Sunday ; Thick smoke early in the day, thinning somewhat in the late afternoon after a bit of light rain.
This morning we drove to the local dump to get rid of our yard swing, now just scrap metal. After finishing at the dump we drove into town to buy an item at the pharmacy ... they didn't have what I needed ... and an item at the hardware store ... closed on Sundays. Oh, well ! We bought fresh produce at Sanderson Farms. Very nice tomatoes at this time of year ! And cheap !
This afternoon Joanne baked a plum pie with plums picked in our RV park's orchard. MMMMM ! I barbecued a marinated beef roast for supper. The original plan had been to cook it in the Sun Oven, but ... the Sun Oven hasn't been getting much use lately due to the ongoing wildfire smoke issue.
This afternoon Similkameen Trailer towing was hired to do a small trailer towing job in two weeks. Small job, not small trailer. HA HA HA ! I'm hopeful that this client is not as much of a flake as last week's "client" was. HMPH ! Hires me, then refuses to respond to e-mails or phone calls. How difficult would it have been for him to advise "sorry ... job is cancelled" ?
Monday ; Sunny and mild.
This morning we did some yard work, including watering and turning our composters and watering our vegetable and tomato gardens. I did some outdoor cleaning, then power sanded the railings on the entry stairs. As I finished that job, and was about to go inside to have lunch, Marcie came over. She was upset, and obviously needed some compassion. Gord is near the end.
After lunch Joanne drove Marcie into town and they visited Gord. Joanne said her goodbye to Gord. I thought we both did that last week, but ... < shrug > ! After she returned home Joanne stained the railings that I sanded before lunch. The first attempt went poorly. We wiped the stain off and made another attempt with a different stain. That went better.
I did some refurbishment on the belt sander that I used today. It's a recent acquisition, and the cord needed repairs. I prepared a cheque and envelope to send for our Yuma, Arizona property tax. I prepared another trailer towing quote. Third quote request in four days ! I scheduled a small trailer towing job for Friday. I prepared a form to be dropped off at our investment advisor in Penticton tomorrow. As Joanne prepared supper I watched a documentary on what a cluster**** the Vietnam war was for the United States ! Too bad they didn't learn anything from it ! ! !
Tuesday ; Mostly cloudy and chilly, rain in the late afternoon as we finished our errands in Penticton and drove home.
Today was another long, hard day of running errands in Penticton. We left home around 11 AM. We stopped at an RV park in Kaleden at noon to check out a trailer that we are hired to relocate on October 1. We shopped and ran errands all afternoon in Penticton, leaving around 4:30 PM. On the way home we stopped in Olalla to check out a trailer that we are hired to relocate on Friday. We arrived home around 6 PM.
In my e-mail box was a request to do a trailer towing job ... tomorrow. UHHHH ... sorry ... no ! I offered the client a choice of Thursday or Saturday. He chose Thursday. DARN ... I would have preferred Saturday. Oh, well ! Looks like we'll be doing a difficult, all day job on Thursday, towing a large travel trailer from Salmon Arm to Penticton. And a small job on Friday in Olalla. Why am I getting so many requests for trailer towing quotes ... and jobs ... all of a sudden ?
I received an e-mail from an RCMP Sergeant in Hay River, Northwest Territories, regarding my complaint about use of excessive force by an officer in his detachment.
I expect he will be unhappy with the response I sent back. Stay tuned !
Wednesday ; Cloudy, chilly, raining. A good day to die, perhaps ?
Godspeed, Gord ! Our next door neighbour died overnight. We extend our sympathy to his widow Marcie. I am sorry for her loss. But I am glad that Gord's suffering has ended. His battle with mesothelioma ( lung cancer caused by asbestos ) lasted seventeen months.
This morning I had a phone call with the cardiology department at Kelowna General Hospital. I have an angiogram scheduled for early next Tuesday morning. They explained the process over the phone, then sent me more detailed information and instructions by e-mail. I will have to be in Kelowna for two nights. I will need to be there Monday overnight in order to be at the hospital early Tuesday morning. And I am not allowed to leave the vicinity of Kelowna Hospital until twenty-four hours after the procedure, so ... I must remain in Kelowna until Wednesday afternoon.
I did some research this afternoon on campgrounds / RV parks near the hospital, and hotels / motels near the hospital. We considered spending two nights in our camper near the hospital, but after comparing prices of RV parks versus hotels / motels, we decided to stay in a motel near the hospital for two nights. I made a reservation.
This afternoon I visited briefly with neighbours Kolly and Paul. I wanted to arrange a "rental" of Paul's truck, much smaller than my truck, but also equipped with a fifth wheel hitch. I think my truck will be too large / too high for two upcoming trailer towing jobs
I am hired to do. I negotiated a "rental" of Paul's truck for these two jobs, with payment for the truck "rental" with some truck and trailer maintenance services provided by me. Paul is in the advanced stages of lung cancer. < sigh > Late this afternoon he left here by ambulance. < sigh >
Around suppertime we visited with our neighbour / friend Jeanine who has just returned from a two week visit with her daughter in the Lower Mainland / Vancouver area. We wanted to invite her over for a Lake Winnipeg Pickerel dinner ... cooked by me, of course. And we wanted to ask her to care for Bo while we are in Kelowna for two days next week.
This afternoon I prepared our truck for a trailer towing job tomorrow, towing a large trailer from Salmon Arm to Penticton. BUT ... this evening I "postponed" the job, and am strongly inclined to just cancel it. The client has been feeding me little bits and pieces of information over the last few days, and the more "information" he feeds me, the more inclined I am to "fire" the client. Stay tuned !
P.S. ; Late in the evening Joanne convinced me that I need to focus on what is really important ( my health ) and I don't need the aggravation of this client. I sent him an e-mail advising him to find someone else to do his trailer towing job.
Thursday ; Mix of sun and clouds, mild temperature.
I'm glad I chose to "fire" the trailer towing client last night. It was the right decision. And resulted in a bit of a "free" day, since today had been allocated to that trailer towing job.
I put away the trailer towing materials and supplies loaded in the truck for today's cancelled ( travel ) trailer towing job, leaving in the truck the stuff needed for tomorrow's ( fifth wheel ) trailer towing job. Then I brought over Paul's truck that I have "rented" for tomorrow's job, and installed my fifth wheel hitch into his truck. I spent ( too much ) time visiting with our neighbour / friend Jeanine. I snoozed, and read, and watched TV.
Friday ; Mix of sun and clouds, mild temperature.
Immediately after an early ( for us ) lunch we left for a trailer towing job in nearby Olalla, Joanne driving our large truck, me driving our neighbour Paul's small truck. In Olalla we moved an old, small, fifth wheel trailer from one side of the client's yard to the other side. And as I expected, the job was much easier done with Paul's small truck than our large truck. I'm glad that we "rented" it for the afternoon. On the way back home Joanne stopped at Sanderson Farms to buy some produce, while I drove straight home to get myself a very much needed Gatorade. DARN ! We both have to remember to bring fluids for me to drink while working.
Good thing we got out of our driveway and got the job done fairly early. By
mid-afternoon the road behind our home ... the only access to our driveway ... turned into a parking lot. Only two days after Gord's death, many ... < ahem > ... "family members" and "friends" are showing up and carting away as much of Gord's possessions as will fit into their trucks ! ! ! Seems to be some sort of a "dead friend / dead family member" ghoul buffet going on. Pretty disgusting, from my perspective ! And I'm really irritated by these a**h***s parked in the middle of the road behind our vehicles, blocking our ability to get out of our own driveway !
Saturday ; Mostly sunny and mild.
This morning I did battery maintenance on the truck's and minivan's batteries.
I tightened the terminal clamp nuts, sprayed cleaner on the terminals, hosed it off, and after that dried I sprayed lubricant / protector on the terminals. While I was doing that, Gord's daughter from Saskatoon, Michelle, showed up. I expressed my condolences, and invited her over to visit briefly if she was so inclined. She said she would come over later in the day.
I went over to our neighbour / friend Jeanine's home to start a home repair job for her.
I cut the damaged threshold out of her entry doorway, and to do so had to remove a piece of quarter round moulding trim which I will also replace.
Mid-afternoon Michelle came over for a brief visit. Joanne expressed her condolences to Michelle, then the three of us chatted for awhile, reminiscing about pleasant memories of her father. It's too bad that she could not be here before Gord died, but ... she has made peace with her father's death, and was in reasonably good spirits, all things considered.
Jeanine ( and her little dog Charlie ) came over for supper. Joanne prepared a turnip and carrot salad, potatoes rosti, and a peach pie. I cooked one of my specialties ; Lake Winnipeg Pickerel, breaded and pan fried. MMMMMM ! Very good supper ! Jeanine spent the evening visiting with us.
DSK
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