Day: January 9, 2013

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Kind of Like BC In Winter

So, I’m THIS close to the Gulf Coast and it is actually warm out there, but it’s raining and the next few days will be grey and overcast. Darn it! I would have been glad for chilly temps with sunny skies. Oh, well, no sense looking a gift horse in the mouth. Tomorrow, I will get to frolic on a beach off the Gulf of Mexico! Now, where did I put the sandals?

Tomorrow’s plan is a bit zippy as I want to cover a lot of ground, but I really don’t want to spend tons of time in the area since I am planning to be in New Orleans for a week. But by the end of the day, I will have most definitely and not just technically been to Florida!

Question: how did I get to be so lucky?

Answer: I worked my ass off to get here. These kinds of lives have to built. They don’t happen on their own.

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Done With Telus

George at Telus probably thinks he hung up with the most unreasonable bitch on the planet tonight. Let’s just say I was a tad… short with him. I made sure to direct my words at Telus, not him specifically, but he got the message loud and clear that he better not get into this customer retention spiel.

Telus, like all Canadian telecom companies, sucks. I’ve parted ways in the same manner with Bell and Vidétron. I really don’t know what I’ll be doing for internet, mobile or otherwise, when I get back to Canada, but I’ve been sending Telus $40 a month for too long just to keep my account open. It was time to slam that door shut. They’ve provided great internet service, I’ll grant them that, but customer service has been vile and their prices usurious.

I sent an email several weeks ago asking to cancel my account and included my phone number. I got two emails from George claiming that he called me and asking for a number to reach me at. I guess the phone number in bold 72 point red font in the second email finally got his attention.

Verizon has spoiled me for life. If was wealthy, I’d pay their crazy Canadian data charges to never again have to deal with Canadian telecom companies. They are just so vile.

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Sweet Home Alabama

I’m parked for a few nights at the Wind Creek Casino in Atmore, Alabama. I was thrilled to find this place since it is a great location to drop the rig and go explore the Gulf Coast with my truck!

The weather is dreary, so I have decided to delay seeing the Gulf of Mexico for just one more day. I’m going to hang out at home this afternoon, get some rest, and plan an awesome itinerary for tomorrow!

My last night in Georgia was pretty good. I woke up raring to go… at 2:30AM. I threw off a bunch of blankets as the temperature in the loft was almost infernal and I managed to get back to sleep for four hours. When I got up at 6:30, I was unusually awake and decided to just have my coffee and banana and take off. The outside weather was just a notch cooler than balmy and a real treat.

It was still very dark at 7:00!!!

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I had just gotten on the interstate when I glanced at my dashboard and decided that I really need an auditory signal that screams, “Look at your gas gauge, dummy!” I wasn’t in the red, but almost.

Moments thereafter, I saw a sign for a Love’s travel centre, so decided to try my luck there and had an uneventful fill up. I can’t believe how far $125 goes in the U.S.!

Before long, I crossed over into Alabama and stopped to get some tourist info.

My rig in Alabama.

My rig in Alabama.

I stopped at the next rest area for a bite to eat and to change the bad nut in my battery bank since I managed to find one the correct size in my hardware bin. Voltage on the battery was 12.5 and 10.7 in the rig before the switch, then the same! Woohoo! I noticed that the inside of the bad nut had a bit of corrosion, which surely wasn’t helping.

There was another Love’s just before the casino, so I decided to top off the tank. This chain is definitely going to be my fueling stop of choice from now on.

The casino is conveniently located just off of I-65. It has lots of RV parking, but no hookups. There is no stay limit (within reason) as long as you go in and spend some money, which I always do when I am at a casino.

I’ve got power, it’s almost warm out there, and would you look at that, I’m finally overnighting somewhere that I can get my rig and a palm tree in the same photo!

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