Homemaking

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Making the Best of a Forced Internet Sabbatical

After I hung up with Bell on Tuesday, I used Caroline’s computer to email some clients to let them know that I’d be out of touch for a few days. Then, I went home, tidied up the whole rig, rearranged my pantry, and made a nice dinner.

Then, I spent the evening searching for the lagoon where I can go dump my holding tanks (I took my Blue Boy once to the dump station in Assiniboia, but that was a hassle). Well, I finally found said lagoon, but accessing it requires four-wheel drive. So I will go there every few days with a partially filled (ie. not too heavy) Blue Boy that I can slip into and out of the truck and drag up the hill to the lagoon by foot. Not ideal, but cheaper than going to the dump station.

I called my mother on Wednesday morning and learned that she had work for me to do. Even though driving to Assiniboia to use the library wifi would cut into my profit, I needed the work experience, so loaded up my PC and headed into town. The very nice librarian gave me the wifi password and I spent about three hours getting the work done.

Even though I knew there was no hope in hell that my package from Bell had arrived, I checked in with the post office and they got my info and promised to be on the lookout for it.

I came home and just wilted. Caroline was doing the lawns, so I got my yard cleaned up. My yard didn’t get done, so I had dinner then went out to whack some weeds. Before long, Charles was back with the mower to do my lawn (and by that I mean jungle of weeds). I got the water hose and antenna wire out of the way for him. I had been sleepy all afternoon. So that done, I went to bed at 8:30, and slept to 8:30 Thursday morning!!!

Thursday morning, I headed up the hill with the booster and cell phone to call the post office. They don’t pick up, so you have to leave a message and wait for a call back. Hence why I decided to use my own phone rather than wait at C&C’s. I brought my iPad to pass the time… but the call back came in minutes! No Mifi. 🙁

So I called Bell to make sure the order had gone out. I’m glad I speak French as the rep I got had only very basic English skills and I have no idea why she was put on an English line. Anyway, no skin off my nose. She had a hard time finding confirmation that my order had gone out, but she eventually figured it out and got me a tracking number. I thanked her and headed to C&C’s to check my email and the status of my shipment.

C&C had started work on their addition so I arrived in a construction zone, but Caroline dropped everything to get me online (bless her) then left me to do what I had to do. I knew my modem wasn’t going to arrive that day so I went outside and asked if they needed help. YES. So I went home to change into grubbies and work boots, grabbing a pair of gloves and my hammer on the way out.

I spent the day pounding nails out of 2X6″es that had covered the old deck. Like me, C&C are big on recycling, so there was no way that good lumber was going to waste. It was hard work, but I was fed a nice lunch AND a snack, and there was lots of cold water. I even got a gin and tonic with lime with my snack. 🙂

Reading took up the better part of my evening, I went to bed at a more normal hour, had another good night, and woke up ready to face yet another day without internet. So imagine my surprise when I learned at C&C’s that my Mifi had landed!!!

I didn’t head straight to town, but rather helped Caroline pack away some fragile items ahead of the day’s grand event: jacking up their house to make it more level. That done, I got a tiny shopping list from Caroline and then headed to town.

After I got the Purolator thing sorted out, I continued a few blocks to Subways, Fridays being my treat (not cheat) day. I made healthier choices than I normally do there and enjoyed my sandwich (bread, oh bread I have missed thee) immensely. I headed back up Centre Street to the Co-Op, got Caroline’s groceries, and then went back to the post office to get my truck.

When I got in, I immediately headed over to C&C’s, put the groceries away, and went to help with the jacking up the house. They had thought they wouldn’t need help, but I’m pretty sure I was helpful, if only in using the sledge hammer (that thing was HEAVY) to wedge 2×4’s between the foundation and the house.

It was really impressive to see the house corner lift a full three inches! I didn’t go inside after, but apparently the ski hill in the kitchen and living room is gone. Water on the counter would always run to the northwest corner of the house and now it just sits where it’s spilled. What an improvement! Now that the house is reasonably level, they can build the addition.

Now, I’m trying to catch up on an unplanned week offline and trying to figure out how I’m going to make up for the income shortfall.

In happier news, my friend L is incoming and should be here next week! Other blog readers are in Montana and might be landing the first week of Augustish! I am SO pleased to be able to return some hospitality.

Finally, wow is the Yagi antenna sensitive. My connection just slowed to a crawl (not dropped) and I looked out to see that the pole had turned a couple of inches, dropping my connection to -105 and one bar. A small turn and a couple of wedges later, I have -96 and three bars. Let’s hope that my internet woes are over!

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Haven Has Improved Water and Internet Access!

I decided to hook myself up to city water, something I haven’t done in YEARS, because I’m tired of having to fill the holding tank every couple of days. Major bleaching of the city water intake ensued. Unfortunately, there isn’t enough water pressure with which to take a shower, so I still have to use the holding tank and water pump for that. Oh, well. At least I have running water!

I added a ‘quick connect’ to the water intake to make it easier to disconnect. It’s an awkward space and always leaks, so I wanted to only have to screw in and leak-proof once. I can now easily separate the hose and connect it to my fancy new sprayer. I also added another 50′ of hose to give me a little bit of play. The hose was cheap, less than $8, and I’m kicking myself for only getting 50′ of it.

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I used my fancy new sprayer and extra 50′ of hose to wash my truck yesterday! The water pressure was awful, so I had to give it several passes, but it was nice to get all the grime and bugs off. I even gave Moya a good hand waxing after, which made Caroline scoff. Yeah, it’s rather pointless to clean your truck when you’re going to be on dirt roads most of the time, but a coat of wax does protect the finish. Anyway, it was wonderful to be able to do wash the truck without worrying about using up someone’s water. The 50′ of hose wasn’t enough, so I wound up driving the truck around back of Miranda since I had just enough space to squeeze around her.

I’m going to order some Poliglow and spiff up Miranda sometime in August.

I was also going to add a quick connect to the water tank intake hose, but decided that instead, it’s high time I properly repair it and put the quick connect money towards repairs. All in due time. 🙂

As for internet, I had a ‘you have a package’ notification in my mailbox Friday. I was very tempted to ring for the postmaster, but prefer to respect her work hours since I have no reason to contact her outside of them. So I waited patiently all weekend with no internet to speak of after I got a great connection on Friday (hence the earlier than expected post).

I have had NO internet since about dinnertime yesterday. I got in and half-assedly hooked up my new Yagi-type antenna because, being the idiot that I am, I forgot to pick up a telescoping pole in Moose Jaw. By half-assedly, I mean I installed it on a pole that I leaned against the ladder like so:

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That’s all I did. I haven’t even tried to point it in the direction of the tower or move it up and down or try different locations around the property. This was still enough to give me a strong steady signal. The blog loads immediately and I’m now downloading a 60MB file. It’s going more slowly than up the hill, but the speed is satisfactory (it has ended up taking about 13 minutes).

Imagine when I actually get this thing pointed the right way?! Once my download is complete, I will see if I can get a phone signal. All appendages crossed that I’ve FINALLY found the solution!

I bought my antenna from the Wilson Amplifier Store based out of Laguna Hills, CA, and was very pleased with their service, albeit a little confused at first.

I saw my package go from Utah to California and the status change to ‘complete.’ I emailed customer service asking what was up with that. They replied promptly that their Utah warehouse can’t ship to Canada, so all orders go to Laguna Hills where they are forwarded on to Canada. They gave me a new tracking number and I was gratified to see that the package had already hit Canadian customs! Shipping was expensive, almost $40, but even with the two-step process, the package arrived here very quickly.

The reason I went with a US supplier is that the Wilson Amplifier Store offered a complete package. I didn’t have to cobble together the antenna, cable, and mounting hardware. I did need an adapter to fit the antenna with my Sleek booster, but the adapter I used with my bigger whip antenna does the trick.

Well, I’d better get to work. It’s nice to have a full plate of it upon return from vacation. I have a lot to make up for, what with all the time off I’ve taken this summer!

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Moose Jaw Grocery Run

I decided to do a Moose Jaw grocery run today so that I can avoid leaving home for the next couple of weeks, except for perhaps a Willow Bunch run to get some produce. I have tons of work to do. Also, C&C are starting the addition for their house and have a list of chores for me, so I am going to be VERY busy through the rest of the summer. Might as well start with a full larder even if a four hour drive felt like a bit much today.

My GPS doesn’t like the road east to Willow Bunch and tried to route me through Assiniboia, idiot that it is (no matter what setting I picked), making the drive to Moose Jaw much longer than it needs to be. But I knew I could head to Willow Bunch, swing north on highway 36, and then cut east to Moose Jaw on highway 2, cutting the trip almost in half.

There is literally nothing but a few farms between Willow Bunch and Moose Jaw. There is even a sign at the 13/36 junction saying that the next services are in Moose Jaw, 100KM away, and a matching sign at the 2/36 junction saying no services till Willow Bunch.

The drive was very scenic (but of course) although I had to really watch the pavement since it was in very bad shape, nearly as bad as major highways in Quebec. I must have looked like a drunk, driving around all those potholes!

I got to Moose Jaw around 11:30 and the first order of business was lunch. I had heard good things about DK Sushi and so decided to take a chance on it, hoping it would be good enough to be my habitual Moose Jaw treat. I had no trouble finding the restaurant and quickly opted for the $16 all you can eat menu as it was varied enough for me.

Everything was fresh and delicious and obviously made to order. Their miso soup was very yummy. I indulged in a couple of gyoza and even though they were fried, they were very flavourful. I had a total of 24 pieces; eight of BBQ eel, eight of yam and avocado, and eight of spicy tuna. All great! The tuna was VERY spicy, but that was offset by the sweet eel sauce. But no more spicy tuna for me as it’s made with mayo and I have firmly ascertained that eggs are what has not been agreeing with me. 🙁 The eel was so good that I decided to also try it on their ‘pizza’, of which you get a quarter per order (a couple of bites), which was perfect. Again, there was mayo (the Japanese use mayo the way Americans use ketchup), so I’ll have to watch that for next time. I finished with chocolate ice cream, which was also really good, very rich and chocolately, not the cheap ice milk that’s usually offered. I definitely got my money’s worth!

I made a number of stops after, learning the hard way how to set up an itinerary for the next trip as I had to double back a couple of times.

I first went to Canadian Tire to get some more garden hose, quick connects, and a sprayer. The store was overrun by bratty screaming children, so I gave up on shopping for anything else and was grateful that the garden centre was quiet for five minutes so I could figure out what quick connects I needed.

After, I went to Walmart for a small run, mostly for cat litter and an oil change. I helped out a customer looking at the solar panels for his RV (mostly to tell him that a 5W panel will be useless to him and that he needs about 60W, then giving him a little bit of info on how deep cycle batteries work and the best way to charge them). I continued the battery discussion with a couple of the mechanics and one just grinned as I kept confirming information that he had told another tech.

I’ve figured out that I need to go no more than 4,000KM between oil changes. More than that and I just end up pouring in oil that will end up getting drained too soon. I did buy some bulk oil for just in case, but I’ll make it a point to get to an oil change place more regularly than I needed to with my little car.

Next stop was M&M Meatshop! Wow, I haven’t been to one since I left Lethbridge! I spent quite a bit on pork, chicken breasts, and fish, but it’s all good stuff and will be tasty. I was just about to pay when I noticed boxes of cod fillets and made sure to add one to my order. They will be a welcome addition to my diet.

I then headed back behind DK Sushi to do my main grocery run at the Safeway. A lot of the stuff was crazy expensive ($7 for two bunches of kale?! $1 for a single lemon?!) but I got such good deals on other stuff that it all evened out. My card savings were $40.24 and I also got a 5 cents per litre fuel discount. So when I went to gas up after, it was at $1.19, the cheapest by far that I’ve paid since I got back to Canada.

The one thing I didn’t find at Safeway was almonds in bulk and I suddenly remembered that Moose Jaw now has a Bulk Barn. It wasn’t in my GPS. I asked a lady also getting gas if she knew where it is. Yup, right by Walmart. Dang! I headed back up there and got a few things. Oh, Bulk Barn, how I have missed thee! I have not been to one since I left the Ottawa area. When I lived in Ottawa in the late ’90s, my world was within a 45 minute walking distance radius of my Sandy Hill apartment. A big treat was to hop on the bus and go a few stops away to get to the Bulk Barn at the Gloucester Centre.

Moose Jaw has really grown in the last five years! Last time I was there, it was very sleepy and there weren’t that many stores and restaurants. It has really built up and feels like a proper city. One lady I spoke to said that Regina has a Costco, but otherwise there’s no longer any reason to go shop in Regina except for really specialized stuff.

It rained hard for most of the afternoon and there was a major storm watch for the Assiniboia area, but the drive home was under clear skies and felt like it didn’t take any time at all. It is cooling down now and the internet is misbehaving, telling me that the promised bad weather is indeed incoming.

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Energy

It’s been a very full and active day under yet another broiling Saskatchewan summer sun. Once I had water, it was time to do laundry, mounds and mounds of it (and I’m not done yet). I got into a routine of getting hot water from the exterior shower and carrying it in a bucket to the WonderWash and then filling my new water jug with cold water while I spun the clothes. The outdoor shower is very slow, so having water in the jug made rinsing quicker. It sounds like a lot of work but, really, it’s less than traipsing across town to borrow someone’s washing machine.

During the day, I also worked a little more on the genset and reattacked my weeds.

Last night, I went over to Laura’s to drop off some internet research I did for her and asked her about a trash barrel she had promised me. She said that she needed to find a guy with a truck to haul away the branches in and covering it and then I could have the barrel. The branches would go to the ‘pit’ somewhere near the community hall.

Truck? Waitaminute, don’t I have one of those?

(When I got home, I was holding a flower pot with soil in it for transplanting my tomatoes and was just finishing that up when Isaiah and Grace stopped in for a quick chat. My “I’m a real homesteader now that I’m growing my own food!” quip as I held my tiny tomato plant was good for a laugh. Isaiah says that I’m fitting right in, ie. that my yard is starting to look cluttered (and yet, it’s very neat. I just need a shed!).)

Late afternoon today, I emptied out the truck and headed to Laura’s where I filled the bed with as many branches as possible. Then, I had to find the pit. I suspected that it would be near the vehicle graveyard and I was right! Just before the graveyard, there is a rutty track that leads straight down to a pit where everyone throws their branches. I backed down there and unloaded the branches, then almost spun out trying to get back up. Note to self, you do not have a 4×4.

I repeated the exercise twice (learning to jam the gas pedal and then quickly clutch into second), clearing away all the branches, then I went back for my well-earned trash barrel! A truck is so perfect for life out here, gas mileage be damned, and the property was definitely a factor in getting Moya.

I was just about to go take my shower (hallelujah) when I remembered that I had to put stuff back in the truck. So I went back out to sweep it, then put in the mats and made up the bed in preparation for leaving on Sunday.

What’s interesting about all this is that I had the energy to do it. Since I arrived on the beach early this year, the heavy shroud of fatigue that has plagued me for years, well before I started RVing, began to lift. Even though I’m still sleeping like crap, that doesn’t stop me from having an active day. Just a year ago, there is no way I would have gotten the truck cleaned today. I would have been glued to my lounge chair and even taking a shower would have seemed like an insurmountable chore. I’m not sure what’s changed except that I started to cut back on sugar as a new year’s resolution….

Life is so much easier to live when you’re not experiencing it as though swimming through a sea of molasses!

Needless to say, I earned myself a hearty dinner tonight and my body demanded some rice after all that exercise. Dang it was tasty! 🙂

The earth is dry and dusty here… but where we’ll live there’s a winding stream and the grass on the gentle hills around it grows high and rich and green. It’s the plot of land you’ve dreamed of.

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Haven With Water! (Sort Of)

The city worker came out really this morning, about 9AM, and was very nice! He told me that while there are utility maps floating around, they have been proven inaccurate and there is no way to know for sure that I have access to the water main without digging deep. He thinks it could be thousands of dollars to get a water tap! I think it could be cheaper than that if I find someone with a digger, but anyway, the point was he didn’t think I could have a tap in the near future unless I wanted to shell out big bucks. Bummer.

That said, he had been informed by the gals at the RM that I am now on the garbage route and that I will be billed for water, so he came prepared. He opened up a public tap about 300′ from the rig. It spewed out thick orange water for about five minutes, then it ran clear and cold. We strung out my super long green hose then added the sections Laura had given me. It was just enough! I also had a length of white hose I could have used, but I prefer to only use that when I’m hooked up to truly potable water.

The low water pressure coupled with the distance meant it took a full hour to fill the on board tank. Moreover, the hose crosses a couple of properties, so I need to move it when I’m done so that the mowers don’t get at it. Therefore, this is not super convenient, but it’s better than hauling jugs! My water heater is running and I am going to have a wonderful shower tonight! 🙂

I’m using the rest of the hauled water to start on my laundry today. I’ll see how far I get. I have MOUNTAINS to do and no pressing work today, so I might as well get at it. I definitely have work tomorrow.

It’s nice to know just how efficient the RM staff is! And here is another example. Tuesday morning, I opened the front door and noticed that the garbage bag that had been on the stoop the night before was gone. Tuesday is garbage day. The holiday had messed me up a tad and I forgot to bring my bag up to C&C’s on Monday night and figured that it was no big deal as I could put the trash next to my curb as of next Tuesday.

I was deeply curious about who grabbed the bag seeing as you really have to be looking at my stoop, ideally with binoculars, to see what’s on it, I’m that far from the roads. Anyway, the water guy said that he had spied it and snatched it! Wow! Talk about service!

Being able to have a shower tonight made me want to get down and dirty with my genset again today (I am now completely filthy and look like a heathen).

I am getting really close to isolating the non-start and it’s near the spark plug. So even though the spark plug looks good, I’d be best to replace it. Wish me luck finding one. Figuring out how to install will likely be easier. 🙂 It’s so frustrating that it sparked the other day and I’m cursing myself for attempting to start it without enough gas on board. I might have missed my only chance. 🙁