Work

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Off Kilter

It’s been a weird day, time-wise.

I’m technically in the Pacific time zone now, but have to work according to an Eastern schedule, so that means I had to be at work for 5:00 a.m, which has thoroughly thrown off my eating schedule.

It was easy to get to bed early last night since I was so exhausted and I was awake around 4:15 without an alarm clock. There was work waiting for me, so I made a coffee and got cracking. By the time 6:00 rolled around and the restaurant opened, I was beyond ready for breakfast!

I took my computer and phone down with me to the restaurant so that I could respond if any work came in. Breakfast was an excellent buffet with lots of options, no excuse to leave hungry. The coffee was good, too. I look forward to seeing what they have tomorrow as they said that the options change daily. Based on today, I know it will be worth waiting to leave on Friday morning to do so on a full belly.

Despite a good breakfast, I was ready for lunch by 10:00! I had a bit of a picnic, but was displeased that the fridge runs super cold and all my food was frozen! Carrots lose their structural integrity when frozen and thawed, so they end up rather chewy!

I clock out at 4PM EST and another colleague stays on till 5PM EST, but I like to keep a weather eye on my emails if the daily article hasn’t been mailed out by 5PM in case something crops up with it. That was the case today, so I sent a quick email about that and then went off to find food.

My choices within walking distance were Pizza Hut, Denny’s, and Mexican fare, not too inspiring. I’d been to Denny’s twice a very long time ago in Savannah and in San Diego and thought the food was crap, so I didn’t go again until a couple of years ago in Red Deer when it wasn’t my decision. The food I had then had nothing in common with the Denny’s I remembered, ie. it was really good. So I decided to take a chance on that today.

I wound up paying $7.25 for my meal with the tip and I would have paid twice that and thought I got a bargain… I could not believe how good the food was, its freshness, or the quality of the ingredients. Yes, at a Denny’s chain diner! Mind blown.

I had their new $6 ‘Baja quesadilla burger’, which is a real beef patty topped with a bit of cheese, pico de gallo, and avocado, then sandwiched in a flour tortilla. It comes with a side of forgettable and over salty Mexican-style corn chips and meh salsa, so ignore that part of the meal. I actually don’t care much for the taste of beef (but I appreciated that I was eating real meat, no fillers), so I added a liberal amount of Cholula sauce to give it the flavour it needed. As for the pico de gallo, this was the real thing, no skimping on the jalapeños. Between that and the Cholula sauce, my eyes were watering, but I wasn’t in major pain, not like I would have been at time last year eating a moderately spicy meal. Plus, there was tons of avocado to soothe my wounded taste buds! Since I didn’t eat the chips, the meal came in at a very reasonable nutritional count (I appreciated that Denny’s has the nutritional info for everything printed right on the menu).

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After linner, I decided to walk down to the Walmart since my phone said it was 2.5KM away, meaning just far enough to get in a leg stretch, but not so far as to feel like a slog. The temperature was cool compared to yesterday, so the walk was very pleasant. They didn’t have any warm weather stuff either, but I poked through the clearance items for treasures and found a top I liked.

Like the server at the Denny’s, the Walmart cashier also only spoke Spanish to me, so I now know I still remember my numbers. 🙂 Nogales is really a good prep stop before entering Mexico!

It was a lot hotter out when I left Walmart and it was uphill most of the way back to the hotel, so I definitely got in some exercise today.

When I arrived back at the hotel, I popped in at the front desk to get my breakfast coupon for tomorrow. The clerk asked me to confirm that the room is okay (YES!).

Now, it’s time for a beer slushy. Dang, that fridge really does run cold!

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Knocking Out Projects

The printer is rather a pain in the arse item to drag along with me to Mexico, but it’s necessary for work that I do for one of my clients. Last year, I determined that it had to travel in the cab with me because dust and water gets into the truck bed, even with the canopy. Soon as I got it in the truck, I realised that it was taking a lot of precious cab space because I couldn’t really store anything on top of it, not even a bag of bedding. I thought that it might be nice to have a shelf over it, but was not in a position to build anything.

Even if my tools and materials hadn’t been scattered to the winds last year, I didn’t have a workshop or tools with which to easily knock out a project like this. Today, it took just 30 minutes, including the design and cleanup phases, to build this:

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So now, the printer can sit behind the passenger seat and I can put a tote or my suitcase over it. I can store two totes on the driver’s side and in the middle, too, if I run out of space in the back. But I’m not bringing the cot for this trip, so I suspect that cab space won’t be as precious as it was last year. It’ll still be nice to know that I can toss things behind me and not risk damaging the printer!

I have to say that my once disgusting shed is quickly turning into my most favourite part of my property. I just love how bright it is in there and how fresh it smells, never mind that it is so full of potential!

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A Gift of an Afternoon

After several days of grey, damp, and cold weather, plus a grey, damp, and cold morning, this afternoon erupted with sun and temperatures in the high teens! And it’s not just a one-off, we might hit the low 20s by the weekend. I love Indian Summer!

I made a sale on eBay today and decided to head out after work to ship it. I was going to go to Willow Bunch when I realised I had enough errands to make it worth doing a couple of trips to Assiniboia this week. So that’s where I headed instead. And I wore sandals! 😀

This week has been so different from last week, energy-wise. I pretty much lost the Monday to Tuesday night of sleep last week and didn’t recover till the weekend. I spent the whole week in a bit of a fog where all my energy went to work, of which there was an inordinate amount. This week, I’m caught up on sleep and doing full nights, so I’m awake before my alarm. Not being woken by it makes all the difference. I’m productive during my day, have good focus, and still have energy to spare to do overtime, although it looks like I’m done putting out fires and I can take it easy the next couple of days…

The trip to town was a bit frustrating as the Co-Op gas bar has had some staffing changes and they rarely have anyone available to do propane. So I haven’t been able to get my 30lber refilled in my last two trips! Thank goodness we’re going into a warming trend or I would be seriously concerned about freezing! And I’d be really worried if I was going to be spending the winter here. I’m going to have a chat with the manager next time I see her.

One of my stops was to order two new tires for my truck. I had priced some at Walmart when I was in Moose Jaw and Kal Tire’s price of $122 per tire installed was competitive enough for me to feel that I wasn’t being a schmuck for supporting my local store.

Off to make dinner. I know I’m almost a week early for Thanksgiving, but the roast chickens were on sale today, so I’m doing a bird with a few trimmings for dinner tonight. 🙂

 

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18 Sleeps Till I Leave For Mexico

BRR. It’s been very cold and damp here the last few days. I’m trying not to heat too much so I can acclimatise, but it’s hard. I’m dreaming of palm trees and beer on the beach!

My neighbour Caroline asked me to come over yesterday afternoon to see her latest purchase for the kitchen and we had a nice chat by their wood stove (lovely) while sipping black current tea (yum!). She then presented me with a gift that showed an extraordinary amount of sympathy to how I feel about the current weather:

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Yes, that’s a union suit, complete with rear access flap. 😀 Every time I look at it, I burst out laughing. I do have to say it makes for wonderful pajamas! I usually wear pants and a top to bed, but then the top rides up and my lower back gets cold. With a union suit, you remain covered no matter how much you wiggle in bed. I was pretty comfy until about 6:00 this morning, when I had to turn on the mattress warmer.

We should have a warmish afternoon tomorrow, so that will be my chance to give the truck bed a good wash and then I can start working on filling it. I’ve started doing a bit of packing, but with nights heading below freezing, everything is staying piled into the RV. It’s getting pretty cramped in here!

The payment I wasn’t expecting to be here before leaving landed on Friday (!), so now I can leave with complete peace of mind and not be on such a strict budget for hotels. I am going to have to average 775KM per day between here and Nogales to get there by the Monday afternoon, so I’ll be glad to not have to hunt too hard for the cheapest motels along my route.

It’s going to be a very fast trip to the Mexican border! I am going to be somewhere in Wyoming the Friday night (probably Gillette, unless the border crossing goes exceptionally well and I decide to push on to Cheyenne). Then, I’ll probably be in Walsenburg, Colorado, Saturday night. After, things get fuzzy because I took a heck of a lot of my time between Nogales and Walsenburg in the spring! I’ll probably be somewhere around Deming, New Mexico, on Sunday night. Monday, I’ll hit the Walmart in Benson for as much of my shopping as I need, then get to Nogales by mid-afternoon.

Work in Arizona is going to be brutal as I will be starting work at 5:00 a.m.! I am considering the possibility of staying in New Mexico to work, getting the bulk of my errands done there, and then doing a run to Nogales on the Thursday afternoon after work. I’d finish at 2:00 and could be in Nogales by 6PMish. I’ll see how I feel as I get closer. The weather will play a role in my decision as will whether or not I can buy some pesos wherever I land in New Mexico.

It’s really good to have a firm departure date as it is making it so much easier to work through my massive to-do and packing list. The bulk of it will likely be done when I get off work the day before I leave, but there are a few things I can do ahead of time. I’m playing a lot of the ‘what are the odds I’ll need this before I leave?’ game and putting things into totes only to pull them out again! But I think it’s safe now to put away all the summery clothes. 🙁

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One-Month Countdown

I’m leaving for Mexico a month from tomorrow! Where did the summer go?!

Last year’s departure felt very scattered and rushed because I was waiting on a cheque that took ages to arrive. Packing was hard because I didn’t know what I’d need and if I’d need it again before I left. Outdoor things, like tarping Miranda, got left to the last minute. I ran out of food and turned my fridge off too early. And I almost left without my pillows.

This year, I really hope it’s going to be different. I had thought I’d get my October payment for September hours for the proofreading gig promptly at the beginning of October, but that client has made it clear that they pay at their convenience, not their staff’s, and that I can’t count on getting a payment by any particular date. So I’m scrambling to rearrange the budget to make sure that I can leave with what I have in the bank right now and what I can count on my other clients to pay me by October 23rd. It’ll be tighter than I’d like, but not so much to make leaving on October 23rd a risky move… except for the truck being a huge wildcard. I know that it’s fine mechanically, but I’m worried about rust on major components, like the suspension.

I’m going to get a safety inspection done on the truck  tomorrow afternoon (only $40!) and hopefully will get an okay to go. If not, departure will have to be delayed until the October payment comes in so I can buy a ‘new’ car. If that happens, I am not making a huge deal out of it. There is a guy in Assiniboia who has reliable cheap cars and I’m going to basically buy the cheapest thing on his lot. My branch here has said that based on what I’ve told them about my financial situation, they would loan me a small amount for a vehicle purchase, but I’d rather delay departure and pay cash rather than increase my debt. Anyway, I’ll cross that bridge if I get there.

I’m paying attention to the weather and scheduled tarping Miranda for this Friday. I haven’t had any more leaks, even in heavy rainfall, so perhaps my roof sealant has finally cured, but I’m not taking a chance with snowmelt. The tarp I have makes it undesirable to tarp ahead of time because it blocks windows and roof vents, as well as the front door, but I’m giving myself more time this year so that I can do a better job of it and some folding so that I can avoid those negatives. Caroline and Charles have tons of baling twine and told me to get some from them rather than buy any, so I’ll take them up on that offer. Other exterior chores, like winterizing the water system, can absolutely be left to the last minute as it only takes an hour or so. I’ll plan to do that the afternoon before I leave, unless the weather forecast for that day is dismal.

As for packing, I’ve been keeping a list since last winter, when I was still in Mexico. It basically boils down to bring more kitchen stuff and bring fewer clothes. I even plan on bringing my folding table so I have extra surface/storage space in the kitchen. It took me a full month last year to set up my kitchen properly and I don’t plan to wait that long this year. Caroline gave me a bunch of kitchen stuff that came with her new-to-her RV that will mean I don’t have to bring all my own ‘good’ stuff with me, thankfully. I just keep imagining things getting confiscated at a border or being destroyed in an accident. I had the same things in an RV, but it’s amazing how they look more suspicious packed up in a truck. This is why I keep waffling on whether or not to bring my good computer chair with me. I’m sure the crappy chair I bought last year will still be there, but, well, it was crappy. 🙂

I don’t intend to sleep in the truck at all this time around, so I’ll be able to better pack my vehicle so it’s easier for customs to get go through and I have less in the cab with me. Of course, this will change if I end up driving down in a subcompact… That will be determined tomorrow. I really hope the truck is fine to go since it is so comfortable to drive and I’m doing a marathon run that would leave me sore if I was in a car. Once I know, I’ll be able to buy packing containers. Packing last year was pretty much a disaster in that I used a few totes, some suitcases and the rest were bags, which didn’t keep things together well at all. This year, it’s all going to be nearly all totes! I am packing one small suitcase since I do plan to fly to Mérida and it’ll contain the clothes I need to get me to Nogales, at which point I will repack it with warm weather clothes.

There hasn’t been much going on socially this summer, so I’m a bit starved for flirting with cute waiters at beachside restaurants and going out in the evenings to listen to music. Unfortunately, my friend Dale is absolutely not returning to Maz, but perhaps I’ll find another single friend to hang out with. And, of course, there should still be horseback riding this winter, as long as my group can shift riding day to Mondays or Fridays.

I’m getting pretty excited about the thought of heading out!