Year 4 Week 1

June 17 to 22, 2007

Keremeos to Summerland, B.C. & return

Year 4 Week 1

 

Sunday ; Year 3 last day ; Keremeos to Summerland

This morning we prepared for departure in light rain. Haven’t travelled in a month and a half, and when we do finally need to prepare for departure, it’s raining. Story of my life ! We drove east on Hwy. 3 to Keremeos, north on Hwy. 3A to Kaleden, then north on Hwy. 97 through Penticton to Summerland.

We found our way to Summerland’s rodeo grounds, and the Escapees Okanagan Chapter 33 Spring Rally. We got set up and registered, including joining Okanagan Chapter 33. Farewell, Escapees Ontario / Maple Leaf Chapter 18. The afternoon was spent at “social hour”, sitting around in a large circle, socializing, and munching on snacks. The evening was spent sitting around a large campfire. I brought Teddy to sit by the campfire for awhile. Teddy loves campfires.

We met two couples that we have met before, at the Escapees Alberta Chapter 44 Winter Rally in Mesa, Arizona in March, 2005. They have relocated from Alberta to B.C., and are now members of Chapter 33. Word got out that I performed magic at that rally in Arizona a couple of years ago. There were many “hints” tonight that they would like me to perform magic here, but I was feeling ill, so I ignored the “hints”. Maybe tomorrow if I’m feeling better.

I have met, and become friends with Spud and Lady, two Border Collies who live here on the rodeo grounds with the rodeo grounds caretaker. And I’ve met ( and fed strawberries to ) the resident lop eared bunny ( formerly domestic, now semi-wild ? ) that seems to live here on the rodeo grounds.

 

Monday ; Year 4 first day & Teddy’s 15th birthday

Happy Birthday to Teddy, my baby cat. And today is our 3rd anniversary of full time RV’ing.

Today was mostly sunny but fairly cool. It's been a looooong time since I've been up this early. This morning I was up at 6:00 A.M. to be ready for the job Joanne volunteered me for yesterday. By 7:00 A.M. I was in the clubhouse preparing for my job as pancake cook. By the time I was finished cooking pancakes around 8:30, I had no appetite. The smells of pork sausages being cooked, and lard on the grill, didn't leave me much desire to eat. Over some objections, I refused to cook "my" pancakes in lard. After breakfast was the Chapter 33 Annual General Meeting. I declined to accept a nomination for the position of Vice-President, but I did offer something new for this organization, which it appears has been doing the same things, the same ways, for a long time. I am going to host an Escapees Okanagan Chapter 33 “Snowbird” luncheon. See you all on December 11 at Famous Dave’s Barbecue in Yuma, Arizona.

This afternoon we went as a group on the Kettle Valley Steam Train, adjacent to the rodeo grounds. The Kettle Valley Steam Train is an old restored steam engine pulling four restored old passenger coaches on a 10 mile rail track around the Kettle Valley area of Summerland, ending on an old wooden trestle bridge over the Trout Creek far below. It was a pleasant outing. It would have been even more pleasant if I would have been able to keep my eyes open.

After we returned from the train ride, I napped briefly before "social hour", which was followed by a pot luck dinner. After dinner we were entertained by the musicians in our group ; quite a few guitars, a keyboard, a saxophone, some ... “singers” ... and a snare drum played by an old woman with a ... well ... somewhat imperfect sense of timing and rhythm. I guess one of the nice things about getting older is one’s inhibitions diminish.

 

Tuesday ; Today was sunny and very warm. We had a really wonderful day.

This morning we joined two other couples and "car pooled" into Summerland to see some of the attractions. First stop was the Crafts & Farmers Market. I bought a cedar Blue Bird house. And I'm a bit sorry that I bought a plastic gazebo bird feeder a week ago, because the old gentlemen that I bought the Blue Bird house from was also selling his home made cedar bird feeders. Very nice, and reasonably priced. Joanne bought a few items around the market.

Next stop was Summerland Sweets, a local small business producing and selling fruit jams, jellies, and syrups. I bought a jar of Raspberry and Saskatoon jam, as well as a bottle of Maplapple Syrup, a syrup made from Maple sap and apples. Sounded interesting ! Pretty Canadian, eh ?

Next we drove to Summerland Ornamental Gardens at the Pacific Agricultural Research Centre. We enjoyed the beautiful sunny weather as we walked slowly around the grounds, admiring all the lovely flowers, and plants, and trees, and shrubs. We stopped at a Tim Horton's for lunch before returning to the Summerland Rodeo Grounds. Our driver got lost, so we took the "scenic route" back to the rodeo grounds.

Our Escapee rally group spent the afternoon playing beanbag baseball, and enjoying "social hour". Some members of the group still had sore heads from yesterday's social hour, where a couple of large jugs of home made rhubarb wine made the rounds. Joanne and I joined with four other couples and went into Summerland to have supper at Johnnie's Family Restaurant, where we enjoyed a Canadian and Chinese buffet.

We returned at 8:00 P.M., just in time for my magic show. I had been asked by the rally hosts / organizers to perform a short magic show to start off tonight's session of table games in the clubhouse. I started my show, juggling, to the music by which I learned to juggle. Sweet Georgia Brown, performed for me tonight, live, by Ernie Webster on his saxophone. That was great ... thank you , Ernie. I performed a very brief magic show, and I think ( hope ) it was well received. Afterwards, I taught a "disappearing handkerchief" illusion to Florence Archibald, who then performed it flawlessly for her mesmerized husband, Dale. Good job, Florence.

Joanne spent the evening sitting at a table with a group playing Mexican Train, the first time she has played the game. I sat at the only non-game playing table, and socialized.

 

Wednesday ; Today was sunny and hot, temperature in the 30's C. / 90's F..

This morning we lingered over the SKP rally's hitch-up breakfast, chatting and saying our goodbyes to our new Chapter 33 friends. We were procrastinating leaving because we had a 12:30 P.M. appointment for trailer service in Penticton. We had the Dometic fridge recall retrofit work done at Leisureland RV. The recall involved installing some heat shields and sensors around the burner unit. What sloppy workmanship. Of course, I'll be redoing some of it to tidy it up. After the fridge recall work was done, we did our weekly errands in Penticton, made a little more difficult because we were towing the trailer around.

It was nice to get back "home" to Riverside RV Park Resort. We fussed with the positioning of the trailer on our lot. We wanted to try a new position, to give us a better view of the river and mountains. Before we extended the slides, Joanne finished cleaning and waxing over the slides. Then I worked on removing a fiberglass repair I had done in Texas, on a stress crack in the fiberglass over the bed slide. The repair had cracked. After removing the repair, I did another repair, this time using an aluminum "Eternabond" patch. It looks okay, although I'm not sure if I can paint it. I'm going to put a little Eternabond patch on a piece of scrap wood and try painting it, as a test.

The mosquitoes are quite bad again. I think we might buy a screen tent.

 

Thursday ; Today was sunny and very warm.

Today we finished repositioning the trailer, and rearranged our yard. We unhitched the truck from the trailer, set up our new RV patio mat, and set out the trailer awning. We rarely have used the awning in the past, because we're seldom in one place long enough to justify setting it up. We moved the swing, creating a small "conversation space" beside the trailer in the shade of the big tree on our lot. We moved a cedar planter, and the picnic table. We now have the trailer positioned such that the view out the main windows is stunning, of the river and the mountain on the other side.

I spent the late part of the afternoon doing computer work. I updated my investment files. I retrieved this month's MasterCard statements. I processed the photos I took the other day when we went on the Kettle Valley Steam Train. We watched two movies in the evening. Movies based on Tony Hillerman mystery novels, featuring main characters Joe Leaphorn and Jim Chee, two Navajo Tribal Policemen, set in New Mexico. I enjoy reading Hillerman's novels. The actor who plays Jim Chee in the movies is a Native actor from Winnipeg, our home town.

 

Friday ; Year 4 Day 5 ... time to quit !

Today was sunny and warm, a "perfect" day just like the day we started travelling, June 18, 2004.

I have been writing a daily journal and posting it on my blog for 3 years, since we started full time RV travelling. Now that we've "settled down" in one spot, at least for the summers, I'm going to discontinue my journal. Our daily lives are now just that ... humdrum, routine living. Nothing exciting enough to justify writing a daily journal and publishing it on my blog.

I might occasionally post pictures throughout the summer.

I intend to resume writing a journal and posting it on my blog, when we resume travelling on November 1. Next winter we will be going down into the Baja California Peninsula of Mexico. Should be interesting !

Thanks for reading my blog. Hope you enjoyed reading it as much as we enjoyed living it.

 

DSK

Year 3 Week 52

June 10 to 16, 2007

Keremeos, B.C.

Year 3 week 52

 

Sunday ; Today was sunny and warm.

This morning Joanne prepared a picnic lunch and we set off to explore from here to Princeton, about 45 minutes west on Hwy. 3. The highway followed the Similkameen River all the way. It was a lovely drive, very scenic. At Princeton we drove around the town, checking out stores and services. Although Princeton is bigger than Keremeos, there isn't really anything in Princeton that isn't available in Keremeos. There was a small business that produces pine and cedar furniture, both indoor and outdoor. And they do custom work. I'm interested in returning there to shop, and discuss some ideas we have for a "portable" deck.

On the way back towards Keremeos, we stopped at one of the two ( well ... three actually ) provincial parks between Keremeos and Princeton. Bromley Rock Provincial Park had a small campground and a day use / picnic area. What a gorgeous place, on the Similkameen River. It's definitely a place we will return to when we have visitors, to show off this area. We sat beside the river, eating our picnic lunch, enjoying the lovely weather, watching the river flow by, smelling the blossoms on the trees around us. AHHHHH ! ! !

We also stopped at Stemwinder Provincial Park, on the way back towards Keremeos, and looked around. It was nice as well. We stopped at a meat market / butcher near Hedley we had been told about, but didn't buy anything. We turned onto Old Hedley Road, and crossed the river for more exploring. Old Hedley Road is, of course, the old road from Hedley to Princeton. We found another lovely camping and picnic area, this one operated by the B.C. Forest Service. The area had a lot of flat rocks that I thought would be good for the Inukshuk I have been planning to build. We drove around for awhile, exploring, stopping periodically to pick up flat rocks for my planned Inukshuk.

Back at home, Joanne continued working on waxing the trailer. I worked on attaching the shed base rails to the floor, until I ran out of screws and my cordless drill went dead. What a piece of junk this cordless drill is ! I've been meaning to replace it for a year now, but haven't yet done so. While Joanne prepared supper, I built my Inukshuk on the front corner of our lot. Hey ... very nice ! Joanne thought it was a bit too big, so I made it a bit smaller. Now it stands about 3 feet high, which is a pretty decent size for an Inukshuk, I guess.

After supper Joanne prepared a large bowl of fresh strawberries, and we went over to visit Gil, Maria, and Buppy.

 

Monday ; Today was cloudy and cool, with a bit of light rain.

This morning I phoned the Similkameen Health Centre in Keremeos and made an appointment for both of us to see a doctor this afternoon. I had heard some horror stories about the difficulties new residents of B.C. have finding a new physician, but apparently there's not a problem here in the South Okanagan Similkameen / Keremeos region. Joanne and I worked on calculating my prescription medication requirements for the next year. After lunch we drove into Keremeos for our doctor's appointments. The relatively new Similkameen Health Centre is quite an impressive little facility. As well as housing the village's doctors, it has a small emergency department, lab facilities, etc.. We met with our new doctor and got the ball rolling on our annual health care requirements ; a variety of cancer screening tests for Joanne, and a colonoscopy for me.

While in town we went to the Post Office, the grocery store, the hardware store, and the liquor store. Then we drove around town, exploring a few areas that Joanne wanted to see. We went to see Pine Park, a lovely, quite large municipal park on the banks of the Similkameen River. So, along with Memorial Park, where town events like Music Under The "K" are held, there are 2 quite large and lovely parks in the tiny Village of Keremeos. Well, 3 actually. Our next stop was Riparian Park, a "natural" rehabilitation area / walking trail along the river. Pretty impressive for a village of 1200 people.

On our way back into Riverside RV Park Resort, we stopped to chat with Gil and Maria. Gil was working on repairing the damage on their travel trailer caused by an exploding tire on their last camping trip a few weeks ago. Yeah ... been there, done that ! I finished attaching the base rails for the shed to the floor.

 

Tuesday ; Today was sunny and warm.

Another long, tiring day of errands in Penticton < sigh >. This morning we drove to Penticton. First stop was the Bank of Montreal to pay some bills, get some cash, and most importantly, transfer our accounts from Kenora, Ontario to Penticton. Closing one account and opening another seems a lot more complicated than it should be. Is it just B.C. that makes things so complicated ? Or am I just getting old ? We had lunch at a great Chinese buffet restaurant near the bank.

We dropped off some forms at our new investment broker's office. We did some shopping at Canadian Tire and Rona. We made an appointment at an RV dealer to have our fridge repaired. It's one of the million Dometic RV fridges affected by a safety recall. We stopped at the Chrysler dealer to buy a new wiper blade at the Parts Department. I broke a wiper blade a few days ago. We bought diesel, we refilled water jugs, and we shopped at Wal-Mart. We got home about 7:00 P.M..

I spent the evening working on accounting and mail.

 

Wednesday ; Today was sunny and very warm.

I spent much of today working intermittently on building / assembling the new storage shed. By late afternoon, it was assembled / erected. Tomorrow I will install the 150 or so screws that are required to hold it all together. And it appears as if the toughest part of the job will be disassembling the storage crate it came in.

I did some work on the computer, composing e-mails, etc.. The couple from Bracebridge, Ontario that I spoke to a couple of weeks ago arrived today. Dan and Karen Cornwell are here to shop for a lot, having spent a week driving here from Ontario. After supper Gil and Maria ( and Buppy ) came over for a visit and a cup of tea. I invited Dan and Karen over as well. We spent the evening drinking tea and visiting. Oh ... and eating fresh strawberry cheesecake ! MMMM ! Bo thought it was absolutely great that his good buddy Buppy came back for a "reunion".

 

Thursday ; Another sunny, very warm day. How lovely !

This morning and early afternoon I worked on finishing the storage shed. Yesterday I assembled and erected it. Today I had to install the screws to hold it all together. YIKES ... 150 screws. Well ... the bag contained 150 screws, but when I was finished, there were 13 screws left over. I certainly hope there were supposed to be 13 extra screws. How could such a tiny shed require 137 screws ? Joanne continued working on waxing the trailer. She's almost finished. I spent the rest of the afternoon disassembling the shed's packing crate. I wanted to remove all the nails, so that the wood could be tossed onto the park's "burn pile". Or perhaps used as campfire wood at our upcoming Escapees Okanagan Chapter 33 Spring Rally.

Just as I finished my outside work my sister phoned. We chatted for about an hour. Her new hip is great ! When I finished chatting with Sharon, I went outside to join Joanne who was chatting with our neighbour Stu. I sat down on the edge of Stu's new deck, rested my arm on my leg, and ... OW ! I lifted my arm quickly and glanced underneath. OW ... AGAIN ! There was a bee / wasp / hornet stinging the underside of my arm. I smashed it ! Take that, you little b*****d ! I didn't realize until a few minutes later that I was stung twice ! Can't bees sting only once ? It looked like a bee, but who knows ? I smacked it so quickly, and so hard, I couldn't exactly identify it. But it sure hurt ! ! ! The underside of my arm puffed up a bit, it hurt quite a lot for 10 or 15 minutes, and there were 2 little red marks surrounded by white "hives" where I was stung. And now, as I type this about 5 hours later, it hurts to rest my arm on the edge of the desk.

After an early supper I drove into Keremeos to attend a Lions Club meeting. There was an invitation in the local community newspaper inviting prospective new members to a meeting tonight. Well, to make a long, pathetic story short ... I won't be becoming a Lion any time soon. I'm sure that Lions International is a wonderful service agency / club, but the local Keremeos chapter is in horrible disarray, and is on the verge of having their charter revoked. I don't think Keremeos is a large enough village to support a local chapter. Their membership has declined from about 40 members a few years ago, to 9 members now. And some of them, especially the executive members are ... well ... uhhhhh ... quite < whispering > senile. I can see that they would benefit greatly from some “new blood” but unfortunately it won’t be mine.

 

Friday ; Today was partially cloudy and warm.

I had a somewhat non-productive "goof-off" day. It's about time. I've accomplished a great deal in the month and a half we've been here. Our lot development "basics" are completed ; site preparation, installation of utilities, yard swing, cedar planters, picnic table, park bench, and storage shed. Our relocation "basics" are completed ; driver's licenses, vehicle registrations, and vehicle insurance. Tomorrow is the "big meeting". The first Annual General Meeting of the Riverside RV Park Society ( lot owners' association ). And Sunday we leave for the Escapees Okanagan Chapter 33 Spring Rally in Summerland. When we return late next week, maybe it's time for me to start lounging around on the swing, reading a book.

Joanne went into town to do some laundry and shopping. I puttered around with some minor maintenance chores. I chatted with neighbours. I did some computer work. I registered for an RV "caravan" trip down into the Baja California Peninsula of Mexico next January. Woo-Hoo ... we're looking forward to that ! I put up a bird feeder in our big old Douglas Fir tree. I took a long nap. Haven't done much of that lately.

 

Saturday ; Today was cloudy and raining. As a result, we didn't do much of anything today.

Tonight was the first Annual General Meeting of the Riverside RV Park Society. That's the lot owners' association. The meeting wasn't quite as heated as we expected it would be, but it did leave Joanne in a bad mood. I, on the other hand, with my easy going personality ... HA HA HA < SNORT > HA HA !

DSK

Year 3 Week 51

June 3 to 9, 2007

Keremeos, B.C.

Year 3 week 51

 

Sunday ; Today was sunny and very hot, temperature in the 30's C. / 90's F..

This morning Joanne prepared a picnic lunch and we set off for a day of exploring the Cathedral Lakes area. We drove to Keremeos, crossed the Similkameen River on Red Bridge, then headed up Ashnola River Road. We drove west along the south side of the Similkameen River until the Ashnola River reached the Similkameen. The road turned south, following the Ashnola River up into the mountains. The road was a narrow, winding, rough, dirt logging road. Joanne thought that she had read somewhere that it went up into the Cathedral Lakes area, for 24 kilometres after the pavement ended. I thought I had read somewhere that it went for 32 kilometres after the pavement ended. We drove 35 kilometres after the pavement ended before we decided to turn around.

The temperature dropped a lot as we got higher and higher. We decided that this would be a good drive to take on really hot summer days when we want to escape the heat. Every so often there would be a small, unserviced campground and / or picnic area, operated by the B.C. Forest Service. There were frequent signs warning drivers that the road was mostly for use by logging trucks. Watch out for fast moving, heavily loaded logging trucks barrelling down the mountain. Fortunately, there are no logging trucks on Sundays. When we turned around 35 kilometres up the gravel road, it seemed as if we were in the middle of nowhere. But there seemed to be a fairly steady flow of traffic heading even further up the mountain. Mostly Indians in old beat up Ford pickup trucks. I guess they live up there somewhere.

Back home at Riverside we took Bo for an obedience session, then a long pleasure walk. As we passed his dog pal Spencer, Spencer wanted to come along, so we took Spencer along with us for a long walk. Joanne and I helped Mitch and Dianne replace their extremely heavy fifth wheel hitch in the back of their truck. I helped Spencer's owner Dave move a heavy mattress from their truck into their guest room. We invited Dorothy and her dog Jimmy over to visit. We sat outside for awhile, Joanne, Bo, Dorothy, and Jimmy on the swing, visiting, drinking wine, fending off mosquitoes.

Life is good ! Well ... except for the mosquitoes !

 

Monday ; Today was cloudy and raining lightly all day. I think this is the first day of rain in the 5 weeks we've been here. This is Canada's only true desert area, so the rain is welcomed by all the ranchers, orchards, and vineyards, I guess.

However, the rain prevented me from doing most of the work I had planned for today. I did clean the barbecue thoroughly. And I took interior photos of the trailer for the insurance company. I napped, as did Teddy and Bo. Rainy days inspire us to nap. I finished reading the weekend newspapers. Joanne went to town to buy some groceries.

I spent the evening working on Misty Ventures & Developments Inc.'s corporate income tax returns < sigh >.

 

Tuesday ; Today was cloudy and raining lightly all day again.

Today was another very long, hard day of errands in Penticton. This morning we drove to Penticton and spent a couple of hours meeting with our new Edward Jones investment broker. From there we drove over to Cherry Lane Mall, to meet with our new insurance broker at Valley First Insurance. < sigh > It took 3 hours to get the truck and trailer registered and insured. By the time we finished the rest of our errands and drove home, it was close to 8:00 P.M..

In Penticton I went to Mark's Work Warehouse to buy some new jeans, and use a $10 gift card we got from Safeway for purchasing $50 worth of groceries. My goodness ... I found 3 pairs of jeans in my size in a clearance bin ... for $5 a pair. With my $10 gift card, I bought 3 pairs of jeans for $5 ! ! ! HA ... beat that ! We went to Rona to order the storage shed we decided upon. They had it in stock, so we bought it today. Loading it into the back of the truck was quite a challenge, even after I removed the fifth wheel hitch and tied it ( the hitch ) down on top of the aluminum storage chest / tool box. I wonder how I'm going to get it ( the storage shed ) off the truck tomorrow ? ! ?

 

Wednesday ; Today was cloudy, cool, and windy.

This morning I sorted through all the registration and insurance documents for the truck and trailer. Sheesh ! B.C. sure makes vehicle registration and insurance more complicated than it needs to be ! And I found an address error on one of the documents < big sigh >. My thoughts yesterday while registering and insuring the truck and trailer were similar to the thoughts I've had every time I've checked into an airport counter to board a flight. What could they possibly be typing, tapping away on that keyboard for so long ? Are they typing their Master's thesis ? ! ? With that much typing it's impossible not to make a mistake !

I walked over to the trailer storage area where Ben is working, making the storage area larger, and asked him to help me unload the storage shed package from the back of the truck using the fork lift attachment on the front of his bulldozer / backhoe. He sent one of his employees over with the equipment, and we unloaded the storage shed package from the truck. I reinstalled the fifth wheel hitch in the back of the truck. Joanne did a bit of work on waxing the trailer. Bo had a great play session with Buppy when Gil and Maria came walking by. I made some phone calls, starting work on finding us new family doctors and arranging the annual medical tests we both require.

I watched game 5 of the Ottawa / Anaheim Stanley Cup finals. Ottawa lost the game. Anaheim won the Stanley Cup.

 

Thursday ; Today was cloudy and mild. A good day for working outdoors.

This morning we went to town. Joanne did some grocery shopping. I did some hardware shopping. Bo came along for the "drivey".

This afternoon I washed the truck. Joanne worked on waxing the trailer, a very time consuming, difficult, semi-annual chore. Working on it yesterday and today she waxed perhaps ¼ of the trailer. Our neighbour Stu built a wood platform base for the storage shed he has ordered. I watched how he did his, so now I know how to do mine.

I had a very productive evening. I finished Misty Ventures' corporate income tax returns, both federal and provincial. I reviewed and dealt with 2 incoming batches of forwarded mail.

 

Friday ; Today was sunny and mild.

This morning we invited our neighbour Dorothy to join us as we went to pick strawberries. We drove through Keremeos to the small village of Cawston a few more miles east on Hwy. 3. The strawberry farm was a small hobby farm with a few large strawberry gardens, some beautiful flower gardens, and assorted fruit trees around the yard. And it was for sale. We each picked a large ice cream pail full of very sweet strawberries. And then the farm owner invited us to pick all the cherries we wanted off one of her cherry trees. No charge ! So ... for 10 bucks, we picked 3 huge ice cream pails full of strawberries, and another one full of cherries. I surely am going to like living in this area !

We drove back into Keremeos and stopped for some shopping. I went into Keremeos Building Supplies and bought the lumber and hardware to build a base for the storage shed. Joanne and Dorothy went to the Post Office and grocery store.

This afternoon while Joanne continued working on waxing the trailer, I built the wood frame base and floor for the storage shed. Despite the simplicity of it, this is the first time I have ever built something like this. I really have no experience working with wood projects. Somewhat to my surprise, I managed to build this wood frame base and floor for the storage shed without screwing anything up.

The stock market crash of the last 2 days has been extremely "painful". I hope it's over !

Woo-Hoo ... Joanne made strawberry cheese cake !

 

Saturday ; Today was cloudy and mild, with a few drops of rain.

This morning I prepared the "site plan" for our storage shed and submitted it for approval to the park rules and regulations committee < rolling eyes >. I prepared the documents to request refunds for our Manitoba license plates and insurance. I prepared updated medical summaries in anticipation of setting up doctor's appointments next week.

This afternoon Joanne went grocery shopping in Keremeos, then she continued working on waxing the trailer. I worked on positioning and levelling the shed base. I put very little effort into levelling the base. Hey ... it's a shed ! I pried open some of the wood packaging the shed was packed in to get out the instruction manual and read it before starting assembly. The manual suggests that it should take about 3 hours to assemble the shed. I think it's going to take that long to disassemble the wood crate packaging ! I'm not very quick at these kinds of jobs. My experience has been that most of these kinds of jobs take me about 4 times longer than the manufacturer "suggests". So for me, this shed will probably be a 12 hour project. Not counting the building of the base. And not counting the attachment of all the base rails to the floor.

DSK

Year 3 Week 50

May 27 to June 2, 2007

Keremeos, B.C.

Year 3 week 50

 

Sunday ; Today was mostly cloudy, with a few instances of light drizzle.

Today I finished building the picnic table. Well, I still have to change a few screws that are the wrong length, and I'd like to install some bracing for strength under each seat. Joanne and I both worked on sanding it. I slightly regret using wood filler putty to fill the screw holes on the table top. Joanne programmed our important phone numbers into VoIP Wi-Fi phone. She also went into Keremeos and did the laundry. We gave Bo a bath. I did some online research into vehicle insurance in B.C..

Buppy the visitor dog did extremely well today, physically and emotionally. Too bad he's not neutered. He'd be a better pet if he was !

 

Monday ; Today was sunny and very warm. With lots of big mosquitoes ! Now that the Similkameen River level has dropped a bit, I guess there's plenty of wet spots along the river's edge where the mosquitoes are breeding.

This morning I drove into Keremeos, refilled a propane tank, bought some more hardware for the picnic table ... again ... and went to the CIBC to get some information on opening new accounts. I want to transfer our BMO bank accounts to the BMO branch in Penticton, but Joanne wants to consider having bank accounts in Keremeos, at CIBC, the only bank in town.

This afternoon I installed some bracing underneath the picnic table seats for strength, then patched and sanded screw holes. I ran out of wood filler putty so I'm not finished with the picnic table yet. I did some distance testing of the VoIP Wi-Fi phone, making phone calls while walking up and down our road. I can successfully make calls while quite far from the trailer, so I'm quite satisfied. I cancelled our June 1 appointment with Telus for installation of a land line phone.

I gave Bo his monthly heartworm medication, then administered monthly "spot on" flea treatments to Teddy and Bo. As is often the case, it made Teddy sick. As soon as we put flea treatment on him, he begins to groom it off. For some time now we've been administering only half dosages to Teddy, but it's still enough to make him sick. Poor Teddy !

Buppy is doing extremely well. He seems to be quite content now to live with us.

 

Tuesday ; Today was sunny and very warm again. Still lots of huge mosquitoes. Apparently the park is going to have somebody come in and spray insecticide along the river's edge where the mosquitoes are breeding in areas where water was left when the river receded.

Today was our weekly, long, tiring day of chores and errands in Penticton. In addition to a lot of shopping at different places, I spent a lot of the day getting vehicle insurance quotes. B.C. is a strange place when it comes to vehicle insurance. The primary vehicle insurer is the Insurance Corporation Of British Columbia ( ICBC ), a provincial government crown corporation. But unlike Manitoba, where the provincial government is the only vehicle insurer, here in B.C. one must purchase basic mandatory insurance from ICBC, then purchase supplementary liability insurance, collision insurance, comprehensive insurance, etc. from ICBC or any of a number of private insurers. It makes getting an insurance quote even more complicated than in Ontario, where there is only private insurance companies to deal with. In Manitoba, it's very easy. There is only one insurer. And the provincial government non-profit ( so to speak ) automobile insurance is cheap, compared to Ontario or here. I thought since the provincial government is the insurer here in B.C. that it would be comparably priced to Manitoba's provincial government vehicle insurance monopoly. Apparently B.C. is an abbreviation not only for British Columbia, but also means "Bring Cash".

While in Penticton I bumped into a woman I met at Guide Dogs Of The Desert in Palm Springs, California. She was an overnight puppy sitting volunteer. We chatted for awhile, about our mutual dissatisfaction with the way Guide Dogs Of The Desert treats their volunteer workers. Despite spending her winters in Palm Springs, she will not be offering her services to Guide Dogs Of The Desert in the future. Hear, hear !

When we returned home after leaving Teddy, Bo and Buppy alone in our trailer for 7 ½ hours, everything was fine. Except that Bo's and Buppy's excitement at our return was each exacerbated by the other. They acted like a pair of wild animals at the door when we opened it. My forearms got all scratched trying to stop Buppy from leaping out the trailer door.

I spent the evening reviewing insurance quotes, doing accounting, paying bills online and by phone, etc.. I don't understand how an unemployed guy like me has so much work to do !

 

Wednesday ; Today was sunny and hot ! Whew ... and it's still May !

This morning we went into town to have a meeting at CIBC regarding opening a new account there. I'm still inclined to stay with BMO. Joanne went to the grocery store, I went to Keremeos Building Supplies, and Similkameen Insurance.

I spent the afternoon mounting a pole for the Wi-Fi antenna and satellite dish on a more permanent basis than my initial, temporary installation of it. More permanent ... isn't that redundant ? ! ? Anyway, I dug a hole deep enough to bury the concrete deck block. Digging in that compacted rock slide shale is like digging in concrete. I installed the deck block in the hole, installed the pole in the deck block, shimmed and levelled everything, and backfilled. Sounds easy ! HMPH !

Patching and sanding / fussing and finishing work on the picnic table continues.

 

Thursday ; Today was sunny and hot again. There's still an abundance of huge mosquitoes.

This morning I put Teddy's and Bo's new engraved tags, with our new phone numbers, on their harnesses. We finished patching and sanding / fussing and finishing the picnic table. I spent much of the day on the telephone talking to insurance agents about getting the truck and trailer registered and insured in British Columbia < sigh >. By the end of the day, I had decided what insurance companies I want to use, and at what agency. I'll take care of that next Tuesday.

We visited with many of our neighbours today. The hot weather inspires everybody to be outdoors. Late in the afternoon Gil and Maria returned from their week long adventure to Vancouver Island. Buppy was very happy to see them !

I walked around the park with our Wi-Fi phone in search mode and found a few other wireless access points / Wi-Fi signals in the park. I programmed them into the phone, and now the phone works throughout the park.

 

Friday ; Today was sunny and hot. And there were still lots of huge, hungry mosquitoes.

We spent the morning giving Bo a haircut. It's the best haircut we've ever given him. Each haircut we give him seems better than the one before. But his high anxiety about having a haircut around the face, and the front legs, is frustrating to us. We had to muzzle him to cut the hair on his front legs.

I spent the afternoon relocating the satellite dish, and reacquiring the satellite signal. Relocating the satellite dish from the Douglas Fir to the pole I installed wasn't all that difficult. Reacquiring the satellite signal was the problem. It took me about 2½ hours, and 2 phone calls to Star Choice to get it done. < sigh > I didn't know that satellite dish aiming had to be so precise. And I only had a compass to help me, not an electronic "satellite finder" doo-hickey. HMPH ... maybe I'll have to get myself one of those, if we're going to use the satellite dish when we're travelling during the winter.

 

Saturday ; Today was sunny and hot.

Today I cleaned out the inside of the aluminum storage chest in the back of the truck. There was soil inside of it from when we hauled a load of soil in the back of the truck a couple of weeks ago. I took photos of the trailer, for the insurance company, then downloaded them and processed them on the computer. I updated my investment files. Joanne went into town to do laundry and buy groceries. We visited with neighbours ; Mitch, Dianne, and their Cocker Spaniel Brady, as well as Maria and Buppy.

I finally got an ongoing problem with our Vonage Voicemail resolved. We watched a movie ; Catch Me If You Can.

 

DSK

Year 3 Week 49

May 20 to 26, 2007

Keremeos, B.C.

Year 3 week 49

 

Sunday ; Today was sunny and mild, a bit windy.

This morning we trimmed Teddy's and Bo's nails. Ooooops ... hit the quick in one of Bo's nails again. Sorry, Bo. I spent much of the morning washing out the box of the truck. When we bought a load of soil, I tried to have it dumped onto a tarp in the back of the truck, but the man operating the front end loader missed the tarp when he dumped the soil into the truck. There was soil all over the inside of the truck box, including all over the fifth wheel hitch, and underneath the Rubbermaid tote and the aluminum storage chest < sigh >. It was tough to clean out. I even had to remove the fifth wheel hitch out of the truck, then reinstall it after cleaning out the truck box.

This afternoon we went to the Keremeos Rodeo. It was the first time we've been to a rodeo. It was great ! We watched women's barrel racing ( my favourite event ), the kids' calf scramble, team roping, and bull riding. After the rodeo, we drove from the rodeo grounds into town, to the Elks Barbecue at Memorial Park.

We spent the evening watching Bob & Doug Mackenzie's movie, Strange Brew, followed by their Two Four Anniversary Special. HA HA HA !

 

Monday ; Today was sunny, mild, and windy.

This morning we headed into Keremeos for the annual Victoria Day parade. Bo hasn't been getting much "drivey" time in the 3 weeks that we've been here, so we took him along. For a small village, Keremeos put on a pretty decent parade. We sat on a bench in Memorial Park to watch the parade. We were about 50 feet behind the crowd on the sidewalk. Bo's a bit too exuberant for us to stand right at the edge of the street, in a crowd, watching a parade, with horses prancing by a few feet in front of his nose.

As soon as the parade was over, we jumped in the truck and followed the crowd, which was pretty much the entire population of Keremeos and area, over to the fairgrounds, for the ... wait for it ... annual Victoria Day lawnmower races. HA HA HA ! We weren't sure what to expect. We didn't think lawnmowers travelled fast enough to make lawnmower races interesting. We were very wrong. These hillbilly boys out here sure do know how to "soup up" their lawnmowers ! We spent the afternoon sitting up in the bleachers, watching lawnmowers race around the dirt track that was the rodeo grounds yesterday. The highlight of Bo's day came when the wind knocked over the little cardboard tray of french fries of the teenaged girl sitting beside us. ZOOOOOM ... SCARF ! Good fries, eh, Bo ? HA HA HA !

I spent some time late this afternoon dozing on the swing with Teddy. He's become very fond of our new yard swing. I spent the evening finishing up our income tax returns, which I've been working on intermittently for the last couple of weeks. I'll only be a month late filing our income taxes, which is the earliest I've filed them in 20 years. HA HA HA !

 

Tuesday ; Another sunny, warm day.

We headed to Penticton this morning for another long, tiring day of running errands. On the way back we stopped in Keremeos for still more errands. I went to Similkameen Insurance Agency to get some information on registering and insuring the truck and trailer in British Columbia. It seems as if B.C.'s vehicle insurance premiums will be much more than we've been paying in Manitoba.

After supper we filled out more government forms < sigh > for new residents of B.C., and I reconciled the MasterCard statements. Our new driver's licenses arrived in the mail today. My goodness, what horrible photos !

 

Wednesday ; Another sunny, warm day.

This morning our good RV'ing friends Tom & Ruth-Anne Huggard, and their Scottish Terrier Emma Lynn arrived for a visit. We met Tom and Ruth-Anne just when we were starting to full time RV 3 years ago, at an Ontario Escapees Chapter 18 rally. Since then we have visited with them in Lorette, Manitoba while "living" in my sister's yard in the summer of 2004, at West Hawk Lake when we were campground hosts in the summer of 2005, at their new home in Northern Alberta in the fall of 2005, at Oliver, B.C. near here again in the fall of 2005, and we missed them by 2 hours at the Escapees Park near Knoxville, Tennessee in the spring of 2006.

Around noon Glenn the China Creek service technician arrived to install and configure my new wireless router. When he finished that, he and I both assumed it would then be a simple matter to configure my Vonage Wi-Fi VoIP phone to operate. WRONG ! I spent the rest of the day alternating between visiting with Tom and Ruth-Anne, and trying to get the Vonage phone to work. I was very frustrated. I sent Glenn 3 e-mails asking for help, each one more desperate. I even drove into town and phoned him on our Manitoba cell phone, and left a desperate message asking for help. Finally, late in the day, and completely inadvertently and serendipitously, I got the phone working. WOO-HOO ! All's well that ends well, I guess. I'd like to take credit for being an electronics wizard, but ... I can't. Sometimes it's just better to be lucky than good.

 

Thursday ; Today was sunny and warm again. How nice !

This morning Ruth-Anne and Joanne went into Keremeos to do a bit of grocery shopping. Ruth-Anne wanted to look around Keremeos. As Ruth-Anne drove their truck out of our lot, she bumped the park bench I positioned at the corner of our lot, and she broke it. Oh ... well ... shit happens ! Tom and Ruth-Anne will go to Penticton tomorrow and get us a new park bench. At least their truck wasn't scratched.

Tom and I spent much of the day working on building a picnic table. Well, Tom did most of the work. He started before I was even aware of it. And he worked on it by himself for an hour while I had a telephone conversation with a couple from Bracebridge, Ontario, who are seriously contemplating purchasing a lot in this park. They found out I was a new owner here when they did a Google search on the name of this park, and one of the links that popped up was my blog. Isn't Google wonderful ? ! Their phone call was the first call I received on my new Vonage VoIP Wi-Fi phone.

Some work needs to be done on the park's trailer storage area. The few trailers that are in the storage area needed to be moved. One of our neighbours asked me to move their fifth wheel trailer, because they don't have a truck with a fifth wheel hitch. They had the trailer moved here from Alberta by a commercial hauler. I moved their trailer from the storage area to an empty lot while the storage area is being worked on. When the work is completed, I expect they'll ask me to move their trailer back.

Late in the afternoon, Wayne, the developer of the park, showed up with a B.C. provincial electrical inspector who wanted to inspect the electrical installation on our lot. The electrical inspector's position was that it was unacceptable to him that we have a ( standard ) RV pedestal configuration of a 50 amp outlet, a30 amp outlet, and a 15 amp duplex outlet. He instructed me to remove the 50 amp outlet, and replace it with another 30 amp outlet, for a configuration of two 30 amp outlets, and a 15 amp duplex outlet.

Let me get this straight. You, a total stranger, walk onto my property, produce no identification or documentation, and want me to remove an outlet from a standard configuration RV pedestal and replace it with a lower power outlet, because you said so ? ? ? ? ? HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA ... I don't think so ! **** off, get off my land, and come back when you have the correct document, on Province of B.C. letterhead, signed by someone with a lot more authority than you, instructing me to change it, and explaining why. I'll forward that document to my lawyer, and discussions will start, at that point !

You know, I've had a lot more hassles in 3 weeks as a land owner, than I did in 3 years as a homeless, unemployed vagabond.

 

Friday ; Today was sunny and warm.

Tom and I continued working on building a picnic table again today, but unfortunately were unable to finish. For the second time on this picnic table project, I had purchased the wrong size of screws. We spent most of the day visiting with Tom and Ruth-Anne. Around 4:00 P.M. we loaded 4 people and 3 dogs into Lanoire and headed for town, for the Music Under the K annual music festival. The "K" is K Mountain, which serves as a backdrop for the village of Keremeos. I dropped everybody off at Memorial Park, then went to Keremeos Building Supplies to exchange the wrong screws for the right ones.

We weren't planning to spend as much time at Music Under The K as we did, but it was so enjoyable, we were there from 4:30 until the end of the day's performances at 9:00 P.M.. We watched a local classic rock band, a jazz band from Penticton, a Celtic rock and blues band from Toronto, and a variety of high school bands. The highlight was a superb performance by a rhythm and blues big band and choir from a high school in West Vancouver.

 

Saturday ; Today was sunny and very warm. My face looks a little sun burned from sitting in the bright sun at "Music Under the K" this afternoon.

This morning I got up early to visit with Tom and Ruth-Anne ( early risers ) for awhile before they departed. After they left, and we had an early lunch we drove into Keremeos to catch the opening act of the day at Music Under the K. It was the Sentinel High School Rhythm & Blues Band from West Vancouver. We enjoyed their performance so much last night we wanted to see their performance again today. After watching them start the afternoon's performances, we stayed for a couple of hours watching a variety of performers.

Buppy our visitor dog is fretting much less today. He even managed to wag his tail a few times today.

 

DSK

Year 3 Week 48

May 13 to 19, 2007

Keremeos, B.C.

Year 3 week 48

 

Sunday ; Today was sunny and warm.

Today I worked on finishing the levelling and compacting of Lot 89, using Ben's walk behind compactor. We walked around and visited with neighbours ; Dorothy, Stu, Gil & Maria. We both did work on the computer ; updating my blog, e-mail, and magazine subscription changes of address. I worked on my income tax. We watched a couple of episodes of Fawlty Towers. HA HA HA HA HA !

 

Monday ; Today was sunny and warm.

It's been years since I've been as angry as I was today, at the half wit Quebecois electrician. I'm retired ... I don't need this aggravation !

This morning Ben brought a load of sand for me, to finish up around our tree, in preparation for me installing a concrete pave stone ring around the tree. His assistant did some "touch up" with the huge vibrating compactor roller machine, and I did some "touch up" with the little walk behind compactor. Joanne and I prepared to go Penticton, to obtain B.C. driver's licenses, and do some shopping for planters and plants.

Half wit showed up just as we were about to leave. I waited while he and Stu, our new next door neighbour in the park model argued about the installation of Stu's hydro meter, and the necessary permits. Finally, when they were finished that argument, Half wit and I began to discuss the completion of my hydro installation, phone line installation, permits, and hydro meter installation. To make a very long story short ( it's after 11:00 P.M. and I'm tired ) Half wit and I got into a very heated discussion which devolved into a screaming match that lasted far too long until it was resolved. Resolution was easy ! Do it my way, or you're fired, and you won't be paid ! ! ! What a ******* half wit ! ! !

We went to Penticton and got our driver's licenses. WAAAAAHHHHH ! ! ! My driver's license says my hair colour is grey ! WAAAAAHHHHH ! ! ! We spent the afternoon shopping for planters and plants. And I bought concrete pave stones to make a ring around our tree.

When we returned to Riverside we discovered that Fortis had installed our hydro meter. Our lot has electricity. WOO-HOO ! Basic development of our lot is completed. We'll probably move onto it tomorrow.

While Joanne prepared supper, I installed the concrete pave stone ring around the tree. Very civilized looking ! After supper while I worked on the computer, Joanne worked on setting up our new Vonage VoIP phone which we received today.

 

Tuesday ; Today was sunny and very warm. It was a good news / bad news kind of day.

Good news ; we moved onto Lot 89 this morning.

Bad news ; the ****wits at Vonage assigned us a phone number that already belongs to somebody else.

This morning we wanted to phone our sisters to try out our new VoIP phone. I phoned my sister's and spoke to my niece. I phoned Joanne's sister and left a message. We prepared for departure, and moved from Lot 71, the lot we "borrowed" for the last 2 weeks, to Lot 89.

AHHHH ... now we truly are "home" ! Welcome !

I helped my neighbour, Stu unload his moving truck late this afternoon. He left here at 4:00 A.M., drove to Chilliwack, rented a truck, loaded it, and drove back here by late afternoon. He's leaving here at 4:00 A.M. tomorrow morning to get the truck back to Chilliwack by 8:00 A.M..

I worked on assembling our new yard swing. It was going along fairly well, then I hit a snag. A bolt broke as I was screwing it into a badly threaded insert < sigh >. I wrestled the broken bolt out, and will have to buy some problem solving hardware tomorrow to be able to continue.

Joanne phoned her sister and chatted. I phoned my sister and discovered that the phone number assigned to us by Vonage belongs to somebody else. When my sister tried to phone us earlier in the day, she kept getting "Angela". I spent the evening on the computer and the phone with Vonage trying to get that problem rectified !

I'll say it again ! You know, I'm retired ! I don't need this aggravation ! Oh, well ... we live in a beautiful place, and the weather is great.

Congratulations to Joanne's sister and brother-in-law on their purchase of a new SUV.

 

Wednesday ; Today was sunny and very warm again. Nice weather we've been having.

This morning we resumed assembling our yard swing. When we were finished, we sat in it and appreciated the view of the river and the mountain, and the nice weather, until it was time for lunch.

I tried to use our new Wi-Fi phone but was unable to access our neighbour's Wi-Fi signal. I tried Wi-Fi on the computer, and was equally unsuccessful.

We went to Keremeos. Joanne went grocery shopping while I made phone calls and bought some hardware. On our way out of town we bought half a yard of Penticton compost soil and a large bag of top soil at the local garden centre. YIKES ... turned out to be way too much ! We filled the ring around the tree, and the 4 cedar planters we bought the other day. The truck is still half full of Penticton compost soil. Joanne planted flowers around the tree, and some herbs and vegetables in the cedar planters. As we were working in the yard, a Bald Eagle swooped down low and "eyeballed" Bo. WHOA ! ! ! There's plenty of marmots around here to keep you fed, Mr. Eagle. Leave my little Bo dog alone !

I spent the evening updating and analyzing my investment files.

 

Thursday ; Today was sunny and warm.

This morning I went off in search of any neighbours who might want the half load of soil we had left over in the back of the truck. I found a neighbour with 2 wine half barrel planters that weren't filled yet. The half load in the truck was exactly the right amount to fill their 2 half barrels. While I was chatting with them, the Star Choice installation technician showed up. He installed the satellite dish on our Douglas Fir tree temporarily. It was the sloppiest installation job I've ever seen. Good thing I'll be moving it over to a post that I'll install in a week or so. I didn't like the installation technician, and particularly didn't like his $22.60 "fuel surcharge" for coming out here. I sent an e-mail to Star Choice complaining, but their response was that the installation technicians are independent contractors, and charge extra for a variety of things, including distance travelled.

While the Star Choice installation technician was still here, the China Creek Internet Service installation technician showed up. He also mounted his equipment temporarily on our Douglas Fir. And there's a huge Douglas Fir across the road from us that is directly in line with their transmitter tower across the river. It partially blocks the signal, giving me poor and slow Internet reception. I'll have to install a post near the rear of our trailer for both the satellite dish, and the Internet "radio" transceiver.

AND ... I misunderstood China Creek's equipment configuration. I thought they were providing a connection inside the trailer to a wireless router. NOOOOO ... they only install their transceiver cable to awireless router if the customer already has a wireless router. Otherwise it connects directly to the customer's computer with an Ethernet cable. Rendering our Vonage VoIP Wi-Fi phone a boat anchor ! A very small boat anchor.

While I worked "at home" Joanne drove to Penticton to do some shopping. I spent a frustrating afternoon and evening trying to decipher and comprehend electronics.

 

Friday ; Today was sunny and very warm again. We've been having great weather.

This morning I drove Joanne to the laundromat in Keremeos, dropped her off, then continued east on Hwy. 3 for a few more miles to the next village of Cawston where I had an appointment at 10:30 A.M. at Car Doctor for a B.C. safety inspection on the truck. The truck passed the safety inspection, but I had to listen to about an hour of lecturing about "need new brakes soon". Right ... give me the safety inspection sticker, and I'll get those brakes done pronto ! Yessirree ... Car Doctor could smell a thousand dollar brake job coming his way. I don't think so, Doc !

I drove back to Keremeos and met Joanne. We walked to the Source By Circuit City and bought a wireless router. Keremeos is remarkably self-sufficient, from a shopping point of view, for such a little village. I went to Keremeos Hardware and bought some hardware I needed, then went to Keremeos Building Supplies and picked up the cedar picnic table kit I had ordered a week ago. I also bought a post and some hardware, for mounting the Internet transceiver and satellite dish. I'm getting a poor Internet signal because of where the Internet transceiver is mounted on our Douglas Fir. On the way back to Riverside we stopped at one of Keremeos's many roadside produce stands and bought some vegetables.

Back at Riverside I reinstalled the dually valve extenders and wheel liners that had to be removed to do the safety inspection. Car Doctor was a real banjo playing, backyard mechanic kind of place, and I didn't want them to do it. I tried for a very long, frustrating time, to install the wireless router, but was unsuccessful. First of all, the Internet signal I'm receiving is poor. Secondly, I believe that China Creek does some kind of programming that prevents installation of wireless routers, creating a Wi-Fi hot spot all around our trailer, unless if their technician comes in and does something to allow it. Cost is $35, thank you. I need to relocate the Internet transceiver and get a better signal before I call the China Creek technician to come down and take my money.

I'm finding the effort I'm expending to get up and running with wireless Internet first, then VoIP phone second, to be very, very frustrating ! ! ! And increasingly expensive !

 

Saturday ; Another very nice day !

This morning I temporarily installed an 8 foot pressure treated 4 x 4 post, using a precast concrete "deck block" mounting base. When I have more time, I'll install it in a more permanent fashion, into the ground. I removed the Internet transceiver from the Douglas Fir, and mounted it on the post, in a direct line with China Creek's tower across the river. Ah, yes, an excellent Internet connection now ! I found a small piece of discarded fiberglass insulation near the pool complex that's under construction while I was walking Bo. It was just the right amount for me to use to finish insulating around our water stand pipe installation.

This afternoon while Joanne washed the trailer, with intermittent assistance by me, I assembled a park bench Joanne bought in Penticton on Thursday. I placed it at the corner of our property, at the edge of the road, to encourage neighbours to sit and visit as they walk by. Our neighbours Gil and Maria walked by with their little dog Buppy, and asked if they could leave him with us for a few hours while they went into Keremeos with their visitors from England. We will be dog sitting Buppy in about a week, for about a week. Maria wanted to give Buppy a short introduction to the idea of staying with us. Buppy and Bo have become friends over the last couple of weeks. Nevertheless, Buppy was not very happy about being left with us. He was panic stricken for the first ten minutes or so, then very worried and morose until Maria picked him up a few hours later. During his panic phase, I got bit ! HMPH ... little hairy mop ! I've been bitten by better dogs than you, Buppy ! And lived to tell about it !

< sigh > I spent another frustrating evening trying to install the wireless router. I finally gave up ... again. I'm going to have to call the China Creek technician to come and do it for me. Either that, or return the wireless router for a refund, return the Vonage equipment for a refund, and settle for an old fashioned land line phone.

 

DSK

Year 3 Week 47

May 6 to 12, 2007

Keremeos, B.C.

Year 3 week 47

 

Sunday ; Today was sunny and mild.

Today we drove into town to phone Joanne's niece Amelia and wish her a Happy Birthday. Yesterday was her birthday. We don't have cell phone service at Riverside RV Park Resort. We have to drive into Keremeos to be able to use the cell phone. I did some maintenance and "home improvement" projects. I updated my blog and did some more phone service research work on the computer.

After supper I took the little 12V TV and drove into Keremeos, hoping to be able to watch the season final of Amazing Race. I was able to get 2 channels in town, but neither one was the network carrying Amazing Race. Darn !

 

Monday ; Today was sunny and warm.

Today was another long, tiring day of running errands in Penticton. We drove to Penticton this morning, and my first chore there was to make phone calls. We parked in Canadian Tire's parking lot, and I phoned Star Choice to finalize arrangements for installation of satellite TV service on our lot, for May 17. I phoned China Creek Internet, the local Wi-Fi service provider, to get their opinion on Vonage, the local VOIP ( Voice Over Internet Protocol ) service provider. Their opinion is that Vonage was not very good when first introduced in this area about a year and a half ago, but they have steadily improved to the point where they have become quite good in the last 6 months. We're strongly inclined to give Vonage a try.

We returned some items, and bought some items at Canadian Tire. Then we shopped at Home Hardware before going for lunch to A & W. More returns and purchases at Rona. We phoned an ad in the Bargain Hunter advertising oak wine barrels for sale, cut in half to be used as planters. One of our neighbours bought 9 of them last week. We like them and wanted to buy 2 to use as planters. < sigh > They were sold out. Oh, well, in this area of many wineries, we'll probably be able to find them again somewhere soon. We went to see a local home based builder of picnic tables. I was hoping he would be using cedar to build picnic tables, but he's using spruce. I asked for a price to build one using pressure treated lumber, and will phone him on Wednesday for a price. We drove to Wal-Mart. Joanne went shopping in Wal-Mart while I went to Bell, then Wal-Mart's electronics department, to get information and prices on cell phone plans. Oh, for crying out loud, one needs a university degree in cellphoneology or something to be able to comprehend cell phones, plans and prices. While the salesman at Bell kept showing me different cell phones, I kept saying "no ... I just want one that goes 'ring ring', I say hello, and we talk !" I already have a camera. If I wanted an MP3 player, I'd buy one. If I wanted a blue tooth, I'd paint one of my own ! < shaking head in despair > Sheesh !

Driving home from Penticton to Keremeos on Hwy. 3A, we passed a fifth wheel being towed by an older GMC diesel, parked on the side of the highway, with its hood up. With empathy, I stopped to offer assistance. Yup ... sure enough ... it was the old GM 6.5 diesel PoS. Blown engine ! The engine had over 400,000 km. on it, and had been rebuilt only 3000 km. ago. The man wasn't pleased. I refrained from advising him to buy a Dodge. HA HA HA !

Back home, after supper, we analyzed and discussed home phone options and cell phone options, trying to make decisions on a home phone and cell phone. We made our decisions and I placed an order online for Vonage VOIP service for our home phone.

We were supposed to actually own Lot 89 today, but I received an e-mail from our lawyer advising us that there would be a one day delay, because the developer didn't sign the sale papers at his lawyer's office until very late in the day. Yeah ... I don't care. Our contractor will be on the lot early tomorrow morning excavating whether the developer is late signing or not ! So there !

 

Tuesday ; Today was a gorgeous, sunny, very warm, perfect "June 18" day.

I got up early this morning, and as I walked out the door at 8:00 A.M., showered, dressed, and ready to go, Ben Nendick was driving up to our lot in a backhoe. He trenched for the water line, and laid the water line. He trenched for a sewer line to each side of the lot, and laid the 2 sewer lines. He used 2 different pieces of heavy earth moving equipment. He sure is good at what he does with that heavy equipment.

While he was excavating, he dug up a huge, tangled mess of very old barbed wire and old, rotten fence post, buried about 5 feet deep. In the 1940's, a rail line from the Mascot Gold Mine in Hedley ran through this property on its way to Keremeos, then Osoyoos, then across the border down into Oroville, Washington. Farmers / ranchers of that era must have run fence lines alongside the rail line to keep their livestock safe.

I went to the office to ask for the keys to our mailbox. There were over 100 unlabelled sets of keys in 3 small containers. I had to take them to the community mailboxes, and keep trying keys in our mailbox until I found the set that fit < sigh >. Like an Amazing Race "roadblock" task ! Sure would be nice if somebody sorted and labelled all those mailbox keys !

While I "supervised" the development of our lot, Joanne went to town to do some laundry and buy some groceries. She got into a conversation with the owner of the grocery store. After talking to her for a few minutes, he seemed eager to discuss employment opportunities with her. Yeah ... I remember the desperate sense of "good help is hard to find".

Woo-Hoo ... perogies for supper tonight. Welcome back to Western Canada !

After supper we drove to town to phone the half wit Quebecois electrician we hired. He failed to show up tonight, as scheduled, to measure the trenching on our lot, to determine the amount of materials he would have to buy ( tonight ! ), to be able to commence his work on our lot tomorrow morning. When I first spoke to him 6 months ago, and impressed upon him that we wanted him to commence work on May 8, I thought he might be unreliable. When I spoke to him again a week ago, and impressed upon him that I expected him to commence work on May 8, again I thought he might be unreliable. Now I'm sure of it, and I'm angry !

I spent the evening preparing Joanne's income tax return. HEY ... CONGRATULATIONS to our friends Erbon and Lorraine in Ottawa who have just purchased a brand new RoadTrek Class B ( camper van ) RV.

 

Wednesday ; Today was sunny and very warm again. How nice !

This morning there was a loud knocking on our door at 8:00 A.M.. It was my half wit Quebecois electrician. He seemed a tad surly. Perhaps it was the message I left on his voice mail last night. I used a firm tone of voice, and I clearly expressed my expectations ! Anyway, we discussed what he was to do, and when he was going to do it. Maybe this afternoon ... probably tomorrow morning. I scowled and sneered, but left it at that.

We drove to Penticton for another long day of errands. First we had a meeting with an Edward Jones investment broker. He was the second Edward Jones broker we "interviewed" in Penticton, to determine if we wanted to transfer our investment portfolios from our excellent Edward Jones broker in Ottawa, to him. Unlike the broker we met in Penticton last October, this one "passed the test".

We took the truck to Parker's Chrysler for routine servicing. I made quite a few phone calls. The Virgin Mobile cell phone I wanted to order online wasn't available online, so I phoned them to find out where I could buy one. We walked a few blocks to Zeller's to buy a Virgin Mobile cell phone. We walked to Cherry Lane Mall for lunch. We returned to Parker's and waited for the truck servicing to be completed, then ran errands around Penticton for the rest of the afternoon.

I realized that I had misunderstood a question asked by Virgin Mobile when I phoned to activate our new cell phone, and I ended up with a Keremeos phone number. Darn ... what I wanted was a Penticton phone number. A Penticton cell phone number will meet our needs better than a Keremeos cell phone number will.

When we returned to Riverside RV Park it was no surprise to find that the electrician had done nothing today < fume >. We received our first piece of mail here today. It wasn't even addressed to us here. It was addressed to us c/o General Delivery in Keremeos. The Keremeos Post Office took it upon themselves to forward it to us here. Very impressive small town postal service !

The weather was so nice tonight that we took Bo for a long obedience walk before supper, and an even longer pleasure walk after supper. The Similkameen River seems to be rising daily. The newspaper had an article on the weekend about B.C. rivers being at high levels because of last winter's larger than average snowfall, and fairly rapid melting recently at the higher elevations. It's quite evident in the Similkameen, which was a meandering little stream last October. It's a raging torrent now !

 

Thursday ; Today was sunny and very warm again.

Early this morning the electrician showed up to commence work on our lot. With a lot of prodding from the excavation contractor, he managed to get the electrical work done by noon. Of course, he forgot to purchase the necessary materials to install the phone line, so he will have to return in a week or so to do the phone line. Fine ! I don't care ... we're going to use Vonage VOIP phone service. We'll only need the phone wiring if Vonage turns out to be unsatisfactory. Now that the electrician is finished the basic hydro installation, he can contact Fortis to install our hydro meter and turn on the power to our lot. Hopefully, that will take place early next week.

The excavation contractor Ben and his assistant Ed worked on installing the water supply while Richard the electrician did the hydro. By late afternoon Ben had backfilled all the trenching and had brought a dump truck load of sandy gravel, for levelling the site. We thought he might be finished today, but he abandoned our lot late in the afternoon to get started on another lot that he had promised to begin today. He knows that he has a few days to finish ours now that the electrician is finished, before Fortis comes in to install the hydro meter and turn on the power. All that is left for Ben to do is to finish levelling the site, then bring in a truck load of finishing shale, dump it, level it, and compact it.

We went to town this afternoon to run some errands. I phoned Virgin Mobile and had our new cell phone number changed from a Keremeos number to a Penticton number. We posted some mail, picked up passport application forms, then bought me a coin pouch to replace the one I recently lost. Darn ... I had just bought it a month and a half ago in Nuevo Progreso, Mexico. We went to Keremeos Irly Bird and ordered a picnic table kit, then went to the local nursery to browse.

Back at Riverside we met our new next door neighbour. Our park has a Moduline park model / mobile home franchise and had 3 park models installed in the park as sales models. One was beside our lot, and sold this week. The new neighbour is an elderly single gentleman from Chilliwack.

The Similkameen River is noticeably rising daily, and is now quite high. Ben says that the Similkameen typically doesn't crest until the May long weekend, so it's likely to continue rising for a couple more weeks. Hmmmmm ... I wonder if it's going to flood over its banks ?

 

Friday ; Today was sunny and warm.

I'm tired tonight. I spent the afternoon doing heavy physical labour, working as my excavation contractor's assistant. He worked the heavy equipment, and I did all the manual work with a shovel in the areas where he couldn't get in with the heavy equipment ; around the 2 sewer inlets, the hydro pedestal, the water stand pipe, around the tree, along the edge of the asphalt road, and around the utility access boxes at the road's edge. The basic development of the lot is almost completed, and it looks great ! Well ... great for an RV lot, anyway. A lot for an RV doesn't look like a tract house lot in suburbia. Especially since we're trying to develop our lot to be zero maintenance.

This morning Ben started bringing in dump truck loads of "rock slide" shale. Gee ... it took 4 dump truck loads to cover our lot. Our neighbour Dorothy asked if I could try to fix her computer problem. I went over to her place and was able to resolve the problem by doing disk cleanup and disk defragmentation. She didn't know she was supposed to do those things. I also helped her solve a dog urine stain problem on the carpet. Her dog Jimmy was a bad dog this morning. We went to Keremeos late in the morning to buy a few items, and to go to Similkameen Insurance to change our driver's licenses and vehicle registrations and insurance from Manitoba to British Columbia. Well, that was the plan anyway. But we hadn't counted on British Columbia's high level of bureaucracy. We have to go to Penticton to get new driver's licenses. And the truck has to pass a safety inspection before it can be registered in British Columbia. And I have to obtain insurance claim histories from Manitoba and Ontario going back 8 years ! < sigh >

When we returned from town, Ben was ready to have me assist him. He levelled first with a backhoe, then with a huge piece of heavy equipment that is basically a big giant vibrating roller. When he drove it back and forth across and around our lot, I could feel vibration as I stood on the road, and I could see the widows rattling in the park model next door. We didn't finish working until almost 6:00 P.M.. Ben left a walk behind vibrating compactor for me to use on the weekend, to finish up. After he left, I started it up to try it. Ungh ... it's like trying to hold back a vibrating, runaway train.

A few days after we bought our lot here last October, the price of lots in this park increased $5000. Today the price rose another $10,000. So before we even move onto our lot, it has increased in value by $15,000.

 

Saturday ; Today was sunny and warm.

This morning I finished tidying up / fussing with the installation of our water line. This afternoon I helped our new next door neighbour, Stu, repair some plumbing leaks around his hot water heater. The developer failed to winterize Stu's new park model / mobile home unit. When Stu took possession of it a couple of days ago, the toilet was cracked, and there were some cracked and leaking water supply valves and lines in and around the bathroom and hot water heater. The developer replaced the toilet and did necessary repairs, but after he left, Stu found that there were still some repairs necessary. He has no tools with him here yet, so he borrowed tools from me.

We went to the RV park next door called SunKatchers. They had a park wide yard sale. Joanne bought a brand new queen sized goose down duvet to replace an old, worn one of ours. The seller had received it as a gift, and didn't want it. We also bought a set of 4 VCR tapes with the entire 13 episodes of Fawlty Towers, a British TV comedy series from about 25 years ago, starring John Cleese. There were only 13 episodes ever made. We think Fawlty Towers is hilarious, and had been looking for a year for VCR tapes or a DVD of the series, for a gift for someone. We were unable, after a year of searching, to find them in any video stores, so we jumped at the opportunity to buy this used set, cheap, at a yard sale !

We walked Bo around the park, working on obedience, and visiting with neighbours. There's only a dozen or so couples living here so far, so it's a pretty friendly little community. While I was sitting outside working on the computer, our neighbour Dorothy came over to return the Natural Chemistry Odour & Stain Remover I lent her yesterday ( bad dog, Jimmy ), and to invite us over after supper for a visit. She also invited Stu.

We spent the evening visiting with Dorothy and Stu.

 

DSK