Month: June 2021

After going to Qualicum and ending up in Nanaimo the other day, we decided to try something different. I had a buyer for some framed prints so decided to deliver them.

On the way to Qualicum, we found out the address was actually in Parksville. Adding insult to injury, I got the days mixed up and I wasn’t supposed to deliver until the next day. We ended up in Parksville at Canadian Tire anyway as we tried to console ourselves by spending more money.

The things I put on Facebook Marketplace are selling well. The problem is that our location is so far out it puts people off. I have delivered a few things so we’ll see if the rest of the stuff sells or not. A lot of people have inquired about my golf clubs and a few have come close to buying; but alas I still own them.

There’s been a mad scramble for the last couple of weeks to book our second covid shots. There wasn’t a lot of luck until Rosalie called yet again and got us dates for the Pfizer vaccine on 24th June; four months to the day that we got the first Astra Zeneca shot. We told them that we would go almost anywhere on the island and so, ended up at Campbell River. 4:30 in the afternoon on pub day. They have to get better organized than that; pub day!

Rosalie saw on her phone that she had a missed call. It was from Save-On-Foods pharmacy where we were on a standby list. Unfortunately for us, we didn’t see it until it was too late so we missed our second shot. We did have another chance though.

Update: We got another call and finally got our second shots.

Last week I was putting a log on the fire when the door on the chiminea came down and simultaneously cut and burned me. It wasn’t too bad so I slapped a Bandaid on it and called it a day. Well, I forgot that I’m allergic to the glue on Bandaids. The next day my arm was red and sore so I took an antihistamine and waited for it to go away. A few days after that it was so itchy and inflamed that I went to the clinic in Parksville. The Doctor said, that besides the allergy it was also infected. He prescribed a cream and an antibiotic. His efforts were almost in vain because when I saw the price of the cream I almost had a heart attack; $78. It’s slowly getting better but at its height, it was pretty ugly.

I was a little reluctant to mention this as it happened just after we had the second vaccine, I can just see the vaccine denyers saying it was because I had got the AstraZeneca shot and my body was now poisoned. Oh Boy!

I’m 76 years old and Rosalie is determined to get every last ounce of work out of me before I fall off my twig. Her family is coming. She looked at our lot and said how untidy it looked. I, like a fool, agreed with her. Now I have to maneuver twelve yards of gravel around for the next few weeks.

I went around to the local quarry, ordered the stuff and asked when we would get delivery. I was hoping for a few weeks, but no, delivery would be the next day. I’m not going to win with this one. The truck showed up on time and dumped the stuff exactly where I wanted it and the work began. But first Rosalie had to have a photo op, to pretend that she was working.

Of course, everything has to be moved around in the yard. This may not be a bad thing as it does need tidying somewhat. The next problem is, where do I start, front or back. I had to wait for Rosalie’s instructions on that one. She wasn’t here at the time, she was looking for her safety books and her hard hat that says “Foreman.”

As it turned out, Rosalie was a great help. I thought I would have to find her lighter chores to do while I did the heavy shovelling. But she grabbed a shovel and taking small scoops along with a little help from me, filled the cart with a good load. All I had to do was haul it to where it had to be dumped and rake it level.

Dave across the road from us must have felt sorry for us as he offered to redistribute the pile with the campground tractor. Oh boy! Did that save us a lot of work. But, we still had a lot to do. A lot of the places he dumped the gravel left a small hump once we raked it over, so we now have to keep raking to get it mostly level. From what I see, it will take a few months for it to not only get level but also to settle. It consists of a lot of small pieces and dust which when settled locks very solidly.

It has cleaned up the yard a lot, but as I said, it will take a while for the whole thing to look that much better.

More to follow.

We decided to go where no one has gone before; we are having to live without WiFi for a few days. That doesn’t count the connection to my Hub, after all, it’s not real WiFi. So instead of staring at our phones all day we now have to actually look at each other once in a while. I was afraid that Rosalie might wonder who I was and run away.

There are a few TV stations that we get with our antenna but you can’t rely on the reception or the content. The news is okay but mostly depressing and most of the other content is reality shows that are so unreal that they almost run into the comedy genre.

For the last few evenings we have sat out under the gazebo going through our (my) playlists on Spotify, and really enjoying it. Rosalie has surprised me as she listens to most of my old Rock songs and likes them. She draws the line at some AC/DC but even then I slip in one or two that she likes.

I do my investment trading online and have to make split-week (not split-second) decisions, so I need the internet. Good grief we could get even more rich/poor than we already are.

I had a problem with that last paragraph. If I said we would be even richer, some people would assume that we are really poor. But, on the other hand, if I said we were poor some would think that we were in fact rich. I think that’s funny so am not going to divulge our true worth as we know some people like to make up their own minds.

Because of the limited internet that we have with my phone hot spot we can at least send and receive emails so I can still send and receive all those vitally important politically incorrect jokes and a few cheesy photos for the guys.

We expect the Tech to be here in the next few day so we will have to go back to being inundated with unwanted ads and have no more excuse for not answering all the emails demanding payment.

We’re still getting answers to our Facebook ads. Today someone wanted Rosalie’s large holiday picture but didn’t want to come out to the campground from Parksville. So I said I would deliver it for ten bucks. To my surprise, they agreed and we ended up selling it to a really nice couple. I think I’m going to do a lot of driving in the future.

Rosalie’s toe is doing fine. I still have to dress it twice a day but the problem is that she likes it ‘undressed’ so I have to hunt her down to re-dress it. If you can visualize a blacksmith re-shoeing a horse then you can see me dressing Rosalie’s hoof. She’s becoming a bit of a rebel so I have to watch her carefully.

Coming back from Mexico I usually always have chores to do. This year though I don’t have any major jobs like building a sunroom just little things like putting a new chimney on the chiminea, planting the garden, and things like that. Ah! Just remembered that I have to make a new top for the picnic table. That could be major especially with the price of wood this year.

When I run out of things to do I just take a wander around the estate and by the middle of the afternoon I’m complaining about all the work I have to do. So now I’ve made a list on my phone. If I see something new to do, I ignore it because it’s not on the list. I won’t even have to make wine this year as I went over to the dark side and am now using a brewing company.

While driving to Qualicum Beach one day we somehow ended up at Costco in Nanaimo and $250 lighter. On the way home, we decided that the lot needed to be re-graveled. Another small chore.

Just add to my list, our wifi went down and we can’t get it working. I called Xplornet and the guy at tech support concluded that the satellite dish was out of alignment.  While waiting for a technician, I climbed on the roof to check it out. The whole thing was as solid as the day the guy installed it. However, it was me who built the sunroom on which the dish was installed so it may have moved a bit. I think they move their satellites just to screw people up and get the extra service calls.

They said that it would be up to four business days before the technician could look at it. OMG, panic. How do we check our investments, and more importantly how would Rosalie hold up without Facebook? It brings home our dependence on the internet. We have data on our phones so if necessary we’ll use our phones as a Hub. We can also go down to the office and get free wifi there. 

Rosalie has been bugged for years by an ingrown toenail. The doctor wasn’t helping much so she booked an appointment with a podiatrist in Nanaimo.
She went in for her appointment while I waited in the car. About five minutes later I got a text. “I’m waiting for the freezing to take effect; I’m a little scared.” 
I didn’t know they were going to do any procedures on this day so was a little perturbed. I sent her back a text and being very supportive, told her to stop being a baby and suck it up.

A little later, as I was settling in for a nap, I heard my name being called. It was the doctor calling me in. Apparently, my words of encouragement weren’t enough; Rosalie wanted me to be there to hold her hand and share the pain. Very inconsiderate of her, I thought. We got through though with her handling the pain and me trying my best to be sympathetic and not nod off.

Now apparently I have to be the nurse, as her dressing has to be changed twice a day for the next two weeks. It’s lucky that I’m good at putting dressings on.

I was making a note of my chores and I typed in “trim laurel bush” later I looked at my list and it said “Trim Laura’s bush” I nearly fell over laughing. Sorry, Laura!