I was able to run a number of errands while out today. The predicted rain didn’t start until I was just leaving the gas station to go home. By the time I arrived and got out to open the gate, it was pouring, with plenty of thunder! It was severe enough to cause some power flickers, including one that was enough to cause our computers to shut down, which is always fun. Not.

My first stop was at the advance polling station. I had to look up the location, which turned out to be in an industrial park next to the airport, rather than in town!

Things have really changed since the last election. Our paper ballots of the past have always been a tri-fold ballot, with the only change in dimensions being due to how many candidates were running. In our riding, there was only four this time. There were a number of checks and balances, such as tearing off a strip with a number on it, matching a number on the rest of the ballot, that was kept by the scrutineers, and going through another scrutineer to make sure it was dropped into the ballot box properly, etc.

Well, we do still have paper ballots, which is good. May we never move away from paper ballots! I love my technology, but security is an illusion.

The ballot itself was the size of a sheet of printer paper. It was in a specially shaped folder that covered all but the security info at the top. The scrutineer that gave me my ballot gave me instructions; holding the front of the ballot facing me, she dropped the folder open (the fold was on the bottom) so I could see the candidates list, and I was told to colour in the circle by the name I wanted to vote for. No X’s or check marks. Fill in the circle. Then she made sure to close up the folder again before handing it to me, without ever touching the actual ballot.

At the voting booth, they had a permanent black marker available, rather than the usual pencils. After marking for my candidate, the folder is closed back up again and I took it to the scrutineer that had checked my ID when I came in. She took the ballot by the folder, then placed the part that stuck out into a slot on what looked like a big, office sized printer. It was actually a scanner. The machine grabbed the ballot out of the folder, and she put it aside, having never touched the ballot directly. I could watch the scanning progress on a screen, which did not display the actual vote. Once scanned, the ballot was dropped into the ballot box the machine was resting on. No one had access to the ballot box itself.

Every marked ballot now has both a physical and electronic copy. The machine helps with counting the physical ballots this way, making things faster for the scrutineers.

That done, I continued into town. Since the grocery store where I was going to is across the street from our garage, I went there first, to talk to our mechanic. As I went in, I passed him talking to a couple who were looking at a really nice SUV.

We went into his office and started talking about the financing situation. I told him, I knew it would be hard to find something in that budget limit. We are actually approved for up to $25,000, apparently, but couldn’t possibly afford the payments for that. He said it was be very hard to find a van within the budget, though. He asked if we would be okay with something else. That SUV I had just walked past turned out to be well under our budget!

A vehicle like that would work for us, though would not be ideal. It’s something my husband could get in and out of without hurting himself too much, and the back bench seat folds down and would accommodate his walker, folded up. We would be able to fill it with a larger load than my mother’s car, to be sure, but not as well as a van.

Would we be good with a truck, he asked?

I told him, I’d love a truck! Though we would need on with a cap over the box. My thoughts being on how we were able to fit the riding mower and snow blower in the back of the van, but also needing to protect our large monthly shops from the elements.

He did have a truck available and we went over to take a look at it. It had the extended cab, but the back seats folded up, so we’d be able to fold up and fit my husband’s walker in the back. The short box had a flat cover on it, which I wasn’t sure about, but if the walker fits in the back, it’s not as much of an issue. We’d also be able to load up our Costco shopping (I told him how many bags of cat food we go through!) and it would be protected from the elements. If we had to load some something like the snow blower or riding mower, should we need to, we could just roll up the cover. They wouldn’t be protected, but that should be okay.

It also already has a trailer hitch installed, which is something we would want. The clearance under the truck is higher, so we’d be able to get out of our driveway after a snowfall with less concern. It could be switched from front wheel drive to four wheel drive, and it also automatically adjusts from using 8 cylinders to 4 cylinders on the highway, to save on fuel consumption.

Yeah, it had some rust on the body, but the inside was in good shape, and I really don’t care about the looks.

The price was above budget, but he was going to see how much he could drop it for us, plus we do have a bit we could use as a down payment. Not much, but enough to make a difference. He is going to send info on the truck to the finance company to see if they can work with it and keep the payments to what we can afford. Keeping in mind that whatever those work out to be, we will also have the additional cost of registration and insurance on top of it.

Depending on how things go, we might have to suspend the insurance on my mother’s car for the winter. Whatever vehicle we get that’s suitable for my husband would not be suitable for her, even if it does have a built in step to get in. However, I would really prefer not to drive that car in the winter at all.

Which brings me to the other reason I stopped at the garage. I’m bringing my mother’s car in next week. I’m getting him to check the air filter and spark plugs. Talking to my brother, neither of us remember those ever being checked, never mind replaced. They might be contributing to the mileage on my mother’s car getting so bad, though. Plus, the check engine light is on again. *sigh*

So we’ll see how that goes. Even if it doesn’t work out with this truck, he at least knows that we are open to something other than a van. Beggars can’t be choosers! At long as it meets our needs for accessibility and load requirements, while remaining in budget, we’ll take it.

That done, I finally made it to the grocery store, picked up a few things along with getting the water refills, then had to fill the tank again before heading home, and into the pouring rain!

While at the gas station, I did pick up a book that I’d been eyeballing. Last month, I got a book on native edible plants. This month, I got the Canadian Outdoor Survival Guide.

It’s aimed at people who go hiking or camping, flying to remote areas, snowmobiling, boating, etc., where you might get lost or have an accident. The info is still useful in general. Things like making a small personal first aid kit, or one for your car, is useful in general. Being Canadian, there’s plenty of focus on winter conditions, as well as regional conditions, which are wildly different in different parts of the country. It’s just a handy thing to add to our library.

Which reminds me of one of the books my friend sent me in a care package not long ago. The one on safe preservation methods. I’m loving it! Even the pressure canning section is pretty much up to date. What I really liked about that section is when it talked about preserving meat. It doesn’t just talk about how to can various proteins, but actually has photos and instructions on how to butcher the animals! Very useful!

We had to leave a lot of books behind when we moved here, because the weight was just too expensive. It feels good to be slowly rebuilding our library again.

The Re-Farmer