Hiro Sushi, Chambly

When I got to Chambly, I was given a menu for a popular local sushi shop (hint as to the name). It was very western and utterly unappealing. So I did some research and located the well-reviewed Hiro. They also have a very western menu (lots of tempura and cream cheese), but also more traditional fare.

For $18 and change including tax I got:

1) veggie miso soup: disappointing; too heavy on the carrots and not ‘miso-ee’ enough. Will not be ordering their soup again.

2) one piece octopus nigiri: awesome! Will order two next time since they are super cheap here at less than $2 each!

3) one eel cone: awesome! There is cucumber, masago, and avocado in addition to the BBQ eel. Great mix of flavours and textures!

4) one ‘tango’ maki: awesome! It’s essentially a combo spicy tuna and salmon roll with masago and other yummy bits in it.

Miso soup not withstanding, this was unequivocally one of the best sushi meals I’ve ever enjoyed. Thumbs up to Hiro!

Homeless Again

Miranda is waiting in the street to be brought to the repair place in a couple of hours. I’ve moved what I think I will need for the next couple of weeks into my mother’s house. The next big chore is to get a semblance of an office set up.

I have pretty much lost two weeks of work this month, which is really going to hurt come July 1st. Doing transcription was out of the question for most of the last two weeks, but, thankfully, I got a small translation contract that is going to make a big difference in the coming weeks. I just hope I have tons and tons of work in the next two weeks to make up for such a poor start in June. I’m still in much better shape financially than I have been in a while, even with all these extra expenses and all the lost income, so I’m okay! It’s very tight, but not so bad that I can’t soothe my nerves tonight with some sushi. 🙂

The plan for this afternoon is that I will go park Miranda at the repair shop with my step-mother following in my truck (she hasn’t driven standard in ages so this has the potential for hilariousness). I’ll then drive us back home. In the morning, I’ll take off to meet the repair folks. I was relieved to learn that I am booked in for two hours, so I should have plenty of time to discuss the work I want done beyond the stuff covered by the insurance. I really think that getting that work done and waiting till the fall to set up the truck for towing is my best bet since I am not going to want to move out of my home again for several years after this!

Bitha and Nee are now living in the garage. My girl clung to me and cried and cried when I brought her in there. I’ve never seen her behave like that. If this change of environment stress does anything to my cats, I will be out for blood!

Have I mentioned recently just how exhausted I am?

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.

 

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!

 

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?

IMGP3769

IMGP3770

IMGP3771

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! 🙁