Sunday, June 23, 2013

June16 to 22, 2013

Sunday ; Today was mostly sunny and mild, with a brief spell of heavy rain. The forecast was for much worse.

I continued working on the trailer bathroom ceiling replacement project. Today I was "rebuilding" the areas lost to dry rot using a wood dry rot repair / rebuilding epoxy compound. Sort of a cross between wood filler putty and fiberglass repair epoxy. It seemed a bit too dry for my liking. I'll see what today's results are tomorrow when it's all dry. I sincerely hope that it sticks as well to the dry rot sealant treated areas of damaged wood ... as it does to the bottom of my foot !

I harvested some of our own lettuce for the first time this season.

Monday ; Sunny and hot, becoming cloudy and cool, becoming heavy rain, thunder and lightning.

I continued working on the trailer bathroom ceiling replacement project. It didn't go particularly well today. Lots of learning curve, not much accomplished. I worked for an hour and a half on a neighbour's computer software problem. Well, at least I was able to fix that. I'm better with computers than I am at carpentry, that's for sure !

Joanne worked on landscaping the front yard rocked slope, planting two lavender plants given to us by neighbours, and two purchased.

Tuesday ; Cloudy, cool, and raining again. I feel lethargic on rainy days.

Today marks nine years since we started our lives as homeless, unemployed, full time RV'ing vagabonds. Now, we're no longer homeless, still unemployed, and only "half time" ( six months per year ) RV'ing vagabonds. It's been a great nine years ! ! ! Over 265,000 km. / 165,000 miles of travel ! I consider us to be extremely privileged to have been able to already experience nine years of healthy retirement, something none of our parents experienced. And something many of our contemporaries won't either.

I continued work on the bathroom trailer ceiling replacement project. Almost ready for the installation of the new ceiling panel. I will test fit it tomorrow. I'm hopeful that I can bend and squeeze the panel into position over the shower stall without having to cut it into two pieces. The original bathroom ceiling was two pieces, with a seam, and that seam contributed greatly to the rot problem by allowing steam from the shower to enter the cavity above the ceiling.

This afternoon we planted two Saskatoon bushes at the top of our front yard rocked slope. I hope they do as well as the two Saskatoon bushes that we planted a couple of years ago on lot 89. Those two bushes are bearing fruit, one quite a bit more than the other. We are eagerly awaiting the berries to be ripe in a just another couple of weeks. We are planning to allow Bo to "harvest" the berries himself since the bushes are still small and low, right at his level.

I went into town late in the afternoon to adjust the air pressure in one of the truck tires and to buy a tube of Liquid Nails adhesive for the bathroom ceiling project.

Wednesday ; Another cloudy, cool, rainy day.

Another day of working on the trailer bathroom ceiling project. Again ... not much accomplished, but ... lots of learning, and good ideas for improvement. Most trailer repair / refurbishment projects that I do result in improvements over original. This one will be the same. Although ... I won't be winning any prizes for quickness ! Or carpentry self-confidence !

Thursday ; Too wet and cold to accomplish anything !

Well ... we had sex ! I suppose ... at our ages ... that's somewhat of an accomplishment. HA HA HA !

Friday ; Today was cloudy and cool.

To make up for yesterday's lack of productivity, I wanted to get a lot accomplished today on the trailer bathroom ceiling replacement project. And I did ! I removed the original, and now somewhat ratty fiberglass insulation in the ceiling. I replaced it with new, more, and better insulation.
I installed vapour barrier, which did not exist before. And vapour barrier should prevent a recurrence of the rot problem, I hope. And I got the new, one piece ceiling panel installed. That was the second of the two very difficult, scary parts of this project. The original ceiling panel was in two pieces, with a seam. So ... with the ceiling now seamless, and backed by a vapour barrier, it's much better than original. Well done, Daniel !

There is still a lot to do. The shower stall top moulding, skylight, fan vent, and a new light fixture need to be reinstalled. Cupboard doors, towel bars, and clothes hooks need to be reinstalled. They needed to be removed to allow room for the one piece ceiling panel to be lifted and fit into place. The sliding pocket door header panel needs to be reinstalled. Most importantly the entire perimeter of the ceiling must be finished with new moulding, then caulked. So ... lots of work still to do. BUT ... < YIPPEE > ... the really difficult parts are done !

When I opened my e-mail at 6:20 PM, I discovered that I had won a local newspaper contest. The prize was two free tickets to a live theatre production. WOO-HOO ! A live theatre production ... tonight ! In Cawston, At 7:30 PM. YIKES ! Not much time. Joanne was preparing supper. I had just showered because my arms were itchy from handling fiberglass insulation. Partially prepared supper got put aside, the dog got walked, I got dressed, and away we went.

Well ! This was a travelling theatre production by a Lower Mainland ( Vancouver area ) "avant garde" theatre production company called "Theatre In The Raw". Tonight's presentation was three one act plays, with a blues singer performing before each play, entitled "The Blue Western Sky Tour Of One Acts". I suppose ... well ... we got our money's worth. HA HA HA ! Actually, while all three plays were "weird", I liked two of the three. Joanne liked them all. And the blues singer was good. I thank the Keremeos Review newspaper for the two free tickets.

Saturday ; Today was partially sunny, sometimes cloudy, occasionally raining lightly.

We started the day by going to SunKatchers, the RV and manufactured home park "next door", for their annual park wide yard sale. We bought a few small items, and picked up a few free items. I returned home and Joanne went into Keremeos to run some errands.

I did some minor maintenance work on a neighbour's utility trailer. And I did some miscellaneous minor maintenance work at home. I wanted a day off from working on the trailer bathroom ceiling project.

DSK

Sunday, June 16, 2013

June 9 to 15, 2013

Sunday ; Sunny and warm today.

After our "weekender" next door neighbours left to return to their home in the Lower Mainland / Vancouver area I went into their fifth wheel trailer, removed the "temporary" plumbing repair that
I had done on Friday evening, and did an excellent quality "permanent" repair. My Friday evening temporary repair was leaking into the pass through storage compartment underneath the bathroom floor. Sorry ! But, hey ... it got them through the weekend !

A few months ago while replacing the Guasave accident damaged skylight in our trailer's bathroom ceiling I discovered dry rot in and above the ceiling. I've now started work on removing / rebuilding / replacing the trailer's bathroom ceiling. It's a big job that intimidates me ! It's my main project for June.

I also started work on rebuilding one of the two bedroom sisal cabinets that Joanne bought at a yard sale yesterday. She failed to notice that one of the cabinets was damaged, with cracks in the wood, probably from somebody falling against the cabinet.

Monday ; Sunny and warm today. Mosquitoes still very bad.

This morning Joanne learned that one of our neighbours has breast cancer. She went over to visit, to provide moral support. She and I both know that a cancer diagnosis and battle make for a very scary time.

We gave Bo a bath. We trimmed Bo's and Sully's claws. Sully screamed loudly in protest which is an indication of his very good health. Howl away, Sully, it makes me smile to see you healthy enough to scream loudly like that.

I worked on the trailer bathroom ceiling project. I'm still intimidated.

Tuesday ; Today was sunny and warm. Or so we thought ... until we were driving home from Penticton around supper time.

We spent the day running errands in Penticton. I bought a 4' x 8' sheet of panelling for the bathroom ceiling project. About halfway home we saw that the sky looked grey and rainy ahead. We stopped and covered the panelling with a tarp. Between Twin Lakes and Keremeos it began to rain. By the time we got home to Riverside RV Park Resort it was pouring ! And the temperature had decreased from 72 in Penticton to 48 at home ! BRRRRR !

Wednesday ; Cloudy, cool, and intermittent drizzle. Forecast for more of the same for most of the next couple of weeks.

Today I did a bit of work on two projects ; refurbishing one of the two sisal cabinets Joanne recently purchased at a garage sale, and the trailer bathroom ceiling replacement.

Thursday ; Cloudy, cool, and intermittent rain, sometimes heavy. Joanne went to Kelowna today with a neighbour, to provide moral support and an extra set of ears at the neighbour's appointment with her new oncologist. The neighbour had breast cancer surgery a couple of months ago, and now it's time for radiation and chemotherapy.

I continued working on refurbishing one of the sisal cabinets Joanne recently bought. And
I continued working on the trailer bathroom ceiling project. I didn't accomplish much on either project. But ... me and the boys had a great nap after lunch. HA HA HA !

Friday ; Today was mostly sunny and mild. Got a lot more done today than yesterday.

First project was changing a rear tire on the truck. I hate changing tires on the truck, especially on the rear ! I decided to move the worst condition tire on the truck to the spare position. And perhaps it was a good thing that I did. Not only was it the worst condition tire on the truck, I found a large cut on the inner sidewall, Mexican road damage no doubt. I need seven new truck tires ... soon.

I continued working on the refurbishment of one of the two sisal cabinets that Joanne recently bought at a yard sale. And I finally completed that job. As I type this late in the evening Joanne is working on the cabinet, using a stain touch up stick.

I got quite a bit of work done on the trailer bathroom ceiling replacement project today. And
I injured myself in the process. With help from Joanne, today I tackled the phase of the project that scared me the most ; cutting out the existing ceiling. It went ... < shrug > ... okay. The sky didn't fall. After cutting out the ceiling was finished, Joanne left to go have a discussion with a neighbour. I continued puttering around with the job and ... OW, OW, OW, OW, OW ... got something in my eye ! A tiny fragment of wood, no doubt, although it felt large. The pain was severe.

I drove myself home to lot 4 from lot 89. I rinsed my eye in the shower. And rinsed and rinsed and rinsed. I couldn't get it out. And it hurt ! In desperation I phoned the neighbour and asked Joanne to come home and help me. I lay on the bed while she repeatedly rinsed my eye with eye drop solution, and tried to clean out underneath my upper and lower eyelids with a cotton swab. The pain was ... pretty bad ! I was just about ready to concede defeat and head to the hospital emergency ward. Finally, and suddenly ... poof ... it rinsed out ! The relief was immediate ! For the rest of the day my eye felt irritated ... like it was scratched.

And following my life long practice of shutting the barn door after the horse is gone, I continued working on the trailer ceiling, now wearing my rarely worn safety glasses. DUH !

Saturday ; Sunny and mild today, forecast to be the last one for a couple of weeks.

Joanne spent the day shopping in Penticton. I worked on the trailer bathroom ceiling project.
I cleaned all the dry rot out of the ceiling wood, and treated the damaged areas with a ... dry rot treatment product. I borrowed a jig saw and cut the new section of ceiling out of the 4' x 8' sheet of panelling I bought recently. I also helped a neighbour finish up the installation of new steps on another neighbour's new park model.

DSK

Sunday, June 9, 2013

June 2 to 8, 2013

Sunday ; Still mostly cloudy, mild, intermittent rain. Been like this for a month !

Our neighbours Betty and Dave treated us to lunch today at Samosa Garden, the restaurant at Sanderson Farms, an East Indian family operated fruit stand ... and restaurant ... in Keremeos. It was a "thank you" from Betty and Dave for my assistance in their recent fifth wheel removal and park model installation. The East Indian buffet at Samosa Garden / Sanderson Farms is really good ! MMMMM ! ! !

This afternoon Joanne worked on weeding at lot 89. I installed a solar powered fluorescent light inside the new shed. The neighbours that we shared a load of finishing gravel with gave us two more wheelbarrows of gravel, almost enough to finish gravelling along the entire length of the back of the house. We still have one wheelbarrow of gravel from our load that we had placed aside for future touch ups, but now will use it to finish behind the house.

Monday ; A long, difficult day of running errands in Penticton, including ... a fight that started last night, escalated horribly on the drive to Penticton in the morning, and drags on still as I type this on Tuesday evening.

Tuesday ; Another day of our lives lost to fighting ! ! ! ! ! Sunny and hot ... but who the **** cares on a day like this ? ! ?

Wednesday ;
Sunny and warm. Mosquitoes still bad, as they're likely to be for the rest of June.

Well ! ! ! Here we are, living in "the middle of nowhere", 13 km. / 8 miles from the nearest village, and this morning when I answered a knock on the door, standing there was ... a Jehovah's Witness ! Offering me an "invitation". SHEESH ! An old lady proselytizing and complaining about the mosquitoes. Maybe those "God's creatures" are telling you to move on, lady !

I spent half a day on a task that should have taken fifteen minutes ... if things had gone well. It's amazing how much time can be spent trying to configure a new Wi-Fi repeater to an old Wi-Fi router before proving inconclusively that the new Wi-Fi repeater cannot work with the old Wi-Fi router ! ! ! And no, no ... the two phone calls to technical support in India were of no help whatsoever ! ! !

Joanne planted nine plants on the newly rocked slope of our "front yard". Tough job ! And very little to show for a fifty buck expenditure on plants ! I assembled a work bench that I bought in Penticton on Monday. Nice work bench ! Fits nicely in a corner of the new shed ! I also did some "gardening", digging out two corner marker stakes of our property and one of our two utility connection boxes, all covered by topsoil and plantings done by our homeowners' association behind the roadside small rock wall along the front of our property. Yes, yes, this is the same homeowners' association whose president recently knocked on our door to advise us that, while he hadn't personally taken a look, one of the other board members had complained to him that in having our front slope "rocked" recently, "some of your rocks are touching some of our rocks". HA HA HA < SNORT > HA HA !

Thursday ; Another sunny, hot day. Summer is here ?

This morning I took apart and cleaned a space heater we bought at a thrift store in Penticton a few days ago. Then ... < insert ominous music here > ... it was time for Bo's semi-annual haircut. Gee, his hair grows a lot in six months !

In the afternoon we went over to do a teensy bit of work on the neighbours' new park model manufactured home. I continued working on the frustrating Wi-Fi router configuration, then fixed the non-functioning air conditioner. How could the set up crew chief not have checked the air conditioner function ? ! ? I'm glad I was able to get the air conditioner working. They really needed it this afternoon !

In the evening I prepared a letter and compiled all the receipts and documents needed to claim "out of jurisdiction" refunds on our truck and trailer insurance policies for the period of time we were in Mexico last winter. Canadian ( and American ) vehicle insurance is invalid in Mexico. Mexican vehicle insurance must be purchased, so ... the period of time in Mexico is eligible for refunds from our Canadian vehicle insurers. However, the hoops to jump through are a bit complicated. I spent a looooong time looking for one vital receipt that I had misplaced < fume >.

Friday ; Sunny and very warm today, although windy in the evening. Sunny enough that I baked a loaf of bread in the Sun Oven.

This morning I went into town to run a few quick errands. Bo came along for a “drivey”. When I returned home Joanne had taken a phone message for me. A potential client had called to get a quote on towing a very large fifth wheel trailer from Oliver to Qualicum Beach on Vancouver Island. WHEW ! About 550km. / 350 miles plus a two hour ferry ride. Lots of money !

I spent the afternoon doing some minor maintenance. I baked a loaf of bread. I built a dog agility component for our yard. I mixed up a batch of Sully’s blood pressure medication. Grind pills, mix precisely with medicine compounding fluid.

I have just returned home, around midnight, after spending about three hours next door doing an emergency plumbing repair. Well ... that would be about half an hour doing an emergency plumbing repair ... and about 2½ hours bitching and gossiping. HA HA HA !

Saturday ; Another sunny, warm day spent working on a variety of home improvements projects, landscaping, trailer repairs , neighbours' repairs. Joanne went yard sale shopping ... and came home with a lot of stuff. Too much stuff, in my opinion, but ... < shrug > ... hard to argue with the functionality, quality, and good prices of all the stuff she bought. Well ... those half dead bedding plants might reasonably be criticized !

While putting away some repair supplies in the front trunk of the trailer, I smashed my head on the top edge of the steel door frame, splitting open the top of my scalp. WOW ... does it ever hurt ! ! !

DSK

Sunday, June 2, 2013

May 26 to June 1, 2013

Sunday ; Today was partially sunny and mild. I slept very late ... again ! This bronchial infection ... whatever it is ... has left me feeling run down for about two months now !

We spent the day working on the building / assembling of the shed. And we're almost finished ! Building / assembling is completed. All that is left is levelling and aligning the two sets of double doors.

Monday ; Cool and cloudy. Doors are levelled and aligned ... shed is finished !

I spent the morning preparing a neighbour's fifth wheel trailer for removal. It has been stationary for about seven years. That complicated the process ... a lot ! And by the time we were finished, the hauler who was removing it was here. We helped him hitch it up and pull it out. Tomorrow the neighbour's new park model manufactured home will be delivered.

Joanne waxed the front of the trailer today. I helped. We moved the remaining contents of the shed on lot 89 to the shed on lot 4.


 
Tuesday ; Another day of intermittent rain.

This morning we headed into town for doctor's appointments. As usual, our doctor was a full hour behind schedule ... by 11:30 AM. I'm really fed up with his inability / unwillingness to stay on or near schedule ... and I consider his behaviour to be extremely disrespectful of the value of his patients' time. I want a new doctor ! We both saw the doctor, then went to the pharmacy to fill a prescription for Joanne. There was a twenty minute wait for the prescription, so ... by the time we returned home from each seeing the doctor and filling a prescription, we had been away three and a half hours ! ! !

This afternoon Joanne continued work on weeding our yard, in anticipation of delivery of a load of finishing gravel on Thursday. I finished moving some lumber and other stuff stored behind our shed on lot 89 to our new shed on lot 4.

Our neighbour's new park model manufactured home was delivered today. A crew spent the afternoon levelling it. Hopefully tomorrow I will be able to get into it to install the Wi-Fi, TV, and phone cables and equipment.

Wednesday ; Cloudy, cool, intermittent rain.

Joanne finished weeding lot 4. I spent most of the day two doors down at the neighbours' new park model. I installed the Wi-Fi cabling ( difficult ) and equipment, the satellite dish cabling ( easy ) and equipment, the TV, DVD player, and phone ( all easy ), then wired the park model's telephone wiring into the Telus ( phone service supplier ) telephone control box ( difficult ), and installed the control box underneath the park model ( well ... not that easy ).

We removed our parking area "fencing", the picnic table and umbrella, the barbecue and its table, and the Sun Oven and its table from the yard to make room for a dump truck to back in and dump a load of finishing gravel tomorrow.

Thursday ; three years as non-smoker !


Well done, Daniel, congratulations !

Tonight, for the first time in the 8½ years that we've had him, Bo vomited ! And moments before, he was trembling. Poor Bo-Bo ! I think he may have inhaled or ingested herbicide or pesticide when we went for a walk just before supper, walking in an area of the grounds where we rarely go. By bedtime he seemed okay.

Joanne headed out first thing this morning to see our family doctor ... again. She had an appointment for a cortisone injection in her hip. She was his first scheduled appointment of the day. He decided to see an "emergency" patient before seeing Joanne. She waited for an hour ! ! ! He was an hour late for his first scheduled patient of the day ! ! ! ! ! I don't know about her, but I sure as hell am ready for a new family doctor ! After her one hour wait to see the doctor then she had to endure a 2½ hour wait at the lab to have a blood test ! ! ! By the time she got home in mid-afternoon she was sore from the hip injection and cranky ! And so she remained for the rest of the day, not her usual demeanour.

As she pulled out of the driveway at 8:45 AM there was a dump truck full of gravel backing in.
I shared a dump truck full load of gravel with a neighbour. Geeeeezzzzz ... that's half of a twelve yard load ? ! ? Sure doesn't look like six yards of gravel ! ! !

Today I did some "finishing" work over at the neighbours' new park model. I mounted the Wi-Fi transceiver / antenna power box on an interior wall, and clamped the Wi-Fi Ethernet cable and satellite dish coaxial cable along the roof line and down a back wall of their sun room. AHHHHH ... nice and tidy, just the way I like workmanship to look.

I moved much of the stuff in our overloaded storage closet out to our new shed. As fast as I could move stuff out of the closet and into the shed, Joanne found more stuff to put in the closet. SHEEESH ... like trying to bail water out of a lake !

Friday ; WHEW ... tired ! Spent the day spreading gravel. I shovelled, Joanne raked. Got about three quarters of the yard done. It's looking good ! Hopefully we'll finish tomorrow.

Baked a wonderful loaf of bread today. BUT ... just as I was about to put the loaf into the Sun Oven, the sun disappeared behind clouds ! And this was supposed to be the first sunny day in the last couple of weeks. It didn't last long ! I baked the bread indoors.

Mosquitoes are bad ! Sully seems a little ill today.

Saturday ; Same as every other day this week ; cloudy, cool, intermittent rain !

This morning we headed for Twin Lakes, just past Yellow Lake, on the way to Penticton, for a multi-family yard sale. I bought two valve extenders for fifty cents each. Joanne failed to appreciate my perspective that we spent ten dollars worth of diesel and one dollar to buy ten dollars worth of merchandise ! What a bargain ; ten bucks worth of merchandise for eleven dollars.

We spent the afternoon continuing to shovel and rake gravel ... until we were finished. Tough job, but very nice looking results. Joanne transplanted some Hens & Chicks and Creeping Thyme from lot 89 to lot 4. I rebuilt / reconstructed a damaged WorkMate folding work bench. Better than new !

Sully was still a bit ill today. I surmised that he was constipated again, and administered laxative. Yup ... constipation was the problem and laxative was the solution. He feels fine now ! We've decided to administer laxative to him twice weekly. If that's all he needs to live out the twilight of his life comfortably, so be it !

DSK