Month: November 2008

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Fun With Propane (or Not)

I ran out of propane last night. *rereads that* Okay, that sounds bad. I did run out of propane, but this was calculated. I knew I was on the last dregs of the tank, and wanted to get right to the end so I could better estimate my usage for winter. By my calculations, I would be going through a full tank by February, so I’d need to fill up again. That would mean having to unhook everything twice in order to drive the two blocks round trip to the propane fill up station since no one delivers propane directly to motorhomes in this area! The other option was to rent a large tank, but the cost was insane and there was no way I would use every last drop of propane in that tank. So, I finally decided to use an Extend-A-Stay adapter to hook up an external, BBQ-type, propane tank to the rig.

I located one of these adapters in Osoyoos, about twenty-minutes south of Oliver. I finish at noon now at the nursery, so the plan was to drive down there, pick up the part, pick up a tank of propane, and then spend at most an hour installing everything. At the RV parts store, I asked the clerk if I had the right hose and he said I did. So, I went on to get propane. I found out that there is a taller, skinnier tank for motorhome use that holds 30lbs of propane.

By the time I got home, I’d already spend 210$.

I examined my tank and the instructions and suspected that I might not need to Extend-a-Stay, but that, either way, I didn’t have the right hose.

So, back to Osoyoos I went where the clerk confirmed that I did need the Extend-a-Stay, but had the wrong hose. He sold me another one. 45$ more.

Got home and spent a brutally cold half hour installing the Extend-a-Stay. It was very hard because the fittings on the tank had never been taken apart, but I finally got it installed and then I went to install the hose.

It’s still the wrong hose.

So, now I have to go all the way back to Osoyoos to get yet another hose, and I have no hot water or stove. Some people in my life will tell me that serves me right for waiting till the last minute to get my propane, but if the guy had sold me the correct hose, I would have been done by 2:30 this afternoon!!!

Tomorrow, I’m going to speak with a manager if there is one on site and see if they would be willing to give me the hose since my research tells me it should have been included in the cost the Extend-a-Stay anyway.

Oh, well, it was a good excuse to treat myself to dinner for the first time since I can remember (very unusual for me as I’m a restaurant fiend!) and now I get to try the resort’s very nice (but not nearly as nice as Miranda’s) shower. 🙂

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So, What’s a Grey Cup and Why Have a Party For It?

Today, I hosted a Grey Cup party in our new clubhouse. I had purchased English muffins and pizza sauce and invited guests to bring their favourite toppings. With everything that’s been going on, I clean forgot to get my own toppings! Well, I needn’t have worried as the guests were all insistent that I partake of whatever goodies they brought from pastries to mozzarella to some wine that could just about convert me from beer (just about).

I’m not into football at all. The closest I’ve ever really come to the sport was playing rugby on snowshoes in high school. So, I really dreaded spending three or four hours hosting this party, but the conversation was good, and the handful of guests who showed up really got in the spirit of things making me feel much more appreciated than I have in the past couple of weeks. One guest in particular was very chilly the first time I met her and now she has just about adopted me, much to my amusement.

So, Calgary 22, Montreal 14. BOO.

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Writing

I’ve always enjoyed writing. There was even a time when I would have considered the hobby a passion. After years of writing huge papers on topics that didn’t interest me, I forgot about how much fun it is to write about something that does interest me, like RVing. Which is when I finally clued in to what I want to be when I don’t grow up: a full-time RVer earning a living through her writings! Others do it, why not me? Lightbulb on!

I also realised that I’m in the perfect place to actually focus on going about this–rent is taken care of, but I’ve got the other bills to pay and jobs are scarce. It’s good motivation to take a few risks and pen a few words.

I’ll let you in on a little secret: I’m already making money from my RV writings. The amounts are jokes (I’ll admit to averaging 2 cents per day with one revenue source, LOL!), but they don’t have to be. It’s time that I be a bit more open about my intentions for this blog and how my readers can help me realise my dream, and this without spending any money.

While Travels With Miranda, both the blog and the website, will always offer free content, I’m no longer going to shy away from pointing out ways in which readers can support Travels so that I can continue to provide new and interesting reading material. I’m pretty sure that tales of travel to such exotic locations as the Walmarts of northern Ontario are much more interesting to read about than complaints about work (they’re definitely much more interesting to write about!).

The easiest way to help support this blog is to click on an ad in the sidebar each time you visit, but if you want to outlay some money, directly or not, I’ve detailed other ways of offering support.

Many thanks to 50 or so unique visitors to this blog every single day. This number grows each week, and makes me believe that I’m not writing to the wind and that my dream is achievable!

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and Kabooms

Making tea this evening, I was presented with a reason why some people could be put off from cooking on an RV stove. I face this reason regularly, but tonight it was particularly spectacular.

When I light a burner, I turn on the gas to lite/hi and then turn the sparker. Said sparker has been acting up again as the knob is loose. After three tries, I gave up and reached for the lighter.

Of course, a bit of propane had accumulated by this time, so there was an impressive explosion when I lit the burner. This happens occasionally and it doesn’t faze me as I’m used to cooking with propane.

I wasn’t ten years ago, however, and as I made tea tonight, I was transported back to Aviemore, Scotland, on June 15th, 1998. It was a cold and wet Monday night and I was craving soup. As I was doing the youth hostel circuit, I’d been lugging groceries and making my meals, but this was my first time encountering a gas stove that needed to be lit with matches. I put on quite a show for my fellow hostelers, what with my startled scream and falling on my butt. Ah, my first KABOOM. It was unforgettable.

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Kablooeies

Ah. Every time I get smug about some RVing aspect or another, I make a goof that gives me a good dose of humility!

I’ve been running two heaters on my 30A without any issue. I can even run the microwave when the two are going.

This morning, I decided to vacuum the coach (I must be coming down with something). Only one heater was plugged in, so I decided that I was okay to run the vacuum. Why bother pulling out the manual to see how many amps it draws. It can’t possibly run more amps than a microwave and two space heaters combined, right?

I’m just glad that I blew a breaker, not a fuse.

For the record, I use a Black & Decker HV9010P Retriever Pet-Series Cyclonic-Action Corded Dustbuster and Blower that works very well… and draws 6.25AMPs. Add that to the 12.5A drawn by the space heater we’re already at 19, and then add the computer and, waitaminute, we’re still nowhere near 30A.

Which brings me to the second thing I learned: the outlet above the bed in the backroom and the outlet above the fridge in the kitchen are on the same circuit, which my 19A apparently overloaded. Hence the kablooey.

There’s never a dull day when you’re RVing.