Day: August 24, 2011

by

Up On Blocks

Last night, I noticed that Miranda was listing on the passenger side and thought that she had perhaps sunk into the ground. But no. When I came out this morning, I discovered that the front passenger tire was flat as a pancake!!!

I asked around at work and was able to borrow an air compressor. That’s something I’ve been wanting to buy, but the one I want is a lot more money in Canada, so I planned to get it this winter. Anyway, this compressor I borrowed was perfect; 2 gallon tank, 125PSI, and, maybe most important, I could lift it!

The compressor was super easy to use. Just plug in, wait for it to stop making a racket, then apply the tip of the hose to the tire valve. Worked like a charm. Except that the reason my tire went flat was that the valve was kaput! So the air was rushing out as fast as it was going in.

Jody came to see me just as I got home and was messing with everything, so she was able to call Gary and ask him to bring a jack home so that I could at least get the weight off the wheel. But that wasn’t good enough for my wonderful host. Oh, no:

my borrowed air compressor in the foreground, with Gary beside it trying to get the hubcap off

my borrowed air compressor in the foreground, with Gary beside it trying to get the hubcap off

can you see how flat the tire is?

can you see how flat the tire is?

I feel like a redneck with my home up on blocks!

I feel like a redneck with my home up on blocks!

Yup. Gary loosened the tire nuts, got Miranda on the jack, slid blocks under her to stabilize the frame (yay, I’m level again!), took the tire off, and determined that the tire is okay but the inner tube is rotten. So, my plan went from getting a mobile tire repair place to come to me ($$$) to bringing my tire to a repair place this weekend, having Gary reinstall it, then taking it for torquing ($). But do you know what Gary did? He left with my tire to get it fixed tomorrow. Can you believe that man?!

And Jody isn’t much better! When she saw how depressed I was tonight (I had a day from hell, and it had nothing to do with my job), she said “I brought home pizza. Come and have some.” So I didn’t have to worry about dinner AND she sent me home with beer, two corn on the cob that I look forward to boiling for dinner tomorrow, and some muffins!

It is a wonder of the RVing life that it can make friends out of strangers so quickly. I continue to be so grateful to be here.

by

The 62 That Never Was

My father would have been 62 years old today. He died of colon cancer in February 2007 at age 57.

my dad and me (age 10 months) on January 25th, 1980

My father had a difficult life. He certainly didn’t make it easy on himself, but there were a lot of external forces against him, too. He was old and bitter and falling apart by his 40s and I knew I would lose him young.

So I was not surprised that he approached death the way he did, with open arms eager to embrace the mystery, but was surprised by how prepared and matter of fact he was about the whole thing. That his life was ending was logical, all lives end, but he could make it easier for those he left behind.

In those last days, he taught me that the only true wealth we gather in this world is our memories of a life well and richly lived. I honoured my promise to him that I would make changes that would enrich my life and make it happier. The wealth of memories I have accumulated in the last three years would be enough to satisfy me for a dozen lifetimes.

Time has marched on since that bitter cold February morning and now I sit on this fifth birthday of his without him. Five birthdays. Four and a half years. I miss my father terribly, but I know that he would find satisfaction in seeing what I have made of my life since he died.