5C's Que Pasa

Thanks for all the input on my last post.  Certainly a lot of variety of ideas out there.  If you haven’t read all the comments you might want to check them out.  Today was my errand day into town.  I had no idea if Colin would be home or out on the job.  Turns out that due to clouds in the sky he will be home most of this long weekend.  I had a list of 7 stops/errands to do in town today.  So I left about 10:30AM.  While I was gone Colin actually cleaned the entire house on his own 😆   Lucky me.

My first stop was to purchase a SIM card with Rogers for my Hot Spot device.  We are planning a road trip shortly within Canada and will need WiFi.  That is also partly the reason we purchased the MacBook Air.  I read online that Roger’s now offers a pay as you go monthly WiFi.  Well they do but it took 2 hours for me to get all the facts.  What lured me was the ad for 5GB for $40.00.  Today I was told that there was an additional one time $20.00 connection fee.  The SIM card cost $10.00.  I’m not exactly a dumb blonde, perhaps dim in areas I have no knowledge about 🙄   So now I am at $70.00 for 5 GB for one month.  No choice but to go with it.  We need to be connected for our business and have no idea what WiFi we will be able to access out there.  We are on an extremely tight deadline day per day and we need internet.  Fortunately it is a company write off but then we are also spending the $60.00 monthly fee with Shaw here at home.  Mucho mas pesos.

It took an hour to get the paperwork done.  An hour before I could even insert the Rogers SIM card into my device.  An hour of standing there getting more and more frustrated at the waste of my time.  I was told that their system was slow 👿   Oh well at least my house was being cleaned.  Finally I am allowed to put the SIM card into my hot spot.  Thank goodness that I decided to bring the laptop with me this morning.  It did not work.  I was told to take it for a walk in the mall to get a better connection and to try it outside.  No go.  It did not work at all.  Finally I went back to the store.  They tried the SIM card in a cell phone and it did pick up a signal.  I switched to the other person working in the store who seemed to be the tech guy.  He actually moved into the guts of my device in the WAN section ( noted for my friends in Canada who have the same device ).  Did  it really work in the USA and Mexcio?  Of course it did!  Try putting this info in.  Nada.  Okay try this.  Then we took my laptop ( thank goodness I brought it to check out the new SIM card ) for a walk thru the mall and outside.  No go.  Grrr.  Back to the store where this guy who was totally professional and very courteous suggested some more additions to the WAN set up section.  We tried 2 more inputs.  Finally it worked.  Turns out the device needs to be told how to deal with an LTE Rogers SIM card. So just over 2 hours later I was free to continue with my to do list.  This fellow was exceptional and so patient.  I do intend to contact the company and put in a good word for him.  He was a real person.

So I got my other errands done and got home 5 hours later to see…..

…a clean house and the plants being planted. All I had to do was pour a glass of wine he said.  Well of course I helped out with the clean up.  Can you see Colin under the tree pulling weeds with Carmeh’s help.

Finally the pots were moved into place.  Some of them are looking worn out.  Note to self, go find new pots next winter.  The best place for pots that we have found is in Patzcuaro.  Not sure when we will get there again.  For sure we will need some new pots before then.

So here we find this pot in it’s final spot for the summer now attached to the newly installed irrigation system.  You can barely see the small circle of  water in the middle.  True luxury.  Have thought about it for years but never could justify the cost.  With a road trip this summer and more to come in future years it was time to get this set up.

So ended our day, not sure what dinner will be, maybe a homemade pizza.  Take out salmon teriyaki sounds good but neither of us wants to go out to pick it up.  Where is our Copper River Salmon?  So far Costco only has farmed salmon which we will not eat.  Have a good evening everyone.

Since we have been home I have found my internet speed rather slow.  I have cleaned off my desktop, emptied the trash and the cache.  Still slow.  Frustrating.  Someone suggested that my new MacBook Air was so fast that it made this desktop seem slow.  Well that is certainly not the case as I haven’t used the laptop.  Other that testing it and being sure I knew how to use it, it has been put away.  It’s purpose is for when we travel.  Here at home and even on the Isla I will likely use the desktop and this computer has been slow.

So today when our internet Shaw bill arrived I gave them a call and asked if there was a higher speed we could upgrade to.  There are in fact 3 higher speeds we can move up to but that wasn’t actually the problem.  It stems from when we leave in the fall and I arrange to have our internet put on hold.  That way we save $60.00 per month plus taxes.  What I discovered today is that over the winter Shaw changed their internet program and what we had been on for close to $60.00/month was now a lower level of speed.  Apparently when we were reconnected mid April the system automatically put us at the level that was closest to the price we had been paying which was the lower speed.  Their prices had gone up.  So now for $10.00 more per month ( $70.00 ) we get unlimited  use at double the speed we have right now.  It actually will be at a slightly higher speed than what we had before we left for Mexico.  Yet there is another problem, it seems that the modem we have is old 😡   We’ve only had it two years but it won’t support the higher speed we require.  The good news is that we won’t be charged for a new modem ( only because I suggested they should not charge us ) but we have to pick it up and switch it out on our own.  That is fine but now we have to wait until Tuesday as this is a long weekend here in Canada.  Poor Colin has been wondering why it has been taking so long to upload his photos to various clients.  If I hadn’t called and asked we would still be suffering.  I just don’t get why Shaw didn’t communicate these changes to us.

The past few days have been work and work and desk work.  Colin has many jobs that need perfect blue sky and sunshine but we are stuck with a mix of sun and clouds.  Tough to get all the jobs done.  Many are full day shoots and they are starting to back up.  Somehow though we still haven’t have time to plant our bedding plants 😕  Always manana he says.

The girls were sniffing something out on our walk this morning. We do some off leash parts as we walk depending on the area. Of course they are leashed when on the roads.  Plus they do heed us when we call them albeit sometimes we have to ask a few times.  They are stubborn German dogs after all.

Just for Chris, my new specs.

So many lovely public garden areas here in the park.

As well as some interesting private garden displays.

This is the official large enclosed off leash dog area. We have 3 dogs areas in the park and many walkways to explore. The girls however prefer the beach on the Isla, don’t we all.

Just as we are getting back onto the roadway we are waylaid. Turns out it is Hank, long time blog reader who has recently moved here.

This is the first time we have met face to face but we have emailed over the past few years.  What a surprise 😛   Even here at Holiday Park I run into blog readers.  Sorry about the bad photo Hank but I was shooting into a dark car interior.  I’ll do better next time we meet.

Most dogs like to eat and our girls are no exception.  Their stomachs know exactly when breakfast is served at 8:00AM.  If we aren’t on time, we get yipped at.  Same with dinner at 6:00PM.  They come together where ever we are and let us know the time.  About a year ago when we cut down their portions to keep them thinner, they retaliated by insisting on a midday snack.  It used to be at 2PM but recently they have been trying to advance the time.  We keep it as close to 1:30PM as we can.  They really only get about 15 pieces of kibble but we have tricked them into thinking they are getting more.

We call the game peanut scramble. Each girl’s name is called and a piece of kibble is thrown a distance away for her to run and get her treat. Immediately after the first piece is tossed the other girl’s name is called and she runs to retrieve her snack.

They are getting a small extra bit of kibble but have to work for it.  If we can’t do it outside we do it inside, even in the RV if it is raining.  We all have a good time.

As discussed in yesterdays post the canoe was benched early on last summer.  Colin had even ordered a trolling motor which ended up being 50% cheaper by ordering it on Amazon.ca.  Sorry Kevin & Ruth but you were not doing the Canadian Amazon order thing back then.

So last week or so Colin pulled out the canoe.  He wanted to try it out.

He first wanted to move some of the rocks along the beach. The ice on the lake over the winter moves them around.  Yes that is Carmeh looking for snakes in the rocks.  Eventually as summer progresses the lake becomes lower and we have more of a beach.

He got the launch ramps in place and got the canoe down to the water.  That is the trolling motor on the right.

I had no idea he was doing all of this.  I was otherwise occupied at my desk or somewhere in our huge house 🙄  Fortunately I got up to check what was going on outside or I would have missed all the action.

Hey how did the girls get in there?

Let’s get going they said.

Next thing I knew Colin and the girls were gone.

He was testing everything before I got on board.

It seems that the engine was mounted too far behind Colin.  It was awkward to use. First Colin repositioned the motor mount a tad and then he had to shim the bracket that bolted to the gunnels.  None of these adjustments have been checked in the water.  However Colin is confidant that we are ready for our maiden voyage.  Not quite sure when that will be as the weather has gotten somewhat cool and very windy.  Of course the first few perfect days weather wise will have to be dedicated to work but hopefully there will be a few spare hours to give the canoe a test.  I’ll let you know when that happens.

By the way the way Colin loved being out in the canoe even for a short time.  He said it was fabulous 😛  I can hardly wait for my turn.

You likely won’t remember but last summer in July Colin bought a canoe.  A very beautiful refurbished 16′ cedar Huron canoe.  All the details and photos can be found here.  He owned a canoe a very long time ago before we married and has always regretted selling it.  Way back in June of 2010 on a trip back from my celebrating my Father’s 80th birthday we saw a lovely canoe for sale on the side of the highway as we drove through a tiny community.  It was not to be at that time due to finances but it certainly has been on Colin’s mind for some time.  So I was so happy that he was able to purchase the Huron last summer.

So once the canoe was purchased last summer a lot of work went into how to get the canoe down our stairs to the water.   The first thing was to figure out a way to lower the canoe and bring it up again with just Colin’s muscle power.  It was much too heavy for me to lift.  Ideas were thrown out and I came up with an idea 💡  Simply brilliant if I say so myself.

My idea was to put our tallest ladder on top of the stairs and somehow slide the canoe down to the beach.

Colin developed the concept and with Rick’s  ( our hired helper, he also worked on the construction of our home ) help things began to take shape.  This was the first prototype.

The next amendment several days later.

Finally a perfect fit.  To protect the hull of the canoe, the wooden guides/launch ramp were covered with indoor/outdoor carpet.

Voila!  The different heights were to deal with the angle of the stairs down to the beach.  Everything needed to be precise.  The middle slot is where the hull will slide through down to the water.  The reflections are because I took this from inside the house.

First the ladder is laid over the stairs ( see the red foot of the ladder just above these words ) , then the three launch ramps are laid over the ladder.

Ready for the first launch.  Colin was doing this on his own, although Rick was standing by just in case.

Woohoo, looks like it just might work.

Success.  Note the green carpet which is under the canoe, over our beach rocks, once again to protect the canoe.

Successfully pulled up again.

The canoe was then place on it’s wheeled trolley as were the launch pads on yet another trolley and rolled under the house.  Sadly due to circumstances in my life and my being away for the better part of three months tending to my ailing father, the canoe remained under the house for close to a year.

You will have to check back tomorrow for the rest of the story.

Colin was out taking photos in the morning and I caught up on emails and stuff on my desk.

We did get to a nursery late in the afternoon to pick up our bedding plants. No date yet to plant them.

Came back to a tranquil lake and some action. The one in the middle is a paddle board that works very well as a ‘raft’.

The mascot has a prominent position.

…and how was your Mother’s Day?

Food for thought.