Car Talk

Yesterday, while driving me and Koko to Edgewood, my friend D & I had much to talk about on many subjects. We were traveling in his little diesel burning car which gets many miles to the gallon (a.k.a. kilometers to the liter). He was telling me all the advantages to having a small car and especially a diesel burner. He also tells me he likes to have a good flashlight along in case of emergencies along the roads and that he is fond of led flashlights. He is a very environmentally friendly type preferring to use as little fuel as possible and it would be his wish to live off the grid entirely, something I expect to see him doing one day. D of course talked about the advantages of solar power in our homes, of wanting to research electric cars, etc. He even went so far as to tell me that his 4 door sedan would cost less to travel in that my trike would be. It cost me around $20 in gas to drive my trike to Edgewood & back, much less than it would cost to drive my truck. His car.... we didn`t fuel up so can`t say for sure, but it took about 1/4 tank of fuel and it costs him about $50 to fill it up... so likely about $12-15 for the round trip we took. DANG, it is cheaper to drive than my trike... though I guarantee it`s not as fun.

Learning

I really enjoy learning things. I wish I had realized this when I was a teenager in school, when my parents were paying all the bills and I had a fresh young mind just waiting to be filled with knowledge. Instead, I got married after grade 10... I was only 17 years old. How dumb is that!!! Now that I have been 39 years old for several years, and divorced for many more years than that, I think I am still too young for marriage, though not too old to still learn things. I don`t think that at this time I would go for Online Graduate Schools, but I do know that I learn lots of things through reading a lot of books and from taking part in life as well as going to Toastmasters. Not that I would ever knock any way of learning and certainly not of getting a certificate in something that interests you, just that I think we all must gain our knowledge in different ways at different times. I have taken my GED so have my grade 12 equivalency and at this time in my life don`t even feel I use most if any of what I learned there. I've taken many spiritual type courses and loved those though currently am not taking any classes. It`s been a fabulous summer and now is getting close to time for going back to Toastmasters after the summer holidays. I look forward to it and also I am sad to see the end of summer so near.

Remembering

I remember back in the 'old days' when we went to the grocery store and selected all the stuff we wanted to by, then took it all to the counter at the front where there was a person that ran it all through by hand. They either knew the cost per pound or knew the item number off by heart. Not at all like today when they just know how to pass the items over a barcode scanner and let the computer do the work. I know this must make it easier for the cashier, though I find myself thinking that it's something of a 'no mind' job now. When I was a waitress years ago, we had to make change for people when they paid their bills... without having a til to tell us how much change to give. You just had to figure it out yourself. We even counted the money back.... for example, the bill may have been $9.15 and you were given a $20 bill. You would count back the change saying "$9.15" hand them a dime "9.25" hand them 3 quarters "$10", then maybe give them a couple $5 bills and say "$20".

Ahhh, the change of the times. I don`t know if this is good or bad, it just is.

Doggone Dog Gone

Last Wednesday, I got a 'new dog'. I drove my trike all the way to Edgewood, a 2 hour drive or more from here to look at this dog and brought her home. She, Koko, is a very cute dog. Her father, from what I was told, is pure Rottweiler, while her mother is 1/2 Great Pyreneese, 1/4 German Shepard & 1/4 Black Lab. A gentle type dog and very pretty. However, Koko had problems. Before I got her I was told she was an outdoor dog and after I brought her home I found out that before being an outdoor dog she was allowed in the house and up onto the furniture. I had known I would have to house train this 5 1/2 month old dog, but hadn't known I'd also have to teach her to stay off the furniture and off the kitchen counter. She had a bad habit of jumping up and taking whatever she could from the counter, and broke one of my good bowls while doing so. This is not even why I finally decided to return her to her previous owners. You see, every time I took her for a drive in my trike she got sick, either heavily drooling/slobbering, or outright throwing up. At first it wasn't too bad, though as time progressed instead of getting better she was getting much worse. I didn't have the option of leaving her home while I went out as each time I was out of her site, and some times in her site but more than 3 feet away from her, Koko had panic attacks, barking/whining/yelping until I returned to her side. 2 out of 3 times that I put her into Reba's old dog pen she managed to find a way out and disappear. The first time she came home after about 12 hours... the second time it took her 2 days to return. Obviously, though a very nice dog, she and I are not a match. I know she is much more suited to the life she had and now has again, living waaaaaay out in the country with a family that has 3 other dogs and never takes her for a drive. I thought perhaps it was due to the trike, so a friend drove us in his car and I sure am glad I put a tarp in the back seat for Koko to sit on as she puked 2 times on her way home as well as was soaking wet from drooling.

Will I get another dog?? Only time will tell. I love dogs and at this time I feel it's not the right time for me to get a new one. If I am meant to have another one it will happen and in the meantime my cat, rabbit, 4 chinchillas & 9 birds will have to be enough.

Pictures

I was just talking to a friend of mine about doing digital camera reviews. I have 2 digital cameras and have loved taking photos. I used to use a 35mm camera before the digitals came out. Mostly I like taking photo of scenery and animals, some of friends & family. The other night I got to take some nice shots of a young fawn whose mother was killed on the highway, so these people are raising it on goats milk. This baby deer hangs out with their dogs. I would show you a photo or two of this fawn but they are all still in my camera and the camera is on my trike.

Getting Old

A couple days ago, my friend Art popped by to tell me he's moving away. He just turned 65 in July and has been on the provincial disability pension for some years. Now he's cut off that as well as the medical & dental from that only lasts for 1 year, so he has to live on the national social security benefits. He told me he can't afford to live in Canada anymore, so is moving to Thailand as it's so much less costly to live there. I wish him well and think it would be great to visit Thailand and other countries, though don't really want to leave Canada. In 11 1/2 years I will be having to make this decision though, as it will be my turn to become 65.

Monday

I spent a quiet, relaxing morning at home, followed by swimming with Joyce & her daughter Melissa. We get together several times a week to go swim together. I have been doing 17-18 laps of the pool, and am told that 32 laps is 1 mile, so I do my 1/2 mile + 1 or 2. I plan to work my way up to the full mile in time. Just now my right arm & shoulder give me a lot of pain so I don't want to really push it, though it hurts less when in the water than it does any other time. The worst time is when I lay down, then the pain increases (I don't know why). This makes for very poor sleep each night. I currently have shooting pain going down the arm from just below the shoulder joint to the elbow... a challenge to type. It was bothering me some before I started riding my trike, so I know it's not from that, or at least not all from that. The left arm bothers me too but not anywhere near as much as the right one. Anyway, after the swim, as usual we sat in the hot tub for awhile, then showered and went on our way.

From the pool I rode about a half hour to Lumby where several of my friends were gathering for a birthday party at the pub. We not only enjoyed each others company and ate good food, we also sang a lot. Roy, the birthday boy (81 years young) is always bursting out in song, and with 2 other singers and us others that wish we were singers, we had a grand time. After awhile they turned up the music in the pub, perhaps to shut us up, but it didn't work, haha. Also, there was another table of people sitting just up from us that joined us in song. When we were all leaving, 6 of us (there had been 11 of us there) stood outside with our arms around each other, talking and singing. The feeling of Love is strong in a group like this. I sometimes think it would be great to have custom mugs made to commemorate these kind of days.

I rode home in the rain, thankfully not raining terribly hard but raining none the less. I was grateful for any little patch of road where it wasn't raining, and for my windshield. Though the windshield on a motorcycle is not high enough to totally block you from the rain, it does help a lot.

Sunday

The last several days have been very busy and wonderful.

On Sunday, I went to the Centre for Spiritual Living just as the service came to an end, because I wanted to connect with some friends there. Raymond & Blenda went north to Atlin, BC for a couple months and just returned, though only for a few days. They had planned to stay here for the winter, making this their home base from which they do their traveling then return. While they were in Atlin their plans changed and now they will be going to Victoria area to spend time with his nephew who, in his mid 40s, has had a bad stroke. Then they will be house sitting a short way from Victoria until next spring. I am saddened that they won't be around here, yet I know that this is meant to be for some reason as it all just came in the way it was meant to come. I spent the afternoon with Raymond & Blenda at their camp spot, along with Linda & Tjana, other friends from the Centre.

I left their camp spot about 5:15, in a hurry to get to Enderby, a town north of here where my Mom lives. Much of my family was meeting there for dinner at the Chinese restaurant. Present were: Mom, my eldest sister Anne from the Vancouver area, Anne's only son Denny from Enderby, with his family (girlfriend Brandy & her 2 kids, just moved up from Mississippi to live with Denny) and his son Dustin from Vancouver area. (Denny's 2 daughters were not here.) My other sister Marcy was also there with her husband Randy & their granddaughter Kennedy. Their son Blake & girlfriend Bev were there, though daughter Shannon, husband Brad & son Carter weren't there. My older brother wasn't there nor were any of his family. My younger brother Bernie & wife Karen were there from north of Edmonton, Alberta. None of their 3 grown children were there. So, 15 of us were there. After a wonderful dinner we went to Marcy & Randy's home to visit more over tea & coffee.

My friends that hadn't yet seen my trike were very interested in it and very impressed with it... my family members didn't even say a word about it. Normal.

It was a most beautiful night for a ride home, as I of course went up there on my trike.

Dew Rags

Whether you call it a Dew Rag, a Du-rag, a Doo-rag, or a bandanna, this is a popular form of head wear with youth and adults alike. They are multi-purpose, they are fashionable and they keep sweat out of your eyes. Dew rags make a fashion statement on both men and women. They can also protect your hairdo. You can easily make a Doo-rag out of just about anything, including a T-shirt. I call it a Dew Rag, as it 'catches the dew' from my forehead. These are worn under helmets by many people who ride motorcycles. I don't know if it's a way how to prevent hair loss, but it does help hide 'helmet head' or 'helmet hair', that flattened down messed up hair from being a long time in a helmet. I really enjoy wearing mine & several people have said it looks good on me... bonus.
The Dew Rag I have is black with blue & white, it's from Mexico & has Speedy Gonzales on it. I got lucky & picked this up second hand last week for just $1. Fits my budget & my head as well as my life style.


I've been looking at it and thinking it would not be hard to make these bandannas. Not that I'm a great sewer, but I can sew some and do have a sewing machine. All I need is a pattern. I guess I could take this one apart and use it to make a pattern, but I would prefer not to do that.


You can make these out of a variety of different materials. I probably wouldn't use leather as I'm not a leather artist, don't know how to work with it, though I do have a couple old leather jackets that I could cut up... hmmmm. At my favorite 2nd hand store I can buy lots of bits or different fabrics. I'm thinking if I got good at making these not only would I be able to have several for myself but also maybe sell some... something to think about. Make a good supply and take them to the Farmer's Market might be something that could work out. Yup, something to think about.

Wendy

Wow, did I ever have a hard time getting here this evening. There has been cable interruptions and such happening. My friend Wendy would say it was something to do with meteor showers or star bursts or something along those lines. Speaking of Wendy, she was saying the other day she's likely going to insure her Harley... finally. Of course, things like this always depend on the almighty dollar and whether we have it or not. Wendy has to put a new roof, gutters, etc on her house so has not been riding so far this year. Around here, in our province, you can't compare companies to get the cheapest car insurance, there is just one government run insurance corporation where we all have to get our insurance. Well, at least we have to get the basic insurance there, though you can get 'extras' elsewhere. Anyway, I sure hope Wendy does get on the road soon. I am so looking forward to riding with her. So far, 98% of my riding is done by myself and that's okay though I would love to do more riding with other people. I recently joined the BC Classic Motorcycle Club online forum and drove 2 hours south to Penticton for a Okanagan Motorcycle Riders Association meeting. I want to meet other riders, just for the fun of it.

Wendy & her daughter, Nae, are planning a ride to Prince George the end of this month, about 8 hours north of here, or more depending on how fast you drive. I might go along on this, will have to decide. Would be fun, though my arms have been hurting a lot lately so will see.