Christmas And A New Year

I am truly blessed! Even though recent Decembers have brought sad memories for me, including this December, when I remembered my wedding anniversary on the 28th, and the death of my darling wife Aggie on December 19th (she died 3 years ago). I am *very* happy to be home in Oliver BC; during the last two months I have been both busy and happy among wonderful friends.

This move to Oliver BC is permanent . . . BC Health coverage becomes effective on February 1st, I have a BC drivers licence and BC plates and insurance. And I put up with, or have been initiated to experience BC’s giant government bureaucracy . . . it was a major task to get BC vehicle plates . . . getting a Canadian Passport is *much* less work and *very much* less expensive. It is common knowledge here that BC stands for “Bring Cash”.

Although, at this time, I cannot afford to move into an apartment or house, I am quite comfortable living in the motorhome. The past year has been very expensive for me. I am happy and expect that financially things will improve during the next year. I also vow to update my blog more frequently than I have in the past year.

To all . . . I wish a very happy and prosperous new year! May you also be blessed.

My Birthday 2008

Yesterday was my 68th birthday! Why do I not feel old? I feel great! And there is no place other than in Oliver that I would like to live. Every day gets better . . . it’s scary! How good can it get? After Mass I was invited to an encredible birthday party and was surprised beyond my dreams at the large turnout! Wonderful friends, fabulous food, gifts, cards, and a beautiful birthday cake. It *is* the Lord’s doing! I feel so very fortunate to receive these blessings and at the same time I feel unworthy. To all these friends . . . I thank you from the bottom of my  heart!

An Alarming Awakening

Normally before going to bed I turn down the thermostat to about 15 degrees. In the morning it is a little cool. So the first thing in the morning I turn up the heat by turning on the built-in electric fireplace and turning up the furnace thermostat. I had gone to bed late last night so after turning up the heat this morning, I went back to bed. Within minutes, I heard a breaker open. After a quick diagnosis I noticed that the fireplace was *not* on. I turned the fireplace breaker back on and it opened again, but this time, the was also smoke coming from the fireplace. Of course I wasn’t going to close the breaker again . . . I had a  problem! The smoke did not stop! Was there a fire behind the fireplace? The fireplace is built-in so I can’t see exactly where the smoke is from. The smoke kept coming. Should I call the fire department? I keep a fire extinguisher next to the door, so I decided to take the fireplace out of it’s enclosure and investigate. The smoke was still coming . . . but from *behind* the fireplace. Then I saw what had happened. A  section of a pair of wires going to the back of the fireplace had burnt. The wires were still smoking.

Upon looking closer I determined that the wires were spliced . . . without using connectors! Someone had just twisted the wires together and applied black tape to hold the connection in  place. I very stupid thing to do! Was it like that from the motorhome manufacturer? Or did somebody do this after manufacture of the motorhome? It could have developed into a disaster, with fire consuming the motorhome or perhaps  a loss of life . . . mine! The photo below shows the wire.