We Move In

When I first moved to Ottawa, about half-way through August of 2004 I was to look for a place to live for Craig and I. I was staying with my Uncle while I looked. My Uncle has a place close to downtown.

My first order of business was to search out the McQueen's church, just to reconnect with the family I used to hang out with so much in the Soo. I found it on my map and walked down to meet Pastor Jack. I ended up staying with them for a few days. At the time they had two vehicles: a 95 Plymouth Voyager, and an 89 Ford Taurus. Their main vehicle was the minivan. The Ford was the secondary vehicle. It was suspected the Ford had a bad alternator. That meant that every night we had to plug the car into the wall to recharge the battery for the next day.

After a few days in Ottawa I started to search out a place to live. On my first day of doing so Pastor Jack called me up and proposed that Craig and I live at their house. They had bought some cubicle walls at a garage sale so they could give us make-shift rooms. The rent the offered was less than anything else we would get in Ottawa. The only issue was the fact that they did not live in Ottawa, but, rather Embrun, a town about 30 km outside of the city of Ottawa.

Personally I was up for it. I called Craig to discuss with him. His only concern, as was mine, was being so far outside the city, wouldn't we be limited with our freedom? We'd have to go into the city with the family and return to the sticks on the family's schedule. Coming from Philistia how could we experience the wonders of Ottawa if we're stuck in Embrun? (Embrun is about a 35-40 minute drive from Ottawa minimum. btw: That's highway driving: 100km/h.)

So I mentioned our concerns to Pastor Jack. His answer was that as long as we helped with the driving we could have pretty free reign on the Ford. Hey! Now that's better than anything we'd get in the city! Free access to a car! Plus the cheap rent! And the family atmosphere? How could we say no?

So, it was all decided. Craig and I would live in cubicles in the McQueen's basement, drive the Ford, and help with the meal preparation and clean-up. Now, Craig had been working during the summer in the Soo and couldn't come down as earlier as I. So when he did come down it was on a Friday evening, the Friday before the Tuesday our coops began. (Monday was Labour Day. No work.) What coud go wrong?