Month: August 2008

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There is No Love Lost…

Between the city of Gatineau and myself. It’s no secret that I have nothing to recommend about this backward money-grubbing city and that the only way I could have survived another couple of years in this area would have been by returning to Ottawa.

One of the biggest issues I have is the draconian parking enforcement. Here are two examples:

1) One day, I parked my car in front of my house at about ten to five during the week. The way parking is set up at my house is that I have to drive down a narrow laneway and then park in the backyard. To get to the car, I have to go down a flight of stairs. In the front, though, I only have two steps to go down. So, I had parked on the street in order to fill the car for some excursion or another. During the week, I’m only allowed to park one hour in front between the hours of 8 and 6PM, so I needed to be out of the spot by ten to six, then move the car for ten minutes. Well, with seven minutes left on the metre, a parking enforcement officer came by and told me that he was watching me and that if I wasn’t gone in exactly seven minutes, I was going to get a ticket. He could see that I lived there and was loading boxes and that there were a ton of empty spaces on the street. He could have let me have those ten minutes. Instead, he sat there staring at his watch while I shut up the car, drove down my laneway, parked in the back, did a couple more loads up and down the stairs, and then came back to the front once 6 came. He was still there, making sure I didn’t repark until it was 6:01.

2) I’m beginning to fear that I will be rushed on Saturday morning. I need to drive to North Gower, boost the coach, and hook up the car for the first time. A friend is meeting me at 9:30 to move the mattress in and I need to be out of there for noon. So, I thought that I could bring the coach up on Friday. I don’t trust the neighbourhood, so I would sleep in it with my cellphone kept closeby. That would give me all of Friday night to get the coach loaded. I called the city of Gatineau to see if this was okay and made one heck of a mistake: I told the lady where I live. She informed me that I cannot park on my street, no exceptions, not even to load the coach on Saturday. She said that she knows my address and is looking forward to sending someone over on Saturday to ticket me.

I’m fairly sure this is just talk on her part to discourage me, but Saturday night onward I am sleeping in Ottawa and I will never, ever return to this city to live ever again.

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Joining the 21st Century

I got my first cell phone today.

I’ve never had any use for such a trinket, but I know having one will make sense in the context of my adventure since I won’t be able to rely on internet access.

Canada is woefully behind the times in the telecommunications choices available, so I didn’t have many carriers and plans to compare. Also, I knew exactly what I wanted, and only one could provide it:

  • a cheap phone (under 50$);
  • no contract;
  • a low monthly fee for voice mail and a low activation fee;
  • no other costs except the minutes I use;
  • the minutes have to be good for a long period of time;
  • I can keep my current number;
  • coverage is country-wide

I chose Virgin Mobile.

The phone was 49.99$, I don’t have a contract, there is no fee for voice mail AND activation; I will be paying per the minute; my 100$ worth of minutes are good for a year; I can keep my number; and they use Bell Mobility’s coverage area, which has the most coverage. That’s the best I could hope for in this country.

Of course, there is a catch. My 100$ worth of minutes come at the expense of 30 cents per minute for local calls and voice mail checking, and 60 cents per minute for long distance calls, both incoming and outgoing. So, this won’t be a phone for chatting, but I don’t chat on the phone anyway. I can check in with my family occasionally by pay phone with a long distance calling card.

If things change and I find myself racing through my minutes, then I can upgrade to a monthly plan.

Apparently, I have free call display, too, so I can decide whether to take a call or not, saving me some minutes.

In order to ‘port over’ my existing telephone number, I have to do a juggling act with my current phone provider. VM told me to have my internet disconnect, but to keep the phone for two days. So, I’ll call on Monday to have the internet disconnected on Saturday morning and the phone on Monday.

Virgin Mobile has been a pleasure to deal with so far. Staff is friendly and knowledgeable and there is absolutely no bullshit. I researched them online and then went to speak with a sales representative. I then emailed them to confirm what the sales rep told me before going back to the store and purchasing. The sales and customer service reps I spoke to in the research phase listened to what I wanted and proposed exactly what I had come up with on my own during my research. They never once tried to sell me anything else. I didn’t even get the ‘Of you buy a phone that’s X$ more, you’ll get all these cool extra features’ spiel I was expecting. Today, I went to the kiosk and said “I want your cheapest phone and a 100$ prepaid card” and that was that. The rep didn’t try to sell me any accessories or suggest a monthly plan. After all the horror stories I’ve heard of people getting locked into contracts and otherwise getting screwed by mobile phone companies, I’m relieved to say I made a clean getaway. Of course, we’ll see how good service is once I’m actually hooked up with them and using their services. 🙂

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Extreme Makeover: RV Edition, Part Two

For the pictures, please refer to the individual room pages on the Miranda page.

Sofa Covers

My mother and her partner sewed these for me. The fabric ties in the colours of all the various woodwork in the coach, the green of the curtains, etc., and the gold of the trim while still being rustic enough in theme for me to feel that it reflects my style. You would think that I spent weeks looking for the perfect fabric instead of about five minutes of poking around the bargain section of a single fabric store! This fabric was just 3$ a metre! The big brown cushion was one my mother’s partner no longer had any use for and it matches the fabric perfectly. The other cushion with the arm rests belonged to my dad and will ensure cozy nights lying there reading or watching movies.

Solar Panel

Yes, I’m on the roof taking a picture of my solar panel.

Controller

The solar panel is hooked up to this gadget that makes sure the battery isn’t over charged. Right now, the light says ‘charging.’ It also tells me if the battery is fully charged.

What is that wooden thing on the wall by it?

Night Table

More parts cannibalized from the useless bar! The tray slides under the mattress when not in use. Simple in its brilliance. My mother is such a genius.

Inverter

Plugged directly into the battery, this inverter gives me 400W of 120V power. I can’t believe that makes sense to me.

Camera

The camera is a lot more discreet than I thought it would be.

Remote Control

For the monitor. A useless picture, but it’ll remind me that I need to find a more useful cab console for storing stuff.

Monitor

I was going to provide a pic of what I see out the monitor, but you’ll have to stay tuned for that. I got to Miranda today to find her engine battery dead. I have a theory why, but need to have it confirmed. By the time the excitement of giving her a boost (an advantage of having two engines!), the thought of getting a picture of the picture flew right of of my head.

Today, I brought a carload of stuff to the coach and actually put things away as best as I could. I wanted the empty boxes and I also needed to make room for next Saturday’s onslaught. Two things I discovered are that the huge basement pass through is full (woe is me) and that my suitcase doesn’t fit where I thought it would fit and I no have idea where else to put it (WOE is me).

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I Can See!

No pictures tonight, but I’ll have lots and lots next time I go to Miranda!

Unfortunately, Mr. Wonderful and his son ran out of time and weren’t able to install a second battery since they would have needed to run a load test on the first one. But that’s no biggie, really, since they explained to me how to install the second one. It’s something I know I can do myself since it’s no different than is using jumper cables.

The back up camera is unbelievable. I bought it on eBay on the recommendation of several RVers. The seller is interceptinc and I strongly recommend him. The system was a bargain price and is of very high quality. It included absolutely everything you need to get set up, except mounting screws for the camera. I have a huge colour monitor that can even be hooked up to a DVD player and it has sound and a remote control. I can see almost two full car lengths behind the coach and the tip of the tow bar is evident so I know how far to backup. What a difference this is going to make!

The solar panel mounted beautifully. It’s flush with the coach, so I won’t be able to angle it to catch the maximum number of rays, but I knew that going in (the gimbled mounts are pricey!). There is a new controller on the wall that tells me whether the solar panel is charging or not, and if the battery is full.

Finally, the inverter was mounted onto the bookcase between the two arm chairs. Unfortunately, I’ll need to run an extension cord from it to the back of the coach, so my setup isn’t ideal, but it’s the best that could be done with the time and resources available. I’m satisfied and thrilled with the quality of the work that was done.

Since I can’t tow yet, Mr. Wonderful’s son had to follow me behind the coach all the way to North Gower so that he could bring me back to my car (we did the reverse on Tuesday). Tonight was such a nice night, he decided to use his motorcycle. So, I got my first motorcycle ride! It was an absolutely exhilarating experience!!! I must have made quite the picture in my giant sunglasses, helmet, leather chaps, and biker jacket! That experience alone made the financial outlay on the electrical work worthwhile. I’m still grinning from the thrill of it.

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Electrical Upgrades and Sundries

I brought Miranda tonight to the house of the wonderful gentleman who, with his wonderful son, will install my backup camera and do what needs to be done to make my solar panel and inverter usable. The solar panel is able to charge two house batteries, so Mr. Wonderful (or Mr. Wonderful Jr.) is going to go pick up a second battery for me! I’m therefore covered for 12 volt power, as long as the sun is shining. I’ll still need to run the generator for the 120V power I need to run the microwave, coffeemaker (yes, I need to get a French press), printer, and AC. The way I look at it, a generator needs to be exercised anyway, so I shouldn’t fret about using it for these items (except for the coffeemaker, I know, I know!).

I am so STOKED about all this!!!!!!!! Overwhelmed as I’ve been feeling, I was going to put off having anyone look at the solar panel and inverter until I got to British Columbia. Now, I can boondock my way across the country without worrying about my 12V power. Thinking about it, yes, but worrying no. (this post was edited on June 26th, 2010, with me laughing at that complete novice’s naïveté!)

Except for my excessive hot water use in the shower (which I won’t be able to do in an RV anyway), I’m very good about reducing my power consumption. I mean, I’m currently sitting in a dark house; nothing’s on except my computer. So, perhaps the adjustment to RV life won’t be that tough, reduction of power consumption-wise.

Finally, I learned that my fridge is not only insanely huge, it’s a three-way model. That is, it can run on 120V shore power, 12V, or propane. In plain English, that means it can run on power provided by a campground, the RV batteries, or… propane. I’ve been advised to pick the ‘auto’ option and the fridge will figure out on its own the best method to run itself.

One thing remains a mystery, however: we can’t find the electrical panel. *cue in twilight zone music*

While we were going over the coach, Mr. Wonderful Jr. made me climb up onto the roof. Eeep. But now that I’ve been up there, I’m fine. I just didn’t know what the ladder was like at the top and now I do. I didn’t even dirty my cream pants clambering up and down. 🙂

Mr. Wonderful Jr. also MADE ME BACK UP INTO MR. WONDERFUL’S DRIVEWAY. I repeat. HE MADE ME BACK UP INTO THE DRIVEWAY. With his patient guidance, I got Miranda in smoothly! He also informed me that he’d kept an eye on me as he led me back to his father’s house and that I was very good at keeping my RV centred in her lane. I definitely need to do some parking lot practising, but my confidence level rose quite a bit tonight.