It’s now just over a week until the dogs and I move to Balzac and into my trailer. I’ve been busy posting items for sale on Facebook Marketplace and made quite a few sales as well. My moving sale is this coming Sunday.
On Saturday, I’m going to zip over to Montana, to my PO Box in Eureka, a buddy in California has sent me a chest protector for umpiring. I’ve missed not umpiring for nearly 2 years. I’ll probably start umpiring the second weekend of September, I doubt they start Labour Day weekend, but who knows.
Lots to do between now and then. I have my house moving sale on Sunday. My cleaner is coming over at 7am to help me setup, and I’ll sell a BUNCH of my stuff. Almost like starting over, and it is, except that I’m not going to accumulate again.
I’m going to start loading clothes in the trailer as well. I’m going to cut down on clothes too, I have a bunch of stuff that I never wear that’s in really good condition. If I don’t sell it, I’ll give it away, there’s always people who need good stuff.
I’ve been testing out my StarLink internet this week and thus far, it’s great. I was doing a video conference, at the same time that I was downloading a large file and streaming a baseball game – no buffering at all. I hope it’s that stable when I’m using it regularly and if it goes out briefly, I’ll have my 5G connection on my mobile to use as a backup.
The plan is coming together, and I’m looking forward to it.
I’m accelerating my move to Balzac and life in my trailer. Instead of moving out of the house at the end of October, I’m vacating the house at the end of September and the dogs and I will start trailer life in just under 2 weeks on Friday, September 1.
I’m still going to Idaho for a week at the beginning of October and heading to Ontario for a week at the end of October, and since I won’t have a house then, my cleaning lady/dog person will be looking after the dogs in my trailer.
Now, there’s only one small issue there, the trailer will be in Balzac and she works in Crowsnest Pass. Well, my ex-neighbour saved the day and I can park the trailer on her property so SB will essentially be camping for those 2 weeks and I’ll be there, back in the Pass for the other 2 weeks. I’ll return to Balzac in early November, where I plan to stay for the winter.
Today, I had the wheel bearings checked and repaired, the grease was bad so it’s good that I had it checked. There are some minor issues with the floor to fix and I also got the powered landing gear working, a blown fuse that was 85¢ to replace.
I’m finally going to test the StarLink internet tomorrow, I should have done it weeks ago, but, I do have a Doctorate in Procrastination. I’m also selling all my big stuff on Facebook Marketplace and am planning a yard sale this coming weekend. I should then be able to move comfortably. My first day working from the trailer will be Labour Day, I’m working 6-3.
I guess I have accelerated my plans. I gave my landlord official notice that I am moving out last night and as opposed to the end of November, it will be the end of October or rather November 1 – the day that I return from my trip to Ontario.
My cleaning lady will be taking care of Hera and Twix in my house. You know, I have written Blondie as the “first” dog for so long, my fingers still do it – it was always Blondie, Hera and Twix – sorry, I digress, it’s my right. So, the dogs will be staying in the house and then CB (my cleaning lady) will bring them to the airport to pick me up and drop me off at my trailer in the late afternoon on November 1. I guess I won’t take any house keys with me, everything will be cleared out except for the last minute things – it will be a coordination effort, but since I am helping my landlord with pictures and posting the rental, he’s given me some leeway.
I am going to be staying in Balzac Alberta until at least the end of the year and I am guessing likely through winter at the very least since who really wants to pack stuff up and move during winter. I am really looking forward to it.
A number of people have asked me if I am serious. I guess they can’t wrap their heads around leaving a house and town that I’ve lived in and moving into a trailer that probably has 150 square feet to live in.
I lived at my Dad’s place until I finished university and I moved out when I was 24. Between 24 and 40, 16 years, I moved 17 times that I can remember. I think I have Gypsy blood in me, I was definitely nomadic. As I got older, I wanted to move less since moving is quite the pain in the ass. Once I arrived in Alberta, I moved slightly less. I’ve been here 11.5 years and have moved 6 times in total. I have been in this place for 4 years.
I do love the community that I live in, Coleman Alberta. It’s small, quiet and the people are generally friendly. There are many, many spots to take the dogs hiking and lakes galore to swim in, kayak in, walk around – we’ve had a lot of fun these last 5 years down here. I do love the area, and I love the 70s feel that this house provides, but I have an urge to move on. More than that, I have a stronger urge to “declutter” and live a minimalist type lifestyle. I don’t think I could accomplish that living here, because I would keep buying things.
So, I started selling all of my “big” stuff. I’ve gotten rid of the 65″ TV and stand that I had and a bunch of appliances that I won’t need. My loss is someone else’s gain. I still have more to sell and I may do a “yard sale” at some point in the next couple of weeks. Anything that doesn’t sell will be given away or thrown away, I am sure I will be making a couple of dump runs.
I am greatly looking forward to this new lifestyle I am choosing. People say “what if you don’t like it?” – well, I think I will and hey, I rented the worst possible place down here when I first arrived – I survived for a year there, I can survive anywhere. As long as my dogs are with me and I’ve got somewhere to work (to pay for it all), we are good to go.
I started work on Tuesday morning at stupid o’clock, 3am in this instance, so, stupid o’clock. I worked 3-11 so that I could head up to Calgary to get a 5th wheel hitch installed.
The trip to Calgary was quick and uneventful. I dropped the trailer off at The Hitch Shop and a former coworker of mine picked me up and we headed for a late lunch at Red Lobster. Endless Shrimp was on the menu, excellent food. We then headed over to Chinook Center to kill some time, I bought a Houston Astros hat that I really didn’t need and a lightning connector for an iPod Touch that I did need. I returned to pick up the truck with the newly installed 5th wheel hitch and headed back towards the Pass.
I don’t have any experience with 5th wheels, so a friend of mine was good enough to help me out. We were in the process of raising the trailer so I could connect to my truck and the power lift for the landing gear died on me. Our best guess, and likely the correct guess is that the inline fuse blew. We figured there must be a hand crank somewhere to raise and lower the landing gear. Well, hell if we could find it. I tried contacting the former owner, didn’t get a response though, so we left, empty handed.
We returned yesterday afternoon after I finished work and I did a much more thorough search and did find the port to hand crank the landing gear. I had to get the trailer moved, and we did. My truck didn’t strain too much at all pulling it, which is good. It’s now parked outside my house in Coleman.
I’m now one step closer to becoming, as my cousin says, a digital nomad. The dogs and I will live in the trailer starting in just 3 weeks. I’m looking forward to the adventures to come and living back in the Calgary area will be great as well.
I plan on umpiring in Calgary this Fall, something I’ve really missed. I’ll be living between Calgary and Airdrie Alberta at an RV Park along the highway. I’ll definitely have to make some changes, and I’m good with that. One thing, for sure, I’ll have to start using a laundromat. I haven’t done that in a LONG time, but, it’ll allow me some time to read or watch a game, something along those lines. The last time I used a laundromat I didn’t have dogs, I’d say it was probably 2005, so 13 years ago now.
I’m going to slowly start to move stuff to the trailer, clothes I won’t need, kitchen stuff, office stuff. I also need to test out my new StarLink internet service, I’ve had it a week now and haven’t tested it yet. Well, I do have a Doctorate in Procrastination, so, I have to make use of that.
As some are aware, I purchased a 30 foot 5th wheel travel trailer. My truck can pull it, although I’ll have to be careful of the weight and I may look to upgrade in the spring (bigger truck). Well, the dogs and I are going on an adventure.
Back when I hosted my Aunt and Cousin in July, Kim suggested that since I work from home, I could travel about and explore the countryside and live and work in my trailer. At the time, I only had a 20 foot bumper pull trailer. It’s a great unit and actually friends of mine are staying in it for the next couple of weeks while they are here for a wedding. But, I was thinking that to live in it with 3 dogs would be too much, it would not be big enough.
So I started looking at other options and found a great 5th wheel that was light enough to pull, in fact, it’s lighter than my 1983 20 footer and by almost 2000lbs. Blondie also has unfortunately passed, so now it’ll be the 3 of us going on this adventure. Blondie was not the sort of dog who liked change, it would have been a difficult transition for her.
Starting September 8, the 3 of us will be living in the trailer full time. I’m going to be staying, at least through the end of November just north of Calgary. I have StarLink internet which will allow me to work from pretty well anywhere.
I’ve started selling stuff from the house. My 65″ TV and the stand it was on are gone, some artwork, an ice maker, microwave and some other miscellaneous items. I still have a lot more to sell, that’s for sure.
I’ll be keeping my house until the end of November and then giving it up.
I’m away over Labour Day weekend, visiting friends in Kelowna. At the beginning of October, I’m heading to Idaho to work with coworkers for a week and I’m heading back to Ontario at the end of October. The dogs will be staying in Coleman, my housekeeper will be looking after them. I’m between, we’ll be in Balzac Alberta. It’ll also allow me to umpire for Babe Ruth Calgary during Fall Ball, something I’ve missed terribly.
Some have asked why…
Ever since I moved out of my dad’s place when I was 24, I’ve been fairly nomadic. Between 24 and 40, I moved, from what I can remember, 17 times. Typically, moves would be every 6-12 months. I got tired of places, tired of the same old scenery. As I got older, I got tired of moving, so it slowed down a bit. Once in Alberta, it slowed some more. I’ve been here for 11.5 years, and I’ve had 6 places. My current house is almost a record at 4 years and I thought for sure I’d break it as I do love it here.
But, I also want a change. I have an excellent deal here, and I’m giving it up. Well, presuming that I enjoy trailer life, which I am sure I will. If I discover I don’t like it as much as I figured I would, I can always keep this place, I have a few months to decide. I’m pretty confident I’ll like it though and Hera and Twix will like it, as long as they are with me.
So, I’m continuing to sell stuff, to downsize, to try a minimalist lifestyle. I think it’s the change that I need.
I’ll be blogging about it, so please, follow me on this new adventure.
On Thursday, August 10, I lost my companion of 12+ years, Blondie. Blondie had been deteriorating for the last 6 months or so, and recently, her decline had quickened. Blondie has arthritis in her hips which was causing major issues with her mobility and also causing pain. She was on anti inflammatory medication, but I’m not sure how much it actually helped. She was also on a newly approved injection that had been used for years in Europe, but it didn’t seem to provide the relief I was hoping it would. Blondie was also diagnosed with canine dementia and this caused her to regularly be confused and disoriented. She’d wander around the house, aimlessly and endlessly, only laying down once she was exhausted. She no longer enjoyed the activities that used to bring her joy. She would regularly refuse to go for walks, one of her favourite things to do. I used to think that Twix was a stubborn dog. Blondie became far more stubborn than Twix ever was. Hera and Twix both showed a ton of patience with Blondie and never once showed anything but complete love for their big sister.
This past week, I started to realize and accept that Blondie’s time was nearly up. For those of you who have and love dogs, you know that it’s the hardest decision that one makes for their dog, but it’s one made out of love.
I talked to her primary vet on Wednesday evening and described what was happening with Blondie over the past few months. He agreed with me that it might be time and I was scheduled to bring her in on Thursday morning.
A good friend and neighbour of mine volunteered to join me on my trip to Calgary, and I’m eternally thankful that she did. She was very helpful.
Blondie, Hera, Twix, Sasha and I headed out at 8am on Thursday morning. We stopped at what was one of the dogs favourite parks when we lived in Calgary. It was tough getting Blondie out of the truck, going for walks was no longer one of her favourite things to do, but I got her out and we had a great last walk.
Blondie after getting out of the truck at Shouldice Park
Hera and Twix were excited to be there, Blondie accepted it, I guess. We walked towards the river along one of the many paths. Blondie would stop and greet the other dogs she’d pass, but she’d often get confused and follow another dog owner instead of me and the pack. She ended up at the river and I let Hera off her leash so she could splash around. I was surprised when Blondie headed to the river as well.
The girls in the Bow River
The hard part was getting back up the embankment. I tried to lead Blondie up where the slope was gentle, nope, slopes were not on the agenda for the day. I carried Blondie up to the top and set her down, thankfully, she doesn’t mind being picked up. She rested for a good 10 minutes before she was ready to head back to the truck.
Along the way, a guy with 3 uncontrolled dogs made an appearance. I suppose there’s always some jerk with no control of his dogs. One of them wanted to get aggressive with Blondie. Twix had none of it and literally got between them and body checked the other dog away from Blondie, such a good little sister. Hera was on leash, otherwise I’m sure she would have joined in.
We returned to the truck and headed to the vet. I had trouble getting Blondie out of the truck in what would be her last truck ride. We went into the normal examination room that the dogs have been going to since the new clinic opened.
Hera laid with Blondie for a good 10 minutes, something she never did and Twix gave Blondie numerous kisses, something she often did. Dogs are smarter than we think, and I think they knew exactly what was happening.
We all said our goodbyes. Blondie was given a sedative, which, thankfully, allowed her to sleep, she was quietly snoring and her eyes were closed. I was glad for that, because when Zeus was put down, his eyes were open and it was a ghostly, blank stare.
Blondie passed peacefully with the 3 of us at her side and me giving her gentle ear rubs, one of her favourite things.
It was hard saying goodbye, but I know it was the right thing to do and it was the right time to do it. Blondie was my best friend for over 12 years, she followed me on my move from Ontario to Calgary, was there in the ups and the downs, gave me countless kisses and gave me unconditional love.
She was only here for part of my life, but I’ll remember her fondly for the rest of mine.
Hera, Twix and I are getting better. It’ll get easier each day, that, I know from experience. Hera is a bit depressed, I can tell, she’s moping about the house. Twix is a bit down as well, she’s sleeping more than usual. I’m glad I have these two for support, they are my rocks and I love them to pieces.
Until we possibly meet again Blondie, rest in peace, sweet girl.
Today was a good day, the end of a great weekend. Yesterday was relaxing, didn’t do too much at all, was still catching up on sleep missed while I was on vacation.
I woke up today at stupid o’clock, per usual. I got some stuff done around the house which is good, and at 630 I went back to bed and essentially died until 845 when I got up to go kayaking. It was a quick kayaking trip, I had to go to take a look at a trailer.
So I loaded the dogs into the truck and headed to a campground near Cowley Alberta. It’s a great 31′ 5th wheel trailer. It’ll be perfect for the dogs and I.
I got home around 130 and laid down for another nap. Two hours later I got up, feeling quite refreshed. I guess in total, I slept about 8 hours. Not too bad really.
I’ve been relaxing and watching TV since I got up. It’s just about time to feed the puppies and then feed myself as well.
No plans for this evening I don’t think although I may log into work to chat with one of my overnight guys.
All in all, a good weekend and ready to start the week tomorrow.
This week at work absolutely flew by in the blink of an eye. Normally it’s the time off that really flies by. I was tired almost all week, recovering from a lack of sleep from the previous weeks vacation. I napped almost every day after work, some evenings for 2-2.5 hours. That didn’t affect me falling to sleep at all, although I was still up every morning at stupid o’clock.
I brought my trailer in to have some work done in it. I need new tires, I knew that, I want the heater and AC checked, need the water lines checked, a few other minor items. I asked about a new awning as well. I’m looking forward to trying life in the trailer with the dogs in late August and September. I’ll see how that works out.
This’ll be a pretty relaxed weekend I think, no real plans and I’m not going anywhere. I would like to go out on my new e-bike for a cruise and I do plan on going kayaking. I asked the neighbour to join me, but she’ll back out, that’s ok, I’ll go by myself.
Next week should be quite insane at work, we are predicting anyway. It’s the start of the new fiscal year and it’s the beginning of the month, so Tuesday should be a zoo. It’ll make the days go by faster than they did this week, if that’s even possible.
When I bought my new truck back in February of 2021, it came with a free year of SiriusXM. Some of the content is ok, the DJ’s, in general are quite good and I really enjoyed listening to MLB games if I was driving home from Calgary.
Once my free year was up, I continued on a $5 per month plan which wasn’t too bad. Most of the channels play the same mix of music on a daily basis, with little change from day to day and you’d soon learn which artist was which DJ’s favourite since you’d hear them all the time. I tended to listen to Classic Vinyl and Classic Rewind. They’d occasionally play an artist I didn’t like, and it’s simply switch to the other station. They both also played easy too much Beatles and Jethro Tull, as odd as that sounds, SiriusXM has a major crush on Jethro Tull, a “fringe” band, in my opinion, all their songs sound the same, I digress.
So, for the most part, I was happy with them. I didn’t listen to any of the talk shows, Howard Stern is an idiot and I wouldn’t give him the time of day, never mind listen up his drivel. Earlier this year, I tried to listen to an Astros game and my radio told me I was not subscribed. I figured it was an error and ignored it.
Fast forward a few months and I tried to listen again, same message. I checked online and confirmed that my account should include this content and it recommended that I resend a signal to my truck so I did that. No change. So I opened a chat with their support people.
Someone answered almost immediately which was great and tried the same steps that I had already completed, didn’t fix anything. Then he tells me that my account doesn’t include this content. I explained that when I checked to see what I was subscribed to, it was included, he sort of ignored that. I was offered a platinum plan for $8.50 a month, plus fees and taxes, so it would have come out to about $10 a month. Now, I’m not quite sure that I’m getting value at $5 a month, never mind doubling it.
I asked for the platinum plan at the current price I was paying and was told that wasn’t possible. Ok, no worries, I’ll cancel them. The agent I was talking to couldn’t do that, so he transferred me to the cancellation department. Surprisingly, my chat didn’t get disconnected (I honestly figured it would) and the next agent helped me out.
He wasn’t able to offer anything else for the $5 a month I was paying, so I decided to cancel. He claims that my account has been cancelled and that I’ll get a credit on my credit card within 5 business days. We’ll see if that comes through.
I’ve heard horror stories from those who’ve tried to cancel a SiriusXM account, I guess time will tell. With streaming from various sources, playing music from my phone and regular radio, I just don’t see a value in paying for something that doesn’t meet most of my needs. I think I’ll live without SiriusXM, thanks for the music.
Sunday was my recovery day from my vacation. One day just wasn’t enough apparently.
In 7 days, I drove about 3800km across the great province of Alberta. I saw many sites that I otherwise would not have seen, so that was very cool. I slept in weird beds every night, and my insomnia woke me up at stupid o’clock every morning.
I got to know my cousin quite well. We are both very sarcastic people, must be a family trait I guess. I got to know my aunt better too, and that was awesome. We ate out every night, that gets tiresome for sure, it’s amazing how much you miss a simple home cooked meal.
I spent far too much money, but hey, it was vacation right? All in all, it was a good time, but it was tiring. If it was this tiring for me, how tiring was it for my 93 year old aunt? Both she and Kim have caught up on their sleep now, so that’s great.
I’m heading into day 3 back at work. I did work a bit each morning while I was off, so I didn’t come into a big mess. It was business as usual.
My next getaway is over Labour Day weekend when I plan on going to Kelowna for 4 days. Well, I guess 2 of those days are driving there and back. I’ve never been to Kelowna and that’ll be the furthest West I’ve been since 1986 when I visited Vancouver. I plan on heading down to Idaho at the beginning of October for a week, that’ll be a working holiday, I’m going to visit my office in Boise Idaho and work with a coworker for a few days as well. In late October, I’ll return to my birthplace and visit Niagara and Toronto. It’ll be nice to see family and friends and meet some other coworkers as well.
It’s great knowing that my dogs will be will looked after, I’ll have someone staying at my house with them. That’ll be great for all 3, but especially for Blondie. I may extend my trip at the end of October by a couple of weeks, we’ll see what happens. I think I can handle 2 weeks in Toronto, can’t I? Time will tell I guess.
Kevin's Ramblings... 