Month: December 2009

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A December 25th Worthy of Remembrance

I really feel that Christmas is ‘just another day’ so I debated whether or not to write up about today’s happenings, then decided that they were worthy of note.

First of all the weather was incredibly mild by the standards I’m used to for this season. For me, this Christmas was truly a balmy one spent by the ocean. How idyllic does that sound?!

I worked today from 10 to 6 and it was non-stop crazy busy; so much so that at one point I had to ask the manager, who sat in his office for a few hours, to come and help me! What didn’t help was that first thing someone spilled their French vanilla ‘cappuccino.’ That stuff is basically flavoured water mixed with sugar that dries to a sticky mess. It took me an hour, between customers, to mop up the mess, which made its way deep into the cabinetry. Later, someone dropped a container of milk in the dairy cabinet, so I had to clean that up, too.

My eight hour shift flew by and I practically had to throw my last customer out the door a six. I love shifts like that! The manager had thought we would be super slow, but nope. We were apparently one of the few stores open and the only one in all of Campbell River with good coffee. I think Tim Hortons might have lost some customers to us. 😀 A lot of people came in and said to me “Oh, poor you, being stuck with this shift”, but I cheerily told them that I had volunteered for it and was quite happy to be there, which, really, I was. I just learned that I’ll be doing the New Year’s Day shift, too, which is fine with me.

After work, I headed home to change and then walked UP to my friend’s parents’ place. It was only barely more than one kilometre, but straight up a steep hill. I worked up quite the appetite! Within a few minutes of arrival I was sitting at the computer with a glass of white wine Skyping with my friend back in Wakefield, Quebec! That Star-Trekish technology never ceases to amaze me! We had a good time catching up and I finally saw how much progress she’s made in building the house of her dreams.

A wonderful turkey dinner, and too, too much white wine followed. I find that a lot of people go overboard with the food at Thanksgiving and Christmas and was glad this was not the case tonight. There was a lovely salad to start, a reasonable amount of delicious sides to accompany the turkey, and a very light dessert of cheeses and sweets. I had a lot more wine than I normally have, but I wasn’t driving, so I decided it was okay to indulge. 🙂

I think that my favourite part of the meal was the Brussels sprouts! Now, I like Brussels sprouts well enough, but I had never had them like they were cooked tonight and I am now motivated to make them for myself. They were steamed for about five minutes, cut in half, dried well, and then sautéd in olive oil with previously browned garlic as well as a minced red pepper and slivered almonds, leaving them nice and crunchy. I think it’s the first time in my life that I only had one serving of potatoes and turnips and two of Brussels sprouts!

My gracious hosts gave me some suggestions for day trips to make in the vicinity of Campell River as well as places to visit elsewhere on the Island. Some of the suggestions are for free excursions and I just happened to get gas as a gift this Christmas (a highly original idea from the gas station manager 😀 ), so soon as I get a nice day for hiking I have something fun to do.

Today was a nice, low-stress, more-special-than-normal day. I feel truly blessed.

Happy holidays to all my readers!

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Propane Sticker Shock, Once Again

I had my 30lb tank filled this morning and the cost almost a full dollar per pound. It wasn’t quite as bad as in Dawson, where I paid $40 to fill the tank, but it was still a full ten cents more than in Whitehorse! I guess living on an island is more expensive than living near the end of the world?

There appears to be only one place within a reasonable distance of Campbell River city limits to get propane; the Ocean Grove Esso station at the corner of South Island Highway and Colorado. It’s easy to get to even if it is a 20km round trip drive, so I doubt I’ll be taking Miranda out for an onboard tank fill. The 30lber will last a long time so long as I’m not heating with it, so it’s not worth the hassle of trying to get myself out and back into this spot.

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A Zanier Morning

WHEW! I did in 4 hours what I normally do in what I have thus far considered to be a ‘busy’ 8 hour shift! Our till system also went down for about an hour. The manager tried to lock the doors, but customers were persistent and I was doing well manually calculating things, so we persevered with the customers who were paying cash. Once I got everything entered after the till came back up, we just about balanced, so I think the manager was glad that we stayed open for these cash-only customers. There were a few little tax-related discrepancies because BC’s taxation system is quite different from any other I’ve experienced in this country and I haven’t studied it in depth.

I have a really hard time finding anything special about this season of over commercialism, but this year it sure is easier to be cheery about it.. Compared to last year in Oliver, this week has been pure heaven. Last year, I spent this week moving snow, being responsible 24/7 for the RV park, and being %#( upon by the manager. I also  had the stress of dealing with the continuing cold snap while preparing for my departure from Hell-iver. There was also the not-so-fun job of trying to be cheery with customers and get into the spirit of things for our potluck.  Last year I did get a nice dinner from the manager at the RV park (fainting almost ensued) and this year, to my surprise, I got a little bonus at the gas station even though I’ve been working there less than two months.

(It was also a year ago tomorrow that I moved the blog to WordPress!)

My only plans for the 25th are to have dinner with the mother and step-father of one of my best friends. What are the odds that they’d live here? I’ll be working 10 to 6 and then heading over there for turkey. If I hadn’t done that, one of my former colleagues at the gas station was going to bring me leftovers from their dinner. I might be a solo RVer, but solo does not have to equal alone.

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A Zany Morning

Normally, my 10AM to 2PM shifts at the convenience store are busy, but mundane. Today, thought, was all about one thing after another. The following are the two best incidents of the day:

Today, a colleague accidentally threw away a key component of our coffee machine which resulted in my having to mop up a gallon of boiling hot coffee and then dig through a garbage can to find the missing part. Before I’d even had my first cup of the day.

Some time later, I witnessed something I have only otherwise seen in movies and tv shows. We have had a problem with our ATM for about a week now; it won’t print receipts. Today, for some unfathomable reason, it decided that those receipts had to come out. Receipt after receipt poured out of that machine like thick flakes of snow. There was no stopping the flood as customers looked on in awe. Finally, the storm ended and the machine rebooted. I assumed that the problem had fixed itself, but no. Two customers made withdrawals and were not given a receipt. Shall I look forward to a repeat performance by the ATM next Monday?!

Never a dull moment…

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Campbell River Water Quality

The thing I will remember the most about Campbell River is just how amazing the tap water is! It is so sweet and fresh; probably the best I have ever had and apparently some of the best in all of Canada. After so many months of truly horrible water, from the chlorine sludge of south Surrey to the sanguine nightmare pouring from the taps in the Yukon, being able to drink water straight from the tap is a dream. I really can’t understand why anyone would pay for bottled water here.

As an added bonus, the outside temperature means that the water coming through the taps is very cold. I usually prefer my water at room temperature, but this water tastes even better cold, just like that lovely glacier melt I savoured on my Chilkoot hike.