Homemaking

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Still Shopping for Internet

Part of the agreement for this upcoming season in Dawson is that my wages will be adjusted for the fact that I am going to be responsible for providing my own internet connection. My idea was to have the local ISP hard wire me. Thing is, I’m only going to be there for four months this year, and I don’t know if that will be cost effective. If I knew for sure I’d be coming back for a third summer, I wouldn’t hesitate to run the lines to my spot, but for four months it doesn’t seem to be the best option. I’d be better off investing in a mobile solution that could serve me in other locations.

Mobile internet options are slowly increasing in this country as cell phone service expands. Rates are, of course, usurious and coverage spotty soon as you head away from the US border. I don’t begrudge this last part; most of our country is wilderness! That said, I’ve been watching coverage maps increase along major highways and I’m pretty sure that this year I could get cell coverage for at least 60 to 75% of my trip to Dawson, provided I stick to the Alaska highway rather than the Cassiar, and that I’d be able to map out my trip to have internet service nine nights out of ten.

My cell phone is with Virgin Mobile. When we last spoke about coverage, they said they had no coverage in Yukon and were surprised that I had some in Whitehorse. I’m really happy with Virgin, feeling that it provides me with the cheapest and most flexible pre-paid options, so having to change carrier for my time in Dawson when I barely use a phone to begin with would be really disappointing.

Looking at their silly and almost illegible coverage map this week, it seems that they now do officially cover Whitehorse and maybe even Dawson City.

This is apparently due to a buy out by the biggest devil of ’em all, my nemesis, the evil Bell Canada. Crap. So long as Virgin can remain the company it has been the last year and a half while taking advantage of the far reaching Bell network, I will be okay with this merger, but if there is even an iota of Bellishness to Virgin, then I will have no choice but to take my business elsewhere. I meant it when I said that I will never again do business directly with Bell Canada. I still haven’t forgiven them for making me climb up the telephone pole in the dark in minus twenty weather because their technician was (apparently) colour blind (and that wasn’t their most major crime against me).

But I digress.

If Virgin’s coverage map has increased, and I’m hoping they will reply with a definite answer for me, then I will be able to get something called a ‘Mifi‘ that would let me create my own internet hot spot. Of course, the device is incredibly pricey and the monthly plans are expensive for the amount of bandwidth you get, but it would be enough for work purposes and focused surfing. There are cheaper devices that seem to offer comparable service, but they are for PCs only. The device doesn’t work in Manitoba or Saskatchewan, either, but at this point it seems like the best and most affordable solution to me.

I’m at a crossroads right now, business-wise. I can’t afford to seriously invest in the internet solution I need (ie. satellite), but I require reliable internet service to grow my business. A loan is most definitely not an option. I’m also not certain of just where the next year is going to take me. If I do manage to get to the US next winter and do that every winter from now on, then satellite wouldn’t be as necessary. I could do like my friend Donna and use a cell phone as a modem, an inexpensive option that is just taking off in Canada (at much higher rates, of course), while in the US, and then plan my time in Canada around locations where a device like the mi-fi works. This uncertainty is one of the main reasons why I would never lock myself into any sort of multi-year agreement for cell or internet coverage!

Even if I don’t have an internet solution by the time I head north, I do have a plan in place that will enable me to update the blog, to a certain extent, when I’m in cell phone range. I hope that I won’t have to put that plan into motion, but it’s there. I am nothing if not resourceful! 😀

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Being Stared At

People were staring at me while I was out running errands the last few days. While Campbell Riverites were bundled up against the double digit temps and sunny skies, I was out and about in a tee-shirt, light sweater, and sandals. Nothing says “I’m not from here!” like wearing what locals consider to be seasonally inappropriate clothes. 😀

The nights have been cold, however. I went to the house for my shower at about 3:30 this morning before going to bed and there was frost on the car. It’s still not cold enough to warrant putting the electric heaters on full blast, much less firing up the furnace.

With all that sunshine in the last few days, I’m due to post an update about Norma’s gardens!

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RV Bathroom Organization

I’m blessed with an RV bathroom that has a decent amount of storage. The cabinet over the vanity has plenty of space for bottles and small containers, and there is a decent amount of space under the sink, too. What’s missing are drawers to hold all the little pieces a woman tends to accumulate in her bathroom, from hair accoutrements to nail files. I’ve been using a plastic storage bin by the shower, but that space has slowly been encroached upon by clothing and I want to replace that ugly plastic thing with a proper dresser.

From almost day one, I knew exactly what I needed to perfect the storage in the bathroom, but finding the item was incredibly difficult. It needed to be see-through and preferably mesh rather than vinyl or plastic. I couldn’t find a see-through one, never mind mesh, and I started to just look for long slender boxes to fit into the over-sink cabinet.

While wandering aimlessly around Liquidation World today after looking at their furniture offerings, I found IT!!! And for just $10 to boot.

I’ll need to make some adjustments since it’s a bit too big for the space, but behold the ‘over door pocket organizer’!

I’ve obviously set it up so that the pockets face into the toilet room so as to not spoil the aesthetics of the dressing room.

It’s made to hang on hooks that go around the top and bottom of the door, but once I make the necessary nips and tucks I will screw the organizer to the door so that it lies more neatly and also to not have those hooks protruding on the other side.

If your RV has a solid wood door, this is an excellent storage option.

Having found the pocket organizer, I’ll be able to move all the bathroom stuff out of the storage tower and move clothes into it. Hopefully, I’ll find a dresser soon. A very helpful guy at Home Depot told me to poke around the website seeing as some things available in larger stores could possibly be shipped to Campbell River. And while at Home Depot, I figured out exactly what I’m going to do to reduce some of the condensation problems in both the study and the loft. Stay tuned for the next riveting chapter of Extreme Makeover: RV Edition! 🙂

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Dressing Room Allure Sneak Peek

Once again, please pardon the dust and the mess! 😀

The best part of today so far was running out of floor, getting dressed to go to Home Depot, and going to the car to find a third box of Allure in the trunk! I’d forget my own head if it weren’t attached. 🙂

I can’t finish the dressing room without pulling up the flooring in the kitchen, so that’s this afternoon’s project. I am to have all the flooring up by tonight and then just have the edges to chisel away

Work on the floors will continue in much smaller bursts during the next four days since my eight hour shifts at the convenience store are exhausting. Next ‘weekend’, it will be time to pull out the bucket chairs and other dinette seat in the lounge so I can get the floor down in there. After that, trim. After that, the focus will be on making sure my rig is still secure for travel.

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The Find (and Deal) of the Century

This afternoon, I got the floor up in the dressing room and began to make inroads in the kitchen. I need to make further inroads before I can consider putting down more flooring in the dressing room. I’ll work on that tonight and then get the dressing room floor in tomorrow. My work was interrupted more than once by my need to attend to splinters.

I stopped at about 3:30 to go and check out a used furniture store in Willowpoint to see if they might have the lingerie chest I need to finish up the dressing door. Finding the right item would be real motivation to work late into tonight getting the floor in so that I could then deal with my clothes. I need to do that to make progress in the kitchen. Picture what you will. 😀

The store didn’t have a suitable dresser, although one came close to the right dimensions. Unfortunately 5″ too much is way too much in an RV. 🙁 But it was worth it to go there when I found an item that was on my ‘unrealistic wish’ list.

Since I’m putting the dinette table at counter height, I planned to get a stool or two to sit at. I had a hankering for a certain style popular in the 1950’s that doubles as a step-stool and would be ideal for getting into my upper cabinets and maybe even the loft. I did some research and found out that those stools are rare and expensive now as they are a hot item. I decided I wasn’t going to expend any energy in looking for one.

So imagine my surprise when I stumbled on this at the store:

It just needs a good scrubbing with an SOS pad, a reupholstering (easy, the padded pieces are screwed in), and new non-slide material on the steps.

The lady let me have it for $20, taxes included.

This was after I picked up another small item for the study (more on that later once I figure out what I’m going to do with it) that was marked $9.95 and which she let me have for $9, taxes included.