Check stop in - so Canadian it hurts. This guys getting a ticket.

I’m back on the road so it seems like the perfect time to reflect on the past two weeks of solid Toronto time. I made some friends, met a lot of interesting people and had some very unique to Toronto experiences.

I’m a social person so I generally like running into friends wherever they may be. Out here friends are few and far between so what’s been great has been being lucky enough to run into people I’ve met through business. I’ve ran into more than one client of ours on public transportation - I’ve been told this is common in the downtown Toronto area. It’s a great feeling to see a familiar face. I’ve also run into people  on the side walk who I’ve been making efforts to speak with - those chance meetings are very valuable and just won’t happen in Winnipeg.

Living here has been easy, spreading the word of ICUC Moderation Services has definitely been a challenge. Talking about what ICUC does and the value of our services is an easy conversation to have because the value is easy to see – getting people to sit down and have that talk is where the challenge exists.

My job has been just as much about educating and informing as it has been about selling. We are in a unique space where our core competencies center around moderation when most people are talking monitoring – two very similar words with very different meanings and often used interchangeably incorrectly.  

When I’m out there sending emails, making calls and reaching out to those who work in social media I still come across, “we already have a monitoring solution” or “we don’t do monitoring yet”. I say, “that’s great, can we talk about moderation?”

To me it’s like being in a furniture store and saying to the salesman, “listen, stop showing me sofas - I already have a dishwasher.”

It’s a tough row to hoe but it’s getting better. It seems with every call I make and every day I spend talking about ICUC, our moderation service and our people powered solution the awareness grows.

The bottom line is I’m having fun and making progress and I get the sense most of ICUC – getting close to 150 of us by now – are having just as much fun as I am. 

This was the first weekend in over three months I did not have the question “where am I going to live when I get to Toronto” hanging over my head - and I tried to make the most of it.

On Thursday night some friend’s band played in Kensington Market. They were on a tour of Southern Ontario but I got to know them back in Winnipeg where they are from. It was really great to see some familiar faces the first weekend out in my new city.

A bonus of this band, The Details, is that I’m actually a fan of their music. It’s not at all one of those situations where I have a friend and I go and watch him because I feel obligated to support his music and then drag another friend of mine along because I know I’m going to be bored and end up ruining both our evenings. This was the opposite of that, it was a real treat all around, both grabbing supper with the guys - and Keli, and then taking in the show.

The show went late as can be expected and I ended back at my new place shortly after 2. I wanted to be up as early as possible to make the most of my day with my brother so I set the alarm for 5 and feel asleep.

In this video you will notice some shots of the sunrise. That’s already a couple hours out of Toronto on my way to Ottawa - it’s about a 4 hour drive total.

I got to my brother’s place and after saying hi and catching up a little, it had been a few months again since I saw him last, we got into his car and drove across the city to pick up his girlfriend before heading to Montreal.

We spent the afternoon being tourists, which was more fun for me than my brother or his girlfriend - she grew up there so they visit often.

We stayed the night and spent our evening and early morning at a club on Saint Catherine Street. This was my first time in Quebec and it was very humbling realizing everyone is bi-lingual except me. Even the 10 year old who sold me a Chein Chaud changed languages on a dime when I responded to his “bonjour” with a lack luster “hi”.

The next day, Saturday, we drove back to Ottawa in the afternoon. I have a buddy who lives in Ottawa so I called him up and my brother and I spent the evening in The Market (ByWard Market) at a pub exchanging stories and tall tales with our childhood buddy.

I woke up late the next day and did a whole lot of sitting around. My brother and I did some skating but soon enough it was time to go. I headed back to Toronto and prepared to leave for Cincinnati the next day.

Most of this video is in Montreal and most of it is just me being myself with my brother. A lot of goofing around and a lot of running, jumping and spinning. It was a great weekend and I think anyone who saw me the days before I left compared to the way I look in this video will agree I look as though a weight has been lifted.

A few quick shots of a few of the good times along the way. All in all looking back it was fun. Stressful at times but absolutely worth it.

The last shot is about 4 hours before the tire blow out. You can tell it’s before because we are still smiling. No footage was taken during that tire change because, well, if you’ve had to change a tire on the side of a freeway in the rain and you had to take everything out of the truck - and you were in he middle of moving - to get at the jack you would understand.

None of the footage of the snowstorm that had the highway closed made the cut either just because it was too dark and really not that great. The downside of the Flip - it’s a poor low light camera.

None the less, enjoy this minute of memories. And a big Thank You to my Dad, who after being on the road for two weeks prior still offered to come along for the drive to Toronto. Thanks Dad, you made that trip possible and even enjoyable.

The last 72 hours have been interesting, here’s the brake down of the last 3 days to put what I’m going to write in the next couple days into perspective.

Saturday 7:30am Wakeup

8:30am Met Dad for breakfast

12:00pm Hit the highway after stopping in to see the banker and getting a tarp for the box of the truck in case it rains.

5:00pm Starts to rain, go to put on tarp and realize I grabbed the wrong size despite knowing what size I needed. Dumb mistake, luckily my mattress prevented most of possessions from getting wet. Unluckily my mattress is more of a sponge than an umbrella.

5:30pm Leave Dryden, as I leave I say, “I’m going to need gas in 2 to 3 hours.” Dad says, “no problem, there is a truck stop in about 200 km, we’ll be fine.” We carry on.

7:45pm Turns out Petro Canada thought a gas station was just taking up valuable real estate on an otherwise wide open parking lot and got ride of it.

8:30pm Pull into the only gas station open between Dryden and Thunder Bay - sweating and cursing anyone I thought could be held responsible for the lack of fuel over the last 300 km.

8:45pm Leave the gas station - with a new tarp! This gas station sells tarps of the exact size I need, right beside the welders. Bizarre - but I took it as a positive sign.

10:30pm Arrive in Nipigon to a big flashing sign that reads “Highway Closed due to dangerous driving conditions.” We pull into a truck stop and get the word from the drivers pulling in for the night. The road is described as horrible, one especially animated fellow claims he has 8,000 lbs of ice on his truck and trailer. Dad says, “that’s bullshit” and we move on. He says, “how bad can it be?” It’s impossible to argue with this.

12:00am Driving 50 km through a snowstorm. Dad says, “see, the road’s open.” It’s impossible to argue with this.

6:00am Through the storm alive and well!

8:00am I’m hallucinating and start swerving trying to avoid stone cubes I’m imaging on the road. My swerving wakes up my Dad who says, “maybe I should drive.” It’s impossible to argue with this.

10:30am I wake up as we pull in to grab a coffee on the East side of Sault Ste. Marie. After a coffee we are back on the road and I’m behind the wheel after resting for the last hour and a half.

1:30pm As we fill up with gas in Sudbury I say, “something’s up with the truck, it’s not sounding right.” We pop the hood and realize the alternator is going, it’s very hot and grinding away. I had noticed the vault gauge jumping a bit in the last few weeks so I knew it was on its way out. We drive across town with the alternator grinding away and pull into Canadian Tire with horrible, horrible noises coming from my poor truck. Luckily Canadian Tire has a rebuilt and all my tools were easily accessible. I bought the replacement and my Dad and I had the new alternator in within half an hour.

2:30pm Joyfully talking about how lucky we are the alternator went when it did and not in the middle of nowhere during the storm last night.

5:30pm We are 30 km from Toronto and BOOM, grrrrrrlrlrlrlrlr - at least that’s how I remember it sounding. A tire blew out and we came to a stop underneath an overpass. Very lucky considering it was raining like crazy. This time the tools - jack and tire iron - were not as accessible as were my tools. We had to unload everything from the cab to get at the tools. We were tired and this was hard to do.

6:00pm The spare is on and we are at Canadian Tire again - this time buying a new tire.

8:00pm At a hotel in northern Toronto.

9:00pm Asleep

7:30am Awake

9:00am Visit first apartment I was interested in.

11:00am All the paper work is done - I got it, that was easy.

12:30pm Not so fast - someone else got it, sorry.

12:30 - 1:00pm Sit in my truck and curse everyone who I feel is responsible for this cruel injustice.

1:00pm - Resume search for apartment

1:00pm - 5:30pm Let down after let down (I don’t want to relive this by writing it, but it was rough and I was thankful my Dad was along to remind me to be patient.)

5:30pm - I notice landlords aren’t answering calls anymore - the day is over and I still don’t have a place to live. I start focusing on smaller places where I think there is a better chance of getting an answer.

7:00pm Close to giving up. I see one more place, I pull in and am greeted by one of the sweetest ladies I’ve ever met. Her name is Magda, she shows me my dream apartment but it’s more than I wanted to spend. She says she likes me and shows me an equally amazing place but a little smaller and on the North side of the building. It’s a few hundred dollars cheaper and I say, “I will take it.”

7:30pm I walk out of the tower - only 3 blocks from ICUC’s new office on Mowat - with a new address!

SO, here I am now. Tired but relieved. It’s been a long 3 days. I’m moving in first thing tomorrow morning. I will fill you in later tomorrow on the days events. Until than, goodnight.

@billplett guarding my possessions as I look at apartments in

I’ve spent this last week sorting, separating, dividing and deciding. I had to make some hard choices about things I wanted to keep and things I needed to throw out. Of the things I felt were worth keeping I had to decide if it was something worth lugging across this great nation, or just lugging to my parents place to store in their garage until some time indeterminable.

So that’s where I am now. I came into Brandon last night with the furniture I had borrowed from my parents, filing cabinets, my book and my CD collection, and 90 percent of my wardrobe.

Over this past week I determined there was no way I could bring all my clothes - it just wasn’t necessary. The system I used to determine if I should keep the article of clothing was simple: I held it up and my mother either pointed at the “keep heap” or the “dump bump” - as I had cleverly dubbed them. What I’m left with is a small but more than adequate collection of clothes and the Brandon Value Village got a great donation.

This evening I went to my Grandparents  for supper and to say my goodbyes, I knew this was going to be tough. My grandfather has been sick lately and leaving him and not knowing what was in store for him was weighing heavy on my mind and my conscience. After seeing him more spry than I’ve seen him in years and talking with him I truly feel I have his blessing and that means a lot to me.

Now, I just finished packing my truck with what I’m taking and preparing to say goodbye to my Mother. I know this is going to be tough and I’ve been wishing this day would never come. I know my Mother and Father have liked having a child of theirs in the same province as them over the past 3 years just as much as I have loved being this close to them again. But, with that said, we all feel the move is right and my folks have peace with my decision.

There is still a little concern about where I will live but things are beginning to fall into place. I’ve been offered a lot of help over the past few weeks and I truly believe things will workout. Thank you to everyone who has read this and sent me an email, tracked me down on Twitter or otherwise - I really appreciate all the help.

Again, don’t hesitate to reach out if you know of a great spot to rent or any other advice about living in Toronto. Until the next post - have a great Saturday night.

This is a short video showing everything I own (except the truck).This is 99 per cent of what’s going to make the trip to Toronto with me. In a way this is nice because it will make the move a lot easier but it another way it makes me wonder - have I made the best investments?

You might be asking yourself, but what of a dresser - the truth is I don’t have one. The one in the video is borrowed. And the bed, it was cut in half to get it into where it is now and is so uncomfortable it’s still questionable whether or not it will make the trek.

But I’m curious to know what you think. I think the total value of all my “stuff”, not counting my truck, is around $2,500 - what do you think. Is this wishful thinking? Not that possessions matter but if I had to list assets at this moment it would be a very short list.

Sorry for the radio silence the last few days. Life after surgery was a little rougher than I expected. But now with the day of departure finalized and the countdown on expect the traffic to be quiet busy. I have secured a road trip companion for the drive out to Toronto and have been in contact with a few different landlords and other plans such as what to pack and what to leave are taking shape. Expect updates and expect news! I’m excited and I hope I can somehow infuse you with some of that excitement.

Have a great night, I’ll be in touch soon!!

Before I go… I just got a text from a friend here in Winnipeg. It reads, “I’m going have to find 3 new friends to make for you once you leave.” I text back, “why 3?” He responds, “A serious man, a really funny man, and a dude willing to drive for 20 hours straight. I’m screwed.” That just made my day!

This is kinda fun. This is a video Jenette Martens and Lisa Rowson did as a class project in creative communications a few weeks back. This is the same Red River College program I graduated from last year.

I hope it makes you laugh a little!

Anyone who’s following my journey to Toronto on dustin2TO.com must have noticed it’s now March 1 and I’m still not in Toronto. I wrote about setbacks a few weeks back that would delay my leaving for a few weeks and today those setbacks were dealt with.

I needed some surgery to remove a couple lumps in my chest, not the most glamourous think to talk about but something my doctor felt needed to be dealt with before I left. I had surgery this morning at around 11am here in Winnipeg and it was a great success. I feel really good now, but that might have something to do with the T3s. The doctor removed about 1lb of material - sexy stuff?

To say I’m relieved would be an understatement. They will of course send off the tissue just to make sure it’s nothing worse but I know in my heart that it’s nothing anything more than I reminder to take better care of myself.

With this now out of the way I can say for certain I will be in Toronto in the next few weeks. I have two follow up appointments in the next two weeks and then I’m gone. I will begin packing as soon as I regain use of my arms for lifting. Until then let’s find a place to live. I’m serious Toronto, if you know of an apartment within walking distance of Liberty Village let me know - if I move in the free burger offer still stands.

And to everyone who sent me notes of support over the last 24 hours I appreciate. The excitement for Toronto has really been renewed by having this surgery put behind me. I’m smiling from ear to ear. Have a great night.

The second half of my drive to my Sister’s - Calgary to Mission. The happy part of the day refers to the time before Canada lost to the USA in Olympic hockey. We stopped to watch the game in Kamloops, B.C. The mood changed for the worse after that and I thought it best not to show myself in that light. :)

But, I’m here now, I’m safe so that’s what matters most.

This is a quick montage of the events so far on the way to Vancouver. This trip has become more than just a way to see my sister before I leave for Toronto, it’s become a last hurrah of sorts.

Jason and Will, the two guys on this trip are both friends of mine from college in Winnipeg. But now, the same thing that brought us together has lead to us going our separate ways. Because of my education through the program we were in together I got a job with ICUC Moderation Services and this has given me the opportunity to move and experience Toronto

We are having a great time so far and I imagine the good times will continue in the days to come. Follow the adventure even closer by following me on twitter @dustinplett.

I said the other day I wanted to visit as much of my family as possible before I move to Toronto and this is me making good on that statement - I’m driving out to Vancouver to visit my sister.

I wanted to introduce you to the people who I will be traveling with on my trip to Vancouver, my two friends Jason and Will. Will who wanted to visit the Olympics and Jason who has never been on a road trip, and wanted to experience it, are joining me for this leg. I will post a video to give you a better look (with more light) at these guys tomorrow as we drive across the prairies but this should give you a good Idea of the atmosphere of the trip thus far.

If you happen to be reading this and are in Vancouver drop me a note, let me know what’s happening aside from the obvious.

A quick run down of the now “for sures” about my move to Toronto:

• I will rent a place
• I will try hard to live close to where I work and a little further from downtown than I would have originally liked (the new ICUC Moderation Services office is on Mowat in Liberty Village and I would love to be able to walk to work)
• I will drive out to Toronto with my truck, roughly 2,400km. I wont sell it until I’m settled - think of it as a safety blanket
• I will be living in Toronto by April 1 - don’t be fooled, this is no joke!
• I will try to see as many friends and as much of my family as possible before I leave - I have a sister in Vancouver, that might be tricky
• I will leave on Friday, March 26 at the latest - I’m not sure if I will drive state side or take the Canadian route over the lakes. Suggestions?
• I will arrive in Toronto on Sunday or Monday, March 28 or 29
• I will likely travel alone but let me know if you’re down for a road trip
• I will immediately begin to look for a place to move into by April 1 - is this too little time, let me know your thoughts?
• I will visit my brother in Ottawa on the days between finding a place and moving in
• I will move in April 1, maybe second if the place has to be cleaned or something else
• First day in the new office will be Monday, April 5 at the latest. Hooray!!

Am I missing anything? Do not hesitate to let me know if you see glaring flaws in my plan. Also, does anyone know of places renting near Mowat for a reasonable price? Let me know if you have any leads, if you find me a place I will take you out for the best cheeseburger money can buy!