Quebec

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Almost Packed and Waiting for Morning

I’m leaving for Montreal first thing in the morning, which is absolutely surreal! Since I am taking three flights both ways and do not trust Air Canada, I’ve decided to try to carry on all my luggage. When I checked-in an hour ago, I did say that I would be checking one suitcase, in case they decide not to let me carry on. Had I selected the ‘no checked luggage’ option, Air Canada would charge me $50 if they deemed it necessary for my luggage to be checked! Crazy!

Air Jazz, the puddle jumper that’s taking me from Penticton to Vancouver will require me to put my luggage under the plane at the point of embarkation because of the lack of cabin space. I went through that routine when I went to Chicago in ’99, so I know what to expect.

I’m allowed my suitcase, a laptop case, a small purse, and a coat, so that is what I will need to juggle through the airports tomorrow. My suitcase is very nice and has a place from which to hang the laptop case, so at least I won’t need to carry myself in most cases. Needless to say, I am going to have my eye on it the whole time!

I read the updated rules about liquids and noticed a new clause–the liquids must be identifiable. Last time I carried on my luggage I transferred my products to small bottles and they went through fine. But this clause makes me think that I need to be carrying original bottles. So, I went to Shopper’s Drugmart today and bought $10 worth of travel sized bottles. *sighs*

I have not decided to what extent, if any, I will be blogging about my trip.

I’m off to finish packing since I need to hit the road for 7:30. *yawn*

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Study Curtains

I spent an hour this afternoon putting together the curtains for one of the study windows. I’ll do the other two when I get back from Quebec. I frosted the large window as well as the one on the filing cabinet side, so they’re not as urgent. I didn’t want to do the one on the desk side since I like to see what’s going on outside. However, guests of this park are extremely rude and walk through my site to get to the facilities on the other side of the meadow. I wouldn’t mind if they walked on the far side of the site (it’s double-wide), but they walk right by the rig and take plenty of time to peak into windows. Yuck!

At any rate, I don’t sew, but I am well equipped for sewing. The other day, I took my cutting mat and tool (looks like a pizza cutter) and I went to the laundry room where there is a large table. I spread out the fabric, measured, and cut out all my panels.

Sometime in the spring, I bought some fusible hemming tape to try out in lieu of hand sewing. It’s a small roll, so I didn’t think I’d have enough to do all my curtains, but when I opened up the package I discovered that it’s a very fine product, kind of like a spider web, and that a roll will go a long way.

First thing to do, set myself up for ironing. Hmm… Oh, I’ve got it! Board down on study mattress, dish towel over board, and a damp absorbent cloth to substitute for an ironing cloth:

I started with the bottom, since it had a finished edge that would allow me to make a perfectly straight edge, which would guide me for the other sides. I did one panel, then used it as a guide to get the other one the same size.

The fusible tape is extremely easy to work with. I worked with foot-long sections at a time, folding the hem over it, applying the damp cloth over top, and pressing firmly with the iron for ten seconds. It was slow going, but the crisp edges were worth the effort.

For the top, I simply made a much larger hem so that the pole could fit through the top section. I got simple tension rods which fit snugly. For added protection, I had them rest over a valance bracket to give them a bit more support:

The fabric is long enough to cover these windows, but it is about two inches too short for the picture window. The fabric is just so perfect and there was exactly enough of it, except for those two inches, so I’m glad I have the valances to make up the rest!

End result:

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Leaving on a Small Plane

I can’t believe that I’m flying east a week from tomorrow! I got an awesome deal on my tickets to Montreal from Penticton, but it’s going to be a bit of a circuitous route. To get there, I’ll be doing Penticton–>Vancouver–>Calgary–>Montreal. To get back, I’m doing Montreal–>Toronto–>Vancouver–>Penticton.

Flying directly from Vancouver to Montreal was several hundred dollars more and would have required very early morning flights. Funny how the longer route is cheaper and more convenient! I’m happy that I fly out of Penticton at 10AM (meaning I leave Osoyoos at a reasonable 8:30) and out of Montreal at 4:30PM. I’ll arrive at 11:30PM local time both ways. Long days, and jet lag’s a bitch, but this is the best flight itinerary I’ve ever put together.

Thankfully, I’ve been through all those airports except Penticton (which is tiny), so the trip should be easy. My layovers are all only just long enough to ensure that I’ll make my connection barring a huge delay, so I won’t have too much time to kill. I’ll have the iPod on me for entertainment.

I’m getting pretty excited about this trip and it will be very nice to see my family again after more than two years away!

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Detachment

I’m leaving Dawson in less than two weeks. I’ve had an okay summer this year, but I still love this town and am glad that I have had a chance to know it so well. That said, my feelings about my imminent departure are completely different from last year. In fact, this is the first time I’m going to leave a place without having my departure panic attack. I didn’t really get settled in this year and I’ve stopped thinking of this stop as a destination, as an event with a beginning and an end. It seems that sometime between leaving Campbell River and the last couple of weeks, my RVing life began to find a continuity of its own, with routines that carry over whether I’m stopped or traveling.

Financially, the summer was a blessing and going back to financial incertitude is going to be tough, but I actually managed to do a solid job of replenishing the coffers. I’ll do fine for myself well into the fall even if I don’t find a job in Osoyoos, although I have decided to look for something part-time. I have enough set aside to actually travel back south and I’m giving myself a full sixteen days to do so. My itinerary is a bit bold and I may chicken out about one section, but I look forward to an even longer period of boondocking while being able to work every night.

My fall plans are slowly coming together. I have decided to fly to Montreal at the beginning of November for a week to see my family, something that will be made possible since I’ll have a rig and cat sitter available to me. My sister had a baby on September 1st, my first niece, so it will be nice to see her and my two nephews. I’m pretty sure the youngest one doesn’t remember me!

Besides that, I have a writing project to complete and I also need to work on things related to that announcement I’m not yet ready to make. I’d also like to continue with the renovating and decorating, although I will have to be extremely frugal in all areas of my life so as to stretch my savings as far as possible. I’m committed to being in Osoyoos until December and have not made plans beyond that.

So, that’s the latest status update. Nothing too exciting, but things are going to pick up soon. 🙂

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It’s That Time of Year

The time of year that makes me regret I ever learned to drive, that is.

It starts in February, when I owe the SAAQ 250$ for my toad’s license plate. It then continues in March when I owe them 100$ for my driver’s license. This year, the party will continue for a third month straight when I will owe them 500$ and change for Miranda’s license plate.

(The non-RVers go: “HA! My house doesn’t need a license plate, nyah nyah!” Rae replies: “My house doesn’t require me to pay school or property taxes, nyah, nyah!”)

There is some stuff going on behind the scenes that tells me that I will be taking up BC residency this coming fall. I’ve been warned that BC means ‘bring cash’ and that their driving fees are more draconian than Quebec’s. I find that hard to believe, but even if that’s the case, income tax will be less, so it will all come out in the wash.

What irks me with the SAAQ is that I can’t just send them three post dated cheques tomorrow. I need to wait for the February notice to appear in my mailbox in Gatineau and have said notice forwarded to me. I will then send said notice with payment attached back to Quebec. In March, I won’t need to wait for a notice since Quebec has come up with a really great scheme for nabbing people for lapsed licenses and imposing gargantuan fines on them: don’t send out notices that the license needs to be renewed and let people remember this for themselves. They do make it easy on us: license renewal happens on our birthday, on either an even year or an odd year, depending on the year we were born. So, on my birthday every odd year, I have to remember to send them a cheque. Gee, thanks, this is always what I wanted to do for my thirtieth birthday!!! Finally, in April, I will have to repeat February’s circus.

I’m just glad that this odd year isn’t the odd year when I need to get a new picture taken for my license. This was actually a factor in my decision to take off as quickly as I did. Since you have to be physically present in Quebec to have your picture taken (ie. you can’t send in an authenticated picture the way you can for a passport application) I wanted that two year buffer to reduce the urgency of making a decision about whether or not to go back. Of course, going back to Quebec never was more than option Z on a list of twenty-six options, but it was there (note that going back to my old job didn’t necessarily entail going back to Quebec other than to actually work since I could live in Ottawa, making that option significantly higher up on the list than taking up residence in Quebec again. Just thought I’d clarify).

I did get ‘happy’ news from Hydro Quebec this week. When I sold my house in the spring of 2007, I was sure that they owed me money, but still paid their huge final bill. A few months later, I got a sizable cheque from them. When I left my rental house in the fall of 2008, I once again got a huge final bill, which I paid. Guess what came in the mail this week? Hint: it’s a shame they couldn’t have made the cheque out to the SAAQ since it would have saved me from having to send it anything in February or March (!). For years now, I’ve dreamt of living ‘off the grid’ and not having to rely on utilities. Now that RVing has given me a taste of what this is like (22$ power bill for January, woohoo!), never having to deal again with Hydro Quebec is another of the many reasons why returning to Quebec is option Z on my list. 😀

(I’ve been told that I can come across as very critical of Quebec. Yeah, so? Just because I come from one of the (not THE, mind you) best places in the world in which to live it doesn’t mean that I have to take what’s wrong with it place sitting down, that I’m not allowed to criticize what’s not working. I vote, so I feel it’s my right to have a say. In fact, I think it’s my duty to not just sit by complacently. At any rate, José Emilio Pacheco sums up my thoughts about Quebec (and Canada, for that matter) perfectly (even though he was writing about Mexico). I’m not sure if my translation from the Spanish is 100% perfect, but it’s close enough:

High Treason

I do not love my country. Its abstract splendour
is beyond my grasp.
But (although it sounds bad) I would give my life
for ten places in it, for certain people,
seaports, pinewoods, fortresses,
a run-down city, gray, grotesque,
various figures from its history
mountains
(and three or four rivers).)