Assiniboia

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Getting the Ball Rolling

Today was a town day, so I popped into an insurance company to talk about proper insurance for Miranda so I can get started on transferring residency to Saskatchewan.

Aviva doesn’t have an Elite product for Saskatchewan, so I’m at square one for finding a company willing to insure me for living full-time in the rig. The added difficult is that SK has mandatory basic government insurance, so you have to start there then go to a secondary insurer.

I presented myself as a snowbirder who lives in the motorhome and will be parking it during the summer but wanting to keep it street legal and insured properly in case I need to take it for an emergency.

The gal I spoke with made a few calls and got told that I can’t live in my motorhome if I want to be insured by them. I had brought copies of my insurance policies, so she took copies of them and said she would pass them around and try to find someone willing to cobble together an insurance package for me.

That settled (well, not) she said that I am facing ‘additional difficulty.’ She pulled out the list of documents I will need to provide to prove that I am a resident of Saskatchewan and I laughed. This is the first time THAT’S not going to be an issue!

Once I get confirmation that insurance is a go, I will go talk to Kal-Tire about getting my out of province inspections done. I would rather have had those done closer to departure date, but my Alberta insurance runs out at the end of the month, so it would make sense to get this buttoned up before then. If I can get SK insurance, they will NOT insure Miranda if the OOPI and plate transfer from AB haven’t been done.

If I cannot get SK insurance, then I’m going into stealth mode. But it’s been my experience that with money, absolutely anything is possible. We shall see.

My Albert insurance dropped a whopping $250 between both policies this year. Nice to know I didn’t get penalized for a not at fault accident!

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Water Heater Gremlins Are Back

Well, I have no hot water again tonight. BUT I’m on to something. My water heats to only about 40F and then the water heater refuses to light again until the temperature has cooled several degrees.

I recently joined an RV forum where the folks in the tech section are actually helpful. I’ve narrowed down where I need to troubleshoot and I am likely in the market for a fixed temperature control thermostat or a thermal cut-off.

While I’m irked that things are starting to fall apart around here (tongue firmly in cheek), I am glad that this is coinciding with my having increased technical ability. Having to pay for a replacement part is a lot less daunting than having to pay for a part AND a tech.

I just got a rush work order, so I don’t have time to deal with this tonight, but I’ll get on it tomorrow before I go to town. I doubt I’ll be able to find what I need in Assiniboia, so I’ll likely be out of really hot water for a week. *sighs*

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Visiting the Assiniboia and District Museum

I took the bulk of the day off from work. After breakfast, L and I headed into town for some supplies and to visit the Assiniboia and District Museum.

It’s quite small, but the exhibits are interesting, especially if you have a farm boy like L on hand who can further explain the farm equipment to you. I enjoyed the small exhibits showing early 20th century scenes like a barbershop, general store, and dentist’s office, but my favourite bit was the classic car display. For $5, the Assiniboia museum is a great way to kill an hour or two.

After the museum, we headed out to lunch. Caroline had warned us against going to 121 Steakhouse, but L wanted to form his own opinion so we went there. Service wasn’t great, but the food was good! L started with a French onion soup that was a 9/10, followed by fish ‘n chips. My chicken and bacon club with yam fries really hit the spot. I’d go there again.

We also did some window shopping at The Bargain Shop!, Fields, and the Sally Ann.

Not a very exciting day by big city standards, but it was plenty of fun for simple folks like us. 😀

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Generator Exhaust Repair

L and I went into Assiniboia today to try to find some flexible steel tubing to fix my generator exhaust. I also wanted to buy a 20lb propane tank that was on sale at Peavey Mart and L wanted to have a nice meal out.

Charles suggested we try the farm supply places for the tubing. John Deere had nothing. We went to Young’s Equipment where one of my neighbours works and he sent us to NAPA.

NAPA had exactly what we needed. YAY! L thought we were so lucky that I should ask if they might have an air filter, too. YES! We couldn’t believe it!

Feeling jubilant, we went to Peavey Mart and then across the street to the Co-Op to fill the propane tank. There, L and I both had the same notion that the sales discount hadn’t been applied to the tank. It hadn’t. We went back and it turns out the sale wasn’t till Friday. The cashier didn’t bat an eyelash and refunded me the $4 and tax knowing that that was cheaper than loser a customer. Smart girl.

We then went to Nash’s, a Greek restaurant, and had a good lunch. L had ‘New York cut’ steak and I had the chicken pita with homemade tzatziki sauce. We shared baklava for dessert. It was all very yummy and I would like to go back one evening to try their dinner menu.

It was about 3:00 when we got in and L had almost no difficulty in getting the flexible tubing in. And that’s when the flexible tubing on the other side of the muffler gave. CRAP. L looked at the bit and hemmed and hawed and considered MacGyvering it until I could get to an exhaust repair shop. Finally, he decided that the best course of action was to go back to NAPA and get more pipe and more clamps. So we did.

He’s under the rig now getting this new section in.

I can't believe we found a new air filter! The other one was just about black.

I can’t believe we found a new air filter! The other one was just about black.

This is what we replaced.

This is what we replaced.

Shiny new pipe before the muffler.

Shiny new pipe before the muffler.

This section after the muffler snapped while L was working on the other side.

This section after the muffler snapped while L was working on the other side.

Now, I know what y’all are wondering, how expensive has my generator repair been?

Oil: about $4 for a quart of it (a few weeks ago)

NAPA gave us a ‘preferred customer discount’ after L asked for a senior’s discount, so I am putting the full price in brackets after the price paid:

Flex tubing: $3.41/ft ($4.39) x 3 = $10.23
Clamps: $2.10 ($2.26) x 2 = $4.20
U-Bolts (they were out of clamps on the second trip): $1.46 ($1.46) x 2 = $2.92
Air filter: $7.05 ($15.46!!!)

Total before tax at NAPA: $25.86 ($26.84 with tax).

So counting the oil, I’m at just over $30.

The spark plug is good and there is absolutely no reason to replace it.

The only other issue is that the choke isn’t working automatically. I have to manually close it to start the genny and then release the catch so that it will open. Not a biggie.

L suggests that I run the genny regularly until the winter. If I have no issues with it, then I should look at having the brushes replaced. But he doesn’t want me to spend that money now since the genny has sat so long as it would suck for the motor to throw a rod or whatever a month down the road. Smart man.

Oh, and there is the issue of it not starting from the button in the kitchen, which is an electrical and possible electronic issue. I am not going to worry about that at this time since I don’t have an automatic transfer switch. Therefore, I have to go outside anyway to plug the shore power cable into the genny from the inverter or vice versa.

I am going to continue leaving the cable plugged into the inverter as being the default plug in condition. The genny will just be for charging or giving me a boost in grey weather. I look forward to seeing what its gas consumption is compared to the engine.

I’m still reeling from disbelief that my generator is working.

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Making the Best of a Forced Internet Sabbatical

After I hung up with Bell on Tuesday, I used Caroline’s computer to email some clients to let them know that I’d be out of touch for a few days. Then, I went home, tidied up the whole rig, rearranged my pantry, and made a nice dinner.

Then, I spent the evening searching for the lagoon where I can go dump my holding tanks (I took my Blue Boy once to the dump station in Assiniboia, but that was a hassle). Well, I finally found said lagoon, but accessing it requires four-wheel drive. So I will go there every few days with a partially filled (ie. not too heavy) Blue Boy that I can slip into and out of the truck and drag up the hill to the lagoon by foot. Not ideal, but cheaper than going to the dump station.

I called my mother on Wednesday morning and learned that she had work for me to do. Even though driving to Assiniboia to use the library wifi would cut into my profit, I needed the work experience, so loaded up my PC and headed into town. The very nice librarian gave me the wifi password and I spent about three hours getting the work done.

Even though I knew there was no hope in hell that my package from Bell had arrived, I checked in with the post office and they got my info and promised to be on the lookout for it.

I came home and just wilted. Caroline was doing the lawns, so I got my yard cleaned up. My yard didn’t get done, so I had dinner then went out to whack some weeds. Before long, Charles was back with the mower to do my lawn (and by that I mean jungle of weeds). I got the water hose and antenna wire out of the way for him. I had been sleepy all afternoon. So that done, I went to bed at 8:30, and slept to 8:30 Thursday morning!!!

Thursday morning, I headed up the hill with the booster and cell phone to call the post office. They don’t pick up, so you have to leave a message and wait for a call back. Hence why I decided to use my own phone rather than wait at C&C’s. I brought my iPad to pass the time… but the call back came in minutes! No Mifi. 🙁

So I called Bell to make sure the order had gone out. I’m glad I speak French as the rep I got had only very basic English skills and I have no idea why she was put on an English line. Anyway, no skin off my nose. She had a hard time finding confirmation that my order had gone out, but she eventually figured it out and got me a tracking number. I thanked her and headed to C&C’s to check my email and the status of my shipment.

C&C had started work on their addition so I arrived in a construction zone, but Caroline dropped everything to get me online (bless her) then left me to do what I had to do. I knew my modem wasn’t going to arrive that day so I went outside and asked if they needed help. YES. So I went home to change into grubbies and work boots, grabbing a pair of gloves and my hammer on the way out.

I spent the day pounding nails out of 2X6″es that had covered the old deck. Like me, C&C are big on recycling, so there was no way that good lumber was going to waste. It was hard work, but I was fed a nice lunch AND a snack, and there was lots of cold water. I even got a gin and tonic with lime with my snack. 🙂

Reading took up the better part of my evening, I went to bed at a more normal hour, had another good night, and woke up ready to face yet another day without internet. So imagine my surprise when I learned at C&C’s that my Mifi had landed!!!

I didn’t head straight to town, but rather helped Caroline pack away some fragile items ahead of the day’s grand event: jacking up their house to make it more level. That done, I got a tiny shopping list from Caroline and then headed to town.

After I got the Purolator thing sorted out, I continued a few blocks to Subways, Fridays being my treat (not cheat) day. I made healthier choices than I normally do there and enjoyed my sandwich (bread, oh bread I have missed thee) immensely. I headed back up Centre Street to the Co-Op, got Caroline’s groceries, and then went back to the post office to get my truck.

When I got in, I immediately headed over to C&C’s, put the groceries away, and went to help with the jacking up the house. They had thought they wouldn’t need help, but I’m pretty sure I was helpful, if only in using the sledge hammer (that thing was HEAVY) to wedge 2×4’s between the foundation and the house.

It was really impressive to see the house corner lift a full three inches! I didn’t go inside after, but apparently the ski hill in the kitchen and living room is gone. Water on the counter would always run to the northwest corner of the house and now it just sits where it’s spilled. What an improvement! Now that the house is reasonably level, they can build the addition.

Now, I’m trying to catch up on an unplanned week offline and trying to figure out how I’m going to make up for the income shortfall.

In happier news, my friend L is incoming and should be here next week! Other blog readers are in Montana and might be landing the first week of Augustish! I am SO pleased to be able to return some hospitality.

Finally, wow is the Yagi antenna sensitive. My connection just slowed to a crawl (not dropped) and I looked out to see that the pole had turned a couple of inches, dropping my connection to -105 and one bar. A small turn and a couple of wedges later, I have -96 and three bars. Let’s hope that my internet woes are over!