Sunday ; cloudy and cool, a bit of light rain around lunch time.
I changed many of the light bulbs in our home today, converting from compact fluorescent bulbs to LED bulbs, to conserve energy, and improve the lighting quality.
I did some work inside the camper today, including getting ready for departure tomorrow on a two day trip to the Lower Mainland / Vancouver area and back. In the evening I did some Interstate 5 trip planning.
I watched the supper time news on an American network tonight, the day after the synagogue shootings in Pittsburgh. What a ****ing ugly society the U.S. has become in the last two years !
Monday ; home to Abbotsford
Cloudy and mild at home, raining heavily around Hope, overcast and cool at Abbotsford.
We left home around noon, heading west on Crowsnest Hwy. 3, through Princeton and into Manning Provincial Park where we stopped for a late lunch and a nap ( for me ).
At Hope, Crowsnest Hwy. 3 ended and we continued west on Trans-Canada Hwy. 1 through Chilliwack to Abbotsford, arriving at the mile marker 99 rest area at 6 PM.
Tuesday ; Abbotsford to Surrey to Abbotsford to home
Cloudy, cool, intermittent light rain at Abbotsford and Surrey, partially sunny and cool at home.
This morning we left the mile marker 99 rest area in Abbotsford at 10 AM and headed west on Trans-Canada Hwy. 1 then south on Hwy. 15 to Royal City Bedding in Surrey, arriving at 11 AM. We picked up our new, custom made, RV mattress and were on our way out of there by 11:30 PM. We were back at the Abbotsford rest area by 12:30 PM. We packaged our old mattress into a plastic mattress bag ( HMPH ... eight bucks ! ), marked "FREE" on the bag, and left it leaning up against a pole in the rest area. There seems to be quite a few homeless people living there at the rest area in decrepit old RV's, and even some in cars. We are certain that our very good condition, three year old, fairly expensive, foam RV mattress will be put to good use. It's just too soft for us.
Driving from Surrey back to the rest area at Abbotsford, in congested traffic, I failed to adequately check my "blind spot" little convex rear view mirror on the driver's side, and changed lanes while a little car was right beside me, in the blind spot ! **** ! ! ! Close call. I don't often make mistakes like that. I'm NOT very pleased with myself !
We headed east on Trans-Canada Hwy. 1 to Hope where we had a quick lunch and refilled with diesel at Flying J. Then east on Crowsnest Hwy. 3, where we stopped at Princeton to refill with diesel again. We were back at home around 5 PM.
Wednesday ; Hallowe’en
Cloudy and cool.
First priority for today was to remove the camper off the truck, and get the fifth wheel hitch reinstalled into the truck. We had that done by lunch time. In the afternoon I did some minor truck maintenance and minor camper maintenance. Around supper time we went to the swimming pool to do an aquatic exercise session. In the evening
I retrieved month end bank statements and investment files. And assisted Joanne with cooking Rainbow Trout ( that I caught in the Similkameen River ) for supper.
Thursday ; home to Oliver to home
Low ceiling overcast, raining, chilly.
This morning as we were departing for a trailer towing job in Oliver, the truck's new starter "misbehaved" for the second time. The first time was a few days ago in Abbotsford. We left home at 10:30 AM, drove east on Crowsnest Hwy. 3 to Osoyoos, then north on Hwy. 97 to Oliver, arriving at the client's rural property on time at noon. We got hitched up and began the short drive to the RV park where the trailer was going.
As I began to descend the very tight curve, steep driveway ... < sigh > ... the front corner of the fifth wheel trailer caught on the top rear corner of the truck's bed rail.
I slightly damaged the corner of the trailer, and moderately "crunch" damaged the top rear corner of the truck bed. < huge sigh > I obsessed about the damage to our truck for the rest of the day ! The client was so grateful to get his trailer relocated that he generously "forgave" the damage that I had caused to it. I have been providing trailer towing service for nine summers, and in that time I have towed 147 trailers. I suppose that it was inevitable that sooner or later I would damage my truck and / or a client's trailer.
We transported the trailer to Apple Beach RV Park in Oliver where the client will live in his trailer for the winter. We got the trailer delivered and set up, and were leaving Oliver about 1:30 PM. We drove north on Hwy. 97 from Oliver, through Okanagan Falls to Kaleden where we turned south on Hwy. 3A back to Keremeos, then west on Crowsnest Hwy. 3 to home at Riverside RV Park Resort. When we arrived home around 3 PM our electricity was off. There was a power failure from 1:30 PM to about 4:30 PM.
We had a very late and very quick lunch then drove both vehicles back into Keremeos. All day long I had not turned off the truck's engine, afraid that it would not start again.
I left the truck at Total Performance Auto Repair for a diagnosis of why the recently replaced starter has "misbehaved" twice this week. On the way back home we stopped at Sanderson Farms to buy produce.
For the remainder of the day I have been trying ... and mostly failing ... to focus more on the important things in life, like my good health, and less on the trivial, like some minor damage to a thirteen year old truck. < exhaling deeply >
Friday ; Mostly cloudy, cool, windy.
We did some work in the camper today, including removing the new mattress from the plastic bag it was sealed in. We gave Ozzie a bath. Around ( everybody else's ) supper time we went to the swimming pool for a cardiac rehab exercise session. And some hot tub soaking time ! I spent a lot of time this afternoon and evening working on financial planning. Joanne's 65th birthday is in less than three months. Mine is in eleven months. Over the next fourteen months we will have government pensions start, as well as private annuities. Our income will increase substantially over the next fourteen months. All my financial / investment hard work of the past fourteen and a half years of "unemployment" / self-financed "early retirement" will finally pay off handsomely.
Well done, Daniel !
Saturday ; Cloudy, chilly, raining until after lunch time.
Well ! ! ! Our investment losses for the month of October were well over $37,000 ! ! ! HMPH ! ! ! How wonderful is that ? ! ? < scowl >
While Joanne did a lot of laundry this afternoon, I worked on the camper. I drained the freshwater tank, in anticipation of below freezing temperatures in a few days. Tomorrow I will drain the hot water tank, then winterize the camper's entire water system. < sigh > I was hoping that would not be necessary before our departure in eighteen days, but ... that was just wishful thinking. I also changed all the accessory batteries in the camper. You know ... smoke alarm, alarm clock, wall clock, etc.
In the evening I worked on reconciling monthly bank statements and ... < ahem > ... updating investment files ... < cough cough >.
DSK
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