May 24 to 30, 2020

Sunday ; Mostly sunny and mild.

This afternoon Joanne helped me dig some items out of storage and take pictures of them so that I could post ads for sale. It’s time to get rid of some surplus stuff, including the truck’s tailgate and a pair of loading ramps to load heavy items into the back of a truck.

I posted my weekly blog entry. I compiled six months of blood pressure readings to discuss ( way too early ! ) tomorrow morning with my family doctor in a video meeting.

Monday ; Raining until suppertime.

I had a “telemedicine” appointment with my doctor early this morning. We discussed my blood pressure ( as always ) and a couple of suspicious moles on my back. Later in the day, Joanne used my camera to take photos of them which I sent to my doctor.

While I was on the video call with my doctor I received a telephone call regarding the "for sale" ad of my truck tailgate. KA-CHING ! SOLD ! Well … that was easy ! The seller lives in Vernon. I agreed to deliver the tailgate to Westbank, about halfway to Vernon, in a couple of weeks.

As we do most days, we did an online exercise video session just before lunch, and went for a brisk walk for half an hour just before supper. My outdoor work plans for the day were postponed until Wednesday due to the weather.

Tuesday ; Sunny and warm.

WHEW ! Another very long, very tiring day of shopping and running errands in Penticton. We left home at noon, and returned home at 7 PM. And for most of the day we went our separate ways to increase our efficiency.

We returned home at the same time as a Keremeos resident arrived to view the truck loading ramps I had posted for sale two days ago. KA-CHING ! SOLD ! Wow … two items advertised, both items sold to the first callers, within two days. I suppose I should accelerate the purging of surplus / unnecessary items from our shed and yard !

We brought home take out food for dinner from our favourite Asian restaurant in Penticton. It was … GREAT ! As we were finishing our late dinner Joanne’s sister phoned and they had a lengthy chat.

Wednesday ; Sunny, very warm, a bit windy. Joanne cooked Beef Carbonnade in the Sun Oven today.

I did some routine maintenance on the truck and my bicycle today. I did some gardening. We took the minivan’s redundant third seat out of storage ( in the 

shed ) and I took photos of it to post a “for sale” ad online. And while I was doing that, I decided I might as well try to sell my bicycle and one of our three 12 volt cooler fridges. I’m on a purge roll ! HA HA HA !

At 4 PM I tuned into an online music concert performed by Suzie Vinnick, a blues guitarist / singer / songwriter we first saw when she performed at a restaurant, East Side Mario’s, in ( Ottawa ) Orleans, Ontario, in 1991. East Side Mario’s was a neighbour to our second store, PET VALU 118, in Orleans Town Centre.

As usual, we did an online video exercise session before lunch and a brisk half hour walk before supper. In the evening I did monthly computer maintenance and backup procedures.

One month ago I made a sizeable investment in a mutual fund recommended by our financial advisor. In one month the value of that investment has increased 4.17 % ! That is stupendous performance !

Thursday ; Sunny and very warm.

Joanne went into town ( Keremeos ) by herself this afternoon to run some errands. I phoned our local insurance agency to discuss the purchase of home insurance. < sigh > The ongoing saga of our home insurance drama ! I need to get this wrapped up soon because as soon as forest fire season begins all insurers refuse to issue new policies.

I processed the photos I took yesterday of items I want to sell. Then I took more photos ! This afternoon I placed "for sale" ads for three items in three different online classified sites ; nine ads in total. Joanne and I did meal / menu planning. 

I watered our gardens. I did a repair on our picnic table. We did our daily video exercises and our daily long walk.

In the evening I ordered some items from Amazon. < shrug > Easier and cheaper than buying them in Penticton !

Friday ; Sunny and very warm.

After watering our gardens this morning I did a very thorough cleaning of our barbecue grill. AHHHHH … looks like new again. Joanne did laundry this afternoon. And that was an excuse for both of us to visit our neighbour / friend Jeanine, who lives near our park’s laundromat.

I received numerous calls regarding my bicycle for sale. The first caller, and the most interested, was a fellow from Kelowna who seems to be somewhat of a bicycle aficionado / collector / dealer. HMPH ! My bicycle, apparently a 1984 Schwinn 5 Star Beach Cruiser, is the bicycle equivalent of a classic ‘56 Chevy. HA HA HA … who knew ? ? ?

Saturday ; 10^th anniversary of quitting smoking

Overcast, very warm, humid, a few drops of rain around lunch time. Heavy rain in the evening.

I fielded many phone calls today, people calling about the items I have advertised for sale. Most of the calls were about my bicycle. To be specific … my 1984 Schwinn 5 Star Beach Cruiser. I sold it to the first person who had called … yesterday … a bicycle aficionado / collector / dealer. He drove down from Kelowna this afternoon and was very impressed with the condition of my bicycle, happily paying my asking price, and declining to take the included items ; two helmets, a high visibility safety vest, and a precast concrete bicycle stand. All he wanted was the bicycle ! And he pointed out to me that while Schwinn manufactured the 5 Star Beach Cruiser from 1981 to 1984, only the 1984 model was equipped with a chrome kick stand and six gear speeds. The 1981 to 1983 models were equipped with only a … < SNORT > … black kick stand and five gear speeds. Who knew, eh ? < rolling my eyes >

Turned out to be a win / win / win. He bought a bicycle worth $300 to $350 for a hundred bucks. I got rid of a redundant piece of equipment, and put a hundred bucks in my pocket. And the former neighbour who gave me the bicycle for free about twelve years ago got rid of what he considered to be “clutter” in his shed. HA HA HA !

This afternoon I worked on the camper bathroom plumbing rebuild project. First step was to remove / cut out all the old rigid pipe plumbing. I had a minor accident with my Harbor Freight reciprocating saw, injuring my finger slightly. Close call, could have been a lot worse ! Maybe the moral of that story is … don’t use power tools … especially saws ... blindly inside a small cupboard ! After removing all the old plumbing I began to work on rebuilding / replacing all the plumbing using reinforced flexible hose instead of the original rigid pipes. The reinforced flexible hose is easier to work with, and most importantly, won’t crack from road vibration and flexing / torqueing.

DSK

May 17 to 23, 2020

Sunday ; Cloudy, mild, intermittent light rain during the day, heavy rain in the evening.

I got up early this morning in order to be ready to go outside around 10:15 AM, hopeful that the Snowbirds flight route from Princeton to Penticton would bring them along Highway 3. Around 9 AM the Snowbirds posted a Tweet announcing that due to weather they were delaying their 10 AM departure from Kamloops to tour the Okanagan region. Around 11 AM they Tweeted that they were postponing their Okanagan tour for a few days and were going to head to Comox on Vancouver Island today.

About thirty-five minutes later the author of those Tweets was dead.

Rest in peace, Captain Jennifer Casey.

This afternoon Joanne went over to visit our neighbour / friend Jeanine to teach her how to use her new Dr. Ho’s Tens machine. A couple of hours later Joanne phoned me to ask me to come over to Jeanine’s to help her ( Jeanine ) with her iPad. < sigh > Oh, well … Jeanine had baked a large batch of cookies for me. Fair trade … tutoring services in exchange for cookies. Underground economy ! HA HA HA !

Monday ; Mostly sunny, mild.

Did a bit of truck maintenance. Did a bit of yard work. Joanne did laundry. I did a bit of planning of my camper plumbing repair project. Joanne is making fun of me for “flow charting” projects like this. HEY … OCD can be wonderful thing ! HA HA HA !

Tuesday ; Mostly sunny, mild.

Joanne went into town by herself today to run some errands. I puttered around doing some work in our shed, and on our camper. I was searching in the shed for the source of a bad odour. I think a rodent may have died somewhere in our shed. I did not find the source of the odour. I did a bit more work on the camper bathroom plumbing repair project. Now known as the camper bathroom plumbing rebuild project. Might as well put a bit of extra effort in and just rebuild / replace all the bathroom plumbing ; sink, shower, and toilet. In the past I have never regretted this kind of rebuild / refurbishment project.

Wednesday ; Mostly sunny, mild, a bit windy.

This morning Joanne and I searched half our shed for the source of an odour, possibly a dead rodent. We didn’t find anything, but … we did get half the shed cleaned and rearranged. HA HA HA ! I did some work on the camper, but … in the middle of a very small paint touch up job, the sprayer jammed on the can of spray paint. DARN ! I have only a very small amount of painting left to do, and … I really don’t want to have to buy another can of spray paint for ten or fifteen seconds of paint spraying remaining. < sigh > I’ll try to figure out a Plan B.

Thursday ; Cloudy and chilly, intermittent light rain. BRRRRR ! This is spring ? !

I solved my paint problem by borrowing a small can of paint from ( censored to protect the innocent ). HA HA HA ! Thank you, ( censored ) !  I finished my small painting project this afternoon.

For supper I created a new version of my new specialty, Udon noodle stir fry. It was excellent !

Friday ; Raining lightly all day. YUCK !

So … with rain all day … it was time for a “day off”, so to speak. HA HA HA … although … all my days are “days off”, n’est-ce pas ? I read, I napped, I exercised our little generator. I returned the “borrowed” can of paint. I reinstalled the repainted plumbing access hatch underneath the camper. We went for a brisk exercise walk from 6:30 to 7 PM. No rain, but … very chilly. BRRRRR ! 

I measured our deck to calculate how many balusters I will need, and therefore how much lumber I will need to buy.

Saturday ; Mostly sunny, mild.

Routine household chores. Routine outdoor chores. Downloaded, reconciled, and paid May’s MasterCard statement. YIKES ! After supper watched three Palm Springs International Film Festival “short” films.

DSK

May 10 to 16, 2020

Sunday ; Sunny and very warm. Joanne cooked my favourite Sun Oven meal today, a Mexican chicken and rice recipe.

I did some inspection and measuring of our home’s water heater this morning. It seems likely that I will have to replace it in order to change home insurance companies. Home insurers seem unwilling to accept new clients with water heaters older than ten years of age. HMPH ! In the afternoon I oiled the truck’s “permanent” air filter and reinstalled the truck’s air intake system, a.k.a. fuel injection performance kit.

As we returned home after our daily long exercise walk … HUH ? There was a little brown poodle wandering around our yard. Hello ! We recognized it as belonging to our new neighbour two doors down. We picked him up and returned him to our neighbour, who was gardening in her yard. Her response was … “OH, he’s such an intelligent little dog and understands his boundaries”. < rolling my eyes > Yeah … maybe not ! ! !

Monday ; Sunny and very warm.

This morning I had a phone conversation with my new insurance agent’s … supervisor. Hopefully that will get my new home insurance policy purchase process back on track ! < fume >

Working together we watered our composters and gardens. After lunch we headed into town to run some errands. Bought some produce at Sanderson Farms. Bought some advertised specials at Pharmasave. Bought some groceries at Buy-Low Foods. Gee … groceries are SO much more expensive here than they are in Yuma !

Late in the evening I “attended” a ZOOM app tutorial “meeting”. ZZZZZZZZ ! ! !

Tuesday ; Overcast, light rain all day.

This morning I “fired” the new insurance agent ( and agency ) I have been 

( unsuccessfully ) working with for three weeks on the purchase of a home insurance policy. Notwithstanding the COVID-19 era difficulties of having to deal with everything by phone and e-mail, and the impact that has on “timeliness” … 

I can’t tolerate ineptitude and disinterest !  I started over with a new insurance agency and agent. I hope this goes better !

I did a small amount of work on the minivan and truck this afternoon. I prepared the truck for tire rotation and brake inspection work in a couple of days, removing the hub caps, wheel liners, and valve extenders.

As we do every day, we did an online exercise session before having lunch, then went for a long ( thirty minute ) brisk walk before supper. WHEW … hard work for the heart ! That’s the point !

Wednesday ; Cloudy with intermittent rain until late afternoon, then slowly clearing.

We visited with our neighbour / friend Jeanine this afternoon, mostly so that 

I could program the YMCA Thrive online exercise sessions for seniors into her 

i-pad. In the evening we watched the three hour season finale of Survivor.

Thursday ; Mix of sun and clouds, mild.

We left home this morning at 11 AM, in both vehicles, heading out for a long, tiring day of running errands. We dropped the truck off in Keremeos to have a tire rotation and brake inspection service done. We’ll pick it up tomorrow. We continued to Penticton in the minivan.

I dropped Joanne off at Dollarama then went to Rona to buy “guy stuff”. I picked her up at Dollarama and we went to Skaha Lake Beach Park for a picnic lunch. It was fun watching a nearby couple’s cat on a long tie-out stalk bugs in the grass. And … HA HA HA … a pair of Mallard Ducks.

After lunch we went to Total Pet and bought a lot of expensive cans of cat food, trying to find something new for Emma that might be easier for her to digest than what we’ve been feeding her lately. She’s been having “nearing end of life” digestive issues. From there I dropped Joanne off at Wal-Mart and I went to Great Canadian Oil Change and had an oil change service done on the minivan. 

I refilled the minivan with fuel at Mobil, then bought more “guy stuff” at Home Hardware. I picked Joanne up at Wal-Mart and we finished our day in Penticton with grocery shopping at Superstore.

We arrived back home shortly after 7 PM. It had obviously rained quite a bit here at home while we were out for the day.

Friday ; Mix of sun and clouds, light rain in the evening.

This morning I “fired” another insurance agent and agency. < shrug > HMPH !

This afternoon we drove into town in the minivan to pick up the truck at Total Performance Auto Repair after having the truck’s tires rotated and brakes inspected. As I drove away from the service garage … the truck’s “check engine” light was on. HMPH ! I returned to the garage and had that diagnosed and cleared. HMPH !

At 6 PM I watched the You Tube live stream concert of Bachman and Bachman 

( Randy and his son Tal ), the ninth in the weekly series. This was the third that 

I watched. Afterwards we went for our daily brisk long walk, then I barbecued steak for supper.

I replaced our screen door’s inside latch. I replaced the battery in Joanne’s watch. I retrieved our Bank of America monthly statement and reconciled it. Today we started feeding some of the very expensive cat food cans we bought yesterday for Emma. So far, so good. She hasn’t turned her nose up at anything. I mean … why would a Humane Society of Yuma cat turn her nose up at “limited ingredient, grain free, cage free duck pâté” ? ! ?  HA HA HA !  It doesn’t even come in a can. It’s in a Tetra Pak that you have to cut the top off !  HA HA HA !

Saturday ; Mostly cloudy, mild.

First job this morning was to trim Emma’s claws. She HATES having her claws trimmed. I did some maintenance work on the truck, including reinstalling the valve extenders, wheel liners, and hub caps after having removed them prior to the tire rotation and brake inspection service. I did a repair on the Sun Oven. This is the older of our two Sun Ovens, and is probably more than ten years old now.

In the evening I paid bills online and made arrangements to increase the amount of our monthly Snowbird Currency Exchange Program monthly funds transfer from our Canadian bank account to our American bank account.

DSK

May 3 to 9, 2020

Sunday ; Cloudy, cool, intermittent rain.

Did a teensy bit of gardening and work on the camper. Went for an exercise walk but it was cut short by rain. Removed an empty propane tank from the camper to take it for refilling in a few days.

Posted my weekly blog entry. Spent the evening working on month end investment updates.

Monday ; Sunny and mild.

I was up early this morning to have a phone meeting with my family doctor’s vacation replacement locum to get prescriptions refilled. Then … I went back to sleep for a few hours. I got up to have lunch, then … went back to sleep for another few hours. HA HA HA ! Retirement is tough !

This afternoon we received some photos of Kirby Kofa Klark … HA HA HA … known to us previously as Carlos the cat. He is obviously doing very well, and enjoying the full time RV lifestyle. Thank you, Noel, for giving him such a wonderful home … and life.

We did a small amount of yard and garden work.

Tuesday ; Happy 19^th birthday to Joanne’s niece Amelia

Sunny and warm.

We went into town ( Keremeos ) today to run errands. Refilled a propane tank at FasGas. Bought fruits and vegetables at Sanderson Farms. Picked up all my prescription refills at Pharmasave. Drove a few more miles out to Cawston and bought bedding plants at Little Bush’s Greenhouse. Drove back to Keremeos and while Joanne shopped for groceries at Buy Low Foods I went to Keremeos Home Hardware for “guy stuff”. They had some, but not all, of what I need. I bought nothing, thinking that if I had to go to Rona in Penticton for a few items that Home Hardware did not have, I might as well get everything at Rona.

After we returned home we both worked on planting the bedding plants we bought. Planting our vegetable garden is now completed. Before preparing supper we went for our daily long exercise walk. We prepared supper together ; garden salad, breaded Tilapia fillets, fresh green beans, and bacon carbonara pasta. Of course, not real bacon ! HA HA HA !

Wednesday ; Overcast, raining for most of the day.

This evening I received a somewhat unusual phone call. A woman who had “consulted” with me a few years ago regarding the purchase and transport of a trailer phoned me again, this time seeking advice regarding the stablization of a park model manufactured home she recently bought. Two doors down from us ! Hello, neighbour. HA HA HA !

Joanne did laundry today. I did a minor upgrade modification to the truck. I did prescription records keeping and accounting. I reconciled monthly investment statements.

WOO-HOO ! First perogy dinner in over six months !

Thursday ; Joanne’s 19^th anniversary as a cancer survivor

Sunny and warm.

Joanne vacuumed and shampooed carpets today. I washed the camper exterior. WHEW … lots of bugs on the front ! Lots of diesel soot on the right rear lower corner !

Friday ; Sunny and warm, a lovely spring day. Joanne roasted a chicken in the Sun Oven today.

This afternoon I flushed the camper’s water heater, flushing out mineral scale buildup, an annual chore. We did an online exercise session and took a long exercise walk. We do both most days.

Saturday ; Sunny, warm, windy.

The wind helped with our first task of the day. We walked down to our park’s fenced dog run area and scattered Ozzie’s ashes. < sigh > Farewell, sweet little fellow. We miss you.

Our community’s fenced “dog park” was championed by Ozzie’s original “daddy” Gord, then the construction of it was supervised by Gord. Shortly before Gord died a couple of years ago we “dedicated” the park to him, memorializing it as the Gordon Watson Memorial Dog Park. It was created by Gord for his two dogs ( at that time ), Dudley ( the father ) and Ozzie ( the son ). We felt that it was the most fitting place to scatter Ozzie’s ashes.

This afternoon I did an annual task that I dislike. I removed the aftermarket air intake system from the truck and cleaned the "permanent" filter. Tomorrow I will re-oil it and reinstall it.

MMMMM … barbecued marinated steak for supper.

DSK

KIRBY KOFA KLARK

We have received some photos of Kirby Kofa Klark … previously known to us as Carlos Cat … now happily living in a motorhome / travelling as a full time RV'er.

April 26 to May 2, 2020

Sunday ; Mix of sun and clouds, mild.

WHEW … what a lot of laundry to sort and put away, some belonging in the camper and some in the house. I replaced a 135 degree valve extender on the truck. I planted some tomatillo seeds in little starter pots. I already have some, started by our neighbour / friend Jeanine about a month ago, but … 

< whispering > … they’re really pathetic.

We went for a long walk, now a daily event. And we did an online yoga exercise session. We watched the Canadian food banks fundraiser TV special. We were inspired to make a donation. I posted my weekly blog entry. And did my weekly investments analysis. For supper I cooked really wonderful omelets, one of my specialties. Thanks, Mom !

Monday ; Partially sunny, windy. Joanne started cooking a roast in the Sun Oven today, but had to bring it indoors and put it in the oven when it became cloudy outside.

I made an appointment for a telephone meeting with my doctor in a week, to renew prescriptions. We did some garden preparation work this afternoon. And went for a long exercise walk. I did some minor maintenance on the truck. In the evening I did monthly computer backup work.

And we watched a French Film Festival feature length film ; Crash Test Aglaé. HA HA HA … it was great !

Tuesday ; Sunny and mild.

This afternoon I did a difficult repair on the truck. I didn’t think the repair was going to be difficult, but … it was ! We did an online exercise session AND we went for a long exercise walk. I prepared a wonderful Udon noodle stir fry for supper, another one of my specialties, albeit a relatively recently developed one.

After supper we watched a couple of Palm Springs Film Festival short films. Then, on TV, Life Below Zero Canada, followed by The Brigade : Race to the Hudson.

Wednesday ; Mostly cloudy, mild.

Routine chores. Trimmed my beard. Worked on the repair of the toilet in the camper. Plan A didn’t work. Plan B didn’t work. Plan C worked. Maybe ! Time will tell. Plan D formulated, just in case.

Thursday ; Sunny and mild.

WHEW ! A long, difficult day of shopping in Penticton. A long, difficult, aggravating day of shopping in Penticton.

Come on, people ! It’s not rocket science ! ! ! It’s “social distancing” ! And new shopping protocols ! Stay behind the line ! ! ! STAY AWAY FROM ME ! ! ! ! !

USE YOUR ****ING HEADS FOR SOMETHING OTHER THAN A PLACE TO PARK YOUR ****ING BLACK BASEBALL CAPS ! ! !

< taking deep breath > The little wifey suggests that perhaps I should stay home as much as possible and let her go to Penticton alone to do shopping and errands. Good idea !

Friday ; Sunny and mild.

I spent an inordinate amount of time today renewing the minivan’s registration and insurance. Multiple phone calls, multiple e-mails, multiple download, print, sign, scan, return documents as e-mail attachments. Perhaps the “new normal” ?

I reinstalled the camper’s glue repaired toilet seat and lid. HMPH … Plan C seems to have worked. HA HA HA … wish me luck !  I paid bills. I retrieved month end banking statements and investment updates. I did monthly budgeting. 

I reactivated our Canadian cell phone. WOO-HOO … no drama !

Saturday ; Mostly sunny and mild. Until evening … then strong winds and heavy rain.

We planted our vegetable garden and planters today. And … despite having vegetable gardens for … < calculating > … about 44 years, we still have very little confidence in our gardening skills and abilities. < shrug > Wish us luck !

This morning I cooked banana chocolate chip buttermilk pancakes for breakfast. First time I’ve made pancakes with chocolate chips in them. And it will be the last time also. HMPH ! Seemed like a good idea at the time !

I sharpened knives. I did some truck and minivan maintenance. I paid some bills online. I reconciled bank statements. I set up an online account with Pharmasave in Keremeos. And I transferred my prescriptions to them. That’s my reaction / solution to the “other” pharmacy’s profiteering ! So there !

DSK