Not sure why I decided to go shopping on the weekend, sometimes I just get the hankering and so I figured a quick trip south to Bellingham, Washington would be just the solution. With the Canadian Dollar at or above par with the US dollar it is a great time to go south and shop. I really did not have anything in mind I wanted except to shop for a new camera. Well I did not buy a new camera yet, but could not resist a new pair of shoes and some books from Barnes and Noble. One thing I did go look for was some Diet Dr Pepper Cherry Vanilla and after searching a couple of supermarkets I finally found some at Fred Meyer. I did have one funny moment when I was looking at some Lindt Chocolates and trying to figure out whether what I was looking at, was a good deal. After a few moments I figured out that the price I was looking at was half the price of the same stuff in Canada. D’OH silly me, I gotta get the notion of exchange rate out of my head and just look at prices.

I was stunned when I came home and found out the shoes I bought for $50 are normally $12o and as much as $180 in Canada. As for the cameras I looked at, included the Canon Rebel XT and Nikon D40 both are about $100 less than in Canada. I am still confused about what I want to get for a camera but I think I am bending towards the Canon. Of course I am always open to opinions.

Back to my shopping trip I still have the mentality that their is a negative difference between the Canadian and US Dollars and shopping was something I had to do very carefully. It was a little hard to look at prices and realize that the only comparison I needed to make was what would I pay if I made the purchase in Canada. The books I bought had a difference  of $12 from what I would have paid in Canada. I think this means some more trips south for some shopping and of course to shop for a camera.

That is the only word I can use to describe the last couple of weeks. It all started on Friday August 17th when I received an email from a job recruiter with whom I had been dealing with for a few months. She indicated in the email that a position was possibly coming up which she felt would be something that would interest me. This email was followed by several calls which developed into an interview the following Wednesday. As the past few months have been a little slow on the job front for me this caused some excitement in my life.

The interview went quite well (at least I thought so) and I was told if they liked me I would get a second interview in the near future. I had barely returned home when I received a call giving me the news that I was to attend a second interview on Friday just two days later.

On Thursday I decided to go watch the Chilliwack Bruins, my local Western Hockey League team go through their paces for training camp. Just before I entered the rink my cell phone rang and the person on the phone asked me if I had entered an online contest. Due to the outside noise I had some trouble hearing at first so I was kinda thinking maybe this was some kind of scam, but was I in for a huge surprise. After some preliminary questions and confirming my details I was informed I am the Grand Prize winner of The Ultimate Search for Bourne with Google contest based on the movie The Bourne Ultimatum. Since I did not have a pen to get the contact info for the contest the gentleman, Neil indicated he would call me back and leave a voice mail with his contact details. As I was really excited I thanked him and looked forward to our next communication. At this point we hung up and after about two seconds I realized I did not know what I had won. So when my phone rang a few seconds later instead of letting it goto voice mail I answered and shared a laugh with Neil when we both realized I had not asked what I had won.

To be entered in the contest you signed up on Google and played the daily game. In the game you take on the role of an agent trying to find Jason Bourne. You do this with the help of tools provided by Google. The game has you searching websites created for the game and viewing video clips for information on surveillance agents and places from the movie. Successfully playing the game each day allows you to place surveillance cameras in different locations with the hope of spotting Bourne on one of them. Did I say Google is my Friend, well it is… The contest had both daily prizes and a Grand Prize. So what did I win you ask…. that is a good question. Well I am the proud Grand Prize Winner and the incredible prizes I won

• A trip for two to 4 of the 5 locations from the movie, New York, Madrid, London, Paris or Tangier
• A 2008 Volkswagen Touareg 2
• $25000

All this right before my second interview on Friday, which went very well (again according to me!). After my second interview I was told I would hear something sometime within the next week or so. Monday afternoon I received a phone call from my favourite recruiter Laura and she informed me that she had an offer for me. So how else can I describe the last couple of weeks except to say Wow!