Sunday ; Cloudy and cool, becoming sunny, mild, and windy.
Yesterday morning I took a Prednisone pill to help deal with a gout / arthritis problem.
I had a poor reaction to taking that medication, especially since I took it on an empty stomach. Yesterday afternoon I experienced a flare up of colitis symptoms. And I had severe insomnia overnight. I tossed and turned until 3:30 AM then fell asleep for only an hour and a half ! After phoning the potential trailer towing client in Kitimat, BC this morning at 9 AM I went back to bed ... and fell asleep until mid-afternoon ! < sigh >
This afternoon we trimmed Bo's claws then did some garden replanting. For the first time since we planted two Saskatoon berry bushes in our yard three years ago, they have fruit on them. And a few of the berries are already ripe. Bo was blissfully unaware that we have two small Saskatoon berry bushes growing at the far outer edges of our sloped rock wall "front" yard. We invited him over to see one of the bushes with a few low hanging berries. "WHOA ... SASKATOONS ! ! !" CHOMP CHOMP CHOMP
HA HA HA ... you go, Bo ! Bo LOOOOOOOVES Saskatoons. And he especially loves harvesting his own. HA HA HA < SNORT > HA HA !
I spent the evening watching YouTube videos on how to remove ( and reinstall ) the interior door panel on a 2002 Dodge Caravan passenger side sliding door ... AND ... how to remove and replace the passenger side sliding door lock actuator, a repair that our minivan requires.
Monday ; SIX YEARS AS A NON-SMOKER !
Congratulations, Daniel ! Well done !
This morning I worked on the minivan door lock repair / replacement project. First
I removed our portable fridge from the minivan, then the middle bench seat. Following the YouTube video instructions I learned last night I removed the passenger side sliding door window moulding and interior panel. Went reasonably well. Broke some of the mounting clips, but ... I think that's inevitable. With some difficulty and "persuasion"
I managed to get the jammed lock unlocked and the door open. Then I removed the power door lock assembly, and removed the lock actuator. HEY ... that went reasonably well also. I figured out how to force the door lock to remain unlocked by installing a bolt and nut in a particular place and ... that was all I could do for today. The door now opens and closes properly. BUT ... it can't be locked. Hopefully I will be able to buy the necessary repair parts on Thursday in Oliver when we deliver a trailer there.
Twice today we took Bo and Ozzie for long walks. Ozzie is reluctant to come with us when we take him for walks. He suspects that we are going to "kidnap" him overnight again. Which ... we actually will do in a couple of days when Gord has surgery in Kelowna later this week.
In the evening I worked on setting up my new pilot log book. That was more complicated than I expected, summarizing thirty one years of flying experience into the new book's opening entries. I did not finish. My previous pilot log book summarized "cross country" flying into just one column, the new book breaks it down into "day" and "night", and "dual" ( with instructor ) and "pilot in command". Perhaps tomorrow I will set up a spreadsheet to figure it out.
Tuesday ; Sunny and warm.
Had a lazy day again. While Joanne went into town this morning for a doctor's appointment I prepared the truck for a trailer towing job tomorrow. This afternoon I did a minor repair to the stove in our home. Our neighbour / friend Jeanine came by for a visit. While Joanne prepared supper I did some caulking on the base of our yard shed.
Our next door neighbour / friend who has mesothelioma has deteriorated rapidly. He's been very ill for the last couple of days. He is scheduled for surgery tomorrow in Kelowna. Good luck Gord.
Wednesday ; Mostly sunny, mild. NOT a great day ! ! !
Well ! One of my worst nightmares came to pass today. Had a mechanical breakdown on the truck while towing a client's trailer. < sigh >
This morning we left home at 9 AM heading for Osoyoos. We arrived at Nk'Mip RV Park right on time at 10 AM. We hooked up to the client's thirty foot travel trailer very quickly. He had it ready to go. As we drove through Osoyoos ... the truck lost power steering. HUH ? And then power brakes. HUH ? ? ? I pulled over, popped the hood, and saw that the Serpentine belt was not running. The client was right behind me in his car, we only had to go about 32 km. / 20 miles to Oliver so ... I decided to "go for it". Within moments the temperature gauge moved as far as it could to "hot". Without the Serpentine belt running ... the radiator fan was not turning ! We turned off the air conditioner, turned the heater on full blast ( to help dissipate the engine's heat ), opened all the windows, and ... hurried ! The truck was extremely difficult to drive without power steering and power brakes, especially while towing a large trailer. And I was extremely worried that the overheating engine, with no coolant flowing through the radiator ( no Serpentine belt, so no water pump function ) would blow out the radiator, or at least, a radiator hose.
We made it to the client's new RV park, got the trailer positioned and set up, and then hurried away ... without having turned the engine off. I was worried that the truck might not restart since the batteries had not been charging since the Serpentine belt broke ... or slipped off ... or ? ? ? And I was afraid that if I turned the engine off, the built up heat would ... explode something before it could dissipate. < sigh >
We made it back to "downtown" Oliver where I pulled into an independent service station at 11:45 AM. The owner said that they would be able to do an immediate "emergency repair". < sigh > They invited us to wait ... with Bo ... in their customer waiting area. Joanne took Bo for a walk, and I walked down the street to Lordco and Napa, two auto supply shops, looking for a sliding door lock actuator for our minivan. At both places, the cost was slightly over a hundred and fifty bucks ! < sigh > While we ate our picnic lunch in the customer waiting area of the service facility we discussed the cost of the minivan door lock actuator, and decided that it wasn't worth it. I will reassemble the minivan's sliding door, without the lock actuator, and render the sliding door on the passenger side "permanently" locked.
The truck was fixed and ready to go by 2:30 PM. The tensioner pulley had
self-destructed, just due to wear and tear, and it damaged / destroyed the Serpentine belt when it self-destructed. So ... new tensioner pulley, new Serpentine belt, an hour of labour ( very reasonable ) ... KA-CHING ... three hundred bucks ! More than twice the revenue of the trailer towing job. < sigh >
Lanoire ( the truck ) seems to have suffered no damage from the overheating. What a great truck ! Moments before the problem occurred, the odometer had rolled through 309,000 km. We ran errands in and around Oliver, finishing with grocery shopping. We left Oliver around 4:30 PM and were home before 6 PM.
Shortly after arriving home we received a phone call from our next door neighbour, Marcie, who was at her mother's in Penticton, having spent the day at the hospital in Kelowna. Gord's surgery in Kelowna this morning had gone poorly. His mesothelioma / lung cancer had developed more rapidly and was more extensive than anticipated. He was in the Intensive Care Unit tonight. The prognosis is ... poor !
< SIGH >
After eating a late supper we went next door to get Ozzie and bring him over to spend the night with us.
Thursday ; Sunny and warm.
This morning Joanne left at 9:30 PM, drove to Penticton, picked up Marcie the next door neighbour, then drove to Kelowna to see how her husband Gord was doing in the Intensive Care Unit of the hospital. Well ! By the end of the day there was considerable improvement in Gord's condition. This morning they finally removed the respirator tube from Gord's throat so that he could breathe on his own. AND ... eat for the first time in three days. During yesterday's surgery to conduct more biopsies and drain his fluid filled lungs they installed a drainage tube from his lungs out through underneath his ribs. So ... now the continual build up of fluids in and around his lungs can be continually drained. That resulted in considerable relief and improvement for Gord. Joanne and Marcie returned from Kelowna around suppertime. Joanne will drive Marcie back and forth to Kelowna for at least a couple more days. Marcie doesn't seem to want to stay alone in a hotel / motel room in Kelowna.
This afternoon while doing some cleaning chores I found a web like cocoon stuck on a nylon bag. I flicked it off with my finger. It stuck to my finger. YUCK ! I shook my finger but it did not fall off. YUCK ! I pulled it off with my other hand and ... it broke open. YUCK ! Inside were ... YIKES ! ! ! ... a large Black Widow Spider and her nest of eggs. YIKES ! YUCK ! YIKES ! ! ! I shook my hand hard and the spider fell off. WHEW ! The sac / nest of eggs kind of smeared on my finger. YUCK ! Well ... at least I didn't get bit by "Mom".
While I was watering our gardens and plants I was watching a new neighbour move in across the street. They were trying to back their new forty-two foot fifth wheel into their new lot. I watched him make three failed attempts from three different directions to get the trailer backed into the lot and positioned where it needed to be. I was reluctant to offer help. It wounds men's egos to have to be offered help to back up a trailer. Finally
I could see his frustration building so I walked over and offered help.. He was glad to accept. After three failed attempts over about a half an hour he was ready to give up. Yeah ... I know that feeling ! I jumped in his truck, backed the trailer in and positioned where they wanted it, then spent quite awhile chatting with them, welcoming them to the neighbourhood.
With Gord and Marcie gone, I did some chores in their yard. Tomorrow morning is garbage and recycling pickup, so I began preparing their garbage and recycling for pickup, then got a teensy bit carried away and did some very much needed "spring cleaning" in their yard. Some of us are OCD "neatniks", and ... well ... Gord isn't !
Today I sold our living room's rocker glider chair. I had recently placed online ads posting it for sale, and today a couple from nearby Cawston bought it. Now ... the living room chair that Joanne didn't like is gone, and she can buy a new one. WOO-HOO ... furniture shopping ... < rolling my eyes > !
Friday ; Sunny and very warm.
Joanne left at 11 AM this morning, with Marcie, headed to Kelowna Hospital. They returned home around suppertime. Gord is improving and may be released in another couple of days.
I had another lazy day. I chatted for a long time with the new neighbours across the street, for the second day in a row. I walked Bo and Ozzie a couple of times. I cancelled the online ads I had advertising our glider rocker for sale. I compiled notes for a Similkameen Trailer Towing client on annual rates in local RV parks, as I had committed to do when I transported him recently from Osoyoos to Juniper Beach.
I reconciled month end banking statements. I updated month end investment records.
AND ... one of my favourite things to do ... HA HA HA ... I watched the Blues Brothers movie late in the evening. AHHHH ... my favourite movie !
Saturday ; Sunny and hot. Joanne cooked a baked spaghettii / lasagna style dish in the Sun Oven today.
Busy day today. First thing this morning we collected our neighbour / friend Jeanine and headed to the annual yard sale at SunKatchers RV Park, first property to the east of us, headed towards Keremeos. Almost every year we attend the annual SunKatchers yard sale and ( I ) buy a surprising amount of stuff. This year was no exception. Joanne bought nothing. I bought everything. HA HA HA ! I bought a 12 volt fridge. Another one. We already have one. Now we have two. One for each vehicle. AND ... today we actually bought two of them. Jeanine also bought one today for her car. She bought a very nice digital camera. I bought some kitchen utensils. And a brand new Shaw Direct satellite TV service remote control. For fifty cents. Don’t you just love estate sales ? AND ... HA HA HA ... ANOTHER Shaw Direct satellite TV service dish. Now I have ...
< counting > ... five of them. HA HA HA < SNORT > HA HA ! It's sort of a long story. One on our Canadian home. And a spare, just in case. One on our Arizona home. And a spare, just in case. And now ... a brand new one, still in the box ... for one dollar ! Wait, wait ... I have a rationale !
These "old" Shaw Direct satellite dishes are in huge demand in Yuma, Arizona, for Canadian "Snowbirds". Because ... Bell Mobility dishes no longer work down south. AND ... "new" Shaw Direct HD dishes don't work down south. BUT ... the "old" Shaw Direct dishes ... like the brand new one in the box that I bought today ... work just fine in Arizona, and even Mexico. They routinely sell for twenty-five bucks in Yuma. SO ... buy for one dollar ( Canadian ), sell for twenty-five dollars ( American ). Almost as profitable as selling cat litter. HA HA HA < SNORT > HA HA ! AHHHHH ... once a retailer, always a retailer.
Back at home, Jeanine joined us for lunch. I installed her new fridge in her car. Including repairing it ! Yes, yes ... she bought one that had a blown fuse ! I installed our new one in our minivan. And I finally finished repairing the minivan sliding door lock.
I "configured" Jeanine's new camera, setting it up to be as "automatic" as possible. We gave Bo a bath. Then went next door, got Ozzie, and gave him a bath also. And, boy ... was he ever in need of a bath !
We took Bo and Ozzie for a long walk around the RV park, enjoying the fine weather. We chatted with neighbours, including the couple that bought our previous lot. They are doing some redevelopment of the lot. Joanne watered our plants and gardens. I paid some bills.
Gord remains in Kelowna Hospital. Today he was moved from Intensive Care to a regular ward bed. Current plan is perhaps release from hospital on Monday.
DSK
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