Kevin's Ramblings…

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.

I haven’t posted in a bit, but a lot has gone on.

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.

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 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.

Enjoy your weekend.

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.

I’ve decided to try something new in mid-late August. I have a 20 foot 1983 trailer and I’m planning on exploring different parks and campsites in Alberta in August and September. I’ve ordered StarLink internet and the dogs and I are going to try a home away from home.

It’s not a ton of space, but I think I can make it work, I’m going to give it a try anyway. I’m going to have the trailer serviced next week to ensure that the battery, heater, AC and fridge are all in good working order and that all the windows open properly. I also need to ensure that I can have hot water for dishes. I can shower and use the restroom facilities at the campgrounds, that’ll save me having to deal with black water. I think it’ll be a great adventure and my 3 favourite creatures will be with me as well.

I have a portable BBQ to do a majority of my cooking on, I will have coffee to keep me happy and my laptop and portable monitor will allow me to work. I think it might be a great way to explore as well.

I’m aiming for about a month from now, I’ll see how it pans out. Wish me luck on this adventure.

I slept in until 5am on Saturday, not really sleeping in for most people, but it is for me. I got takeout from McDonald’s for everyone, it was quite good. Breakfast is typically the only meal I’ll eat there.

We headed to the airport at 10, early considering their flight wasn’t until 115pm but they didn’t want any delays. I dropped them off and headed to Costco, life continues and so does shopping.

I headed for home and let me tell you, after being on the road for 6 days, it was good to be home. I’m looking forward to returning to work on Monday, I’ll be able to relax a bit.

I’ll next see Bernie and Kim in October when I visit Ontario for a week. I’m looking forward to that trip…

Today was a pretty easy going day. I woke up at stupid o’clock, 1:55am or so and got up. I made copious amounts of coffee and drank quite a bit. I did an early Porch Coffee with my neighbour, at about 430. I made Bernie and Kim homemade egg McMuffins and they were much better than McDonald’s.

We had naps in the morning and didn’t really get going until almost 2pm. We didn’t do any touring around today. We drove to Lethbridge so I could pick up my repaired TV, the led backlight was out so they replaced that. We headed to Calgary and checked into the hotel for the night and made our way to Cross Iron Mills and the nearby Costco for gas. I have a 118L tank and I put in 115L, so I was pretty dry.

We toured around Cross Iron Mills, Sketchers was one stop, we all bought shoes, I bought 2 pairs of jeans at the Levi outlet and a couple of hats at Lids. We both got screen protectors put on our cell phones by Ghost Armor.

It was close to 9pm when the mall closed so the food court was closed, we ate at an amazing Irish Pub, Fionn MacCools, great food and atmosphere.

It’s after 11 and we are back at the hotel. I need to have them at the airport for 1045 tomorrow and their flight leaves at 1. It’s been a great week, but a very tiring week. I’ll be glad to return to work on Monday, I’ll be able to relax a bit.

Yesterday was a travel day. It was a day that we didn’t have a set schedule, but we did have to pick up the dogs by 5pm just East of Cranbrook British Columbia. I had set a target of having breakfast at 630 and knew this was a lofty goal.

My Aunt, being blind has a watch that reads the time to her. My cousin offered to change the time on it so it was in Mountain Time but Bernie said not to bother, that she liked taking two hours off of it. I’m also going to mention that the clock in the hotel room, for some odd reason, was set to Eastern Time as well, I have no idea why.

The events unfolded something like this. My Aunt woke up and pressed her watch to get the time, it says it was 555am. She knew this was late for us to be ready for breakfast at 630, so she woke Kim up in a semi panic. Kim checked the clock in the room and indeed, it concurred that the time was 555… This caused Kim to mini panic as I had stressed that on this particular day, we were on a very tight schedule. Kim then woke me up in a panic with arms flailing that it was 555 in the morning.

I’m one of those annoying people that wakes up at 💯, unsure why, but I am. I am also one of those people who’s internal clock is bang on and rarely, if ever, fails me. I knew that it couldn’t possibly be 555…

I grabbed my cell phone and confirmed that it was 355 in the morning, a full 1 to 1.5 hours before I needed to wake up. I stopped the panic in the room after revealing this information… In hindsight, it was sort of funny although at the time, who wants to be waken so early. Bernie thought she was trying to save the day. Kim was full of adrenaline and was up and about and I was awake and unlikely to get back to sleep.

We did make it to breakfast at 630, as scheduled. We sort of thought it would be a quiet breakfast with just us in the restaurant but that’s not how it played out. There were several tour groups that apparently had early starts to their days and the restaurant was full, so it was a busy breakfast. We ate and then packed up the room and were off, on schedule, almost unbelievable.

Our first destination on the road was a very quick stop at Moraine Lake (right near Lake Louise) to get a picture of Bernie and Kim in front of a bear, we also used this time as a bathroom break although I could not bear to use the washrooms, Parks Canada really needs to hire people to keep the washrooms clean, wow… We continued our Southern journey towards Fort Steele, BC to get me dogs and only arrived a few minutes behind schedule. We all got home shortly after 5pm. Dinner was supposed to be BBQ steak and roasted potatoes, but I was no longer in the cooking mood, so we ordered pizza from Crowsnest Pass Pizza, everyone enjoyed it.

We had a quiet evening watching the first half of Crocodile Dundee and having some alcoholic milkshakes. We all hit bed early, around 930, hence why I’m awake and writing a blog post at 230 in the morning.

The plans for today have changed somewhat… We were going to go to Drumheller and tour about, but it’s supposed to be very hot (for Alberta anyway) with a high of 33C. So instead, I think we are touring the Frank Slide exhibit in Frank Alberta then heading to Calgary and going to Cross Iron Mills, they want to visit the Sketchers outlet. We are staying in Calgary tonight followed by breakfast tomorrow at Denny’s then a drop-off at the airport for 11am for their 1pm flight.

It’s been a great week, but a tiring week, to be sure. I’ll have Sunday to recover before returning to work on Monday. I’m looking forward to getting back to a normal routine and I’m sure that the dogs will say the same. I’ve gotten to know Bernie and Kim a lot better and I’m looking forward to them hosting me in October and November when I visit Ontario. I hope they’ve enjoyed themselves here, I know I have, it was a great week.