Year 3 Week 10

August 20 to 26, 2006

Steinbach, Manitoba

Year 3 week 10

 

Sunday ; Today was sunny, hot, and windy. Too windy to do outdoor work, which is what I had planned for today. It started to rain about supper time.

So, since I couldn't work outside as I had planned, I spent much of the day reading. In the afternoon, I updated my investment files with data I had downloaded on Friday. The stock market has slowly recovered a bit over the last month or so, but it's still below where it was in April. Nevertheless, after being on the road for 26 months, including paying for a new truck, we have about the same amount of money that we started with in June, 2004. So ... not bad at all !

I spent quite a bit of time trying to convince my digital camera to work. When I tried to use it yesterday in Gardenton, it wouldn't work. Today I had to reluctantly conclude that it's finished ! Maybe leaving it inside the truck fried it ? The interior of Lanoire gets extremely hot, because she's black on the inside and outside. Remind me not to buy another totally black vehicle !

There was a storm warning in the evening, with damaging winds and heavy hail, but it seemed to pass a bit south of us. We just got a brief period of heavy rain. I opened and dealt with the batch of incoming mail we picked up on Friday. We watched a documentary video Sharon gave Joanne, on the relationship between breast cancer and toxins in the environment.

 

Monday ; Today was sunny and warm.

This morning Joanne helped me mask the side of the trailer, in preparation for painting the entire lower side panel. I started to paint, and quickly stopped. The brand of paint I was using, which was different than the brand I used a week ago when I painted just the repaired area, was unsatisfactory < sigh >. I should have known ! You get what you pay for ! The paint I used a week ago was a high quality automotive spray paint. Today I started using a Wal-Mart generic brand. It wouldn't adhere, and ran in streaks down the side of the panel. Yuck ! It seems as if every time I'm half a step away from finishing this repair and paint job, I take 2 steps backward.

While I read a book after lunch, Joanne went shopping in Steinbach. After she returned I spent the rest of the afternoon washing the truck. Remind me not to buy another black vehicle ! After supper I completed the working draft copyof the corporate provincial income tax return.

 

Tuesday ; Today was sunny and very warm.

This morning we headed for Winnipeg, to do some Wal-Martin'. I got a refund on the cheap paint that was unsatisfactory, and purchased a couple of cans of the good quality automotive spray paint. After we finished shopping, we headed to the Carlson's to have lunch and visit with Lorri and the girls. While there, I got online, sent and retrieved e-mail, updated my blog, retrieved my MasterCard statement, and ordered a new digital camera from Air Miles. Lorri took Madeleine for a doctor's appointment, and we looked after Amelia. Joanne read a story to her while I was online, then I watched her outside while she rode her bicycle.

I spent the evening painting the lower side panel of the trailer. I applied 4 lightly sprayed coats and by the time I applied the last coat, it was almost dark. Too dark for me to be able to assess the results. I'm eager to see it by the light of day tomorrow morning.

 

Wednesday ; Today was sunny and warm.

This morning I "unveiled" the side panel paint job. From a distance of 6 inches I can see imperfections. From a distance of 5 feet, it looks excellent ! The end result is much better than I had hoped for. Nice work, Daniel ! In 5 days, after the new paint has cured, all I have to do to finish up this job is reinstall the mouldings I removed.

This afternoon we gave Bo a bath, then trimmed his and Teddy's claws. I reviewed and responded to Friday's and yesterday's e-mails. After supper we drove into Steinbach for some quick grocery shopping. We took Bo along. He's suffering "drivey" deficiency. HA HA HA ! I completed the submission copy of the provincial corporate income tax return.

Woo-Hoo ! ! ! My main objectives for this summer were to complete our personal income tax returns, prepare the corporate fiscal year end accounting, prepare and submit the federal and provincial corporate income tax returns, and repair and paint the damaged lower side panel of the trailer. I'm finished !

 

Thursday ; Today was overcast and warm.

This morning I reconciled the MasterCard statement, then administered heartworm, and flea and tick treatment to Bo. We seem to be out of cat flea and tick treatment. Hmph ! Guess we forgot to buy more last month. We went to PET VALU in Steinbach for flea and tick treatment. They didn't have what I wanted. It reminded me that pet supply stores here in Manitoba don't have much selection of flea and tick products. There's not much of a flea problem here in Manitoba.

As pre-arranged, we met Sharon and Bud at the Farmer's Market at the Clearspring Mall in Steinbach. We all bought fresh produce, then they followed us back to our campground. We had a nice barbecue supper and they visited with us for the afternoon and evening. Bo escaped while we were having a tennis ball play session, and I couldn't catch him. What a bad, bad, little dog ! Finally, Bud walked over to the golf course adjacent to our campground where I was trying unsuccessfully to catch Bo, and Bud captured him.

 

Friday ; This morning I headed into Steinbach. First stop was South-East Veterinary Clinic. I had to pick up a prescription renewal for Teddy's thyroid medication. I was displeased that there was a $14 charge for having the prescription written. I told the vet that I thought that was outrageous. His response was flippant. Okay, Dr. Hamilton ... you just lost a customer. Not because of the charge for the prescription, but for the poor response to my complaint. Part of being in business is being able to handle customer complaints professionally. Either shut up and smile, or politely explain your perspective to the customer, but don't be a smart ass !

Next stop was the Post Office, then I couldn't resist stopping at Steinbach Dodge when I saw that they had about a dozen new duallies in stock. Three or four 2006's, and more than half a dozen 2004's and 2005's. Wow ! I guess they're stocking up on big trucks because the local farmers are finished harvesting, and the crops are great. I guess there's going to be a lot of grain farmers spending big bucks soon.

I drove just out of Steinbach to the south, to Steinbach South Airport. At Harv's Air Service, the local flight training school, I arranged to go flying next Tuesday evening. I think I want to fly from Steinbach to St. Andrews and back. I did my flight training at St. Andrews 21 years ago. I'm going to start my flight in daylight, and end in darkness. I'm really looking forward to going flying. My last flight was 2½ years ago. I wonder how rusty my flying skills are ? ! ?

I stopped at Clearspring Mall and bought a card to send to the woman who bought our PET VALU store in the Westgate Shopping Centre. We just found out her young son has been diagnosed with an inoperable brain tumour. I stopped at an RV dealer, looking for a part. They didn't have what I needed. I stopped at a commercial truck stop to check out their truck weigh scale. I think when we leave here in a couple of weeks, I'm going to stop there and get weights on the truck and trailer.

 

Saturday ; Today was sunny and very warm. The weather certainly has been nice here in Manitoba this summer.

Today I went to do a minor repair on a section of moulding on the front corner of the trailer, and discovered a much larger problem than just a loose piece of moulding. I discovered some hidden dampness, and some dry rot. I removed some sections of moulding, and lowered a fibreglass panel underneath the front overhang of the bedroom section of the trailer. Water has been seeping in. I will have to let the area dry out completely, then clean and reseal the panel and the mouldings. Lots of old, dirty silicone caulking to remove ! Just when I thought my maintenance projects were over for the summer ! I shouldn't be too surprised. I have suspected this problem for about a year and a half.

Joanne went into Steinbach to do some shopping. I worked on reviewing a small batch of mail Sharon brought over the other day. In the batch of mail were assessments by Revenue Canada of our personal income tax returns I recently submitted. My income tax return was accepted as filed. Joanne's was assessed as having an error, and an additional $550 owing. For crying out loud ! I prepared both income tax returns the same way. Both of us had similar incomes, from the same sources. Our income tax returns are almost mirror images of one another. How could one return be correct, and the other have errors requiring another $550 ? ? ? ! ! ! Does Revenue Canada just make up the rules as they go along ? ? ? ! ! !

DSK

Year 3 Week 9

August 13 to 19, 2006

Steinbach, Manitoba

Year 3 week 9

 

Sunday ; Today started out cloudy, cool and windy with intermittent light rain. Late in the afternoon the sky cleared, and it warmed up.

During the first half of the day, we mostly relaxed, reading yesterday's newspaper, waiting for the rain to end and the wind to diminish. When it finally did, I masked the side panel repair, then spray painted 3 coats of primer, and 3 coats of paint. Joanne sanded and varnished the dinette table, the folding computer desk, and the sofa table.

After supper we watched a 1973 James Bond movie on VCR ; Live & Let Die ! < rolling eyes > I walked into the corner of an open cupboard door. OUCH ! ! ! Big lump and cut on my forehead !

 

Monday ; Today was sunny, windy and cool, warming up late in the afternoon.

This morning I removed all the masking from around the painted repair on the trailer's lower skirt panel. It looked great ! But ... being as anal retentive as I am, I decided to fuss with it and make it even better. DARN, DARN, DARN ... of course, I botched it up a little bit. When I applied another little bit of paint to the edge of the repair, it "ate" the paint applied yesterday. Yesterday's paint wasn't yet completely cured. I forgot that the paint's instructions were to recoat within an hour, or wait 5 days. I'll have to wait until at least next Saturday to fix today's little mess. Notwithstanding that, the repair looks very good. The structural integrity of the repaired areas, and cosmetic finish are both better than I expected I would be able to achieve. I'm very pleased, and very proud. Nice work, Daniel !

I spent most of the day reading a Tom Clancy novel. Late in the afternoon, while admiring my fibreglass repair, yet again, I decided that I will not be satisfied with painting only part of the lower side skirt panel. The line between the new paint and the old paint is too visible. Next weekend I'm going to repaint the entire panel. Hey ... in for a penny, in for a pound !

I started working on Misty Ventures & Developments' annual financial statement and corporate income tax return.

 

Tuesday ; Today was sunny and very warm.

This afternoon we headed into Winnipeg. First stop was Lakewood Medical Centre in Southdale where we registered as new patients, and set up an appointment with our new family physician. Then we headed to Wal-Mart at St. Vital Centre to replenish groceries and supplies. When we were finished our Wal-Martin' it was a bit too early to head for Folklorama so we drove into Norwood, and drove around our old neighbourhood, viewing Joanne's old family home on Lloyd Avenue, then my old family home on Enfield Crescent. After some neighbourhood sightseeing and reminiscing, we headed for Louis Riel Collegiate. Joanne attended junior high school at Louis Riel. It's a couple of blocks down from our first home, on St. Jean Baptiste Street. This week it was the location for the Chilean Folklorama Pavilion.

We enjoyed the Chilean food. Their ethnic singing and dancing seemed to lack ... rhythm. Some cultures got it ... some don't ! I recognized a man sitting a few tables away as Paul Murphy, a childhood neighbour whom I haven't seen since 1966, when I was 11 years old, and he was 6 years old. The Murphy family lived 2 doors away. Paul's older brother Robert was the same age as me, and we were friends. Paul was the same age as my younger brother Russell, and they were friends. It was easy to recognize Paul, despite the fact that I haven't seem him in 40 years, when he was six. He was born without arms and legs, a victim of the drug Thalidomide, taken by his mother when she was pregnant with Paul. I went over to Paul, introduced myself, and we chatted for awhile. He remembered his little childhood buddy, my brother Russell, but not me.

From the Chilean Pavilion we headed for the Brazilian Pavilion in old St. Vital. It was an extremely popular pavilion, and we had to stand in line for an hour and a quarter to get in. It was worth the wait. The food wasn't as good as at the Chilean Pavilion, but the music and dancing ... WOW ! ! ! Like I said earlier, some cultures got it ... some don't ! Brazil's got it !

 

Wednesday ; Today was mostly cloudy and warm, with a bit of intermittent rain.

I did a bit of "spring cleaning", rearranging and purging the contents of the large aluminum storage chest / "tool box" in the back of the truck. I spent most of the day reading a John Grisham novel I started yesterday. After supper I finished the working draft of the T-2 federal corporate income tax return for our company. I hope that the CT-23 provincial corporate income tax return won't be any more difficult than the T-2 federal income tax return was.

 

Thursday ; Today was sunny and very warm. I noticed the evening was quite cool, indicating that the hot part of Manitoba's summer is over.

This morning I cleaned and polished a couple of pairs of shoes. I culled and rearranged the contents of my business card file. I culled and rearranged my office files. After lunch I read for quite awhile, then we drove into Steinbach to shop at the Farmer's Market. Bo came along. He wanted to go "drivey". We filled up with diesel while we were in town. I drove the fuel down to a "distance to empty" of 7 km. / 4 miles ! After returning from the Farmer's Market, I prepared the submission copy of the federal corporate income tax return. I worked on sanding and masking the trailer's lower side skirt panel, in preparation for repainting it this weekend. Joanne applied another coat of varnish to the dinette table.

 

Friday ; Today was sunny and warm, with a cool evening.

This morning I prepared the federal corporate income tax return to be mailed, then printed the provincial corporate income tax return blank forms that I downloaded in April. They have been sitting in my printer queue for 4 months. I looked them over quickly, and it seems as if they won't be very difficult to complete.

Today was the day of the big "pout-rogie" experiment. A few months ago, as were driving across Quebec, eating poutine ( pronounced "poo tin" ), Joanne came up with a brainstorm. She thought it would be a great idea to combine a food favoured by her French-Canadian culture, poutine, and blend it with a food favoured by my Ukrainian culture, perogies ( pronounced "purr roe geez ). HA HA HA ! When we mentioned it to Sharon and Bud after we arrived back here in Manitoba, they thought it was definitely worth trying. So, yesterday, Sharon prepared a feast of "pout-rogies" ( pronounced "poot roe geez" ). HA HA HA HA HA ! ! !

I'm certain that most of my American friends reading my blog don't know what either perogies or poutine are. Poutine is french fries, topped with fresh cheese curds, and hot gravy poured over, melting the cheese curds. Perogies are pockets of dough, filled with a mashed potato and cheese filling, boiled, and then sometimes pan fried, served with sour cream. Yesterday Bud and Sharon drove out to the dairy in New Bothwell and bought fresh cheese curds. Sharon cooked up a batch of perogies, and we all sat down to experiment with "pout-rogies". We tried them with the perogies only boiled. We tried them with the perogies pan fried after boiling. We tried them with fresh cheese curds poured over them. We tried them with grated mozzarella over them. We poured hot beef gravy over the perogies and cheese. Et voila ... pout-rogies ! Chalice ! ! ! ( A French-Canadian exclamation of astonishment, pronounced “Caw Liss” ) HA HA< SNORT > HA HA ! ! !

Sharon and I didn't like them. Bud and Joanne did like them. 50 / 50 !

Thank you, Sharon, for giving us an opportunity to try out the idea. Guess we won't be going into business as "pout-rogy" vendors in Arizona anytime soon. HA HA HA < SNORT SNORT SNORT > ! ! !

 

Saturday ; Today was a sunny, hot day of exploring rural Manitoba.

I had never visited the small village of Gardenton, where my father was born, in southeast Manitoba. We drove into Steinbach, through town, then headed south out of town on Hwy. 12. Just south of Steinbach I saw the Steinbach South airport. I stopped to look at the flight training school there, Harv's Air Service. It's where Bud took his flight training and got his pilot's license, probably about 25 years ago. I decided that I miss flying so much, I'm going to take the opportunity to go flying next week, since we're so close to a small airport and flight school. I'm going to rent a Cessna, and an instructor, and go flying for an hour. I'll need the instructor, because I haven't flown for 2½ years, and I'm not "current" on my pilot's license.

We continued south on Hwy. 12 to Hwy. 302, then Hwy. 302 and Hwy. 209 to Gardenton. We drove around the little village, and stopped at the small Ukrainian church. By reading a memorial plaque at the church, I learned that Gardenton was settled by Ukrainian immigrants, in the late 1800's and early 1900's, who came from the village in the Ukraine where my grandmother was from. I guess now I know how and why my grandmother settled there. I wondered if she attended that church, the only church in the little village ? I wondered if my father was baptized there ? We drove to the small cemetery nearby, and walked around, looking for evidence of my ancestors. There didn’t seem to be any.

We left Gardenton driving back on Hwy. 209 to Hwy. 201, then west on Hwy. 201 to Hwy. 59, and north on Hwy. 59 and Hwy. 216 to Grunthal. This weekend the Hanover Agricultural Fair was being held in Grunthal. We parked in town, and walked overto the fairgrounds. We decided that the admission fee was a bit too steep, considering that we only wanted to go into the fairgrounds and take a quick look around. We left, driving north on Hwy. 216, then east on Hwy. 52 back to Steinbach. We stopped at Safeway in Steinbach to buy some groceries and a Saturday newspaper.

I was feeling quite ill most of today, so once we got back to the trailer, I spent the rest of the afternoon and evening just reading the newspaper.

DSK

Year 3 Week 8

August 6 to 12, 2006

Steinbach, Manitoba

Year 3 week 8

 

Sunday ; Steinbach to Gimli and return

Today was sunny and warm. We went to Gimli to attend the Icelandic Festival a.k.a. Islendingadagurrin. Overall, it was a disappointment.

We left Steinbach headed north on Hwy. 12 to Hwy. 44, stopping at Anola to refill with diesel. At the junction of Hwy. 12 and Hwy. 44 we bought some fresh sweet corn from a farm truck parked on the side of the road selling corn. We took Hwy. 44 west over the Red River to Lockport, then turned north on Hwy. 9, passing through Winnipeg Beach to Gimli on the west side of Lake Winnipeg. It was about 2 hours of driving.

We walked around downtown Gimli and out onto the long wharf. There were a few vendor booths and stalls in the downtown area, but nothing worthwhile, certainly nothing Icelandic. Henna tattoo artists, burgers, ice cream, etc.. We found our way to the Icelandic village re-creation, and watched a demonstration of Icelandic warrior battles. We walked through the re-created village setting. We walked through downtown again, looking for Icelandic food, or desserts, or ... ? ! There were none. I bought some Lake Winnipeg Smoked Goldeye, a local delicacy. We left. Just south of town we stopped at Sauger Steve's Fish & Chips ( sauger are a fish extremely similar to pickerel ), a small restaurant specializing in Lake Winnipeg Pickerel. We were going to have an early pickerel dinner. We opted for the daily special, pickerel deep fried in a beer batter, instead of the more traditional pan fried pickerel. It was a disappointing meal. And not because of a bad choice. We've had deep fried battered pickerel in Port Stanley on Lake Ontario, and it was very good.

We drove back to Steinbach, tired and disappointed. The grain crops look very good this year.

 

Monday ; Bo woke me up in the middle of the night, needing to be taken outside for a bathroom walk. WOW ... what an amazing display of Northern Lights / Aurora Borealis at 4:00 A.M. !

Today was a lovely, sunny, warm day. We got a late start to the day. We put out the awning for the first time since December in Yuma, Arizona. I spent most of the afternoon working on the fibreglass repair. Today I re-installed the bottom panel. It didn't go great ! Early in the evening we went into Steinbach to find a laundromat and the "wave pool". We found a laundromat, and an aquatic centre. We don't know if the aquatic centre is the wave pool. Guess we'll have to phone. Took a look at the inventory at the local Dodge dealer. Three one ton diesel duallies. One was a Mega Cab with short box. Useless to us. The other two were $55,000 and $57,000, and neither one was as well equipped as Lanoire. Affirms my satisfaction with Lanoire.

While barbecuing sweet corn for supper I phoned Sharon to find out how her camping trip to Rushing River was, and to make a date to attend some Folklorama pavilions later this week.

 

Tuesday ; Today was sunny and hot. We kept the windows closed and used the air conditioner today. Around suppertime the circuit breaker for our campsite kept blowing. It tolerated our power consumption all day, until early evening, then decided we were overloading the circuit. I reset the breaker 3 or 4 times, then finally just turned off the air conditioner. If the problem persists another day, I'll have to request that the circuit breaker for our campsite be replaced.

This morning we gave the trailer a quick rinse to get off the road grime that resulted from driving here last Friday in the rain. Then we washed the awning, and retracted it to the travel / storage position as soon as it was dry because it was quite windy early in the afternoon. I spent the rest of the day working on the lower side panel repair. I repeatedly mixed up small batches of 2 part body putty and hardener, applied it to the lower panel, and sanded and sanded and sanded ... ! It looks pretty good. I also discovered yesterday that there was damage where a metal brace attaches between the 2 wheels. I applied the first coat of fibreglass cloth and resin on the inside of the damaged section today. Tomorrow I'll fix the outside, then I'll be able to drill and re-attach the brace. I drove into Steinbach to buy some supplies at Canadian Tire. I phoned Teddy's vet in Steinbach and made an appointment for an annual examination on Friday.

We need to establish a relationship with a local family physician. I phoned the two doctors' clinics in Steinbach looking for a new family doctor for Joanne and me. Both clinics in Steinbach are not accepting new patients. I phoned the medical clinic in Lorette. They have a 2 month waiting list for new patients. Fine ... we're on the waiting list.

 

Wednesday ; Steinbach to Lorette to Winnipeg and return

Today was sunny and hot. Joanne went into Steinbach to shop while I continued working on the fibreglass repair. I applied a layer of fibreglass cloth and resin to the outside / underside of the section where the brace attaches. Then I sanded and sanded and sanded the lower skirt. The sanding is about 95 % finished. Hopefully I can finish the sanding and reinstall the brace tomorrow.

Around 3:30 P.M. we left for Lorette. At the Danelak's I got online, sent and retrieved e-mail, and retrieved updated investment data. Sharon and Bud joined us as we headed for an evening of Folklorama in Winnipeg. First pavilion we went to was the First Nations Pavilion. We had a light supper of Buffalo Stew with Fried Raisin Bannock. After eating we went outside to see their exhibition of Powwow dancing. It was very enjoyable. We walked around their arts and crafts exhibit area before leaving for the Chinese Pavilion. At the Chinese Pavilion we watched a show of ethnic music, singing, and dancing. The Lion Dance was quite interesting. We went into their food court for our second ethnic meal of the evening. I am actually typing this on Thursday, the following day, and what Joanne told me last night was sweet and sour chicken was actually sweet and sour pork. Mr. Colon is not happy today !

After the Chinese Pavilion we drove back to Lorette, and visited with Sharon and Bud briefly over chocolate chip cookies and iced tea.

 

Thursday ; Today was mostly sunny and very warm.

This morning I reinstalled the metal brace from the trailer frame between the tires to the lower side skirt panel. I finished sanding the lengthy repaired area along the lower side panel, then decided to do just a bit more patching with putty. That means I'll have a bit more sanding to do tomorrow.

We spent a long afternoon at the Steinbach Aquatic Centre with all the Carlson's. The Steinbach Aquatic Centre has a large outdoor pool, a large indoor pool, and an aquatic activity area comprising a shallow "beach entry" pool with fountains, a "river current", a tall, long water slide, bubble pool areas, all in a free form design. Quite nice. The little nieces really enjoyed it. I liked the water slide. Everybody seemed to be amused at what a large splash Uncle Dan makes when he reaches the end of the water slide. Hey ... I'm big and I'm fast !

After the afternoon at the Aquatic Centre, we stopped at the Farmer's Market at Clearspring Mall and bought some freshproduce. The Carlson's needed to quickly pick something up at a department store inside the mall, so in we went. An hour later ... ! ! ! ! !

They came to our campground for a barbecue and an evening of visiting.

 

Friday ; Today was sunny and hot.

We drove into Steinbach, I dropped Joanne off at the laundromat, and took Teddy to South-East Veterinary Clinic for his annual examination and innoculations. He's in pretty good health for a 14 year old cat. Back at the trailer, I finished sanding the repaired area of the lower side skirt panel, and did a minor repair to the wiring behind the panel. It's ready to be primed and painted !

I spent the evening updating my investment files. Teddy was a bit ill, as he always is after innoculations. Poor Teddy Baby Cat !

 

Saturday ; Today was cloudy, with intermittent heavy rain.

I had a sore throat today. It seems as if I have caught a cold from Madeleine. I cleaned the repaired side of the trailer with paint thinner in preparation for priming and painting. We went into Steinbach and both got haircuts. I think today's haircut ( and beard trim ) is the best I've had in over 2 years on the road. Unfortunately, the same was not true for Joanne. Getting a haircut from a different stylist, in a different place each time is a bit of a crap shoot. We went to Safeway and bought some groceries.

I spent most of the afternoon reading the newspaper, hoping and waiting for the rain to stop so that I could go outside and work on the trailer repair. The rain didn't stop !

After supper we watched a movie on VCR ; Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon. HUH ? ! ?

DSK

Year 3 Week 7

July 30 to August 5, 2006

Winnipeg to Steinbach, Manitoba

Year 3 week 7

 

Sunday ; Today was another sunny, hot day. I really don't mind this type of weather. I'm a sunshine junkie. And I'm unemployed and homeless ... I don't have to wear a shirt ! HA HA HA HA !

Early this afternoon Darcy and Shirley Johnson and their 12 year old son Erik came to visit. We sat outside chatting for part of the afternoon, then went inside to view our travel photos of the last year. I barbecued steaks for supper, served with Joanne's Caesar Salad and potato salad, with her homemade Nanaimo bars for dessert. After they left we prepared for an early morning departure to take the trailer in for servicing.

We received a phone call from a franchisor "wannabe" on Vancouver Island. We had patronized one of his two business locations on Vancouver Island last October, and I had made an inquiry asking for more information on his business concept. He was responding now to my inquiry. No, thank you, I'm not the least bit interested in discussing business with some jerkoff who takes almost a year to respond to an inquiry ... goodbye !

 

Monday ; Today was sunny and hot again.

Happy Birthday to my brother, Russell.

We woke up early this morning and prepared for departure. We had to have the trailer into GNR Travel Centre for service at 8:30 A.M.. We dropped off the trailer, then headed to Wal-Mart on Regent to replenish supplies. We shopped quickly because Bo and Teddy were in the truck. From Wal-Mart we headed over to the Carlson's for the day. As we were driving there, GNR phoned with recommendations for some "preventive maintenance" service. They wanted to do almost $2000 worth of work that I considered unnecessary at this time. I strongly believe in preventive maintenance, but I don't "buy on" to service and repair shops "upselling" thousands of dollars worth of service just to generate revenue for themselves. I had the trailer serviced at GNR a year ago, and was satisfied, so that's why I returned to them this year. But after this morning's attempt to suck an additional couple of grand out of my pocket, my confidence in them is eroded, and I doubt that I will return there for service.

Joanne did laundry while she visited with her sister and little nieces. I got online, sent and retrieved e-mail, updated my blog, retrieved bank statements, paid the MasterCard bill, and tried repeatedly and unsuccessfully to retrieve updated financial data. The Edward Jones website was temporarily unavailable. Lorri prepared a nice lunch for us.

GNR phoned early in the afternoon to advise that the trailer was ready, so we left the Carlson's about 3:00 P.M.. We picked up the trailer and returned to Traveller's RV Resort. We got settled back into our campsite, then spent the rest of the day relaxing.

 

Tuesday ; Today was sunny and very warm, with a light breeze.

Joanne worked on finishing the de-oxidation / waxing of the trailer. She ran out of de-oxidizer / wax just before she completed the job. Darn ! I worked on repairing the lower fibreglass skirt. I got the inside / underside cleaned, then I applied a layer of fibreglass cloth and resin. It went well. I did a bit of cosmetic repair work with auto body spot putty / "Bondo" on the outside of the lower fibreglass skirt. Joanne painted one of the sink covers ... again. I printed and reconciled the bank statement.

At 10:00 P.M. I drove into the city on a quest for jelly beans for Joanne. Am I a good husband or what ?

 

Wednesday ; Today was sunny and very warm, with unexpected heavy rain in the evening.

We went to Southdale today to buy supplies at Dollarama and Canadian Tire, and groceries at Safeway. Joanne finished de-oxidizing / waxing the trailer. I did the first applications of fibreglass cloth and resin to the outside of the damaged areas of the lower skirt of the trailer. It didn't go as well as I had hoped. I can only do a small amount of the fibreglass repair each day, because it needs a day to dry between each application. It's going to be a long, tedious process, but at least I now know I will be able to do an acceptable repair, and won't have to replace the lower side skirt and bottom panel.

 

Thursday ; Today was sunny and very warm again.

I spent much of today continuing to work on the fibreglass repair. I have completed phase 1 of 3. I have finished the applications of fibreglass cloth and resin, restoring the structural integrity of the damaged panels. Next I need to drill and reinstall the fibreglass bottom panel, metal side brace, and aluminum end cap. The last phase, and probably as challenging as the first, will be to restore the cosmetic appearance. Lots of applications of body putty and sanding, then priming and painting. A long way to go yet, but the completion of the fibreglass structural integrity / strength phase is a big achievement. Good work, Dan !

This afternoon we went Wal-Martin' at St. Vital Centre, then over to the Carlson's to visit Lorri, Madeleine, and Amelia. Yesterday Amelia learned to ride a two wheel bicycle. Today I helped her learn how to get started by herself, without relying on a steadying hand from Mom to get started. Way to go, Amelia !

 

Friday ; Today started out raining heavily, then cleared and was a sunny, hot afternoon and lovely warm evening.

Of course, it was raining hard while we prepared for departure. At least it was warm. We departed Traveller's RV Resort in Winnipeg and drove east on TCH 1, then south on Hwy. 12 to Ridgewood South Campground ( & Golf Course ) near Steinbach. We got settled into our campsite, had lunch, then Joanne went shopping at Clearspring Mall in Steinbach. I read for awhile, napped, then worked a bit on the fibreglass repair. I'm having difficulty figuring out exactly how an aluminum end panel fits. It was mangled by the exploding tire, and I'm not even sure that I've reshaped it correctly.

After supper we went for a long walk around the campground and golf course. I watched a small airplane practicing aerobatic manoeuvers. There is a large flight training school nearby. WAAAAAHHHHH ... I miss flying !

 

Saturday ; This morning was sunny and warm. This afternoon it rained heavily. The evening was cool and windy.

Joanne got us up at 7:30 this morning to go out to the free pancake breakfast at Clearspring Mall that was part of Steinbach's Pioneer Days this long weekend. Great ... I got up early, and stood in line for an hour to get 2 free pancakes ! After our free breakfast we went inside the mall to buy groceries at Sobey's. Then we walked by the kid's petting zoo set up in the mall. I was amused by baby goats head butting one another. HA HA HA ... very cute and funny.

I spent the afternoon working on some maintenance projects. First I had to remount one of the lift cylinders underneath the bed. The bed base lifts up, and there is a storage area under the bed. The bed base lifts up with the support of two lift cylinders, and one of them recently pulled all of its mounting screws out of the bed frame. It was a tough repair job. Then I repaired one of the kitchen blinds. Finally, I went outside and washed the truck. Another tough job. Lots of bugs on the front !

After supper we drove into Winnipeg, about an hour northwest of Steinbach, to attend the Folklorama opening ceremonies at The Forks. There was a variety of ethnic dancing and singing groups performing on The Forks Stage, with a finale by a group from Cuba. The fireworks were cancelled because of wind.

On the way "home", we drove by our old house on St. Jean Baptiste. It looks good ! Then we stopped at Dairi-Wip on Marion Street for a late night snack. Wow ... it looks identical to 35 years ago. Even the same old faded photograph of John F. and Robert Kennedy on the wall. I had a Double Fat Boy burger. MMMMM ... it was exactly the same, and just as good, as 35 years ago. I used to eat a lot of Fat Boy burgers at Dairi-Wip ! It still shows ! HA HA HA !

DSK