There is no place in town to get a T-connector for connecting the trailer light connector in the truck in an easy manner. So tonight, I went out, with my electrical tools and spliced in the wiring. We have lights on the trailer and all is well.
There are still two more jobs to do. However, it’s late so I decided to have a beer and wait until the morning to do the last. With a little luck, I should be able to finish things up tomorrow and head out to Fox Lake (61° 15′ 49″N 135° 28′ 48″) and get the bottom of the boat soggy for the first time. The alternative was to turn it upside down in the rain, which is not as satisfactory…
I thought that having a brand new boat and trailer would be quick and easy to get ready to take it off to the lakes. I must rethink that idea.
The boat is assembled and inflated. "The Keptin is on his wessel, Keptin."
We did get the boat inflated and the floorboards in and we got the motor on and installed, mostly. I am going to bolt it to the transom rather than rely on just the clamps but want to run it to make sure that it’s properly centred, etc., before I do that.
I also need to arrange a seat for the driver, since the boat came with only one seat and you need something for your passengers as well. We went to the dealer to see if they sell extra seats. They have one in stock on the computer but after a diligent search, could not find it in the shop. I found one online, but they don’t ship outside the continental US. The dealer will order one but it won’t be in until sometime in mid- to late August. So, I bought a boat seat at Canadian Tire yesterday and it is extremely comfortable. I’m going to mount it on a swivel and mount that to a milk crate for the time being. This is a rather easy job and I stole the idea from Derrick McKay, who did the same for his inflatable. The swivel is already on the seat and I just have to clean a milk crate and bolt it on.
Next, I need to move the keel roller and post on the trailer. I bought it without it being configured since it came from a different place than where I bought the boat. This is not a big job but I haven’t got to it yet. This will only take about half an hour so it’s not the huge bit of work you might expect.
The big problem is the lights. I went to test the trailer hookup plug on the truck and there wasn’t any power coming out. I did the automatic assumption and bought a new connector to hook in. When I cut the old one off, I discovered that the previous owner must have had one hell of a short, since the wires are burnt. That’s OK, since there is (supposed to be) an easy fix. Several companies make the quick snap T-connectors for adding trailer wiring to a vehicle. You simply disconnect the wiring plug in the back of your vehicle, snap in the connector between the two plugs and “Voilà!” However…
Canadian Tire had only one on their computer inventory for a 2006 Ford Ranger. It doesn’t have a location so the clerk figures it has been long sold. “By the way, Sir, it’s been discontinued.” NAPA and Bumper to Bumper sell a different brand, but that doesn’t make one for my truck. Ford can actually get one, but it has to be ordered and will take about a week. I tried one of the RV places but they don’t sell them, as is the case for the third auto parts store in town. I’ll phone the other two RV places today just to see, rather than run down the Alaska Highway to find out they don’t have them. Looks like I’m just going to do the old-fashioned splice in a new trailer connector thing that I was hoping to avoid.
I had my tests this morning and have come to the following conclusion. It’s amazing how good the words “no malignancy” and a coffee and muffin after 28 hours of fasting can make you feel. There is a bit of not good news, in that I need to have surgery to repair the colon and bladder in about two weeks time. However, we knew this had to be done anyway, so this is not a suprise from out of the blue.
I’ll be in hospital for about a week and off for about six weeks in total. That being said, this has probably been why I’ve been miserable since last fall and it will be nice to have it out of the way. On the other hand, I just sent off my cv and head shots for an audition that I will now have to cancel and I was looking forward to it.
There’s another good thing. Maybe, knowing all is well, I can undo a bit of bad behaviour. I somehow, with the stress of this, managed to start smoking again last weekend. I think I should go back to behaving myself, or at least behaving myself as well as I am capable…
I have to go for day surgery for some tests tomorrow. I got much the same instructions as for knee surgery last month, but with a few slight differences. The pre-op directions make me wonder where the logic lies in what the medical profession calls things.
I’m only allowed to have clear liquids since 8 this morning. No solid food. We could say, “That’s boring” but it does become exciting with the definition of clear liquid. The usual suspects do get rounded up here, with apple juice, white grape juice and water on the list. However, black coffee and tea are on the list as well. They are on the list, if you don’t add milk or cream to them. Is coffee more clear than milk? Also, sugar in your tea or coffee are permitted since it’s not a solid food. Huh? By the way, a spoonful of sugar by itself is solid food. It just doesn’t count when you put it in your tea.
Then, there’s the colour thing. White grape juice or white cranberry are good. Red grape juice or red cranberry are no-no’s. While I do understand the line of logic in some situations, why would that affect someone going for knee surgery, like it did last month. Why does the colour matter?
Well, I’m going to leave this odd consideration and move on to supper. White grape juice and apple juice means I’m having a 2-course meal. Although, given the perversity of the rule, maybe bacon is a clear liquid. I have to go back to the list…
This would be another good time to illustrate why sports betting and I should be kept in separate containers. You’ll notice that I used the word “another” in the previous sentence, since the number of examples promoting this point is expanding faster than the universe after the big bang.
The latest example results with the FIFA Women’s World Cup. The US team is presently the world’s top rated, but that often has no real meaning. This is particularly true with the competition being held in Germany this year. Germany automatically gets a bye entry into the competition, meaning that they really don’t have to compete to get there. In this case, the bye is really a non-issue. The German women’s team hadn’t lost an international match in a long time and was the hands-down favourite to walk away as winners again. They won the last two tournaments in 2003 and 2007, and last time, did not give up a game or a goal through the entire tournament. Odds were so much in favour of them that most teams probably showed up simply because the tournament’s in Germany and the beer is good.
Of course, if some incredible disaster happened and, amazingly, Germany was knocked out of the playoffs, there is another sure winner in the wings. Sweden was undefeated through the round robin and looked very good, good enough actually that only Germanywas probably capable of beating them. Needless to say, my incredibly honed sports prediction skills seem to have conducted themselves as usual, with Japan winning both in the quarter and semifinals to advance to play the US in the final on Sunday.
This is where I throw in an interesting piece of trivia. Most international football teams do not have a team name. Some have nicknames, like the Italian men’s team who are known as the Izuri. When Japan thrashed the German team in the quarter finals, I thought they may want a new name. How do you say “giant killers” in Japanese? Today, this went a step further as they completely dominated the Swedes, who incidentally play much the same style of game as the American team that they will face in Sunday’s final.
I could use the prime other example of why I don’t bet on sports. As a long time Leafs fan, we can all pretty well guess my competence in selecting winners. I presume that, after reading this, my three younger, devout Boston-Bruins-fan brothers will probably take a spare minute to gloat profusely. There is a silver lining here though. No, we may not win playoffs, but you also don’t see too many riots over that either. And, given the incredible fan support the Leafs still get (people still have to die before you move up in the line for seasons’ tickets), I’m not the only one who can’t pick a winner…
With the end of combat operations for Canadian troops in Afghanistan, we are left to ask ourselves what was accomplished by this phase of our participation. There are probably a wide variety of answers to this question. My suspicion is that most of those answers are probably correct.
The human toll is easy to tally in terms of those who have been killed, injured or permanently changed by their service to the country. But, what of the benefits?
The common benefit we hear, girls going to school, is certainly an accomplishment. Actually sending more to schools in Afghanistan regardless of gender is an improvement. Remember that the aim of Canadian Forces trainers is to bring members of the Afghanistan Army and police forces to a Grade 3 level. Literacy in the country is at a dismal level and anything that increases that level is good. Also, at the beginning of the Afghan war, more than 4 million people were being fed by United Nations food development aid work. I heard an interview last year with Flora MacDonald who mentioned that there were now more than 1,100 NGO aid agencies working in the country. This is certainly a situation that would be impossible under the Taliban.
That being said, there is also a dark side to our participation. One of the more interesting items from the fall of the Taliban is that they were emphatically against the heroin trade and had drastically reduced the export of raw heroin. Now, no longer in power, the Taliban guerrillas are actively supporting heroin production for fundraising and Afghanistan is back to being the world leader in export of raw heroin. Also, it’s not like we are actively busy ensuring the survival of the “good guys.” Afghanistan has one of the most, if not the most, corrupt governments in the world. Most of the warlords whose support is a necessity to keep Hamid Kharzai in power are heroin producers and his own brother, a provincial governor, has been accused on numerous occasions to be active in the trade. Lastly, we can basically describe our participation to some extent as fighting someone else’s civil war for them.
So, after almost 10 years of combat operations and a horrendous human cost on all sides, the answer to the question of whether or not our participation in Afghanistan was worthwhile is probably impossible to determine. This is a question left to future generations and the application of hindsight. How the conflict will end, if it actually even does, will be seen by eyes younger than ours, and probably less biased by the currency of events…
I am consistently learning to cherish each and every conversation I have with people. Last week, Steve Cardiff, MLA, former student and friend was killed in a car accident. It was a very sudden shock and suprise to all.
I started to think of the last time I had run into Steve. It was on Main Street within the last week or so, and both of us were running errands and didn’t have much time for a quick hello and apology for being rushed. I seriously regret that now and wished I’d had far more time for a quick gab on the side of the street as we often did.
I met Steve more than 15 years ago when he was taking an introductory computer course. The class ran in the evenings and I saw him in the hallway one morning talking with the Dean. We chatted for a bit and he left to do something and Aron, the Dean, pointed out that Steve was also, at the time, chair of the College Board of Governors. I have to admit being a bit gobsmacked over that, as the last impression you would have gotten from Steve is that he was anything other than just a regular person. He was a tradesman and proud of it. When he eventually took the plunge and ran for the MLA seat, and won, he was no different. He was always “just Steve,” and I will always continue to be impressed by that fact.
In the past few days, we have heard lots of stories about him. I’ll throw in one. Several years ago, we were both attending the same conference. During the first coffee break, when we were outside “checking the weather,” I asked Steve how things were going with his new job. He had just recently been elected for the first time. He said, “I have the greatest job in the world. I’m really amazed that people pay me to do this.” Since that job largely concerned helping people, I think that probably sums up what he was like more than anything else. Rest well, Steve. We will miss you…
Not much new, I’m afraid. I see the surgeon tomorrow afternoon and should have a better idea of how my schedule will work out for the rest of the summer at that point. I know two people who have had similar things done and both were off work for three months after. I’m going to probably have to reschedule my classes for this.
On other fronts, it’s the same thing. I sent an e-mail to the department of the environment to see if they have made any headway with the neighbour across the street. I sent that last Wednesday. I did receive an out of office message saying they would be back Thursday and do hope to hear something, preferably something good, sometime soon. Given the few results, I have talked to a friend who produces the local CBC morning show and have rounded up some of the neighbours who are more than willing to talk to the press about our ongoing issues. They are, rightfully, incensed that someone would issue a permit to store hazardous wastes in the middle of a residential neighbourhood without checking, and this should become blatantly obvious rather quickly. The fact that more than a month has passed since this was brought to their attention and nothing seems to have been done has also been noted. Needless to say, someone is going to look rather bad over this one.
That’s all I have. I went back to work, even though I’m on vacation for the next few days, until I find out what’s happening. I’m not really up for work but there isn’t much choice as I have to get courses ready and will have no chance to get up to date if I don’t…
I’ll willingly admit that this is one of my favourite holidays. I know, nothing holds a candle to Hallowe’en but, this is close. Because, much as we are governed by idiots and often, our leaders aren’t sure of where we are going or what the handcart has to do with it, we still live in the greatest country in the world and the last 40 years of imbecilic governments at the Federal, Provincial/Territorial and Municipal levels have failed to destroy it, regardless of how hard they’ve tried.
Living in Canada:
I can e-mail my MP and tell him he’s an idiot and a liar.
I can get really pissed at my MP and run against him in the next election.
I can join a union.
I can join any political party I want to (and, when you consider how wing-y some of those parties are, that is really saying something).
I can choose to join the Armed Forces and serve my country, or not.
I can get an education in any discipline I choose and, while it helps, I don’t have to be rich to do it.
I can vote for whomever I want in an election.
I can marry anyone who will have me and don’t have to marry the person I’m told to.
I can practice any religion I choose, even Jedi. I can also choose not to believe in anything.
There are quite a few countries where this list is somewhat shorter. There are quite a few countries where this list doesn’t exist at all. The fact that it does exist, however, is what we celebrate on Canada Day. Remember, too, that this list was purchased by men and women who were willing to fight for it and many paid the highest price. and are still doing so, that you could have it.
So, enjoy the parade, the beer and the barbecue. Enjoy the fireworks, if you don’t live in the Yukon (they’re kind of wasted here when it won’t get dark, but some of my neighbours will smuggle some for New Year’s Eve so it all works out). But remember to celebrate, because it really is worth the celebration…
I bought a new Acer computer in February. It was a netbook, since it was inexpensive, I was curious about the portability factor and a small computer was really all I was looking for. It did fill that bill but had a minor problem from the very beginning. If you touched the bottom of the computer when the AC adapter was plugged in, you’d get shocked. Not a big one since the computer ran on low voltage DC, but a shock nonetheless.
I was in contact with the support department basically since March and finally, last week, they asked me to return the computer and adapter for warranty service. It would be returned within 7 to 10 days after receipt.
However, here’s the rub. Packing materials to ship it cost about $35. Shipping it via courier with insurance would cost $140. The computer itself only cost $245 so I really didn’t see a great deal of sense in returning it. So I ordered a new one… yes, a different brand. I did turn around and send a note to the support department explaining that I would not be returning my computer for warranty service and why. Apparently, I’ll receive an answer in less than 24 hours. Or, not…
Doug Rutherford 