May 2, 2006

May 2, 2006

Ottawa, Ontario

YEAR 2 DAY 319

 

Today was windy, overcast and mild.

This morning I got up early to walk Bo, but then decided to go back to sleep. It's been awhile since I've been stress free enough to feel like sleeping in. When I finally got my day started, I made myself a large mug of café au lait, then wrote an e-mail to the Bank Of Montreal in Kenora, Ontario about their screw up of a deposit I mailed from Okefenokee Swamp in Georgia about a month ago. I put Teddy outside in his nylon kennel, and Bo on his tie out, then went to work on the truck. I tidied up the fifth wheel wiring, both in the truck box where the connector is mounted, and under the rear bumper where the wiring is spliced into the factory 7 pin connector mounted in the rear bumper. Then I tidied up the wiring out the back of the trailer brake controller, and under the dash. I installed split cable cover over the wiring and connections, routed the cable neatly, and tied it in place with cable ties. When I was finished, I thought now the job looks like it’s been done by a professional. Upon reflection I realized, no, now it looks like it’s been done by an amateur who gives a damn. When the “professionals” do wiring on a vehicle, it looks like something a 5 year old would do.

I coached Joanne in the idiosyncrasies of Lanoire, which are quite different than Dee-Dee’s, and off she went for her fist solo outing with Lanoire. She went to Farm Boy for produce, and Giant Tiger for some miscellaneous supplies. Farm Boy is a local small chain of greengrocers, and Giant Tiger is a local small chain of discount department stores. It’s somewhat nice to be “home” and know where to shop, and what to expect. I reviewed the instructions for my colonoscopy next Monday < sigh >. Preparations begin a week in advance of the procedure. I started today’s journal entry. I got the printer out of the "basement pass through" storage area of the trailer, and printed all the banking and investment documents I had downloaded yesterday while at Kingston's library. I reconciled both the Canadian dollar and U.S. dollar bank accounts. I took Bo for an obedience training session. He did very well. I rewarded him with an off leash romp. He's becoming more and more trustworthy off leash. Good dog, Bo.

When Joanne returned from her shopping, we had lunch. She said that she found Lanoireeasier to drive than Dee-Dee. I'm a bit surprised, because Lanoire is higher and longer than Dee-Dee. After lunch I went outside and worked on lowering the fifth wheel hitch head. When I hitched Harvey to Lanoire for the first time, in Kingston, Harvey sat a bit tilted, front high and back low, because Lanoire is higher than Dee-Dee. I lowered the fifth wheel hitch head one notch, about an inch. If that's not low enough, I'll have to make adjustments to the hitch king pin box on the trailer. The fifth wheel hitch head in the truck is now at its lowest position.

We spent what was left of the afternoon installing the dually tire valve extenders. Surprisingly, I did not have to remove Lanoire's rear wheels to install the valve extenders. I could actually squeeze my fingers through the slots in the wheels. Lanoire seems to be a more "user friendly" to work on than Dee-Dee was. After the valve extenders were installed, we took Bo for a "drivey", looking for a service station with an air hose. I adjusted the tire air pressures in all 7 tires. Lanoire is now ready to tow Harvey to Newfoundland ! We drove to a convenience store that we had been told had a water refill station, to refill 5 water jugs. Why is it so difficult to find water refill stations in Canada ? ! ? And why does it cost $1.00 a gallon here, when it costs 15¢ in the desert in Arizona ? ! ?

We returned to the trailer at Camp Hither Hills, and I barbecued turkey sausage for supper. Joanne bought some meats and cheeses that we haven't seen in a long time. Water is cheaper and more readily available in the U.S., but Canada's grocery stores have better selections and more varieties of breads, baking, deli meats, cheeses, and meats. While I barbecued I did today's accounting. Joanne dug the printer out of storage ( again ) and I printed our medical history summaries, for our upcoming doctors' appointments.

We had supper. I spent the evening working on updating my investment files, and watching TV.

DSK