June 13, 2012 by Rae

More Upheaval Ahead

Tomorrow’s job will be to get Miranda ready for her visit to the repair shop first thing on Friday. I am going to make a run out to the repair shop in the morning to make sure I know the exact way I should go with Miranda to avoid having to do a U-turn. I am also going to ask if a) I can bring her tomorrow night (since it’ll be easier to coordinate a lift back than it would be Friday morning) and b) if I can leave her until the repairs are completed.

Regardless, Miranda is going to be in the shop for some time. It therefore makes sense that I move into the guest room tomorrow. So I’m going to have to empty the rig of pretty much everything I took out when I moved into The Apartment. The fridge and freezer have to be empty so I can turn them off, I need clothes, and, of course, all my office equipment needs to come. Somewhere in all of that, I have to figure out how to make the garage a safe and tolerable environment for Tabitha and Neelix.

I’m just so tired… It has now been a solid month and a half, with no end in sight, of being out of my routine and my home not really feeling like home.

The trip out west cost more than I would have expected (although there is no question I did it cheaply), so I’m much tighter for money now than I would like. I had hoped to come back with money to both set up the new toad for towing and to effect repairs on Miranda. Now, I can do one or the other only at this time. I’ve decided to get an estimate on the work to be done to Miranda before deciding on how to proceed. I may get the work done on Miranda and save up to get the truck converted in the fall. I hope that the RV place can do the conversion on the truck so that I can get in one stop a full picture of what it’ll cost to get the work done on my rig.

One thing that happened when I was out west that I failed to mention is that I got a call from an adjuster in Montreal who was hired by the moron’s insurance company to evaluate my $2,700 claim for lost expenses and the trip out west. He wants to meet me in person and we are doing that next Friday (June 22nd). Ridiculous. For $2,700 with supporting documentation, they would have been best to just cut me a cheque and make me sign “By accepting this, I give up the right to sue” paperwork. Now, I’m going to do the math on the trip and will be revising that figure. It just keeps going up the more no one wants to pay me…

The adjuster says that if I’m not covered by Aviva, I’m not covered. But that’s horse hockey. There is plenty of wiggle room in my policy to cover my claim. A good part of it could go under the travel interruption portion and the rest could be squeezed into the household good portion. Aviva should have acted on my behalf, as I requested they do, and presented that claim to the third party themselves. I shouldn’t have to do this.

My adjuster at Aviva SUCKS. The adjuster at Intact went out of her way to use the spirit of my policy to benefit me while my adjuster at Aviva is making sure it not only sticks to the letter of the policy, but has also lied about my coverage and shown a complete lack of understanding of the policy. You’d think she was paying out of her own pocket.

My insurance policy with Aviva comes due in September and I am actively shopping for a replacement. No one else has a product comparable to Aviva’s Elite policy, but surely there’s someone out there who could tailor make a policy. At any rate, I can’t renew my Aviva policy in good conscience without looking for alternatives, not with the amount of good press I gave this company before having to make a NOT AT FAULT claim.

June 12, 2012 by Rae

Cleaning and Reconditioning a Fiberglass Truck Topper

After I hit post on my last entry, I Googled ‘clean fiberglass truck topper’ and came up with squat. The solution hit me with a groan. Didn’t I do a giant fiberglass restoration project less than a year ago?!

I kicked myself for trying out wax first, but was thankful I didn’t do the whole topper. I went out, scrubbed the wax away, which, of course, took off even more of the colour, and then I applied about 15 coats of Poliglow. I’m not exaggerating. My arms are really sore!!!

Now, the topper colour isn’t even all over because of the initial discoloration, but I am shocked that it went from being a dull green that didn’t match the paint finish to this:

Whadya know, the topper and truck are a matched set!

June 12, 2012 by Rae

A Shiny Truck

After taking an hour yesterday to shampoo Moya’s carpets and seats, I took a couple of hours today to thoroughly wash and wax her. Doesn’t her shininess make her look extra pretty?

I need to figure out what I can do for the topper. I tried the wax and it just took off a lot of colour. Eep. From the ground it doesn’t look terrible, but looking down at the roof it’s awful! 🙁

June 10, 2012 by Rae

A Day in the Sun

Today, my family celebrated a birthday at the seasonal campground where my little sister and her boyfriend have set up their small travel trailer. It’s a place close to their home where they can bring their four children for weekends and their summer vacation.

It was wonderful to have the whole family together again minus my older sister’s boyfriend. All the nieces and nephews were there. We had a huge lunch and then went down to the beach. I decided to swim because it was hot out, but the water was just a notch above chilly. 🙂

The travel trailer has some plumbing problems (leaks), so I told my sister I’ll try to have a look at it before she calls a plumber. Might as well put my RV experience to good use!

June 10, 2012 by Rae

The Soo, ON to Chambly, QC

Whew. I landed in Chambly about an hour ago. Including the bus from Calgary to Edmonton, I’ve done just over 4,200KM since Monday. I drove at or very near the speed limit the whole time and didn’t drive at night except for today. I think this is about as far as I could drive in that amount of time. If I had to drive any further, I’d have to take a day off!

I knew that 99.9% of today’s driving would be easy. I think that the stretch on highway 17 between the Soo and Ottawa is some of the easiest driving in this country. Yeah, the speed limit could be a little higher on summer days, but it’s still an easy route with minimal interruptions. Yesterday through the U.P. was a lot tougher.

It was just past 10:00 when I pulled out of the Soo and the GPS told me I’d be in Chambly by 9:00, so I correctly estimated my arrival would be close to 11:00. By the time I’d driven just shy of 300KM, I was hungry, needed a bathroom (something that Canada needs more of outside of Tim Hortons, btw), and the gas gauge was nearing the quarter mark. So, I pulled over in Espagnola and took care of all three matters.

Just shy of Sturgeon Falls, I started to feel sleepy and began to look for a place to pull over to take a nap. Kilometres passed and nothing. Then, to add insult to injury, I passed a “Fatigue kills. Take a break!” sign. Several kilometres past it, I was able to stop at an abandoned gas station where I slept for almost a half hour.

Then, I stopped in Sturgeon Falls for an iced coffee, at a roadside park to use the outhouse, and then in Cobden for fuel. That put me at about 1.5 hours from Ottawa, so I had a good idea of when I’d get to Chambly. I called my mother to let her know.

It wasn’t long after Cobden that I started to feel peckish. Stopping for fast food was unappealing and I didn’t want to waste time going to a sit down dinner. There was only one option and it’s one I wouldn’t have had in any other city on the planet than Ottawa. This is because Ottawa is the only city I know well enough to know exactly where to grab a home made dinner in under 20 minutes while only going four blocks from the on and off ramp to the highway, The Table Vegetarian Restaurant. It serves organic food buffet-style. Just walk in, fill up a plate, pay based on the weight of the food, and leave. I made sure to pick up a jar of their onion chutney, something I have been craving for a few years since I used up the supply a friend brought me in Vancouver!

I can’t wait to go back to Ottawa later this summer and see what is the same and what has changed. I am so pleased that time has stood still at The Table.

The worst 100KM or so of my entire trip were between Vaudreuil and Chambly, a nightmarish combination of fatigue, darkness, traffic, construction, and the fact that Quebec likes to save money by not painting lane markers. I would never have made it on my own nor if I was coming in cold with just the GPS. It took both of us to navigate the maze and the last obstacle had me curse for the first time on this trip. I loathe driving in Montreal and I pity the US tourists next to me who had an additional difficulty: directions and road signs written in French only.

But I made it in one piece, thrilled to have gotten my new truck cross country without incident! Now, to see how it tows. I am going to have one looooong rig now!

I found myself in the real life version of The Long, Long Trailer. The truck hauling this trailer has a ‘JUST MARRIED!’ sign on it.

Last time I was through here, I opted to pass the Soo then stop for the night

last time I came through this part of Canada, I stayed here, at the Iron Bridge Motel. Or, as I like to call it, the Bates Motel. The owner was a creep. I refused to take a shower.