Canceling Ontario Health Card (OHIP)

As I was going through my old Canadian documents, I came across my OHIP (Ontario health plan) card.  I guess I should have cancelled this while back, but I might as well do it now.  That should be easy, right?

Not!  I was able to find the form to cancel my health card but not the address to send it to.  Wouldn't it be a smart thing to put a mailing address right on the form?!

I spent hours searching the OHIP website for a mailing address.  Then, I spent hours searching the Internet hoping to find someone else's tale of how they've cancelled their card successfully.  No luck there, either.  I even found information on how to change your sex on your OHIP card (like that happens that often!) but not the mailing address.

After getting too frustrated to deal with this issue, I asked Carla to help me.  She had the same experience of wasting hours looking for the address.  The only way we could resolve this issue is to call OHIP and ask them for the mailing address.  You would think that in this age of everything being online, you'd at least put your mailing address online.

For those having the same issue, I'll save you a phone call.  The address is:
Service Ontario
P.O. Box 48
Kingston ON  K7L 5J3
Canada

Two years in Australia

I realized today that it has been two years since we have moved to Australia.  Wow, how time flies! 

To tell you the truth, I feel like I've lived here forever.  Australia really suits me.  I love the active lifestyle, the global outlook, and the most of all - the beautiful scenery.

There are still a few things that I have not gotten used to.  For example, Australians have a big focus on buying Australian-made products.  Personally, I don't give a hoot where it was made, as long as it meets my value-for-money criteria.  Another local phenomenon that I don't think I want to get used to is lack of proper heating and insulation in houses.  Newer houses are not too bad, but they have a lot of old houses and apartments that were designed for a climate from 50 years ago.

Overall, living here is definitely a positive experience and I am glad that we have made the decision to move here.  It was not easy, and is still not as easy as it could be, but I see it getting much easier once we get our permanent residence visa.

Finally, on Google+

I have been trying hard to get one of the early invites to Google+.  I had to resort to sharing a request on Facebook (ironic, since Google+ is supposed to be Facebook's competition).  There, I found that not one but two people in my group were already on Google+.  For over a week!

Anyways,  thanks to a generous donation of an invite, I am able to try out Google's latest foray into social networking.  I like it.  It is a lot more intuitive than Facebook, which at times feels cluttered. 

Google+ makes it really easy to manage your friends in different 'Circles'.  Later, when you are sharing photos or comments, you can easily share your work photos with your work circle and share family photos only with your family circle.  Easy but powerful!

The service is still developing and expanding, but even from this early on it looks like it has potential to become big.  If you are interested to check it out, leave your email in the comments area.  I will delete your email from the comments once I send you an invite.

You know things are different here when...

I had a weird experience and thought that it would be educational to share with others, especially those working in North America.

About a month ago, my boss wanted to have a 'chat' with me.  Never a good thing...  Anyways, it turned out that I was doing something that they were not happy about.  I was working TOO hard!

Only in Australia would you get a talking to because you're working too hard!  To tell you the truth, I have been putting in a lot of hours.  Weekends, evenings, it was all fair game.  Even finishing a project at 3am one Monday morning because it was due for 9am that day.  But still, there is so much work and I did not see anybody else picking up the slack.

So, it appears I have to change my errant ways.  Don't think that will be a problem.  Still, I don't think any of my North American bosses would have felt the need to tell me that I am working too much.  :-)  Gotta love Aussies!

Black belt minus 5

I was promoted to a next level in my ninjutsu school.  Now, I get to wear a green belt with four black stripes.

My goal for this year is to get to a brown belt level.  The goal is achievable, as I need to get only one more promotion and I will be there.

It's good to have goals!