About Me

Lee Creek, North Shuswap near Chase, B.C, Canada
We went full-time Rving in October of 2005! We retired from full time to part-time as of the end of 2015. Our present "small but comfortable" Wagon is a 2008 Camper trailer(TravelAir Rustler), pulled by a 2008 Dodge Dakota, 4X4.l. Our home is now a Gated Community Park, in Oliver, British-Columbia, Canada. I retired in 2005 and my Life Companion, Valerie, retired October 1, 2006 from nursing. We invite you to follow and share our new adventures and mishaps. Life is but an adventure full of dreams yet to be fulfilled!

Saturday, February 28, 2015

February 27-28, 2015

FEB 27, Friday; Meeting Donna and Marcel in Harrison
I took 4 colored windows to the job site in Langley and helped Rob and Bob to install them.  I also helped them installing a glass door inside (9 feet tall) in the hallway.  That was a tricky and heavy job.  After this, I drove to GENTEK, picked up a window and brought it back to the shop.  I helped Graeme and Rochelle for a half hour then went home at 4 pm.  I had a relaxing drink then showered and we drove to Harrison Lake to the “Black Forest Restaurant” and met Donna and Marcel from Gateway and had a great German dinner.  We got our mail today so I can work on our taxes and Val got her new Passport.  She worked from 7 to 3 today; a full shift finally.  She was happy about that!


FEB 28, Saturday; Last week-end of the month!

Sunny but very cool!  Val went to a “Women Show” with Rochelle which they both enjoyed.  We went to R&K for Happy Hour and came home around 7 pm.  Watched the tube for a while then to bed!  The end of another great month.

Thursday, February 26, 2015

February 20 to 26, 2015; RV Show, new delivery truck and work routine

FEB 20, Friday;
Another easy day at work.  I helped Todd and two other employees in placing 3 windows in a new complex.  This was done by noon and once back at the shop, I had to make a delivery in Burnaby.  I got back around 2:30 pm and left for home at 3 pm.
We decided to go out to “Mr. MIKE Steak House” in town and had a very nice dinner.  We came home and watched the tube for a while before heading for bed.


FEB 21, Saturday; RV SHOW
We left the house by 10 am and went to the “TRADEX” in Abbotsford to the RV Show.  I have to admit it was a bit disappointing.  There wasn’t much in terms of benefit or info for snowbirds but we did visit a couple of Tiffin and Monaco Motorhome, one of which we fell in love at $386,000 but didn’t buy, PHEWWWWW!!!!!!!  On our way back, we stopped at COSTCO for buns but of course, bought more than that.  We stopped at our local favorite pub, had a beer and appies then home to a quiet evening


FEB 22, Sunday; Laundry day
Laundry and relaxing day…That’s our Sundays, also preparing for the upcoming work week.  We watched the “OSCARS” at 5 pm.  Val cooked a roast with all the trimming for dinner.


FEB 23, Monday; Off to work
I spent the day with Bob moving glass from one shop to the next.  We had to take the glass off the rack then move the racks to the other side (new shop).  We also had other contractors in working on the electrical system.  Kevin decided to put the chain saw to work and cut the doorway that I had started a couple days ago.  It was quite dusty for a while but we managed.  At home, Val worked a few hours today and after dinner, we watched the tube.  It was sunny but cool all day.


FEB 24, Tuesday; A new delivery truck
A mix of clouds and sun and cooler again.  Bob and I spent the morning moving the glass back into the racks which are now in their new place in shop 2.  We also had contractors working on the electrical system and the alarm system.  Kevin has decided to install cameras at the rear of the building.  In the afternoon, Bob went to help Todd and Tanner while I took the rented truck back to Langley and picked up our new truck, which is the same length, model as the old one.  I also picked up new glass and a door while in Langley then headed back home to the shop.  The last hour and half was spent setting up the truck to our liking and entering the addresses of businesses to “Favorites” in the GPS.


FEB 25, Wednesday;
The day began slowly; I did a couple little jobs around the shop then loaded the recycling bin and went over to where Todd and his crew are working.  We loaded the pile of recycling aluminium that they made and I took that to Langley and cashed it in.  From here, I went to METRIE then to ALUMINEX and after loading windows and frames, I went to Abbotsford to give Rob and his crew an extra hand.  At 3:30, I went back to the Home Shop and unloaded the lot then cleaned up.  One of the worker was let go today due to lack of performance.  At home, we had a nice dinner then watched the tube for a while before heading to bed.  Val worked today; 7 to 2pm


FEB 26, Thursday;
I went to Langley and Aldergrove then to Burnaby and New-Westminster for some pick up and delivery.  I got back at 1:30 pm and unloaded then helped Graeme to ensure we had everything as per the packing slips.  I did some clean up around the truck and workshop then delivered a load of steel doors that I picked up today, near here in Chilliwack.  A nice day overall with rain in the am and clouds in the pm but very cool again.  We had left over for dinner then watched the tube


Thursday, February 19, 2015

February 12 to 19, 2015; Work and week-ends

FEB 12, Thursday;
Rain and more rain!  We went to Abbotsford toady but first, I had to pick up some materials.  I also purchased some of the items stolen such as tie-down straps, cutters, knifes, safety vest, gloves and safety glasses and a new rain jacket that was taken with the truck.  Bob and I were back at the shop by 2 pm after dropping off the scaffolds we had in Abbotsford.  That job is pretty well all done except for a few minor details.  We cleaned up at the shop then went home by 3:30 pm.  Val bottled our wine today and I helped her unload it when I got home.  We had dinner, watched “Black List”


FEB 13, Friday;
Goodie, goodie, it’s Friday!  Val had to get up at 4 am which woke me up and I had a hard time going back to sleep to 6am.  Work for me consisted of doing small stuff around the shop.  As I said before, we expanded to include the shop next to us so we have been busy renovating it whenever possible.  Today, I took apart all the plumbing that was exposed than emptied the extra hot water tank and disconnected it.  After that, I began taking a wall apart to make a doorway between the two places.  That took me to quitting time and I drove the delivery truck to K&R house where we store it now until we have the fencing done.  After that last incident, we are leaving nothing behind the main shop.  For dinner we had fish and rice including vegetables of course and ti-coq cookies for dessert!  We watched the tube in the evening.


FEB 14, Saturday;
We had a quiet and relaxing day then at 6 pm we went to JACKSON’s Restaurant for our Valentine Dinner!  It consisted of an entry of Skew Beef with a bourbon sweet sauce for me and a coconut shrimp cocktail for Val then for the main course, we had three choices and we both chose the steak which was well presented and cooked to perfection then dessert (2 choices) and we had one of each.  The whole thing was washed down with red wine….Perfect evening and we got home at 9pm.


FEB 15, Sunday;
Believe or not, it is SUNNY, finally!  A walk on the local river trail and a relaxing day overall.  We watched SNL 40 and recorded whatever we couldn’t watch due to going to bed early.


FEB 16, Monday; back to work
It was a quiet day for me and I was home by 3:30 pm.  I started by picking up windows at the “home” shop and delivering them to the work site then back to the main shop to work on the new partition and cleaning up.  I went shopping for the stuff that was stolen when the truck was taken then delivered a steel door frame to another work site which is soon coming due.  Rochelle and Kevin are leaving tomorrow morning for Palm Springs (Lucky devils) until next week-end which is their wedding anniversary!


FEB 17, Tuesday;
Another sunny day and warmer to boot!  Rochelle and Kevin are gone to Palm Springs and my day was fairly quiet.  I worked until 2:30 pm then came home.  Val was out when I got home; she had gone for a walk on the Vedder Trail.  Brother Johnny came out for dinner and to pick up his boxes of “Ti-Coq” cookies.  I BBQ’ed steaks and Val made a salad and fried onions and mushrooms.  IT was all good and we had a nice visit.


FEB 18, Wednesday;
Today, I went to work with Todd at a private house.  All the windows had already been replaces except the basement and that’s what we worked on.  It was a very messy and dusty job but we got it done. 


FEB 19, Thursday; Both at work
Val went to work this morning and I did some pick-ups in Langley, Coquitlam and Burnaby.  In the afternoon, I went with Todd and Bob to replace a window on a job we did a while back but a glass had been broken.  We were done by 3 pm and I came home.  It rained most of the day!  Dori, Val’s sister, called around 5 pm and they had a nice chat together.  Dinner and some tube watching till bedtime


Thursday, February 12, 2015

February 6 to 11, 2015; week-ends and major theft at work

FEB 6, Friday; another fast week
This was not a pleasant day mainly due to a combination of lousy weather, feeling depressed over the accident yesterday and a lack of sleep last night.  I had more driving to do today.  First I loaded the bin of aluminum to the recycling in Langley. Then I stopped in Abbotsford to move the scaffolding then onwards to Surrey to pick up a retractable screen that needed to be cut down in length.  From here, I went to Langley, dropped off the full bin and got an empty one then to METRIE to pick up doors.  Back at the shop I unloaded everything and put it away, locked up the storage then signed off and came home (3:30pm).  Val worked today and she is still not home so she must be working longer hours.  We had fish and chips for dinner then relaxed watching the tube


FEB 7, Saturday; TGI 3 days WEEK-END
I slept somewhat good last night although I had a few disturbing dreams.  I was up at 6:30 and did my usual routine: internet, e-mail, finances.  As I was drying the dishes I was looking outside and could see the whole valley then slowly, a mist rose from the valley floor and slowly enveloped the whole valley and soon, the houses on the hill in front of our view.  It was breathtaking and awesome; never seen anything like this before.  It really was fascinating!
I gave notice to our landlords for the first of April when we will move back into our “Beaver” and park it in a local campground for the summer.  The rain seems to have subsided for the time being but the sky is still threatening. 
Val filled out the form for her passport renewal and will be mailing it Monday.


FEB 8, Sunday;
A lazy day at home and a sunny one to boot, finally!  Val went for a walk on the trail by the Vedder River.  Dinner and tube for the evening


FEB 9, Monday; Family Day Holiday
Got word from our landlords this morning that the person coming to see the apartment has cancelled but we have a new one coming at 7 pm on Wednesday.  We went into town to drop off Val’s Passport at the Federal building.  We stopped at the Mall to buy a new ladle since I broke our old one.  We stopped at a new pub in town and had lunch then came home and I had a short one hour snooze while Val relaxed.  Val ran out of some of her meds and she is feeling it; hopefully, it will be here tomorrow.


FEB 10, Tuesday; to work for a 4 day week!
A busy but successful day in that we completed our task without any hitch.  At the end of the day, upon my return to the office, I found our meds had arrived but also a parcel from brother Gaetan and his wife Josette from Quebec; 12 boxes of chocolate cookies “Ti-Coq”, my favorites and only available back East, unfortunately.  I gave Kevin two to take to Rochelle and he only gave her one! J  As a joke of course!  Anyway, a quiet evening at home and to bed early


FEB 11, Wednesday; Disaster at work
The big excitement this morning at work was the theft of the delivery truck!  Kevin got a call at 7 this morning that the police found the truck near the Vedder Canal and that it was burned.  Him and I went there to see what we could salvage and took some pictures.  The cab and the front of the box was totally destroyed by fire.  As a matter of fact, it was still smoldering when we got there.  They had broken in the rear box and took all the tools.  The glass was broken, of course, and we could only salvage a couple of small items. Joe and I made a list of all the items we had inside including my new rain jacket!  Needless to say, we couldn’t finish our job from yesterday so we went to help Todd installing large windows at a private house.  What a day!

I have posted a couple pictures on our Facebook!

Thursday, February 05, 2015

February 1 to 5, 2015; More work

FEBRUARY 1, ’15, Sunday: Super Bowl
I tried to sleep in but was up by 6:30 am anyway.  A lazy morning doing the blog and some budgeting for this month.  Val did the laundry and then we showered.  We went to the kids to watch the game.  It was good until Seattle gave it away; what a disappointment!  Anyway, we ordered pizzas for dinner, watched the balance of “Black List” then came home.  It rained most of the day but it had stopped by the time we came home and the moon was out.


FEB 2, Monday; to work I go
It was a busy day but it didn’t start on a good note; someone, over the week-end, came in the backyard and stole all the diesel out of the delivery truck’s tank!  After fuelling it back, I dropped off a double door at a customer so that our guys could installed it then back to the shop to load two racks of glass on the trailer and take that to Langley to our job site there and gave the guys a hand in installing two windows before heading for Coquitlam then Burnaby.  Associated Locks moved from Langley to Coquitlam hence my having to stop there now.  In Burnaby, I picked some boxes then headed back to Chilliwack.  We now have the second part of the store next door to us and already, Kevin had knocked down a wall to make more room.  That will become our working shop and expand our storage area too.  The Company is growing!


FEB 3, Tuesday;
I drove to Aldergrove to pick up frames then onward to Langley project to help Rob and Joe installing those frames and prepare them for the glass.  They were huge frames, two of them were 20 feet in length and we had some difficulties placing the second one.  That took care of our day!  Back at the office by 5 pm then home.  It was an early night as I didn’t have a good sleep last night.  Val worked today then picked up an application for renewing her passport which has expired.


FEB 4, Wednesday
Today was spent at the Langley project doing some rubbering, loading old aluminium frames into the Delivery truck and just helping whoever needed help.  I got a call to pick up doors at METRIE so I headed out and after picking up the load, I headed back to CHWK and unloaded everything except one palette that has to be delivered tomorrow.  A quiet day at home.  Val didn’t work today so she did the groceries shopping.


FEB 5, Thursday; a disastrous day!
I had a pile of deliveries to do today.  First I had to reload the doors for Chehalis and delivered them then I drove to Coquitlam then Burnaby where I picked up a couple of steel doors and delivered them to another location in Burnaby.  When I drove in I hit the stabilising leg on the tractor and damaged the side of the truck.  From here, I went to Surrey where the truck was hit again while I was inside.  Of course no one was available to answer for it.  I drove to Aldergrove and picked up a couple more loads then finally got home by 4:45 pm.  At home, we had a nice dinner then watched “BLACK LIST”.