Blood Moon Eclipse

Bad Moon On The Rise

I almost forgot about the celestial phenomenon Sunday night and was watching TV, recovering from John Hogan's retirement party when John's son Tim knocked on the door to ask if he could park here as the parking along the sea-walk was all taken up by viewers. I grabbed my camera and monopod because it was easier to get than my heavy tripod and headed down to the beach. I realized too late that I should have taken the tripod but by then it was too late. I did manage to get some shots of the Blood Moon rising. It was already in eclipse by the time it rose above the heavy haze over the Sunshine Coast

First Glimpse above the haze:

Blood Moon:

Eclipse Ending:

Gate Mod

I made a modification to the sliding gate that the deer infiltrated the other day. I added some wire fencing to the top to make it about 5+ feet high from the inside and 7 feet from the outside (it sits on top of a short retaining wall). Not that high but they can't get a run at it so it should be good. The neighbor normally parks a car on the other side as well. No more deer through there! The old telephone guys will notice the aluminum bracket that allows the gate to slide is part of an equipment bay guard rail.

This guy was not too happy that I interrupted his lunch!

Deer!

Well, it had to happen. There is a hidden sliding gate between us and the front of the next door rental house that is only used when they fill their oil tank. They have  a wood burning heater they use most of the time so the oil hardly ever gets filled and the way the motorhome is parked you have to walk most of the way around it to check the gate. Something I never do.

Yesterday morning Norma got out of bed and let out a yell as she went running for the front door. I looked out to see a mom deer and one of her fawns munching on the flower garden. It takes two of us to corral them out the gate, if there is only one they just keep walking around the house in a frustrating game of merry-go-round. One of us has to go one way and the other the other way forcing them out the gate.

As soon as we got them moving they headed straight for the motorhome and out the little gate in front of it. Sure enough, the gate was wide open! I guess the neighbors had oil delivered and the delivery guys neglected to shut the gate behind themselves.

No real harm done, the flowers have pretty much had their day for this year. We had actually discussed leaving the gate open for a week before we left to let the deer do some trimming but that is over a month away. Anyway, after surveying the damage they did chewing one of the tastier plants right down to the roots Norma decided that plan is off the table now.

Mexico is calling me!

Sunny Day!

Finally! No clouds in the sky and a forecast for a couple of good days. Time to get things done

I collected all the bird feeders and took them into the workshop to be filled. Well, here is the first problem, a rat has been visiting and the big bag of bird seed has a hole chewed into the side and there is seed all over the floor. I scooped up most of it and used it to fill the feeders and sealed up the rest in old coffee cans. That should keep the bugger out. I then found the rat traps, loaded them with nice fresh peanut butter and put two in the workshop, one in Norma's garden shed and one in the new garden shed out back. I also found some rat poison we bought in the US last year, cut a couple of pieces off and put them on the floor of the workshop. Overkill? Sure, but I want to get them!

The neighbor in the rental next door has two big cats which normally control the rat population but also keep the birds away from the feeder. Brooks and LindaLee were up last week with Juneau, their Husky who left enough scent around that the cats are staying clear. This has brought the birds back to the feeders but also opened up the territory for the rats. You can't win!

Next on my to-do list was to replace the bulbs in the motion sensor driveway lights. That was a quick job and now I am almost done with my list. The only thing remaining is to take down the torn and tattered flag on the peak of the house. To do this I have to get the extension ladder out from behind Norma's shed but she had Beau, her lawn guy. clean up the yard and pile everything in front of the ladder. It will take an hour to organize that pile. That sounds like a tomorrow job.

I also have to start negotiating a departure date with Norma so I can make a dental appointment in Algodones, Mexico where I have to spend a few days getting implants. I also have to visit my financial guy here to free up some money to pay for the implants. They charge US dollars so it is going to cost more than I planned on, maybe as much as $11,000 CAN but I hope not much more than that.

Then I have to buy car insurance for Mexico (US dollars) and Travel Health Insurance (CAN dollars) for six months. The peso value against the Canadian dollar has risen a little so the cost of living in Mexico is not as good a deal as it was last time we were there but we will manage. The price of gas in Mexico is in flux right now. For the first time ever it is different in price in different parts of the country. Border regions and the Baja are cheaper than the interior with these areas selling cheaper to compete with US prices. Mexico Mike reports regular gas selling for 13.57 pesos or $1,09 CAN per liter. That is compatible to what we are paying in Canada right now. Converted to US gallons and US dollars that comes to $3.35 US per gallon. Mexico used to have the cheapest gas in North America but no more.

Time Out

We have been taking it easy! Things are winding down around here as we start thinking about getting ready for the winter. Norma's garden is starting to put itself to sleep as the nights get cooler and the days shorter. She fought it for a while but has now resigned herself to focusing on a few flowers and her tomato plants which are producing tomatoes far faster than we can eat them.

We got a call last night from our old NDP organizer friend, Gerry Scott who said he was coming up here to deal with the local election campaign. He asked if we could put him up for a few days to save the Party some hotel money and of course we can. We have known Gerry since the late 70's and have a lot of catching up to do. Gerry was the organizer responsible for the NDP victory in Alberta. He thinks he will be here tomorrow but as always in politics, things can change at the last minute!

Busy Days

It has been a few busy days. First, Jim and Jan, old friends from Terrace arrived on Wednesday and we spent some time gabbing before Norma put some crab in the boiler and we enjoyed a small feast with some more conversation. A very fun night!

The next day (Friday) the bus dropped our friend Mike off in front of our house. We met Mike in the Rio Grande Valley a couple of years ago. He is a retired American lawyer who calls Alpine, Texas  home right now. He left his motorhome in Alpine and is on a tour of the west coast by train, bus, ferry and bicycle! Pretty adventurous!

Friday afternoon we went down to Dick's Fish & Chips on the dock and filled up on halibut and cod before heading back home for a couple of drinks and more conversation. Saturday we took Mike down to the local fishing pier where we got Norma to face the forty mile per hour wind for a photo with Mike.

Entertainment on the pier was provided by a young couple with a rented rod and reel who pulled in an 18 pound Spring Salmon while we watched. He was troubled with a rented reel that broke as soon as he tried to reel the fish in as well as the fact that he had caught the fish by the tail so the hook was not set as well as it could be. Between several of us we got the drop net into the water and he maneuvered the fish over the net just as the hook came loose! He managed to save the fish and was quite proud of his catch.

When we left the pier we decided to take the ferry over to Quadra Island where we explored a bit before ending up at the Heriot Bay Inn, a small waterfront pub and restaurant where we spent a few hours gabbing with the locals, eating chowder and watching the scenery. It was a very enjoyable day!

Saturday morning I drove Mike down to the bus depot where he was catching the bus to Port Hardy and the ferry to Prince Rupert. From there he is taking the Alaska State Ferry system up the coast of the Alaska Panhandle. How far he goes, how long he spends and how he gets back to Texas will depend on the weather. What a great way to travel.

So now Norma and I are spending the day eating leftovers and relaxing. Some might say 'recovering'.

Visitors!

We are getting visitors! Jim and Jan, old friends from Terrace who now live in Victoria will be up in the area in their 5th wheel for a couple of days tomorrow and will be staying just down the road. We have not seen them for a while so that will be fun.

As well, Mike, aka 'Wandering Mike', a Blogger we met in the Rio Grande Valley of Texas a couple of years ago is arriving for a visit as well. We spent a few days parked next to Mike in Alamo, Texas. Our Mexican friends Chris and Juan were there as well and even though it was freezing we managed to have a lot of fun. Mike is a mostly / semi-retired American lawyer who travels in his motorhome and then flies off to some exotic location to be a lawyer for a while. He will be traveling on the bus and is heading up to Port Hardy and the ferry to Prince Rupert. He will be staying with us for a few days. We are looking forward to it.

Norma's Garden

Norma's garden enjoying the beautiful Vancouver Island sunshine.

Bought an eReader!

I used to read. In fact I used to read a lot. When we first started RVing, I had my bedroom closet about 1/10 full of books and I would get through as many as ten of them over the winter. But the last few years I have almost stopped reading and am down to a book or two per year.

I have no real excuses. OK, my eyes tend to hurt after reading for a while and new glasses do not help. Maybe it is the poor lighting from my bedside lamp.

Anyway, I want to start reading again. My niece Robin and George were up for a visit and George had a Kobo ('Book' anagram) that he was happy with so I looked it up. Man, the prices of eReaders have come down! I remember when they were all up in the $200 region but the KOBO Aura was for sale for $100. I checked around and found one at our local London Drugs so I went and bought it. It is very light and about 4.5 X 6 inches, a little smaller than a paperback page.

I loaded a couple of books on it and started experimenting. The screen is very easy to read and has a backlight for when you need it. The font size can be increased slightly which is perfect for me. It has a 4 GB internal storage which holds 'up to' 3,000 books and I can add a Micro SD card if that is not enough.

I also found a free program on the Internet that makes managing books a lot easier and also converts my pdf books into epub format which the Kobo much prefers.

Maybe I will get back to reading again, It is worth the shot.

Voter Fraud

I have stirred up quite a bit of discussion both here on the blog and on Facebook with my last post. People think I am over-reacting. That I should understand and be willing to come up with the proper ID or whatever is demanded before I am allowed to vote. These laws are there to prevent voter fraud so I should just go along with them.

In Canada, Harry Neufeld, Retired Chief Electoral Officer for British Columbia, was commissioned by Elections Canada to review the problem of non-compliance with the rules in one Toronto riding after a challenge was made by the Liberal Party in 2011. That case ended up at the Supreme Court who rejected the case. In his study, Neufeld determined that there have been "no more more that a handful" of cases of voter fraud in Canada both provincially and federally.

Neufeld determined that of this "handful" of alleged cases the vast majority were the result of mistakes by election officials and that there had been little or no actual fraud. He says the errors were the result of "complexity, recruitment of election officers, training and the updating of voter lists. At no time did he suggest ineligible voters were deliberately trying to cast illegal ballots.

Neufeld recommended that the Voter Information Cards should be allowed as valid pieces of identification (as they traditionally have been in many areas of Canada) and that the entire voting process should be simplified. He also recommended that election officials should be better trained to avoid irregularities in the future. He stated that there were many 'Urban Myths' about busloads of voters being taken from riding to riding to illegally vote  and of nefarious individuals scooping up voter information cards from apartment blocks and using them to orchestrate illegal voting. All examples of these schemes turned out to be false.

Neufeld feared that if Bill C-23 passed (it did) and made it more difficult to vote by special ballot, voting by mail or registering on voting day as well as by the imposition of more and more identification requirements people would get very angry and there would be more and more court challenges.

Neufeld said he fears the Conservatives efforts to prevent voter fraud will end up disenfranchising people who have trouble producing identification with with proof of their address - primarily students, the poor and aboriginals. People with the democratic right to vote.

Just think of it. You go to vote, carrying the same ID you always have, find a parking spot, stand in line, argue with an election official and are turned away. What do you do? Drive home, find a utilities bill or some other allowable ID, drive back to the poll, stand in line and eventually cast your ballot? Or do you just say the hell with it. In all likelihood you would not have time anyway as most people vote in the last hour or so that the polls are open. You will have lost your right to vote.

And it is not only you. There will be thousands just like you in Canada that are turned away from the ballot box for no reason. There is no voter fraud problem!

Read the article here.