May 7, 2012 by Rae

Semantics

I just spoke with my insurance adjuster at Aviva for the motorhome. She wants the rear axle taken apart so the appraiser can go in and have a look at the guts of the damage. I’ll get back to that in a bit.

She and I disagree on the advice she gave me about going on down the road. She says that she told me and that I agreed that if anything else came up, it couldn’t be added to the claim. As I recall the conversation and look at the exhaustive notes I made in that conversation, I understood it to be that 180 days to file my claim and that if anything directly related to the accident came up, I could include it. I should have asked for clarification, I know. I was under stress.

My position still stands. I have more than enough proof that all the maintenance on my rig was up to date and nowhere near due again. The axle failed less than 400km and just a day after the accident. There is no way this is unrelated. Aviva should not be arguing with me. They should be telling me to get the rig fixed and that they’ll be submitting the bill to the other guy’s insurance.

I told the adjuster that I am not having the rig taken apart without knowing how the bill is going to be paid. The appraiser’s estimate is that there is $3,600 worth of damage total to Miranda, including the axle stuff, the bumper, and the hitch assembly. If $1,000 for a hotel is nothing, why are they arguing with me over less than $4,000, especially since Aviva is not going to have to pay? That said, I just spoke with the mechanic and he believes that it will costs heaps more than $3,600, plus the towing bill.

The adjuster is going to call me back later today or early tomorrow afternoon. I stressed the importance of my needing to be back on the road within the week and that our time zone difference is always setting us back a day. She promised to get back to me ASAP. She’s been good on that end and I don’t want to hear any negative thoughts about her at this point. She’s at the centre of a messy entanglement of multiple insurance companies and appraisers. I know she has a hard job to do and I’m not willing at this point to say that she has washed her hands of this case.

While, as I said, I am trying to remain on good terms with my adjuster, I can tell that it will be very difficult to get Aviva to go to bat for me. I have been insured with them for almost four years without filing a claim. They are the only company to offer a product for full-timers. So it’s not like I really have an alternative.

But I just checked my blog stats and there are more than 1,500 unique visitors to this site every week who are following this story. I spoke to more than 25,000 visitors about Aviva at the Early Bird RV Show in 2011. I have sold hundreds of copies of my ebook where I mention their product. In short, a good amount of their market, existing and future, for their Elite full-timing product is going to know about how this claim gets resolved.

I was going to offer them the courtesy of letting them know all this before I started to talk negatively about how they are handling my claim, but that would sound like blackmail. Fix this in my favour or I go public, so to speak. So I’ve gone public and hope that I will be able to come back and say that they did right by me without my having to go the “Do you have any idea who I am?!” route.

May 7, 2012 by Rae

An Indignant Meow

I just got back home. Neelix greeted me at the door with a rub against the legs and promptly informed me that the food and water dishes were low. Tabitha was lying on the bed in the study and stared at me as I entered the room. My “Hey, baby” sent her over the edge. She recoiled and let out an indignant meow that very clearly meant, “How dare you ‘baby’ me when you’ve been gone for two nights?!” I have had her for almost 12 years and she has never done this. She is also avoiding me. I guess she’s under more stress than I thought because I have left her for much longer periods of time. She’ll get over it by tonight if I know my girl.

I was just 20 minutes out from home when my cell phone rang. By the time I was able to pull over, I’d missed the call from an unidentified 403 phone number. I dialed it and got the appraiser for Intact about the car. He asked me about options and the value of the roof rack (which I forgot to tell him I saved, but will next time we speak) and the tow system. He said he should have some news for me by tonight. At this point, with all the opinions I’ve gotten about the photos, especially from the motorhome appraiser, I will not accept anything but a total loss on the car.

Since I am expecting the phone to ring a number of times over the next couple of days, I’m glad to stick around home. I’m going to try to make some sense of the chaos in here since it is now blessedly cool enough to do anything. The only place I intend to go before tomorrow night is Richmond if my new computer battery comes in.

May 6, 2012 by Rae

Mariners’ Museum, Newport News, VA

I have to make a note of technological importance before I get into the details of my day. One of the things that irks me about my otherwise wonderful camera is that it has to be plugged into the computer to transfer photos over. If I forget to eject it and turn the camera off, the battery becomes drained very quickly. Plus, I’ve been known to forget the transfer cord. It would be so much easier to be able to put the memory card directly into the computer.

The problem is that Apple is always ahead of its time and the 17″ Macbook Pro does not have a slot for memory cards but rather an ‘Express Port’. That port is versatile and can hold a number of cards that do different functions. One of those cards is a memory card reader. I couldn’t justify buying the card just to transfer my camera pictures over. But now I have a wand scanner and a cell phone with memory cards, too, so in the interest of saving my sanity from cord overload, I went ahead and got a card for my Express port that can read memory cards. The card was just $10. The last time I looked at getting one they were $50, so please don’t call me cheap. 😉

Below are the photos transferred over to my computer in this method. I am never going back to cords; this is so much easier!

So today. I glanced through all my tourist info material for the area and determined that whatever was open on a Sunday was only open noon to five. So I decided to pick an activity that could occupy the whole afternoon rather than trying to squeeze in a bunch of things. I’d been wanting to drive the James River Bridge on my own, so I decided to look up Newport News attractions on Trip Advisor and see if anything fit the bill.

The number one attraction was the Mariners’ Museum. The comments were consistent: amazing and so much to see that most didn’t have time to do it all. Add to that my interest in the topic and my desire to see the USS Monitor‘s turret and this was an activity tailor made for my day. Oh, and I found a coupon for $1 off admission in my Newport News guidebook!

The Mariners’ Museum is actually several museums. There is a section devoted to maritime history in the Chesapeake region. The main attraction is the exhibit about the USS Monitor. I won’t pretend to being an expert on this part of US history, but I knew what I was getting into. The USS Monitor was an ironclad Union ship that went head to head against the Confederate CSS Virginia during the American Civil War. The battle was a draw, but it changed naval warfare. There is a lot more to the story than that, but I definitely went in knowing more than the average visitor to the museum. There is also a section about cartography, the Battle of Trafalgar, the American Cup, and the Titanic. Next are two model ship exhibits. Next to last, there is an impressive collection of boats from around the world. Finally, there are some exterior exhibits, including a replica of the USS Monitor, and a lovely 5 mile trail around Lake Maury.

I arrived around 12:30 and by the time I felt I’d seen everything it was 4:30!!! I decided to go for a brisk walk around the lake to make up for being indoors all afternoon. That walk was a balm to my soul, scented with honeysuckle and oh-so-pretty.

There was way too much information today to do justice to the museum. I’ve put some information below the pictures, but you’ll have to do your own research for more details. Or come to Newport News and see this incredible museum for yourself!

While I studied the American Civil War in university, I have to say that having read Gone With the Wind gave me more context to the history of this part of Virginia. I don’t think you need to know anything going in to appreciate the museum, but if you don’t and find yourself interested, you might not have time to get through all the material.

random “my boy is hilarious” pic

James River Bridge

Newport News

Mariners’ Museum

lovely grounds

I first encountered this type of lighthouse at Heceta in Oregon

18th century drafting tools

18th century drafting tools (shark skin case)

no ship building guilds meant innovation could flourish

the legendary Blackbeard, a pirate

map of the region showing Chesapeake Bay

we have yet to invent a machine that can shuck oysters as effectively as does a human

oyster shuckers stood in these boxes

clams are left in clean water for two weeks to remove impurities before being brought to market

wooden ship innards

ironclad innards

when a commercial ship enters Chesapeake waters, it must surrender command to a local experienced commander who climbs up one of these ladders

when a commercial ship enters Chesapeake waters, it must surrender command to a local experienced commander

heading up to assume command

an 1897 log book, “Crew all well and employed”

May 18th, 1897

notice the date, 128 years from when the US became independent

giant ship’s wheel

combine your automobile tour with a pleasant steamer trip

this steamer trip menu looks delicious

varsity rowers had to wear a special uniform and there were strict rules for girls

typical boat school boys would have rowed

satellite image of the Chesapeake region

I was impressed that this image was taken in the ’80s

USS Lancaster Eagle Figurehead

entering the USS Monitor exhibits

the first artifact found was the anchor

letter from a USS Monitor officer to his wife

he begged her for a picture until she sent him this one

entrance to the exhibit about the Monitor in pop culture

news article claiming the Monitor was fine, when it soon floundered into the depths of Cape Hatteras

the name Monitor was used for advertising

Welcome to the world of Monitor madness

points about a GE refrigerator; I like the “electric, so modern” comment

all about this innovative fridge design

refrigerator with the mechanism located at the top and with legs “for easy cleaning”

more about the Monitor Top fridge

funny cartoon: “a bad day on a boat is still better than a good day at work” “you must really hate work”

scenes from this movie were played

scene from Hearts in Bondage

information about a lovely mixed-medium painting

“The Battle of Hampton Roads”

one of the Monitor’s nicknames made me laugh, “cheesebox on a raft”

the fates of the Virginia and Monitor

I thought this effect of walking over water was neat

just one gorgeous exhibit after another

a Korean turtle ship, perhaps the first ‘ironclad’

about the turtle ship

it was only after the Industrial Revolution that enough metal could be produced to clad ships in iron

The first ironclad? (ie. the turtle ship)

life aboard ship was crowded and segregated

ironclads meant the end of close naval warfare where enemy ships were boarded

“I believe this government cannot endure permanently half slave and half free.” A. Lincoln

Agriculture vs. industry. This was the most basic difference between the south and north.

the south was aristocratic while the north favoured free enterprise

the south felt that the states had more rights while the north felt that the Union should take precedence

was slavery right or wrong?

slavery was a hot political issue

“the incommunicable experience of war”

Gosport Navy Yard

the Blockade

the strategic significance of Hampton Roads

escape Virginian slaves were deemed contraband of war and not returned to their owners after Virginia seceded

Gosport Navy Yard

this fun interactive exhibit had us designing our own ironclad

I used what I’d learned from the exhibit and built the perfect ship on my first try!

will it float?

about my ironclad

more about my ironclad

I picked big armaments

I used what I’d learned from the exhibit and built the perfect ship on my first try!

the USS Awesome!

I used what I’d learned from the exhibit and built the perfect ship on my first try!

it took 100 days to build a warship

giant propeller

doctor’s cozy quarters

the Monitor had a lovely interior

rosewood, black walnut, damask, lace…

cozy

the USS Monitor had flush toilets!

both north and south claimed victory, but it was a draw

giant ship’s wheel

enlisted crew schedule

the food wasn’t always palatable but, “a good apatite makes up for that. Mustard too.” LOL!!!

mustard and salt bottles

archaeology of the Monitor’s turret

replica of the Monitor’s turret, as it was found

human bones

replica of the Monitor’s turret, as it was found

an upside down time capsule

replica of the Monitor’s turret, as it was found

looking out to the replica of the Monitor

replica of the mechanism that made the turret spin

two bodies were found in the turret

this ring was on the hand of one of the skeletons; it had no identifying marks

about the gold ring

this spider-like device pulled the Monitor’s turret out of the ocean

about the “spider”

the “spider”

standing on the deck of the Monitor replica

lovely grounds

standing on the deck of the Monitor replica

I wonder if he would have worn a shirt had he known what would happen to this photo!

the Monitor’s engines were horizontal so the ship did not need to be so tall as others

glass plate showing the engines

more about the engines

since the living quarters were underwater, the ship needed flush toilets

the assistant surgeon had trouble with the head and turned it into a fountain!

the mechanism that spun the turret

shrunk down plan of the Monitor

below the replica of the Monitor

you can see the turret (sort of) in the lab

new discoveries in the lab

you can see the turret (sort of) in the lab

I’m sorry that I’m a couple of weeks early for this exhibit

about the art of cartography

a 17th-century map of the world (no Antartica)

about the map

EXPLOITING new worlds

for the KING (LOL)

Le cap. Jacques (James) Cook

The Nelson Touch

qualities of a great leader

another gorgeous exhibit

surgical kit

surgical instruments (shudder)

list of equipment (in French)

a group of sheep led by a lion can win, but a group of lions led by a sheep is likely to lose

another lovely exhibit

inside the ship

I am at the hotel again tonight and will be going home in the morning after checking out since my room isn’t available past tomorrow. However, there are other vacancies now this week, so I have reserved another room for Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday nights. I am thrilled seeing as the next closest hotel to my friend’s place is in Suffolk, meaning an extra half hour from the rig. This hotel is just over an hour away.

May 5, 2012 by Rae

Tokyo Thai Restaurant, Smithfield, VA

Tonight, I planned to come back to the hotel, have the other half of my Subway sandwich, and crash with a movie. But driving through Smithfield, a restaurant name caught my eye, Tokyo Thai. I haven’t had pad thai since Eugene, so my stomach rumbled. I decided to get to the hotel and look up the restaurant.

The reviews for this Asian fusion restaurant were excellent. They apparently serve some of the best sushi in the area and their Thai offerings are also highly rated. I decided I wasn’t in the mood for sushi (!) and that I would give their pad thai a try.

The restaurant is lovely, with the tables separated from the entrance, making it feel like you’re entering into a cozy cocoon. It has both booths and tables. I gave the menu a cursory glance and there was quite a variety of cuisines. Prices were reasonable so in addition to a chicken pad thai ($9) I added their Thai summer roll ($4), a cool and crispy combination of carrot, cucumber, and shrimp wrapped in sticky rice paper and served with a sweet chili sauce.

The pad thai soothed my itch. It wasn’t the best I’ve ever had since I felt that it was missing something, relying too much on heat to give it flavour, but a squirt of lime juice finished the dish beautifully. The texture of the dish was perfect and oh-so-comfort-foody. The chicken in it was lovely. I tend to be nervous about ordering chicken pad thai instead of veggie or tofu because the chicken tends to be slimy and unrecognizable. This pad thai had mouthfuls of moist and flavourful chicken breast. The portion was really generous; I probably should have had half of both dishes and brought the rest back for lunch tomorrow.

I would definitely recommend Smithfield’s Toyko Thai. If I’m in the area long enough, I will probably go back and try one of their sushi bento lunch specials!

May 5, 2012 by Rae

An Angry Sky

WOW.

That’s all I can say about the massive thunderstorm that just passed through here, Petersburg, where the rig is parked. I was trying to do some computer work, but my inverter kept cutting out, so I shut down to let the computer charge for a bit and ran out to Walmart. While I was at the checkout, the sky just exploded. The thunder was so loud that I swear I felt the building shake. I’d planned to grab some Subway for lunch (I could eat Subway every day and it is TONS cheaper in the US!) and would have eaten there to let the storm abate except for one tiny detail: all my windows and roof hatches are open.

The hatch in the kitchen doesn’t have a cover, so I came home to a pretty soggy sink (no big deal). But my biggest concern was the windows in the study, especially the one by the desk. Luckily, nothing important got soaked. The rain is still coming down hard. Hopefully, it’ll take some of the mugginess with it.

As for the inverter, it keeps giving me an E01 error reading which means that I’m trying to run something (my laptop) with a bigger wattage than what the inverter is rated for. I’m pricing higher wattage inverters, but am afraid to buy anything right now with everything being so uncertain. 🙁

By the way, the inverter claimed that my batteries were at 12.8 volts, the solar controller said 14.2 volts, and the batteries themselves said 13.1. So I definitely had a full charge. 🙂

I’m not doing anything exciting again today. My friend’s health is poor, so I expected that we’d get, sum total, four or five really good long days together to go explore. For the rest of the time, I’d be parked in her yard and we could see each other a little during the day or go out for a meal, with me occasionally running out and doing touristy stuff on my own. So everything is going pretty much as planned except that I’m afraid to spend any money. 🙁

I’ll probably be heading back out to the hotel tonight and will pick some inexpensive touristy thing that’s open on a Sunday in the area of Norfolk. One thing that I am doing for sure in the next few days is getting to the coast so I can have a picture of my feet in all three oceans during the biggest adventure of my life. 🙂

I don’t really need to be back in Canada till the 18th (having decided to accept the advice about not worrying about customs) and if I have to, I could get there in one really long day, but I really want to do it in two. So I have to be pulling out of here by the 17th at the absolute latest so I can arrive on the 18th by late day. That gives me all of next week, plus three days of the following week. So if I want to get to Canada on time, I need to start the work on the rig by Thursday of this week. So if I don’t have an answer from the insurance by Wednesday, I’ll need to start the work and be prepared to pay out of pocket.

It would actually be easier to get back to Canada from my current location than from my friend’s. From there, I’d be taking the Eastern Shore route through Maryland and Delaware, then have to cut westward to avoid Philly and NYC, adding heaps more mileage.

From here, I can take I-95 to just shy of DC, by-pass on I-66 to I-81 in West Virginia, take I-88 at Binhampton to Albany, and then from Albany it’s a straight shot north on I-87, which becomes autoroute 15 in Quebec. This sounds like a crazy detour, but it’s less than 60 extra miles and all the way to Binghampton will be very familiar. I haven’t done the bit between Binghampton and Albany, and I haven’t been to Albany in years, but I know the region. So I’d be looking at an easier and less stressful drive.

Well, it looks like the storm has passed because the sky is getting a blue tinge. It feels heaps cooler and there is a breeze.

A Life By Design

"Sometimes in life, we reach to a right place by departing from a wrong port with a wrong ship!" ~ Mehmet Murat Ildan

Month: May 2012

Semantics

An Indignant Meow

Mariners’ Museum, Newport News, VA

Tokyo Thai Restaurant, Smithfield, VA

An Angry Sky