dealing with vehicles

Almost there!

/ Re-Farmer / 2 Comments

Today was my day to get the truck to the garage, but not until 10am, so I had plenty of time to do my morning rounds.

Where I found these…

I just had to include my hand for perspective, though the kitty prints help, too. That is one big raccoon was had visiting us!

It’s doing a good job of cleaning up the old kibble that cats won’t eat anymore, so I can’t complain. I haven’t checked today’s trail cam files yet, so I don’t know it it was caught, but a few days ago I saw him going in and out through our gate, and he is a big’un!

While putting kibble into the isolation shelter, I got tackled.

That little tabby has been after attention pretty much every morning, now.

Colin wanted attention so much, he forced himself into my hand while I was trying to get pictures! Lately, I’ve typically had about 5 or 6 friendly males, pushing for attention, in the mornings. Plus Magda. I have to be careful trying to pet her. She’s so small, the big boys push her around without even noticing!

As usual, I left for my appointment early, remembering to leave the gate open for today’s prescription delivery. My husband would get his meds faster that way, than if I went to the pharmacy to get them myself.

While dropping off the keys, I asked for a general idea of how long it would take. The best he could tell me was “a few hours”. Thankfully, it’s warmer now (we are still at our high of -6C/21F), so it was a fine day to walk around town.

The first thing to do was find somewhere to get breakfast. I was still early enough that not a lot of places were open yet, but also, I needed to find somewhere were I could adjust my order to fit my Lenten fast from sugars and starches. I ended up walking across town, almost to the lake, to a hotel cafe where I knew they would be open for breakfast. I don’t often go there, partly because they are not accessible, and I don’t do well with stairs. But, it’s got reliably good home cooking type meals, and they open early in the day. I also knew that I would be able to take my time while there, and not feel like I’m taking up a table they needed for any sort of rush.

All their breakfast meals include home cut hash browns and toast in your bread of choice – both things I wanted to skip. I told the waitress what I was needing to cut out, and asked if they could just add an extra egg or something, instead. She said she would talk to the kitchen staff, and that’s what they ended up doing. I got their “Farmer’s Breakfast) of eggs, bacon, ham and sausage. The hash browns and toast would have made it a really huge meal! It was very good.

My tea without sugar, however, was … tea without sugar. 😄

When I was done there, I went to several nearby shops to look around. One of them was a dollar type store, and I did find a few things, including a long pipe cleaner style brush for our bathroom sink. When we had to take stuff out of the bathroom while replacing the taps, faucet, some pipes, and the old tub surround, we had to take pretty much everything out of the bathroom. That included one of these pipe cleaner type brushes. It’s the only thing that can clean out the bathroom sink properly.

Unfortunately, it disappeared at some point. We figure a cat had to have dragged it off, but to where? It’s been months, and we still haven’t found it!

I was happy to see they had some in stock and made sure to grab one!

I spent enough time looking at things and checking out other stores that when I got closer to another restaurant, a fried chicken place, it was actually a good time to stop for lunch.

They had a new sign out front. They are now open for breakfast, too! Until recently, they didn’t open until 11am. Something to remember, should I need to in the future.

It took a while, but I finally settled on one of their “snack” meals, that came with only one side and no bun. Instead of the usual fries, I chose their coleslaw. I like their coleslaw better than their fries, anyhow! So that worked out.

Again, I was able to take my time about it, as much to make it easier on my hips and knees as anything else! I knew I would have a lot more walking ahead of me.

Once I was done there, I made my way to another shop where I found a few more small things to pick up. The pharmacy was across the street, and I remembered to go there to get the printouts for our taxes.

We paid over $1400 in co-pay for my husband’s meds last year. His private insurance covers 90% and, once the $3000+ deductible is covered, some of his medications switch to the provincial prescription insurance, which then covers 100%. Most of his meds aren’t covered by the provincial insurance at all.

Thank God for private insurance!

My prescription co-pay amount is miniscule compared to his.

From there, it was more walking – and finding a clean bench to sit on for a while. Last of all, I stopped at a hardware store, where I finally found a metal dish rack to replace the plastic coated one we’ve been using since moving here. It was here before us, and pieces of the plastic coating was already starting to break off. After 7 more years, it was definitely time to replace it! It was surprisingly hard to find a non-plastic dish rack in the size we needed.

I mightily resisted picking up grow light kits today. One would have done will for our plants in the living room. The other would be great for starting seeds. I have decided I do want to use the new part basement for seed starting, but we have to do some re-arranging, first. I do have a nice, bright shop light down there now, but it’s not the kind where a timer could be set. I can still use one of the big aquarium lights, though, and it does have a timer, so that could work. We shall see.

At that point, I was just a couple of blocks from the garage. I hadn’t heard from them yet, but I was done with walking, so I headed over. I knew I could stay in their office waiting area, at least for a while.

When I got there, the truck was up on the lift.

There were 3 mechanics under it, the owner/mechanic had something in his hand, and they were all looking slightly perplexed.

Hmmm.

Once I was in the office, one of the first things I noticed was a bag of take out food on the desk, still all closed up.

The owner soon came in and told me they would have to change the oil plate gasket another day. He had the wrong one! He ordered a new one immediately.

He went out and was back again. The only thing left to do was the wheel alignment, and he suggested doing it at the same time as the gasket, rather than today. The bay with the equipment to do the wheel alignment had another vehicle on it still. They’d have to finish that vehicle first, then move the truck, which would make it another 2 1/2 hours! They were so busy, they had all three bays full, plus smaller vehicles/equipment tucked in spaces in between that, even with three mechanics, they hadn’t been able to stop for lunch, yet! It was well past 1pm by the time I got there.

By stopping at this point, though, it would only be a few more minutes.

So I paid for the work they did today. When he mentioned that the gasket he’d ordered would be in tomorrow, I asked if I could come back tomorrow, and he fit me in for the afternoon.

Just one more day, and the list of small(ish) fixes will be done!

It was just a bit longer as they lowered the truck and tested it out before it was ready.

Today’s work was replacing a front left axle seal, the new oil pressure sensor, a new cv boot and new front links. The parts totaled $216.35. Shop supplies cost $36.99. Three hours of labour cost $299.97 After taxes, the final bill was $619.71

I’m expecting tomorrow’s work to be in the $200-$250 range, after taxes.

That done, I still had a couple more stops to make, now that I could use the truck to do them. First, a quick trip to the grocery store across the street to refill two of our big water jugs. We didn’t need anything else, but I looked around anyhow, and did get a few things that were on sale – specifically, cheese and lactose free cheese, plus some salad kits that I can eat. The ones I got at Costco have dressings that are just over my tolerance level for spicy heat.

Before leaving town, I got some gas at the one gas station where the prices have started to go down. $1.519/L instead of $1.569/L

My husband had let me know a parcel had come in, so I stopped at the post office on the way home. The 250 watt ceramic bulbs I ordered were in. However, the pair of clamp lamps I ordered that can handle 250 watt bulbs are not in yet. Once that package reached the Canadian side of the border, it switched to CanPar for delivery. I think we might actually get delivery to our physical address with them! Tracking information says March 14 for delivery, but I do know it’s in our province now, so it shouldn’t take that long.

Once it’s in, I want to replace the fixture in the isolation shelter. The new fixture has a wire guard around the bulb, so no cats can burn themselves. The current fixture has no such protection. Granted, it would take a lot for a cat to end up that close to the heat bult, but still, I’d rather not take the chance! Plus, the current heat bulb is incandescent, so there is light in there, day and night, which can disrupt sleep patterns. Considering they cluster together right in front of the bulb to stay warm, that can potentially be an issue.

The clamp lamp in the sun room has a 150 watt ceramic bulb in it right now, and I’m thinking of still using that, but setting up a second 250 watt heat bulb nearby, somewhere.

I’ll figure that out, once the lamps come in.

Meanwhile…

Look! No check engine light! And the oil pressure gauge is working again!

The tire light is for the three remaining tire sensors with dead 14 yr old batteries that need to be replaced. Those can be done, little by little. We’ve had that light on for over a year, now. I think we can last a few more months! We need to focus on paying off the credit card for the work we’re getting done right now, first.

The trip meter shows how many kilometers I’ve driven since filling the tank at Costco. Which is about twice what it normally would be, this early in the month!

Oh, I just realized. I need to go read the meter for our electricity, while it’s still light out enough to see it!

My last task on today’s “to do list”.

It’s been a pretty darn productive day.

I’m going to feel much, much better once the final work is done, tomorrow!

The Re-Farmer

Well, almost…

/ Re-Farmer / 2 Comments

We’ve got another gorgeous day today. Our high ended up being 3C/37F, and things were melting all over the place. Even when I went out to do my morning rounds, when it was just below freezing still, it was just grand! I’m even finding a lot of extra trail cam files when I check them, triggered by cats going back and forth through the gate during the night. That camera is set to take 1 still shot, then a 10 second video, and the activity makes for some entertaining clips!

Also, those reflective collars work really well, glowing just like their eyes do in the infrared light. What I found interesting is that I can identify the feral tuxedo that had the injured eye so long ago. Only half of that eye reflects in the infrared light.

Yesterday, my bank app notified me of a pharmacy purchase, which I expected would have been a standard refill for my husband, to be delivered on Thursday. Since I was going to be in town anyhow, I decided to leave early enough to go to the pharmacy when it opened and pick up the meds before dropping off the truck. My husband asked me to pick up something else from a store across the street from the pharmacy, so I left a bit earlier to do that, too.

I left too early. 😄

The pharmacy turned out to be a very quick stop. There was no medication to pick up. They had forgotten to charge for my husband’s last refills. Since his medications are covered by both his private insurance and our provinces public insurance, sometimes he gets covered 90%, sometimes 100%, depending on the medication.

So that was a very quick stop, and picking things up across the street was also very quick. I ended up dropping the truck off at the garage more than 30 minutes early. Which is fine. I was expecting to just leave the keys with them and do other things. My appointment was at 10, but I viewed that more as a drop off time, depending on how busy they get.

They turned out to have an open bay already!

The owner/mechanic I usually talk to wasn’t there, though. He was sick, and there was another mechanic covering for him that I’d never met before.

So I went over with him, what was to be done besides just an oil change, and why. We got to talking about that check engine light being on and not being able to tell if it was the same sensor problem, or a new problem, without having to do an OBDII scan every time. He told me that he was constantly having to deal with sensor problems like that with GM vehicle. He’s got two, himself, and he has a hard time keeping up with them, lighting up his dash like a Christmas tree!

I hope the newer modals have fixed this issue!

After talking to him about the moisture in the system that has been causing issues, and that our mechanic is quite familiar with it, he said he would call our mechanic at home, just in case, to get any details he might need. I asked how long before I should come back, since I would be walking around town and might not hear a call or text. He said to come back around 11. I did make sure to mention that the needle on the oil gauge was at 0. He said that would be because of the sensor.

As I was leaving, I messaged the family and realized it was still only 9:30! Too early to go to the nearest places for breakfast.

In the end, I decided to stop at a grocery store I don’t usually go to. 1) because it’s in the middle of town, with tighter parking and 2) their prices tend to be a lot higher.

They did have a few things on good sale prices, though. I couldn’t get anything that needed to be refrigerated, though, so no taking advantage of the meat sales this time. Then, because all my bags where in the truck, I went ahead and bought another hard sided bag to carry it in. We can never have too many of those! They only had insulated ones with lids in the hard sided bags. More expensive, but worth it.

I used up enough time that I figured I could go to the DQ for “breakfast”, but…

They weren’t open?

The windows are tinted, so it’s hard to see if the lights are on inside, but the “open” sign wasn’t lit up. Eventually, I could make out someone inside wearing a high viz vest, but I couldn’t see anyone behind the counter.

Hmmm.

So I headed back to the garage, thinking I could stop at the hotel next to the garage and see if the Chinese food restaurant was open. The hotel’s doors are locked until 10am. I knew the restaurant was closed for their own holidays, but I couldn’t remember if they had reopened yet.

They reopen on March 21.

Okay.

I didn’t want to be carrying the bag around with me, since I can only carry heavier bags with my right arm, due to nerve damage in my left elbow, and that gets old fast. I thought I might be able to put it in the truck, but when I got there, it was up on the lift. They were okay with me leaving it in the office, though.

As I was leaving the office, the owner came in – and headed straight for my truck! He was sick and couldn’t work, but he still came in.

From there, I decided to try the DQ again. This time, I could see more people inside, including staff behind the counter. Their sign was still off, though. I went in and, sure enough, they were open. After placing my order, I told them about the sign. They had forgotten to flick the switch! 😄

With all the walking around, it was coming up to 10:30 by then, so I didn’t have to linger too long with my food before walking back to the garage. It was early, but I knew I could stay in their office waiting area if they weren’t done yet.

They were done.

When I sat at the desk to pay, I saw my keys with a note paper under it.

Hmmm…

As for the work done, they did not replace the sensor, but instead gave it another cleaning. That started off working, last time, and took almost $200 (including taxes and labour) off the final bill. Which was nice!

Then I asked about the list on the note paper.

The guy that worked on the truck noticed a few things that will need to be addressed. Things like the tires wearing more on the inside, so we’ll need a wheel alignment, a small tear in something I can’t remember the name of that might let grit in where it shouldn’t (we had that happen with our old van, too). Most importantly, it seems he found the source of an oil leak. The last time I was at the garage, he topped up the oil with half a litre. There is a plate on our vehicle where other, newer vehicles have a warmer, and the seal on that plate is leaking every so slowly. Which would explain why we never see any sign of a leak under the truck! There were a couple of other things he noticed, too. Nothing to stop us from using the vehicle normally, though. Our mechanic promised to message me a detailed estimate, including which things would be more of a priority. Fixing that oil leak would be really cheap, as it just needs a new gasket.

The final bill was $257.72 after taxes. I was expecting closer to $400. Most of the bill was the oil change and labour. The oil system cleaner was only $20, and the new filter was less than $7.

That done, I was ready to head home, started the truck and…

The check engine light was back on, and the oil gauge was at zero.

???

So I went back in and told the owner/mechanic.

He was very surprised when I told him this, and went to see for himself, and I gave him the keys to start it up (he walks faster than me! 😄). He was very apologetic and said he’s hope the cleaning would have been enough, but obviously, the sensor will need to be replaced completely. They will have to order it in.

So, I will be back for that. We’ll figure out when, once he orders the part and gives me the estimates for the other work.

*sigh*

The truck is purring like a kitten, though.

Since I did my errands earlier, I didn’t have to make any other stops and was able to head straight home. Which was good, because I had time to try and nap, having had a very sleepless night.

Now I’m extra glad I got that nap.

As I was writing the above, I got a phone call from my mother. While we were talking, my cell phone started ringing.

I saw an unfamiliar number and had a feeling I needed to answer it.

I was right. It was home care.

The scheduler was letting me know they did not have anyone to do my mothers supper and evening med assist for tonight AND tomorrow.

I had my cell on speakerphone, so my mother could her this, and said that no one showed up this morning.

!!!!!

I relayed that and she checked. Sure enough, her sheet said my mother’s morning visit was unfulfilled – but there was no reason given.

I asked her to see if she could find out and let me know, while confirming I would go my mother’s med assists for tonight and tomorrow.

My mother is really ticked off, because she feels she can, and should, be going her meds herself. She doesn’t want me to have to drive all that way to do her meds. I told her, I get to visit her this way. So she changed track and said, who is going to pay for the gas (she gives me gas money and has been very generous with that, so it’s not an issue right now). I told her, there is a program available where they cover the cost of fuel; I just have to find out how to apply for it. That seemed to satisfy her a bit. She was still staying, she can take her own medications, and she should be doing it herself. I told her, DON’T (the extra bubble packs are stored on her fridge for some reason). This is doctor’s orders, for her safety.

I then told her I wanted to call the case coordinator about this, because this is a real problem. Not that they’re calling me to do a med assist, but because this is not the first time since my mother has had the lock box – which is just a couple of weeks – that someone simply didn’t show up, and I never got a call about it. Unfortunately, I didn’t get off the phone fast enough; the office had just closed. So I left a message.

Then called back and left another message with my cell phone number, letting her know to call that number, because I’m going to be in the city tomorrow.

My daughter will be coming with me to assist, as needed.

As for me, I am going to be heading to my mother’s soon. I want to get there before she starts trying to get those bubble packs off her fridge and decides to take them early. I got the times her visits were scheduled, so I can work about that.

Time to boot up and heat out!

So glad the truck is done and checked over.

So glad I got that nap!

The Re-Farmer

Here we go again! Also, an excellent camera

/ Re-Farmer / Leave a comment

While my husband decided to skip going to town for his bloodwork today, I did still head out to the post office, to pick up a couple of parcels. We had warmed up to our expected high of -20C/-4F by then, though when I checked not long ago, we had actually reached -18C/0F!

With a wind chill of -28C/-18F

I’m extra glad that I did go out today, though. When I opened up the garage, the first thing I could see was a low tire.

The one we just got fixed.

My daughter had parked the truck after it was last unloaded by the house, after we’d had the leaking valve and dead sensor replaced, and we haven’t needed to use it during the worst of the cold snap. With an upcoming medical appointment (I’m also now extra glad my mother’s appointment in the city that would have been tomorrow, was rescheduled!), plus our usual end of the month runs to the city, and other errands, this really needs to be dealt with. I’m really hoping there wasn’t something on the garage floor that punctured the tire! With the cats knocking things about, it’s hard to know, though I’m sure I swept away all the broken glass from when the bin of lightbulbs got knocked off the shelf.

Once I was home from my outing, I texted the garage, explained what I found, and asked if I could swing by tomorrow afternoon to have it checked. Our mechanic said yes, so that’s now on the schedule for tomorrow.

Meanwhile, I started the truck warming up – after discovering it had not been plugged in! It didn’t enjoy starting, but after a few minutes to warm up, it was running smooth again.

I also plugged in the compressor to pump up the tire, then went around to the emergency kit in the truck to get the pressure gauge.

When it when I heard a strange clicking noise and realized I was no longer hearing the compressor, over the sound of the engine.

Going back around, I turned on the light switch, and nothing happened.

The breaker was tripped.

This happened the last time I used the compressor, but not until after I’d been able to top up the tire. This was before it was taken to the garage. Because of where the breaker box is, we had to use the household step ladder and my daughter was able to climb onto the counter in front of the truck and reach the box.

I messaged my daughters and one of them came out with the little step ladder and took care of the breaker for me. The compressor, of course, was already unplugged.

By this time, I had gotten the hand pump out of the truck and set it up, so I could pump the tire after my daughter left with the ladder. This is a taller bicycle pump, with a built in pressure gauge, that I really like.

It was so cold, the pump had a hard time maintaining an air seal in its cylinder. Every now and then, I’d push down on the pump and it would just drop straight down, without any air to push against!

I got the tire pumped, though. By then, the engine had had time to warm up nicely, too.

I’d already gone ahead to open the gate, and I didn’t bother stopping to close it behind me, since I wasn’t going far. I’m pretty sure our vandal wouldn’t be out and about in this cold, anyhow. Particularly if he really is as sick as he claims to be.

When I got to the post office, the post master had stepped out briefly, so I did a big of shopping in the store. Along with some basics, like a couple of loaves of rye bread, my daughter requested some smorkchops (smoked porkchops) that she sent me funds for. After taking my purchases to the truck (which I left running), I still had to wait for the post master, so I started looking around the booze corner.

Which is where I found a pleasant surprise. Bottles of maple “sipping cream” whiskey! They even came in maple leaf shaped bottles. We bought one for Christmas a couple of years ago, and my daughters and I really enjoyed it, but we haven’t seen it since then. (My husband can’t drink alcohol, due to all the medications he’s on.) So I grabbed a bottle. My daughter had sent enough funds to cover the cost, too, so it didn’t even come out of budget, which was nice.

After that, I got my packages and headed for home. Once the truck was parked – and plugged in – I left my purchases on the driveway and walked back to lock the gate again. I had almost reached the garage again when I hear a noise in the willow next to the old shed with the collapses roof. It took a while for me to find the source.

Which is when I discovered just how much better the camera on my husband’s old phone is, compared to mine.

He had the Galaxy S22, while I had the Galaxy S21. The S22 has an extra lens, and it makes a huge difference when it comes to zooming in! My S21 really sucked for zoomed in images.

The camera could also “see” better than I could. What I’d heard was a prairie chicken fluttering up into the willow tree. At the distance I was at, it was basically just a shape in shadow. That shape was the only thing that set it apart from the trunk. Since I didn’t try to come any closer, it just sat there and watched me.

Once back inside and my trip to the garage tomorrow confirmed, I got to open one of my packages. My husband got me a new phone case. He had several, but they were all too big and too bulky for my uses. The “wallet” type one, with a cover over the screen, is the one I’ve been using because that cover is really necessary for me. Unfortunately, it had a zippered change purse in the cover, with made it too thick for my pocket and ungainly to handle. A strip of leather from the back with a magnetic closure on the front kept catching on things. It was also in two parts. The case that actually went around the phone, and the wallet portion. The case was held in place magnetically, and was constantly sliding around whenever I tried to press the buttons on the side.

All things that might not be a problem for other people, but were a real pain, for me – and this was the best of my options!

My new case is almost identical to the one I had on my S21, even though it’s a different brand. It’s about as simple as can be; the phone fits into a built in holder, and it has a cover the flips over. The cover has a couple of credit card slots, but that’s it – nothing that makes it any thicker. The back of it is also designed to bend in the middle, so that the case also acts as a stand while in landscape position. It cost only about $10. The plainest, simplest case with a cover we could find, and it’s perfect for my needs.

It is also a dark rose pink. Normally, I’d never choose pink, but it was the only colour available that fit an S22. The online photo looked like it was a really PINK pink, but in reality, it’s a much more pleasant shade.

I’m still not quite used to the features on this model, but it has a better camera (which is what I use my phone for the most), LOTS more internal memory, and now has the ideal protective case for my needs.

I need to remember that it also comes with a stylus. It’s tucked into the phone, and it’s easy to forget it’s there. Considering the troubles I have with touch screens, due to cuts and callouses on my fingers, this will come in quite handy.

I’m really, really happy with the new phone case.

It doesn’t take much to make me happy!

Hopefully, tomorrow, I will be happy again and find out there’s only something minor that left me with a low tire on the truck!

The Re-Farmer

Home again

/ Re-Farmer / Leave a comment

Well, I’m certainly glad I got the truck in, even with the bitter cold!

As I write this, we are at -23C/-9F but it’s sunny enough that, instead of a wind chill, our “feels like” is -21C/-6F Which actually feels balmy, compared to this morning!

When I got home, I found this fluffball enjoying the sun.

I was actually able to pet this one, this morning. He (she?) was in a cat bed in the sun room, back towards me, so I snuck up and started giving shoulder rubs. S/he turned to look at me, but I think was just too cold to run away. There was frost on its face fur!

I can see why the vets would think our current crop of fluffy cats are Norwegian Forest Cats! We just thought of them as long haired tabbies.

Anyhow.

I headed out later than I normally would have – making sure to give the truck time to warm up! – as I wanted to go to the post office. The store it’s in closes at noon today, so if I didn’t pick it up this morning, it would have to wait until tomorrow, and we’re going to have a cat in the truck, tomorrow.

The store opens at 9 and drop off time at the garage was at 9:30. It typically takes half an hour to get to town, so I sent a quick message saying I might be late. Much to my surprise, I was actually 10 minutes early! No slow vehicles to get stuck behind, no road conditions to slow me down, it was a perfect drive in! I hadn’t realized how rare that is, considering what I’ve become used to, lately.

While dropping off the keys, we went over what was being done. He had me for fixing a slow leak, and I said the valve would need replacing. It’s been a long time since they checked the valves for leaks, plus my tires have been rotated since then, so he was going to check the whole tire, anyhow. I remembered to ask if he could check the oil level, too. It’s been so cold, I haven’t done it in a while. I was also down to have the passenger side windshield piper replaced. I forgot to tear off the loose bit, so the entire drive to town, I was hearing the flappityflappity sound of the loose piece hitting the truck in the wind. 😄

My plan had been to go to the motel next door, where there is a Chinese restaurant, to have breakfast and wait – it was only expected to be an hour – then pick up a few things at the grocery store after getting the truck back. Walking to the main doors of the hotel, however, I found the doors locked. It was still too early!

While the walk was only about a minute, maybe two, I was already feeling the cold, so I went across the street to the grocery store. There was no way I was going to walk into the downtown area to try and find someplace open I could stay at. I knew the closest one didn’t open until 10, anyhow.

I didn’t have much to pick up, but I took my time about it. The deli had hot breakfast sandwiches available, so I picked up a couple of those for breakfast. They were wrapped and the stickers had a price, but nothing about what kind they were. I thought they might be breakfast bagels, but they turned out to be sausage and egg on an English muffin. They were quite good, too. Just on the small side. 😁 A heartier breakfast would have been preferred, in this cold! I ended up eating in the grocery store vestibule, because there was nowhere else indoors available. I also ended up getting a couple of soft sided grocery bags, one insulated, one not, since all of mine where in the truck. I’d picked up another whole chicken for the freezer – they are still on sale, with even the heaviest chickens in the $10 range. According to my receipt, I saved $7.85 by weight. They still had the 5 count bags of avocados available and on sale. They were already down to $4.99, when they are usually around $7.99, but my loyalty card brought it down to $2.99. We still have some at home, so I only got one bag.

After taking my time to get everything, then taking my time to eat my breakfast sandwiches, I finally headed back to the garage across the street. It was already noticeably warmer by then, too. It was only a couple of degrees warmer, but enough to really feel the difference.

The truck hadn’t been taken in, yet. A delivery truck had come in, and the trailer was long enough to block both bay doors. They were done unloading, though. I went in to get my key, so I could put the groceries in the truck, but the mechanic already had it. He just to move a couple of small vehicles (including the most adorable import trucks; I believe they are common in Europe, but they are rare, here) out of the bay once the trailer was moved, then he could bring my truck in. That gave me time to put my bags in the truck. He’d asked me to start the engine for him if I could, but he was done before I was!

With the truck going in about half an hour late, that meant I still had an hour or so to kill. Not that I was in any hurry, but there just aren’t a lot of options for places to go and just hang out, in the winter. It was late enough that I knew the DQ would be open, and they were pretty close, so that’s where I went. I was their first order of the day, and still the only customer, by the time I left! Which was good for me; I got to miss the lunch crowd.

When I meandered my way back to the garage, I saw the company truck was gone, so it was just the mechanic. The truck’s tire was still off and waiting.

He confirmed that it was the valve that was leaking, however they found that the sensor’s battery was simply dead. Considering it would be 14 years old, that’s not too unexpected!

So I waited in their office for the owner to come back. I had two options for the fix. I could get the valve replaced with a valve and no sensor. That would be cheaper, but I would have the warning light on my console display all the time. Or I could get the valve and sensor replaced. Which is what I was budgeted for, anyhow.

He told me he’d checked all the tires, and got zero readings. None of the sensors are working anymore! I know at least one was working, last summer, as we got a low tire warning. That was what got us looking for the problem in the first place, and where we found that three out of four valves had slow leaks. Two were barely noticeable, while one – the one getting fixed today – was leaking more. He suggested we get the others replaced, as we can afford it, which is what I was already planning to do.

So the sensor got replaced and programmed. If you click through to the next image in the Instagram slide show, above, you’ll see our bill.

Oh! Instagram cut it off! I had set it to full size. Crud.

For all but the oil, the .99 was cut off the prices. I’m glad I got the wiper done here. It turns out he can get them at discounted prices. If I’d gone to Canadian Tire, which I might have been able to do tomorrow, the same blade would have cost closer to $50. He also topped up my oil with half a liter, which was nice. The synthetic oil for our truck is quite expensive, so paying for just half a liter is fine by me! The truck will be back next month for an oil change, after getting the engine cleaned and the oil sensor replaced. Hopefully, that will get all residual moisture out of the system, and we will no longer have issues with it.

Anyhow, the grand total came out to $149 and change. Lower than I had budgeted for, which is nice.

What was also nice was seeing that he didn’t charge me for labour!

That done, I just made a stop to fill the tank (I was just under 3/4 tank, and it cost almost $62 to fill, at $1.569/L), then headed home.

Along with the adorable fluffy baby in the first photo, I saw many other cats going in and out of the garage! That always makes me nervous, as I drive in.

I also spotted these two.

It looks like I caught The Grink while he was winking!

The sunshine through those windows would be making it extra cozy in there. For all that there is a 250w heat lamp aimed towards the back, I’ve been finding frozen remains of wet cat food in their bowl! The bowl isn’t directly in front of the heat lamp, but it is right next to the bed they are in. Even the spoonful I put on the shelf above had been mostly frozen.

Gosh, I wish Fluffy would let us handle her! She needs pets. And hugs. And cuddles. So does The Grink! We haven’t even been able to touch her (or him), never mind check her incision.

Midnight was hanging around when I came by, but not close enough that I could see his shaved spot. 😄 It’s too bad he got out of the isolation shelter, but at least it was him, and not her. Neuters are far less of a concern. I was happy to see he still has his collar, too.

So the tire is now done, and the oil is topped up. We are good to go for tomorrow’s trip to the vet! The isolation shelter will be opened up again, and the other cats will be able to snuggle up in there again. Considering I regularly counted as many as 15 cats in the upper level at once, I’d say that might explain why I’m seeing so many cats in the rafters of the garage lately!

In other things, after I got home, I made sure to call the eye clinic in the city. My mother’s appointment was for next week, but she really balked at going. Which I totally understand. She is still recovering from her edema, so the more time she has on her water pills, before a long drive like this, the better. That got rescheduled to a month from now.

The weird thing was getting a call from home care. They wanted to confirm the lock box code, which surprised me. Did my mother not get her morning meds? Apparently she did, so… why confirm the code? The other concern was that my mother’s inhaler wasn’t in the box. My mother had brought the one from the hospital home in her purse, so it wasn’t with the bubble packs. The new inhaler, still in its box, probably was. We’re not as concerned about the inhaler as with my mother messing with her medications – the new lock box came in yesterday, so last night, my brother and his wife drove out to set it up for her. My mother tried to insist, she can manage her medications herself, but my brother just told her, doctor’s orders. In fact, if they had known she would be without a lock box when she got home, because the first one was too small for her bubble packs, they would not have discharged her.

The weird part was when the home care lady tried to confirm a code for a lock box I knew nothing about. When I expressed my confusion, she asked, isn’t there a lock box for the building?

Now, I know they have a lock box for the fire department/first responders, right at the main entrance, but a medical lock box for the building? I’ve never heard of one!

I did have to ask if my mother actually got her medications this morning, if there was doubt about the code on the new lock box. Now that I think about it, the lock box was set up before my mother’s last med assist of the day, so if there was an issue, it would have first happened last night, and I would have gotten a call then. As far as she could see from the files, my mother did get her medications. It was just the inhaler that was of concern, because it was not in the lock box. In the end, it was decided the inhaler would be kept in the lock box, too, just for consistency.

At least that is taken care of!

Meanwhile, I’m glad to be home and no longer having to drive anywhere until tomorrow. I was hearing weather reports on the radio while I was driving. The entire province is still under an ongoing extreme cold warning, with some places expecting wind chills of -43C/-45F – all well to the south of us, though. According to my weather app, our region’s cold warning is expected to end at 8:18pm this evening.

How strangely specific.

Our overnight lows are still expected to reach below -30C/-22F, so I’m guessing that means the wind chills in our area are no longer expected to reach the -40C/F range.

I probably sound like a broken record by now, but I am so done with winter right now.

We are still at our high of the day (-21C/-6F). At least the sun room thermometer was reading 0C/32F when I checked a little while ago. It may not be the most effective sun room, but it’s enough to have some decent passive solar heat, even on days like today!

*sigh*

Time to go feed and water the outside cats, before the temperature starts dropping again.

The Re-Farmer

What do you mean, it’s just noon?

/ Re-Farmer / 11 Comments

It feels like it should be 2 or 3 in the afternoon!

I tried going to be early last night, but it was an interrupted night. Which was a good thing, really. At one point, I heard the toilet flush, and the septic pump turned on soon after. I forced myself to stay awake, listening for it to turn off.

It didn’t.

Downstairs I went and checked the filter. There was no water in it. The pump was running dry. Thankfully, not for very long. I shut it off, primed the filter, then turned it on again. It took a few moments, but I was soon seeing water flowing in and it was running properly.

Running dry like that is not at all good for the pump. If I didn’t happen to be awake to hear it, it would have kept running all night, or until I woke to go to the bathroom or something. No one else in the house can hear it.

After the pump shut itself up, I popped the top on the filter and primed it again, even though it was still mostly full. Air must be getting into the system somewhere, but it’s not the filter cap, as that was sealed tight when I popped it open. Once it is full, it should stay full. There’s no sign of a leak under the filter that I can see, but once it’s primed, the level doesn’t drop. It’s when the pump turns on that it drains, but doesn’t refill completely once the water from the tank starts flowing. It seems that, after it runs properly a couple of times, the filter just doesn’t have enough water in it to create the vacuum needed anymore, and it runs dry. It’s almost as if the pump isn’t pulling water from the tank efficiently enough anymore, or there might be a partial block in the intake pipe, somewhere between the pump filter and the septic tank. The outflow seems to be working fine.

If anyone has ideas as to why that would be, I’d love to hear it!

Either way, that pump needs to be replaced before it burns out completely. For now, we’re going to have to constantly check on it and make sure that filter is full. Thank God we have that, because otherwise, we couldn’t see what is going on.

Working on the septic pump was at about 5-5:30 am, and my alarm was set for 7:30. I did manage a bit more sleep before I had to get up.

When heading out to do the morning rounds, I made sure to grab the truck keys, so I could start warming it up while switching out memory cards on the trail cams, and opening the gate ahead of time.

The new solar powered camera’s solar panel was frosted over, so I cleared that of. Checking the battery indicators, it showed that it was using the regular batteries, not the solar panel’s internal battery.

Then it gave a “low battery warning” and shut itself down.

Both sets of batteries were too frozen to power the camera!

I got it going enough to check it was up and running and recording before I moved on. The morning sun hits it directly, so it was already warming up and charging.

As I was finishing up my rounds, I made sure to double check the isolation shelter.

The patch, with its clear Gorilla tape over the crack, was doing its job. I still want to tape it on the inside, but it’ll be a while before it’s frost free enough to get it clean and dry. You can’t tell in the photo above, but the top of the isolation shelter was quite full of cats at the time!

The next image is a screen cap of the temperature taken several hours later. It had warmed up to -22C/-8F by then, but that windchill of -33C/-27F is the real killer.

I had been walking in that, just before taking that screenshot.

The isolation shelter is sheltered from most winds, though. The plastic around the bottom half would make a big difference, too. The cats love to just crowd into the top half. I’m glad I took out that insulated box and moved the bed into the middle. More cats can fit in there, now. I’m going to see if I can find a smaller cat bed I can shove into the corner near the heated water bowl, too. The insulation on the lounging shelf is being thoroughly taken advantage of, too.

My morning rounds done, I was soon on the road to drop the truck off at the garage. I had a 9am drop off time, rather than an appointment time, so when I dropped off the keys, I asked if he had an idea of how long it might me, just so I knew what I had time for while waiting. He figured it would be done by about 11.

So I had about 2 1/2 hours to kill.

I headed out to find somewhere for breakfast – and a public washroom (did I mention, these temperature fluctuations are murder on the bladder? 😄). I ended up going to a Subway. It’s been years since I’ve been there, but the only other place shared a bathroom in a pharmacy that wasn’t going to open for a while yet.

I wasn’t even sure the Subway was open, even though the sign was on. The lighting over the counter was very dark. I must have been their first customer of the day. They were still setting up. I ordered my favourite; a meatball sub. It was good, but the meatballs and sauce hadn’t had time to get hot, yet. That was okay. It was still warmer than the burger I had at Boston Pizza yesterday!

That done, I decided to pop into our regular pharmacy to cash in a couple of winning lottery tickets, then headed to the dollar store. There I found a bunch of breakaway cat collars. There was only one red one with reflective strips, but my daughters requested I not get red ones anymore. When they see red through the fur, their first reaction is alarm, because they think it’s a wound. So I got some colourful ones, instead. They are affordable there, and I was able to get six of them for about the price of, at best, two, in other stores. Most of the breakaway collars I see elsewhere actually cost more than what I paid for 6, and there’s really no difference in quality that I can see.

Of course, with that many collars, the woman at the counter was curious. When I told her they were for every yard cat that gets fixed, so we can tell them apart, she just lit up. It turns out she’s been taking care of a feral – and it’s now an indoor cat they’ve adopted! We talked for a while about the problems of stray cats, people dumping cats, and the insane cost of getting cats spayed and neutered. I showed her a picture of some of the yard cats inside the top of the isolation shelter and she told me, no way. I couldn’t do that. I’d have to keep them all! She had considered being a foster but knows herself well enough that she could never let any fosters go if she took them in, and joked about how, before she moved to where she is now, she was the “crazy cat lady.”

Which is basically what I am right now! 😄

Once I was finished there, I headed back towards the garage, stopping at the hardware store along the way. I picked up a block heater extension cord (we have a couple of older ones, but they’ve become damaged) and more of the Free Flow drain maintenance powder. For the next while, my daughters are using it twice a week, rather than once a week, to help keep that bottleneck in the pipe to the tank clear, as well as try and clear the main drain pipe from the bathroom to where it drops down and runs out of the house to the tank. It’s frustrating that we have a commercial pipe auger, and can’t even use it on this pipe. I did make good use of it in the pipes in the floor, at least. It’s a shame there isn’t another access to that pipe at the opposite end.

The plumbing in this place has been no end of problems since we’ve moved out here.

After getting what I needed at the hardware store, I headed to the garage. The truck was in one of the bays when I got there, so I just settled into one of the chairs in the office to wait. That was when I took the screen cap of what my weather app was showing, so I know the exact time I got there!

It wasn’t even windy out, but at those temperatures, even a light breeze results in quite the wind chill.

Our mechanic was constantly on the go, taking care of a customer ahead of me, taking care of deliveries coming in, and other vehicles to be worked on later in the day. In the middle of all this, my truck was driven out and another car immediately replaced it in the bay. It was just non-stop!

Then it came time to pay my bill.

Ouch.

$391 and change. The parts cost almost $250 and the labour was just under $100. Then there were the taxes, which added over $40 to the bill.

Well, it needed to be done.

We spoke for a while, and he told me everything went well with the fix. The check engine light is off, finally. He did let me know, though, that if moisture gets into that oil pressure sensor again, it will turn on again, first. It’s been fine since he cleaned it out, and the main thing will be for use to make sure the engine stays running long enough to evaporate the moisture. It’s the short trips with lots of stopping and starting, in these temperatures, that can cause the humidity to build up.

That done, I headed to the truck to start heading out. I noticed right away, he had the plug from the new block heater cord out and ready to be used!

It’s right in front of the deer screamer, but that shouldn’t be an issue while driving.

Then I went back in to get the container of Free Flow that I forgot in the office.

I was about to message my family when I saw a reminder from my husband. He’d wanted me to look into getting a battery warmer for the truck. I wasn’t sure how that would work out, since the battery is completely encased, but back in I went and asked.

Our mechanic looked up the part, and it will cost about $55. Plus labour. He did mention that it would take a bit longer because of the battery case, but he would expect labour to be about $30. Add in taxes, and we’re looking at about $100 to get a battery warmer installed. He’d need to order in the part.

We still need to get a tire sensor replaced, but that won’t be until next month. We could probably get both done then.

Finally, I was heading out. I was at a half tank and have lots of driving to do next week, so I stopped at a gas station to fill up.

The gas prices here were $1.499 It cost almost $70 to fill the tank, and that was after my CAA discount.

Ouch.

From there, I was finally heading home – and really appreciating the lack of a check engine light! – with only a quick stop at the post office. The mail I am expecting still isn’t in, but I did finally get a Christmas card! Thank you, CZ! It’s beautiful!

Then, it was finally home. With where the block heater’s plug came out, though, I found I did not need to use the new block heater cord that I bought. The truck is so long, I have to pull right up to the counter along the back of the garage, where I have a shop power bar set up. I was able to plug it right in there! The idea behind the block heater extension cord is that it controls the power level, so that the block heater isn’t constantly on, but the block heater cord, as you can see in the photo above, has its own controller, so that will be fine. I’ve left the new extension cord in the truck, so if we are ever out somewhere and are able to plug the truck in, we have it handy. Quite a few public parking lots have outlets available for people to plug in. They usually get turned on in the winter, off in the summer. While my husband and I were doing our running around yesterday, the spot I’d parked in that was in between all the places we needed to go had outlets available for people to plug in their block heaters. Now, I could actually make use of that!

With what happened with the septic pump last night, I’d messaged the family on the need to monitor it; especially if someone were taking a shower, as the pump goes off pretty much every time the shower is used. When I got home, my younger daughter was in the shower, so I headed for the basement as soon as I could. Both the well pump and the septic pump were running, and I was happy to see that the septic pump was running properly. I just waited until it was done, then popped the top off the filter and primed it again.

After that, I could finally relax and settle in to start writing this post, and was so surprised that it wasn’t even noon yet!

This has been the most interrupted post ever, though, so it’s been two hours since I started! 😄 It’s going to be time to head out and top up the kibble and water for the outside cats, soon.

One of those interruptions was a call from my mother. I’ll be taking her for her doctor’s appointment on Monday, and she wanted to talk to me about that. She’s been listening to her neighbours in her building again, and has decided she needs a puffer. She doesn’t have asthma, but I guess she could be tested for it.

By the time we got off the phone, we’d changed plans for me to come much earlier in the day to do her laundry. She can’t do it herself, and I haven’t been able to stay at her place long enough to do it for her. My sister has done it for her in the past, but she hasn’t visited lately. If she comes in on the weekend, maybe she can get it done, but otherwise, I’ll take care of it.

It’s going to make for a much longer day, that’s for sure!

Looking ahead in the weather forecast, though, I’m happy to see that all those nights they were predicting lows colder than -30C/-22F are pretty much gone, and on the days of my mother’s appointment, and my daughter’s follow up appointment, it’s supposed to get warmer. There’s even a day expected to reach a high of 0C/32F coming up!

Well, we’ll see what actually happens when the time comes, but I would be most happy for it to NOT drop to those extreme cold temperatures, even if we actually can plug in the truck now!

I really dislike the cold. Especially with so many things breaking down around the house!

If we didn’t have to get the work done on the truck, we could have gotten a new septic pump ordered in.

*sigh*

So many things tugging on the budget.

Ah, well. We do what we can.

The Re-Farmer

Truck update and an unboxing

/ Re-Farmer / Leave a comment

Today has turned out to be a lovely, warm day! The forecast ranged from 1C/34F to 3C/37F, depending on what app I looked at. It seems the temperature we actually hit was in between, at 2C/36F.

Even when I headed out to do my morning rounds, we were at a balmy -1C/30F. The outside cats were quite enjoying it, and were running around all over the place!

I even had several following me up the driveway when I went to check on the gate!

It’s been a while since I’ve had that many cats following me around.

With the temperatures expected to go above freezing, I made sure to break out the ice chipper to scrape the sidewalk, and the concrete in front of the sun room, clear of ice and snow, so that it would melt clear faster. Tomorrow we’re supposed to reach a high of 0C/32F, so hopefully that will be enough for the sidewalks to dry clear, rather than just ice over!

The truck was booked at the garage for this afternoon, but I headed out earlier, so I could stop at the post office before it closed for a few hours around lunch time, since I wasn’t sure how long I’d be gone. I even remembered to grab the empty water jugs for refilling, too. While opening the garage door to put them in the truck, though… well…

The middle of the garage door frame is slowly sagging. There is a metal piece attached to the top that is there to sort of guide the handle inwards, but as it slowly sags lower, I try to remember to push the door in a bit so the handle will clear the frame.

I forgot to do that this morning, and slammed the handle right into the frame. This is a replacement handle, too. I can now see how the old one got so broken!

So, we’re going to have to pick up another handle. No hurry on that. We don’t close the door all the way, anyhow, as one of the latches on the sides doesn’t retract far enough when the handle is turned. When the door gets closed all the way down, it can only be opened again from the inside, by manually pulling the cable to that latch. When we get a new handle, we should be able to just tighten the cable on that side to fix it, though I don’t know why it became a problem in the first place. The cable is as tight as the day I installed it, still.

Anyhow…

I’m more concerned about figuring out how to straighten out the frame, then support it to keep it from sagging again. Given the larger size of the opening, it would likely have to be supported from above

We’ll figure it out.

I made sure to give the truck’s engine time to run before I headed out. Everything was fine during the short drive to the post office, just like last time. I had a couple of packages to pick up, including some kibble the Cat Lady was able to get with coupons from Amazon for us.

From there to town, I kept an eye on the oil pressure gauge. It actually last longer than I expected, and I almost got to the garage before the needle dropped and the alarm started sounding – just as I had to stop behind several cars to wait for a tiny train to go by! It was basically about a block of driving with the alarm and warning lights going.

I was quite early to drop off the keys, but I also made a point of booking the truck for next week. That’s when the MAF sensor and block heater cable will be replaced. He has to order the parts in, first.

After that, I popped into the motel next door and had lunch at the Chinese restaurant there, before running a couple of errands. My appointment was at 1pm, and I got back about 20 after. He was on his own, though, and hadn’t had a chance to look at it yet, but I just wanted to grab the keys so I could put away my shopping bag.

Before I headed out, I mentioned doing errands, and he suggested I check out a nearby store. A customer had told him the entire store was 50% off today. I pretty much never go there – I can’t afford their prices, normally. About the only things they have that would interest me is clothing, and it would be a rare thing for them to have my size. Still, I figured it was worth taking a look.

Ha!

I got in the door, and that was pretty much it. There was a line at least 20 people deep, cutting through the area I would have wanted to look in. This is not a large store, so it doesn’t take much for it to get overcrowded! The other side of the store was mostly empty, but that was where the shoe and jewelry sections were – nothing I would be looking at.

So I left. I was happy to see how busy they were, though. For a lot of retail companies, these last few weeks of the year are what puts them in the black for the year, and it’s even harder for a small town like this.

After putting my bag in the truck and giving the keys back, I had a bit of time to kill, so I swung by the hardware store across from the store that was having the big sale. A hardware store is much more my style! I ended up getting a couple of small items, but mostly wanted to look at some of their equipment. They actually had some utility pumps in stock – and on sale! Not the sort of pump we need to replace our septic pump, though. One of the staff came over to help me and I showed him a picture of the pump we have, and he agreed that the one I was looking at was not what I needed. He admitted, he wasn’t the one who knew septic pumps (not a surprise, since the system we have isn’t really done anymore), but that was okay. For now, I was just looking at prices. I think I should probably consult with my brother about getting a new one. My SIL was sure they actually have a spare, somewhere among the things now stored in our barn, but I think I would prefer a new one, if I can swing it.

I was just leaving the store when I checked my phone and discovered a message from the garage had just come in. The truck was ready.

When I got there, we talked about the problem for a bit. All he did was take the sensor apart and clean it out, so he just charged me for labour.

It is going to happen again. Even if he replaced the sensor again, it wouldn’t make a difference.

The problem is, with the temperature fluctuations this time of year, moisture gets into the system, but doesn’t get a chance to evaporate completely. He suggested doing things like letting the truck run for about 15 minutes before going anywhere and, if I’m just running inside a store briefly, to leave the engine running. This would give it a chance to heat up enough for the moisture to evaporate. Meanwhile, keep checking the oil levels. As long as they’re good, we know that it’s the sensor again, not an actual problem with the oil pressure.

As he was telling me this, I could tell he was really frustrated. He’s mentioned to me before, that this is very much a GM thing. He doesn’t see this problem in other brands. Some sort of design flaw, is his thought on that. When I mention having it go off like this, it leaves you not knowing if it’s just moisture in the sensor again, or an actual problem, and he completely agreed.

Then there’s just the problem of driving around with an alarm dinging, warning lights and the onboard computer telling me to SHUT OFF ENGINE. It is really quite stressful.

Hopefully, cleaning out the sensor will do the trick for at least a while. I have to take my mother for a scan on the 1st, then a medical appointment on the 6th, and I sure as heck don’t want that alarm going off while driving with my mother!

As an aside, I spoke with my mother last night, and she asked about the truck. She is still talking about buying “herself” a brand new car. She doesn’t drive, of course, and anything she gets would have to be half in my name, as that’s the only way I’d be able to get it insured. I don’t expect her to be paying for the insurance (nor any other vehicle expenses), and it would be parked here at the farm, anyhow. I did try to warn her that a brand new car would be very expensive, but she’s okay with that. In fact, she’s almost excited about the idea. I really, really hope my brother has a chance to talk to her about that. She doesn’t have *that* much money squirreled away! As great as it would be to have access to a back up vehicle again – and a new one, too! – we would have to do something with her current car, just to have someplace to park it (which means it would have to be quite a small car!). Having to pay the expenses for two vehicles again, while having payments on the truck at the same time, would be very painful on our budget. *sigh*

Anyhow…

After reclaiming the truck (he’d even left it running, since I responded to his text so quickly), I popped across to the grocery store, picked up a few things and refilled a couple of water jugs. From there, it was a quick stop at the gas station, then home.

I’m happy to say, the needle on the oil pressure gauge stayed right were it was supposed to. It did seem to start dropping when I was driving slower on the icy gravel road, but still inside the acceptable range on the gauge.

Once everything was unloaded and put away, I got to do an unboxing.

Our new solar charged trail cameras were in!

The cats really, really wanted to see what was going on, too!

I was specifically looking for a camera where the solar panel directly powered the camera, with regular batteries as a back up. I settled on this brand, which came in a 2 pack. We only need one right now, so the other is still in its box.

I had to retake the photo of the outside of the boxes. When I laid them out on my bed, Layendecker leaned over and used one of them as a pillow!

Silly boy.

The camera comes with a tree strap for mounting, plus a USB cable for the first charging of the solar panel’s internal rechargeable batteries.

The USB cable is mostly hidden under a curious Mitsy in the photo.

After opening it up, it took me a while to find where the battery cover was. The clip is partially hidden by the cover, as it’s right near the bottom cover hinge.

One substantial difference between this camera and any others we’ve had is that it uses only four AA batteries. Most take eight. We did have one camera (that got stolen) that held eight batteries, but could operate on only four, if necessary. This one has room only for four batteries. They will only be used if the solar panel doesn’t have enough charge to power the camera.

The solar panel adjusts slightly, and it does not come off. The one we have now, the solar charger is a separate unit that can be removed, so the camera can be used on batteries only. I like having that option, if necessary, but the camera we have now is no longer available. The current camera’s solar panel angle cannot be adjusted, so there are trade offs both ways.

While the camera does have a tree strap, it also has the screw in port for a plate mount, which is what our current camera is on, now. This camera did not come with a mounting plate, while the old one did.

I find it really bizarre, however, that the screw in port is in the battery cover. I would have to either remove it from the mounting plate (which I have to do now, for a different design reason) or, in theory, open the mounting plate and swing the camera down. I wouldn’t want to do that, though, as it would put too much stress on the hinge of the battery cover.

I plan to use both the mounting plate already on the stand, and the tree strap to hold it in place. With the current camera, the top heavy weight of the solar panel is a bit too much for the mount, so I’ve got a small bungee cord supporting it. Over time, though, the bungee is starting to stretch out and not support as well. The solar panel on the new camera is not as heavy, though, so it might not be an issue. We shall see.

One thing about this camera is that it does NOT have a wide angle lens. The solar camera we have now is wide angle, which I really like. Without a wide angle lens, we will probably have to move the stand it’s mounted to. The base, with its weight to keep it from blowing over in the wind, is buried in snow right now, so that likely won’t happen until spring!

The USB cable is for pre-charging the solar panel’s internal batteries, which is recommended to do before first use. After going through the menu and setting up the date, time, etc. and putting in a memory card, I hooked that up, so it will be fully charged and ready for tomorrow. When I do my morning rounds, I’ll switch cameras instead of memory chards!

The other solar camera has been working again, which is good, but when it fell open into the snow, one of the cover clips broke. So there is just one clip holding it closed. That would make it slightly less waterproof, as condensation could get past the seal by the broken clip.

The non-solar sign cam is still working, but it’s quite a bit older and sometimes glitches out. Depending on how this new camera is, I might use the spare to switch out the other one. It’s under a tree, but it does get enough sunlight to support a small solar panel. Especially at sunrise.

Either way, we’ll still have a couple of back up cameras, if we ever have troubles again.

I look forward to seeing the first files on the new camera, and what the quality is like.

Which is rather fun and all, but it sucks that we need to have to set up trail cams as security cameras in the first place.

Ah, well. It is what it is!

The Re-Farmer

Thankful!

/ Re-Farmer / 2 Comments

The first thing I’m thankful for is our pharmacy.

My husband had just a few days left of his painkillers. With their new delivery driver, the deliveries are now on Thursdays. My husband would have been out by then, plus, Thursday this week is Boxing Day, so obviously, that wasn’t going to happen.

My husband called the pharmacy yesterday (Sunday) to ask about it. It turned out, for this week, deliveries were going to happen on Monday (today).

The problem?

His pain killers are considered “controlled substances”. Which means that he can’t refill them until he’s almost out. The earliest he could refill them?

Tuesday.

Given how things are, the pharmacist said she would try to call his doctor today to try and get his prescriptions delivered early, but she didn’t know if his doctor would even be working this week, or if she would be on holidays.

Well, I got a call this morning, and got good news! They got through to his doctor, she okayed the early refill, and we would get them delivered this afternoon.

We got the delivery shortly before 12:30!

Meanwhile, I checked the holiday hours for our garage. They were open today, so I called and left a message, though I did not expect them to be able to look at the truck on such short notice.

I left a message, then decided to head out to the general store and post office. It’s just a 5 or to minute drive away. Short enough to not trigger that oil pressure sensor and have it start screaming at me!

Since we aren’t going to be able to do the last minute shopping we originally intended, the girls wanted to do some baking, so I picked up a couple of dozen eggs and a few other things to tide us over, including a cheap (on sale) bottle of wine. We actually had mail today – a letter from the health authority for my husband – but there are still quite a few things we’re expecting, including a donation of cat food.

Ah, well.

After I got home and put things away, I tried to get a nap in – I’ve been really sleepy, lately – but wasn’t very successful. Then the phone rang. I kept it close, because I was expecting a call from the delivery driver, and it was him. I’d left the gate open already, but I headed outside earlier and used the time to do a bit of shoveling. The delivery driver even drove up into the yard, which was nice of him!

After bringing the meds in, I went to close the gate. On the way back, I found myself being watched, attentively.

There was eight at the time, but there had been more earlier.

When I came out this morning, I counted a full dozen cats in the upper level!

I also found the heated water bowl knocked over again, and hanging through the narrow opening under the window. This time, however the managed to knock it over, it was enough to push a corner of the window loose. The screws holding it are shorter, but still! I’ll have to find a longer screw that will fit the pilot hole to replace it with. For now, they have a small gap in the corner of the window.

This time, I took the heated water bowl out completely. After moving the cat bed out, I could grab the insulated box nest and remove it – with a kitten sitting on top, along for the ride, at first!

I had thought to put it in the lower level, but didn’t want to fight with the entry shelter box, so I put it in the catio, with the other box nest.

Then I put the cat bed where the box nest was. It’s slightly wider and overhangs the opening where the hammock and cat scratcher ramp is. Hopefully, it will stay.

I then took the smaller heated water bowl from the sun room and traded it with the one I took out from the isolation shelter. After securing the cord around the cross piece, I set it more into the corner, where the cat bed had been. Hopefully, this will give the cats more space to move around, and they won’t knock it down anymore.

Judging from the photo above, they are happy with the new configuration!

I could also see cats in the catio, sitting on top of the insulated box nest. There is exposed rigid insulation around all sides, secured with pieces of wood lath, so it would be like sitting on a self warming mat.

So that seems to be working out, too.

Meanwhile…

Once inside and settling at my computer, I saw I had a missed call note that I’d missed, earlier. The garage had tried to call me back while I was going to the post office!

So I called back right away.

We talked a bit about what was happening; he says there would be moisture in the sensor, setting it off. He completely understood why I didn’t want to be driving it with that alarm going off.

They are open on Friday, and he could fit me in that afternoon. I told him, we’re down to one vehicle, so when I come in, I’m stuck in town, and he understood. He probable gets that a lot, I’m sure. He confirmed that he would just be looking at the sensor (if he couldn’t get us in until after New Years, I told him in one of my messages that we may as well get the MAF sensor and block heater cord replaced, too), then said it would be no problem. He also assured me it would be okay to drive the truck into town – the alternative would have been to book a tow truck, and there’s no need for that.

So that should be fixed before the end of the year.

Yay! Something else to be thankful for!

Plus, since they’re right across from the grocery store, I’ll be able to get some of the things I wanted for New Years. It’s only Christmas dinner that’s going to be a bit different than planned, but not by much.

All in all, it’s about as good as it can get, under the circumstances!

The Re-Farmer

Alarming

/ Re-Farmer / 2 Comments

Alarming and bad on the blood pressure.

After my husband and I attempted to head out yesterday, only to have an alarm start blaring on the truck, then talking to our mechanic about it, I hoped to avoid it happening again today.

So, as I did my morning rounds, I started the truck part way through and left it running until I was ready to leave. Maybe half an hour. So the engine was warming up nicely, and the cab nice and toasty, when it was time to go.

It wasn’t the only thing roasty toasty.

You can’t see in the first picture above, but there was at least ten cats in the upper level. All the windows, including the sliding doors, were frosted like that!

What you can also see in the first picture is the heated water bowl, tipped over against one of the frame pieces!

The bowl is too wide to fit through there, though, and there was even still water in it. I’m extra glad I made the pallet floor open and covered with a mesh. I was thinking any litter kicked out of the box could fall through. I never thought it would allow water to spill through, rather than freezing on the floor! There must not have been much water in it when it was tipped, though, because I couldn’t see any sign of it in the snow under the shelter.

By the time I was done giving them food and fixing/refilling the water, only a few cats were still in the shelter. The more feral ones ran off. It was nice to see Kohl and Rabi together on the warm spot. There are five cats visible in the second photo, but a sixth is at the food bowl, out of frame.

While today was warmer than yesterday, the wind made it pretty nasty. Even as I write this, less than an hour before sunset, we are at -11C/12F – which is practically shorts and t-shirt weather for winter in this part of the world – but the windchill is -24C/-11F. I don’t know what the wind chill was this morning, but we were still around -16C/3F when I left.

Everything seemed fine, at first, but as I got closer to my mother’s town, I could see the oil pressure gauge slowly dropping. Sure enough, before I got there, the warning lights came on, the warning message “oil pressure low, shut of engine” showed up in the onboard computer display, and the alarm started sounding.

I knew the oil was fine. I knew it was just the sensor.

That didn’t help my blood pressure any.

I had left early enough that I intended to stop and possibly pick up a few last things for our own celebrations. Instead, I parked at the gas station.

I checked the oil, of course, and it was just fine, even though there was the warning light for low oil.

I took a picture of the dash before turning off the engine and texted it to our mechanic, but I didn’t even know if he was open today. I also messaged my brother, but he was on the road.

After a few minutes, I started the engine, and the pressure gauge was within normal range again.

I even started looking up local garages. One was closed, the other was closing soon, but the third was open later. I called them, but they couldn’t take a look. There was just one guy working (I had noticed their website had job openings listed before I called), and he was booked solid.

*sigh*

My brother recognized my truck as he was driving past, so he stopped by. We talked for a bit, he asked some questions, and basically said the same thing our mechanic did. It’s just the sensor.

We drove over to our mom’s place. For that short distance, it was fine.

My SIL had made some awesome sandwiches for our lunch. I had to chuckle, as my brother had originally intended to bring Timmies breakfast meals. The last time I was at my mother’s, while we were eating the food I brought, she told me how my brother would phone ahead to one of the restaurants in town, order a couple of meals for them, and pick them up before going to her place.

What I also know is that she would give my brother a hard time about this, mocking him for being “rich” and “fancy” by buying restaurant food all the time. My SIL got tired of it, so she now insists that she will make food for him to bring along herself, so my mother would stop basically calling him a snob (her Polish version of it, at least).

My mother cannot grasp the consequences of her own behaviour.

At least she liked the sandwiches. They were excellent. With her dentures (which she still refuses to fix, after having a tooth removed), we cut hers up for her to make it easier for her to eat. The sandwiches were made with these amazing pumpkin seed buns that only one place in the city makes. Delicious, but harder to bite through with dentures!

My SIL had also done her annual Christmas baking, and my brother brought tins of beautifully decorated cookies for both of us. My mother always complains about “it’s too sweet, it’s too sweet” (she doesn’t understand carbs, either), so he told her this was so she had something to offer people if they stopped by for tea. She actually showed appreciation for those, too, though when she did have one after lunch, she picked it apart and left behind part of the “sweet” middle. I think that had more to do with her dentures, though that’s not what she said.

*sigh*

The conversation was largely her talking about “history”, but of course only the parts that interest her. We just let her talk, as we’ve heard most of it many times before. Even my mother noticed, however, that she was losing track of her line of thought more often. The main thing was that she didn’t go off on any racist rants this time, which made it a lot more pleasant.

Eventually, she asked if anything was new with us, and my brother mentioned what my truck was doing. She wasn’t really interested in us, though, so that conversation didn’t last.

At one point, the phone rang. My brother was looking at the number while my mother was telling him to answer it. It was an unfamiliar number, so I answered with with my Hotel Receptionist greeting. Then laughed and hung up on the robot scam message. We talked about that for a bit – my brother got the same Canada Post “package held back for security reasons” scam call I did, the day the strikers had to go back to work.

Then the phone rang again.

This time, it was within our area code. My brother wasn’t going to answer, but I did, again with my Hotel Receptionist greeting.

I was answered in Polish, and recognized the voice. So I just laughed and responded “just a moment” in Polish and gave the phone to my mother. It was an old friend of hers, and they talk pretty regularly.

By then, my brother was needing to leave, and he knew I was nervous about the truck, so we got our stuff together and gave our goodbye hugs and kisses while she was on the phone, so she could have a good long talk if she wanted.

As for the drive home.

It happened again.

The pressure gauge was within normal range for about half the distance, but slowly dropping. Once it got past a certain point, it started dropping faster. By about 4 or 5 miles from home, the lights went on and the alarm started going off.

I’d messaged the family before I left, so the gate was open already and I was able to drive straight to the garage.

It’s one thing to know that the problem is just the sensor – and a new one, at that! – but quite another to be trying to drive with all those warning lights and an alarm sounding.

My plan was to go to my mother’s with Christmas dinner on Christmas day. I’ve messaged our mechanic, but if he can’t get us in on Monday, that likely won’t happen. I’ll have to call my mother and let her know. Her building is having a dinner in the common room on Christmas Eve, though, so she will not be alone for the holidays. My sister doesn’t celebrate Christmas, but I might ask her to visit.

Which means our own Christmas and New Year’s will likely be with whatever we have right now. I could drive into our little hamlet’s general store and back without setting off the alarm, but I they don’t carry the sort of stuff I was planning to get. I might still make the trip on Monday, though, for some other things I can get there, instead. Unless I end up in town and at the garage. The grocery store we usually go to is literally across the street, so I could get what’s on my list, there.

What a pain.

We’ve had this truck for a year, though, which means we might be able to look into trading it in for another vehicle, and get better financing.

Not a GM, though.

The truck itself is great. I love it. But these sensor issues are things that should not be happening, and having to replace sensors telling me something is wrong, when nothing is actually wrong, is not just a waste of money, but a major stress inducer. After all… I would never know if *this time* the problem might actually be real. We have only one working vehicle now. We can’t take any chances.

*sigh*

Ah, well, it is what it is. We deal with the hand we’re given.

But why does this stuff tend to happen all at once, and at times when it’s hard to get into a garage?

The Re-Farmer

Change in plans… again??

/ Re-Farmer / Leave a comment

We had some bitterly cold temperatures last night – dropping to -24C/-11F, when I was awake to check. There was no wind chill, though. In fact, the “real feel” was slightly warmer than the actual temperature.

When heading outside to feed the yard cats, I found a whole crowd of them inside the isolation shelter – all in the top level, too!

Including the isolation babies. Both Kohl and her fluffy partner were in there.

With so many cats and one bowl in a corner, the littles weren’t able to get at the food as well, so I dropped a handful beside the fluffy boi.

In return, he even let me pet him.

Sort of. 😄

With the cold, a lot of the food trays still had a lot of food in them. None of the cats, understandably, want to be outside eating, and even in the sun room, they prefer to huddle together in their various shelves and beds and under the heat lamp. I saw several through the cat house window, near the heat lamp in there, too.

The food bowl in the isolation shelter, however, didn’t have a single crumb left in it, and even the water bowl was mostly empty. At this point, I think the top of the isolation shelter may be the warmest place around!

The insulated box nest, however, seems to be in the way. I am considering taking it out and putting it in the lower level, where the little box is. We had to take the cat bed out from there, since they were using it as a litter box. Since this box nest is insulated, it would probably get used more in the bottom level than it is in the top level. The food bowl can then be put in the middle where the box is now, and more cats can eat out of it at the same time.

Moving the box nest will require moving the entry box shelter away, so I’ll save doing all this for when I have a daughter available to help out.

Meanwhile…

My husband and I had plans today. We were going to head to the nearer city, where he can go in to exchange his cell phone, as the 2 year plan is up. He doesn’t use it much, but if he simply kept it, we’d be charged almost $700 for the balance on the phone. Or, he can return it and get a credit, but would have no phone. Alternatively, he can exchange it, have another phone on a new plan, and still get a credit.

So that’s what we were going to do and, thanks to a generous monetary Christmas gift from my mother, we were planning to have an actual sit-down dinner date, too. It might just have been to Subway or something, in the same shopping commons as the phone place, but it still would be a fun and rare treat for my husband.

With the cold, we waited until things warmed up in the afternoon before we started heading out. It was -19C/-2F and the time we left. I went ahead to take out the shopping bags in the back of the cab to make room for his walker while warming up the engine a bit. Since we haven’t been able to get the block heater cord repaired, I made sure to run the engine a bit while I was doing the morning rounds, too.

Soon we were loaded up and on our way.

We got maybe 5 or 10 minutes out, when it happened.

The console started dinging, and the “oil pressure low, shut of engine” light started flashing. The oil pressure gauge had suddenly dropped right down.

We already had the oil sensor replaced from the last time it happened.

So I popped on the hazards and pulled over.

Of course, the first thing I did was check the oil level. We had an oil change done when the sensor was replaced, so it should have been full.

It was. Looked pretty clean, too.

I still added a small amount. It was a fight to get the oil cap off (thank goodness we keep a stool in the truck, or I couldn’t have reached it!), and one of the first things I noticed was the interior. It looked almost as if the black plastic was blistered.

It wasn’t.

It was ice.

So I added a bit of oil, then cleaned out the inside of the cap as thoroughly as I could before putting it back and running the engine for a bit before checking the oil again.

Definitely plenty of oil.

Well, we weren’t going to take a chance. Once everything was put away, we turned around and went home, while my husband messaged our daughters to open the gate for us.

The warning light did not turn on again, and the gauge stayed within the range it was supposed to.

The gate was ready and open for us, so I pulled straight in to the garage, stopping only to get the walker out for my husband before pulling the rest of the way in.

As soon as we were inside and settled, I called the garage and left a message describing what happened. Our mechanic called back within minutes.

He asked a few more questions, and he basically confirmed what I already suspected. Most likely, there was a bit of ice from condensation getting into the sensor and triggering that warning. Basically, the engine needed to warm up longer. He has seen this before, but only with GM vehicles.

Hmmm.

Since we know there is plenty of oil, he basically said, if it happens again, it’s not a panic. That was the main thing. The last time it happened, the truck turned out to be almost completely out of oil, even though there were no visible signs of a leak, nor were we burning blue. There is a separate warning light for low oil, and that never turned on. Replacing the sensor also took care of the leak, and the oil level has been steady, since.

Well, I’ll take this as a sign we weren’t meant to go to the smaller city today.

Tomorrow morning, I’ll be meeting with my brother at our mother’s for a visit. It’ll be earlier than usual, since he has to leave by noon, but this is his Christmas visit to my mother, as they’ll be visiting the grand kids for Christmas and New Year’s.

If the cold we got hit with last night is why this happened with the truck, though, it should be fine, tomorrow. We’re expected to dip below -20C/-4F for a few hours this evening, but start warming up throughout the night. By the time I should be leaving in the morning, we are expected to be warmer than we are right now. Long range forecast no longer says we’re supposed to get as warm as 6C/43F around Christmas, but it does still say we’ll be hovering around the freezing mark on those days. We will be doing our dinner on Christmas Eve. I will be setting aside a couple of meals and plan to go to my mother’s to have lunch with her on Christmas day.

Hopefully, the truck sensors will behave!

For the rest of today, though, it’s another home day, after all! I’ll be working on more garden analysis posts, instead. 😄

On a semi related note, a while back I wrote about how I was suddenly seeing ads on YouTube again. I ended up getting an updated version of Firefox and installing their adblocker, as it was the only one that still worked. I was still getting them on my phone’s app, to the point I could no longer play YouTube videos at all, they were so intrusive. Which meant, no playing background playlists to help me sleep.

Well, that has stopped as suddenly as it started. I no longer see YouTube ads on any browser I use, nor on my phone app. None of them had gotten updates, either.

Very strange, but I’ll take it!

Oh, this is too funny! I just got a message from the Cat Lady.

One of the cats they took from us was a muted calico we called Muffin. She was an outside cat friendly enough that we could get her into a carrier. She went to them to be spayed, get the usual vet checks, then go up for adoption. Instead, she bonded with the Cat Lady’s husband, and they are still inseperable.

Today, she is out with him, delivering Christmas bonuses and drinking Starbucks.

Muffin still hates the Cat Lady, for some reason – she’s never had any other cat behave like this towards here before. Muffin still tries to bite her, every day, even though she doesn’t have teeth anymore. But she adores the Cat Lady’s husband, attended Zoom calls with him, goes out to job sites, and when she has to stay home, sits at the window, crying for him all day. It’s got to the point that all these hardened contractors now look forward to seeing Muffin. Too funny!

Well, time to adjust my plans and see what I can get done, now that it’s turned out to be a home day.

The Re-Farmer

We have a truck again!

/ Re-Farmer / 4 Comments

Wow, what a day today turned out to be!

Since the truck was booked to be looked at tomorrow morning, I rescheduled my mother’s shopping and errands to today. The plan was to do her errands, making sure to bring along our water jugs that needed refilling, so that I could go to the town nearer to us and fill them while running some errands of our own before going home.

Early this morning, I got a text reminder – at about 7am! – from Canadian Tire for our 7am appointment on Monday, saying to make sure to be there ahead of time and be ready to drop off the keys; standard stuff. I responded by saying the vehicle was already there, and they already had the keys.

It was probably around 9am when I got the first call from them.

They had already looked at the truck!

The problem was, indeed, a wheel bearing. I asked how much it would be, and it was thankfully lower than I feared. Being just the one tire, the total came to less than $500. I was half expecting both tires and a $1000 bill.

I authorized the work, which took a few texts, another call, then an email, because the link they texted me wouldn’t work on my phone. Instead, I got a message saying I needed to complete the process on my computer – but I don’t have text to desktop set up on this computer. In the end, all I needed to do was text back “approved”, but what they were trying to send me was the document showing an itemized list of what was to be done, and the cost of each item.

So that got approved just in time for me to start heading out to my mother’s.

Except…

I didn’t realize it, but my younger daughter was planning to come with me! I misunderstood something she’d said. She was behind on doing the morning cat feeding and the morning rounds, so I switched out one of the trail cam memory cards while she did the other. Everything else got skipped.

The slight delay turned out to be a good thing, because I’d forgotten the water jugs!

It’s a good thing I started heading out early. By the time we finally got everything ready, we were on the road exactly when I knew was the latest we could leave and get there for the time I told my mother I would be there.

When we got to my mother’s, I went in to get and go over her list with her. My daughter stayed in the car. With how my mother behaves towards her, she has no interest in being around her grandmother anymore and, to be honest, I can’t blame her one bit.

Normally, our first stop would have been the pharmacy, but they were still closed, so we went to the grocery store instead. They opened their doors at 11am – pretty much as we were parking! I keep forgetting about Sunday hours.

My daughter stayed in the car for that part, too, as there was nothing she needed there. That done, it was back to the pharmacy. It was still closed, so we went looking for the posted hours and realized they opened at noon, so we still had time. We took advantage of that and went to the gas station to fill my brother’s tank, which was just below half by then – it still feels so strange to be able to fill at tank for $30! That’s a quarter tank, on our truck.

I also picked up some fried chicken and wedges for our lunch, along with some drinks, since we would still have to wait. After parking by the pharmacy again, I called my mother to let her know we were waiting for the pharmacy to open at noon, so we would be longer. Then we had our lunch – very carefully, so as not to drop any crumbs in my brother’s car! – and watched all the people going to the pharmacy doors, realizing they were locked, then leaving again. 😄

As we were waiting, I got a text from the garage.

The truck was ready.

!!!!!

At this point, I’d already made arrangements with my brother and SIL for switching vehicles tomorrow. The garage already knew about this, so that was not an issue.

They were done so early, though. After updating my brother, he wondered if we meant to get it today, instead.

On finding out the garage was open until 6, and it was barely noon, we decided to just finish my mother’s shopping, then head straight to my brother’s, then to the city to get the truck.

After I did my mother’s shopping at the pharmacy and my daughter did part of hers, we went back to my mother’s place. She isn’t up to going to church lately, even though it’s just across the street, so someone comes over with communion for her, after services. She was all set up for this when I got there, so I quickly told her what was going on as I put her things away. I was just packing up my reusable bags when there was a knock at the door. Perfect timing! It was the guy from church.

So, off I went and soon, my daughter and I were on the road to my brother’s new place.

This is the first time I’ve driven to their place myself; I’ve been driven there as a passenger, and I’ve driven FROM their place, and everything looked different. I kept second guessing myself when I knew we were getting close. I had a landmark building I told my daughter about. It’s been there for probably 100 years. I told my daughter, it’s now an antique store.

“But what do they sell?” she asked me.

…

It took me a few moments. I’m not too swift with jokes.

I then laughed for the next 5 minutes!

Finally we got there, and then I had to remember which driveway was the right one. They’re in a row of townhouses now, and they all look identical, and I couldn’t remember their unit number. I recognized a car in another driveway, so I pulled into a driveway that I was pretty sure was theirs. I figured, if it was, their garage door opener would work. I knew which button closed the door, so I tried the other buttons to open it.

No garage doors opened.

I was still pretty sure we were at the right place. I could see some decor items near the door, but couldn’t remember if they were familiar to me or not.

Then, as we got out, I saw the block heater extension cord on the step, recognized that, and knew I was in the right place.

😄😄

Oh, and it turned out the same button on the garage door opener that closes it, opens it. We have no idea what the other two buttons are supposed to do. 😄

When we got there, they were all ready to set up a pot of tea and stuff, but I didn’t want to delay. The garage would be open for a few more hours but, since we were in the city, we could still do our errands at a nearby Walmart, and fill our water jugs at the Canadian Tire. So we were soon out the door again. Both my brother and SIL came along and drove us to the garage, taking advantage of the trip themselves to look for things.

When we got there, we were able to spot the truck fairly easily, so my brother pulled in behind it while we transferred my daughter’s shopping to the truck box – where I found the box with the old wheel bearings they’d left for me – and grabbed the water jugs, then my brother parked.

My brother went in to the auto service area with me while my daughter and SIL took the water jugs into the store to refill them.

I got the keys and paperwork for the truck and then got sent over to the cashier on the store side of the barrier to pay for it. Boom, boom, boom, and it was done!

I was so happy!!!!! What a relief!

We reconnected with my daughter and SIL soon after. They couldn’t find the refill station. I went to where I thought it was, completely forgetting that this is a different store than where I’d refilled at before. After looking around, I finally asked an employee.

This location doesn’t have a refill station. They only did Culligan brand exchanges.

Well… so much for that!

I put the jugs back in the truck, then met back up with everyone else in the store again. Since we didn’t need to get anything else and my brother and his wife were going to do some more looking around, we said our goodbyes and parted ways.

With the Costco pretty much across the street, I figured I would at least go there to fill the tank with cheaper gas.

Then we saw the lineups of cars at all the pumps.

We went straight to the Walmart, instead.

It was really busy, too!

My daughter had her list and I had mine, so we parted ways for a bit, then reconnected in the grocery section. We didn’t bring in the water jugs, though, because I didn’t know if this Walmart had a refill station.

We never did see one, so probably not.

By the time we were done and paid for our stuff – I didn’t take any stocking up photos, like I usually do, as we were just in high gear, the whole time – it was starting to snow quite a bit. So we just took the time to update the family before we started out. Well… updated my husband, as my older daughter would have still been in bed. She just closed the slots for her Christmas quick commissions sale, while also having several regular commissions to complete, last night, so she is going to have some very busy work nights for the next couple of weeks. She then takes time off for Christmas and New Years.

I also updated the Cat Lady whenever I could, throughout the day, and confirmed that we will NOT be rescheduling those spays she booked for us on Thursday!

She had good news for me, too. A friend of hers had donated 50 cans of wet cat food to us! That’s on top of the 100 or so, she is going to pass on to us because her own cats won’t eat that flavour, plus some kibble a grocery store donated. When we meet up with her at the vet, she’s going to have all sorts of donated cat food to pass on to us! In fact, we might find ourselves with enough wet cat food that we might be able to treat the outside cats to some cat soup! The Cat Lady is so awesome in being able to do this for us!

If we can keep it from freezing.

We’ll figure it out.

She said she even ordered more kibble for us from Amazon, though with the postal strike, it’s hard to say when it’ll get here. It’s a rotating strike; mail gets delivered in some places, while others are picketing, then it changes every week. So mail can potentially get through, at some point. We just have no idea when or where.

This strike is killing a lot of small businesses that depend on shipping out orders. Especially this time of year, when most businesses have their highest sales, putting them in the black before the end of the year. Some things just can’t be shipped by courier.

Anyhow.

For most of the drive out of the city, we took things easy. Nearer the city, roads were icy, but they cleared up the further north we drove. Which was good, because visibility decreased at the same time!

We got to the town nearest us and made our first stop for my daughter to run in and get what she needed while I updated the family again. Then it was to the grocery store. This time, I ran in with the water jugs to refill them – and picked up some food for my daughter, since she was too stressed out to choose something to eat on the road. She’s even worse for crowds and shopping than I am!

By the time we were done there, it was full dark. We made one more stop for gas, since we didn’t get any at Costco, then finally we headed home.

The snow was coming down harder by then, and I was very glad my daughter was with me. I had to focus on the road directly in front of us, just to stay in my lane. I couldn’t see the centre line, but I could make out the shoulder, at least. Thankfully, there wasn’t much traffic. Still, at times we were doing only 60 kph in a 100 zone.

My daughter, meanwhile, was on deer watch, scanning the ditches for me. You’d think deer would be hunkering down in shelter somewhere in weather like this, but nooo. These are Canadian deer. They’ll stand in the middle of the road and wait for the vodka to freeze.

Credit to my daughter for that one… 😄

So this day ended up being much, much longer than expected. The outside cats hadn’t been fed before it got dark, like we usually try to do. My older daughter wasn’t up yet, and my husband can’t manage getting kibble to all the spread out food bowls anymore, now that there’s ice and snow on the ground making it more dangerous for him to hobble about, even with a cane.

Which worked out, really, since we had to feed them to get them away from the truck before I could park it.

We had some very hungry babies. By the time I finished doing the outside trays and bowls and came back into the sunroom, the sunroom trays were almost empty!

As for me, I was very happy to be parking our own truck in the garage, instead of a borrowed car.

I’m so incredibly thankful they were able to get it done today, and that we could work out the transportation and vehicle switching with my brother and SIL on such short notice.

Best of all…

All the time that we were driving, all I was hearing was normal road noises. 😄

When I get a chance, I want to bring in the old part from the truck and take a look at the damage. I’m curious to see what kind of damage would make the noise I was hearing, since it was so different from the last vehicle we had to replace wheel bearings on.

To top it off, we now no longer have anyplace we will potentially need to go to, tomorrow. My mother’s errands are done, and now the truck is home, too.

We can actually *gasp* stay home for a day!

Which is good, because it’s supposed to be colder, tomorrow. The next day – Tuesday – is supposed to be warmer, so that will be a good time to make a much needed trip to the dump and, since I’d be going in that direction anyhow, go to the town north of us and get a couple of 40 pound bags of kibble. Yes, we have cat food donations coming, but you just can’t have too much kibble! Especially in winter. It’s looking like we will have a mild winter, but if things ever change and we end up not being able to get out for some reason, we need to have the pantry stocked up with enough for all of us – humans and feline alike. In the winter, I want to have at least one, preferably two, months worth of supplies on hand. We’ve already have a few times when we’ve relied on our stocked up items. It’s getting harder to keep it up, with the cost of everything going up, but I view this as an essential.

An essential, like our truck is!!

Have I mentioned, how glad I am that our truck is back?

😄😄

The Re-Farmer