Thompson Research

Let's start with the poker update today. I won! There it is. Couldn't contain my excitement. Last night, with the last dime of my $5 gift from PokerStars, I entered what I thought would be my final real-money tournament.

There were 360 players entered and I finished 13th. I won 40 cents! Wahooo! That means I can now enter at least four more tournaments and go for the big prize of $8.50. I will wait a bit before calling the Porsche dealer.

So the move to Thompson. I've been spending a little time on the ol' internet trying to find out what I can about this Hub of the North. I know real estate prices are high right now. So rather than focus on that, I've been researching more fun and interesting things. For instance, while I was enjoying a balmy 0 degrees Celsius today, Thompson was enjoying -20C. It's a little strange to think that I have been living in a community where the first snow falls in October, doesn't melt until April, the temperature regularly sinks below -30 and windchills hit -50. And now I'm going somewhere that I feel will be cold. But, hey, they have an indoor community swimming pool.

Thompson has a Royal Bank of Canada branch. That's where I do my banking. The town I live in now does not. There is, however, one conveniently located 45 minutes up the road.

Thompson has a population of about 15,000. That's considered a city in Manitoba (and a "hub" apparently if you go far enough north).

Thompson is a apparently similar to northern Ontario. Smaller lakes, boreal forest, Canadian Shield rock. It's like Ontario's cottage country if you will; the place I used to go to recharge my batteries. It looks like a truly beautiful place. Only Thompson's summer is not quite as long and Parry Sound is only a few hours from Toronto.

Thompson has a KFC, McDonald's, Pizza Hut and A&W. All of that is currently 45 minutes away. It lists Grapes Bar and Grill under "Fine Dining." Something to think about there. I've been to a Grapes back when I lived in Ontario. I liked Grapes. I don't consider it Fine Dining.

There's a Canadian Tire, a Bootlegger, a Mark's Work Wearhouse. There's a Home Hardware, a Wal-mart and a Safeway.

In the summer, there's fishing, boating, camping and all the fun stuff that I enjoyed north of Toronto. In the winter: snowmobiling, ice fishing, a winter festival, curling, hockey and even skiing, snowboarding and tubing at Mystery Mountain Winter Park. And Mystery Mountain, my friends, boasts Manitoba's longest snowboarding half-pipe. Don't imagine they had too much competition there.

Anyway, still much to research, much to explore and much to do. Stay tuned.