Tech

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A Journey of 3,040 Kilometres

Whew! I made it home at 2AM this morning (Wednesday)!

I had a most excellent drive even though it was a loooooooong day. I stopped for a nice lunch in Fernie, paused in Blairmore, then had a long break in Lethbridge where I did a ton of shopping (one clever person told me the apocalypse is over, LOL). I hit up a few electronic stores for a better cell booster antenna (no luck), Walmart for dried goods, and then Canadian Tire for a few projects. I also bought a big cooler that was on special; nothing fancy but will come in handy for supply runs.

There was construction coming out of Lethbridge, so it was slow going for a bit, but Medicine Hat still came more quickly than expected. There was a lot of talk on the radio about the flooding and evacuations, but I saw no evidence of any of this. I decided that I was four hours from home, so I was going to get my grocery shopping done and finish up this trip.

When I pulled out of town, it was about 9:30, with my ETA being 2:30AM. The drive to Swift Current felt endless. I was physically tired, but not mentally since my body thought it was an hour earlier. I stopped for gas and a leg stretch, found a station playing my generation’s music, and rocked to Bryan Adams, Marky Mark and the Funky Bunch, and New Kids on the Block all the way to Assiniboia, a stretch that felt about a 10th shorter than it actually was. It’s nice when the last stretch flies by!

I pulled into Haven at about 1:45AM, unloaded what absolutely had to be unloaded, and climbed into bed where I was asleep by quarter to 3.

I’m feeling a little groggy today and expect it will take a few days for me to fall back into my routine. I did get the truck fully unloaded and most of my stuff put away. I don’t have internet at home right now (I’m telling you, the bloody thing is sentient), so I’m up the hill waiting for Charles and Caroline to come home so I can pick up my boy.

I have several posts to write up about the weekend, but I want to say two things right now.

1) The weather in BC was mostly miserable, as it usually is, and the mountains were damp and grey, and shrouded with fog. I am so happy to be back under the sun bleached skies of my beloved prairies. If I have to live in this cursed country, there is no place I’d rather be.

2) I LOVED camping in the truck. It was the perfect compromise between car and hoteling it or taking a cumbersome gigantic rig out. I’m going to write more about that, but I really saw on this trip that my gas guzzler wasn’t a stupid buy at all. I didn’t have a lick of trouble with her and she is soooooo comfortable. My clutch leg isn’t even sore today, as it would be with half the distance traveled yesterday traveled in my Accent. It took a year to really use the truck the way I intended to use it and now that I have, I am fully at peace with the compromises I have made.

I’m off to shop online for another antenna and plan to pay big bucks for fast shipping. Wish I’d known I wouldn’t find anything in stores and had ordered earlier.

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I’m Loving Netflix!

(And my iPad and my Mifi when it works and my super fast Internet connection!)

I left the library at 6PM and headed to Orchard Park Mall to pass an hour or so and to see if their food court is any good. Not at all, but there is a Umi Sushi like at Park Place in Lethbridge. I was feeling just peckish, so I grabbed a California roll only rather than a bento. Lunch counted as a business meeting (Amber is my graphic designer for the new site so we talked shop) so dinner out too didn’t feel excessively extravagant, especially since it was just $5. I can’t very well live off trail mix and apples until I get home!

After, I headed out to my first choice of overnighting spot and it didn’t feel right, so I mulled the situation over and headed to the perfect place. I’ll give more details in the morning.

Then, like last night, I watched a movie on my iPad through the Netflix app. I have no doubt that I would have otherwise ended up at a movie theatre tonight. So my Netflix membership has more than paid for itself this month already. To watch movies, I sit in the driver’s seat and drape my iPad case over the steering wheel. It is a surprisingly comfy setup!

It should be another comfortable night. Zzzzzzz

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Stettler to Kelowna

Tar Sands and Fort Mac
Redwood Strands and Kitimatt
(This is our home) and down in the Shuswaps too
I’ve seen many nights feel like high noon from the Dome to Saskatoon
There’s confederation bridge and butterfly ridge and Sudbury and the Sault
I’ve been snowed in for days on the Trans Canada Highway
And that was in the month of June and this is our home

(Mike Plume Band, This is Our Home)

Bitch as I do about the Canadian government and the cost of living here, the variety of landscapes and climates of this vast country will never cease to amaze me. There hasn’t been a moment since I left my property that I didn’t look up and marvel at the beauty of the scenery, from the Prairies through the Badlands, into the foothills, and across the Rockie Mountains. That I have done this trip for the second and a half time, doesn’t make it stale at all.

I left Stettler at about 9:30 on Wednesday morning and drove straight through to Olds, where I conceded I wasn’t going to reach cheaper gas on the outskirts of Calgary. From Olds, I continued southwestward, passing Spring Hill RV Park north of Cochrane, where I stayed in late September of 2008.

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(Spring Hill RV Park)

I didn’t go through the pretty town of Cochrane, instead veering west on highway 1A just before town, until I reached the junction for the Transcanada Highway.

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(very low sky entering the Rockies)

From there, it was a short drive to Canmore where I got some groceries, using my Safeway card for the first time in a year. I bought $30 worth of food, all on sale, and paid only $20 with my Safeway discount!

The entrance to Banff National Park is right after Canmore. I elected to pay the $9.80 for a day pass so that I could stop if I wanted to without risking a fine. Having been to Banff and Lake Louise, I had no intention of detouring, but I still wanted to be able to pull over for a leg stretch, a view, or to use the bathroom.

That said, this was my third time driving across the Rockies and I didn’t have much better luck than the previous two trips since the weather was crappy; very cold and rainy. 🙁

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(Not quite cold enough for snow, but it almost felt like it!)

Still, the drive was effortless. I don’t know what it is about this stretch, but it always makes for really good gas mileage. I’ve never done better than 500KM on a tank with my truck, but I ended up getting about 600KM on the tank I got in Olds. A good part of it is that you just drive straight through, so you don’t waste gas stopping at street lights and such, plus the stretch is mostly downhill. Several times, I put Moya in second gear and took my feet off the pedals, saving both fuel and wear and tear on the brakes.

I stopped at the Spiral tunnels and the entrance to Glacier Provincial Park, where the air smelled like evergreens and snow. I wish I could convey that smell through pixels; it will be a highlight of this summer.

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 (Lots of snow on the mountains, even though it’s late June.)

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(This cut in the rock shows how much work it was to carve a road into these mountains.)

This trip, I was finally about to stop at the Rogers Pass discovery centre! It’s a small museum that makes a good leg stretch break.

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(This is the first time I’ve noticed that the GPS screen more or less matches the terrain.)

I forgot that I was going into the Pacific time zone, so I hit Revelstoke much earlier than I would have planned. It felt too early to stop for the night, but I decided to find the 2008 turnout and see if I had internet there. If so, I would check if the Vernon Walmart was RV friendly, otherwise  I would spend the night.

From Revelstoke I quickly found my first landmark, but drove further past it than I remembered doing in 2008, so I began to think that the turnout was gone. But nope! When I came to it, I recognized it instantly and pulled around to the far side. I had internet and the Vernon Walmart is NOT RV friendly, so I decided to stay put.

A Gregory Peck movie on Netflix occupied most of the evening (my favourite actor of all time), at the end of which I discovered that I had apparently left my iPad charging cord in Stettler! Oh NO. I left myself just enough juice to check emails in the morning and went to bed around 9:00 (10:00 my time).

Even though it was pouring rain, the truck bed felt cozy and warm. I would have slept soundly if trains hadn’t passed by about once every hour.

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This morning, around 5:30, it was very damp out, but not raining, so that made it easier to repack for the day’s drive since I could leave the doors open. I had gained two neighbours, an RV and a semi.

I did the math and even with the gas prices averaging $1.35 per litre ($5.31 per gallon), taking my truck and sleeping in it is cheaper than it would have been to go with a subcompact and take a hotel. I’m going to spend about two weeks camping in the truck this summer (at least) and that will help me figure out what I need to make camping in it more comfortable and easier. A taller and non-leaky canopy is definitely in order! But it’s reassuring to know that I was dry even during last night’s downpour.

I pulled out and drove to Sicamous where I got gas and coffee. It began to pour again as I pulled onto highway 97 and it was a wet, miserable, couldn’t see anything drive into Kelowna. Sunny Okanagan my ass. This is my least favourite part of Canada. 🙁

My first stop was Walmart to see if I could find a cheap iPad charging cord, but nope. I tagged in with my friend Amber, changing our plans from dinner to lunch, and then I headed to a CIBC because I had left my ATM card in the reader at the Canmore Safeway. I HATE those friggin’ chip readers!!!

Getting the new card was painless and it’s one I can now use in the U.S. as it’s part of the Visa as well as Interac networks. I was warned that there are big fees, so I’m better off using my Visa or cash, but it’s nice to have a third option just in case.

Then, I went to Best Buy, which only opened at 10:00. Instead of waiting 15 minutes for them to open, I decided to go to a dollar store and see if I could find a super cheap iPad cord. It’s been my experience that using non-Apple cords is hit or miss and has absolutely nothing to do with price or brand, so it seemed like a worthwhile experiment.

My GPS directed me to a dollar store that had a cord for $12, cheaper than anything else I knew I’d find, but it wasn’t refundable if it didn’t work. Hmm. I knew that I had to get something marked iPad, not just iPhone or iPod Touch as the the iPad chargers offer more juice. I have a little Belkin cradle for my iPod Touch that I had hoped would tide me over until Donna can get my cord back to me, but I got the dreaded ‘charging is not supported with this accessory message.’ Anyway, I decided to take a gamble on the $12 cord, accepting that I’d be stuck using the iPod all weekend if the cord didn’t work. Yes, I am spoiled. 🙂

Well, the cord WORKS. YAY!!! It is charging veeeeeeeery slowly, but I don’t care. I’m just grateful I didn’t break the bank and have my iPad again.

I then headed out to Westbank to meet Amber at a Thai restaurant when I saw a sign that made me do a double take:

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OMG Dollar Tree has come to Canada!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 😀

I found Thai Fusion Restaurant without any trouble and Amber was right on time. We both had the chicken pad thai. It was fine, but not that flavourful beyond a little heat. I wasn’t surprised or disappointed since I know food tends to be bland out west. It was a nice portion and the prices were very reasonable.

Amber and I gabbed for almost two hours. It was so good to catch up!

I’m now at a library, catching up on some things and finishing up my slideshow. This branch closes at 6:00pm, so I’ll go find a parking lot to hang out in for a few hours before moving to my overnight spot, which I am not going to divulge for matters of safety, obviously.

The first event doesn’t start till 5:30 tomorrow, so I’ll likely spend a good chunk of time tomorrow at a different library.

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Another One About Cats and Connectivity

I must have been quite the picture an hour and a half ago. I had a small wheelbarrow piled high with Neelix’s litter box, bag of food, box of litter, litter scoop, and cushion. And then I had Neelix snuggled against my chest in a cloth bag with my arms through the loops, like wearing a backpack in front of me. He peered out curiously, but without any indication of wanting to jump out. Caroline laughed at me and said I could have borrowed a carrier, but for short distances like these, getting him into a bag is so much easier.

Charles helped me get Neelix settled while Caroline poured wine. Laura soon joined us. C&C are going out of town this weekend, so Laura will be feeding the cats. We had a good gab as the cats got to know each other.

Neelix and K.C. hissed at each other a bit, then Neelix started exploring the house. He eventually found a catnip-filled toy and went nuts playing with it. I have never seen my boy play before! It didn’t take long for him to be high as a kite and his initiation passed, K.C. and he started playing.

So in other words, I’m going to miss him more than he’s going to miss me. *sniffles*

In other news, I’ve discovered a hidden benefit of the Mifi.

One of the reasons I wanted an iPad was to get me out of the office in the evening and into the living room to surf and watch movies on the iPad. But to do that with my Telus stick or Verizon phone, I have to share their wifi connection through the Mac, which means leaving the power-hungry Mac on. And if I’m going to do that, I might as well surf in the office.

Yesterday, I finally drained the motorhome gas tank to the point where I wouldn’t even feel comfortable turning over the engine until I get more in there. So that left me with power concerns for today since it’s still cloudy and I had a ton of transcription to finish up.

By about 9:00 last night, the computer battery started to drain even though I was plugged in. I know that my house batteries aren’t really that low when this happens, even if I unplug and the rating is the 11s as they’ll come right back up overnight after resting a little. So I wasn’t concerned about house power, but rather having enough computer power for today. Forget charging the computer through the house batteries if there’s no sun out.

So I shut down the Mac and took it out to the truck to top up the battery so it would be fresh this morning.

Then, I came in and plugged the booster into a 12V outlet and went to the living room with the iPad and got caught up on my favourite sites before the connection decided it was time for me to go to bed. The connection is as good (or bad) in the living room as it is in the office.

I’ll be doing the same thing tonight, shutting down and packing up the office, and checking my email on my iPad before I leave in the morning.

It’ll be nice to be able to easy offer internet to my guests, crappy as it is. Perhaps I’ll have luck finding another antenna when hit civilization.

And with that, I’m off to pack for what appears to be the armageddon. I have to go grab the camp stove while it’s still light out!

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Need to Send a Fax?

Even in this day and age, you sometimes need to send faxes. When is that dinosaur of a technology going to die out? Maybe when the Canadian government finally concedes that it is no more ‘secure’ a way of transmitting confidential information than is email and allows banks to complete transactions by email? But I digress.

The odd time I need to send a fax, I use Got Free Fax. I’ve been using this service for years and it has never failed me. You can fax up to three pages absolutely free, with no ads on the cover page.

I prepare the fax in PDF format and upload it to the site, bypassing their stock cover page. I then get a page saying that the fax was uploaded and that I was sent a confirmation email that I need to respond to before the fax will be sent.

The email always lands instantly. Once I click on the link for it, I get to a page saying that my fax has been queued, that I can come back and check the status, and that they’ll send a confirmation once the fax is successfully sent.

Within minutes, I get an email saying the fax was queued and then the one saying it was successfully sent.

In the fax I sent Monday, I asked for a confirmation by email that my request was processed and was told I needed to call the bank, which I did yesterday. They said I needed to sign a form that could only be faxed to me. They refused to scan and email it, citing privacy laws.

But get this, they had NO problem calling my mother for her fax number and sending it to her. They did ask how I’d get the fax and I replied that my mother and I work together and have a secure method of transmitting documents. *snickers* We hung up and I called my mother to give her a heads up and that she would need to… scan and email the document to me. Why fight red tape when you can conquer it? 🙂

I got the email this morning in PDF format, so it was child’s play to remove the bank’s cover page, insert my own, type in the name of the city and province in which I was signing the document as well as the date, then finally paste in a scan of my initials (to put next to the clause modifying the contract) and one of my signature. I saved the PDF and faxed it off. Bureaucracy conquered!