I have a love hate relationship with fixing things. The love part is in my mind. Something broken? an idea for a project? It’s simple, screw this little thing here, hammer that little petonkie there and voila… done!

The hate part of the relationship comes in the execution… usually the screw this little thing here breaks the petonkie there and usually i end up with a splinter, cut… swearing and discouraged at the results being TOTALLY NOT how i envisioned them to be.

Every once in awhile, i amaze myself… results nothing more than genius! This weekend one of those times…. even the no-tell-motel’s version of Hudson had to say… ”well done”!

Remember back when we were on the last few miles to the no-tell-motel… and the door flew open, essentially flattening what’s suppose to be a lovely curved door on an airstream? (the first picture illustrates a perfectly fitting, perfectly curved airstream trailer door…)

Ever since then i’ve been trying to get someone to come out and fix it. No-tell Hudson tried, but wasn’t able to, and none of the recommended people who were going to call, called.

I had an idea, but it was sort of nixed when i mentioned it in a query in the airstream forum. So i let it lie… somehow the idea grew and well i couldn’t resist. SO over the weekend i executed my plan, and guess what? we now have a perfectly fitting rounded airstream door… and i did it!

I did it with a combination of simple logic, sheer brute force, and a smidgen of risk (that would have ended in the hate, as i probably risked cracking the door in half!).

GOD IT FELT GOOD when that door actually closed tight! Now what can i get up to next.. i feel a fixing streak coming on!

One of the people that have come to this blog generously offered to send us the article in Oh Canada! magazine about Lucky the Lobster trap (THANKS!!). So here it is for ya’all to read. So far lucky is lost in the US, but we all hope that it will surface at some point.

Here’s a link to Chris and Karen’s page: http://space.canoe.ca/ChrisandKaren/, and also, here’s a pdf version of the article in case you can’t read it!

hey vic
well i picked up my maria from the airport in vancouver as planned, and we are heading back to Nelson so i can introduce her to you and the rest of the family. who would have thought i’d meet the woman of my dreams online?

I have to say, when we finally met in person, she was more than i had imagined. She’s very pretty, speaks perfect english (which i have to admit now, i’m relieved).

There was, however a bit of a mis-understanding in our correspondences, not quite sure how that happened. You sitting????

It  turns out she has 5 kids! and oh yea, brought her mother and father too.

Well i guess instead of an instant bride, i got an instant family! i’m still digesting it. I keep coming back to all those lonely years on the ranch, and though it’s not quite how i imagined it, an instant wife and 5 children beats me, myself and i… right?

we did have one mishap an hour or more outside of vancouver. the car (stuffed to the brim with people and luggage if you can imagine) broke down. Something in the wheels let go and he next thing you know we are wandering down the road trying to find a place to stay over night with that gang.

Think the gods are watching out after us, as we came upon a motel sign (postcard from there)… said no vacancy… but my maria, bless her heart, managed to convince the manager to help us out… so there we were 9 of us in a little room meant for two on the first night we have together…. needless to say, the honeymoon was delayed!

so, sending you this postcard in hopes you’ll get it before we arrive, so as to lesten the shock you will i’m sure all feel when you see the gang land!

I love small towns. I love things like walking into the grocery store and seeing the same woman at the cash… it grounds me and makes me believe the whole world is smaller than it is. A few things have happened over the past few days to remind me of why.

Yesterday i went to the licence bureau again, which is in a small town near the no-tell-motel.

As i mentioned i now have a favorite lady there (though on behalf of her boss man GOUGED me for $2800… but i don’t blame her!). By grace of the fact i’ve now gone there 20 times in the last few weeks, we are best buds.

I’ve been procrastinating registering the airstream because they insist on actually physically seeing it. So the idea of hitching it up, trying to find a parking spot for it near their offices, then re-parking at the motel, was was making me woozy.

So yesterday while running some errands, i decided to drop in to see if there was any kind of alternative. I explained my dilemma, and asked if maybe i could take a picture/time stamped of the trailer. She thought for a bit, then suggested that her co-worker stop by the  no-tell-motel and to the visual check here…. and guess what? he did!

I know that would happen in PEI (i know, i know WHY aren’t we there??), but I can’t imagine anything like that happening most anywhere.

so last night deb deb and i were talking science. and we realized we have some fundamental differences in our scientific beliefs…. go figure!

The fact that deb’s dad was a scientist and the fact that deb’s actually smart… and well i’m errrr artistic, doesn’t factor in (well in my mind!).

All i know is i’m right.

So i need your help internets…. come to our rescue and help us understand this scientific dilemma.

As we were getting into our unmade bed, deb mentioned that the bed was much colder then it would have been if it had been made. Her theory being that the sheets are kept warmer if the quilt is over top of it.

I admit to laughing at that theory… and i do apologize..but to me it seemed silly. As my scientific brain imagines since sheets/mattress etc don’t exude heat, everything in the room is the same temperature. So sheets uncovered, or covered with other sheets all end up at the same temperature after 8 hours, left to their own devices. (i.e. no interference of cat sleeping on said bed, etc). SO my theory is a blanket doesn’t keep anything warmer if there are only in-animate objects in play.

More plainly said, the bed is just as cold unmade as made at the end of the day.

what say you oh wise internets? the future of our relationship is in your hands

(Note: i realized after i wrote this, that it may seem like it’ s a ploy for an argument that would eliminate the making of beds in the morning… i assure you it’s not, i as much as anyone love getting into a made bed at the end of the day… so don’t let any perception of ulterior motive distract you from the real question)

It came to me in a flash somewhere in the middle of the night. A new series for the blog, based on the snippets of the people’s lives that come in and out of here.  Cause part of the fun of being here is there are many snippets. And you know me, i’m a big gossip…. errr student of humanity. And i simply can’t let all this go by without sharing!

SO my idea is Postcards.

Postcards with letters written from people who’ve stayed here. Names (obviously!) changed, as well as details totally fictionalized.. but all the same… based on a snippet of truth.

We are going through the process of changing our residency to BC… getting kicked in the bank account butt over and over.. shoot me now!

I can’t say i wasn’t warned, my lovely and talented accountant’s first reaction to me saying we were going to settle in BC was horror and… you do know it the province with the highest tax rate?

I know, i know i say… but you know it’s the only province that has areas of NO SNOW? and MOUNTAINS so beautiful they take your breath away?? Hurmp she says, taxes, taxes, taxes…kimi. Oh did i mention the OCEAN… the beautiful Pacific Ocean so very blue???

Well tax base might be one negative, so far the others have been everything else related to money! BC is beautiful to be sure, but all that beauty needs upkeep don’t cha know…. highlights on the mountain peaks don’t come cheap!

First step was to safety the truck so we could licence and register it…. cha ching $2400 dollars worth of work later we have a measly piece of paper that says good to go. Then i get on line to see what kind of insurance i can fanaggle…. and guess what? Car insurance it the government’s business and it’s the only game in town. You actually go  to an insurance dealer to get your plates…. WTF???

So, trundle off yesterday to see my new friend (we met before getting deb deb’s licence) insurance lady, who very sweetly calculates, and calculates, and tries to find me every break she can…. total bill $2,800 for one year’s worth of basic car insurance…. WTF?????

So, yea…. if i hadn’t of made that one claim 2 years ago cause i bent a back axle going through one of Montreal’s legendary potholes… that one claim of uhhhhh ONE IN MY ENTIRE 35 YEARS of driving… yea, if i hadn’t have made that ONE claim i’d be looking at a mere $1600/year.

k, going to calm down now and go look at the view. 

 

BBF#1 called over the weekend and got deb deb on the line. He was giving er grief for two reasons (well from my interpretation of the conversation)…

• ISSUE #1… why is the blog called airstreamdreaming when said airstream is parked and you are living in a cushy 2 bedroom apartment?
  • Well bbf#1 as i said we are in a time and space warp at the moment… aka LOST, and have no idea how we got to the land where folding sheets and towels is oh so important… but i assure you, the airstream dream will continue. In the interim i’ve put a new graphic on the home page, JUST FOR YOU MY LOVE.
• ISSUE #2…why was i writing you about spending time with BBF#2 on Valentines Day, when me myself was off gallivanting in Vancouver.. leaving my GF on VALENTINES DAY to fend for herself at the no-tell-motel?
  • well bbf#1 i assure you she was showered with love and affection before i left, and i managed to spring her from the no-tell-motel for your favorite supper and mine… SUSHI. Not sure how to excuse the 5 hours in between, except to say it’s LOST’s fault.

House keeping item number 3. The site got nominated for a LEZZIE award, for best new lesbian blog… please go vote for me… i’m a ho for recognition and accolades!!  So even if you have no clue as to who else to vote for, vote for me would ya????

If you want any clues to who else i’d vote for, send me a comment and i’ll send you my pick list!!

So one of the perks (ha) of being the sole manager/employee of the no-tell-motel is if the door bell rings in the middle of the night, my deb deb has to get up and answer it. After all it’s a motel, and her job to let people sleep here doncha know?

She’s pretty cool and calm about the middle of the night visitors, but i do a little freak out every time i hear the door bell go after 11 pm.

I bravely get up with her, and hover behind the door way phone in hand, 911 at the ready. It’s always a big relief when the person look legit…  hubby/wife/child, or two young women etc… always a bigger relief when they are safe and sound inside their room, and not inside the office.

The other night the door went at 2am.

We have a little security camera so we can check who’s there before actually opening the door… and there in the view were two very suspicious looking fellas…. well in my mind….. yet my deb deb bravely opened the door to the office and confidently walked over to let them in.

Instead of hovering behind the scenes, she did ask me to come into the office with her. Which i bravely (ha) did… She opened the door slightly to talk to them, assess the situation before letting them all the way in.

Every question she asked had a suspicious answer… again in my mind. For some reason not in hers. 

Like for instance… hmmm where’s your car? Uh, (hesitation), well it’s down by the road. Uh (hesitation) we’re truckers… yea that’s right, we’re truckers and we left the truck down at the end of the road by the drive way… yea that’s the answer.

After every question she’d look over at me and i’d be all NO WAY, NO WAY they can move on along. Yet she kept asking more questions, and then horror of all horrors she opened the door wide and LET THEM IN… eeeek!

I skulked back to my behind the door sentry position and waited for what i felt was the inevitable horrid bates motel outcome… it didn’t come.

Lots of joking, laughing, paying of room sounds and they were off. Turns out they were trucker guys, just looking for a quick couple of hours sleep before moving on.

When we were settled back in bed i asked her what made her realize they weren’t two suspicious axe murderers and just two sleepy truckers? It was the toiletry bag she replied. Apparently the older of the two, guy maybe in late 50’s was clutching a toiletry bag, and in her mind that was a solid clue as to their legitimacy… wow who knew it could be that simple to trust?

I have to say i am tempted the next time the doorbell rings after midnight not to wake her up…. she actually never hears the door…. what you think?

when you wake up and your first thought is… hmmmm i wonder what the proper way to fold a fitted sheet is.

… you know you are in bigger trouble when you look for a youtube video that will demonstrate the proper way to fold a fitted sheet (doncha just LOVE the internet my internets??)….

and you know your in even BIGGER TROUBLE when your gf says… wow we (note the “we” used in the royal we sense of the word) should re-fold ALL the sheets on the shelves the proper way!

and well, you know you are in love when you do!