May 1 to 7, 2016

Sunday ; Sunny and warm. Cooked a wonderful marinated roast in the Sun Oven today.

Had a bit of a lazy day. Made pancakes for brunch. Took care of some annual home maintenance chores. Joanne did gardening. Took Bo to the dog park. Napped ! Reconciled month end bank statements. Updated and analyzed investment files.

Monday ; Sunny and very warm. Joanne cooked a wonderful apple cake in the Sun Oven and partially cooked a spaghetti sauce in the Sun Oven. She mismanaged her cooking time a bit and ran out of sunlight before the spaghetti sauce was finished.

This morning we drove into town ( Keremeos ) to renew the registration and insurance on our minivan. Then we drove to Cawston to buy some bedding plants at Little Bushy's Greenhouse. On the way back through Keremeos we stopped at Sanderson's Farms to buy some fresh fruits and vegetables.

After lunch and a nap for me we took Bo to the dog park. Our next door neighbours and their remaining dog Ozzie joined us in the dog park. We spent the rest of the afternoon working on gardening. I planted my tomato plants and cucumber plants. Joanne planted herbs and flowers. We'll finish planting our vegetable garden on Wednesday perhaps.

Tuesday ; Sunny and warm.

This morning we got our "wires crossed". While I was in the bathroom, showering, preparing for a day in Penticton, Joanne ... "disappeared". She went to water aerobics, having forgotten that I had a medical appointment in Penticton, and we were going to spend the rest of the day running errands in Penticton. Suffice to say that we had a long, angry evening !

I spent the day in Penticton by myself. First stop was OKAPED, a foot care medical facility. I had a gait assessment, to ascertain if how I walk contributes to my knee pain, and why I wear down the outsides of my shoe heels so severely. From there I refilled the minivan with fuel then took it to Great Canadian Oil Change for annual fluids and filters service. SO ... now ALL fluids and filters have been changed since we bought the minivan a year and a half ago. I strongly believe that preventive maintenance like that is a good investment. I had a late lunch in the food court at Cherry Lane Mall. I went to Staples to purchase an item and have a page laminated. I went to Lordco and bought a fog light bulb for the truck.

As I said ... it was an angry evening !

Wednesday ; Cool, intermittent cloudiness, light rain in the evening.

We gave Bo a bath. We planted our vegetable garden. I replaced a fog light bulb on the truck. We mounted solar operated dragonfly shaped lights on our deck off the living room. AND ... we bickered !

Thursday ; Happy 15th Birthday to Joanne's niece Amelia

Cloudy and raining. Joanne spent the day in Penticton running errands and grocery shopping. I did some truck maintenance work, some yard work, and some desk work, including doing our 2016 census online. I visited with our next door neighbours who only come out from the Lower Mainland / Vancouver area a few weekends a year. GEEEEEZ ... since I last saw Joe, he has had a heart attack, triple bypass surgery, and a pacemaker installed. He's two years younger than me, and today I unsuccessfully tried to convince him that his health issues this last winter should convince him to retire soon !

Friday ; Sunny and very warm. Joanne cooked a chicken dish in the Sun Oven today.
I love chicken dishes cooked in the Sun Oven. Chicken is so “fall off the bone” moist and tender when cooked in the Sun Oven.

This morning I chatted with one of the next door neighbours again, talking about retirement dreams in the context of his recent heart attack and bypass surgery and pacemaker installation. This afternoon Joanne chatted with the other next door neighbour, discussing his recent diagnosis of mesothelioma / lung cancer.

Joanne and I have much to be thankful for ! Especially good health ! ! ! Tomorrow ... well ... see the first paragraph !

Today I continued to have troubles with the South Similkameen Health Centre / Keremeos Clinic and their ongoing refusal to assign me to a new family physician because they refuse to acknowledge that I was a patient of the recently retired Dr. Biggs. I feel stuck between a rock and a hard place. And the problem seems to be centred on a low level administrative clerk who has taken a strong dislike to me ... and my communication style, I presume. Too ****ing bad, sweetheart, you’re not being paid to like me, you’re being paid ... by my taxes, I might point out ... to provide service to the public. That includes me and everyone else that you don’t like. < taking deep breath > Calm down, Daniel !

We finished planting our vegetable gardens and herb gardens today. I did some minor maintenance on the truck today. And made quite a mess. I spilled some fluids.
I dropped the cap from a jug into the engine compartment ... twice ... and was unable to retrieve it the second time. It’s lost in there forever. Or until it finally vibrates out while driving, I suppose. I was really off my game today. I overfilled the power steering pump reservoir and had to siphon some excess fluid out. And I really made a mess of that !
< sigh >

I disinfected our five gallon water jug and pump. I sharpened kitchen knives. I sorted / purged / relined all my business cards, from one business card holder into two ; one for summer / BC, one for winter / Arizona and Mexico. And I finished installing solar operated rope lights that I had purchased last winter at Harbor Freight in Yuma.

We had supper while watching Amazing Race, then I finally began to work on preparing our income tax returns. The filing deadline was four days ago, so ... it’s about time that
I begin to work on our income tax returns. I think I’ve only filed on time once since 1988. HA HA HA !

Saturday ; Sunny and hot. Joanne cooked a sausage dish in the Sun Oven today. It wasn't as good as yesterday's chicken dish.

If it was Amelia’s birthday two days ago, then today ... Joanne is a fifteen year cancer survivor !

SHIT !   I have just finished ( at 9:40 PM ) my 2015 income tax return and for the first time in twelve years, I owe money / have income tax payable !

This morning Joanne went into town by herself to refill our five gallon water jug, buy some groceries and ... go "yard sale" shopping. I refused to go !

As always, I had a daily plan of things to do, but ... today it got abandoned. I spent much of the day working on an unplanned project. I installed a MaxxAir cover on the camper roof over the bathroom fan vent. That was, until recently, not possible. But ... shortly before leaving Yuma at the end of March I had installed two Extreme Vents on the waste tank vent pipes on the camper roof. That necessitated cutting out a section of the roof top "luggage rack". That created the "maybe" possibility of what I accomplished today. Today I was inspired to give it a try. I had to "borrow" the MaxxAir cover from the kitchen's Fantastic Fan. And I had to do quite a bit of ... "modifying" ... to make it fit. BUT ... I did it !   AND ... the lack of a MaxxAir cover over the bathroom fan's roof vent has always seemed to be a "deficiency" of the camper, from my perspective. Well ... after two and a half years of owning this camper ... I resolved that deficiency today. Well done, Daniel !

Today was Riverside RV Park Resort's Annual General Meeting. As always, we did not attend. So our next door neighbours asked us to take their dog out in mid-afternoon while they were at the meeting. In the middle of the afternoon, needing a rest from working on the camper roof, we took Bo and the next door neighbours’ dog to the dog park. Ozzie was compliant, but confused. "HEY ... why are the neighbours taking me somewhere ?" His companion ... and father ... Dudley died recently. Ozzie is still a bit confused by Dudley's "disappearance".

DSK