Month: July 2023

You may have noticed that the blog about the party was a bit late. It wasn’t all about me being lazy, our WiFi has been terrible for the last few weeks.

We have a Telus hub, and it hasn’t been too bad for the last few years. Lately, however, it’s been horrible. I reluctantly called the service department and got the usual run around.

First, after choosing a number to enter, I pushed it and hoped for the best. Who knows if you’re getting the correct department or not? Then I got a message saying that my wait time is three days thirty-two minutes and would I like a callback. Sure why not, I think they expect someone of my age to forget I ever called and the problem will go away.

They did call back twice. However, my phone didn’t ring on either occasion. I found out later that my phone was blocking all unknown callers; another problem for later.

I called them again on a different number only to be informed that I have to try to solve the problem myself online. How can I do that if my WiFi is all screwed up?

Okay, now I’ve had enough. I check online to look for rural internet companies and find that Xplore (formerly Explorenet) is still going strong. We cancelled them before because they only offered 100 GB. Now however they are offering 350 GB. We’re in!

After a short wait, I gave them a call and spoke to someone who spoke English, although with a slight U.S. accent. They were understandable enough though, so I plowed on. Oh! If only all calls were answered as quickly as the sales department.

After signing up I was told I would be contacted within two business days. On the third day, I tried to call the installer. I left a message and hoped they got back to me.

They did call back but my phone didn’t ring again and I missed it. I left another message with Rosalie’s number and waited. Nothing happened so I called Xplore again and was finally told our installation date.

At the time I had so much trouble with the WiFI that I had trouble writing this blog.

Eventually, the installer Steve, contacted me by text and we finally got the installation done earlier than expected.

Next, I had to give Telus the bad news that we were cancelling. I phoned them and after a very brief wait, I ended up talking to three different people. When they found I was cancelling I was offered all kinds of incentives to stay. Why I wasn’t offered these options when I had so much trouble before, I don’t know.

In the meantime, Rosalie had had trouble sleeping and had to spend a night at the sleep lab in Nanaimo. She said it wasn’t too bad but felt like a fish caught in a net.

She did manage to sleep and in the morning worried that they didn’t get enough data. However, the technician told her that she had slept for six and a half hours and they actually got good data. So now she has to wait for the results.

Our annual Melaque party was a little different this year. It happened to be our twenty-fifth anniversary so why not celebrate that at the same time? It was our party after all so we could do what we wanted.

Invitations were sent to sixty people and thirty-six showed up, including us and three of Rosalie’s relatives. The relatives arrived a few days early so we had a good time visiting before the main event.

We had arranged to borrow tables and chairs from various friends and neighbours and rounded some of them up the night before.

The day before the party, I had to go to Nanaimo to get some injections for my back. I took my brother-in-law Gordon and somehow we ended up at the Longwood pub for lunch. While we were sitting enjoying a beer, I remembered that Jim had volunteered to help set up the tables and he now, was having to manage all by himself. Oops!

After getting home about three we piled into doing whatever else needed doing. Then we were all set for the following day.

People started to arrive about 3 pm, and soon the place was hopping. After a while, someone called for the appies to be served and the festivities began in earnest.

Our good friend Gordie (not our brother-in-law) stood up and said a few words for Rosalie and me. Then, I knew I had to say something even though I hate speaking in front of people. So, to calm myself down I played the Mexican national anthem.

https://youtu.be/B9jUdcio5FY

For those who don’t know, this is the propane gas truck that we hear just about every day outside our yard in Melaque.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WKmqngs-DxQ

After I said my bit we got the taqueria started and my B-in- law Gordon and I started to sling tacos.

I think a good time was had by all. There were very few fights, no naked table dancing (thankfully) and I didn’t have to carry anyone home. It sounds boring I know but people seemed to have fun anyway.

The following day after an initial clean-up, I started putting my phone back together. After much cursing, as the parts were ridiculously tiny, I got it all together and low and behold, it worked. I now have a nice new phone. Unfortunately, the face recognition doesn’t work as the parts were not Apple approved so I will have to wait until Mexico to get it fixed.

Before I get to that, I have an update. I went to the ophthalmologist and got my patch removed, he said all was well and to continue with the drops. On the way home I began to notice all the changes I could see. Things were brighter and even at this early stage I hardly need my glasses. Some of the drops sting a bit though. I think Rosalie is using lemon juice just to see how high I can jump.

Now to the Grrr! bit.

My granddaughter was good enough to sell me her old iPhone 12 Max Pro at a good price. I noticed that the camera was blurry and after some research found that the camera needed to be replaced. I checked YouTube and the process seemed to be fairly straightforward.

I ordered a new camera and started the repair. After I was finished I put it all back together and turned it on. There was a lovely coloured band running the length of the screen. What I hadn’t realized was that the screen had a small crack and when I opened it up I made it worse. Back to Amazon to order a new screen. In the meantime, the phone still worked but the band got in the way.

When the screen arrived I gingerly opened up the phone again to see what needed to be done. Inside there are some small ribbon cables and while I was working on it one of them snapped. At that point, I almost snapped and threw the phone against the wall. I don’t think I could have done any more damage. I don’t know how it broke as I wasn’t working near it. Back to Amazon to order another new part.

In the meantime, I have no phone. Normally this wouldn’t be a problem but with the big party this weekend people will need to contact me so I decided to call forward to Rosalie’s phone.

I logged into Koodo and found the add-on and activated it for $3 a month. The next problem was that I need my phone to do the call forward thing. (Now you know why I drink) I thought about it for a while and then had an idea. I took Rosalie’s phone and put my sim card in, did the call forward thing, and then switched it back again. I called Peter to ask him to call me and the whole system worked. At least something went right with that phone.

The next thing is, putting it all together when the new part gets here. I’ll keep you posted but don’t expect any phone calls in the meantime..

I had to get my cataracts seen to and found out that I’m not as special as I thought I was. Just about everyone I spoke to had already had theirs done; I guess I’m a late bloomer.

They gave me my appointment time of 7:50 am. I laughed because I thought they were joking, but they weren’t. We got up at 6:00 and made the drive into town.

I arrived at the hospital with lots of time to spare and checked in. Rosalie came with me to find out my pickup time and to make sure I didn’t make a run for it.

She took off and left me to it and I was told to be a good boy and sit in the waiting room. A few minutes later, a lovely nurse called my name and ushered me into her office. First, she took my blood pressure which was a little high. (Well she was a lovely nurse.)

Then she placed a hair net on my head. I think this was for the staff’s amusement as I got a lot of smirks from patients passing by. Little did they know that they would be wearing one pretty soon.

Then she gave me my first of many eye drops.

Between drops, she asked me all sorts of questions. The main ones being, name, rank, and serial number. Or, full name, date of birth and which eye was getting done. After this interrogation was done she explained the whole procedure. She also offered me a sedative but I refused; I am a man after all.

Next, she took me and sat me in full public view with my silly hat. By this time there were a few others with hair nets so we could look at everyone else with disdain and ask why they weren’t a member of our club.

After a while, another nurse came to get me and asked all the same questions again. She led me into an operating room where about six more people looked at me as though I was the latest offering. Another nurse took the clipboard and asked me all the same questions again as well as making me point to the offending eye.

Then I was led to an operating table where they made me comfortable with a nice warm blanket.

The surgeon introduced himself and explained the procedure again. It was quite painless and over in ten minutes. All I had to do was look at a bright light and while he did his thing it changed shapes and looked weird. He slapped a clear plastic shield on the eye and said “All done” and I was out of there. So soon? I felt as though I hadn’t got my money’s worth.

Rosalie drove me home, which was the scariest part of the whole deal, and I started to recuperate.

I have to go through this again with the other eye; I sure hope I get the same pre-op nurse.

Now that we have a new electric car, we decided to take it on a road trip to see if we could handle the new technology.

The journey started on a Thursday morning and a few chores got done before attending my weekly pub meet-up. We took the afternoon ferry and ended the day at Rosalie’s cousin Jeannine’s house in Coquitlam. 18 Km were saved on that phase of the journey; I don’t know how, but it happened.

Rosalie decided to keep a mileage log of our journey to see if anything was gained with the regenerative braking. It seems to work well.

Next up was three nights with our daughter Lisa’s family at their cabin on Lake Harrison. The weather was cold and damp but we had our new great-granddaughter to entertain us for a very nice stay.

Our next stop was Kamloops to visit Rosalie’s cousin Hubert and his wife Gloria for lunch. We finished the day with our friend Maureen and stayed with her overnight.

The following day we were supposed to join up with more friends in Sicamous but they couldn’t make it. It was decided to go straight to Nakusp after a charging stop in Salmon Arm, intending to top up there.

After a scenic ride, we got there in good time. With the car plugged in, it was time for food, wine, and some great discussions with Dan and Linda about anything and everything under the sun. It was a wonderful evening. The following day we were off to Vernon.

When I checked the available mileage the next morning, I found that it hadn’t been charging at all, that night. Apparently, it was on the same breaker as their small hot tub. Oops! Now what.

Nakusp is a fairly small town so there are not many charging stations there. The museum has a fast charger but it was out of service. I plugged into the slower charger and took Rosalie for a coffee at a funky little coffee shop. The charge took an hour and a half and we still weren’t sure if it would make it to Vernon.

There is a free-charge station at the Needles ferry crossing, but was it working? Fortunately, it was, so the car got a fairly good charge.

The drive to Vernon was cold, down to 7C at one point so the heater came into use. Also, it was raining so the windshield wipers came on. Not knowing the limitations of the car there was a little concern. There was no need for worry as we arrived in Vernon with lots of mileage to spare. A fast charger in Vernon charged the car up in 30 minutes.

After an evening of more drinking, good food and staying overnight with Bob and Virginia, it was decided to make our next stop Hope. On the way, we visited yet another one of Rosalie’s cousins Mariette and Stephen in Kelowna.

The new goal was Hope for the next charge. On the way we stopped at a rest area and were surprised to find two free fast-chargers so we topped up again just to be sure. The guy next to us works in advertising and was traveling with a group of electric vehicles for promotional purposes. He gave us lots of free information about EVs and EV charging.

Arriving in Hope was a bit stressful as I couldn’t get my app to work to find us a charger. I finally got it figured out and we charged while having lunch. Again it was a free charge as they had an EV promotion going on.

From Hope to the ferry and finally home was a doddle as we had lots of power left.

Overall everything worked out great. We put 1700 km on the car for a total cost of $30. Some of the people we stayed with were great and let us plug in. The cost for the night is less than $2 so no real hardship.

We learned a lot of lessons and it reinforced our belief that an EV is the way to go for us and look forward to more trips, long and short.