Lethbridge

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Moving Towards Acceptance

I have taken THE big step towards accepting that I will be back in a house semi-bound life for six months: I ordered internet service. Telus has a special; super fast internet with 500GB of bandwidth for $30 a month for the first six months. I will be downgrading my cellular modem to the flex plan so that I still have it available should I travel this winter or the other internet goes down. So that will be $35 a month. The total will be $65 (plus taxes and fees, of course), which is exactly what I pay now for my 5GB mobile account!

Once again, I’d like to make it clear that the only reason I am staying in Lethbridge this winter is the sudden availability of health services. Getting signed on with a family doctor in just two phone calls was life-altering, but what followed was even more amazing. I had initially booked a physical for January, but I don’t want to wait that long to see the doctor. So I called and asked if I could get a regular appointment sooner… and I got one for October 5th!

I have no intention of getting settled into this apartment. I will make it as cozy and functional as I can for six months, but I am bringing the strict minimum with me and will invest as little as possible into making it habitable. There are so many things I will miss: having many rooms, the double sink in my kitchen, my kitchen’s much more functional layout, my huge shower. But I am looking forward to having a bath!

In the next week I will scrub every inch of the apartment and start to make an inventory of what is coming into it. Of course, Miranda will be parked very close by, so I can grab what I need, but I want to see how little I can live with.

November should be a much slower month for me with nice days at the beginning. So with the rig empty, I’d like to repaint the study and do another coat of yellow in the kitchen/library/loft. I’ve made a list of other small projects that I could do weather-depending that would be much more doable with the rig empty.

The only big project on the table for this winter will be planning my shortened US route for my trip through there in the spring! Six months will go by fast, I know it, and soon I will be back on the road, healthy and ready for more adventures. That’s how I’m looking at this winter; just one more adventure in this crazy, wonderful, nomadic life of mine.

 

 

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Being Out of Propane Really Messes Up the Routine

Last night, I ran out of propane just as dinner was finishing. The chicken needed an extra minute, but a lid and the residual heat from the very hot cast iron pan finished the meat off nicely. So, no propane, turn the water heater off, make a note to pick some up after work the next day.

This morning, I wake up and stumble to the dressing room to wash my face. Run the hot water for a second, splash some on my face, and WOAH, that’s cold! Oh, right! No propane. Duh.

Shuffle back to the kitchen to make coffee. Rinse French press. Why is the water cold? Oh, yeah, I’ve been down this road this morning. Fill kettle and put it on the stove. Strike match, turn on burner, and… oh, right.

(Mornings are tough for me. 🙂 )

Since I’m moving in just under two weeks, it didn’t make sense to get a full 30lber of propane. I asked for 10lbs. Except that propane is sold in litres here… Quick, some math! A full tank is about $18 so a third is $6! The propane filler guy was very good natured about the exercise. 🙂

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Furnishing the Castle

It was quite the busy Friday and I’m only in the supper lull before the final push.

I was up early to do transcription, then I had to call my new financial planner to discuss my portfolio. Based on the fact that I don’t plan to touch that money for, oh, twenty years or so, if not more, we’ve decided to go with a slightly more aggressive strategy, that will possibly result in short-term losses, but also increase the changes of long-term gains. Discussing my nest egg is always surreal when I look at my bank balance. 🙂 That’s probably the best advice I could give to someone who decides to RV pre-retirement. Have some untouchable investments so that you can live with yourself when your bank balance is in the negative digits as you build a new, mobile life.

At any rate, things are looking up for me. I am insanely busy, but I am also seeing money come in that is equivalent to the effort I am putting out. Today, I got some payments from a couple of sources of passive income that will more than pay the internet bill this month. This is the sort of income I am trying to build, the kind where you do the work once and then are paid in near perpetuity, whether it’s through royalties, commissions, or ad-sharing revenue.

Work was good. I said something to a tenant that made me realise just how far I’ve come in the last three years: “If I were you, I wouldn’t talk to me in that tone when I’m the person who can get things done for you.” Don’t cross Rae! 😀

In the afternoon I went shopping for blinds for my office and… a microwave for my apartment. That microwave will eventually end up in my office to replace the dinosaur there, but I get to enjoy it first. This will be my first time with a brand new microwave. I wouldn’t call such a device a necessity, but since it was offered to me, I’m glad to accept it! The rest of the furnishings will trickle into the apartment as an inventory of available things is made. It is going to be so strange living in a space almost three times the size of Miranda!

Well, I just finished a supper of tomato sandwiches (thanks to a lovely tenant who is keeping me supplied with my beloved red spheres) and I’m off to do two more hours of fliers, then as many hours of transcription as possible before I start to sleep at the desk. I’m so glad I savoured all that time off in the spring, knowing that things would get like this soon enough. But I’m dropping the fliers at the end of the month and will be losing my commute, so more than just the odd day of free time may pop up.

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Playing Hooky

I’ve worked every day since the last Monday in August, so I decided to take a day off once things quieted down. When Jody mentioned she had an appointment in Calgary today, I decided to not go in today so I could join her and Gary. I love taking Wednesdays off; it makes the week seem so short! Oh, and before anyone gets any ideas, I did not call in sick or use some other immature tactic to get off of work. I just let the office know last week that things had quieted down and that I was taking today off for myself.

We left at 9 and had breakfast on the way into the city. Our first stop was Ikea where we wandered around for about an hour. Jody had said that Gary wanted to go there and that he had something else he wanted to do after her appointment. So on the way to said appointment, I asked Gary what it was he planned to do after. He smiled and said, “I’m taking you gals out to dinner.”

I bet my eyes lit up because I knew where we were going! “The first part starts with R and the second with L, right?” Yup. Red Lobster! Gary had had that in mind for some time and a commercial last night did him in. Dinner was his contribution to the celebration of my three years on the road. Awwwww.

It was coming onto one when we got back in the van after Ikea, so I put an order in to the Roving Delicatessen for half a chicken sandwich with some cheese and tomatoes. The whole concept of turning around to the guy in the backseat to put in an order for lunch never ceases to amuse me.

Jody’s appointment was by a giant mall and I estimated (correctly) that there would be about two hours to kill, so I decided to do some shopping for things I haven’t been able to find in Lethbridge. Gary handed me his cell phone so Jody could call me when they were done and the van keys just in case. “But I’m not giving you my wallet!”

My shopping didn’t take any time at all! I just wanted some cotton tops and some deeply discounted sandals for finishing off the summer and for next year. I had no trouble finding either. I did some window shopping after, picked up a piña colada Julius, and sat down on a bench to check my email and read a bit. The time passed quickly and before long I was hanging up on Jody since I hit the wrong button on Gary’s phone. 🙂

We headed straight to Red Lobster after. It was early, but we hadn’t really had lunch and there would be no crowds. After perusing the menu we all decided that the endless shrimp promotion was the most appealing offer so the parade of plump pink goodness began. They had so many different varieties to choose from! I tried their shrimp Alfredo linguini, the garlic shrimp with cheese topping, and the grilled sweet and spicy shrimp skewers, but there was also plain garlic, fried, and more! The Alfredo and skewers were my favourite; I actually had two skewers. Add to that biscuits, salad, and the carb of your choice (rice for me), and we rolled out of there!

There is so much I could have done at home today, but it was lovely to get out and shake up the routine a little.