June 12 to 18, 2016

Sunday ; Started out cloudy and cool, became sunny and warm in the afternoon.

This morning I repackaged the cell phone and "global" SIM card that are incompatible, and fired off an angry e-mail to London Drugs' customer service department.
I sharpened knives. I cleaned Bo's ears.

This afternoon Joanne and I both worked on the minivan. She did some interior cleaning, I did some minor maintenance. I did some minor maintenance on our truck camper's little generator. I posted my weekly journal to my blog, then we took Bo for a long, leisurely walk around the RV park. We chatted for close to an hour with the owners of our previous lot.

Monday ; Started out partially cloudy and downright chilly, warming later in the day.

I watered plants and gardens. I watered our composters. We took Bo for a long walk. Joanne did laundry. We visited briefly with Jeanine. I gave her more assistance with her camera and the photos now on her computer.

This afternoon we cleaned Ozzie's ears again and administered ear drops again. His ear infection is a yeast infection, a fungal infection. The drops I am administering are resolving the problem. Perhaps a bit quicker in one ear than the other. I did some preventive maintenance on both the truck and the minivan. We took Bo and Ozzie to the dog park. I did some needed maintenance on the neighbours' golf cart. We visited briefly with Gord and Marcie, to encourage / assist Gord to get outside and get a bit of fresh air. I did some caulking on our shed base.

I played telephone tag with the Penticton London Drugs camera and phone department manager. I finally had to get tough / bullying to get her on the line. She was condescending, but amenable to my demands for either a full refund on this new cell phone or a Telus SIM card at no charge. We'll see how it goes when I meet her face to face on Wednesday.

While downloading photos from Jeanine's deceased husband's camera I found a photo of another neighbour's husband, from happier, healthier times. He's now in a care facility, in poor heath. I enhanced and printed the photo, and presented it to her as a surprise gift.

Tuesday ; Partially cloudy, intermittent bouts of light rain.

What a day ! Late this morning Joanne left in our minivan for a day of running errands in Penticton. I had just finished routine morning chores and was about to take Bo for a walk before making lunch for myself when there was a knock on the door. Marcie was there, looking slightly anxious, asking if Joanne could drive her and Gord to Kelowna Hospital. Overnight he had puffed up like the Michelin Man. Marcie had driven Gord to see their family doctor in Keremeos, and she ( the doctor ) told them to head for Kelowna Hospital Emergency. Marcie seems no longer able to drive to Kelowna, so ... they drove back here to Riverside RV Park Resort to ask Joanne to rush them to Kelowna Emergency.

< sigh > I pulled Lanoire the truck out from underneath Elsie the truck camper, loaded Gord ... and his oxygen tank and paraphernalia into the front seat of the truck, while Marcie got herself into the rear seat of the truck. With Ozzie ! HUH ? Why is Ozzie coming with us ? ! ? I still don’t have an answer to that question !

We pulled out of the RV park at 12:30 PM. I drove as fast as possible and arrived at Kelowna Hospital about 2:45 PM. Gord was being attended to in Emergency within minutes of our arrival.

Diagnosis ; subcutaneous emphysema ! One of his two chest tubes had become dislodged, and air was leaking into / under his skin tissues. A thoracic surgeon ( and team ) removed the dislodged chest tube, made a new incision, and inserted a larger chest tube. Gord was going to be readmitted to the hospital. By 4 PM Marcie and I were leaving the hospital to return home.

We stopped in Westbank / West Kelowna to refill with diesel and for Marcie to buy a fast food dinner to go. We stopped at a rest area between Summerland and Penticton to give Ozzie a rest break and drink of water. We arrived back home about 7 PM.

Wednesday ; Mostly cloudy, intermittent light rain.

I felt ill for much of today with a colitis flare up. Which made it easier to cancel a flight
I had planned for today.

Late this morning I headed to Penticton in the truck to run some errands and go flying. As I drove from home to Penticton I could see that there were plenty of low, grey bottom, cumulus clouds building up. By the time I arrived in Penticton I had decided to cancel my rental booking of Cessna 172 C-GHBM due to weather. I'm an old man. My bad weather flying days are behind me. I only want to fly in nice weather now.
I cancelled my rental booking of the airplane, then drove to Canadian Tire to buy a few automotive items. From there it was over to London Drugs to get a refund on the cell phone I purchased a few weeks ago. While at Cherry Lane Mall, where London Drugs is located, I was going to have a late lunch in the food court, but felt too ill to eat.
I refilled the truck with diesel. I took it through a car wash that accommodates dually pickup trucks. It was approaching 3 PM and I decided I had had enough of running errands. I drove home, arriving shortly after 3:30 PM.

Still feeling ill, I had a very late lunch, and went to sleep for awhile. When I awoke about 5 PM we took Bo for a walk that was cut short by cold rain. After the rain ended
I replaced a burned out bulb in the minivan. I was working on my computer when Marcie came over to discuss "Gord issues" with Joanne. Joanne will drive Marcie to Kelowna Hospital tomorrow morning. It seems as if Gord is not likely to be returning home again within the next few days.

Thursday ; Mostly sunny, but cool and windy.

This morning Joanne left with Marcie, in Marcie's car, headed for Kelowna Hospital yet again, to visit with Gord and find out what's going on. I did some preventive maintenance on the truck, then two repairs on the truck. First I replaced the tail light bulb that burned out yesterday. Then I repaired the "starburst" crack in the windshield that happened yesterday. In the last couple of months the windshields in both of our vehicles have been damaged by rocks !

I took Bo and Ozzie for a walk to our park's clubhouse so that I could return a book to the library. I put drops in Ozzie's ears. After lunch we all had a nap ; me and the two dogs. I repaired a watch band. I went fishing.

First fishing trip of the year. I drove about 5 km. / 3 miles east to fish on a "gravel bar" in the Similkameen River. I drove across a section of the river to get to the gravel bar. SHIT !  Deeper than I expected !  Well done, Lanoire !  I fished for about forty-five minutes, catching nothing. Wind too strong for fly fishing. Water too cold to stand in any longer.

Late in the afternoon Kelowna Hospital decided to release Gord, so Joanne and Marcie returned home about 7 PM ... with Gord !

Friday ; Sunny and warm.

This morning we had a "meet & greet" meeting on our deck with the clients who have hired us to transport their large fifth wheel trailer from Osoyoos to Vancouver Island in about a month. They wanted to meet us, and "brainstorm" some scheduling and logistics.

This afternoon we had a visit from Robbie and Christine, previous neighbours who have returned for a brief visit with old friends in the park. Also this afternoon, as we took Bo for a long walk around the RV park, we met a couple who have just purchased a lot here in Riverside RV Park Resort. We chatted with them for quite awhile at their new lot, and then in our gazebo, discussing with them their lot development ideas and trailer purchase options.

We drove into town ( Keremeos ) this afternoon. While I got a haircut and beard trim, Joanne refilled our five gallon water jug and bought some fresh produce. Back at home I did some more re-caulking of our yard shed base / floor. I'm working on this
re-caulking project one small section at a time. In the evening I ordered new business cards for Similkameen Trailer Towing.

Saturday ; TWELTH ANNIVERSARY OF RETIREMENT

Cloudy, cold, steady rain starting around noon. BRRRRR ! Not what I have been referring to for twelve years as a "June 18" weather day !

I used to consider June 18 to be our "full time RV'ing" anniversary and "homeless, unemployed vagabond" anniversary, but ... since we're no longer full time RV'ing, and are now receiving small pensions ... no longer "unemployed" ... it makes sense to consider June 18 simply our "retirement" anniversary. SO ... today ... twelve years of healthy, happy retirement ! Something that many people ... perhaps most people ... will never be fortunate enough to enjoy. Certainly none of our four parents were that fortunate.

In those twelve years we have travelled 355,003 km. / 221,877 miles. WOW !

I was awakened this morning by the new lot owner we met yesterday knocking on our door at 8 AM ... < sigh >. He wanted my help to take some measurements on their new lot, and my input to their “vision” for lot development and trailer placement / positioning. I told him to come back in an hour and I would be happy to help. < whispering > I would have been happier to help in two hours. Maybe even more happier in three hours. HA HA HA !

This morning we mounted Elsie the truck camper onto Lanoire the truck, in preparation for an upcoming short camping trip. Good thing we got that done before the rain began. This afternoon I gave Bo a face haircut. HEY ... we all need our beards trimmed from time to time, n’est-ce pas ? HA HA HA !

This evening we watched the fifth and final episode of the O. J. Simpson documentary. What goes around ... comes around ... !  What a sordid tale !

DSK