Making Progress!

Ah, having been a fed really was useful as I’ve learned how the great mean machine thinks and acts.

I’ve been researching private insurance and have found a number of folks who do ‘special property’ insurance. I’ve contacted a few to see if I could get the contents of my rig insured, plus get some personal liability coverage. Possibly, and only if SGI will insure the motorhome for the driving portion of the equation.

So I went back to the broker in Assiniboia and asked them if SGI would insure a vehicle that I’m living in. YES. They just won’t merge their house and auto policies to give me an all-in-one or give me the personal liability coverage.

Now, I just need to find someone who will give me the coverage I’m missing. I really doubt that I’ll get anything as good as I had with Aviva Elite, like the hotel and meal perk if I’m forced out, and I’m sure I’ll end up paying, sum total, way more than I’m paying now (about $1,700 a year for the truck, motorhome and contents, and liability). But if I can pull this together, I may get my Saskatchewan residency!

The moral of the story is, be your own advocate. And remember the government is just a bunch of robots acting in unison. Confuse them enough and you just might get what you want.

Star Trek has been the best education of my life.

Insurance Strikeout

The insurance broker I spoke to in Assiniboia has been unable to find me coverage for living in my motorhome. I spoke with someone who commented on the blog about having similar difficulties and followed up as to what she did. She took up residency outside of Saskatchewan.

As long as the insurance issues are not dealt with, there is no point in moving forward with the residency transfer. I was going to remain mum about all of this, accustomed as I am to living off the radar. But the realisation that I’m actually coming ‘legitimate’ again, willing to live in one province for six months and traveling as a snowbird the rest of the year, has made me decide to go public. The only issue I’m having is that Saskatchewan insurers don’t want me to live in my motorhome. Why would I put myself into debt to get another residence when this one suits me just fine?

Since Saskatchewan has government-run insurance, I did the logical thing and contacted the government. We’ll see if that gets me anything.

If I don’t get resolution from that, the next step will be the media. I am going to have to be very open about my conundrum in order to protect myself.

Most irksome is that this is delaying my getting health coverage. It might not be clear to folks who have never changed provinces, but that’s the last step to establishing residency and you use your vehicle registration and new driver’s license as part of the proof that you can get health coverage in the new province. Because the two databases are linked, it is almost impossible to have health coverage in one province and a driver’s license in another, unless one of the provinces is Quebec since it doesn’t share information with other provinces (writing from experience…).

So until I get my vehicle insurance issues resolved, I’m stuck for health insurance. While I could use my Alberta health care for a real emergency here, it would raise a red flag.

Just another day in the Independent States of America. I may have to question just how badly I want to be at Haven. 🙁

I would like to clarify this post as the issue I’m facing isn’t clear. The problem is that insurance is run by the government in SK and they do not have an obvious product that fits my need. Therefore, they will not insure me. The issue isn’t whether or not I can live in a motorhome but rather I can live in it while being protected in the event of an accident, break in, fire, etc. If I was dealing with a private corporation, they should have more flexibility in creating a product for me. The government is not set up to think outside the box.

Ice In August

This morning, I conceded that, stuffed to the gills or not, I absolutely had to defrost my fridge. It had an ice build up on the fins that was several inches thick, the worse it has ever been. I blame that on two things: a) the weather fluctuations that have made for changing temps in the fridge, and b) the fact that this is the first time I’ve ever kept my fridge so full. My trip to Moose Jaw is holding up!

The freezer wasn’t too bad, so I left its door shut, then I turned off the fridge, emptied it, and left the door open. I had to run the generator all morning, so I periodically got up and blasted the fridge with the hair dryer until the ice came loose in huge chunks. Once all the ice was gone, I cleaned the fridge thoroughly, dried it well, and restocked it. It is slow to cool back down since it’s so hot outside.

I also spent some time deep cleaning the kitchen and making a mental note of all the things I don’t use anymore now that I’ve cut starchy carbs out of my diet (except on days when I’m physically active), mostly the baking supplies.

If this gets to be a habit, I may be able to seriously cut down on how much stuff I have in my kitchen! But I’m not quite there yet. I’d have to go a full year without pulling out the rolling pin and pastry cutter, for example, before putting them in the donation pile.

One thing I’ve noticed since I’m no longer having pasta, potatoes, and rice is how my need for potable water has gone right down. Most days, I just pump myself two litres to drink during the day and that gets me through. No more pouring money down the drain when making food!

And before the comments start pouring in, I’m not depriving myself. I’ve simply discovered that not only do I feel better not eating those things on an average day, but I also don’t miss them. On days when I’m active, like doing construction at C&C’s, I’m very eager to tuck into Caroline’s herby-garlicky biscuits! But on a day like today when I’m mostly at my desk, a piece of fruit is all the carbs I need.

One thing that I’ve noticed for a while now is that when I’d go on a carb and sugar binge, I would get ill for several days. Not enough to not function, but enough to have a weird feeling at the back of my throat, to stuff me up, and to make me lose my appetite. Which is exactly how I’ve felt for the past week. What did I have last weekend? Tons of bread, pasta, and chocolate cake (which also had eggs in it). I bet I’m paying for that and boy have I learned my lesson!

Needless to say, feeling sub-par means that I have not yet gotten under the rig to check out my wiring situation. It’ll happen!

RIP My Clothesline :(

Well, my clothesline has given up the ghost. 🙁 I don’t think it was meant to handle any serious amounts of laundry. Despite my staking it, holding it down with bricks, and always balancing the loads, it has had a tendency to fall over, always on the same side, and bend and twist. Today, it is irreparable. 🙁

IMGP7498

IMGP7499

IMGP7500

I don’t want to install a permanent clothesline system in here until I get gravel. This is because Charles does my lawn with his riding tractor and the clearer the lawn, the quicker the job is for him. I’ve got it down to having to move just the clothesline (…) and the water hose, plus the truck the odd time I came in with a big load and decided to park right against the nose of the RV. If I set up a proper line with posts, it would be one more thing for him to go around.

So this is what I’m doing in the meantime:

IMGP7502

Doesn’t hold much, but now that I’m on top of the laundry, it’ll do just fine. It’s just standard yellow rope tied to a fence pole at one end and my ladder at the other.

Feels Like a Proper Saturday

Last night, Laura came by around 7:15 to let me know we weren’t going to be doing canasta. I offered her a beer (L left me enough Dos Equis to get me through the coming apocalypse and then some) and we sat on the porch for perhaps an hour gabbing. She mentioned wanting to go to Willow Bunch today to check out the thrift store and I asked if I could invite myself along. Certainly! The road out has been rough, so I suggested we take my truck.

I spent the morning catching up on my filing, had lunch, then picked Laura up around 12:45 to get to the thrift store right after it reopened from the lunch break. To my surprise, it was dead quiet.

While Laura pretty much struck out, I found many treasures, including 200′ feet of clothesline (a good start to the project!), a silicon loaf pan, a pashmina, several skirts, and a gorgeous jean coat. I spent the grand sum of $17. Their prices are really reasonable.

Laura wasn’t done browsing by the time I was beginning to suffocate on the second floor, so I went down to pay. Thankfully Caroline was in line behind me because I only had a fifty and the cashier couldn’t break it. Note to self, I owe Caroline $20. 🙂

I then went across the street to get a few groceries. I’ve had almost no appetite all week because of my damn lingering cold, but I have been seriously craving pizza. So I splurged on one, hoping it will get the appetite cycle kick started.

When Laura was done at the shop, we walked down the block to the variety store for a chocolate ice cream cone. The weather was perfect for it! And then it was time for the very long, hot, and super dusty trip home.

I’m just going to chill (well, boil) for the rest of the day. I’m not even tempted to get that new clothes laundered. As for work, I’m on call during the week, so it make sense to put in long hours then and then take weekends off. I’m rather enjoying this routine!