RVing

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I’m Going to Need a Wake-Up Call Tomorrow

After I finished counting cars the other day, I was asked if I’d be available for more work this summer. Of course, I said yes, but I honestly never expected to hear from this lady again, not with the way my employment situation has been since I got to Lethbridge.

I must learn to have more faith. I’m meeting her at 5:30 tomorrow morning. It’s going to be a short night. 🙂

I’m going to be counting cars again, but the reason we are meeting so early is so I can help lay down some hoses. At least, that’s what I understood. And I might be introduced to flagging (being a traffic control person).

To think I could be working in an office in Gatineau doing the same thing over and over and over and over again day in and day out instead of learning something new every day. Lack of steady income not withstanding, my life is pretty awesome!

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Alberta Propane Prices

I went to fill the 30lb propane tank today and once again was shocked by the cost of propane in Alberta.

In the last three years, filling that thing in BC and the US has cost me between $20 and $30, with Campbell River and Blaine being at the high end of the spectrum, the Okanagan in the middle, and Surrey at the bottom. I also once filled it for almost $40 in Dawson.

Propane in Canada is sold in a price per litre and I’ve always considered the low eighties per litre to be an acceptable price.

I’ve filled up twice since I got to Alberta and hope I don’t have to get used to the price they have here (ie. that I have to stay here in definitely) because I’m going to get spoiled. Propane is 74 cents per litre, so my 35lbs costs me just shy of $18!!!!

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Parking Your RV At a Hospital

Tioga George had some day surgery today. Glad all went well, George!

When he was well enough to be released, he was wheeled out to his RV sitting at the back of the hospital parking lot. What luxury!

I had major surgery in July of 2007. I didn’t feel too badly upon awakening, but the drive home over terrible Gatineau roads, and the drive back to the hospital the next day for a dressing change, was torture. There would have been a lot less pain, and possibly a quicker convalescence, if I could have gone home to my RV parked in the hospital parking lot instead of being subjected to those two car rides. I remember my surgeon’s shocked expression at seeing me in a wheelchair the next day. I was worn out from trying not scream on the half hour ride to see her!

I don’t know if US hospital parking lot rates are as bad as those in Canada, but I think that any price would be worth getting permission to spend at least a couple of days in the lot in an RV after undergoing surgery to avoid the agonizing ride home.

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Grey and Yellow

Jody is really in tune with the delivery market in Lethbridge and so I was able to get through her a couple of routes delivering the CanPages phone directories. Like fliers, this pays minimum wage at best, so I didn’t over-commit to the project. Today, I did two flier routes, went out and did one phone book route, then finished up my day doing two more flier routes. It has been sunny and hot and I am done for the day even though I still have two flier routes to do tomorrow. I think I did a pretty good day’s work!

The phone book route I did today was just south of downtown proper (yay, free parking), in neighbourhoods filled with grand Victorians and cozy English-style cottages. This core part of Lethbridge is so pretty! It reminds me of Savannah, actually, with the number of people out on the porches enjoying the heat and sun, the friendliness of everyone I passed, and the huge trees dripping greenery over the street. It made me hungry for shrimp, sweet tea, and hush puppies!

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Is That the Best Place For It?

I’m still working hard at perfecting my home’s organization. I had it nearly down pat before I started the renos, but it’s been a bit of a struggle since. I think it’s because I’m much more fussy this time around since these are systems I will be living with for many years. I really want to get it right and not just a case of putting something somewhere just because it fits there.

Today, I’ve started on a massive spring clean with the main objective being to find the perfect home for things that haven’t exactly been in the way, but which have been absolutely unsightly. One major bone of contention was in the study. It was the bright yellow, 25′, ten gauge, 15 amp extension cord I bought in Eugene to reach the power pole a million miles away. I coiled it like a snake and stuck it in a corner. Yeah, it was out of the way, but every time I walked into the room I’d chide myself for not putting it away properly.

I was at a loss as to what to do with it. I didn’t want it in the basement since the humidity down there led to my losing the three extension cords I first brought with me on the road. I don’t want to use the cab as a storage room. The kitchen, library, dressing room, and toilet room didn’t have space for something like that. The loft, then? No, I try to keep as little as possible up there to keep the dust down. Okay, so it had to be the study. Perhaps in a tote in an overhead cabinet? Nope, that extension cord is HUGE.

And then it hit me:

large gauge extension cord hidden in the study mattress bed base

The bed base in the study isn’t very high, so there’s not much room to store stuff under there (thank goodness), but it is a dry and accessible location that is the perfect home for ALL my extension cords!

Next challenge: where to store my ‘in progress’ stuff like the Poliglow kit. I’ve already figured that out, having come to the conclusion that I’m missing some furniture in the library. So, until I get a furniture budget, I’ll just need to be patient.

A good house is never done. — Sarah Susanka