Life Can Be Rough

This will be my last blog entry for awhile. I hope I will continue again soon . . . I have Cancer! I am *really* grateful that I have the support of some friends from Northern and Eastern Canada and the support of a wonderful Parish Community here in Oliver, British Columbia.

I Have Propane

Day before yesterday (Thursday) I purchased a second electric heater for the motorhome. That took the urgency of getting propane to a lower level and gave me sufficient heat. Yesterday “Super Save Propane” delivered and installed 80 gallons of propane. Heat is now not a problem and I also have sufficient *electric* heat if that again becomes necessary.

The slides however are still a problem. Gulf Stream only knows me as a customer so I therefore can only assume that they don’t care very much about customer service. I do trust however that the RV tech will solve and fix the problem. Luckily there is sufficient time for this before I move the motorhome again.

It is nice to see the good warm weather back again after a couple of days of cool wet weather. I really could use a small vehicle to get away from the feeling of having to be in some type of “house arrest”. Luckily most *necessary* services are within walking distance of the RV park.

This Morning – Hypothermia

The slides on the motorhome are still *not* fixed. The RV tech is having trouble contacting the tech department at Gulf Stream. I still have no propane. The fireplace is still not working. And on top of that, I now need a new anode for the hot water heater to stop it from leaking.

This morning it was 12 degrees in the bedroom and the electric heater was on *all* night. It wasn’t freezing outside, but it felt *cold*. I went to the local A&W for breakfast . . . but mainly to warm up. And it’s raining outside.

Have a nice day.

The Situation Gets Worse

Yesterday the RV repair man returned and added hydraulic fluid to the Slide reservoir. It did not solve the problem. He couldn’t contact the factory in Illinois as it was too late in the day. He said he would call for advice from the factory “tomorrow”. That’s now today. He hasn’t touched base with me today at this point.

This morning my fireplace stopped working. I spent much of today trying to fix it . . . unsuccessfully. At this time I suspect there is a problem with the remote control receiver module located at the back of the fireplace. And that is only a guess. To access it I will have to cut a hole in the wall behind the fireplace. *Not* today! I still have one electric heater I can use. I really need propane. If it doesn’t come soon I might head to Arizona. I am beginning to wonder if I will *ever* paint again!

An Inconvenient Situation

The motorhome propane tank is almost empty. The *only* local business available to bring a large tank (to last the winter) has been in no hurry to bring propane. They seem to be more interested in having an approved credit application before doing anything else. Okay . . . propane is the first problem. I can get by with *electric* heaters when required unless it gets below zero and the storage compartments require heat. Without propane I might not have *hot* water in the motorhome but the campground has washrooms available. I left a message with the propane company asking for some indication as to when they would deliver propane. Up to now they haven’t replied to my recorded message. I could unhook everything and drive down to a local propane business to have the built-in motorhome tank filled, but that brings up problem number two.

The motorhome slides don’t retract for some reason. So I can’t drive anywhere until the motorhome slides can be retracted. Last Friday I called the local RV mobile service tech. He came by about 9:30 in this morning, had a quick look and said that he would be back about 3:30 in the afternoon. I waited. He didn’t show up. And I thought the Yukon was laid back! So . . . I wait.

Now, problem number Three. I still have no mail from Tagish. So . . . I wait. Sometimes I wish I could not only retire
from my 9 to 5 job, but also retire from the human race. I still have to learn to not give a damn about such things.

Fall Harvest Dinner

The annual Christ the King Parish “Fall Harvest Dinner” was held in Oliver BC yesterday evening. The event was preceded with Mass in the church, and was followed at the Oliver Community Centre by a silent auction, dinner, and a family dance. I was happy to attend this annual fund raising function and I was impressed. It was very well organized and the professionally catered dinner was excellent; with a wide variety of food and more than enough of it all. More than 300 people attended. Everybody also appreciated the fine work that the church Youth Group did in clearing the dishes and cleaning up. Pictures are shown below. You can click on the pictures for a larger view. Photos of the dance are not included . . . I left before it started when I thought of Cisco sitting in the motorhome with all four of his legs crossed, anxiously waiting for me.

View outside the Community Hall

People getting an early start with the silent auction

Loading up for Dinner

Father Garry and myself

Christ the King Catholic Church, Oliver BC

Happy Happy

I see more and more, that too may people are *not* happy. In order to be happy a person naturally *tries* to make all *others* happy; those they meet intentionally, those they meet unintentionally and even those they will *never* meet. A person that *tries* to make others happy, and tries to *not* offend others, is also happy themselves.

A happily married couple, that love each other, has their happiness multiplied greatly, when they also *care* about other people as well as each other. I have first hand experience of this. My wife was the happiest person I have ever met in my life. And I have never been happier in my life than when we were together. A person’s degree of happiness also increases when they are among *other* happy people. I, myself, try to make others happy, and *try* to be among other happy people. But I’m not a masochist . . . while I try to always make others happy, I also, at some point, try to avoid unhappy people.

I see far too often, that a persons actions show me they are *not* happy. It is easy to see this. You can see it when a person drives aggressively, obviously not caring what others might feel as a result of their actions. You can see it in people that insist on parking their vehicles without regard for others or even parking in a fashion that encroaches on other people’s parking spaces. I see unhappiness when people show me every day, in some way, that they don’t care about others. With that kind of attitude, they can’t be happy themselves.

It is easy to spread happiness, and thus bring yourself *more* happiness. If somebody refuses to give you a smile, give them one of yours. If you can help somebody, in even a very little way . . . do it. If your actions always consider others, even those people you will probably never meet . . . it will make others happy, and the world will be a better place. And *you* will be happy. Try it.

Residential Schools Common Experience Payment

The last three days were very frustrating. I needed information in order to complete the application form for payment to Aggie’s estate for the Common Experience Payment regarding Residential School Abuse. It required many telephone calls over a period of 3 days, that I am sure will, at the end of the month, result in a very high telephone bill. The applications are administered, or I should really say made *difficult* by “Service Canada” where I received no help at all, and suffered the most frustration as a result. I finally, with no thanks to Service Canada, got a handle on what was required from speaking to other people, and I decided to give the project to my lawyer in Whitehorse to complete for me. My blood pressure was already too high!

I almost found it difficult to believe that the Service Canada representative that I was talking to, on repeated telephone calls, was a resident of Canada. Is our Canadian Government going outside of Canada for this service? I wonder. I find it hard to beleive that Service Canada can be so useless. I can’t understand why I had such difficulty getting the information I required.

Festival of the Grape

Yesterday I attended the “Festival of the Grape” in Oliver BC. It was a great way to taste a selection of local and vicinity wines at a very reasonable cost. Of course there were far too many wines available to sample all of them, so one had to carefully choose which ones to taste. I managed to sample 7 products before any further samples all tasted the same. 40 Wineries participated in the Festival.

There was a large selection of booths offering a wide variety of unique goods for purchase. Some food booths were also on site. The Blues Brothers Revival Band provided entertainment on the main stage.

A parade of participants started the Festival.

There were many vendors participating in the festival.

The Blues Brothers Revival Band on the Main Stage.