May 31 to June 6, 2015

Sunday ; Sunny and warm.

WHEW ... a long day of work for Similkameen Trailer Towing. We left home at 9:15 AM. I was hoping we would be back home around 5 PM. We actually arrived back home at
7 PM. BUT ... the very generous tip ( $111.25 ) given by the client made up for the extra couple of hours.

We drove to Penticton and met the client. We followed him to Lake Country, a bit north of Kelowna on Hwy. 97. Picking up the 36 foot long, 14,000 pound fifth wheel trailer was routine / uneventful. I suggested to the client that we stop at a mall in Kelowna so that he could have lunch at a fast food restaurant while Joanne and I ate our picnic lunch in the truck. While parked in the mall parking lot I noticed anti-freeze leaking out of the trailer's water heater. Uh-oh ! A winterization problem. UH-OH ! ! ! The anti-freeze was green ! ! ! Toxic automotive anti-freeze was used to winterize the trailer instead of the correct pink, non-toxic, RV plumbing anti-freeze.

The client was understandably not too pleased ! We pulled the sacrificial anode drain plug out of the water heater ... I happened to have the correct odd sized socket necessary to do that ... and drained the remaining small amount of toxic anti-freeze left in the water heater. We continued southbound to Summerland, to the RV park where the client had rented a site. With just a bit of difficulty we got parked in the ( too ) small RV site, then spent about three hours ... two hours longer than expected ... getting the trailer completely set up, and the client and his family "trained" / in RV systems operations. There was a problem with sewer connections that necessitated two trips to Canadian Tire in Penticton for sewer hoses and connectors, causing much of the delay. We also got the remaining toxic anti-freeze drained out of the freshwater holding tank and water pump. SO ... all's well that ends well !

Monday ; Started out sunny and warm, a bit humid, becoming cloudy and raining in the afternoon, at times extremely heavy rain.

First priority of the day was getting the fifth wheel hitch out of the truck and getting the truck parked back under the camper. This RV park does not allow campers to be "stored" in one's yard, off its truck. SO ... I have begun to "park" the truck underneath the camper which is raised up on its jacks. It appears as if the camper is "on" the truck, and everybody seems happy < rolling my eyes >. Then I used an electric grinder to grind the fifth wheel hitch plate down to clean, bare metal. I spray painted it with primer paint, then painted it with two coats of gloss black spray paint. Just like new !

Joanne continued working on cleaning the blinds in the house, requiring my assistance occasionally. I spoke on the phone with yesterday's trailer delivery client, trying but failing to solve his water heater problem. I reconciled month end banking statements. In the evening, while we watched The Bachelorette, I updated my investment files.

When I took Bo for a mid-day walk, we encountered six deer grazing beside the park's entrance driveway and down into the "burn pile" area. Bo barked loudly until the deer scampered away. He's SOOO pleased with himself when he "stampedes" animals away.

Tuesday ; Cloudy and mild.

This morning Joanne went to Penticton by herself for a day of running errands.
I installed the camper onto the truck. That's a job that's easier with two people !
I replaced a valve extender on the truck. One of the truck's tires has been losing air very slowly and that's almost always a dually valve extender problem. I loaded some stuff into the camper in preparation for an upcoming short camping trip. I gave Bo a bath.
< sniff sniff > He smells nice. That won't last ! I went bicycling.

When I removed the fluorescent green safety vest that I wear when bicycling, there was a small Black Widow spider on it. HMPH ! I flicked the spider off the vest off with my fingertip. BUT ... the spider stuck to my finger. Just as I was about to shake it off my finger ... it spewed venom all over my fingernail ! HEY ... I've just been "bit" by a Black Widow spider ! ! ! Good thing it was on my fingernail, and not on flesh ! Close call,
I guess !

Wednesday ; Cloudy, intermittent drizzle, chilly.

This morning we headed into town for lab appointments and other errands. I had blood drawn, and an electrocardiogram done. Joanne had blood drawn, left a urine sample, and picked up a FIT ( fecal something test ) cancer screening kit. It was tiresome listening to the backlog of "walk in" clients bitching about the new appointment procedures. HEY ... the new process works great. Select an available appointment time from the book, and come back in a week or less, whenever your selected appointment is. If you absolutely need your lab work done today ... head to Penticton ! Or sit there, shut up, and wait / hope that the lab technician will be able to get to you ... AFTER all the people with appointments are taken care of ! ! !

I picked up prescription refills at PharmaSave. I renewed the truck's insurance ,and purchased insurance for the truck camper. For the year and a half that we have owned the truck camper it has been uninsured. I've decided that it is a valuable enough asset that it should be insured.

This afternoon I received a phone call from a potential client requesting a quote on a long distance trailer delivery job. He was dissatisfied with my quote so I expect not to hear from him again. I did an obedience session with Bo. I harvested lettuce from our garden for the first time this year. Of course, I napped after lunch. I updated medical expense and prescription files. I'm so well organized / anal retentive / OCD. HA HA HA ! We took Bo for a play session in the dog park. It was a short session. BRRRRR !

Thursday ; The day started out cloudy and cool, and became sunny and warm.

Joanne went to Keremeos by herself this morning to run some errands. While she was gone I loaded some firewood into the camper in preparation for an upcoming short camping trip. This afternoon we visited briefly with our neighbour / friend Jeanine. In the evening I did some financial records reconciliation.

Friday ; Mostly sunny and hot. BUT ... just enough intermittent cloud to prevent the use of the Sun Oven. Oh, well ... maybe tomorrow ?

This morning I did a small amount of work getting the camper ready for our upcoming short camping trip, then blew off the rest of the morning chatting with neighbours about tomorrow's special budget meeting. Hopefully there will be enough opposition to defeat the budget proposal ... AGAIN ! It was already defeated at the annual general meeting recently, and now there is a revised budget proposal to vote on.

This afternoon we did some gardening, including some harvesting. We are already harvesting lettuce and radishes out of our garden. I watered all our gardens and planters and our two composters. I read. I napped. I read some more. I napped some more. HA HA HA ! We took Bo to the dog park, but there were mosquitoes there, so we went for a long walk around the RV park.

My trailer delivery client from last Sunday phoned. He wants to be moved. Okay ! There was an RV across the street from them destroyed by fire this week, and they were worried by how small the lots are and how vulnerable each unit is to fire damage if an adjacent unit catches fire. They have found an RV park in Penticton that they like better so in one week I will move them.

He also called to tell me that he identified and resolved the water heater problem that they had. AND ... < sputter > ... I feel that it was entirely my fault. I'm embarrassed ... and extremely sorry ! The water heater problem was caused by something I overlooked during set up. I will try to compensate him and his family for the inconvenience I caused them by "adjusting" my billing for next week's relocation. What an “amateur” mistake
I made !

Saturday ; Sunny and hot, 34° C / 93° F. AHHHHH ... summer has arrived ! Time to go "vagabonding". For supper we cooked a chicken, carrot, and potato recipe in the Sun Oven.

This morning we headed to SunKatchers, the RV park "next door" for their annual "yard sale". Every year we find interesting and useful things to buy at SunKatcher's yard sale, and this year was no exception.

This afternoon I continued my unsuccessful attempts to contact a campground in Thompson, Manitoba regarding our fall polar bear viewing trip. I was successful in contacting a campground near Grand Rapids, Manitoba, halfway between Winnipeg and Thompson, but ... < sputter > ... based on their quoted rate of $25 to provide an unserviced overnight parking spot and a freshwater tank refill in the morning, I don't think we'll be doing business with them !

This afternoon we prepared to depart tomorrow for a short camping trip. There wasn't much preparation to do. The camper is pretty much ready to go at any time. Joanne loaded food into the fridge. Before it got too hot I did an agility session with Bo. Well done, Bo, good dog ! For an old dog, you've still "got it". I hope the same can be said for me. HA HA HA !

We got the living room air conditioner functional for the first time this season. We brought the bedroom's evaporative / "swamp" cooler in from the shed and got it functional for the first time this season. We took Bo for a brief play session in the dog park, then went for a long walk along the riverfront walkway and around the RV park. WHEW ... too hot and too long a walk for an old, little dog. Sorry, Bo !

DSK