On The Road Tomorrow

Tomorrow morning we will hit the road in the Honda. We are about two and a half hours from the ferry to Horseshoe Bay, an hour and a half on the ferry and then about four and a half or five hours to Oliver. It would be nice to get there by five so we can pick up the motorhome but that is not likely so we will rent a room from our friend Rick at the Maple Leaf Motel and RV Park. Rick is a retired RCMP officer who was stationed in the Queen Charlotte Islands while we were in Terrace back in the late Seventies and early Eighties. He is now semi-retired in Oliver where he plays at Real Estate and running his motel and RV park. He is a great guy and although we disagree on Politics, we have a love of single malt scotch in common. His RV park is unique in that there are no rules except one: use common sense. Rick says he spent his whole career enforcing rules and is not about to ruin his retirement by continuing to do the same thing.

The microwave convection oven was delivered to the repair shop in Okanagan Falls on Friday afternoon and Al at Advance RV Repair says he will get it installed Monday. On Tuesday we will head across the Rocky Mountains, spending one night somewhere along the way and arrive in Edmonton on Wednesday. We will park in front of my brothers house and then pick up my sister at the Edmonton airport on Thursday. It will be a pretty hectic few days and I don't know when I will be able to post next but I will take photos and report when I can!

Eye Of The Storm and Dead Cat Bounces

I hate to admit it but I am "in the market". Not directly so much but I am in Funds and have about 33% in Bonds, 33% in Precious Metals and 33% in Equities which is the market. They say I am "well diversified" but even my Precious Metals are in gold mine stocks and such and this not at all like having a couple of bars of the yellow stuff hidden under the floor boards. I did not get out when I should have and by the time I realized what was happening, it was too late. My money has been on a roller coaster since 9-11 and I am a white knuckled passenger along for the ride!

I went to see my Financial Adviser the other day and he did his best to reassure me. He tells me the market will rebound as it always does and that patience is a virtue here as in other things. He described what is happening now as "the eye of the storm" and that, in his opinion, the graph of the market will eventually come out shaped like a "W" and we are approaching the half way point (or the eye of the storm) now. He believes things will take one more fall before starting the final climb out of the abyss. The USA's credit rating will likely be reduced because of their massive debt, more banks could fail and the American auto industry will experience bankruptcies. He suggested I could take some profits out before that happens but the "profits" he refers to are not really profits at all but merely the partial recovery of what I had in there to start with. I am still a long way below my high point and I am not about to start selling dollar bills for eighty cents if I don't have to.

In his opinion what we are seeing now is a "Dead Cat Bounce", a market term derived from the notion that "even a dead cat will bounce if it falls from a great enough height".

I am actually in a pretty good position to ride out this storm as I do not need the money that is in there for daily living. I have a very good Union pension which will become even better by another four hundred and some a month when I turn 65 next year and Canada's Old Age Pension kicks in. Meanwhile there are a few things we have to delay, like a trip to Europe, but things could be worse and for many, they are. Right now I have a good excuse to not go out for expensive dinners....

Ramblings

It has been a quiet few days around here, just the way I like it. Tonight our friend Les is parking his "Ramona" in our driveway for a couple of days. Les lives in Nanaimo and is a soccer referee when he is not in Mexico. This weekend is a big soccer tournament here in Campbell River so we get to visit with Les. We have not seen Les for quite a few months as our Mexican adventures took us to different parts of the country last winter. It will be fun to catch up.

The microwave we ordered from the USA should be delivered to the repair place in OK Falls today or tomorrow and it will be installed by Monday. On Monday we will head across the water and drive the car up to the Okanagan to pick up the motorhome and carry on to Edmonton.

On one hand I am looking forward to this trip as I will get to see my sister and one of my nieces from the Toronto area and all my other relatives from Alberta. We always have a good time when we get together. On the other hand I am not looking forward to the graveyard scene when we bury my brother's ashes. Some folks that will be there are religious in the worst "preaching at you" kind of way. I always have to hold my tongue when they are around and I know this time will be worse. When they are around the dinner is always cold by the time all the "Graces" and prayers are finished and I am fidgiting in my seat, not having the nerve to walk out. "It would be rude", my dear wife says. "Well, it's rude for them to make me go through this", I counter. "I don't keep them from eating for a half hour while I tell them all about my Atheism. That would be just plain rude". Anyway, I will get through it all one more time. Pray for me. (Just kidding!)

Arco Norte

In Mexico these two things are true:
1) All roads lead to Mexico City.
2) Nobody wants to drive through Mexico City.

This leaves travelers in a bit of a delima. Mexico City is a traffic nightmare of twenty million people, almost the population of all of Canada! There are rules in place that allow certain license plates on the road on certain days. The question arises that when your motorhome is towing a car, which plate must conform? The towing vehicle, the car or both? It is hard to get an answer. This is known as the Hoy No Circula ("today it does not circulate") rules. Also, a vehicle testing procedure has been put in place to keep emissions under control. Every vehicle driving in Mexico City must have one of these stickers.

Our Mexican friend tells these rules do not apply to visitors, only to vehicles with DF plates. He says the best time to drive through the city is in the middle of the night (3 or 4 am) on a weekday. Our friend says he would be willing to go with us and even drive the rig for us and then take a bus back home, "Esto no es problema" (This is no problem) he says. I truly believe our friend would have no problem as he is a former Federale and Government Prosecutor. If he got stopped I KNOW he would have no problem. But what would my excuse be when a Trafico asks me what I think I am doing driving a vehicle with no pollution sticker on the wrong day of the week? I don't think "My friend said it would be OK" would get me very far.

Fortunately, a new highway called the Arco Norte (Northern Arch) is being built that will bypass Mexico City to the North and East. It will leave Highway 57 just South of Queretaro and will meet Highway 150D just East of Puebla (it will also continue to the West to provide a very nice bypass of the city). This will be a great relief to us because trying to find a way around Mexico City consumed a lot of our time last year.

The problem is finding out anything about the progress of this construction. It was suposed to be finished by April, 2009 but no one seems to be able to confirm this. There are some sections open and there are some nice photos of these sections on the internet. The problem is, these isolated sections end in the middle of nowhere with no easy way to get from one to another. I hope this highway will be completed by the time we need it this winter!

Glen from the Blog Palapa Life has provided a Link to a map of the new Arco Norte on Google Maps.

Passing Meetings II

One other chance meetings stands out in my mind. It was in Leon after we had spent the day wandering the Centro. We usually scout out all the restaurants during our walk and then decide which one we want to return to later. We found an interesting looking restored mansion with nice tables inside large open windows. We could eat inside but still be able to watch the action on the street.

We returned to this restaurant at around six and ordered dinner. As we were eating a distinguished looking gentleman sat in a booth across from us. He was soon joined by a couple more men and they drank coffee while enjoying a friendly conversation. After a while he ordered an interesting ice cream dish. We had finished our meal as well and had ordered coffee. I said to Norma that I would like to order the same dish if only I knew what it was called. The gentleman overheard me and asked in perfect English if he could order one for me. I thanked him and told him I would appreciate it very much.

When we finished and got up to leave we went over to his table to thank him again. His name was Salvador and it turned out that he was from Leon and had gone to the local university and got his Mechanical Engineering Degree. He then moved to Michigan where he worked in the auto industry for over thirty years. After he was "downsized" he returned to his beloved Mexico. The two friends with him (both named Juan) were childhood friends.

Salvador is able to live quite well in Leon on his pension and keeps occupied by playing in a small local jazz band. He is very friendly and reminded us very much of our old friend and colleague, Jim Fulton who was the NDP Member of Parliament and Norma's boss for many years in Terrace, BC where she worked as his Constituency Assistant.

We had a great conversation over a cup of coffee and we went away with a better understanding of the Mexican people. It was one of those chance encounters that stays with you.

Passing Meetings

I was reading Paul's Blog about Life in Merida and his account of his friendship with Miguel, a local Mexican gentleman. It reminded me of a couple of people I met in Mexico. The memories are pleasant and I will pass one of them on to you.

It was in our first week or two in Mexico last year. I was walking around the Centro one day looking for photo opportunities. I passed a shoe shine stand tended by an older gentleman waiting for a customer. This is a town where kids wear running shoes and tourists wear sandals so customers were few and far between. He smiled and responded to my nod (I did not know the Buenas Dias / Buenas Tardes rules back then and did lots of nodding, the universal language).

I stopped to look at a statue at the end of the Centro. It was of a distingushed looking man holding an open book. I was trying to read the inscription when a voice beside me said, "He is a teacher". I turned and there was my nodding acquaintence, the shoe shine man. He was a very tall man and appeared to be in his late sixties. He carried himself proudly and I could see that he had been in good shape all his life. He explained to me that school teachers are very important people in Mexico and that they have a very important job. His English was excellent. I looked over at his simple stand and he said that his friend was watching it for him. We chatted for a few minutes about his village and than he went back to his work.

Unsatisfied with our brief encounter, I went back to the Centro the next day. Again, he came over to talk to me as soon as he saw me. He was a retired Government worker and loved to find people to practice his English on. He and his wife had several children who all had families of their own so it was just him and his wife. She was occupied with the grandchildren and he spent most days supplementing his pension by shining shoes in the Centro. When we parted, I reached out to shake his hand. He withdrew his hand, saying it was very dirty from his shoe shining. I took his hand anyway and gave it a firm shake. He was the kind of person you would treasure as a friend. I am sorry that I do not remember his name.

Oliver to Campbell River

Last night I boondocked outside the Okanagan Falls dealer who is doing the microwave replacement. I got up at eight, drove into their lot where a snarling guard dog will protect the motorhome until we get back there and after a quick breakfast in town I headed for Campbell River in the Honda.

It was a whirlwind trip and I covered the 700 KM in nine hours including a one and a half hour ferry ride! It was nice driving the Honda. For a twenty year old car with 250,000 KM on it it still runs well and gave me 36 miles to the Canadian gallon. I am paying attention to mileage now because I am getting the "chip" in the motorhome reprogrammed in an effort to improve the dismal mileage of 6.2 miles to the USA gallon or 7.5 miles to the Canadian gallon that I have been getting. I talked to the guy who will be doing the work and he is sure he can make an improvement. A friend of mine had his Class A Winnebago Ford V-10 done by this guy and his mileage improved from an average of 8.5 up to an average of 10.5 miles per USA gallon. That is an increase of over 20%! I would be very happy if he can do that for me.

It looks like we acted too quickly in the case of replacing the microwave. A commenter on a previous Blog entry tells me he called Apollo and they sent him a new latch assembly which he installed himself! It is too late to stuff that toothpaste back into the tube as the microwave is in shipment to Canada. Maybe I will call them and see if they can send me the part and I can sell the microwave here.

Microwave Part Dos

I took the motorhome in to a small RV repair place to have the microwave looked at. He pulled off what he could and we could see the broken pieces of the latch laying on the bottom inside of the case. There did nor seem to be any way to get at it easily and paying someone $85 per hour to work on it does not compute. My first inclination was to simply replace it with a regular microwave but after I ran this past Norma she informed me this was not a good plan. She had a convection oven and wanted it replaced with a convection oven. Period.

I passed the problem off to her after getting the name of an Apollo dealer in the States. She called them, got a number for Apollo and talked to them. She ended up ordering a direct replacement for the broken oven and it will be shipped directly to the dealer in Okanagan Falls, BC where the motorhome is now parked. With any luck the oven will arrive and will be installed by the time we get back to it in 10 or 12 days.

On Edit: It has been asked what the new microwave cost. It was a pleasant surprise when I found out. I looked for a suitable item in the stores and counter top convection microwaves are quite expensive in Canada. There was one for $699 that was nice but a little too large for where it had to go. The cost of the new one from Apollo, which includes the light and exhaust fan was $399 USA plus $109 shipping. I could have installed it myself but it is being shipped to the repair place in OK Falls and they will put it in for me. The labour will be minimal.

Microwave Packed It In!

I put a cup of coffee in the microwave and started it up. All went well and it dinged to let me know it was done. I pushed the button to open the door and nothing happened! I stuck a knife blade into the crack and pried as I pressed the button again. Still nothing. I squirted lubrication into everything and still no good. I finally took off the plastic trim and took the hinge off the door to see what was happening. The workings of the latch are all behind the plastic body and door and the latch simply does not respond to presses of the button.

I guess it is time for a new microwave! When the shelf mounted microwave went in the last MH failed I simply took the measurements, went to WalMart and found an acceptable replacement for under $100 which I screwed in place using some angle brackets. This one however hangs under the cupboard and includes the light and exhaust fan so my options are more limited. I will call the local RV repair place on Tuesday and see what they can do for me although I know that anything designed for RV's is going to be a lot more expensive.

My "lucky streak" continues....

Oliver

Yesterday was a nice day in Oliver. The temperature was in the low to mid 20's and there was no rain. The sun actually came out for quite a while.

Our group assembled and it was fewer of the old timers than usual but our friends Pete and Laura from Cranbrook brought their whole clan so there were lots of kids. Last night was the wine and cheese party. We used to bring our "home" made wine but this year I never got a chance to put my order in before we got home and have it ready in time to bottle and bring to the party. Instead I stopped at a little winery and bought a couple of bottles of the local Okanagan Merlot and Pino Noir. it was fun catching up with friends.

Tonight was the Pot Luck dinner where everyone brings five times more than necessary so we ate until we could eat no more. the lawn dart competition starts in the morning. The weather is beautiful. it was in the high 20's all day with a bit of a wind to keep thinks nice. Maybe I will wander down and have one more glass of wine!