Month: September 2010

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Just Waiting on a Package

I only have a few things left to do to be ready to leave tomorrow: put away the computers, charge the truck battery, water the house batteries, empty the black tank, take on water, and do a clean up of my site. The car has been loaded with the bike, propane tank, and kayak, which will make tomorrow so much easier. I just hope my package is here! Canada Post said it would take three days. I estimated six. It’s been twelve. I have no comment. 😀

I’ll go check the mail just before noon since that’s my cutoff for leaving and will also wait until I know for sure that I’m leaving before putting away the computers. If I end up staying in Dawson an extra night, I might as well get some work done on them.

I spoke with the post office here regarding my change of address and their solution is exactly what I had in mind. I will keep open my box here but give the key to a friend. Once I have a box open in Whitehorse I will effect a permanent change of address via the Canada Post website. A week later, I will have my friend empty my box and forward me the contents then I will fax the post office here a request to close the box. My friend will then return the key for me.

Tonight, I’ve been  getting to know my new computer. I have successfully migrated over my Firefox, and iCal information, but I missed a folder for Address Book. Part of Mail seems to be work; but for some reason my newest messages are not downloading from the server. Transferring the Mail folder is always a nightmare; I know I inherited some bugs from when I went from my G3 to my iMac but I’m not sure how to resolve the issue and losing five years worth of mail is not something I’m willing to do!

Joke is on me–Firewire has changed since I got the iMac and the cable I have does not work with the Macbook Pro. I’m not falling into that trap again, that of spending a fortune on a cable I’ll only need once, and will simply use the external hard drive as a go-between.

Speaking of external hard drives, I bought a 250GB drive last year since that’s all I needed to back up the iMac and the terabyte drives were exorbitantly priced. Now, the terabyte drives are quite cheap so I will begin to acquire a few and move my movies to them. I still want to keep the originals, of course, but it’ll be so much easier to access the movies from a hard drive and there will be less risk of irreparably damaging the discs.

I’m off to bed in the hope that tomorrow will be a very, very full day…

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My New Computer Has Arrived!

The Canada Revenue Agency dinged me with 12% tax on the computer (nearly $300), so I’m glad that it’s a business expense and that I will be able to claim a lot of that back on my taxes!

I’ve already reinstalled OSX on it and am now working at getting the bundled software onto it.

I’m heaps more Mac savvy than I was when I got the iMac, so I suspect that this time the transfer to a new machine will be a lot easier. Also, I’m going from Intel to Intel, which will make a big difference since I can connect the two computers via a Firewire cable.

The 17″ size does not feel as ‘huge’ as a lot of people make it out to be. I’ve only just started on it, but it feels ‘just right’ to me; a perfect compromise. The trackpad is a lot easier than I thought it would be and the keyboard isn’t bad although I will miss my number pad, maybe enough to justify the purchase of an external one.

Going to a notebook will require me to change some of my habits (eg. eating while at the computer is a lot more dangerous when it’s not just a keyboard under your food!), but I think it’s a positive change that will give me a lot more flexibility on the road.

I’m still hoping to leave tomorrow, but I’m expecting another package; a soft protective case for the Macbook Pro, for which I do not have a tracking number. For all I know, it’s in Winnipeg. 🙂

I’m going to finish prepping Miranda’s inside, leaving myself only an hour’s worth of work for tomorrow in case the package miraculously shows up. Departure can’t be any later than noon if I want to arrive in Whitehorse at a reasonable hour and mail doesn’t always get sorted early, so I’ve decided to be okay with a very early Wednesday departure.

Next step, to see if Angus connects to the internet via my aircard….

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Getting Ready to Leave. Sort Of.

Departure from Dawson is still slated for late morning/noonish on Tuesday, but you’d never guess that from the state Miranda is in right now! Plus, I’m awaiting two packages, the most important of which is my new computer. USPS got it to Canada quickly and customs processed it efficiently, but Canada Post is of course putting the snail into snail mail. It’s been in Whitehorse a couple of days now, so I’m hoping it’ll be here tomorrow.

My work schedule is as full as ever and what I had planned to do was just work until the computer came, then get on with my departure preparations during the installation of the new Mac, which would put me without a computer for at least a day. If the computer comes in tomorrow, I will get started on the prep, but I think I will end up finishing it up in Whitehorse and still leave on schedule.

Tonight, I got all my laundry done, including my heavy bedding. It’s such a treat to be able to do that and start the fall all fresh and clean. Tomorrow, I’ll finish putting things away and also clean the cab carpet.

Departure is not stressing me out at all, even if it’s not as relaxed as it was last year. I’ve had enough departures after sitting to know that my tire pressure is fine (but I will check it ‘just in case’) and that it’ll be a good idea to trickle charge the battery when I get up on departure day. Both vehicles are in good shape (minus their windshields), so the exterior prep will only involve putting away hoses and packing up the bicycle, extra propane tank, and kayak. It’ll only be a couple hours of work to do, inside and out.

The game plan will be two nights in Whitehorse, one night at Nugget City, one night on the Alaska highway, one night in Dawson Creek, and then the start of several nights on a new route. So, really, there isn’t going to be any newness or anything worth stressing out about for almost a week. 🙂

I am eager to get back on the road and and see what the winter will bring, but I sure will miss this little town…

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Sunshine From Inuvik

I don’t believe in coincidences and today was a perfect example of why.

I was offered the morning off from work and took it to catch up on things at home. This made it possible for me to have an earlier lunch than usual, which put me at the café just in time to run into friends I made in Inuvik who were just going through town for the day. We had lunch together then met up at Gerties tonight for drinks.

Needless to say, it’s been a great day!

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Last Trip to the Free Store

I went to the free store this afternoon not to ‘shop’ but to drop off yet another large basket of clothes and other items. It’s been a great summer for decluttering and while I still have more to do, I’m just about ready to completely take the rig apart and reorganize it.

I’ve made serious inroads into mastering the dang wardrobe and am proud that I gave away about twice as much clothes this summer as I brought home. I did manage to score a full new wardrobe for less than $20 this year, which made it easier to give away older pieces I was tired of wearing.

I’m happy to report that the wardrobe now looks 100 times better than this!

Next up on the list is to go through my books. I have so many free sources for books in Dawson that it’s been easy to go overboard and bring home more than I’ll ever have time to read. With my iPod Touch doubling as an e-reader, there’s no sense in keeping anything but the most special print books on hand.

I expect to have a lot of time on my hands in October, so more decluttering, organizing, and decorating will be my priorities when I’m not working. After working seven days a week for four months, it’ll be nice to have time to get back on track with my homekeeping duties!