You Can't Fight City Hall

24 October - This morning I decided to buy breakfast - i'd bought some cereal as soon as I got here and whilst iit was okay it was loaded with sugar - i've got nothing against that but it was just too sweet for me and i'd not got around to buying any decent alternative. There was a cheap diner up the road that was reasonably nice although the eggs, like all the eggs i've had in this country this far were a very pale yellow - they tasted okay, a bit watery maybe, but not the deep orange that I normallyhave a hankering for. Upon my return to the hostel I was confronted by David, the fat weird guy who works here who started telling me about the 32 dollars he made from an online trade and then gave me a long winded rundown of everything he knew about the forks and the spikes and the trends, every sentence ended with an 'aye'. Talk about your stereotypes (Later Note: can't remember how I got away from him but I think i'd better learn a strategy because he did the same thing again when I returned to the hostel in the afternoon). Also, got a phone call this morning from a guy from Novex, one of the courier companies in Vancouver, we had a little bit of a chat and he asked me to come in for an interview tomorrow. With the prospects of potential employment I thought i'd better start getting some of the paperwork sorted out. After a few phone calls and some internet searching I found that in order to get an courier licence I needed to go for an exam (which I was aware of) but I also needed photo ID with my Vancouver address on it. Considering I’d just found a Vancouver address the day before that wasn't going to be easy but I went down to the driver's licence place address that I was given over the phone only to find it didn't exist - eventually found it a couple of blocks away. 40m wait to see someone but it went pretty smoothly (for $35 you'd expect it to) but I was told it would be about 3 weeks before it was delivered to my new address (nobody asked me for proof of address funnily enough) - I needed the ID for Wednesday when I do the exam ... I'm hoping I can work around this with my Oz licence and passport and a copy of the BC ID confirmation slip but after speaking to the girl earlier in the day I don't think it's likely (hoping the courier company chooses to be a bit more lenient - but knowing what paragons of virtue those couriers ar with their legendary respect of the road rules and the law it's not looking promising). Also went for my SIN (social ID number I think), which was surprisingly quick although I was told it would take 5 weeks before it was delivered unless I could get a letter from an employer stating they needed it urgently - what's wrong with me standing there SAYING I need it urgently??? Whilst at the Human Resources Centre I met a couple of Australians from Orange - a bit ocker but very nice - they're about to head up to whistler to serve as menial labour for the tourist industry - we said we'd stay in touch ...
The three Aussies also sent me in the right direction for setting up a bank account with Royal Bank of Canada - had to make an appointment and come back but when I did the girl was very nice and very talkative but we got through it pretty quickly. They don't seem to charge as much as Australian banks ... But then again, I don't think any country does.
I forgot how much crap one needs to go through to set one's self up in a new country. I think i've gone through most of the bureaucracy i've had to go through although this licence thing could be a bit of a bugbear (and not one of the cute ones from D&D either).