May 24 to 30, 2015

Sunday ; Cloudy and cool with intermittent rain ( and thunder and lightning ) throughout the day.

This morning Joanne went to town to run errands. I did an agility session with Bo and some routine vehicle maintenance. This afternoon I repaired the minivan's windshield wipers which had malfunctioned while Joanne was driving in the rain. I reviewed and revised my inventory of clothing in Elsie ( the truck camper ). I began the project of installing a pure sine wave inverter ( 12V DC to 120V AC ) in the camper. I barbecued chicken for supper then downloaded, printed, and reconciled another MasterCard statement while we watched the season finale of MasterChef Canada followed by Catfish.

Monday ; Sunny and warm.

We spent the morning giving Bo a haircut. It's quite surprising how much his hair grows in six months. It's quite surprising how much dirt can be embedded underneath all that hair !   I spent much of the afternoon working on the installation of the inverter in the camper. It's a complicated project. In the evening we watched The Bachelorette while having dinner. Joanne prepared a recipe she acquired from a date farm in Yuma. It's a pasta dish with dates and spinach and crumbled cheese. As soon as we were finished eating supper I threw the recipe into the recycle bin ! With encouragement from Joanne !

Tuesday ; A mix of sun and clouds, mild temperature.

Today was a day of running errands in Penticton, and seeing two doctors, one in Penticton, one in Okanagan Falls. I don't understand, and certainly don't appreciate, why doctors think it's perfectly acceptable to make their patients wait ... every day ... all the time ! I waited thirty minutes for my first doctor, and fifty minutes for my second doctor.

This morning we headed to Penticton. I shopped for some hardware I require for the inverter installation project before heading to my gastroenterologist's office for my 1 PM appointment. I was seated in her examining room at 1 PM. She entered the examining room precisely at 1:30 PM ! We discussed my ulcerative colitis medications, and my upcoming annual colonoscopy < sigh >. Afterwards Joanne and I drove to Skaha Lake Beach Park and quickly ate our picnic lunch. We ran more errands, including refilling the minivan with fuel, and finished our errands in Penticton with grocery shopping at Superstore.

We drove from Penticton to Okanagan Falls where I had an appointment with my family doctor at 4:45 PM. He walked into the examining room at 5:35 PM < fume >. I wonder if he remembers that I asked him only seven months ago to accept me as a new patient because I was unwilling to tolerate my then family physician's chronic long wait times any longer ? Today I was there to have a skin tag growth removed from my thigh
< OUCH >, have a prescription refilled, and discuss ... < ahem > ... < whispering > ... angina. HEY ... I'm fat, I'm old, I have a family history of heart disease ... < shrug > !
I was not eager to have that discussion with him. BUT ... after some nagging by my dear little wifey I promised her I would. Looks like I'll be seeing a cardiologist this summer !

Wednesday ; A mix of sun and clouds, mild temperature. Same as yesterday.

This morning I did an obedience session with Bo ... well done, Bo, good dog ... then polished shoes.

Immediately after lunch we headed into Keremeos. Joanne went to the health clinic to see her family doctor to get her annual cancer screening procedures started. I went to the lab to select appointment times ( new procedure ... hope it's better than the old procedure of first come first served ... wait forever ) for blood tests and an ECG, then to the health clinic desk to get an appointment time for a chest x-ray. I drove over to PharmaSave to order an old prescription refilled and some new prescriptions filled.
I returned to the health clinic and waited for Joanne to be finished, then we returned home.

I spent the rest of the afternoon continuing to work on the installation of the 12V DC to 120V AC pure sine wave inverter in the truck camper. And I completed the basic installation. And tested the inverter function. Works fine ! Well done, Daniel ! It was a complicated project. I still need to "finish" the job by clamping wires and cables, caulking holes drilled for cables, and other "tidying up loose ends" work. You know ... the kind of anal retentive stuff that paid professionals never do ... that drives me crazy !

Early in the evening we went for a brisk exercise walk. We stopped to visit briefly with our neighbour / friend Jeanine. We had a late supper of barbecued
Dan-O-Cheeseburgers while watching MasterChef.

Thursday ; A mix of sun and clouds, warm temperature, intermittent light rain throughout the day.

This afternoon I completely finished the inverter installation. Split cable wrap on the cables and wires, all out of the way and clamped down, holes through the walls of the battery box all caulked, and most importantly ... I ensured that the inverter would charge the battery in my laptop. WOO-HOO ! My laptop requires "clean" power ... pure sine wave ... to recharge the battery. Having the ability to recharge the laptop battery while travelling and / or boondocking was the principal motivation to undertake this complicated and expensive project.

Watched a documentary on Omar Khadr tonight. I already have had an extremely strong opinion about Guantanamo Bay for many years. Watching this documentary just reinforced my disgust and disdain.

Friday ; Mixed weather, sometimes sunny and warm, sometimes cloudy, cool, and raining.

This morning I drove into town to have a chest x-ray done at the health clinic. When
I was finished there I drove over to PharmaSave to pick up my prescriptions. Which weren't ready ! Because ... my gastroenterologist had prescribed a new medication for me, and ... it doesn't exist any longer. HUH ? The pharmacist is awaiting a response to the fax message she sent to my gastroenterologist. < rolling eyes > I bought some Ambrosia apples on the way home. Joanne baked an apple pie this afternoon.
WOO-HOO !

We trimmed Bo's claws. I assisted Joanne while she removed and washed window blinds. I had a somewhat odd phone conversation with the fellow from Yuma County Public Works who is responsible for their Adopt-A-Road program. The section of road that we ( Kofa Ko-op ) have "adopted" for clean up is changing from being a county responsibility to a city responsibility. < rolling eyes again >

We visited our neighbour / friend Jeanine to offer moral support. She has just received confirmation of her preliminary diagnosis of ovarian cancer.

Saturday ; FIVE YEARS AS A NON-SMOKER !

Congratulations, Daniel ... well done !

Sunny nad very warm, a bit humid. ***K ! ! ! Typed "nad" again !

Around noon we left for Penticton. Stopped in Keremeos to buy an advertised item at the local hardware store. Next stop was Wal-Mart in Penticton to buy a couple of items. In violation of my "no Wal-Martin' on weekends" rule ! Found our way to the Shatford Center at the Okanagan School For The Arts to attend a live theatre performance entitled Cake Walk.

The play was written in Montreal in the mid-80's. It was ... Canadian ... and funny. Because one of the actresses in the play was a high school friend of the author / playwright, the author / playwright was in attendance today. How unusual ! AND ... she drew the winning door prize ticket, and awarded the prize to the winner. ME ! ! !
The door prize was an apron with the name of the play ... CAKE WALK ... and the year ... and the school name and logo embroidered on it. She signed it and personalized it to me. She was a nice lady !

After the play we went for an early supper to a Chinese buffet restaurant. After returning home we removed the camper from the truck and installed the fifth wheel hitch into the truck bed in preparation for an all day trailer delivery job tomorrow.

DSK