Year 4 Week 1

June 17 to 22, 2007

Keremeos to Summerland, B.C. & return

Year 4 Week 1

 

Sunday ; Year 3 last day ; Keremeos to Summerland

This morning we prepared for departure in light rain. Haven’t travelled in a month and a half, and when we do finally need to prepare for departure, it’s raining. Story of my life ! We drove east on Hwy. 3 to Keremeos, north on Hwy. 3A to Kaleden, then north on Hwy. 97 through Penticton to Summerland.

We found our way to Summerland’s rodeo grounds, and the Escapees Okanagan Chapter 33 Spring Rally. We got set up and registered, including joining Okanagan Chapter 33. Farewell, Escapees Ontario / Maple Leaf Chapter 18. The afternoon was spent at “social hour”, sitting around in a large circle, socializing, and munching on snacks. The evening was spent sitting around a large campfire. I brought Teddy to sit by the campfire for awhile. Teddy loves campfires.

We met two couples that we have met before, at the Escapees Alberta Chapter 44 Winter Rally in Mesa, Arizona in March, 2005. They have relocated from Alberta to B.C., and are now members of Chapter 33. Word got out that I performed magic at that rally in Arizona a couple of years ago. There were many “hints” tonight that they would like me to perform magic here, but I was feeling ill, so I ignored the “hints”. Maybe tomorrow if I’m feeling better.

I have met, and become friends with Spud and Lady, two Border Collies who live here on the rodeo grounds with the rodeo grounds caretaker. And I’ve met ( and fed strawberries to ) the resident lop eared bunny ( formerly domestic, now semi-wild ? ) that seems to live here on the rodeo grounds.

 

Monday ; Year 4 first day & Teddy’s 15th birthday

Happy Birthday to Teddy, my baby cat. And today is our 3rd anniversary of full time RV’ing.

Today was mostly sunny but fairly cool. It's been a looooong time since I've been up this early. This morning I was up at 6:00 A.M. to be ready for the job Joanne volunteered me for yesterday. By 7:00 A.M. I was in the clubhouse preparing for my job as pancake cook. By the time I was finished cooking pancakes around 8:30, I had no appetite. The smells of pork sausages being cooked, and lard on the grill, didn't leave me much desire to eat. Over some objections, I refused to cook "my" pancakes in lard. After breakfast was the Chapter 33 Annual General Meeting. I declined to accept a nomination for the position of Vice-President, but I did offer something new for this organization, which it appears has been doing the same things, the same ways, for a long time. I am going to host an Escapees Okanagan Chapter 33 “Snowbird” luncheon. See you all on December 11 at Famous Dave’s Barbecue in Yuma, Arizona.

This afternoon we went as a group on the Kettle Valley Steam Train, adjacent to the rodeo grounds. The Kettle Valley Steam Train is an old restored steam engine pulling four restored old passenger coaches on a 10 mile rail track around the Kettle Valley area of Summerland, ending on an old wooden trestle bridge over the Trout Creek far below. It was a pleasant outing. It would have been even more pleasant if I would have been able to keep my eyes open.

After we returned from the train ride, I napped briefly before "social hour", which was followed by a pot luck dinner. After dinner we were entertained by the musicians in our group ; quite a few guitars, a keyboard, a saxophone, some ... “singers” ... and a snare drum played by an old woman with a ... well ... somewhat imperfect sense of timing and rhythm. I guess one of the nice things about getting older is one’s inhibitions diminish.

 

Tuesday ; Today was sunny and very warm. We had a really wonderful day.

This morning we joined two other couples and "car pooled" into Summerland to see some of the attractions. First stop was the Crafts & Farmers Market. I bought a cedar Blue Bird house. And I'm a bit sorry that I bought a plastic gazebo bird feeder a week ago, because the old gentlemen that I bought the Blue Bird house from was also selling his home made cedar bird feeders. Very nice, and reasonably priced. Joanne bought a few items around the market.

Next stop was Summerland Sweets, a local small business producing and selling fruit jams, jellies, and syrups. I bought a jar of Raspberry and Saskatoon jam, as well as a bottle of Maplapple Syrup, a syrup made from Maple sap and apples. Sounded interesting ! Pretty Canadian, eh ?

Next we drove to Summerland Ornamental Gardens at the Pacific Agricultural Research Centre. We enjoyed the beautiful sunny weather as we walked slowly around the grounds, admiring all the lovely flowers, and plants, and trees, and shrubs. We stopped at a Tim Horton's for lunch before returning to the Summerland Rodeo Grounds. Our driver got lost, so we took the "scenic route" back to the rodeo grounds.

Our Escapee rally group spent the afternoon playing beanbag baseball, and enjoying "social hour". Some members of the group still had sore heads from yesterday's social hour, where a couple of large jugs of home made rhubarb wine made the rounds. Joanne and I joined with four other couples and went into Summerland to have supper at Johnnie's Family Restaurant, where we enjoyed a Canadian and Chinese buffet.

We returned at 8:00 P.M., just in time for my magic show. I had been asked by the rally hosts / organizers to perform a short magic show to start off tonight's session of table games in the clubhouse. I started my show, juggling, to the music by which I learned to juggle. Sweet Georgia Brown, performed for me tonight, live, by Ernie Webster on his saxophone. That was great ... thank you , Ernie. I performed a very brief magic show, and I think ( hope ) it was well received. Afterwards, I taught a "disappearing handkerchief" illusion to Florence Archibald, who then performed it flawlessly for her mesmerized husband, Dale. Good job, Florence.

Joanne spent the evening sitting at a table with a group playing Mexican Train, the first time she has played the game. I sat at the only non-game playing table, and socialized.

 

Wednesday ; Today was sunny and hot, temperature in the 30's C. / 90's F..

This morning we lingered over the SKP rally's hitch-up breakfast, chatting and saying our goodbyes to our new Chapter 33 friends. We were procrastinating leaving because we had a 12:30 P.M. appointment for trailer service in Penticton. We had the Dometic fridge recall retrofit work done at Leisureland RV. The recall involved installing some heat shields and sensors around the burner unit. What sloppy workmanship. Of course, I'll be redoing some of it to tidy it up. After the fridge recall work was done, we did our weekly errands in Penticton, made a little more difficult because we were towing the trailer around.

It was nice to get back "home" to Riverside RV Park Resort. We fussed with the positioning of the trailer on our lot. We wanted to try a new position, to give us a better view of the river and mountains. Before we extended the slides, Joanne finished cleaning and waxing over the slides. Then I worked on removing a fiberglass repair I had done in Texas, on a stress crack in the fiberglass over the bed slide. The repair had cracked. After removing the repair, I did another repair, this time using an aluminum "Eternabond" patch. It looks okay, although I'm not sure if I can paint it. I'm going to put a little Eternabond patch on a piece of scrap wood and try painting it, as a test.

The mosquitoes are quite bad again. I think we might buy a screen tent.

 

Thursday ; Today was sunny and very warm.

Today we finished repositioning the trailer, and rearranged our yard. We unhitched the truck from the trailer, set up our new RV patio mat, and set out the trailer awning. We rarely have used the awning in the past, because we're seldom in one place long enough to justify setting it up. We moved the swing, creating a small "conversation space" beside the trailer in the shade of the big tree on our lot. We moved a cedar planter, and the picnic table. We now have the trailer positioned such that the view out the main windows is stunning, of the river and the mountain on the other side.

I spent the late part of the afternoon doing computer work. I updated my investment files. I retrieved this month's MasterCard statements. I processed the photos I took the other day when we went on the Kettle Valley Steam Train. We watched two movies in the evening. Movies based on Tony Hillerman mystery novels, featuring main characters Joe Leaphorn and Jim Chee, two Navajo Tribal Policemen, set in New Mexico. I enjoy reading Hillerman's novels. The actor who plays Jim Chee in the movies is a Native actor from Winnipeg, our home town.

 

Friday ; Year 4 Day 5 ... time to quit !

Today was sunny and warm, a "perfect" day just like the day we started travelling, June 18, 2004.

I have been writing a daily journal and posting it on my blog for 3 years, since we started full time RV travelling. Now that we've "settled down" in one spot, at least for the summers, I'm going to discontinue my journal. Our daily lives are now just that ... humdrum, routine living. Nothing exciting enough to justify writing a daily journal and publishing it on my blog.

I might occasionally post pictures throughout the summer.

I intend to resume writing a journal and posting it on my blog, when we resume travelling on November 1. Next winter we will be going down into the Baja California Peninsula of Mexico. Should be interesting !

Thanks for reading my blog. Hope you enjoyed reading it as much as we enjoyed living it.

 

DSK

Year 3 Week 52

June 10 to 16, 2007

Keremeos, B.C.

Year 3 week 52

 

Sunday ; Today was sunny and warm.

This morning Joanne prepared a picnic lunch and we set off to explore from here to Princeton, about 45 minutes west on Hwy. 3. The highway followed the Similkameen River all the way. It was a lovely drive, very scenic. At Princeton we drove around the town, checking out stores and services. Although Princeton is bigger than Keremeos, there isn't really anything in Princeton that isn't available in Keremeos. There was a small business that produces pine and cedar furniture, both indoor and outdoor. And they do custom work. I'm interested in returning there to shop, and discuss some ideas we have for a "portable" deck.

On the way back towards Keremeos, we stopped at one of the two ( well ... three actually ) provincial parks between Keremeos and Princeton. Bromley Rock Provincial Park had a small campground and a day use / picnic area. What a gorgeous place, on the Similkameen River. It's definitely a place we will return to when we have visitors, to show off this area. We sat beside the river, eating our picnic lunch, enjoying the lovely weather, watching the river flow by, smelling the blossoms on the trees around us. AHHHHH ! ! !

We also stopped at Stemwinder Provincial Park, on the way back towards Keremeos, and looked around. It was nice as well. We stopped at a meat market / butcher near Hedley we had been told about, but didn't buy anything. We turned onto Old Hedley Road, and crossed the river for more exploring. Old Hedley Road is, of course, the old road from Hedley to Princeton. We found another lovely camping and picnic area, this one operated by the B.C. Forest Service. The area had a lot of flat rocks that I thought would be good for the Inukshuk I have been planning to build. We drove around for awhile, exploring, stopping periodically to pick up flat rocks for my planned Inukshuk.

Back at home, Joanne continued working on waxing the trailer. I worked on attaching the shed base rails to the floor, until I ran out of screws and my cordless drill went dead. What a piece of junk this cordless drill is ! I've been meaning to replace it for a year now, but haven't yet done so. While Joanne prepared supper, I built my Inukshuk on the front corner of our lot. Hey ... very nice ! Joanne thought it was a bit too big, so I made it a bit smaller. Now it stands about 3 feet high, which is a pretty decent size for an Inukshuk, I guess.

After supper Joanne prepared a large bowl of fresh strawberries, and we went over to visit Gil, Maria, and Buppy.

 

Monday ; Today was cloudy and cool, with a bit of light rain.

This morning I phoned the Similkameen Health Centre in Keremeos and made an appointment for both of us to see a doctor this afternoon. I had heard some horror stories about the difficulties new residents of B.C. have finding a new physician, but apparently there's not a problem here in the South Okanagan Similkameen / Keremeos region. Joanne and I worked on calculating my prescription medication requirements for the next year. After lunch we drove into Keremeos for our doctor's appointments. The relatively new Similkameen Health Centre is quite an impressive little facility. As well as housing the village's doctors, it has a small emergency department, lab facilities, etc.. We met with our new doctor and got the ball rolling on our annual health care requirements ; a variety of cancer screening tests for Joanne, and a colonoscopy for me.

While in town we went to the Post Office, the grocery store, the hardware store, and the liquor store. Then we drove around town, exploring a few areas that Joanne wanted to see. We went to see Pine Park, a lovely, quite large municipal park on the banks of the Similkameen River. So, along with Memorial Park, where town events like Music Under The "K" are held, there are 2 quite large and lovely parks in the tiny Village of Keremeos. Well, 3 actually. Our next stop was Riparian Park, a "natural" rehabilitation area / walking trail along the river. Pretty impressive for a village of 1200 people.

On our way back into Riverside RV Park Resort, we stopped to chat with Gil and Maria. Gil was working on repairing the damage on their travel trailer caused by an exploding tire on their last camping trip a few weeks ago. Yeah ... been there, done that ! I finished attaching the base rails for the shed to the floor.

 

Tuesday ; Today was sunny and warm.

Another long, tiring day of errands in Penticton < sigh >. This morning we drove to Penticton. First stop was the Bank of Montreal to pay some bills, get some cash, and most importantly, transfer our accounts from Kenora, Ontario to Penticton. Closing one account and opening another seems a lot more complicated than it should be. Is it just B.C. that makes things so complicated ? Or am I just getting old ? We had lunch at a great Chinese buffet restaurant near the bank.

We dropped off some forms at our new investment broker's office. We did some shopping at Canadian Tire and Rona. We made an appointment at an RV dealer to have our fridge repaired. It's one of the million Dometic RV fridges affected by a safety recall. We stopped at the Chrysler dealer to buy a new wiper blade at the Parts Department. I broke a wiper blade a few days ago. We bought diesel, we refilled water jugs, and we shopped at Wal-Mart. We got home about 7:00 P.M..

I spent the evening working on accounting and mail.

 

Wednesday ; Today was sunny and very warm.

I spent much of today working intermittently on building / assembling the new storage shed. By late afternoon, it was assembled / erected. Tomorrow I will install the 150 or so screws that are required to hold it all together. And it appears as if the toughest part of the job will be disassembling the storage crate it came in.

I did some work on the computer, composing e-mails, etc.. The couple from Bracebridge, Ontario that I spoke to a couple of weeks ago arrived today. Dan and Karen Cornwell are here to shop for a lot, having spent a week driving here from Ontario. After supper Gil and Maria ( and Buppy ) came over for a visit and a cup of tea. I invited Dan and Karen over as well. We spent the evening drinking tea and visiting. Oh ... and eating fresh strawberry cheesecake ! MMMM ! Bo thought it was absolutely great that his good buddy Buppy came back for a "reunion".

 

Thursday ; Another sunny, very warm day. How lovely !

This morning and early afternoon I worked on finishing the storage shed. Yesterday I assembled and erected it. Today I had to install the screws to hold it all together. YIKES ... 150 screws. Well ... the bag contained 150 screws, but when I was finished, there were 13 screws left over. I certainly hope there were supposed to be 13 extra screws. How could such a tiny shed require 137 screws ? Joanne continued working on waxing the trailer. She's almost finished. I spent the rest of the afternoon disassembling the shed's packing crate. I wanted to remove all the nails, so that the wood could be tossed onto the park's "burn pile". Or perhaps used as campfire wood at our upcoming Escapees Okanagan Chapter 33 Spring Rally.

Just as I finished my outside work my sister phoned. We chatted for about an hour. Her new hip is great ! When I finished chatting with Sharon, I went outside to join Joanne who was chatting with our neighbour Stu. I sat down on the edge of Stu's new deck, rested my arm on my leg, and ... OW ! I lifted my arm quickly and glanced underneath. OW ... AGAIN ! There was a bee / wasp / hornet stinging the underside of my arm. I smashed it ! Take that, you little b*****d ! I didn't realize until a few minutes later that I was stung twice ! Can't bees sting only once ? It looked like a bee, but who knows ? I smacked it so quickly, and so hard, I couldn't exactly identify it. But it sure hurt ! ! ! The underside of my arm puffed up a bit, it hurt quite a lot for 10 or 15 minutes, and there were 2 little red marks surrounded by white "hives" where I was stung. And now, as I type this about 5 hours later, it hurts to rest my arm on the edge of the desk.

After an early supper I drove into Keremeos to attend a Lions Club meeting. There was an invitation in the local community newspaper inviting prospective new members to a meeting tonight. Well, to make a long, pathetic story short ... I won't be becoming a Lion any time soon. I'm sure that Lions International is a wonderful service agency / club, but the local Keremeos chapter is in horrible disarray, and is on the verge of having their charter revoked. I don't think Keremeos is a large enough village to support a local chapter. Their membership has declined from about 40 members a few years ago, to 9 members now. And some of them, especially the executive members are ... well ... uhhhhh ... quite < whispering > senile. I can see that they would benefit greatly from some “new blood” but unfortunately it won’t be mine.

 

Friday ; Today was partially cloudy and warm.

I had a somewhat non-productive "goof-off" day. It's about time. I've accomplished a great deal in the month and a half we've been here. Our lot development "basics" are completed ; site preparation, installation of utilities, yard swing, cedar planters, picnic table, park bench, and storage shed. Our relocation "basics" are completed ; driver's licenses, vehicle registrations, and vehicle insurance. Tomorrow is the "big meeting". The first Annual General Meeting of the Riverside RV Park Society ( lot owners' association ). And Sunday we leave for the Escapees Okanagan Chapter 33 Spring Rally in Summerland. When we return late next week, maybe it's time for me to start lounging around on the swing, reading a book.

Joanne went into town to do some laundry and shopping. I puttered around with some minor maintenance chores. I chatted with neighbours. I did some computer work. I registered for an RV "caravan" trip down into the Baja California Peninsula of Mexico next January. Woo-Hoo ... we're looking forward to that ! I put up a bird feeder in our big old Douglas Fir tree. I took a long nap. Haven't done much of that lately.

 

Saturday ; Today was cloudy and raining. As a result, we didn't do much of anything today.

Tonight was the first Annual General Meeting of the Riverside RV Park Society. That's the lot owners' association. The meeting wasn't quite as heated as we expected it would be, but it did leave Joanne in a bad mood. I, on the other hand, with my easy going personality ... HA HA HA < SNORT > HA HA !

DSK

Year 3 Week 51

June 3 to 9, 2007

Keremeos, B.C.

Year 3 week 51

 

Sunday ; Today was sunny and very hot, temperature in the 30's C. / 90's F..

This morning Joanne prepared a picnic lunch and we set off for a day of exploring the Cathedral Lakes area. We drove to Keremeos, crossed the Similkameen River on Red Bridge, then headed up Ashnola River Road. We drove west along the south side of the Similkameen River until the Ashnola River reached the Similkameen. The road turned south, following the Ashnola River up into the mountains. The road was a narrow, winding, rough, dirt logging road. Joanne thought that she had read somewhere that it went up into the Cathedral Lakes area, for 24 kilometres after the pavement ended. I thought I had read somewhere that it went for 32 kilometres after the pavement ended. We drove 35 kilometres after the pavement ended before we decided to turn around.

The temperature dropped a lot as we got higher and higher. We decided that this would be a good drive to take on really hot summer days when we want to escape the heat. Every so often there would be a small, unserviced campground and / or picnic area, operated by the B.C. Forest Service. There were frequent signs warning drivers that the road was mostly for use by logging trucks. Watch out for fast moving, heavily loaded logging trucks barrelling down the mountain. Fortunately, there are no logging trucks on Sundays. When we turned around 35 kilometres up the gravel road, it seemed as if we were in the middle of nowhere. But there seemed to be a fairly steady flow of traffic heading even further up the mountain. Mostly Indians in old beat up Ford pickup trucks. I guess they live up there somewhere.

Back home at Riverside we took Bo for an obedience session, then a long pleasure walk. As we passed his dog pal Spencer, Spencer wanted to come along, so we took Spencer along with us for a long walk. Joanne and I helped Mitch and Dianne replace their extremely heavy fifth wheel hitch in the back of their truck. I helped Spencer's owner Dave move a heavy mattress from their truck into their guest room. We invited Dorothy and her dog Jimmy over to visit. We sat outside for awhile, Joanne, Bo, Dorothy, and Jimmy on the swing, visiting, drinking wine, fending off mosquitoes.

Life is good ! Well ... except for the mosquitoes !

 

Monday ; Today was cloudy and raining lightly all day. I think this is the first day of rain in the 5 weeks we've been here. This is Canada's only true desert area, so the rain is welcomed by all the ranchers, orchards, and vineyards, I guess.

However, the rain prevented me from doing most of the work I had planned for today. I did clean the barbecue thoroughly. And I took interior photos of the trailer for the insurance company. I napped, as did Teddy and Bo. Rainy days inspire us to nap. I finished reading the weekend newspapers. Joanne went to town to buy some groceries.

I spent the evening working on Misty Ventures & Developments Inc.'s corporate income tax returns < sigh >.

 

Tuesday ; Today was cloudy and raining lightly all day again.

Today was another very long, hard day of errands in Penticton. This morning we drove to Penticton and spent a couple of hours meeting with our new Edward Jones investment broker. From there we drove over to Cherry Lane Mall, to meet with our new insurance broker at Valley First Insurance. < sigh > It took 3 hours to get the truck and trailer registered and insured. By the time we finished the rest of our errands and drove home, it was close to 8:00 P.M..

In Penticton I went to Mark's Work Warehouse to buy some new jeans, and use a $10 gift card we got from Safeway for purchasing $50 worth of groceries. My goodness ... I found 3 pairs of jeans in my size in a clearance bin ... for $5 a pair. With my $10 gift card, I bought 3 pairs of jeans for $5 ! ! ! HA ... beat that ! We went to Rona to order the storage shed we decided upon. They had it in stock, so we bought it today. Loading it into the back of the truck was quite a challenge, even after I removed the fifth wheel hitch and tied it ( the hitch ) down on top of the aluminum storage chest / tool box. I wonder how I'm going to get it ( the storage shed ) off the truck tomorrow ? ! ?

 

Wednesday ; Today was cloudy, cool, and windy.

This morning I sorted through all the registration and insurance documents for the truck and trailer. Sheesh ! B.C. sure makes vehicle registration and insurance more complicated than it needs to be ! And I found an address error on one of the documents < big sigh >. My thoughts yesterday while registering and insuring the truck and trailer were similar to the thoughts I've had every time I've checked into an airport counter to board a flight. What could they possibly be typing, tapping away on that keyboard for so long ? Are they typing their Master's thesis ? ! ? With that much typing it's impossible not to make a mistake !

I walked over to the trailer storage area where Ben is working, making the storage area larger, and asked him to help me unload the storage shed package from the back of the truck using the fork lift attachment on the front of his bulldozer / backhoe. He sent one of his employees over with the equipment, and we unloaded the storage shed package from the truck. I reinstalled the fifth wheel hitch in the back of the truck. Joanne did a bit of work on waxing the trailer. Bo had a great play session with Buppy when Gil and Maria came walking by. I made some phone calls, starting work on finding us new family doctors and arranging the annual medical tests we both require.

I watched game 5 of the Ottawa / Anaheim Stanley Cup finals. Ottawa lost the game. Anaheim won the Stanley Cup.

 

Thursday ; Today was cloudy and mild. A good day for working outdoors.

This morning we went to town. Joanne did some grocery shopping. I did some hardware shopping. Bo came along for the "drivey".

This afternoon I washed the truck. Joanne worked on waxing the trailer, a very time consuming, difficult, semi-annual chore. Working on it yesterday and today she waxed perhaps ¼ of the trailer. Our neighbour Stu built a wood platform base for the storage shed he has ordered. I watched how he did his, so now I know how to do mine.

I had a very productive evening. I finished Misty Ventures' corporate income tax returns, both federal and provincial. I reviewed and dealt with 2 incoming batches of forwarded mail.

 

Friday ; Today was sunny and mild.

This morning we invited our neighbour Dorothy to join us as we went to pick strawberries. We drove through Keremeos to the small village of Cawston a few more miles east on Hwy. 3. The strawberry farm was a small hobby farm with a few large strawberry gardens, some beautiful flower gardens, and assorted fruit trees around the yard. And it was for sale. We each picked a large ice cream pail full of very sweet strawberries. And then the farm owner invited us to pick all the cherries we wanted off one of her cherry trees. No charge ! So ... for 10 bucks, we picked 3 huge ice cream pails full of strawberries, and another one full of cherries. I surely am going to like living in this area !

We drove back into Keremeos and stopped for some shopping. I went into Keremeos Building Supplies and bought the lumber and hardware to build a base for the storage shed. Joanne and Dorothy went to the Post Office and grocery store.

This afternoon while Joanne continued working on waxing the trailer, I built the wood frame base and floor for the storage shed. Despite the simplicity of it, this is the first time I have ever built something like this. I really have no experience working with wood projects. Somewhat to my surprise, I managed to build this wood frame base and floor for the storage shed without screwing anything up.

The stock market crash of the last 2 days has been extremely "painful". I hope it's over !

Woo-Hoo ... Joanne made strawberry cheese cake !

 

Saturday ; Today was cloudy and mild, with a few drops of rain.

This morning I prepared the "site plan" for our storage shed and submitted it for approval to the park rules and regulations committee < rolling eyes >. I prepared the documents to request refunds for our Manitoba license plates and insurance. I prepared updated medical summaries in anticipation of setting up doctor's appointments next week.

This afternoon Joanne went grocery shopping in Keremeos, then she continued working on waxing the trailer. I worked on positioning and levelling the shed base. I put very little effort into levelling the base. Hey ... it's a shed ! I pried open some of the wood packaging the shed was packed in to get out the instruction manual and read it before starting assembly. The manual suggests that it should take about 3 hours to assemble the shed. I think it's going to take that long to disassemble the wood crate packaging ! I'm not very quick at these kinds of jobs. My experience has been that most of these kinds of jobs take me about 4 times longer than the manufacturer "suggests". So for me, this shed will probably be a 12 hour project. Not counting the building of the base. And not counting the attachment of all the base rails to the floor.

DSK

Year 3 Week 50

May 27 to June 2, 2007

Keremeos, B.C.

Year 3 week 50

 

Sunday ; Today was mostly cloudy, with a few instances of light drizzle.

Today I finished building the picnic table. Well, I still have to change a few screws that are the wrong length, and I'd like to install some bracing for strength under each seat. Joanne and I both worked on sanding it. I slightly regret using wood filler putty to fill the screw holes on the table top. Joanne programmed our important phone numbers into VoIP Wi-Fi phone. She also went into Keremeos and did the laundry. We gave Bo a bath. I did some online research into vehicle insurance in B.C..

Buppy the visitor dog did extremely well today, physically and emotionally. Too bad he's not neutered. He'd be a better pet if he was !

 

Monday ; Today was sunny and very warm. With lots of big mosquitoes ! Now that the Similkameen River level has dropped a bit, I guess there's plenty of wet spots along the river's edge where the mosquitoes are breeding.

This morning I drove into Keremeos, refilled a propane tank, bought some more hardware for the picnic table ... again ... and went to the CIBC to get some information on opening new accounts. I want to transfer our BMO bank accounts to the BMO branch in Penticton, but Joanne wants to consider having bank accounts in Keremeos, at CIBC, the only bank in town.

This afternoon I installed some bracing underneath the picnic table seats for strength, then patched and sanded screw holes. I ran out of wood filler putty so I'm not finished with the picnic table yet. I did some distance testing of the VoIP Wi-Fi phone, making phone calls while walking up and down our road. I can successfully make calls while quite far from the trailer, so I'm quite satisfied. I cancelled our June 1 appointment with Telus for installation of a land line phone.

I gave Bo his monthly heartworm medication, then administered monthly "spot on" flea treatments to Teddy and Bo. As is often the case, it made Teddy sick. As soon as we put flea treatment on him, he begins to groom it off. For some time now we've been administering only half dosages to Teddy, but it's still enough to make him sick. Poor Teddy !

Buppy is doing extremely well. He seems to be quite content now to live with us.

 

Tuesday ; Today was sunny and very warm again. Still lots of huge mosquitoes. Apparently the park is going to have somebody come in and spray insecticide along the river's edge where the mosquitoes are breeding in areas where water was left when the river receded.

Today was our weekly, long, tiring day of chores and errands in Penticton. In addition to a lot of shopping at different places, I spent a lot of the day getting vehicle insurance quotes. B.C. is a strange place when it comes to vehicle insurance. The primary vehicle insurer is the Insurance Corporation Of British Columbia ( ICBC ), a provincial government crown corporation. But unlike Manitoba, where the provincial government is the only vehicle insurer, here in B.C. one must purchase basic mandatory insurance from ICBC, then purchase supplementary liability insurance, collision insurance, comprehensive insurance, etc. from ICBC or any of a number of private insurers. It makes getting an insurance quote even more complicated than in Ontario, where there is only private insurance companies to deal with. In Manitoba, it's very easy. There is only one insurer. And the provincial government non-profit ( so to speak ) automobile insurance is cheap, compared to Ontario or here. I thought since the provincial government is the insurer here in B.C. that it would be comparably priced to Manitoba's provincial government vehicle insurance monopoly. Apparently B.C. is an abbreviation not only for British Columbia, but also means "Bring Cash".

While in Penticton I bumped into a woman I met at Guide Dogs Of The Desert in Palm Springs, California. She was an overnight puppy sitting volunteer. We chatted for awhile, about our mutual dissatisfaction with the way Guide Dogs Of The Desert treats their volunteer workers. Despite spending her winters in Palm Springs, she will not be offering her services to Guide Dogs Of The Desert in the future. Hear, hear !

When we returned home after leaving Teddy, Bo and Buppy alone in our trailer for 7 ½ hours, everything was fine. Except that Bo's and Buppy's excitement at our return was each exacerbated by the other. They acted like a pair of wild animals at the door when we opened it. My forearms got all scratched trying to stop Buppy from leaping out the trailer door.

I spent the evening reviewing insurance quotes, doing accounting, paying bills online and by phone, etc.. I don't understand how an unemployed guy like me has so much work to do !

 

Wednesday ; Today was sunny and hot ! Whew ... and it's still May !

This morning we went into town to have a meeting at CIBC regarding opening a new account there. I'm still inclined to stay with BMO. Joanne went to the grocery store, I went to Keremeos Building Supplies, and Similkameen Insurance.

I spent the afternoon mounting a pole for the Wi-Fi antenna and satellite dish on a more permanent basis than my initial, temporary installation of it. More permanent ... isn't that redundant ? ! ? Anyway, I dug a hole deep enough to bury the concrete deck block. Digging in that compacted rock slide shale is like digging in concrete. I installed the deck block in the hole, installed the pole in the deck block, shimmed and levelled everything, and backfilled. Sounds easy ! HMPH !

Patching and sanding / fussing and finishing work on the picnic table continues.

 

Thursday ; Today was sunny and hot again. There's still an abundance of huge mosquitoes.

This morning I put Teddy's and Bo's new engraved tags, with our new phone numbers, on their harnesses. We finished patching and sanding / fussing and finishing the picnic table. I spent much of the day on the telephone talking to insurance agents about getting the truck and trailer registered and insured in British Columbia < sigh >. By the end of the day, I had decided what insurance companies I want to use, and at what agency. I'll take care of that next Tuesday.

We visited with many of our neighbours today. The hot weather inspires everybody to be outdoors. Late in the afternoon Gil and Maria returned from their week long adventure to Vancouver Island. Buppy was very happy to see them !

I walked around the park with our Wi-Fi phone in search mode and found a few other wireless access points / Wi-Fi signals in the park. I programmed them into the phone, and now the phone works throughout the park.

 

Friday ; Today was sunny and hot. And there were still lots of huge, hungry mosquitoes.

We spent the morning giving Bo a haircut. It's the best haircut we've ever given him. Each haircut we give him seems better than the one before. But his high anxiety about having a haircut around the face, and the front legs, is frustrating to us. We had to muzzle him to cut the hair on his front legs.

I spent the afternoon relocating the satellite dish, and reacquiring the satellite signal. Relocating the satellite dish from the Douglas Fir to the pole I installed wasn't all that difficult. Reacquiring the satellite signal was the problem. It took me about 2½ hours, and 2 phone calls to Star Choice to get it done. < sigh > I didn't know that satellite dish aiming had to be so precise. And I only had a compass to help me, not an electronic "satellite finder" doo-hickey. HMPH ... maybe I'll have to get myself one of those, if we're going to use the satellite dish when we're travelling during the winter.

 

Saturday ; Today was sunny and hot.

Today I cleaned out the inside of the aluminum storage chest in the back of the truck. There was soil inside of it from when we hauled a load of soil in the back of the truck a couple of weeks ago. I took photos of the trailer, for the insurance company, then downloaded them and processed them on the computer. I updated my investment files. Joanne went into town to do laundry and buy groceries. We visited with neighbours ; Mitch, Dianne, and their Cocker Spaniel Brady, as well as Maria and Buppy.

I finally got an ongoing problem with our Vonage Voicemail resolved. We watched a movie ; Catch Me If You Can.

 

DSK