October 14, 2005

October 14, 2005

Vancouver, B.C.

YEAR 2 DAY 119

 

Today was cloudy and mild. It rained all evening. Even in the early part of the day when it wasn’t yet raining the streets and sidewalks were wet all day. I think the humidity in Vancouver must be close to 100 %. That might explain why my sinuses are swollen and sore, and I have an intermittent sinus headache.

I slept in this morning, so I had to postpone showering and miss breakfast, because I had a telephone meeting scheduled with my investment broker at 1:00 P.M. Ottawa time, 10:00 A.M. Vancouver time. I phoned Roger, and spent quite awhile reviewing my current investments and working out the best strategy for acquiring U.S. funds, to purchase traveller's cheques before we enter the United States in a couple of weeks. I showered, then phoned an RV resort in Cowichan Lake on Vancouver Island that we will be going to this weekend to see their RV lots for sale. I phoned another RV resort in Nanaimo where we will also be going this weekend for the same reason. I phoned a foam mattress manufacturer in Parksville, also on the island, to discuss a new bed for the trailer. This foam mattress manufacturer specializes in non-standard sized RV beds. After having a discussion with the owner, I am certain we will be purchasing a new mattress from him. I got online, and changed my AOL plan, to accommodate usage of my AOL Canada account while we are in the United States for 6 months. I phoned Manitoba Telephone Systems to change our cell phone plan from a Canadian plan to a North American plan. Jennifer prepared a turkey salad lunch for us. I guess they'll be eating a lot of turkey in the next few days, before they leave for New Zealand on Tuesday. I phoned Sanderson Insurance in Ontario and purchased travel medical insurance for our 183 day visit to the United States. That's the maximum permissible amount of time for Canadians to be in the United States. Because I had received medical treatment, and was hospitalized for 3 days, within the last 90 days, for ulcerative colitis, my travel medical insurance excludes any treatment related to ulcerative colitis. I knew that my treatment and hospitalization in Kenora a few months ago was going to be a problem when it came time to purchase travel medical insurance. Oh, well.

I napped briefly in the afternoon. I worked on the computer to sort out today’s expenditures, and investment trades. I went online and placed an online order for tonight’s pizza dinner. I paid for it online as well. When I went to pick up the pizza order, things did not go smoothly. The outlet where I was picking up the order wanted payment, despite the fact that I had already paid online. It took some time, and some irritation, to get that sorted out. I’m still not confident that there won’t be a duplication of charges on my credit card. Additionally, when I returned “home” and we sat down to eat supper, an ingredient I requested to be deleted wasn’t, and the crust type was not what I had selected. It’s hard to find good help ! ! !

We had a distinctly mediocre pizza dinner. We spent the entire evening sitting in the living room, visiting. It was great. It’s been many years since the 4 of us sat around for an entire evening, just chatting.

I want to thank Dwight and Jennifer for their generosity in allowing us to occupy their guest room for the last 4 days while the trailer was in the shop. We appreciate their hospitality. We know how difficult, and disruptive it is to have “on vacation” house guests while self employment work load pressures are high.

Thank you very much, Dwight and Jennifer. Good luck with your upcoming working vacation trip to Los Angeles, New Zealand, and Hawaii.

DSK