Month: February 2009

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Secrets

I grew up in a creepy old house with secret passages and hidden rooms and never got over my fascination with homes that are not what they seem. Nothing makes my day more than to discover a hidden corner of the place I live in. I’ve suspected for a long while that Miranda had a secret compartment just waiting to be shared with me:

Hmm.. why would this panel be held in place with four easily removed screws?

Hmm.. why would this panel be held in place with four easy to remove screws?

Today, I decided that it was time to pull out the screwdriver and have a looksee!

Aha! I KNEW it!!!

Aha! I KNEW it!!!

Well, folks, it seems that I’ve discovered the water pump and the fresh water tank!

And not a moment too soon, unfortunately. I really do have some major plumbing work ahead of me. The pump isn’t working, I have the fresh water tank inlet to fix, and there is something very bad going on with the shower as only a teeny trickle of water is making it to the shower head (a musty odour makes me suspect a leak 🙁 ). Knowing where the pump is at least gives me a place to start.

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Granville Island Disappointment

I thought I’d done my homework on Granville Island or, rather, how to get to it, and that driving was a sensible choice. It would take me nearly three hours to get there on public transit and there is ‘ample’ parking.

Well, I knew I was in trouble when I saw the line up to get onto the island. There was lots of parking, but I wouldn’t have called it ‘ample.’ ‘Ample’ in my book means enough parking in relation to the number of spots needed. Moreover, no one thought to warn me that there is almost no signage on the island, that one ways are poorly marked, and that everyone drives and walks around like there is absolutely no congestion. By the time the exit was in sight, I knew that even if by some twist of fate I managed to find a parking spot on a second or third circle around (after waiting in line to get back in, of course), getting out of said spot would require way more effort than the island seemed to be worth. I didn’t want to give up, not when I was doing almost 90km round trip, so I poked around the side streets adjacent to the island looking for a place to leave the car, but, of course, there was no parking permitted. So, I just went home. 🙁

Granville Island seemed like a lot of fun, with small artisan shops, quirky-looking restaurants, and buskers aplenty. But I doubt it’s worth the six hours round trip it would take to get there and back via public transit, so it’s unlikely I’ll get to experience it.

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Things; Some Bad, Some Good

Bad:

There was another shooting in Langley this week, a few blocks from the one last Friday, in a busy shopping area I used to frequent regularly. Then, two nights ago, there was another shooting, the ninth in eleven days, near the home of my relatives in Coquitlam. At least, arrests were made in that incident. The violence is escalating and has encroached on ‘home’, making me leery of going out beyond the confines of south Surrey and White Rock.  It’s a miracle that no innocent bystanders have been injured yet, but give it time. I remember the biker wars in Montreal in the late 90’s that culminated with a young boy being the victim of a car bombing and I hope that nothing so tragic happens here before the violence stops.

Good:

All roads seem to lead to Vancouver! It seems that I am to be blessed with the visit of a friend every month for the rest of my time here in the GVR! Two of these friends are from ‘back home’ in Ottawa and have not been seen since I left in September. The first visit will occur at the end of this month; my friend is coming to Vancouver on business and the plan is to meet up for dinner downtown on one of the two nights that she’s here. The second visit is a possible from my friend Donna, whom I met in Oliver. The third visit is from my best friend of nine years now (already!) who will be coming for a full week! She’s deathly allergic to cats, so she’ll be staying at a motel, but it will be so nice to introduce her to this area! Well, at least the part that isn’t riddled with bullet holes… 😉

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Sad News

Bob Skelding is one of my favourite RVing bloggers. Like me, he’s a little on the young side for full-timing, and believes in doing things his own way. He hit the road in a tiny home-made RV pulled by four draft horses.

His dream was cut short abruptly on February 10th when he was struck from behind by an 18 wheeler cresting a hill. Two of Bob’s horses were killed, two are being cared for by a local veterinarian, Bob is in critical care in hospital, and his RV has been totaled.

I don’t know if Bob’s story is over or if this incident will just be a chapter of his own great big adventure, but I am sad tonight. I am thinking of a kindred soul who dreamt of a simpler life and a slower pace and whose dream was crushed by the realities of the modern world. I wish him a speedy recovery of both body and soul.