Sunday ; Cloudy, cool, windy.
My big challenge for today was to find the source of the leak in the camper bathroom sink drain plumbing. Well ... that took all of about thirty seconds ! Having found the location of the crack in the drain pipe, next challenge was ... cutting out the damaged section of plumbing. I cut through the drain pipe above the crack, underneath the bathroom sink. I cut through the drain pipe below the crack, through the outside access hatch I cut through the exterior wall of the camper yesterday. AND ... out came the damaged section. Sounds easier than it was ! On Tuesday in Penticton I will buy the necessary materials to repair / rebuild the drain pipe plumbing.
I had a lazy afternoon. I read. I napped. I walked the dog around the RV park. I did some online work on the computer. After supper we watched Downton Abbey.
Monday ; Victoria Day ( Canadian holiday )
Cloudy becoming sunny, mild.
This afternoon I fabricated and painted a wood panel to be the access hatch cover over the hole I cut in the camper to access the bathroom sink plumbing leak. I repaired a truck rear dually tire valve extender. I adjusted the air pressure in all of the truck and minivan tires. Joanne went into Keremeos to run some errands.
In the evening I did monthly computer file backup and maintenance. And I downloaded, printed, and reconciled our May MasterCard statement. < blink blink > YIKES !
Tuesday ; Mostly sunny, mild.
This morning I headed into Keremeos to buy some plumbing supplies for the truck camper bathroom sink drain pipe replacement project. The local hardware store did not have what I needed. I'll have to buy what I need tomorrow in Penticton.
This afternoon I ... YIPPEE ... managed to secure a reservation for a campsite in a municipally operated campground in Port Clements on Graham Island, the northern part of Haida Gwaii, during the Edge Of The World Music Festival. That's a huge "score" ! Port Clements is about a twenty minute drive from Tlell where the music festival takes place. That was the last piece of the planning puzzle for our summer trip to Haida Gwaii / Queen Charlotte Islands.
The ferry reservations are made. The music festival tickets are purchased. The campsite is reserved. We're good to go !
Wednesday ; Sunny and mild. Long, tough day for me in Penticton. Longer, tougher day for Joanne in both Kelowna and Penticton.
This morning Joanne left with our next door neighbours Gord and Marcie, in their car, to accompany them to a series of medical appointments for Gord at the Kelowna Hospital and Kelowna Cancer Centre. I picked her up at Marcie's parents in Penticton at 5:30 PM.
I left at lunch time and headed to Penticton for a day of running errands. Just as I was finishing all of the errands except grocery shopping, Joanne phoned me to pick her up at Marcie's parents. We did our grocery shopping at Superstore, then returned home, arriving home around 7:30 PM. While Joanne unloaded groceries, I walked Bo, then Ozzie, the next door neighbour's dog. While Gord and Marcie spend the night in Penticton, to facilitate their return to Kelowna tomorrow for more medical appointments, we will take care of Ozzie. He's not very happy about having to live with us overnight. Poor Ozzie !
Thursday ; Mostly cloudy and mild, becoming sunny and windy late in the afternoon.
My priority for today was to repair the windshield on the minivan. When I was driving into town on Tuesday a rock hit the windshield. By the time I returned home, I had forgotten about it and did not check to see if any damage was done. Yesterday while we were driving home from Penticton Joanne noticed a small crack line on the edge of the windshield. DARN ! The rock hit right at the edge of the windshield on the passenger side and made a "chip" right at the edge. Yesterday's trip to Penticton and back caused a small crack to "run" from the chip. DARN DARN DARN !
This morning I used a windshield repair kit that I carry in the truck. It certainly made a very nice "invisible" repair of the rock chip, but ... < sigh > ... there's nothing to be done about the six inch crack running from the rock chip. I'm certain that the crack will just keep running and running, until it's so long that we will have to replace the windshield.
If only I had remembered to check the windshield for damage when I returned home on Tuesday ! I would have immediately used the windshield repair kit and repaired the rock chip before the crack line started. DARN ! ! !
This afternoon I replaced the broken section of drain pipe underneath the camper's bathroom sink. It was a difficult job that took longer than I thought it would. BUT ... the drain pipe is replaced and the camper's bathroom sink is functional once again. Since last summer we have had a plastic container inside the bathroom sink. After using the bathroom sink we would empty the container into the shower stall. We could not allow water to drain out of the sink because of the leak in the drain pipe underneath the sink. All that is left to finish this difficult and complex repair is to install and caulk an access hatch panel that I fabricated and painted, to cover the hole that I had to cut in the exterior wall of the camper underneath the bathroom.
Gord and Marcie arrived back at home about 4 PM, after waiting three hours to see a radiation oncologist in Kelowna today. Ozzie was very glad to go home after spending about twenty-one hours living with us.
I personally think that there is something very wrong with B.C.'s health care system that allows and tolerates this systemic lack of respect for the value of patients' time. This
"I am God ... and you must wait one to three hours to see me" mentality that most doctors in B.C. seem to have is outrageous. And from my perspective ... unacceptable ! Which goes a long way to explain my current "family doctor" drama !
We had a slightly unusual ( for us ) supper tonight. Joanne made and I barbecued stuffed Portobello mushroom caps which we made into "burgers". Along with a salad made with barbecued Romaine lettuce, and fresh corn on the cob, it was a very tasty vegetarian meal.
Friday ; Mostly cloudy and cool, a few drops of rain.
This morning and afternoon I worked on the truck camper bathroom sink drain pipe replacement project. And finished it ! I installed the access hatch panel that I had fabricated and painted. And then I caulked around it. WOO-HOO ! Elsie's ready to go once again !
The method that I used to replace the broken drain pipe was something that I had seen when we were shopping for our truck camper two and a half years ago. One of the campers that we had looked at had experienced a similar stress fractured drain pipe problem, and the owner was quite proud of how he had replaced the broken pipe and reduced / eliminated the likelihood of a recurrence by using flexible rubber pipe couplers / connectors. I was impressed with his methodology and put it to use in repairing our camper.
While walking from the clubhouse to the dog park, across the lawn, I found a large mushroom. Joanne found a small mushroom. We picked them both and took them home to identify them using my Mushroom Hunter wild mushroom identification book. The small one found by Joanne was a Deadly Galerina. The larger one found by me was a Magic Mushroom. I made a spore print to help me confirm my identification of it. Technically ... I guess that one is edible, but ... !
Late this evening we had our weekly hot tub date night.
Saturday ; Mostly cloudy and mild, a few drops of rain.
My achievement for today was to install eavestroughing on our deck. That was more complicated than it sounds. I had to borrow and use a neighbour's ladder that
I nicknamed "the goofy ladder". It has four sections, and can be configured in a variety of different shapes and angles. The downspout section was quite a bit easier to install than the horizontal gutter section, mostly because I had to use "the goofy ladder" to reach the deck eave over the garden to install the gutter.
I received a trailer towing quote request today to tow a very large fifth wheel trailer from ... Las Vegas, Nevada to Kitimat, B.C. < blink blink > That's more than 3200 km. / 2000 miles ! I sent him a quote by e-mail, and his response suggests that he's willing to hire me. I will phone him tomorrow to discuss. Tonight I worked out a tentative plan ; routing, scheduling, etc. We're undecided whether I will do this alone, or if Joanne and Bo will accompany me.
P.S. ; upon phoning him Sunday ( tomorrow ) morning, he advised me that he has hired someone else.
DSK
No comments:
Post a Comment