5C's Que Pasa

Good news if you have a Class A or Class B RV and happen to be a member of Family Motor Coach Association  (FMCA).  Effective October 1, 2012 as part of your annual dues they have added a variety of travel and medical services. For an additional fee of $105.00 annually you also get things like Emergency Medical Evacuation, vehicle return, pet return, etc.  For a brief overview click here.  If you want to read all the details of this insurance program underwritten by Lloyd's of London click here.  This seems to be a great addition to a basic medical insurance package that you might already have.  Some of us simply get insurance for crossing through the US until we get to Mexico and then use the pay as you go for medical services in Mexico and this would be the perfect addition.  This FMCA insurance is good wherever you travel in North America.

Our morning started out with a flat tire just as Colin was heading to a job. Fortunately we have a neighbor with all the right equipment and he soon had Colin on his way. Dan you have some Kokanee coming your way my friend!! Milles gracias!

While Dan & Colin were doing the tire thing my first trade guy showed up a few hours early and so my day began. The girls are getting use to all the comings and goings.

I also have my paint fellow doing all the touch ups inside.  Of all the people I called yesterday, from gas fitters to fireplace companies, only one called back and they will complete the fireplace install next Tuesday. Trades are very laid back in this area.  I also have proper window washers coming next week.

Forgot to mention the other day that the 'smudgy' window washer guy stepped in dog doodoo on the lawn and tracked it all over my sidewalk!  I did apologize as I hadn't had time to pick up.  I still thought it was funny.

I was doing some filing and found a receipt for 8 cents that Colin had put on Visa.  What the heck?  In his defence he said he had to make one photo copy enroute to a job site and Staples would not take cash!  The entire procedure took over 10 minutes and he had to interrupt the  employee's visit with a fellow employee  three times to figure out how to use the self serve machine and then go over to yet another machine to get a receipt.

I think things are getting out of hand. Read on the news today that Staples is planning to close 15 stores in the US and another 45 in Europe. Wonder why?

Who knows how my day will go?  I do like a comment I got on yesterdays blog that I try wine via IV!!!  Now there is a thought but it wouldn't be as much fun methinks.

I took this photo from my bath this morning! It was so peaceful at 7AM, the sun was coming up on the right, a jet was streaking high across the sky and if you look closely on the left, there is a sun dog heading up towards the sky.

Twas a great start to the day, I hope the day remains uneventful.

Tags: friends, repairs, The girls, Wine

Maybe we are too fussy.  But don't you think we are entitled to be concerned about the details of things going into our home?  Wouldn't you want the best in your home?

Yesterday was my undoing!  I forbade someone to come here today, I hung up on another and this morning I had to let the gas fitter doing the  fireplace “go”!!  Colin spent his entire day ( and he didn't have a minute to spare from all the jobs we have piling up ) helping George, the fireplace guy.     George had a helper who went home after an hour because he was unwell.  George is a great worker but way too fussy.  Yes fussy, even fussier than me!  Now that has to be something.  George decided the fireplace was designed incorrectly.

After 90 minutes of reading instructions and thinking George made the first hole in the floor.................in the wrong place! Fortunately the second hole was good and the base of the unit will cover the first hole.

That became the theme for the day. Colin had to keep talking George into moving on to the next step. It took over an hour to place the glass panels correctly, G would have left had it not been for Colin. Meanwhile I am thinking, I am going to have to pay this guy $94.00 plus 12% tax per hour. I wondered how much G would hand over to Colin for all his help??

About 3:30 in the afternoon both UPS and Purolator arrive at the same time. Now we have 5 trucks blocking the street. Comical at that point! I forgot to mention that yet another trade showed up to wash the windows of the sun room. I was shocked as this was the same fellow who had washed them the first time and the owner said we would have them rewashed by a professional. I had little energy at this point so let him re smudge the outside windows, no way was he coming inside.

Meanwhile George is cutting a hole in the roof and gets a phone call. Suddenly he is off to a 'birthday party'!!

...so my house is now looking like a big construction mess!!

The phone rings, it is the sales rep from the sunroom manufacturer wanting to come see me because he heard I wasn't happy.  What the heck?  He will be here in 10 minutes.  I call the owner of the sunroom company asking why he had set this up without even discussing it with me.  He starts yelling at me and complaining that I was too fussy!!!  I asked him to stop yelling and swearing and when he didn't I hung up on him.

Meanwhile our friend Gord came over to borrow a ladder.  He innocently asked if he could help me with something.

Never ever ask me that when I am on a rant! So Gord opened my UPS boxes and set up Colin's new desk chair, which by the way Colin just loves. I had a better photo of Gord but it didn't turn out. I was able to hand him a glass of his preferred vino tinto but only because I was pouring vino blanco for me at that point.

By then the Gentek sales rep had arrived.  He stayed for over an hour, I am into #2 glass of wine and I am letting Colin handle this one.  It turns out we were totally justified in all of our questions and concerns.  In fact Gentek is going to do some major touchups to our floor to ceiling windows.

This was taken by the Gentek guy, you can just see Gord working in the bottom right. I was on vino #2 and starting to relax. Oh, the reason Gentek guy is using my camera is he forgot his. Colin made him a CD of his photos. He went away happy.

Finally we are alone in the house, Colin has to do some computer work and I try to set up our new Shaw receiver.  We upgraded to DSR because our existing DVR could not connect to our new satellite dish installed two weeks ago.  Long story but in the end it was easier and quicker to do it this way.  It took close to 2 hours to get it functioning.  TV dinner and wine for me and bed.  Colin got the left over BBQ salmon &  the privilege of working till midnight.

Today did not start much better.  I had a 7AM brutal medical treatment at an ungodly hour so that Colin could head out to Summerland for a 12 hour photo shot. So that left me with George who arrived and hour early and left an hour later.

Basically I informed him that if he felt uncomfortable proceeding with the fireplace to just take his things, give me his bill and leave.  Which he did. You see, Colin was not there to guide him along today!  So I have spent today trying to find someone to finish the fireplace install.  It really is too early to start drinking wine but I am thinking about it.  Now you know why my post was delayed today.  Good enough reason, eh!

Tags: construction, friends, vino

I have been trying to write this post for  three days now but my time is not my own.   It belongs to 'the trades' whom I pay to come here so I can supervise them.  Who pays me?

This fellow is a great craftsman, he did a huge amount of work in the building of our home and we have been able to get him to do some work for us after hours which means late nights for him and for us. Here he is installing our kitchen backsplash. Yes it is a vineyard scene.

Earlier he had started constructing our outside stairs and I noticed he had sawdust in all his creases!!!

We woke up one morning and our valances had fallen. That has been repaired but my 'blind guy' had to come back 3 times to get it right. The blinds are perfect and we wouldn't change a thing. They roll right up under that valance and you don't see them at all. Best of all is that they do cut the heat tremendously when down.

We have been enjoying this beautiful month where here in B.C. and we are breaking heat records.  Unfortunately that also means many spontaneous forest & grass fires, large and small.  The large Peachland fire which started Sept. 9th did result in the loss of four homes, one of which belonged to clients of ours.  They lost everything except the clothes on their backs.  Very sad circumstances for them.  Thank goodness for insurance but they each had a business runnig out of their home, she is an interior designer and he a builder so all their business records have also been destroyed.  It seems that there is a new fire starting around us almost daily.  Every time I smell smoke I check the source.

Yesterday a 40' Class A caught fire just 10Km outside of Kelowna. It was completely destroyed as the propane tank, diesel tank all exploded.  You would not even know that it had been an RV once the flames were put out.  I'm sure those people must be devastated at their loss.

We have had a lot of smokey haze so I have been able to leave the blinds up all day and enjoy the coming and going of the waterfowl.  Even though we still have unpacked boxes and are awaiting this & that, we feel like we are renting a cabin on a lake somewhere.  It is hard to believe that this is our home.  Lucky, lucky us!  Lots of work but oh so worth it.

While making a repair to the flooring, a trade guy made a hole, yes a hole in the wood. Here we have the boss of the company making repairs and he also will have to come back yet again!!! Sigh!!!!

With our move into the house, the motorhome has grown in size.  We basically just moved the office here and a very very few clothes.

As you can see we did spread the office out in the house. Neither of us has a proper desk yet, mine might not be ready until April so the computers are on small computer stands and the files in baskets and boxes. The yellow pole on the right is holding up a new wood beam that was installed earlier in the day.

I had a credenza delivered last Thursday but it was damaged so hopefully a new one will get here within a few weeks.  Meanwhile I have spread myself out on the dining room table.  Yesterday  Colin was out doing photography in three homes for the Tommie awards so I sat at the table and made serious inroads into catching up with company taxes, GST payments, bank reconciliations and filing.  You can almost see the table this morning.  It was great being able to work with no trades and no phone calls and of course being able to look up at the lake every now and then.

So far today we have had one trade cancel and the fireplace installer has been here for 3 hours, but has only just figured out how to put it together.  It is going to be a huge job, glad we hired a proper gas fitter but at $93.00 per hour…….yikes!  Hopefully our stairs will be completed tonight and so on and so on.

We had unexpected company Saturday, an RV couple who we met in California but only live just a few hours away in Kamloops.  Then we had a knock at the gate in the arbour from a couple wanting to know who built our house.  I caved and let them inside.  They love it ( of course ) and now want to build one similar to ours.  Then the owner of Holiday Park Resort dropped in with his wife with a few goodies and to congratulate us on our beautiful home.  It was a busy Saturday, plus 2 trades.  Now I remember why I enjoyed the peacefulness of Sunday so much.

Pat, I did see you go past, just drop in, don't be formal.  Funny how we saw more of each other when we lived in different cities.

Going to be a high of 27C today!!

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Quote of the day!

My grandfather once told me that there were two kinds of people: those who do the work and those who take the credit. He told me to try to be in the first group; there was much less competition.

Gandhi

Moved in but not settled in.  Colin's jobs are piling up ( thank goodness as in $$$ ) and he is out more than in.  I have been spending my days dealing with who else but the trades!!!  Yes still seeing those guys.  Between 3 and 6 per day but most days 5, first one yesterday arrived at 8AM and the last one left at 9PM!!!  Then we get dinner and I fall into bed.  Everything is coming together but so very very slowly.  Our fantastic view gets me through it.

There are things happening behind the scenes that make coping difficult and then losing my entire inbox in the computer did not help nor did a piece of furniture arriving damaged, big sigh.  But we are very very slowly getting there.

Not sure when we will get to Mexico, certainly later than desired.

I did find time for 15 minutes of relaxation. My new whirlpool tub is fantastic.

One day the stained glass window will arrive or so we hope and then there will be privacy in our bathroom.  Heck I can't even use the toilet when the trades are here.

This has been the longest I have ever gone without posting and I will endeavour not to let it happen again.  Besides I have all kinds of stories and photos to share with you.

Our fireplace was delivered at 8AM this morning.  We had a time window of between 8 & 10 AM, just love it when we are first.

Actually we were second, he'd already made a delivery to the University.

He was a real nice guy who helped us get everything into the house.

Well it all fits, now we have to put it together. It will be spectacular.

So here we are, the much anticipated Friday and still no trades!!!  There is a very good possibility that we won't be moving into the house this weekend.  Besides we heard a rumour that our steps may get built this weekend!  Time will tell.

Meanwhile for those of you heading to the USA or Mexico for the winter I suggest you get yourself to a bank today.  Great exchange rates.  $100.00 Canadian is approximately $1313.06 Mexican Pesos.  It is time to stock up on foreign currency.

Tags: 319, Mexico, money