OMAK

It has been a quiet time the past few weeks since our return from Vancouver. Spring cleaning and household chores have been the order of the day. The weather continues to warm each day and buds on the trees are about to burst open. The twentieth of March was officially the first day of spring here in Canada.

Our only excursion of note in the past couple of weeks has been a trip to Omak in Washington State for a grocery resupply. There was a slight delay at the US border as they appeared to searching more cars than usual and asking a lot more questions than they usually do. Otherwise it was a relaxed 90 minute trip to Wal-Mart.



Even though Omak is relatively close to the Canadian border it seems to be a world away in many aspects. Probably the thing I notice the most is the Latino influence. Walking around Wal-Mart Spanish appears to be the dominate language and many of the grocery lines are emblazoned with Spanish. The people are friendly enough the place just has a different feel to it. Of course seeing all the guns that are for sale and available in Wal-Mart reminds me that I am in the midst of a gun-toting society.



The cost of living in the USA is incredibly cheap. Groceries and clothing are inexpensive when compared to Canada or Australia. You can buy a modern, well-appointed four bedroom house for around $250,000. Add to that incredibly low interest rates of around 2% compared to nearly 8% in Australia and housing is affordable. Gas and cars are much cheaper as well. Wages are generally lower than Australia, but if you are on a good wage in the USA it would be a very cheap place to live.



So loaded with booty we made our way back to Canada and had no trouble crossing the border. We worked out that we save around $80 or so shopping in Omak and now that the US and Canadian dollar are at parity it is a good saving.



I have had some late nights over the past few weekends watching the Super 14 Rugby, the NRL and now the AFL. It is a constant struggle to try and find live streaming of games. Some of the Super 14 games are on Setanta Sports but to watch the AFL and NRL I have to try and find a live stream.



I have had some success with the NRL but this weekend bombed out trying to find a “live” AFL game on TV. So there I was at 0245 in the morning watching 30 second score updates on Bigpond. Now that is dedication!