October 3 to 9, 2010

October 3 to 9, 2010


Monday ; Well, I now have an “endorsement 51” on my driver’s license, “qualifying” me to tow a large, heavy trailer ! Yeah … big deal !

While I went to Penticton with the trailer for my road test, Joanne spent a cold fall morning in the gazebo with Bo and Sully. I left at 7 AM and returned at 11 AM. Sully wasn’t happy ! And Joanne had to miss a day of work … and wages !

For the road test I had to work very hard to suppress the large chip on my shoulder. And I succeeded. But … what a condescending p***k the examiner was ! ! ! When we completed the road test, he advised me that I had passed, and qualified for an endorsement 51, then proceeded to give me his “evaluation”. Want to know what his “professional” criticisms were ? ? ?

• I did not check that the truck had a front license plate !
• I did not check that the truck had a rear license plate !
• I did not check that the trailer had a license plate !
• I did not check that the truck had a fuel cap !

Well, **** me ! ! ! ! !

Wednesday ; HMPH … whacked another pack rat overnight. EEEEEUUUUUWWWWW … not a “clean kill” !

This morning Joanne had a tour bus pull into her fruit stand. A tour bus with 51 “senior” Chinese tourists who wanted a “tour” of the orchards behind the fruit stand. Okay ! Then over the next hour they proceeded to buy over $3000 worth of fruit, mostly apples ! The bus driver is returning with another bus load on Monday. Joanne’s boss is going to arrange for a second cash register and additional staff for Monday !

Today I worked on bolting our safe into the closet floor. I’ve always been a bit bothered by the fact that our safe is not bolted into the floor. I’d hate to have some punk who breaks into the trailer just lift up our safe and walk away with it. So … problem solved !

Thursday ; HMPH … pack rat no. 3 !

DSK

September 26 to October 2, 2010

September 26 to October 2, 2010


Wednesday ; ****ing pissant low level bureaucrats !

< sigh > This morning after driving Joanne to work in Cawston, I hitched the trailer to the truck and headed to Penticton for my “endorsement 51” road test. Which I failed … sort of. I’m not certain they classified it a “fail”. I think it was classified as a “termination due to mechanical failure”. HMPH … same effect ! ! ! I have to do it again !

I never got beyond the initial pre-trip “walk around inspection”. I never got out of the parking lot ! The trailer’s breakaway safety cable and switch chose today to “die”. Talk about Murphy’s Law ! After the “termination” of the road test due to mechanical failure, which was reasonable, I spent an hour in the parking lot repairing the switch. I removed the breakaway switch, dismantled it, found it full of dust and dirt, cleaned it, lubricated it, reassembled it, reinstalled it, et voilà … it works like new ! How frustrating !

But the real problem was … the two arguments I had with the examiner. The first one started even before the inspection began. He objected to my use of a checklist. He insisted that I perform a pre-trip inspection without the use of a checklist. I refused. I told him I wouldn’t dream of operating an aircraft without the benefit of checklists, and I felt the same way about operating a big truck and trailer rig. I refused to do it his way, declaring it unsafe. The road test is a proficiency test, not a memory test ! I told him I would not comply with his requirement as I felt it jeopardized safety. We argued for twenty ****ing minutes ! ! ! Finally, he stormed back into the building and phoned his boss. Who very reluctantly allowed me to use my checklist. Score one for me, although only temporarily.

When I opened the trailer for the “interior” part of the inspection, he was stunned that Bo and Sully were in the trailer. He said that pets were not permitted to be in the trailer during the road test. BULLSHIT ! Show me a regulation, or a policy, or anything written to support that ! Or demonstrate to me how their presence inside the trailer could possibly be construed as a safety hazard to him or me or anybody else ! And if you can’t … go phone your boss again. HA … score a second point for me !

Much later in the afternoon I had a phone conversation with his boss to discuss a rescheduling of the road test. And to discuss the checklist and pet issues. I demanded to see something written to support his contention that
( a ) the use of a checklist is not permitted and ( b ) pets are not permitted to be in the trailer during the road test. He will “look” for that, but in the meantime, if I succeed in getting the test rescheduled quickly, before he “finds” such documentation … no checklist, and no pets ! HMPH … score no points for me ! ! !

Thursday ; Happy 14th birthday to Sully

We got Sully one year ago at the BC SPCA shelter in Penticton. When he went into the shelter some six weeks earlier, he had been described as 12 or 13 years old. So we declared the day we got him to be his 13th birthday. We’re very pleased to have him, and glad that we were able to give him a well deserved “second chance” by adopting him. He’s a sweet fellow !

First thing this morning I phoned the driver examination supervisor to finalize discussion regarding rescheduling of my road test … and continue the arguments about the use of a checklist and the dog and cat being in the trailer. I couldn’t win ! I gave up ! I decided that “you win some, you lose some”. I’ve lost more important battles with more important people. In the overall scheme of things, this one’s not that important. Move on, Daniel
< last little bit of fuming >. My road test is rescheduled for Monday morning. Early ! ! !

I spent the day at home, drinking purgative to cleanse my large intestine to prepare for tomorrow’s colonoscopy. HO HO HO … what a lot of fun this purging / cleansing process is ! ! ! ! !

Friday ; So … today I had a colonoscopy and … finally … whacked a pack rat ! HA HA HA !

Early this morning we headed for Penticton where Joanne dropped me off at the hospital then went to run errands for half a day. My colonoscopy went … as well as a colonoscopy can go, I guess. I have now had two colonoscopies in British Columbia, and both were astoundingly less discomforting ( read that “tortuous” ) than the many colonoscopies I had in Ontario. The difference seems to be the sedating / anaesthetizing drugs used. Today my colon seemed to be in better shape than at any time in the last twenty years.

I spent the afternoon sleeping and recovering at home. After I got up late in the afternoon Joanne pointed out to me that … I had a dead pack rat to deal with. WOO-HOO … finally gotcha !

DSK

September 19 to 25, 2010

September 19 to 25, 2010


Wednesday ; Another gorgeous fall day ! Well … every day I have been baiting and setting a rat trap between our storage shed and the rock wall, hoping to trap a pack rat. And every morning I discover that … I’ve whacked another mouse ! < sigh > Catching mice in a rat trap is akin to swatting flies with a baseball bat, n’est-ce pas ? ! ?

Joanne has been unable to shake the cold she caught about two weeks ago. She’s still pretty sick ! I’m finished with the application of Efudex on my nose. My nose is raw and sore !

I have just returned from riding my bicycle around the park ( at 7 PM ). There was a black bear at our “burn pile” area. Bears have been spotted a few times around the park this week. They’re here for the wonderful apples and ripe plums in the park’s orchard, no doubt.

Saturday ; Well … that was certainly … unexpected ! My brother, who hasn’t spoken to me for somewhere between ten and fifteen years, phoned tonight to invite us to his home in Kelowna for Thanksgiving dinner ! I don’t know quite what to make of that ! I wasn’t able to accept his invitation because of Joanne’s job. She is committed to working every day of the Thanksgiving long weekend. As an alternative, I invited him and his family to come here for Thanksgiving. He’ll get back to me. < shrug >

DSK

September 12 to 18, 2010

September 12 to 18, 2010


Tuesday ; Today was a lovely fall day, perfect “June 18” weather. After seven weeks it appears as if the Tweddle Creek fire is finally out. There are no more wisps of smoke rising off the mountain. But … I’ve been wrong before ! Today was Joanne’s first day off after working for eight straight days. And she was sick with a cold for the last few. She felt a bit better this morning, but faded rapidly this afternoon. Today I completed the installation of a new thermostat in the trailer, a project that I have been working on for a few days. Well done, Daniel ! I was not able to buy an identical replacement, so had to install a “compatible” substitute. Right ! Good luck with that ! Seven wires coming out of the wall, six of them connected to the old thermostat, eight terminals on the new thermostat, only four wires needed to be connected on the new thermostat ! ! ! Lots of Internet research, a couple of phone calls to the RV dealer that sold me the “compatible” substitute, and a bit of trial and error, with the hope that my trial and error would not result in an error that “fried” the electronics of the thermostat ! I also completed my research into available travel medical insurers, policies, and options, an annual exercise that doesn’t seem to get any easier as the years go by.

Saturday ; OOOOOWWWWW ! For the last twelve days I have been applying Efudex to my nose. Efudex is a “chemical peel” type of cream used to treat skin cancers like Basal Cell Carcinoma and Squamous Cell Carcinoma and pre-cancerous sun damaged skin lesions like Actinic Keratosis. Efudex “finds” damaged skin and slowly “burns” it. I thought I had just one small spot of Actinic Keratosis on my nose, but noooooo … ! ! ! My entire nose is one huge raw wound, especially where my eyeglass nose pads sit ! It hurts like hell to wear my glasses, which I have to do most of the time if I want to see anything ! I knew that falling asleep on that beach in Cuba about fifteen years ago was going to come back to haunt me !

There has been a bit of an influx of pack rats in our area this fall. There is “evidence” of a pack rat in the small space between our storage shed and the rock wall. I use that space to store some pieces of lumber and other stuff. I don’t want a pack rat setting up “home” in our storage shed for the winter. Yesterday I bought a rat trap in Penticton. This morning the trap was sprung, the bait was gone, but … no pack rat in the trap. HMPH !

Joanne is still suffering with a cold, although the worst has passed.

DSK

September 5 to 11, 2010

September 5 to 11, 2010


Sunday ; The owner of Dave’s Fruits & Veggies in Keremeos, and Lidder’s Fruit Stand in Cawston, phoned this morning to ask that Joanne start work tomorrow at their Cawston fruit stand.

Tuesday ; Well, today I reached the milestone of 100 days without smoking. I wanted to reach the 100 day point before “publicly” announcing my efforts to quit smoking. Congratulations, Daniel !

Thursday ; Whew … I’m tired. I drove Joanne to work early this morning … to Cawston … she’s working the Cawston fruit stand this week … drove home, showered, drove to Penticton, shopped and ran errands for half the day, went to a doctor’s appointment … met the surgeon who will perform my colonoscopy in a few weeks … shopped for another half a day, then drove back to Cawston to pick up Joanne at work. I was half an hour late !

Friday ; AAARRRGGGHHH … we’ve just run out of peanut butter from Peanut Patch in Yuma, Arizona ! We spent the evening in Penticton, at the residence of the owners of RV Days, at an end of season staff party. It was obvious that they were satisfied with our performance this summer, and they have invited us to work for them again next summer. < sigh > Joanne has a cold.

Saturday ; Well … that’s four hours of my life that I’ll never get back ! I spent four hours … and a $10 entry fee … at a local community garage sale today trying to get rid of some unwanted stuff. I sold four items for a total of $32
< sigh >. Joanne is quite ill with a cold. My sister phoned this afternoon and we had a nice long chat. AND … < sputter > … there is still one spot near the top of the mountain that is puffing out wisps of smoke ! ! !

DSK

August 29 to September 4, 2010

August 29 to September 4, 2009


Sunday ; The Tweddle Creek fire has now spread almost all the way to Keremeos. It started 4½ weeks ago about 9 km. west of Keremeos, and has slowly spread east almost all the way to the village. Fortunately it has mostly burned high up on the mountain ridges, and has burned down slope towards the river valley in only a few spots. The Village of Keremeos isn’t in any danger … but it sure is smoky in town !

Monday ; It rained quite a bit late last night. We were hopeful that it might extinguish the Tweddle Creek fire. This morning when I went outside and looked up on the mountain … not only was the fire still burning …. but now there was … < sputter > … snow on top of the mountain ! ! !

Tuesday ; It rained all day today. Can the fire still be burning ?

Wednesday ; It rained for most of today. When the rain stopped and the sky cleared in late afternoon … WOO-HOO … after burning for five weeks the fire was out ! ! !

Thursday ; Well … I guess I stand corrected ! ! ! Obviously, where there’s smoke, there’s fire ! And today there were a few spots on the mountain where wisps of smoke were rising. This afternoon a spotter helicopter showed up, followed a few minutes later by a small “bird dog” plane right in front of a tanker plane. Guided by the bird dog, the tanker dropped fire retardant on the mountain in three places. YIKES … watching them work makes me cringe ! They left, headed northeast, then returned in about an hour to dump three more times. I guess the tank holds enough retardant for three dumps, or there are three tanks, then they have to return to Penticton Airport to be refilled.

Friday ; We were expecting tomorrow to be our last day of trailer delivery work, but this morning Marty from RV Days phoned to advise us that due to cancellations he didn’t have any work for us tomorrow. DARN ! We are $15 short of my trailer delivery annual earnings target.

Saturday ; Well … doggone it … there are still a few tiny spots on the mountain puffing up wisps of smoke ! ! !

DSK

August 22 to 28, 2010

August 22 to 28, 2010


Monday ; I went to see a doctor today for a follow up visit about the actinic keratosis / basal cell lesion on my nose. HMPH … because of “summer substitutions” I have now seen three different doctors about this pre-cancerous skin problem. And each one wants to treat it differently ! ! ! There’s no continuity of care / treatment plan. I’m not going in any more unless if my “real” doctor is available.

Wednesday ; WHEW … the temperature was 97 degrees at 5 PM when we were driving home from Osoyoos. Today was likely the last hot day of summer. We worked today, delivering one trailer in Osoyoos. And since we had only one trailer to deliver, we took the opportunity to cross the border into the U.S. to shop for groceries at Prince’s in Oroville, Washington.

The Tweddle Creek fire continues to burn. It’s now been burning for four weeks ! It’s covered a lot more area in the last week but is currently burning fairly slowly and weakly.

Thursday ; Well, they found the Piper aircraft that has been missing for the last week and a half. It’s in a smoking hole near the top of Apex Mountain, the local “ski hill”. We live at the bottom of the “back” side of Apex Mountain. When I took the Mountain Performance Flying course, an entire lesson was dedicated to having the student prove to himself ( with an instructor in the passenger seat ) that it was not possible to fly over Apex Mountain ( and many other mountains ) by flying straight at it. The rapid rise in terrain makes it impossible to “out climb” Apex Mountain. Especially on hot summer days
( when the air density diminishes the airplane’s ability to climb ), at maximum weight ( four bodies on board and full fuel tanks ) ! I guess the recently licensed … and recently deceased … Piper pilot had not been taught that ! This was the second airplane crash on Apex Mountain this summer ! And … if my memory of statistics studied during my Mountain Performance Flying ground school serves me correctly … this was the ninth fatal aircraft crash on Apex Mountain in the last twenty years !

We went to Penticton today. I dropped Joanne off at Wal-Mart then went to the Service BC office to write the endorsement 51 written test. I’ve decided I should get an endorsement 51 on my driver’s license. One never knows when one might want to … < ahem > … tow a large, heavy recreational trailer. BC requires that one have a “specialized endorsement” on their driver’s license to … < ahem > … tow a large, heavy recreational trailer. On the other hand, here in BC, any moron who can pass a regular driver’s test in a Toyota is then qualified to drive a 40 foot long, 40,000 pound motor home … with a full sized vehicle towed behind … as long as the motor home doesn’t have air brakes ! I passed the endorsement 51written test. So … I now have a large, heavy recreational trailer “learner’s permit”. HA HA HA < SNORT > HA HA !

Friday ; I went into Keremeos this morning for my second and hopefully last physiotherapy session for my sore left shoulder. The Tweddle Creek fire continues to get blown further and further east towards the village. It is now burning on the mountain behind Red Bridge close to the village.

Saturday ; BRRRRR … it was cold this morning. In just a few days the temperature has gone down 50 degrees, from the high 90’s to the high 40’s ! We drove a lot of miles for work today, from Keremeos to Penticton to Summerland to Penticton to Osoyoos to Oliver and finally, back home to Keremeos. We took a “short cut” on the way home, driving a scenic back road over the mountains from Hwy. 97 near Okanagan Falls to Hwy. 3A near Twin Lakes. White Lake Road passes by the Dominion Radio Astrophysical Observatory … and the Penticton SPCA Pet Cemetery, which we had never seen before. We stopped and took a look. What a lovely place, deep in the forest on a mountain slope. We’ll have to remember that place when Sully’s or Bo’s time comes.

DSK