Month: October 2011

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Settling Into My Temporary Abode

This has been my second full day in the apartment and I am slowly falling back into my normal routine. I made my first home cooked meal this evening, which meant scurrying down to the rig for onions, a sharp knife, a cheese grater, and a colander. 🙂

Here are some bits of the apartment so far.

First, the bedroom area with the absolutely awesome headboard/bookcase Jody had in storage. Also make note of the little side table next to the bed on which the lamp is resting. It’s the perfect height!

bedroom area (my pretty comforter is in the wash pile!)

Next is the office area. Telus was supposed to send a tech between noon and two to figure out why my hardwired connection wasn’t working. The tech showed up at 11!!! It was a simple fix and now I have 500GB of bandwidth a month! The speeds aren’t actually any better than the cellular connection however. That says a lot about cellular speeds in southern Canada!

office area

The dining area reminds me of a school cafeteria (the floor tiles don’t help!), but the chair is super comfy!

dining area

I like that I have the storage room for the cats. Litter doesn’t get tracked everywhere and the food dishes are out of traffic areas. Neelix was okay with me stepping over him in the dressing room, but Tabitha would bolt if I tried to do that, interrupting her meal.

the cat condo

Here’s Tabitha’s nest under the sink. She’s been going in and out of there since she discovered the spot. I think she appreciates the blanket since she’s moved it around a bit to make more of a nest.

Ms. Bitha’s nest

Finally, I have to say I LOVE having a one-piece pantry. That’s one thing I found hard in Miranda, trying to remember what I had in the various cabinets.

pantry

The pantry is pretty full tonight since today is 15% off day at the Lethbridge grocery stores. I got some awesome deals including two boxes of falafel mix!

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Connectivity, Comfort, and Cats

My high speed internet was supposed to be activated today, but, of course, the plug and play modem didn’t work. I chatted with a Telus rep and he concluded that it’d be best to send someone to check the wiring. I don’t think a single one of my tenants has had any luck with getting the internet to work right off the bat.

What made me laugh is that the tech rep had a hard time understanding that I wasn’t home. I mean, the first thing I asked is “Do I need home phone service to have internet?” (nope). So he knew I had no phone at home and if I was chatting with him, then the fact that I don’t have internet at home should have been pretty obvious. I can’t count the number of times I’ve had this conversation with tech reps from different telecom companies over the years! The tech rep was very good, my joking aside. He acknowledged that I’d done everything at my end and didn’t make me feel like an idiot.

At any rate, no high speed internet till tomorrow afternoon. I’m just grateful that I got an appointment so quickly, that I don’t need to pay for a phone line I have no use for, and that I have my cellular internet access!

I’m also happy to report that my furniture arrived! Wheeeeeeee. I can set up my home office tonight. I don’t think the chair they gave me is going to work, though (no arm rests or wheels) so I may be bringing my chair in from Miranda after all, but I’ll try this one first and see how I like it. Soon as I am set up I will share pictures. 🙂 I have to say that I somehow managed to get stuff that looks good together rather than like a hodgepodge. Geeze, even the curtains that Jody lent me complement the loft curtains! It’ll be nice to be in a lovely place for six months. The only thing left to get now that I have furniture are some more floor mats so I don’t have to walk on the drop cloths all winter.

I have a couple of ‘my cats are amusing’ stories. Before going to work this morning, I put Jody’s curtains in the tub to soak since they smelled strongly of cigarettes. When I came in at lunch, the apartment was very humid and reeked of cigarette smoke. So, I rinsed the curtains and took them outside to dry over the balcony railing, then I left the patio door cracked. Neelix promptly pushed his cushion so it was by the open door and plopped down! As for Ms. Bitha, I came in this afternoon to supervise the furniture delivery and noticed that the undersink cabinet door was cracked open. Tabitha was curled up in there, pressed tightly against the wall. If I catch her there again, I’ll let her know that that can be her safe spot by putting a blanket down for her. I hadn’t planned on using the cabinet anyway.

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A Gentle Reminder

I have received a number of emails in the last couple of days about my temporary move into an apartment. I sense a lot of disappointment and concern from these folks about my current circumstances. While I appreciate that people care about me and are worried, there’s no reason to be!

I would like to reiterate a quote in my about me page:

“I don’t want to come to the end of my life and realize I have lived someone else’s version of it.”

Once again, I’d like to remind everyone that full-time RVing is no different from housebound life. It’s real life with its ups and downs and unexpected moments. Right now, my health is dictating that I spend a winter in Alberta. Last summer in Yukon, my heart had me considering the ramifications of full-timing as a couple, which would have required a new rig suitable for two people. I could end up wanting a baby or find that mythical place most nomads are sure doesn’t exist, the place where I want to put down roots. Anything can happen.

Yes, I have a long-term plan for my life in Miranda, but that plan is not set in stone. It is open to those vagaries of fate I have just mentioned. It is this flexibility that I so desperately craved when I hit the road in 2008 and so regardless of how and where I spend this winter, I am still living my dream life.

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This Is Going to Take Some Getting Used To

Tabitha didn’t let me sleep a wink last night, so around 6:30 I gave up and got up. First order of business was coffee. Oh, waitaminute. I brought up all the coffee supplies except the kettle and French press. *shakes head* So I threw a skirt and sweater on over my jammies and schlepped out to the rig. It was cold out!

Next, I had to put water in the kettle. Ooh, I can drink what comes out of the tap. What a novel idea! Now, to put the kettle on the stove. There’s a knob, but where’s the starter… oh, right, no starter. It’s now time to boil water, which takes forever on an electric stove. Water is boiling at last, put some in the French press and some in the mug, put kettle back on stove. Why is it whistling again? Oh, right, electric stoves give off heat even after being turned off.

Another thing I need to get used to is the sound of the fridge cycling off and on. I haven’t had to sleep in the same room as my fridge since ’98-’00.

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Moving Day

Today’s agenda was to finish destriping and Poliglowing the driver’s side, pack up, and move to the apartment. I was quite a bit behind schedule, but with Gary and Jody’s help I made it!

I was ready to move the rig around 4, so they helped me out and off I went to gas up, dump, and park the rig outside my building. The first thing I brought in was the cat supplies, then the cats. I locked them in the storage room with everything they needed to be comfortable except a window. It must have felt like a prison cell to them. 🙁

After, I did several loads, bringing up the contents of the fridge and freezer, the bedding, and some kitchen supplies. Gary and Jody met me at 6:30 to help me move in my bed and some furniture they are lending me (wait till you see my headboard!). We then debated how to best park Miranda, reached a consensus, and I was able to square her away. I then drove back to their house to pick up my car (and some curtains since my loft curtains aren’t quite enough and some fresh baked bread).

Back at the apartment building I went to Miranda to grab toiletries, a few more kitchen things, some clothes and my computer.

Before I left, I let the cats out. When I got in around 8, Neelix was roaming around, but Tabitha had literally vanished. I was really puzzled but not worried since she’s done this to me many times. I couldn’t wait to find her secret safe spot, but I thought I’d examined all the possibilities. Then I just knew. The pallets! Sure enough, Tabitha was under the bed! She let me pet her, but then retreated further under the bed, just out of reach.

By this point, I was famished but in absolutely no mood to cook and I can’t use my new microwave until I get an extension cord. So I decided to walk over to the McDonald’s a couple of blocks away. I was so hungry and exhausted by this point that my vision was blurry, but the food and fresh air did me a world of good.

On the walk home I realised that I’d forgotten to grab some pajamas and a skirt to wear tomorrow so I went back to the rig to grab them as well as my little green machine so that I could wash the recliner and ottoman Gary had pulled out of storage. What was one more chore by this point when it meant that I could enjoy the chair tomorrow evening. 🙂

Then, it was time for a most satisfactory shower. I was pleased with the shower head, water temperature, and the water pressure. It’s not much fun having to step over the edge of the bath and wrestle with a shower curtain, but I won’t miss my shower as much as I thought I would.

Now, I’m lying in bed with the kitties. I don’t usually use the computer in bed, but it’s either that or the floor! 😀

I am completely at peace with where I am tonight. The only place in Canada where I can winter with my RV is the second most expensive place in Canada to live. There is no way that I could do the $1,000 plus a month it would cost me to live in BC in addition to the taxes there. I badly need to see a doctor and this is where I’ve found one. The price to pay is living in this apartment. I will make do. I mean, I have a cozy temporary abode, no commute to a job I like, and good friends living close by. This is the perfect set up for me to get my health issues sorted out and I feel very grateful to be here.