Work

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Delaying Departure

I had thought to leave tomorrow afternoon, Wednesday morning at the latest, but it looks like departure is now going to be sometime Friday. Work has been a little iffy the last several weeks because of holidays and a new contract starting. I got what I wanted for the last week of September, but didn’t get anything for the first few days of October from my main client (I did have piddly assignments from less regular clients). This week, I was offered a tad more than what I asked for.

If I was truly on the cusp of being ready to go tomorrow, I’d go and plan to stop and work over the weekend. Instead, I’m just going to hang out and get the work done before I leave. This way, I won’t lose any of the income to hotel accommodations. This week’s assignment will just about, if not fully, cover my first month’s rent, so it makes sense to keep as much of it in my pocket as I can!

I’ll then be able to take four or five days to get myself to a warmer climate before stopping. All that I’m eating into is my time in the States and none of these delays will affect my time in Mexico, so I really don’t mind. I’ll better be able to enjoy what time I do spend in the States knowing that my slowly diminishing bank account will be replenished generously at the beginning of November! 🙂

I got all the clothes loaded today except for one bag of necessities to get me through the next week. Getting the suitcases out of the RV has really made it seem like I’ve made a huge amount of progress in my packing!

Tomorrow, I am going ahead as planned with delivering things to my neighbours’ for safekeeping, including my RV batteries, and I’ll start the process of winterizing my water system. The RM (rural municipality) has been told that they can shut the water off as of the 10th (Friday), so I’m hoping that I’ll be able to have hot showers until I leave. 🙂

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A Tad Run Down

After a few glorious days that should have rightly belonged to summer, southern Saskatchewan is settling back into more seasonal, and wet, temperatures. I’m starting to dream of a second warm winter by  the ocean…

Unfortunately, the cold I picked up in Quebec is persistent and I haven’t had the energy to do much more than just work. I can’t believe I lived most of my life feeling like this, as though everything I do is akin to swimming through molasses. I’ve just been so healthy the last year and a bit that this slow down right before the start of an adventure is quite a shock!

I am making some progress at getting on the road, though. No, I still haven’t lined up my apartment in Mexico. I’m sure my options have considerably narrowed by now. But my budget is so much better than it was a few months ago that leaving without something secured doesn’t worry me, if it comes to that.

My friend Croft has confirmed the paperwork I’ll need at the Mexican border. I’m going to be wintering near Mazatlan, which is well past the ‘paperwork free zone’, so I will need to get a tourist visa and temporary import certificate for my truck. The list includes originals and copies of my birth certificate, passport, driver’s license, truck registration, and proof of ownership of the truck and that there is no debt outstanding on it (otherwise, I could be asked to provide a letter from a lender giving me permission to take the truck to Mexico). I’ll also be getting Mexican liability insurance through the company Croft has used for years.

The next step will be to visit my local SaskTel dealer to have my cell phone unlocked for a fee of $50. This will allow me to get a US SIM card and then one in Mexico. I will also be allowed to suspend service for the first three months I will be away. It would have been nice to be able to suspend it for the full eight months, but three is better than none! I’m going to keep the Bell (Mifi) account active since it’s just $10.50 per month and the contract will be done when I get back next May. And then I can throw the last Mifi off a tall cliff!

Other things that need to be done before I leave, once I have a better idea of my departure date:

– secure health insurance for my time in the States (I do that through my bank when it’s just for a short period of time);

– advise SK health that I’ll be away for more than six months;

– inform my bank of my travel plans so they don’t put a hold, or worse, cancel my cards!

– call SaskPower to inform them that I’m shutting down power at Haven for the winter (by turning off the main breaker and locking the box) and asking them for the procedure to send the last metre reading;

I’ve already advised SGI (SK DMV) that my truck is leaving the province for an extended period of time and the RM (rural municipality) knows not to bill me for water and garbage pickup as of October 1st. It won’t be a problem if I’m here a week to ten days longer, but water is going to be shut off October 15thish (I’m on a public hydrant), so that’s really the latest I am going to want to leave!

My clients are also aware that October is going to be a trying month for availability. I’m going to focus on my law enforcement contract and will probably not do anything else. The plan at this point is still to travel Mondays and Tuesdays (my slowest days) and find a m/hotel or some other suitable location to get work done the other days. There’s really no reason I can’t travel and earn a full-time income in October if I put my mind to it. I’m just going to miss my office very much!

I’m now narrowing down my packing list. My truck really isn’t that big, especially since I am rather counting on being able to sleep in it quite a bit on the way down (weather permitting) and the bed is going to take up lots of room. This is probably not a bad thing! I know that I really won’t need that much and that there are stores in Mexico if I forget anything. 🙂

I’ve got quite a bit of typing to do in the next few days, ending September off with a bang, income-wise, and then I’m going to focus on closing up Miranda and Haven. I’ve decided that departure will be a day or two after I get my cheque for the September law enforcement work, so probably October 10th(ish). I have the funds to leave before, of course, but if I get asked to produce bank statements at either (or both!) borders, the balances will be better! 🙂

Yes, I’m terrified about the changes coming up in the next weeks. Gloriously, thrillingly terrified. I haven’t said it recently, but it’s still true: I love my life!!!

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Reunions

I got an early start this morning because my mother had some work for me to do. That ate up the morning and the first part of the afternoon. It was easy, but tedious, work that I enjoy and that my mother hates, making sure graphic elements are correctly aligned and adjusting them if not. My being here was perfect timing for this job and it will be nice to have a few hours to bill during my non-vacation.

Lunch was an item off my culinary desires list for this trip, Montreal style bagels, which we had with smoked salmon, cream cheese, capers, and grey shallots. YUM!

My older sister and her girls arrived late afternoon. It was my first time meeting the youngest, who is sixteen months old. The oldest is four and she not only remembered me, but was very affectionate. They have a lot of energy, so there was a lot of running around and shrieking. They are spending two nights, so I expect I’ll be woken early this weekend! It’s lovely to see them and we even Skyped with my brother-on-law, who is working on Vancouver Island.

Dinner was my step-mother’s amazing fish soup, made with cod, a creamy tomato base, and whatever veggies are on hand (this time, potatoes, carrots, parsnip, and green beans from the garden, plus cauliflower). This was another request of mine. 🙂 The girls thought it was great, too! I had bread, a beer, a glass of wine, and a glass of port, so I skipped dessert. 🙂

I don’t feel like I got much done today even though it felt like a very long one!

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Slightly Jetlagged

I fell asleep at one am local time and was up at quarter to ten! I had a quiet morning chatting with my mother.

Lunch was a treat I haven’t had since the 20th century because I was a vegetarian for so long: a genuine Montreal smoked meat sandwich!

After lunch, I borrowed the car to go do a little shopping to buy my eldest nephew a birthday gift and his little brother something, too (my younger sister’s boys). I was given a specific list , so it was an easy enough task. I made a stop en route to visit my dad’s grave.

I came back home and headed out almost immediately to pick up my grand-mother, who lives 1km away. When we returned to my mother’s house, my brother, his girlfriend, and my youngest nephew had come to say hi (they live a few blocks away. My sis-in-law is due with another boy any day now!

My grand-mother and I had a chance to catch up a little over dinner. After she left, I took advantage of the shiny new tub in the freshly renovated guest bathroom!

The evening was winding down when the phone rang. It was my uncle calling with news that the girlfriend of my youngest cousin had her baby tonight! Talk about a baby boom!

Tomorrow, my older sister is driving down from Sherbrooke with her two girls. I haven’t met the younger one yet. They will spend a couple of nights.

Saturday, my little sister will be hosting all of us for my eldest nephew’s birthday. This gathering would have happened without me, but I think there is extra effort being made for attendance because I made it out.

I’m glad I didn’t plan anything for the week except lunch with a cousin on Monday. It won’t be hard to fill the days! In fact, I’ll be working tomorrow alongside my mother, doing some of the work she trained me in when I was here last.

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So Much To Do!

The last couple of months have gone galloping by. I can’t believe September is just about at the halfway mark and that I’m still crazy enough to think that I’ll be en route to Mexico on or about October 1st!

One of the problems I’m having is that the weather has tanked and I still have some exterior Haven projects to wrap up. I need to paint the new shed door and finish cleaning the shed so that it will be usable in the spring. I also have cleaning and sorting to do in the cabin.

My truck also needs organizing and sorting since I plan to sleep in it quite a bit (weather permitting) for the trip down to Mexico. I love driving my truck and look forward to doing some exploring in a vehicle that isn’t a bear to stop and park! I’m hoping to hit a few tourist spots along the way, but I think we’re going into an early winter, so I may have to drive hard to get through the mountains. My truck just doesn’t do well in snow, unfortunately. I can always hit those attractions in the spring since I plan to come north fairly late in the season (Mayish).

Because I’ll need time to acclimatize in Mexico and get settled in, I don’t want to take a lot of time off on the way there. So I plan to drive and sleep in my truck (again, weather permitting) a couple of days and then stop at a hotel to work for three or four days. The income I’m getting now is such that I can afford a decent hotel with a proper desk and still actually make a profit at the end of the day. I’ll therefore be able to work nearly full-time in a compressed period of time and keep my clients happy. I plan to take about a full month to get to Mexico!

As for Mexico, most would say that I haven’t done any work at all to prepare, but there’s been a lot of thinking. My friend Croft has helped me figure out things like vehicle insurance and what sort of paperwork I’ll need at the border.

That said, I still don’t have the housing situation sorted because I keep waffling between getting a tiny inexpensive place and a larger more expensive one. I can afford the latter now and want to be comfortable (remember how claustrophobic I felt living in one BIG room in Lethbridge…), but I also want to put money away this winter. With finances not being super tight, I’m tempted to just show up and stay in a hotel for a bit while I sort out housing. But I might take advantage of super fast internet at my mother’s to make a few Skype calls.

My mother’s? Oh, you don’t know that I’m flying to Quebec on the 17th for a week? I try to visit every two years, so it was time to go back east for a bit. My eldest nephew just had his 10th birthday, so the timing is good. I’ll be home late on the 23rd and then I play to be in focused departure mode.

Leaving Miranda behind for eightish months is absolutely terrifying. I have no idea what I’ll be coming back to… Caroline and Charles, beloved friends and neighbours that they are, have promised to pop in every once in a while to make sure everything is okay. My roof is still leaking, so I plan to tarp the whole thing. I’ve also been having mouse issues now that I’m catless, so Charles will be providing me with plenty of mouse poison. I will be getting rid of all food and doing a thorough cleaning. Hopefully, I’ll come home to a dusty, but habitable, rig.

From a technical point of view, I have to remember things like disconnecting the batteries. They will be moved (with a dolly because they are super heavy!) to Charles’ workshop for the winter as will other things, like paint, that I don’t want to freeze. I also have to winterize the water system.

It sounds like a lot of work, but I know that once I get going, it will come together quickly. I’m still working on my packing list. I’ve grown so used to having everything I own with me at one time that it’s kind of fun to play the ‘house is on fire, you have time to grab what’s important’ game. Really, all I need are my electronics, the 2014 financial stuff folder, some other paperwork for the border crossings, and a bit of clothes. I’ll probably bring a bit of kitchen equipment and bedding as well. I want to take off and travel the world for a while in a backpack, so downsizing from an RV to a truck is a step in that direction!

My biggest concern about Mexico at this point will seem silly to many, but it’s crucial for me: internet bandwidth. My new contract has me downloading large video files and so I need a lot of bandwidth in a month, more than I can/should get from public wifi, and I’m supposed to avoid public wifi if I can for security purposes. But otherwise, there is no issue with my working from Mexico this winter and my clients are excited for me!

So that’s what’s going on in my little corner of Canada these days. I am eager to go, but not sick of being here, and hopeful that Mexico will have good weather to make up for the lack of a proper summer!