034 OUR MISSION, IS MISSION

Finishing off the last day before Renee goes home and back to work, we decided after our usual one hour walk with Toby, to head out and take a look around the District of Mission.  It’s only about 15 or 20 minutes down the road and is a nice little town.  There is also the famous Westminster Abby on top of the mountain.

We rolled through the town of Mission, and it reminded me so much of small town America that you see featured in movies and TV series.  Mission has in fact been used as a substitute for small town America when Hollywood is filming up here.  Right on the main street is a collection of mom & pop type stores and café’s that will be neat to explore another day.  On the outskirts of town are some of the big box stores like Wal-Mart.  It’s even more quiet and laid back here than Maple Ridge.

I was really expecting something special when we headed up to the Abby.  I’m not sure really what I was expecting, really.  I guess it was old Gothic architecture, like the Christchurch Cathedral in downtown Vancouver.  We went on a scenic little drive with an overview of the less populated area of the valley.  It was pretty in its own right, but I think it will be more spectacular in a couple of weeks when all the blossoms are out.  Autumn could be very special as well, with the leaves changing colour.

Anyway, we finally made it up to the parking lot of the Abby and were greeted by a flat grey concrete structure.  Even the steeple was concrete, as was the cross on top.  It was rather a letdown for me, because as I said, I was expecting more.  There was one wall that you could see, had been covered in ivy, but it had all been stripped away.  There were a few out buildings that still had ivy climbing the walls and while they were concrete as well, they looked a little more special.

Renee took Toby out for a short walk and to stretch his legs a bit.  I waited in the truck as my back is bad today.  Eventually they returned and we started the trek back down the mountain to explore a little more.  While on our way home, I received a return call from the handyman who has been recommended to us for installing the chandelier and ceiling fan we bought yesterday.

MEDIEVAL STYLE CHANDELIER

Once we got home, Renee suggested we put them together to save time for him and money for me.  No sense paying to have him assemble these things when I am quite capable of doing so.  The chandelier went together quickly, the ceiling fan, not so much.  Anyway after a bit of swearing, all the parts are together and ready to be installed.  I think they will really fit the décor, especially the chandelier which has a distinct medieval feel to it, matching the table and chairs.

CEILING FAN FOR THE LIVING ROOM

I’m going to have this fellow hang the big painting from the living room in the old house.  It’s not that it is that difficult, but he will be here and I have no idea where my tools are.  It’s going to take some fairly precise measuring as well, to get this properly aligned in the alcove.  I tend to rush a bit with things like that and consequently, things don’t hang quite the way they should.  So, better to get the pro do it.

After dinner, I managed to jamb the garburator somehow and despite repeated efforts, can’t get it unstuck.  I’ll work on it tomorrow when I have more time as Renee and Toby want to go for an evening walk while the sun is shining at it is still warm out.  I’m going to have to set the alarm tonight as lately I have been sleeping past 6:00 Am and Renee has to be up extra early to catch the Westcoast Express back into town.

033 EXPLORATORIUM

Now with the cooking adventures resolved for the time being, and the house starting to approach a state of organization, we have turned our attention to exploring the new community.  It certainly helps when we get these sunshine days or at least part days, to make the adventure more complete.

The other day we travelled about 10 minutes down the road to Cliff Park to see the twin falls of Kanaka Creek.  There is an interesting bit of information that we learned about this area and Kanaka Creek especially, the next day.  More on this later.

After hitting the parking lot and starting the short walk down to the falls, I figured that would be it.  I was wrong.  Thankfully, the falls or at least the viewing areas for the falls are down low and my fear of heights didn’t kick in, unlike when I visited Helmeken Falls a couple of years back.  I lugged my big camera and lens with me as well as a wide angle lens and Renee brought the backup camera with a medium wide angle lens.

I’m not much of a landscape photographer and shooting waterfalls is a new experience.  I see some pretty incredible photos of them, but mine are not them.  The biggest mistake I made was not having a tripod or neutral density filters.  This would have allowed slow shutter speeds which would have blurred the water into that “spun glass effect”, that is so popular.  I wasn’t too keen on lugging around that tripod though.

We wandered through the trails, up and down hills and over bridges.  It was pretty spectacular with most of the tree branches and fences covered in a very pretty moss.  It made for some very ghostly type views.  The other thing on display of course was stupidity.

At one point as we were walking, there was a fence which had signs prominently displayed which said “danger!  Slippery rocks and cliffs”.  Sure enough this couple climbed over the fence, right over the sign and disappeared into the bush.  I haven’t heard of any rescue operations yet, but this is why S&R gets called out so much in the lower mainland.

Later on during the walk, we saw two women with their dog sitting on a rock, in the river just a few feet from the lip of the falls.  I’m not sure how much of a drop it was at that point, but going over would do some serious damage, not to mention the hypo-thermia from the extremely chilly waters.

DANGER SEEKERS

It was a much longer expedition than I expected starting out, with just over 4 km and two hours of hiking.  Granted if visiting the park, you can still get some amazing views just on a short 5-minute walk from the parking lot.  Returning to the parking lot, Renee found a hand written sign reporting a bear sighting.  That’s not quite the thing you want to find on return from a hike.  Then again, I guess it’s better than finding the bear itself.

The next day, we spent an hour loading up the truck for another trip to the re-cycling depot.  Cardboard galore, Styrofoam by the arm-load, paper, metal, old appliances, batteries etc.  It is amazing how much re-cyclable material we have produced in the two weeks since moving in.  But the Maple Ridge re-cycling depot is amazing, and apparently we weren’t the only ones with the idea.  There was a vehicle line-up 5 or 6 blocks long to get in.  That was until I realized that it was the line for the “Transfer Station” which is a fancy term for The Dump.  There is a separate lane for re-cycling but even there it was a steady stream of vehicles jockeying for position.

CARDBOARD TO THE BIN

OFF LOADING

RENEE GRABS THE LAST PIECES

Once that was done we headed to a nearby park on the Fraser River and went walking along the shores of both the Fraser River and Kanaka Creek.  My back was killing me from the morning walk with Toby, loading the truck and then unloading it, so I was determined that we were not going to go too far.  Yeah, sure.  I did take it pretty slow, but we still went a fair distance.  Got some photos of geese and a few other things, but it was pretty warm and during the heat of the day there wasn’t too many birds or other wildlife out.  Return trips will be in order at some point but there are many more things to explore in the area. 

032 NOW WE'RE COOKING WITH GAS...SORT OF

I spoke yesterday of my major cooking disaster involving smoke alarms.  Well, I am back to report things went much more smoothly today.  Not perfect mind you, but certainly much better.  I’ve discovered as well that when cooking something while you and your guest(s) are hungry is not the best time to be a) learning a new recipe or b) and more importantly, not the time to be learning how to use a new appliance.

Let me preface by saying that I turned on the range hood while I was mixing ingredients this morning, sort of a preemptive strike as it were.  I also want to say that I generally do not like waffles, but Renee does and so I promised her waffles for breakfast.

The recipe was given to by my son who got it from his Mom and he proclaimed it makes the best waffles I have ever eaten.  So, how bad could it be?  Anyway, the recipe was easy to follow along and to put the ingredients together.  The instructions for the waffle maker?  Not so much.  I read the manual through, really I did.  There were a few terms there that left me confused, but usually once you start using something, things tend to clear up.

Now, I will say that the screw-ups on my part were strictly mine alone.  The recipe said to fill the waffle maker.  The instructions in the waffle maker said to pour a half to ¾ cup on the center and close the lid.  I chose to fill it.  Suddenly hot batter is leaking out the sides as it expands.  It was dripping down both sides and luckily the splash pan was there to catch it, although it was soon full, and the spillover process began anew.

Finally, the bell rang to indicate turning the pan over.  Now this is the Cuisinart rotary waffle maker but the instructions were vague as how to do that.  I finally figured out you have to press down and twist.  Then I turned it back and opened it.  Oops, way too soon.  There was a crisp outer, but the insides were still gooey, and I closed the lid again.

FIRST EVER WAFFLE

Finally, it was cooked enough to serve.  Let me tell you.  Non-stick surfaces aren’t necessarily.  It took 15 minutes to clean both sides of the platter.  Apparently I was supposed to spray it with PAM or smeared it with oil.  The sizable pieces actually tasted ok.  Anyway, cleanup done, it was time to try again.  This time I tried it the way I should have the first time.  Since I didn’t have any PAM I wiped it down with oil.  I added the correct amount of batter and started the process.  When the bell dinged, I turned it.  When it dinged again, I opened it and there it was.  An actual proper waffle.  Renee loved the waffles, I thought they were ok, but still not a huge fan of them.

Later on it was time to do dinner.  Again I turned on the range fan while getting ingredients together.  Tonight’s dinner was tacos.  I don’t usually heat up the hard taco, but then again I didn’t have a fancy new oven before either.  So while the beef filling was merrily cooking on the range, oh and I figured out quickly that with gas and a stainless steel pan, you don’t need to cook on high.  So a more manageable medium heat was used.

Now talk about all the bells and whistles on a stove or oven.  This thing is computerized.  Trying to even turn it on was an adventure that defied logic as Spock would say.  Finally, I figured out the rapid pre-heat, except after that was done, I couldn’t figure out how to set the oven to bake.  Once that was done, setting the timer was another adventure.  Who knew that pressing 5:00 was 5 hours, not 5 minutes.  Apparently you just need to press 5 for that.  So the taco shells got heated, but I didn’t expect them to close up.

Getting the filling into them was like trying to squeeze myself into skinny jeans.  Ah but despite not having the tacos in the traditional way, two shells with filling between them made an acceptable taco sandwich. We had done a lengthy 4K hike up and around Kanaka Creek Falls, aka Cliff Falls and so after dinner I fell asleep in the recliner.

AT THE EDGE OF THE FALLS

But the adventures did not end there.  For years I had been telling Renee that I make the best peanut butter cookies, she convinced me it was time to prove it.  I had all the ingredients but inexplicably could not find vanilla extract.  No problem, the recipe works well without that ¼ teaspoon.

This time, I had no problem figuring out how to use the stand mixer and had the ingredients mixing up nicely, while I went back to refiguring out how to pre-heat the oven.  Finally got that going and got the cookies laid out on the sheet.  It’s been over twenty years since I last made them and I forgot to press them down with a fork.  I caught that as soon as I put the tray in the oven.

PRESSING THE COOKIES

Instead of greasing up my new non-stick “Cake Boss” cookie sheets.  I used parchment paper for the first time.  Parchment apparently acts as a non-stick surface itself and two nonstick surfaces together is like an ice skater on ice.  Trying to keep the cookies on the pan took for great balancing skills.  I finally got them in the oven and let them bake for 5-7 minutes, except they weren’t near done.

IN THEY GO

Apparently with this oven, when the timer hits zero, it shuts itself off.  That’s fine, but I had trouble getting it to go back on.  I put them on for another cycle, but still they needed more.  It was then that I discovered the “convection baking” setting on the oven, and things moved fast from there.  I got all the cookies on the cooling rack and Renee swiped one before 30 seconds had passed.  She loved it.

JUST LIKE THEY USED TO BE, MM MM GOOD

The batch made twenty cookies and I had three.  They were as good as I had ever made and I missed doing it.  Then I fell asleep in the recliner again.  Apparently while I was sleeping, little ghosts and goblins came and had their fill.  As Renee was heading up to bed she asked if the cookies should be left on the counter.  I told her I would put the balance in Tupperware.  There were exactly 7 cookies left.  I’d say they were a big hit.

031 KITCHEN DISASTERS

First off let me preface this story by saying that I am a great cook.  No, really I am.  Just ask anyone who has eaten my cooking, I do a pretty darn good job and did so with extremely limited resources.  At the old house I had a two burner hot plate, an electric wok and a BBQ.  In the last couple of years, I added a portable oven for doing turkey or roast beef.  So just imagine what I could do with this gorgeously big gas stove and all the new-fangled items.

Other than bacon and eggs earlier in the week, I had not really used the stove.  Tonight was going to be the penultimate test of the stove and my abilities.  The menu for tonight was T-Bone steak, baked potato, green peas and my special rum and butter mushrooms.  The BBQ is not connected to the gas line yet, so after reviewing a Gordon Ramsey recipe for cooking steak on the stove top, I decided to give it a shot.  Tonight was Renee’s return and so I wanted to cook a nice meal.

I fired up the cast iron stove top griddle and followed his instructions precisely.  Okay, I flat out forgot to turn on the range hood. The mushrooms were cooking merrily away, the potatoes were in the oven Within seconds of the meat hitting the hot griddle, the downstairs smoke detector tripped.  At that point I turned the range hood on high.  I could not see any smoke in the air, or coming off the griddle.  The smoke detector quickly stopped and I thought all was going to be ok.

Was I ever wrong!  Moments later, the downstairs smoke detector tripped again, only this time it was not shutting off.  To make matters worse a minute later the upstairs smoke detector tripped, just to add to the confusion and frustration.  Renee is mad at me because of the noise and that it was bothering Toby.  I’m in a state of confusion because I don’t know why the detectors are going.

On the bright side, at least I know the smoke detectors work.  On the even brighter side, at least the sprinklers didn’t go off, which would have been a total disaster.  I don’t really think that could have happened as I am pretty sure they need high heat, like from a fire to go off.  I did take time to open every window on the main floor.

Renee did her part though, expressing her disgust and frustration, although I could not hear her because of the alarms ringing, she gathered up Toby and went outside.  Not knowing what else I could possibly do, and because I know there is no danger, I kept cooking because I didn’t want to ruin the meal.

Before long, the meat was done and so were the mushrooms and potatoes and I was able to shut off all burners except the water boiling for the peas.  Soon enough, they were done and I guess because the stove was now off, the smoke detectors too shut off.  At that point Renee and Toby came back in.

She told me what happened outside, apparently this incident drew a small crowd.  Our security guard, one of the construction workers and Jennifer from the sales center.  They could hear the alarms going and saw the smoke billowing out from the range hood, which apparently really was doing its job.  They were wondering if I had sparked a fire and if I was ok inside.  Renee had to explain that I was cooking and set off the alarms.  I guess I am going to have a rep in the new neighbourhood as the guy who tested the smoke alarms with his cooking.

Obviously I am going to have to figure out my equipment and also figure out if there is a way to lower the sensitivity of the smoke detectors a bit.  The other thing I absolutely must remember to do is to turn on the range hood before I start cooking.  I’m also not going to be doing anymore stove top meat grilling and will leave that for when I get the BBQ hooked up to the gas line.

There is a happy ending to this tale of woe, the dinner was great.  The meat was perfectly done, although I probably should have seasoned it ahead of time.  The mushrooms turned out great as always and there’s not much of a way to screw up boiled green peas or a baked potato.  Renee still wasn’t too happy about it as we sat at the new table and missed the 6:00 PM news.  Oh well, at least I wasn’t the featured story for burning down the building or anything.

030 PLETHORA OF PACKAGING

The one thing that has become abundantly clear during this move is the overabundance of packaging material.  Not so much from the actual movers, although there is a lot of boxes, but the new stuff.  Almost every new item I have added is packed in a cardboard box and inside the items have been wrapped in plastic, encased in Styrofoam and wrapped in more cardboard.  It has taken one trip to the recycling depot with a pickup truck full of stuff and it’s going to take at least a couple of more.  Thankfully the moving company will come and get their boxes back.

Along those lines the recycling depot in Maple Ridge is amazing in that they take virtually everything.  They even take Styrofoam.  It’s kind of a fun adventure to arrive there with a truck full of junk and then sort it out, find the proper bin and dump it in.  My garage is almost half full of cardboard, plastic, and Styrofoam destined for there.  Not to mention the old junk that made its way here with the movers and I’m now taking the chance to declutter a bit.

The furniture people from The Brick have been great.  They bring in the furniture, unwrap it, set it up and then take away all of the packaging material.  They are probably required to by law or something, but it’s still nice to not have to worry about it myself.

Some people wonder why I have gotten this new stuff.  It’s because I have to.  After 20 years of living in the tiny basement suite, I pretty much had nothing related to household stuff.  I had no furniture other than a hide-a-bed that my son took.  It was a nice hide-a-bed but the faux leather covering was chipping off after only 3 years (thanks Sears).  Also I have slept on 3 different hide-a-beds over the years and so it was time for a real bed.

As for the couch, again, I didn’t have one as there was no room in my old place.  I indulged myself with a recliner because I have always wanted one and the huge TV to relax in front of.  Plus, I can now watch the hockey game downstairs and Renee can watch her programs upstairs.

NEW TOASTER

In the kitchen, I think over the years I prepared some pretty darn good meals with just a hot plate, electric wok and a BBQ, but I missed having an oven to bake things and cooking with gas is awesome.  All of my few kitchen utensils and pots were hand me downs and if I am going to explore my “chefly” abilities, I needed the proper tools to do the job.  Yes, in answer to some people’s comments, I could have gone upstairs and used Dad’s stove, but it’s a hassle running up and downstairs all the time checking on things.

"...AND IN THE MORNING WE'RE GONNA MAKE
WAFFLES." -Donkey from Shrek

I even got myself a waffle iron and I don’t like waffles.  Renee does though and maybe it will be an enticement for my kids to visit more.  Granted in the old place it was difficult to visit except in good weather months as they had no place to sit.  When they were little it didn’t matter as we all sat on the floor picnic style.  Now that they are grown up it’s a little more difficult.  Karl gave me a great, so they say, recipe for waffles that I’m going to try out.  He got it from his Mom.

MIXER FOR MAKING COOKIES

I plan on doing some baking as well.  My World Famous Peanut Butter Cookies from a modified recipe of my Mom’s.  Cinnamon Buns, just because I can.  There will be a variety of other tasty treats and meals that I just didn’t have the option to do before.  I’m actually a pretty good cook if I do say so myself, but I haven’t been able to practice it for a while.  The only stumbling block here, is that I have to learn the nuances of the new stove and oven.  Hopefully I won’t have any failures.

CROCK POT FOR CHILLI AND
SPAGHETTI SAUCE

ROASTING PAN FOR TURKEY
AND ROAST BEEF

NEW TOASTER BECAUSE
MINE BROKE

029 THIS IS THE END???

Today marks the proverbial finishing point for the move as it were.  The place is looking a lot less cluttered as most of the big boxes have been unpacked and places have been found for everything.  I have tossed away a lot more things and the stack of cardboard in the garage is huge again.  There is definitely another trip to the recycling depot in the offing.

The reason I call it the finishing point is that the last of the delivery or tradespeople is scheduled for today and then I don’t have to spend time waiting around for them to arrive.  I’ll still have to have someone come in and install the ceiling fan and the chandelier, but I have to actually pick those out first.  The living room surely needs a little more light, in the evening, although the old pole lamp from the house works quite fine for now.

I haven’t been to Starbucks in 4 days now, so maybe I can make it there today.  I also need to go to London Drugs and pick up some stuff and then Canadian Tire is having a huge sale on cookware and small appliances.  A 13 piece Lagostina cook set is regular priced at $1100 and it is on sale for $299 so I might as well jump on it.  I have researched everything I can and from what I can find out Lagostina is top rated for home chefs.

LAGOSTINA POT SET ON SALE
FOR $300 AT CANADIAN TIRE
REGULAR PRICE $1100

I had a couple of home cooked meals yesterday and finally got to use my stove.  I made a breakfast of bacon and eggs and for dinner I just ended up making vegetable soup and a salad.  I just didn’t feel like anything more.  Although I did have fresh strawberries for desert.  I sure wish I could have had them with milk, but my milk drinking days are long past me by now.

WHISTLING TEA KETTLE

There are only two boxes left in the dining room and living room to unpack and only one in the upstairs.  There’s still lots of stuff to carry up and down and to sort through, but the house is much more useable and looks a lot more livable now.  I don’t even want to think about all those boxes in the garage.  I will start to work on those at some point, but the priority was to get the living area finished off first.

Of course the advantage of getting to work on the boxes in the garage is that I will be able to find my tools and some other missing items.  More importantly, I should be able to slide the boat back another 10 feet or so which will comfortably allow me to bring the truck inside and stop parking it on the street.  It’s not a super big deal parking it there, it’s only a one block walk, but the whole idea of this garage from the beginning was to be able to park both the boat and the truck in the garage.

If for some reason I have miscalculated and the truck still won’t fit, I’ll slide the boat forward and I’ll be able to set up the pool table and have a little games room and maybe a little workshop.  Either way it works out will be fine with me.  In fact, I’m almost leaning towards the latter, but truck in the garage is more practical.

Renee returns on Thursday due to the Easter break and I hope I have made enough of a dent in everything to impress her.  I already know where the big painting of my Mom’s is going to go and that’s in the alcove between the two staircases, above the shelves.  From there, I’m not at all sure where to hang other paintings and photos.  Several people have suggested I have some of my more amazing photos enlarged, framed and make a feature wall of the more impressive ones.

Last night I watched James Bond Spectre on Blu-Ray on the newly wall mounted TV with sound bar attached and let me say that it was spectacular.  The sound is amazing and the picture is even more so.   Blu-Ray approaches full 4K Ultra-HD definition and it’s even better than seeing it in the theatre.  I can’t wait for the new Star Wars Force Awakens to be released on Blu-Ray.

I’m sure glad I opted for the 4K TV now, even though I was dead set against it.  Of course the only thing that ensured that, is that it was only $200 more than the equivalent size 1080 TV.  The only thing that could make this more of a movie going experience is popcorn and I have that covered as soon as I figure out where to put the popcorn maker.

028 SEMBLENCE OF NORMALCY

After a little more than a week in the new house, things are starting to settle into a sense of normalcy and set routines.  The first routine established from day one was Toby’s 9:00 AM walk.  It’s been added to though as he gets to take more than one walk in a day usually now.  He’s very insistent though.  Yesterday when we got back from hockey and parked on the street he pulled me toward the pathway.  Since I was waiting for the delivery from The Brick, I figured just take him a little way in so he could pee and then head home.  That wasn’t happening, he was very insistent and we ended up doing the full circuit.

TOBY CHILLIN' IN HIS BED

After grabbing my gear out of the truck and heading up the drive, The Brick guys phoned saying they were 10 minutes away.  Just after I got my gear unpacked and laid out for drying, they arrived.  They very efficiently carried the dresser, mirror and two side tables up to the bedroom and set them up.  Then came down and trudged back up the stairs with the dining room table and base and set it up.

DINING ROOM TABLE AND CHAIRS IN PLACE

All of them look great in their respective places.  It’s funny though.  Looking at the dresser and end tables, something didn’t seem right but I couldn’t put my finger on it.  Not until I went up to bed and went to put some clothes in a drawer, then I realized that they had forgotten to reverse the handles.  Handles are put on the inside of drawers for moving and then after they are in place, reversed.  I’ll take care of it later, no big deal.

BEDROOM SET COMPLETE

I made a real push yesterday and got the eight boxes left on the main floor down to two and managed to find some “missing stuff” like the electric wok.  However, in our big cleanup the other day, I may have inadvertently tossed away its power cord.  I had planned on getting a wok for use on the gas stove, so that may happen a little quicker than planned.

It was another intense 12 + hour day, starting with walking with Toby at 6:00 AM then heading to hockey for the last game of the season.  I’m finally starting to get back some lost hockey form.  I have been a little lost since the back injury two and a half seasons ago.  My mobility is better but my feared slap shot has all but disappeared.  Add to the injury the chore of breaking in a second set of new skates and being forced to switch to a one-piece carbon fiber stick and the problems mounted.  Age has certainly factored in as well.

On Saturday Caitlin and Trevor came over to visit and see the new place.  Both pronounced their liking for it.  It was nice to sit and visit and to actually have places for them to sit and visit.  Trevor proclaimed my couch the most comfortable he has sat on.  Discussions eventually came around to eating spots in Maple Ridge.  Trevor knows a bunch from working here.  After Caitlin cut my hair (first haircut in the new house) it was getting late in the day and we were all getting hungry.  After much discussion we decided to head to the Billy Miner Pub just down the road.

I had heard lots of good things over the years about the food at The Billy Miner and I can safely report they are all true.  I had the Billy Miner Burger and I truthfully have to rank it in the top three I have ever eaten.  For desert I had a piece of Red Velvet Cheesecake and my god it was to die for.  So delicious!  After we parted I debated going shopping to pick up some more items for the house, but went home instead.

INSTALLER FROM HANEY SEWING & SOUND

I had groceries delivered from Save-On and had fully planned on cooking dinner on the stove, but the groceries didn’t arrive until well after 6:00 PM and I was way too tired by this time to cook, so breakfast will be the first meal.  I sat down to a pizza dinner and watched the news.

TOBY "WATCHING TV"

When I came down this morning I was determined to cook breakfast and so I set about on my merry path to bacon and eggs.  Being new to these fancy new-fangled devices after having just a hot-plate to cook on for the past 20 years, I fired up the stove, but flat out forgot to turn on the range hood.  The inevitable happened and I set off the smoke detector.  Even that was fancy though and must have sensed I was cooking because it just let out two loud chirps and that was it.  Then again it wasn’t very smoky either.  Turning on the range hood fixed the problem.  Breakfast was great if I do say so myself.

DEMONSTRATION OF ULTRA HD 4K TV

Something I have noticed since moving is several chronic health problems seem to have fixed themselves.  The last 10 years or so I have suddenly been plagued by sinus headaches in the Spring, which I put down to allergies which I never used to have.  I have also suffered with a chronic cough ever since having pneumonia in late 2014, that is gone.  I have also had problems with IBS over the last number of years and that has cleared up as well.  I don’t think it’s a coincidence either.  70-year-old house, living in a cold drafty basement for 20 years and having the problems, into the new place and they are gone for now.

027 LIVING THE DREAM

It’s funny how you see all of these memes and videos about the unusual people of Wal-Mart.  I believe they are called Wal-Martians.  I bring this up because lately Renee and I have gone to Wal-Mart quite a bit.  Three times in one week in fact.  I never saw one of the supposed Wal-Martians anywhere, but then maybe they were us.  I can say one thing though, when setting up a new household, it’s a great place to get those little knick-knacks and things at a reasonable price.  Things like towels, bathroom mats, jeans, cutlery etc.

We have also been shopping Staples and The Brick.  I got a really nice glass topped computer desk for $299.  You can’t beat that.  Now granted, like Ikea I spent most of yesterday setting it up.  The accompanying bookcase got commandeered to hold the bedroom TV and control boxes.  This freed up my former TV stand made out of pieces of 2x12, for Renee to turn into a set of stairs so Toby can jump up and cuddle on the bed.

DESK IS SET UP, STILL NEEDS PRINTER

The dining room table for our chairs arrives tomorrow, which means I have to make a real push today to empty or at least move the last eight boxes in the dining room.  I managed to get half of the island counter cleared yesterday and all of the dishes run through the dishwasher, but not necessarily put away as yet.

I was amazed when I bought this place, at all of the counter space, drawers and cupboards and wondered what I could possibly put in them all.  It seems, that isn’t a problem as they are rapidly filling up with stuff.  If I heard Renee say it once, I heard it a hundred times that I need to de-clutter and she is right.  I am doing it, but I have my own method for going about it.  We all have things that have a sentimental value and I have to look at an item and decide about its practicality over the sentimentality.

I have done pretty darn good I think.  Over the course of this move, I had 1-800-GOT-JUNK over twice and removed two small dump truck loads of stuff.  While loading the moving trucks there was plenty more things that went into the recycling bin or garbage can.  There was even more stuff that got left behind.  The near new lawn mower went to my neighbour Yoko and the leaf blower to the neighbour across the lane.  My old surround-sound stereo system with the 16 inch woofers went to my daughter as did the old family table and chairs.

Now as I am unpacking boxes, I have made decisions on all sorts of other things that have either been taken to the recycling depot or are destined for there.  The Maple Ridge Recycling depot is amazing.  They take everything including Styrofoam (and we had lots of that), cardboard (also lots) but they also take things like small appliances, batteries, cleaning products, pesticides, paint and so on.  It was actually kind of fun to unload the truck and take each item to the correct bin.

FIRST RECYCLING DAY

So yes, it still looks like a lot of junk around, but it is improving, slowly but surely.  Now that doesn’t count the hundred or so boxes still in the garage.  Just most of the boxes in the living area are gone, and so are some of the contents.  I have documents galore that need to be sorted through and either filed away (I’m getting a proper filing cabinet) or need to be shredded, like I did with all the leftover documents from my parents and grandparents.  It’s a daunting task, but it will be one document at a time.

Caitlin and Trevor are coming over this afternoon to see the new place for the first time and with the added bonus of actually having a place for people to come and visit and have a place to sit while doing so.  I also get my hair cut as an added bonus.  Karl got to see it when it was a total shambles, two days after moving in and pouring rain.  Caitlin will see it mostly cleaned up but still a way to go.

Speaking of cleaning, my Roomba robot vacuums arrive on Monday and the place is almost to the point where I will be able to turn them loose to keep the floors vacuumed, then I don’t have to worry about it.  Renee will be so happy, because I admit it, I’m not the world’s best housekeeper.  Part of that comes from the fact that it’s not fun to do, it’s hard work but it had a lot to do with my previous living arrangements.  That tiny basement was hard to keep clean because of the clutter and the age of the house didn’t help either.  The Roomba’s will make a huge difference.

I think I have been running up my electricity bill in the past week, also I think my water usage will be through the roof as every stitch of clothes and every dish and utensil has been put through their respective washers.  Not only do I have shiny new stuff, but shiny old stuff now as well.

026 THE SAGA CONTINUES...AND ENDS

The saga continues.  On Saturday I ordered a nice computer desk, bookshelf and chair from Staples for a not insubstantial bill.  I had actually gone into the store to purchase these items and bring them home so I would have them right away and be able to set up my computer room/office.  I was told that the items were not in stock at the store and I would have to order them online.  To be helpful, the sales person said I could do it right from their dedicated terminal instore.  He also assured me the items would be delivered on Monday for certain.

Monday came and went and late in the day I phoned the customer service number to enquire about the order.  I was told there was a delay and it would be delivered for sure on Tuesday.  Late Tuesday afternoon I got an email saying that there was a problem with my credit card.  Since I had used it elsewhere that day, I knew that was not the case.  So I phoned the number and when she started asking for info, I was worried about a phishing scheme, so I had her tell me the info.

What they were saying is that the home address was filled out but the shipping address wasn’t.  Huh?  There is a checkbox on the order that says shipping address is the same as the home address and it was checked.  Anyway, she said that the order would be delivered on Wednesday.  I explained that I had to be out of the house by 3:00 PM (for hockey, but I didn’t tell her that).  You’d think with all the hassle they would want to help out by delivering early.

Nope, not the case.  We waited all day and I said to Renee, you watch they will show up just as we are leaving.  Sure enough, my gear is all loaded it the truck and we are literally on the way out the door when the Staples driver shows up.  I asked him if he would put the packages upstairs, because they are heavy and he had a dolly, but he flat out refused.  So not wanting to lose my order, I had him put everything in the garage, but I have no idea how I am going to get this stuff upstairs.

The Telus saga has reached epic proportions now.  Almost 2 weeks before I moved, I called Telus to advise I needed to move my service.  I detailed in earlier entries how screwed up that got, especially when the first installer arrived and couldn’t find the electrical room.  The second guy finally got here late Tuesday afternoon.  He spent an hour looking and finally found the electrical room, which was right where I had told him, but like so many people he would not listen to me.

In any case, he discovered that there were no Telus cables or fiber optics installed, so he left and told me that someone from head office would call me.  They didn’t!  Two days later I gave up and called Telus and after getting through to someone and being put on hold for 10 minutes, he solved the problem.  Apparently there is no Telus service into any house in the complex, and there ends the saga.  I have switched over to a Shaw phone bundle with my internet and cable.  The added benefit is that the number is very close to my parent’s old phone number and within 5 minutes I had it memorized.

In addition, my alarm system will now be fully functional and monitored, like it should have been from the beginning.  Why nobody from Telus could tell me that there was no service from the get-go is anybody’s guess because the guy I talked to today was able to figure that out in less than 10 minutes of checking.  Oh well, the saga has finally drawn to a happy conclusion, sort of like Star Wars return of The Jedi.

025 OH MY ACHING BACK

I was awake yesterday at 4:30 AM and finally gave up trying to go back to sleep.  Renee was asleep downstairs on the couch, where she fell asleep watching TV.  Toby was right there beside her.  At 5:30 AM I got up and started unpacking more boxes in the upstairs.  I’m going through clothes as I unpack and putting aside usable items that I don’t or cannot wear anymore and will donate them to Salvation Army or Big Brothers. There are some brand new T-shirts in there that still have the stickers on there, but I “outgrew” them before wearing them.

I took the time to learn how to use my new washer and dryer and put through 7 loads of wash today.  This isn’t a case of stockpiling dirty laundry either.  There were new towels to be washed and various sundry other things, I also got busy emptying boxes, not the least of which were two big wardrobe boxes in the walk-in closet.  Once that was done, my closet no longer looked empty.  There are a bunch of items that I have to eliminate from there too.

Poking through boxes on the main floor, finally yielded my plates, dishes and glasses.  I still cannot find the cutlery though.  We are down to about 9 boxes on the main floor and one on the bedroom level.  I got my main computer hooked up and running, but cannot access my email and that required a call to Shaw to get it straightened out.  It’s very difficult to use the computer though as the monitor is on the window sill and the tower on the floor.  That will change later today when my computer desk and office chair arrive from Staples.

It promises to be a busy day, as Telus is going to take another stab at finally getting me set up with a land line.  I have my fingers crossed, but I’m not holding out a whole lot of hope.  My alarm system will be fully installed and operating today.  It’s very high tech with all the “bells and whistles”.  Things are starting to look up.  The one problem is that when my desk and chair arrive, I have to assemble them and for the life of me I cannot find my tools.  They are likely buried in the 40 or so boxes in the garage.

The boat is sitting nicely in there, but I can’t get the truck in yet.  The area in front of the boat is filled with items for recycling as well as regular garbage.  There are boxes that need to be returned to the moving company and all sorts of other things.  The other problem is that the boat is sitting well forward due to boxes behind it.

I finally crawled to the back of the boat and began shifting boxes off to the side.  Some of those boxes are really heavy with books and old record albums.  Finally, I got those out of the way, climbed back to the front of the boat and managed to push it myself about 8 feet further back and slightly angled.  This should be enough room to get the truck in once the stuff in front is taken to the transfer station (fancy name for The Dump”).

We took a break from emptying boxes and headed to Wal-Mart to get some things for the house.  Things like bath mats, towels, a DVD player, Blu-Ray player for the new TV and a myriad of other much needed household items.  Once we got back, I resumed emptying boxes and figured out how to run the dishwasher.  I ran all the plates and glasses through, not that they were dirty, but twenty years of handwashing and then being handled and put in boxes.  They came out sparkling clean and almost look new.

At 7:00 PM we decided we were hungry and since we still haven’t found the pots and pans and other cooking utensils, we headed for A&W for Teen Burgers and onion rings.  Of course there was another part to the mission and that was to return several items to Wal-Mart that were either missing pieces, or just didn’t match the décor.  I’m leaving all that to Renee to make the place look nice.  I insisted though on a no slip bath mat for the walk-in shower and no slip floor mats for the tile floor in the bathroom.  We don’t need any slips and falls.

After we got home, I finally quit working at 9:30 PM, aching, sore and exhausted.  That was a 16-hour day of mostly physical labour compounded by being the day after game day.  We headed for bed at 10:30 PM and I passed out trying to watch an episode of Seinfeld.  It didn’t last though as I was wide awake by 1:30 PM and came downstairs so I don’t disturb Renee.  I’m getting tired enough to re-attempt sleep and the Tylenol 3 has eased the pain in my back somewhat.

024 THE RAIN, THE PARK AND OTHER THINGS

The big day finally arrived and so did the movers, right on schedule at 9:00 AM.  That of course is when my ability to go online stopped because the computer was all boxed up and packed.  The guys got busy and started packing the truck and before I knew it, half the contents from my house were onboard.  It was kind of bittersweet.  It was the end of one very large portion of my life and the beginning of a whole new adventure.

I took Toby to the park to play, where he got to say goodbye to a couple of his friends, like Dallas and Ktulu.  After the park trip we went back to the house and found the truck was now ¾ loaded and before I knew it, they were done and we were on the way at 12:45.  There were several things forgotten, such as I forgot to empty the fridge.  It was not a big deal as I will be going back on Sunday to pick up the boat.

Now here we are and the process is being reversed, with the guys unloading the truck and filling up the house.  It was hard to match boxes to locations as you go from a basic one room basement to a 3 level townhouse.  Unloading was obviously faster than loading and by 3:45 PM, I had paid the bill and the big empty truck headed off.  While I had visited the house 12-14 times before and had never seen it in the rain, the reverse happened today.  Halfway through unloading it started to rain.

Just after the movers left, the ongoing saga with Telus continued.  The install guy finally arrived and began to hunt around the entire complex.  He need to find the electrical room, which for my building is actually on the side of my suite.  I kept telling him this, but he insisted on going to the other end of the block.  Eventually he found the proper room but could not get in as it was locked.  Apparently he could only get the keys from the Presentation Center, but they are closed Fridays.  So, here I am, still without my home phone.  He said it was something to do with fiber optic cables.

After he left, I went over to pick Renee up at the Westcoast Express and it turns out that the station that we had thought she was going to, wasn’t this one.  I managed to get her on the cell phone and we get that straightened out.  Finally, she was here.  Toby was beside himself with excitement and still the rain kept falling.

The house is full of boxes and this is Renee’s first look inside my actual unit and I think she is impressed.  Because everything is boxed up and we can’t find any of the kitchen stuff, I’m not able to cook and so we resorted to ordering in pizza from Papa John’s.  We spent some time unpacking some boxes, but didn’t get too far.  We headed upstairs and I could not find the DVD player, but did find the Blu-Ray and after a quick hook up, we settled down in the new bed to watch some Seinfeld episodes.  I managed one, before I zonked out.

It was a restless sleep though with new surroundings, new bed, sore back, feet and legs, and Toby’s unrest.  With another 4:30 AM wakeup, it was time to just take in the new surroundings.  After Renee got up we got a few more boxes emptied and I started organizing my cupboards a little.  We were just about to head out the door for breakfast and coffee, when they guy from Shaw called to see if he could come early. 

I had been waiting since Tuesday and yet I turned him down if you can believe it.  After a quick breakfast at McDonald’s and then having coffee at Starbucks, we grabbed a few things at Save-On Foods and headed home, just in time for the furniture to arrive.  Finally, there it was my recliner, TV, Sound Bar, and dining room chairs, sitting in my house. 

Just as they left, the Shaw guy arrived.  I warned him about the problem with the electrical room access and while the Presentation Center wouldn’t be open for another 45 minutes, he didn’t have the same problem.  He has keys for the whole complex electrical rooms.  This guy was amazing and very friendly.  He went through, hooked up the spectacular new TV, hooked up the old TV and goy my internet going.  He went above and beyond as well, making recommendations for things to see and do, restaurants and handymen that can help with mounting the TV on the wall.

Having two TV’s and separate rooms allowed me to watch the hockey game while Renee was able to watch her program at the same time.  Toby took up a position halfway between us so he could protect us both.  Talk about Mister Hi-Tech.  I watched the entire first period of the game being really disappointed in the picture and thinking that the old TV is far superior.  Renee came down to see how things were going and she pointed out that I was watching a low-definition channel.  When I found the proper HD channel, I was blown away.  65 inches of awesome.

We went out for dinner tonight to the China Kitchen, a Chinese Buffet.  It was great!  Good food, very friendly people and reasonable price.  That is one thing I have noticed in the short time I have lived in Maple Ridge.  It is small town values and everyone is very friendly and helpful.  It’s a small city of 100,000 people but a far cry from the attitudes of people and politicians of Vancouver.

Sunday morning was another early wake-up made earlier by daylight saving time.  The plan is for a busy day.  We headed out at 6:30 AM and arrived at the hockey arena at my usual 7:00 Am time.  My first trip to hockey from the new house.  It’s also the first time in many years Renee has come to watch me play.  Once the game was over, Karl and his buddy joined us for breakfast at The Slocan Family Restaurant, my hangout for years.  This will likely be our last visit as it’s a little far to go.

There is a reason for being here though, as we are heading back to the house to pick up the boat and anything that had been forgotten.  Karl and Jeff loaded my old hide-a-bed into my truck, while I emptied the fridge.  When all that was done, we hooked up the boat and by now it was totally pissing rain.  I wandered around the house for one final goodbye, and it hit me a lot harder today than it did on Friday.  I guess because this is the last time I will be here.

We started the trek out to the new house with the boat in tow.  Once we got here, the plan was to put the boat close to the garage and the three of us would push it inside.  I knew there was 4 inches of clearance on either side of the door to the sides of the boat.  I had not measured the height, but that didn’t prove to be an issue.  Combining my “masterful driving” with Karl and Jeff keeping an eye on things, I managed to put the boat bang on into the center of the garage.

The truck won’t fit in there as well right now as there are too many boxes stacked up.  Once those are cleared out I will be able to put both the truck and boat inside which was the goal right from the get go.  I even managed to draw an audience from Ken and Jennifer, the sales team as well as a group of potential buyers waiting to see if I could get that big boat in the garage.  Hopefully they were all impressed.

So here we are at the end of the first weekend in the new house and we are loving it.  One thing I am really enjoying is having heat after living in the basement through the winter with no heat source except for a couple of small space heaters.  There is a ton of work ahead and a lot of new adventures to come and I am looking forward to it.

023 THE TORNADO DAY

Yesterday felt like a tornado ripped through here in more ways than one.  The wind was howling outside and the rain was coming in sideways outside.  Inside the packers were going through the house and packing everything in sight.  I was amazed at how fast everything was being packed carefully into boxes.  Treasures, long forgotten were being unearthed, such as my two commemorative Wilkinson swords.  I didn’t actually forget about them, but I had no idea where they were until they were discovered in the garage.

BIG PILE

PACKING PACKING PACKING

BOXED AND STACKED

I took Toby out for his walk in the park, where we darn near drowned and then went to McDonalds and bought the guys breakfast.  The two guys working downstairs, I kept up a steady chatter with and you could tell that the three of them had worked together as a team for a long time.  The steady proficiency with which they worked together, meshing like a well-tuned machine.  That combined with the steady ongoing banter between them, just made everything fun.

The fellow working in the attic, just quietly and quickly went about his job.  He was so quiet that it was almost hard to remember he was there until he made an appearance downstairs to ask about something.  The whirlwind will continue today when they return to pack everything in the truck for transport to the new house.

At 2:00 PM I left the house and headed for the new place, a little ahead of schedule as I had to be there for delivery of the beds.  They were due anytime between 4:00 PM and 7:00 PM.  It’s a good thing I left when I did.  The freeway was fine, but once I got closer to my destination, the highway was backed up for miles.  Power outages from the windstorm had dropped a tree across the road and traffic lights were not functioning.

FIRST MAIL

TOBY'S NEW LICENCE

I finally got to the Post Office where I picked up the keys to my new “Superbox” mailbox.  It’s actually not as bad as some, as I can see it out my dining room window and the neighbour directly behind has a big dog who alerts on strangers at the box.  But I digress, I have been exhausted for the past few days and it showed at the post office.  Even the clerk commented on it.

I was halfway to the destination when I got a call on my cell.  It was the clerk from the Post Office telling me I had left my iPad behind.  So I did a U-turn and went back, fighting that same traffic for a second time.  I gratefully got my iPad back and then started back to the new place.  I finally arrived, stopped at the mailbox and received my first pieces of mail.

The first was Toby’s new license for Maple Ridge and the second was from my lawyer, the documents completing the sale of my house and the registration with the government.  The rest of the mail consisted of a couple of restaurant flyers and 7 flyers from real estate agents wanting to either buy my place or sell me a new one.

COUCH DELIVERY

UNWRAPPED

I got a great surprise phone call and discovered that my couch would be delivered right away instead of on Saturday as planned.  An hour later they were there.  It wouldn’t go up the stairs, so they brought it in through the backyard, onto the deck and in through the patio door.  It was so comfortable having a place to sit finally.

DINNER ARRIVES

DINNER

MAIN BED SETUP

By now I was getting very hungry and one of those flyers proved to be a godsend.  I gratefully ordered a pizza on my cell phone (still don’t have a landline).  In about a half hour, dinner and my beds arrived at the same time.

Two young fellows from Africa brought the beds in and set them up, while we chatted.  The one guy has travelled all over the world and has experienced racism everywhere but he is so amazed at how friendly and welcoming Canada is.  He has toured the country from Newfoundland to BC and the Yukon and Nunavut and just loves it.  He experienced one incident, in Chilliwack of all places where two local rednecks at a bar called him out.  He thought he was in big trouble, when 8 other locals stepped in and dealt rather harshly with the two troublemakers.  He said that people were sending drinks to him all night.  He doesn’t drink alcohol, so they were bottles of water instead.

MAIN BED FRAME

GUEST ROOM BED
TOBY INSPECTING

After they left, Toby and I jumped back in the truck to head “home” for the last time.  To spend our last night sleeping on a hide-a-bed in the old house.  I tried to watch TV, but quickly fell asleep with Toby snoring beside me.