Controlling Hostility

It's not always easy to keep emotions in check when things don't go your way, and by your way I mean my way.

Bureaucracy has it's place and I know that you (I mean I) have to be patient and go through the motions but when I've put my right foot in and taken my right foot out and put my left foot in and took my left foot out, then I've done the hokey pokey and I've turned myself about, I somehow expect that I would be able to get my way... but no. 

The DMV has returned all the paperwork I had submitted to them in September, sent it all back to me (for a 2nd time) and has said that they can't process it for 2 reasons.

1.  The cheque I submitted has to be from a US banking institution and in US funds as they don't take Canadian cheques.

2.  I need to pay for the additional charges mentioned.

So let's start with #1.  The cheque I sent them was from a US account, in US funds, it was only that my (name and) address on the cheque was a Canadian address.  I explained this to them a letter I sent them.  I did spell cheque "check" because it is the DMV and they are in America and Americans, when shown the cheque say check-eh, which is their best attempt at reading the Canadian spelling and dealing with a "qu" sequence that they're otherwise unfamiliar with when dealing with the word check.  For all my American friends, please just take minor offense to this, you know it comes from a loving place in my heart.  In Canada the word cheque is reserved for the bill of exchange drawn on a bank by the holder of a current account; whereas the word check is mostly used in the investigative sense among other definitions.   So language idiosyncrasies aside, I was slightly annoyed. 

Onto #2.  The DMV has now lost the tracking of my very first payment that I made in the form of a Money Order that I bought at the Post Office in Orange.  When they sent the package of paperwork back to me the first time, they noted the payment and told me they needed an additional payment because of penalty I had to pay, so that was the cheque I had sent them in September that was now returned to me (see #1 above).  I can't seem to find the receipt to this payment right now - could be in the Airstream which would be ironic but entirely likely so I couldn't prove it to them so I wrote another cheque to cover this charge if they deem it necessary because the last thing I want to do is hold this up any longer. 

I wrote them a letter to accompany all the paperwork and the additional cheque and crammed it all into the envelope they provided me and mailed it off yesterday.  Since the bulk has gotten bigger and bigger with each iteration it cost me $2.35 to get it mailed down to Sacramento. 

Godspeed my little envelope!!  Last time the turn-around was about a month from when I sent the DMV what they asked for, until they opened it, pointed and laughed and sent it back to me.  I know that they're not doing it on purpose and that they have their processes to follow so I'm working on controlling any hostilities I may towards this whole exchange because at the end of it I will get the title and I will go and get my little Miss and bring her home with me to Powell River.  When that day comes I will likely honk my horn the entire way from Saltery Bay to the Townsite.  That's a total of about 55km (35mi) so we'll see if Ella's (my car) horn was made for short sudden usage or if it's up for 30 minute sustainment.

I'm fortunate that Miss Perception has a safe and happy place to rest while I work out these details.  She's still enjoying her time at "summer camp" which hopefully she's figured out is now turning into boarding school because it's October and I haven't picked her up yet.  The Airstream dealer has been kind enough to allow her to say there and hang out with her peeps until I can make my down there to get her.  They're fantastic!

As an update on Ella as well, it's been determined by a few experts that she's probably just fine.  I've been driving her ever since I came home.  She does feel different than she did before the repairs but it's the new Ella (not new and improved).  She's noisy and feels more sluggish than before but since I've gained a bit more comfort with her new demeanour I'll keep that in mind during my completion of the ROMP tour. 

Girl Interrupted - Please Stand by

While I was away my mom was nice enough to collect my mail for me.  Actually she collected it yesterday even after I've gotten home which was very nice because I hadn't had a chance to get over to the Post Office. 

I was quite surprised to see a letter from the California DMV (Dept of Motor Vehicles).  Was this my title? 

All I have to say is "it's the DMV".  There was a title in the envelope, but the old title.  Grrrr still no closer.

So I have an "incomplete application" just because they say I owe them more money.  When Ed and I were at the DMV the lady gave us all the forms to fill out and said I would need to pay $15.  I got a money order from the local Post Office, filled everything out and couriered it to the DMV.  (queue the wrong-answer buzzer)  Apparently another $15 is needed to process the paperwork.  Not a big deal, I don't care about the money side of things, just a waste of time for everyone. 

I"ll send the extra money and send all the paperwork back and then just cross my fingers and see what happens.  I had filled out paperwork for the DMV to send the title to Deb's place since I was hoping to meet the paperwork there on my way back up the coast.  I'm not changing anything.  I'm just leaving everything as it is and resubmitting, between Deb and I one of us will get the title at some point.

I was at the DMV originally on August 7th and now on August 28th the update comes that the application is incomplete.  So I guess, if I'm really really lucky and send in a complete application and the remaining fees that maybe, just maybe I could get the title in time for my late September trip. 

I'll be writing them a cheque and getting this posted today.  Go little title go !!

ROMP Tour Day 26 - Northbound

I didn't get a chance to post any pictures of my Saturday drive, so here are a few of the parting moments from Deb and Denny's place and then on the road, Highway 20 towards the 101 North.  I always enjoy the scenery.

After leaving Fort Bragg on Saturday afternoon, Ella was having a really hard time.  The upgrades she got were necessary but it seems like there's another problem.  I'm no car expert but the engine is revving way to high, there is a lack of power and the transmission is shifting way too slow.  The car is unresponsive to changes from the accelerator and I'm still trying to figure out when overdrive should be on or off.  With this new set of problems I am making some judgement calls.   

We had a rough afternoon/evening and my nerves were shot, there were several steep grades and Ella was struggling like crazy, the engine was revving up to 3000,  3500 and over 4,000 rpm at times.  I would let off the gas to try to help but then the car would almost come to a stop.  So we're back to the right hand lane, hazard lights and limping up hills.  Not fun.  At times something under the hood would start to screech like a belt that was too tight or something (what do I know).  I just kept an eye on all my gauges, no warning lights came on and so far Ella has been quite good with the warning lights so I turned the radio up and tried to keep heading north.

By 10:30pm I decided to call it a night and pulled into a rest stop of the south side of Grants Pass.  There was another RV there as well, a young family so I went over and introduced myself to them before heading to bed.  My nerves were pretty raw and my stomach was in knots so I couldn't sleep.  I read for a while and after numerous attempts finally made it to sleep around 1am.  Nerves, Noise, Lights... tough night to get rest.  It was a gorgeous spot and in the morning before I pulled out I took this picture, I really enjoyed the mist and fog. 

I woke up by myself around 6:15am and was on the road by 6:30am, hoping to make the Airstream dealer in Covington, WA before they closed at 4pm.  Sounds like lots of time but with Miss Perception in tow and Ella not quite at her best I wanted to get on the road as soon as possible.  Ella growled all day, poor dear, but I had chats with her and thanked her for taking such good care of all of us so far and that we just needed to get Miss Perception to the dealer and I then I stroked the dashboard and told her it would be really nice if she could get me all the way home too please. 

The drive is beautiful, I always find the scenic beauty whether it's golden fields that have endured a dry summer, row after row of pine trees or lush green countryside, I enjoy it all.   There was some amazing fog that set upon me part way through the day, it make visibility difficult but the roads were fairly quiet so it was enjoyable.

Heading into Oregon I was looking forward to the full service gas stations.  I timed it so I'd have to fill up twice in Oregon to take advantage of their wonderful service.  The guys at the gas stations were awesome, they checked all my fluids for me and were excited about Miss Perception too, at one stop I opened up the door and several people peeked inside, the typical response is "oh, I want one of these!!"  It's quite nice to have so much positive feedback on the trailer.

The day was full of other Airstream sightings, one vintage Airstream pulled up beside me, we waved at eachother and then they pulled on by.  I thought it was pretty cool to be sandwiched between 2 airstreams, one in front of me and one directly behind me (in tow), my first caravan.  Later in the day I noticed someone on the other side of the road flashing their high beam and waving their arms... I noticed all this before I saw the airstream they were towing.  I waved back, these road acknowledgements are pretty cool, espeically when you're driving alone. 

We rolled into the Airstream dealership at about 3:30pm and the service department closed at 4pm so I had just enough time to get all the paperwork setup and then drop off my little Miss.  I told her she's going to stay there for a while, that it's summer camp for Airstreams there and that she'll have lots of friends to hang out with.  She was sort of sad to see Ella and I leave with GyPSy but I told her I'd be back to pick her up and that all she had to do was let the nice people take care of her.  There are a few items that need attention and I thought getting them done at the dealership would be my best bet.  I'll also have their 22 point insepction done so if there's anything else that I was unaware of they'll find that too.  Overall Miss Perception is in great shape so a few tweaks and she'll be even happier.  The dealership is a bit backed up with work so they're more than willing to let me leave her there til the end of September (with no storage fee).  They're awesome!

Ella and I got back on the road, I had been getting a headache all day and it was starting to get worse.  I didn't have anything with me and I was hoping that I would be able to manage my way through it until I got to a place where I'd have enough time to buy something for it.  So far it was annoying but manageable.  It had been a harrowing 9 hour drive and now I was to continue my trek northbound, next stop would be the Horseshoe Bay ferry terminal. 

I was hoping to make the 7:55 ferry.  I have always had extremely good luck with the ferries and more often than not I tend to make a ferry rather than miss it.  GyPSy had us arriving at 7:37pm so I thought it was going to be quite tight, and it is the summer still so I was just going to see what happened.  There was a fair bit of traffic and we rolled up to terminal at about 7:40, there were about 10 cars infront of me in my lane, I bought my ticket by about 7:53 and didn't even bother to ask the lady if I'd make the next sailing because I was quite certain that would be unlikely.  I rolled my way down in Lane 11 and came to a stop behind a row of cars.  There was a guy standing outside his truck and I asked him "did we miss the 7:55?" and he said "no, it's late".  It should be here soon so don't go too far".  Although the ferry was late, it was great to know that I'd still be making the sailing.  I called my mom to let her know that I was still on my way home and she was happy to hear my voice, she said the mother hen is always happier when all her chicks are back home and safe so she was glad I was in Canada again.  At this point my headache was getting really bad, I was starting to feel nauceous and I knew that I didn't take something soon that it could likely turn into a migraine.

We boarded the ferry at about 8:20pm and I headed up to the gift shop to see what they had for medicine.  Extra Strength Tylenol was all to be had.  I bought some (unfortunately Tylenol doesn't do much for my headaches) so I doubled the dose and went back down to the car because the lights and the smells upstairs were irritating.  I tried to organize a few things in the car, fold some clothes and sort out bedding and laundry.  As I refolded the clothes that I had washed at Deb's place I smelled the cozy fabric softner that she uses and immediately I felt like she was there with me.  It make me smile while I finsihed sorting everything out and got in the car, a few minutes later we were docking and the drive to Earls Cove started. 

I have driven this Sunshine Coast so many times but I was so exhausted and my headache was so bad I was oblivious to where I was, I could still see the road but I had no idea where (along the way) I was.  At one point I came around a corner and thought there was this 20' high truck coming at me, it was a car and the placement of the streetlights looked like some quadruple decker bus.  I told myself that it couldn't be real even while I was sure I was seeing it.  At some point a while later my headache got the best of me and I had to pull over and I got sick for while, not pretty but I've got short hair.  I didn't feel any better but after standing in the pouring rain for about 5 more minutes I got back in the car.  I did eventually make it to Earls Cove, between talking to Ella and coaxing myself to keep driving, I arrived.  I pulled some blankets over me and set the alarm on my phone for 10 mintues before the ferry was to leave.  I put my seat back and went to sleep for about an hour.  I woke up with a few minutes to spare before loading on the 11:25pm ferry, I went right back to sleep again after resetting my alarm once more.  By the time we docked in Saltery Bay I was actually feeling a bit better.  The nausea was still there a bit but my headache was easing up.  

As I drove by Myrtle Point I had to pull over and take this picture of the moon on the water.  This was "my beach" growing up so it holds a special place in my heart and it was a lovely welcome home by the bright and friendly moon.  I drove home to the Townsite and made it to my place at about 12:45am.  I swung by and picked up Lise for a quick visit before heading off to bed.  After all this I couldn't sleep so I read until about 3am and then went to sleep because I had my first conference call for work at 8am. 

An 18 hour drive in one go was more than I care to do again anytime soon.  May future roadtrips be more mellow.

ROMP Tour Day 25 - Insert key followed by HOME

I have decided to get back on the road today, come title or empty mailbox.

No title yet but the mail should be here in an hour, at that point I either leave with the title or I leave without it.  I'll hook up Miss Perception this afternoon and head north, estimated departure is sometime between 3pm and 4pm.  Not sure how far I'll get but I'll drive until I'm tired and then find a safe place to rest for the night and then my destination will be the Airstream Dealer in WA for some for some repairs and overall inspection.  I have talked to the kind people there and they are willing to keep the little Miss until I can go back down and fetch her.  I have to go back to Vancouver and then Seattle for the 3rd week in September so she will make her final homecoming to Powell River in late September, early October. 

This was not the plan, but expectations are often misaligned in life so I have taken things one day at a time and not put pressure or ultimatums on anything.  This morning I made the decision to leave and I have a huge appreciation for this type of freedom in my life right now, to be able to go or stay and have it be ok. 

It wasn't an easy decision as Deb and Denny would love me to stay longer and I enjoy it here but I really need to get home and if I don't leave today then next weekend (being the long weekend) is going to be a zoo for traveling and considering the border and ferries, it's not when I'd like to be attempting this homeward bound tour, and staying beyond the long weekend would mean that I would maybe not even get back to Powell River until the end of September because it wouldn't be worth heading all the way back to just turn around and head back to Vancouver. 

This is my latest addition for Miss Perception, a couple of little solar lights so that I can easily see the step even the dark of the night without the porch light on.

I'd like to end this post with a traditional Gaelic blessing that Deb mentioned this morning and I'm sure my friends would all agree is a nice way to set out on the road:

May the road rise up to meet you.
May the wind be always at your back.
May the sun shine warm upon your face;
The rains fall soft upon your fields and until we meet again
May God hold you in the palm of His hand. 

ROMP Tour day 22-24 "Untitiled"

I'm quite eager to get the title for Miss Perception.  As of right now, I'm still without and therefore Untitled.
I know that Deb and Denny would like me to stay but I really need to get on my way home.  It's been 24 days now and that' s a long time to be away from home when the original plan was about 14 days.

I have a real aversion to responsibility (for living things) these days and I was able to give away all my plants before I left and I don't have any pets, well except for about 500 red wriggler worms that are my indoor composting system.  They're typically ok to be unfed for a couple of weeks and I did leave them with a healthy helping of food before I left but the last thing I want to do is kill the worms.  I've now made some arrangements for getting them fed, thanks Love72, you'll be the happy recipient of the compost when it done too!!  This is where "footloose and fancy free" meets worms. 

Yesterday I headed out to get my propane tanks filled.  There are a couple of stickers on Miss Perception that say things like "Propane tanks should only be filled to 80% of their capacity" and that really bad things could happen if I didn't heed that warning. Note taken! So I disconnected my tanks, put them in and my car (Ella) and headed off to find propane.  Right down the highway was a sign for propane, $2.05.  I have no clue what the measurement is, likely gallon?  It's a fill-first-pay-later setup and thankfully it's not me filling it up.  Juan was my propane tour guide.  A young, kind Hispanic chap who's lived in Fort Bragg for 7 years.  We chatted a bit, he started to fill the first tank and I mention this 80% capacity thing to him, he sort of looks at me and then I'm thinking I didn't make myself clear or there was some type of language barrier but he hesitates for a moment and then says "that's the way all the tanks are filled".  Bahaha !!  I thanked him and told him about Miss Perception and how I'm kind of new to all this, he was very kind and smiled and then asked who I was traveling with (I didn't bother to mention Ella and GyPSy because outside the confines of this blog I would otherwise be quickly outfitted with a small, tight-fitting white jacket with exceptionally  long cuffs), so I told him "alone", he was quite surprised.  "From Canada, Alone?"  He reminded me of the border agents who always question me when I cross the border and say I'm going to California, they are quite put out by a woman going on a road trip by herself, good for them.  So Juan filled my tanks and after picking up some all-important rations (ice-cream and wine) and the store I headed back home for the reconnection and re-assembly.  

I was happy to have full tanks, it's fairly cold here at night (45F or 7C) so it's nice to have some heat running during the night and especially, especially nice to wake up and turn the heat up a bit before getting out of bed.  The thermostat is right on the wall by my bed, so I just need to reach up.  Everything is so handy in Miss Perception, the lights, the windows, the fans... everything is is handy in such a small footprint. 

Here are a couple of "reflections" on my evenings here, the sunsets are gorgeous and it's fun to see them through Miss Perception's eyes (or windows as the case may be).  There is a small moon just under the "I" as well.

ROMP Tour Day 18-21 and STILL counting

Miss Perception has been STILL now for over a week.
While she provides a nice place to retreat to after a long day, I have still been able to get out and about while enjoying a nice home-base at Deb and Denny's.  Here's the new smoke detector, I know it's hard to tell the difference except that this one actually works properly.  Deb had to make a new hole in the mounting bracket for me so that it would match up with the existing holes in the ceiling, no need to make any new holes in the trailer (yet) unless absolutely necessary.

Friday night Deb and I went out to The Caspar Inn for a fun-filled night of the Chervona (which means Red in Russian).  What a talented bunch of musicians and oh what fun they are to listen to and dance to, and watch others dance to.  With songs like "These are the Days" and "Girlfriends are Pain" you couldn't help but smile and laugh and enjoy the music.

We've been able to enjoy a few beautiful sunsets close to the beach but...

My top 3 things I love about Fort Bragg:

1.  Deb and Denny top the list !!
2.  The rugged coast line
3.  Seeing the milky way (over and over again!!)

Deb and I went to MacKerricher State Park on the weekend for a lovely and relaxing stroll along the boardwalks.  There were seals lying about, swimming about and bobbing about too.  The Park offers wonderful vistas and although it was overcast with a marine layer, it was still just as lovely as could be.  (More Park pics at the end)

There have been quite a few wild-life spottings in the  yard, first it was a deer a couple of days ago, then last night there was a fox that I spotted out the kitchen window, I was quite excited but Denny was more interested in scaring him off.  Today was the most adorable thing, a big wild turkey and her 6-8 chicks.  Oh what a cutie.  Unfortunately there are no wildlife pictures but I figure the beach makes up for that.

Still sitting tight, working during the day and indulging at night with good food, good drink and good friends.  Not a bad way to have to "wait".  

Last night I turned on the fridge and this afternoon I put a small orange dish of water in the freezer to see if the freezer compartment would be supportive of future ice-cream and indeed I do believe it will be.  The freezer compartment is more than just an ice-cube tray slot so I'm quite excited about a hot summer day, a remote location and some ice-cream!!  

Little by little I'm reading the user manual and getting closer to figuring things out.  Here's something for all the smartie-pants out there, I thought I should take a picture of the hot water heater wiring diagram before it gets too old and weathered to read.

I'm loving Miss Perception more and more, we're enjoying our nights together and she's even had a little "transformation" in the dining room, which I've turned into a huge big "love fest" sofa.  Yay.  Deb and Denny came out tonight and we hung out together and I played my ukulele for them.  

Day 17 - Alarming Night

We've all heard the question "if a tree falls in the forest and no one hears it, does it still make a sound?
Well I've got one that I can answer with certainty:  "if I smoke detector goes off and there is no one there to hear it, does it still make a sound?" the answer is a resounding "YES".

Deb and I were watching a few amusing videos last night on her Apple TV namely the Ukulele Orchestra of Great Britian (this selection chosen specifically for the two MW's).  I absolutely loved the group's  sophiscated irreverence and like all good youtube videos, one leads to another and we were laughing and singing and generally whooping it up.  Denny came home about 30 minutes later and said " did you know there's an alarm going off in your trailer?" 

We raced outside and I could hear it immediately.  I threw open Miss Perception's door, I was certain I smelled gas but it was the smoke detector was going off.  It was all quite disorienting, that alarm is REALLY loud and quite peircing.  After pulling the battery and taking it outside I was kind of rattled.  Denny shut off the gas to pacify my fears.  Deb got a new battery but as soon as it was connected it kept going off.  Hmm maybe this is why the smoke detector didn't have a battery in it when I picked up Miss Perception. Ed had put a new battery in so I was certain it wasn't the battery.  Deb wasn't going to let me sleep in the trailer without a smoke detector but with the gas off and a carbon monoxide alarm and a propane alarm still functioning (and the fact that I grew up in a house with 2 wood stoves and no smoke detectors) I felt like a night without a smoke detector would probably be quite alright. 

After collecting my nerves into a small pile and stuffing them in my back pocket I headed back to the house.  On the way I stopped and hugged Deb and said "Thank you for keeping me calm, will you please come with me on all my trips?"  She just laughed.  I guess I have to put on my big girl panties now and stop having every bump and beep scare me.  I'm like a skiddish cat, it takes a long time to outgrow these things. 

Onto some good news, Ella's all fixed up and tested and her ability to stay cool as a cucumber has been increased so she'll be coming home today.   She's also been washed, I'm sure she feels much better now. 

Denny and I are going on a shopping date today or tomorrow to get a few things for Miss Percpetion, a water pressure regulator, a few sprays, something to get rid of the oxidation, oh and let's not forget a new smoke detector.   Every step is one step closer.