October 19, 2005

October 19, 2005

Nanaimo, B.C.

YEAR 2 DAY 124

 

Today was another cloudy, mild, rainy day. Surprise, surprise !

I slept very late this morning, luxuriating in the comfort of the new mattress. I was awakened by a phone call from Rhonda, my investment broker's assistant, in Ottawa. She waited until much later in the day to phone me than she did last time, because I had commented in my blog about her last phone call waking me. Nevertheless, I was still sleeping this time when she phoned as well. HA HA ... sorry, Rhonda ... not your fault I was sleeping so late. She provided me with details of last week's investment trades I requested, and I ordered more today. We've spent a huge amount of money in the last week on "home improvements". I was trying to comprehend what Rhonda was telling me, while I was in my usual wake up fog. I don't wake up particularly alert or clear headed.

I had breakfast, then phoned GM in the United States to check on the status of my claim for reimbursement of the cost of the starter replaced a month ago near Edmonton. I have been playing telephone tag with the agent handling my claim, for the last 2 days. After showering, I phoned him again, finally got him, then lost the call < sigh >. He returned my call, to advise that he was waiting for approval from someone to process my claim, because it was “so unusual”. They seem to have a great deal of difficulty processing a claim from Canada. So much for NAFTA ! I believe it’s simply an unwillingness, on the part of GM in both Canada and the United States, to ever pay a penny that they can possibly find a way to avoid paying. General Motors seems to be one of those organizations that will spend more avoiding a claim than paying it.

We now read, out loud, my journal entry from the same date a year ago, on a daily basis. It’s an interesting look back. Joanne read yesterday’s and today’s entries from last year. We were certainly experiencing more exciting things a year ago than we are this year, in boring Nanaimo. Maybe I should be grateful that Nanaimo doesn’t have tornadoes. HA HA HA !

Whew ! What a long afternoon of shopping and running errands. After we had lunch, I did regular preventive maintenance, then tried to examine the truck starter to see if I could see anything obviously wrong. It's impossible to see from underneath without the truck being up on a hoist. I can see an edge of the starter by looking behind the front wheel. I can't see the front of the starter where the cable to the battery is connected, but I can reach the cable behind the front wheel. When I jiggle the cable, I think it's loose at the front of the starter. I phoned a local GM dealer and made an appointment to bring Dee-Dee in tomorrow for an examination of the starter.

We left for our afternoon of shopping and errands. We found the GM dealer, which wasn't easy, so I would know where I was going tomorrow. We drove to the north side of town where all the big box suburban shopping malls are. First stop was, of course, Wal-Mart, the life support system of full time RV'ers. Next was Home Depot. We stopped at a Bank Of Montreal to see if they keep the amount of U.S. traveller's cheques we want in stock, or will they have to order that much for us. The bank was closed already. I'll phone them tomorrow and ask about the traveller's cheques. Next was Canadian Tire. Finally, Save-On Foods for groceries.

By the time we got back to the trailer, and put all the purchases away, it was time to feed the animals and start preparing supper. After supper, I did today's accounting, and started working on today's journal entry while we watched The Apprentice : Martha Stewart.

DSK