Surrey

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Dreaming of a Satellite Dish

I’ve had problems with the internet service at Pacific Border since I got here, problems that have grown exponentially. I’m now on what amounts to a dial up connection in terms of speed and service reliability. It is very painful! Since internet is not included in the cost of the rent here, I spoke up before rent was due in February and was grateful to receive free service for February. The hosts here are great! (Have I mentioned recently how happy I am to be here?)

The owners were surprised to hear me complain because they claim to be known for their superior internet service… although Mac users report problems with it. Nothing was done about that since Mac users only account for perhaps 6% of their business and the problem must be at their end.

Hmm…

Well, it’s taken a lot of investigating, but the solution to the mystery turned out to be the network encryption key. They use the older WEP-style encryption key, which Macs do not like for security reasons. The solution to make the network function properly for Macs would benefit all users: upgrade encryption to WPA-style. Which they claim to be in the process of doing, but haven’t until now because most of their PC users tend to be using archaic technology. By archaic, I mean the latest junk that Bill Gates throws out, which is light years behind what Steve Jobs has been putting out for several decades now. Just call me a Mac-elitist. *ducks* 😀

Hopefully, the upgrade will happen soon (I was told that it would be within the week) and I’ll be able to get back to my regular online schedule. My inbox is backed up to the moon and I have a dozen unfinished posts waiting for publication. Oh, 20th century internet I have not missed thee.

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2009 Early Bird RV Show in Abbotsford

I was up up and at ’em at first light and in line to enter the 2009 Early Bird RV Show in Abbotsford at 10:11AM this morning. Game plan was to spend two hours poking around and visiting various rigs, do some shopping, have lunch, revisit some exhibits, and then catch the 2PM seminar on travel to the Northwest Territories. The day went according to plan.

Since there was a lot of ground to cover, I decide to stick to visiting class As and Cs and leave curiosity visits of Bs, trailers, 5ers, toy haulers, and campers to the end.

The first thing that struck me is how unimpressed I was by the offerings. I toured class As worth a quarter of a million dollars and couldn’t believe that they have particle board doors and cheap RV-style faucets, not to mention cramped bathrooms and no oven. The class Cs weren’t much better; there was nothing that could be considered an ‘upgrade’ to Miranda. Except one. Of course there had to be one.

I didn’t even have to enter this rig to start getting shivers down my spine. It looked exactly like what I’d envisioned my next motorhome would, with a chocolate brown base paint and sandy accents. Touring it made me realise that I could have my ‘dream rig’ for at least a third of the price of a bus conversion. It’s a Jayco Seneca HD 36MS. This coach is a diesel class C.

I’d looked at diesel class Cs last summer, but there just weren’t that many on the market then and even a used one was cost prohibitive. The 2009 Jayco Seneca isn’t cheap, but I could easily see myself being able to afford a gently used one in two or three years. This model I looked at was a long term, full-timer’s home, complete with two bathrooms (ensuite plus powder room), huge kitchen, and a couple of places to set up a home office. It has slides, something that is a bad idea on a gas class C, but a non-issue on a diesel model because the carrying capacity for this unit is a whopping 3,000lbs and towing capacity is 15,000lbs. It is fully winterized and is a 50 amp rig.

While I was touring it, a salesman came up to me and I asked him about some specs such as the CCC and we started to chat. I told him that this was the only rig in the whole show that had even remotely impressed me. He replied that I must be an RV owner then (something that surprised everyone I talked to today) and I acquiesced. He complimented me on doing such a great job with buying my first rig. We had the following conversation (paraphrased, of course):

Him: So, what do you have?
Me: A Glendale Royal Classic.
Him: That’s what I used to sell until they stopped making them!
Me: (yeah, right)
Him: It’s no wonder you’re not impressed with anything else! Let me guess, you have the 31′ model? Computer desk set up in the back bedroom and you sleep in the cab? (question based on my asking him earlier if the Jayco Seneca was available without the over cab entertainment centre)
Me: Yep.
Him. Oak floors, oak cabinet doors, solid room doors, normal proportioned bathroom, house-style faucets… Geeze, the next guy who’s going to try to sell you an RV is going to have met his match.
Me: (holy cow, this guy actually was telling the truth)
Him: Do you have the puke green or the purple interior?
Me (laughing): Puke green. Purple was the year after.
Him: Sorry!

LOL!!!

I gladly took his brochure and card (who knows, hell could freeze over tonight and cause me to buy a lottery ticket which could wind up a winner!), then went off to shop at the mini Camping World-style store set up near the entrance. I had my wish list with prices on it, so I knew it wouldn’t take long to determine if the prices at the RV show were inflated or not. To give you an idea of what prices were like, I got my Dri-Z-Air AND a huge jug of crystals for less than the price of one Dri-Z-Air at Canadian Tire! I also picked up a rollable cutting mat and a step stool, as well as other small kitchen sundries.

Lunch was also very good and very reasonably priced. It was nice to sit for about a half hour and catch the tale end of a seminar on sustainable RVing.

After lunch, I sated my curiosity by touring campers, class Bs and one really impressive toy hauler that would make me reconsider my love of motorhomes! The unit is a full home with a garage in the back. The garage actually looks like a garage and is accessed from the kitchen like a garage. I saw some other models where the rear of the unit could be converted to garage-like space by moving bunks and rolling a special floor covering, but this was the only unit that had a dedicated garage. Very cool! I found the campers had really neat bathrooms where the shower was the bathroom itself. I guess you can’t leave anything on a counter in one of those!

The seminar on NWT travel was disappointing since the facilitator wasn’t a skilled public speaker, the content was too general, and there really wasn’t anything about RVing per se. I still got an idea of some places to visit and how I should structure my summer (be in the Yukon by the end of May, work all of June, travel all of July, and start heading back south in August).

Finally, I discovered at a booth that there is such a thing as an RV Technician Apprentice Programme!!! I’m going to do quite a bit of research on this because it could be the key to full-timing freedom… even if it would mean spending next winter in the Okanagan again (cue in music from ‘The Shining’).

So, in short, a very nice, full day at a great and affordable RV show, and lots to mull over as I continue to accept the fact that I am truly in this for the long haul.

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Parking Disappointment and Free Gas

Well, so much for getting a super cheap, 60$/month parking pass! As it turns out, the pass takes a week to process, so I would have had to pay for a full February pass and daily parking for the first week, and there is a three month minimum contract, with a really arcane cancellation policy. That said, I calculated how much it would cost me to pay for daily parking vs. the bus and it’s only a 15$ difference. Moreover, I just checked my Petro-Points balance and discovered that I have enough for a couple hundred dollars worth of free gas (and this after redeeming some in December for Miranda), so I don’t need to worry about gas for the toad this spring (and I’ll have plenty of time to rebuild my balance for the next time Miranda needs a fill). I am therefore going to suck up the 15$ difference and enjoy my extra 40 minutes a day!

Petro-Points are worthy of a sidebar. For several years now, I’ve used a Citibank MasterCard linked to the Petro-Points reward programme. All my purchases earn me points which I can then redeem for gas or other goodies. I didn’t drive much for about a year, so every month or so I would redeem points for a 25$ amazon.ca gift card! These days, I save my points for gas (gee, I wonder why), and even though I can’t possibly spend enough to fully cover my gas expenditures (well I could, but then I’d rack up debt which would negate the point of the exercise!), I do spend enough to take a huge bite out of the gas budget. This is truly ‘free’ money seeing as I pay off my MasterCard in full every single month. I belong to quite a few rewards programmes and Petro-Points is by far the most rewarding. I also like that I can double up on points by getting gas at Esso to get both Petro-Points and Aero-Points or at Shell to get the Petro-Points and Airmiles. I don’t buy into the ‘2 cents off per litre’ hype from Petro-Canada, though, seeing as their gas tends to be more expensive. I only get it with gift cards! I highly recommend the Citibank Petro-Points MasterCard to anyone who is disciplined enough to pay off their card in full each month (since the card has a hefty 19.5% interest rate!). No, this paragraph was not sponsored by Citibank. 😀

Random RVing thought of the day, as I lit the stove: “There is something delightfully primitive and elemental about needing fire to cook.”

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Dumbfounded

I walked into the pool building this evening to find in the hot tub four incredibly attractive guys my age.

!!!

And there I was, looking like a clown in mismatched, over-sized pyjamas and huge duck shoes.

How often is this going to happen in a world filled with coupled 50+ retirees? Not very. This was my one in a billion chance to meet some guys my own age in this world and all I could do was smile and squeak out a not particularly cool ‘hi’!!!!

Evil duck shoes!

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Still Going Around in Circles

I missed my bus sort of on purpose this morning. I was having a really mellow morning and by my leave time of 7:20 I was still in my pjs! I decided that this was going to be my first day of attempting to drive to work and that I could use up my last bus tickets Thursday or Friday.

Getting to New Westminster was extremely easy, with just a few slowdowns, but I once again got confused by all the construction. I’d looked at a map ahead of time knowing that Majel would be useless once downtown, but I still got led astray onto a side road that took me straight through the downtown core, past my parking lot and my office building. It took forever (or so it seemed) to get turned around and back onto the correct street. Once there, the parking lot was easily accessible and finding a space was painless as there was tons available right near the inbound ramp. Getting to work, driving around in circles not included, took about 45 minutes door to door, 15 minutes less than taking public transit.

This evening, I followed the ‘exit’ signs in the parking lot until I got to what looked like the off ramp. But there was a great big arrow telling me not to turn right there and to keep going straight. I did so and got to the end of the lot, where I had to execute some ‘fun’ manoeuvres to get myself turned around. I was really confused as to how to get out of there and followed the exit signs right back to that turn off where I realised that the sign telling me not to turn right was actually mis-oriented!!! So, that was the exit and, conveniently enough, it led to a one way road, making a left turn onto a busy road a piece of cake. I followed the highway signs to get onto the freeway, laughing as Majel got so confused that she just shut up and let me figure things out for myself. I got home in 38 minutes, compared to the 70+ from public transit!

(Never in my life would have have thought/dreamed/believed/imagined that I would one day have to commute a route for which the last stretch is to follow the signs marked Seattle!)

In other news, Translink called me today to ‘apologize’ for the bus not showing up on Friday, giving the usual excuses of weather (not an issue that day), traffic (not an issue that day), bridge closure (no reason for it to affect that route), etc. I’m still not impressed.

While I’m working very hard at trying to find a way to support myself on the road that would not involve commuting to an office, this assignment is thus far proving itself to be enjoyable and an acceptable way to fund the next part of my journey. I hope that things do not degenerate as they did last fall. 🙁