 : November room rental
•  31 : Mobile phone bill
• 110 : Transport - Monthly 2-Zone Farecard
•   0 : Transport - Others
• 149 : Food/groceries
•  68 : Clothings
•  26 : Household Items (including tioletries)
• 127 : Recreation/Entertainment/Restaurant
•  83 : Meals/Drinks
•  31 : Personal Grooming & Make-up
•   5 : Stationery/Postage
•  10 : Others (Lottery, Gifts, Books, Donations, etc)

Stayed at a friend's place for about 5 days, which jacked up my expenses due to eating-out and entertaining more. On the other hand, friends treated me to several meals which help to keep the expenses down.

Looking forward, December expenses may be higher due to Christmas entertaining and gifts. It will probably take me some more months to figure out a stable and realistic monthly budget.

Canadian work culture

Last week, I started my first Canadian job.

I like the fun work environment. Colleagues here are supportive. On my first day, the assistant manager took the time to explain my job tasks to me and asked how I was doing, if I was ok, if I had any questions, every now and then. Even on subsequent days, the senior-staff and/or managers would come round to offer support to all the new staff. In addition, the manager-on-duty really respects break times. He/she made sure everyone got their breaks for an 8 hour shift. At the end of each shift, staffing level is such that staff get to leave their positions on-time, i.e. no extra 5min, 10min, etc.

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On Saturday afternoon, I received a call asking if I would like to work for 4 hours on Sunday. It was so respectfully done, the assistant manager (AM) put it across as a request.

AM: "Would you like to work on tomorrow?"
Me: "I have appointments on Sunday already."
AM: "How about in the evening, say 5pm-9pm?"
Me: "Hmm, I can re-arrange my appointment for it."
AM: "So to clarify. Would you like me to schedule you on Sunday evening or would you like me to call another person?"
Me: "Okay, I will come on Sunday 5pm. See you then!"

This is so different from my experience in Singapore. Click here for a sample of call-back in Singapore.

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On Sunday evening, I worked on the closing shift. The store was tidied up by 8:45pm. Since there was else nothing to be done, the store manager gave us the go-ahead to leave earlier; 15min before the end of our shift.

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I really like this workplace. I am tempted to stay if I can somehow have another source of Canadian income to make enough for my living expenses and future plans.

Starting Canadian Experience soon

Went to a toy store for a walk-in interview on Monday. Luckily for me, both interviewers acknowledged my transferable skills given my background in paediatric nursing, and they were friendly and supportive. On Tuesday evening, I got a phone call that I got the job. Although it's only for the Christmas/Year-End season and the pay is considered "low", I'm glad I got the job because it will start my "Canadian Experience" on my resume. Plus, hopefully this local exposure to children will be give me an edge when I return to Paediatric Nursing.

Which brings me to the CRNBC IEN SEC (Internationally Educated Nurses' Substantially Equivalent Competency) assessment. Silly me! I should be used the Canadian "turnaround" time by now and request for a scheduled test date earlier. When I applied today, the response* was the assessment slots are fully booked until mid-January 2011. Thus, I am requesting for a end-January 2011 test date instead. My guess is that I would be done with the seasonal job by then.

*p.s. I am rather impressed by the immediate response that I received from my nursing school on the matter.