OUCH!

Well, first off an update on the continuing saga: things have calmed down alot and we've had a relatively stress-free, enjoyable and productive day. We seem to have agreed that I can stay here a little longer (as it is financially almost impossible for me to rent) and my wife seems to be at least considering the possibility of extending the mortgage etc.

There are alot of big issues with me buying a place, not least of which is the fact that I'll be tied into a 5yr fixed (based on the deal I've seen) mortgage on a house with the worry that the economy and things could get worse and then I'll struggle to pay it off! Need to put some SERIOUS thought and research into this to figure out what to do. Maybe being able to stay here until July will give work the time to find me something long term in the US/Canada.

Anyway, onto the "OUCH!".

It threw it down! And "it" in this case where fairly hard and fast bits of ice from the sky which hurt quite a bit!

My son and I had gone on a little bike ride to the local corner shop - a few km away - and he did really well to pedal all of the way there with very little help from me (I was on the new bike I got in Vancouver on the last trip, I'd left it in the box in the hope that I was going back out but finally admitted defeat and assembled it). We sat and ate our sweets outside the shop when I realised that there were a few flakes of snow falling!

I said we had to get back REALLY quickly and my son did well not to whinge about this and, instead, got on his bike and we set off back. Only we didn't quite get there before the hail hit and we could even see it moving down the street towards us! We tried to keep going but my son said "Ow! That hurt my ear" at one point to I thought it best to stop and wait.

We kind of tried to get to the side of the path where there were trees and I stood over him so I could sheild him from the hail that was bouncing off my back - thankfully I was wearing a pack-a-mac type thing (yeah, not stylish or anything but that wasn't the major concern at the time) that was waterproof but did nothing to keep me warm!

The hail subsided a little and we managed to get to a nearby bus shelter until things had really calmed down enough to set off back home with me pulling my son's bike and wheeling mine along with my fingers gradually turning to ice!

Too be honest I think we both quite enjoyed the novelty of being out in the hail ... I just wish they could make the stuff a bit warmer!