Homemaking

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and Kabooms

Making tea this evening, I was presented with a reason why some people could be put off from cooking on an RV stove. I face this reason regularly, but tonight it was particularly spectacular.

When I light a burner, I turn on the gas to lite/hi and then turn the sparker. Said sparker has been acting up again as the knob is loose. After three tries, I gave up and reached for the lighter.

Of course, a bit of propane had accumulated by this time, so there was an impressive explosion when I lit the burner. This happens occasionally and it doesn’t faze me as I’m used to cooking with propane.

I wasn’t ten years ago, however, and as I made tea tonight, I was transported back to Aviemore, Scotland, on June 15th, 1998. It was a cold and wet Monday night and I was craving soup. As I was doing the youth hostel circuit, I’d been lugging groceries and making my meals, but this was my first time encountering a gas stove that needed to be lit with matches. I put on quite a show for my fellow hostelers, what with my startled scream and falling on my butt. Ah, my first KABOOM. It was unforgettable.

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Baking

I don’t know why people make such a fuss about baking in an RV oven. It’s really not that different from baking in an electric oven. Sure, it’s a bit more difficult to gauge the temperature with gas than with electric, but you can get pretty close and then use visual and olfactory clues to tell you when the food is done.

Today being Sunday, we’re having a social and the theme is ‘afternoon tea’ (because, as the guest activities coordinator, I said so *g*). I’m bringing fresh baked tea biscuits and jam:

biscuitsforsocial

I make two kinds of biscuits. One is a camping recipe that requires a minimal amount of prep work and then there is this one that requires kneading and rolling out, always a fun activity in a tiny kitchen with no counter space. I wound up just using the top of the stove, with the covering board laid on top of it. I suppose I could have used the dinette, but I try to restrict my messy kitchen activities to the kitchen area… which is really quite a farce in an RV. 🙂

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Settled In

Last night was my first evening working on my own. I got one drive in and one late check in on a reservation. Both scenarios had twists that hadn’t come up in training, but I apparently handled everything fine. Since it was election night, I spent a couple of hours in the lounge watching the results trickle in. I’m allowed to crash on the couch in the unoccupied staff house, but to me it makes more sense to do so in the office where I can see people coming in. At any rate, watching tv is such a ‘once in a blue moon’ type of event that the issue is unlikely to crop up again this winter (unless our government falls again, of course).

Today, I got caught up on my laundry. Boy is it nice to have access to FREE laundry facilities!!! The laundry room in the staff house is right at an exterior door that faces my front door. I probably have less far to go to get to the washing machine here than I did at my last house!

Tomorrow is my first of three days off, so no getting up at 6:30. Yaaaay! I’ll take Miranda out for propane (so much work to go two blocks round trip, *sighs*, and then get to work installing heat tape.

I bought a little space heater at Canadian Tire and it’s managed to keep the heat in here at a cozy 20 today and 18 last night all by itself. So, I think that if I add a second one, I won’t need to use the furnace at all this winter, avoiding the propane tank rental fees. I wish I had a better idea of just how much propane I will need this winter so I can know if it’s worth getting the tank or if I should just put up with the hassle of taking Miranda out a few times. No, propane delivery to my tank is not an option; the company that does propane in this area only fills its own tanks. 🙁

I have a job interview tomorrow afternoon with A&W, a fast food chain, hopefully for the cashier position. Minimum wage in BC is pathetic, so there is no way I could make enough on part-time hours there. So, if I get an offer, I’ll probably have to consider full-time hours, unless I get a surprise and am offered a supervisor position with better pay. Or better pay, period. At any rate, any employment would be welcome right now; if something better comes along later I can always quit. I do very much like the fact that A&W is walking distance from home and right next to the supermarket.

Tonight has been very quiet. It’s nice to be ‘on duty’ and earning my keep, but still able to sit at home with a movie and a top secret project pertaining to the blog. I really enjoy cashing out; it’s been a long time since I’ve had the pleasure of using a calculator and doing basic bookkeeping (other than my own, of course).

Once I have money coming in again and know what my full schedule will be like, I’m going to start taking off on short trips in the toad. It doesn’t make sense to pay gas and campground fees for Miranda when it won’t cost anything to leave her here and a motel would be much cheaper for an overnight (or two).

I still can’t believe that I’m here and that other than the grape picking not happening, my winter is so far progressing pretty much as predicted.

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Heating and Work

I woke up this morning to find my propane levels had apparently dropped dramatically overnight, according to Miranda’s useless sensors. So, I have anywhere from one day to one week’s left of propane (hence the word useless). I noticed that one of my neighbours has a huge tank hooked up to their coach. So, I spoke to the manager about propane delivery and she said that someone is coming by on Tuesday, Monday being Thanksgiving, and that I could get an account set up then for a propane tank rental. However, it could be up to two weeks before I could get a tank hooked up and filled! This is because they have to run a credit check on all customers because of the rental equipment.

The manager repeated that I should get electric heaters and confirmed that I am unmetred (unless I get crazy with my electric consumption). I am going to get heaters, but I just don’t feel that they would be as good for RV-wide heating as the furnace is. It makes more sense to me to use the furnace to maintain a general coach-wide temperature of about 17 or 18 and then use an electric heater to heat up the area I’m in to a comfortable temp of 20+. So, I think that getting the propane delivery set up would still be a good thing even if I go hog wild with electricity heating.

Meanwhile, I’m rationing propane. 🙂 Thankfully, it’s gorgeous outside, so I can cook there on the Coleman or the hibachi (now that I am no longer charring my meals!), and the sun has been doing a fine job of heating the coach during the day.

In other news, I got a bit of training this afternoon and was asked to work all day tomorrow to apply that training. Training for what, you might ask? For signing people in after hours, of course! I have also been asked to put in three hours on Sunday morning in the office so that the day people can go to church. So, I have to learn their computer reservation system, cash register operation, and also tour the campground to learn where all the sites are and how to best direct people into them. There’s a lot to take in! I’m especially glad that there is cash register work to do since that will update my resumé in regards to retail experience.

Last night’s gate closing at 11 wasn’t too bad. I showered and changed into my PJs ahead of time, so it was just a matter on slipping into shoes and a coat and popping out for five minutes and then going to bed straight away after since I was exhausted. But this morning’s 6:25 wake up call was a tad brutal!!! At least, it doesn’t take long to get the gates open. I was back in my still warm bed at 6:30 and managed to fall asleep again. I’m just glad that it’s pitch black out at both those hours because of my sartorial choices! LOL Oh, and the manager says that she also performs gate operation duties in her PJs, so I won’t get weird looks from her if she sees me. 🙂 In a few days, once I’ve learned the necessary procedures, I’ll need to perform ‘cash out’ duties in the evenings. She normally does that at 9 and then goes back out to do the gates at 11, but it’s up to me. I might end up preferring to go out at 10:30 and do everything at once. I suppose it will depend on how cold it is!

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Rub a Dub Dub

Like every single park I’ve been to since hitting the road, this one had has a rule page with one entry that stands out: NO WASHING RV.

That’s all well and good and understandable, but Miranda was getting to be extremely filthy and embarrassing looking and I hadn’t had any luck finding an RV wash place.

So, I asked here if I could wash the dirtiest parts of her with a rag and bucket and was told that this is fine. I was even offered a ladder! I went out and got a bottle of car cleaner with wax in it. I started with her rear because it was turning black. What a difference the wash made! I then started on her sides but realised that there was no way I could wash her entirely by hand in one afternoon. Her sides weren’t that bad, actually, and only really in need of a wash from the tops of the compartments down. So, I did only that part. I washed the cab completely, also. The only thing I didn’t manage to wash, and this bugs me, is the bug-encrusted overhead cab. I just could not find a good angle to access it. And, yes, I tried using a mop; it just didn’t have enough scrubbing power. Still, Miranda looks much better than she did a couple of hours ago! I did the same thing with Pommette.

I can’t believe what a difference this location is to my last. I’m in almost full sun here and I had to crank open a couple of windows. All of last week, I had to run the heat throughout the day to maintain a constant temperature. This will make a huge difference in the winter.

Finally, I discovered I have another perk here: phone access. Once I get a long enough phone cord, I’ll be able to receive calls on a regular phone at absolutely no charge. For outgoing calls, I’ll need to compare the rates to that of my cell, but I’m sure they’ll be better. I’m glad I had the foresight to bring my cordless phones and answering machine with me!

When I add it all up–good internet access, unmetred electricity, unlimited incoming phone calls on top of the site with running water and sewer–I’m going to be willing to work quite a few hours for this park without feeling that I’m being exploited. Heck, just the internet is a huge thing. I had thought that I’d have to get online on my own this winter and estimates put that bill at close to 100$ per month. So, I don’t want to hear anyone say that I’m volunteering too many hours! I’ll keep track of those hours in the beginning, but I’m not going to be a clock watcher.

Now, if I can only get paying work. The supermarket won’t have a position for me just yet and probably not before November. I dropped off another resumé today, this time at Home Hardware, and made a list of places to visit on Monday. I’m not concerned yet. If I haven’t had any nibbles in the next week, then I’ll expand the search to Osoyoos and then to Penticton if I get really desperate. But I’d really love to find something in Oliver, so that I can be walking (or even biking) distance to work. Penticton would be quite a commute and I would be spending a fortune on gas.

Well, all that scrubbing sure worked up an appetite, so I’m off to make a yummy dinner. 🙂