Month: May 2011

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An Image From My Old World

Parts of Montreal’s South Shore along the banks of the Richelieu River, where I spent the bulk of my childhood, are under water. It’s so bad it’s turning into a scene I haven’t witnessed since the Ice Storm of ’98:

Photo Credit : Jean-Pierre Rozon

More images of the army marching into the South Shore on the TVA news website.

I lived through a flood in my childhood and I would not want to go through something like that again. An RV isn’t a guarantee of being able to evacuate, but it’s a fighting chance.

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The Toughest Job Market Ever

I cannot believe I have been in Lethbridge for just going on five weeks and have absolutely no job prospects. I have never sent out this number of resumes (more than 100) with absolutely no response. I’m shocked because there are so many want ads out there. It’s not like Osoyoos or Campbell River where I had to throw all my hopes into one or two places.

Moreover, I haven’t been able to pick up another contract in months. I have reached the end of my resources and am just grateful to be in a safe place that eliminates some worries. I can get through May, barely, but after I’m staring at a brick wall. And every day that I’m not bringing in a living wage (because I am working a little every day) is one more day where I watch my dream of going south for five months next winter march away.

Taking the winter off to push out the full-timing ebook and prepare the seminar was a huge financial mistake. I’m only sharing this as a heads up to others who would want to follow in my footsteps and RV pre-retirement. The whole ‘do what you love, the money will follow’ thing is complete bull!

I don’t regret not heading back up to Yukon, though, because of the cost of getting up there and back. I just wish I hadn’t been so complacent in my first few weeks in Lethbridge. I was sending out so many resumes I figured that the calls would start flooding in. Ha!

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An Historic Election

I was very pessimistic about tonight, but it seems that there is hope for the Canadian people!

Two and a half years ago, I watched in awe as Quebec moved from light blue to dark. Tonight, it is glowing orange. The NDP has gone from having had only one seat ever in Quebec, gained during a by-election, to taking down the Bloc québécois.

Moreover, the NDP is, for the first time, the official opposition. I shudder at the the thought of a Conservative majority, but it is palatable because of the NDP surge. Baby steps.

(Stephen Harper might have his majority government, but Jack Layton gets the nicer residence!)

 

 

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Making Good Time on the Destriping

The passenger side is just about half done, if I count from bumper to bumper.

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Every colour behaves differently. The beast is the emerald green, which leaves behind the thick grey glue. Second is the teal, which leaves a a chalky white residue. The best are the burgundy, the lettering, and the swipes, which just peel right off.

I put in a solid day of destriping to get to this point, starting around 9:30 and working two hours, then putting in another four hours this afternoon. I’m on flier duty for the rest of the week, so it’s nice to get a head start. This is not an onerous chore, believe it or not. I love working on my home and being out in the sun feels so good!

My tools for this project are:

-a hair drier that blows really hot;

-a narrow metal paint scraper (thrilled to find one that isn’t wrecking the fiberglass!);

-an old Petro-Points card for scraping the bottom stripes that are on white painted metal, not fiberglass;

-an old pair of tweezers for picking at small bits;

-WD-40 for loosening the adhesive prior to blasting with heat.

I have two thoughts about this immense project that may shed some light on why I’m putting myself through this.

The first is that Miranda was due for a really thorough exterior restoration. Why put in all that elbow grease only to cover decals that are cracked, peeling, and dated?

The second is that I have a number of options for how to restripe, in a variety of prices and difficulties. If I end up with a worst case scenario, that even with a thorough buffing I still have ghosting, or, even worse, I can’t get off all that grey glue, then I can get three rolls of wide striping in different colours, plus a couple of stock graphics, and just reproduce what was there in a more simple design. Total cost for that would be a few hundred bucks and Miranda would still look better than she does now. I’m exploring all options, including professional restriping and even, gasp, painting, but I know that regardless of what I end up doing, it’ll be completely worth it.

As a side note, I love my location. After working all day in the hot sun I really wanted a cold beer and there just happens to be a liquor store across the street!

All this work today was also a good distraction from my feeling of impending doom about the election results. Two and a half hours left until the poll results start trickling out…

 

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RV Freezer Defrosting Tip

I took advantage of my electrical problem yesterday to defrost the fridge and freezer. In the fridge it’s always half of the coils that turn into a mass of ice while in the freezer it’s the back wall that gets thicker and thicker.

The fridge ice falls off the coils very quickly after turning off the power, but the freezer ice behaves as though it was attached with crazy glue. It’s a bad idea to use anything sharp to scrape and a hair dryer or other heat source can also cause damage.

The solution is to lightly coat the freezer walls with a non-salted oil, such as vegetable or olive. Ice will build up as normal, but after letting the fridge sit for about an hour a gentle tap will loosen it. Dispose of the ice, wipe down the walls, and reapply the oil before turning the fridge back on.

I would not try oiling the coils in the fridge.