Paul Alton MBA

We started the month helping at Way of the Cross in Harlingen, Texas. We went north later in the month. After a couple of days at home we headed to Edmonton for a short term contract job starting on April first.

The narrative and pictures are all here for the month. Unless some typos are noticed and corrected it is what it is. Enjoy!

Juanita did the laundry while I paid bills online and cleared old e-mails.

We went to the Palo Alto National Battlefield. American troops from Port Isabel were headed to break the siege of Fort Texas by Mexican troops in what is now Brownsville. The battle took place where the Mexican troops had blocked the road to prevent the passage of US troops, their cannons and their three hundred supply wagons.

It was an uneven battle. The Mexican cannons did not have the range of the bigger US cannons and used solid shot. The US heavy cannons used exploding shells. They could lob these shells among the Mexican troops while dodging the Mexican cannon balls skipping across the prairie. They weren’t always successful dodging, but attrition was on the side of the Americans. The light cannon crews of the Americans had been drilling for two years at maneuvering and reloading on the fly. The Mexican cavalry was no match for this. The battle wound down at dark. By dawn the next day the Mexicans had left their dead and wounded. They moved down the road to regroup at Resaca de la Palma for the next battle. There is a National Battlefield there, as well. We plan to visit it tomorrow.

We drove to Pirate’s Landing at Port Isabel for lunch. Mr. Google had us routed over the bridge to South Padre Island to do a U-turn to come back across the bridge and make a right hand turn into the restaurant. We ignored Mr. Google and made a left turn a few blocks before the bridge and drove down a side street to restaurant parking.

After eating ourselves into comas we departed the restaurant. Juanita declined an ice cream cone. Wise gal or no stamina? We walked around the block and the Port Isabel lighthouse while I ate my cone and handed out curved illusion tracts.

There was a huge auto show going on at the South Padre Island convention center. Our normal beach parking lot had added a toll collector to the booth for the event. We drove a mile up island to the next (free) county parking lot with beach access. After collecting steps and giving out tracts on the beach we drove home by way of Los Fresnos. Juanita bought a laundry bag at the Los Fresnos Walmart. We are having a hard time finding a Goldilocks level replacement for the thinning Ikea laundry bag that was “just right” for its service life. 

It’s beyond time I completed the February Update narrative on our web site. This morning, I couldn’t access the site for editing and phoned Network Solutions. They’ll investigate the problem.

Chapel was prayer session. After chapel Juanita helped prep for the food bank on Wednesday. I threw cut up pieces of old PVC gurneys into the dumpster then helped Byron install a hydraulic hose on one of the forklifts. He took it off by himself yesterday and had a new one made. It is easier to thread it through the mast with two people, though.

Byron and I walked to the hardware store to buy paint, screws and washers. I painted the threshold on the SWA truck and painted the edges of the board installed last week. Toward the end of the day a semi hit the fire hydrant across the street from the warehouse while aligning the truck to back into the unloading dock. That also destroyed his tire. He backed up far enough to be off the road and not block the entrance. The police and water works people showed up. When we left for the day, the truck was being unloaded without benefit of dock. The driver was waiting for a new tire.

We drove home then I took the car to the wand wash. After buying some caulk at Home Depot I puttered at sorting receipts we will need for customs at the Canadian border.

Juanita handed out food on the drive through food bank line.

I took some pipes apart and flushed pieces for the orifice circuit around the alarm system on one of the sprinkler system risers. Byron bought and installed batteries for the scissor lift and started inspections of piping build up and sprinkler head dates.  

Juanita went off to the laundromat for the weekly laundry. I keyboarded and posted February up to date for narrative. Pictures for the second half of the month, some day. A reminder for one of my annual on-line safety courses showed up in e-mail. After some futile attempts to see if the certificate could be printed on the training center office printer we went back to less frustrating pursuits.

Despite the schedule posted online, the Resaca de Palmas National Battlefield was still closed when we went there. When the going gets tough the tough go to lunch. We went for lunch at Texas Roadhouse and used up what was left on the gift card from Christmas.

We drove to South Padre Island. Spring break has started but there were just a few stragglers on the beach. There was brutal north wind whipping the waves and the sand. Walking north was like walking uphill. Juanita came out to the beach briefly and retreated to the car and her e-reader. I walked to the trucks I could see in the distance at the next beach access point to the north. I found the motherload for giving out tracts. No college kids. Just Hispanic families with their BBQ’s huddled out of the wind next to their vehicles. Police cars, Mexican food trucks and Mexican vendors patrolled the beach.

When I ran out of curved illusion tracts I walked back to our access point then ten minutes further south. It took fifteen minutes to walk back against the wind. Close to 9k of the 10k a day steps by the time we were in the car driving home by way of the Walmart in Los Fresnos.

I switched from the progressives I normally wear to driving glasses. The progressives had a light salt coating from the wind whipped waves. I didn’t want to try to clean them with what we had in the car.

Back in Harlingen we discussed supper. Both were still too full from lunch. I rinsed dust and any salt spray off car with a brief stop at the wand wash on the way home.  

First day of Daylight Savings Time. The borrowed motor home we are staying in is parked at the end of an airport runway. When the wind is from the north the planes take off over head. At 5:54 DST the first jet of the day takes off into the north wind, shaking the motor home. Body time is still 4:54. I guess we’re up. Awake but not feeling awake. We muddled around until church. Would have been late but everybody else seemed to be running late.

Ben delivered a message based in 2 Kings. Manasseh was an evil king. Josiah became king at age 8. He was a good king, starting to undo the evil right away. He discovered a book of the Law. He read it aloud to the crowd. That changed everything. Don’t let the Word get dusty.

We used to go to Chapitas, a Tex-Mex restaurant regularly. We also used to gain more weight in past times here in south Texas. Contemplating our imminent return north I realized we had not once been to Chapitas this winter. That situation has been rectified. Tomorrow’s weigh in is tomorrow’s problem.

After lunch we drove to the RGV Outlet Mall in Mercedes. I walked the circuit while Juanita went into the Under Armour store to gloat over the price she got on Amazon. Oops. Prices on UA blouses are way lower at the mall store. She bought two more tops. I handed out tracts while walking the circuit.

When she was done buying tops we walked the circuit again together. Almost enough. Went to Home Depot for a couple of bits I will need next week but forgot the phone in the car, so no steps were recorded. We went to Harbor Freight for a tool I’ll use for the van body work and then take back to Canada. That completed the 10k for the day.

Byron went across the border to sort things at the Gateway base camp for Saturday’s event further south. My task for the day was to clean a glob of rust out of a sprinkler alarm orifice (again) and add a drain line from the alarm bell. I racked up a lot of steps hunting for tools for doing what I was working on. Eventually I got someone to help me do it with the wrong tools. Once the orifice was clean again and the fittings back together, I went to start on the drain. The inlet to the bell was ¾”. The outlet was 1”.  I walked to hardware store to buy different fittings.

While I was in the office ordering parts for the next drain to add to the system my tools got locked out. I unlocked things and got help to open the door to the area behind the warehouse to retrieve the tools. Usually, I tend to maximize motion and steps rather than efficiency and still need to walk after the day’s tasks are complete. I didn’t need any auxiliary steps with all the walking around today.

After work we bought a ten-foot length of 2” pipe. Only needed four feet, but two two-foot pieces and a coupling cost a bit more than a full ten-foot length. Snaked it into the car. Then picked up groceries on the way home. Sorted through tools and did a few other prep tasks for being ready to leave next week.

The set-up crew for Saturday’s event in Soto la Marina went to Mexico today. I miss going to Mexico, but our travel insurance provider doesn’t cover travel to that part of Mexico.

Juanita handed out bags of bread to cars in the drive through food bank line up. I worked on installing a top dust seal on the SWA truck roll-up door. It’s a job that maybe should take half an hour. The frame I built was sub optimal for installing a dust seal. Removing the errant 2x4 involved keyhole surgery with a Japanese pull saw. This was followed by more aggravation to remove a couple of screws whose head access was disrupted by the door we installed.

At noon I put the ladder away. The other tools I put in the back of the car. SWA truck done. After lunch packed away tools from the car and puttered at putting other tools away. Found a four-foot piece of 2” PVC pipe left over from a job I did last year. Or was it the year before? It all blends together. On the way home, we returned the ten-foot piece I bought yesterday.

We ordered propane for delivery tomorrow.

Finalized our travel plans for going north. Juanita booked the hotels. Leave here on the 20, Houston for two nights, then one night in each of: Edmond, OK; Lincoln, NE; Fargo, ND; and Moosomin, SK. We plan to spend a couple of nights with friends in Regina before heading home to Meadow Lake on the 28^th. Weather seems to be shaping up to be good for our travels. If that changes, we have some flexibility with cancellations.

This is not a suggestion or serious recommendation. Just a weird and maybe funny thought.

I heard of a young couple starting out that was in a tiny space and stored all their excess wedding presents and other stuff in a storage unit.

One day a year or two into the marriage they needed a slow cooker or some such thing. The wife said, “we have one in storage. We can go get that.” The husband said, “no, we can’t. I forgot to pay the monthly rental fee. They sold everything at auction.” Wedding gifts. Wedding picture albums. Everything.

So…

No need to decide what to do with the stuff you don’t want. Sell? Toss? Donate? Doesn’t matter. Just decide you don’t want it. Box it up. Put it in a storage unit. Pay the first month’s rent and never look back.

You might want to keep an inventory of what’s in each box. Juanita suggested if there’s something you truly regret not having you can bid on that box at auction.

For every solution there’s an alternative…

Up early. Juanita made me breakfast and carted off a week’s laundry to the laundromat. I puttered at the keyboard. She’s back. After uploading this we’ll work on doing some packing and sorting. Then some exploring. I’ll tell you about it later.

Later.

When Juanita came back from laundry we did more packing and finalized the customs’ receipt lists as much as possible with the information we have. New information comes in as we find stuff while packing, buy or use new stuff on the way home. They usually don’t get final finalized until the last town on the way to the border.

We went to Resacas de La Palma National Battlefield for the third time. The first time it was a Sunday. It was not scheduled to be open. The second time was a Saturday. The schedule showed them as open, but gates were closed. Yesterday I phoned and found that the phone number listed for Resacas is for Palo Alto National Battlefield. Resacas de la Palma National Battleford is not staffed. There is no visitor center. If the gates are locked during “opening hours” park nearby and walk in. There was a washroom building and a paved path with picnic areas and informational signs about the battlefield. A pleasant half hour walk if you stop to read the signs.

On our way to South Padre Island, we stopped for lunch at a Whataburger in Port Isabel. I custom ordered our patty melts online and paid with PayPal at 2:10. “Your order will be ready in five to eight minutes.” Was on the receipt. “Check in when you come into the restaurant.” I checked in and got two drink cups and joined Juanita at the table she had found.

The place was busy with spring breakers and others. The staff were wearing “Spring Break 2024” ball caps. Other people were getting their orders delivered to their tables around us. Some of those other people had arrived after us. They must have ordered at the counter and not just checked in. After twenty minutes I went back to the counter and made inquiries. They dug around in the food prep area and picked the bag with our cold burgers off a lower shelf and handed it to me. There was a QR code on the receipt taped to the bag. I scanned it and started filling out the costumer satisfaction survey. The server offered replacement, hot burgers and said please don’t give us a bad review. “Not enough time,” I grumped and continued filling out the dissatisfaction survey. I was annoyed but not angry. They either don’t have a system, don’t know it, or don’t follow it. The process should be seamless. A high-quality burger comes off their grill. Getting it from the grill to the customer should be equally high quality and the same every time.

We joined the traffic over the bridge to South Padre Island. The plan was to drive to the beach, get in a few more steps and hand out curved illusion tracts. The bumper-to-bumper traffic was crawling up the main street. Juanita opted to wait for me, reading and sipping an iced coffee at the McDonald’s. I drove through the McD’s parking lot to drop her off and rejoined the traffic at what I took as a lull. Nope. The gap  closed up. I was stuck across the sidewalk and the bike lane. I got the next kind of lull and was audibly saluted for my efforts by the car that had to brake and the profane cyclist who was going the wrong way in the bike lane. Pedestrians shook their heads at my driving. But I was now in the traffic flow. Or is that ooze? Normally it is five-minute drive to the beach access. After twenty minutes heading up island and less than a third of the way to the beach access I baulked and turned on a side street and doubled back to the McD’s.

The traffic down island was spotty. I made good time getting to across from the McD’s. I parked at a souvenir shop across the street. The traffic up island was still bumper to bumper. Traffic control was at the light directing traffic through the intersection. No U-turns allowed. They stopped traffic and let me cross the street. There was a cop at the McD’s keeping an eye on the spring break revelers. I ordered an iced coffee, and handed out tracts until I ran out. Handing out tracts to spring breakers requires good eye control.

The traffic cops stopped traffic to let us cross the street back to our car. By the time we were ready to leave the traffic up island had stopped. Strange. Halfway back across the bridge we knew why. There was an SUV with a very crumpled hood. People follow too closely at high speed. Sometimes it bites them.

Back in Harlingen we stopped at Sam’s to make up for missed beach steps and for a couple of Fro-Yo’s. We went to Bass Pro for a short walk around to complete the day’s 10k steps, then home. While at Bass Pro we got a call from Daniel and Brenda who had just driven from Oklahoma to Harlingen. They wanted to know the time of the church service tomorrow. I suggested a meal or coffee tonight but they were as keen to socialize as you might expect from somebody who had driven non stop from Oklahoma to next to the Mexican border.

Meanwhile back at the ranch…

I had bought and installed a video doorbell that uses AC power from a bell transformer. I thought this meant there was no need to keep removing the doorbell to charge the internal battery. It doesn’t seem to be working that way. Son-in-law Ernie, came by and took out doorbell away to charge overnight.

I was up early and added pictures to the second half of the February Update.

I have a neglected Rumble account. Any videos posted there in the past have been uncut. Last weekend I took a short video of a wind surfer. Halfway through taking the video I realized it should be landscape not portrait and pivoted the iPhone. Would have been fine all landscape but not with the switch. For the first time ever, I edited a video and posted it to Rumble. It was not hard, but took a lot of steps to get it from the phone to the laptop and edited and saved and uploaded. I was inordinately pleased to have done this simple task.

At church we watched the weekly WOTC update video which included the Soto la Marina event the day before.

Michael preached a message beginning with Genesis 13:8

Notes:

Abraham divides things up with Lot

A couple of generations later you have Jacob. He did a couple of underhanded things. His mother warned him about his brother plotting against him. His mother had him sent to the tribe of her parents. Jacob went. Met a girl. Worked for 7 years. Ended up with the wrong daughter. Then worked another 7 years for the right daughter. In those 14 years he had children with his wives. After favorite wife had child he said, “Let’s get out of here.” Went to father-in-law. Spotted and striped sheep. Jacob moved his animals 3 days away. God blessed him. Six years later, “We need to go.” Laban was out shearing sheep.

When Laban caught up with them it was the first time Jacob stood up to Laban. It’s a hard thing not to complain. Jacob was the best employee because of the God of Abraham and the fear of Isaac.

Abraham offered Lot the decision without complaint because he knew whichever direction he went God would bless him.

We need to follow that example

Jacob showed up with nothing and God blessed him

Jesus said when you give offerings do it in secret and God will reward you openly. When you pray. Pray in secret

These were guys out there honouring God quietly and they were blessed.

We went for lunch with Daniel and Brenda and had a good visit after we found a restaurant that really was open and not just open according to Google Maps. Back home to change then off to the flea market in Brownsville to hand out tracts and get in some steps. On the way back we topped off the steps at Walmart and H.E.B.

At Chapel this morning people shared Bible verses and their significance to them. We heard good reports about the Soto La Marina event. A number of people will be going to the border later today to close out their 7-day Mexican visas.

I showed Byron what we did while he was away, helped a bit finishing off some sprinkler stuff and consulted a bit about some new projects in the office before helping Daniel get started on retrofitting a cabinet from the SWA truck command center office.

I went to the training center to look at a reported propane leak at the supply for the kitchen. The complaint was that it was hissing at the regulator when the gas is turned on. Probably needs a new regulator but that needs to be verified. I showed up just as the rain started to sprinkle. It held off long enough for me to discover that all five tanks of propane were empties. By the time I had picked up some tools to use back at the warehouse it was pouring.

Byron had gone to Mexico to deal with his visa. I helped Daniel complete cabinet retrofit.

We came home. I showered. Juanita went to the laundromat while I puttered a bit at getting ready to leave.

Oscar is back from a medical outreach and pastors’ & leadership conference in Jamaica. Among other things he delivered a message each morning at the medical event. The doctors want to skip the message and get right into things but found that didn’t work for them.

Today Oscar started with Revelation 21 and the street of Gold.

Have you ever lived on the same street as somebody you didn’t like? Or someone you liked a lot?

Oscar says that since he was a child he’s had a problem with authority.

Rev 21:21, Rev 22:1 – 2

We have a song in Spanish about the streets of gold and there are similar songs in English. But the Bible doesn’t say “streets” it says “street”. One street.

Theres no big problem with that, but it is not in the Bible. When he brought this up to his Sunday school teacher she told him to go away and stop bothering her.

One of the reasons it is important to him is that in heaven we are all going to live on the same street. Wherever you put me on that one street I’m going to be a neighbour of Jesus.

He reread Rev 21:20 – 21, Rev 22:1 – 2

I woke at 4:30 and got up, skimmed twitter briefly and started cleaning up e-mails from the last couple of days. Most got deleted. The ones to myself with narratives I transferred to Word. When I was at zero marked unread, I turned to Word and started cleaning up the point form narratives from the last week into fleshy narrative. Saturday narrative was almost done when Juanita woke up at 6:00. I saved my work, turned off and stowed the laptop.

After a breakfast of microwaved breakfast sandwiches, we started puttering in earnest. Everything out of the bedroom. Bedroom swept. Empty the bathroom area. Slowly moving stuff to the front of the motor home and doing touch up cleaning as we go. Walk the last bag of garbage out to the bins by the highway. Walking back, shapes of trees were starting to appear in the predawn light. Michael was leaving for the warehouse. We hugged. Ben stopped by while we were loading the last of the Rogue. He came in and we prayed together.

Eventually the motor home was empty, the car was overflowing, and the checklist was checked and taped to the microwave. We got in the car. Oops. Forgot to get gas. That’s the trouble with mental lists. Not nearly as good as a physical one taped to the microwave. Still a quarter tank. We’re fine. 156 miles according to the dash. We’ll stop in Raymondville.

We drove up to Ben and Jeannie’s house and said our goodbyes to Jeannie. Out at the highway I texted a picture of the check list to Salomon at 7:48. On the road!

We stopped briefly for gas at Raymondville. Next stop, the immigration control inspection station. No cars ahead of us. Quickly on our way. Then a stop at the first rest area beyond inspection station. No more stops planned except when nature calls. It called right about the Shell station with good kolaches near Sinton. And again at Buc-ees. Might as well fill up with gas while here and maybe a couple more kolaches.

At Pearland we stopped at a Salvation Army store that always has a selection of furniture. Most of it as good as anything we’ve ever owned. Juanita found a good purse for an excellent price. Then we visited with a family member and commiserated over a recent loss.

The sister Juanita hoped to visit was at the hospital with her ailing husband. They had hoped he would be out early today. Maybe tomorrow. Maybe not.

After checking into the hotel in Seabrook we went to Kemah Boardwalk for a walk around. We intended to eat near there but the restaurants we were willing to pay for were empty. I don’t willingly eat at empty restaurants based both on my and other’s shared experiences. We went to the busy and reasonably priced East Star buffet that has been reliable for us so often before. Tonight was no exception. We waddled back to our car and drove home to the hotel.

I got the last 900 steps for the day by going up and down the hotel hallways.

I was tired. After the Word and the Wordle and the daily Wheel puzzle online, I crashed. I started watching the latest Stud Pack video on YouTube but kept dropping my phone so paused it for tomorrow. Often at the end of the day I send my self a summary of the day. A point form narrative that can be built upon. Not today. Nor did I write down a few possibly clever ideas for writing that formed as I was dropping off to sleep.

Woke at 4:30 and did some keyboarding. First thing I discovered was that the dog ate my homework for Tuesday’s narrative. The point form I had sent myself and thought I saved to Word and then deleted from email didn’t get saved anywhere. I recreated the point form from memory and fleshed it out. Seems long.

When Juanita awoke to the 6:00 alarm we ate at the hotel buffet.

Rain was threatening as we drove to the Kemah Boardwalk and parked the car. Just a few splatters on the windshield. We got out of the car. The rain began in earnest. Juanita got back into the car to read and wait for me. I scurried around the building to the edge of the water and threw some oyster crackers. One gull. Three gulls. More gulls. Then too many to count. They made short work of 2-1/2 bags of oyster crackers. I made quick time getting back to the car. At Home Depot I added steps to the pedometer as I walked the aisles and handed out curved illusion tracts. When it was time to go back to the car the rain had become a torrential thunder shower. I turned back and walked a couple more loops. It didn’t help I ran back to the car through the puddles and torrent. At least we had parked quite close to the entrance. I usually park near the outer edge of the parking lot. Even when I wasn’t shooting for a targeted number of steps a day, I would drive into the first available spot. Juanita and the kids hated it but they weren’t driving. This driver would rather park right away and walk than circle for a long time hoping for a parking spot closer to an entrance door.

Back at the hotel the wordsmithing was almost up to date. I decided to keep working on narrative and not waste time setting up a VPN to cover the risk of using a hotel Wi-Fi connection to log into my account. I called the front desk and got an extension of checkout time to 11:30.

No good news from the hospital front with respect to being discharged this morning. No more visits with Juanita’s sister this trip.

We drove through the rain and the thunder to McDonald’s for a drive through lunch. Then we drove up near Lake Conroe with the windshield wipers on high to the Stud Pack House build.

The Stud Pack YouTubers are a father and son team of remodellers from Louisiana that bought a house north of Houston. The son lives in the house. It was in rough shape when they bought it. They did the minimum to get that house livable while they build a two story garage next to it. When the garage is complete, they will remove the house. The son will live above the garage while they build the new one next door. Though they have years of experience doing remodelling this is their first build from the foundation up. They have been documenting their activities on YouTube. I just wanted to see. Juanita is patient with my whims.

It was raining there as well. No outside, visible activity was occurring. We parked in the church parking lot across the street. I took a few pictures and we left for Juanita’s nephew’s house in Kingwood, Texas with a stop at Costco to fuel up and complete today’s 10k steps for the day.

Eventually I figured out the digital door lock and we went inside and got settled until everyone came home form work. I did my daily reading and the Wordle puzzle before nephew arrived home. We visited until we went for Creole cooking at BB’s Tex-Orleans Cooking. More visiting.

The thunder shower came back with a vengeance after we got home and shuffled cars so we could leave first in the morning. We visited some more. The power failed due to the storm. We visited in the dark. Then went to our rooms to sleep.

I set the alarm for 6:00 and sent myself an email as a reminder of the day’s activities.

The power came back on during the night. I could tell from the streetlights when I woke up at five. Fortunately, the lights in the room had not been turned on so the restoration of power didn’t disturb our brief sleep. We on the road at 5:30. Also fortunately there were some pine needles and a pinecone on our hood but no branches. Also as far as we know we missed the hail that caused damage around Houston yesterday.

We had discussed stopping at Buc-ees in Madisonville, but missed the signs in the dark. We stopped for breakfast at McDonald’s in Buffalo. Then stopped again for gas and to potty like rock stars in the immaculate bathrooms at the Buc-ees in Denton north of Dallas.

We stopped for salads for lunch at a Braum’s just into Oklahoma. Juanita resisted the siren’s call of the Braum’s ice cream, but I succumbed. The single scoop no sugar added peanut butter and chocolate cone was a pleasant accompaniment to a couple of loops around the parking lot.

Next stop Norman, OK for iced coffee from McDonald’s before reaching our hotel in Edmond. On the way to visit Jesse and Indy for the evening we walked half an hour at Sam’s Club. On the way home from dinner and a good visit we stopped at the Wal-Mart for 25 minutes of walking and just enough steps for the day. Walked out their doors five minutes before the 11:30 closing time they kept reminding shoppers about.

Filled the tank on the way home.

Normally I change the time zone on my iPhone to do tomorrow’s Wordle, tonight. By the time I was ready to do tomorrow’s Wordle it was 11:59. I waited two minutes and then started and completed the puzzle.
I set the alarm for 6:00 to be on the road by 7:00, rolled over and went to sleep.

Up a little before six. Woke Juanita at six. Had a quick shower. Packed. Checked out the hotel “buffet”. Came back with one cup of coffee. Suggested to Juanita she may want to check it out and decide for herself. There was nothing I wanted and nothing I wanted to be responsible for choosing for her. She came back with one cup of coffee. I got a couple of keto bar s from the car.

On the road before seven. Drove almost to Wichita before stopping for a gas top up and a McDonald’s breakfast at a turnpike rest area. It was a quick top-up but good use of the time if already stopped and waiting for your McDonald’s order. We didn’t need to stop for gas again today.

We left the turnpike at Wichita and headed north toward Salina. We had until four to cancel today’s hotel reservation but two late nights in a row are enough. Tomorrow we may hit snow.

Lunch was at a McDonald’s at Concordia. Later, after checking in at our hotel we went to Sam’s Club for steps and gasoline. We went to Walmart for a few more steps and bought salads for supper and breakfast  croissants for tomorrow morning.

It’s close to freezing here and colder to the north of here. I dumped the lightweight clothes from the carry on that I carry into the hotel room each night and replaced them with enough warmer clothes to last the scheduled trip. The weather channel and Internet weather sources say tomorrow is not looking good. Snow and blowing snow on our route. We’ll start early, drive slow and quit for the day when it seems appropriate. The hotel reservation in Fargo for Sunday is non cancellable. We will write that off if we can’t safely get there. We cancelled the reservation for Monday at the hotel in Moosomin.

The alarm is set for five a.m. Good Night.

Happy Palm Sunday

I woke briefly at three, looked at the weather radar forecast for our travel path and changed the wake-up alarm from 5 to 6. I went back to sleep. Woke before alarm, looked at more weather and shut off the alarm before it rang to let Juanita sleep out.

We considered Sioux Falls and Brookings as destinations. Blizzard territory today and tomorrow. Sioux Falls almost not but we’re not willing to be stranded in the middle of nowhere in a snow bank if we can anticipate it.

We elected to go a bit further to North Sioux City, stay there tonight and monitor the situation. It’s only about a two-hour drive but moves the ball down the field. If we leave around 10 we will arrive around lunchtime then find somewhere to walk until check in time.

We checked in at Sam’s Club for gas, lunch, and steps. After checking in at the hotel we went to Walmart to pick up supper (salads) , breakfast and finalize today’s steps.

Home to hotel to eat and relax and ponder 511 web sites to our north.

We set the alarm for six and plan to leave about seven if things look promising to the north. Or not. Maybe we will be here another night. We would be happy to get north of the storm system and thrilled to get as far as Portage la Prairie. I’d settle for Winnipeg. Last year we went from Topeka, KS to Portage la Prairie in one day. Google maps says that is a 12-hour drive not counting time at the border. I seem to recall it being a long day.

Up early studying weather maps. We are in the same motel as a number of years ago when we headed north in February to be in Regina for a refinery turnaround. I had looked for it on Google maps last year just out of curiosity but couldn’t find it. I remembered turning right (east) to get onto the road it was on. I had but it was right (north) from a road going west from the Interstate. We had gone past it, turned around in a parking lot down the street and parked our rig in front. That was the deal, we agreed to go north towing the rig, but we would stay in motels. No rig this year, so motels by default.

Today we are on the road about seven. It was rainy for the first half hour then was nasty. Then really nasty. Lots of times only a single lane of the two was clear of snow.

We made it to Sioux Falls, filled up with gas and went into Denny’s for coffee. We studied a future radar app and decided there was a window of not very good but better now than later. I left half my cup, and we headed off.

I did some white knuckling in the white outs. Some cars were off to the side. Most of them upright but flagged with police tape so probably not from today. We followed a plow at 30 to 35 mph for a long time until it turned around at the county line and went over to the southbound side.

We stopped for gas at the Summit truck stop in whiteout conditions. The roads were way worse off the interstate. The snow was horizontal pelting me even under the roof over the pumps as I fueled up. The nozzle was filled with snow. I gave a quick tap on the nozzle handle to clear it before sticking the nozzle into the fill hole. As the tank started filling I looked at how the snow could have got into the nozzle. The nozzle holder on the pump was filled with the sideways snow. I cleared it with my hand. That stopped the pump. I started over with credit card and zip code to get the pump working again and completed the fill-up.

After parking the car we went inside for pizza and drinks.

Back on road it wasn’t any worse, but it wasn’t any better, either. We had been listening to a Dick Francis book on tape but stopped listening before we got to Summit. We didn’t turn it back on until after Grand Forks. Road conditions got better after Fargo with a few splotchy bits but mostly clear pavement. At Grand Forks we checked times and distances and decided to go to Winnipeg. We could get almost there by dark. The Flying J in Grand Forks was almost deserted. It used to be busy. We shared a pre-made Subway foot long. I kicked some of the ice out of the wheel wells and we headed north for an uneventful border crossing.

On the way to the border, I got a call with the offer of a job starting April first. After some brief thought I took it. I had texted several people saying I would be available on April 15. There are some things we need to do but I can squeeze in the essentials by next week.

At Emerson we stopped at the visitor centre to use washrooms, change car dash info back to metric and to book a hotel in Winnipeg. We stopped in a small town to add enough gas to reach Winnipeg. At the hotel we took in the luggage before I went to the Shell station down the street. The pump clicked off well short of a fill-up. I was tired enough that I just thought that seems rather little but didn’t think it through and finished the transaction. The pump clicked off just shy of the amount needed for an Air Miles bonus which had been the point of only adding a bit on the way there. Sigh.

I completed the 10k steps for the day in the hallway at the hotel. Took one Robax. Call me in the morning at six.

Woke at 3:30, looked at the time and returned to sleeping for another hour. At 4:30 I woke again needing more sleep but experienced enough to know it wouldn’t happen. It would just fritter away time trying.
Got dressed in yesterday’s clothes and walked up and down the hotel corridor for over an hour. When I went back to the room Juanita was putting in her contacts. She, as well, had awakened without the benefit of the six-a.m. alarm. I had a shower and dressed in today’s clothes.

We loaded the car. It took two trips. Usually, it is one and done. Last night we brought in some stuff we didn’t want to freeze. Minus 12. Welcome to Canada in March. It is what is. One adapts.

On the road we started out travelling further away from today’s end point. That was the direction to the closest McDonald’s . At McDonald’s we picked up breakfast at the drive thru. My McDonald’s app works again now we are back in Canada.

Then back to the gas station. Initial plan was just to drive through the car wash but we bought gas as well. The pump clicked off at half full last night. I was too tired to process the situation. The fill seemed low and the miles left indicated on the dash but they just registered as random facts.

Data.

Not information I ought to do something about. But now I was doing it. Had filled up last night just enough that I was about two litres shy of having enough to qualify for bonus air miles.

I bought a car wash on the Shell app and drove to the entrance door. The machine on the post gave me a ticket and the door went up. We drove into a large room with multiple wand wash bays. Not what I expected. I was never in the army but their principles can be useful. I adapted and muddled through.

The pressure washer took care of the sheets of ice hanging from the sides of the car. The wheel wells ended mostly clear of ice. The ice remained on the underbelly, looking like the stalactites on a cave roof.

I took the ticket inside. The cashier explained how the system worked. The wash I bought on the app will be good at a Shell station with an automatic car wash. I paid for today’s wash. We drove away with a cleaner car and a future car wash prepaid on the app.

Coffee in the room. Coffee from McDonald’s. Open prairie. Getting close to Portage La Prairie. We could do with washrooms but neither desperate. Yet.

That gas station across the highway? Access awkward. We carry on.

Portage La Prairie? It’s a slog to drive through. That’s why they built the bypass. We took the bypass.

Brandon? We can make it. It’s not that far. Only around an hour. We can do it.

We pull off onto the access road in Brandon and double back to the McDonald’s. It’s surrounded by contractor fencing and contractors’ trucks. The drive through is open. Useful if one wanted more coffee but no help in getting rid of previously consumed coffee that is getting insistent about being freed. We double double ahead to Tim Horton’s where the parking lot is full.

I park in the next-door gas station and dash into Tim’s. Things are touch and go at the crowded doorway into the donut shop. The place is crowded. Tim Horton’s get that way when nearby McDonald’s close for reno’s. The bathroom is not too crowded, fortunately. Finished, I wash my hands and go out to look at the line waiting to order. Back to the car sitting there locked and idling with the heat on high.

Juanita is not back to the car yet. I check my phone for any news about next week’s job. There are drug tests to book but you need a dispatch slip and a req number to do that. No news.

Juanita returns. After I rushed away from the car, she had attempted to do the same. The water from the car wash had frozen the passenger door shut. She couldn’t get out through that door. She managed to crawl across the console and out the driver’s door without incident. Must be hard to do with one’s legs crossed.

I texted a friend and we agreed to meet at the Tim’s in White City. Stephanie came to Tim’s as well, to spirit Juanita away for a visit. After a good visit with my friend I drove him home and toured his shop and ongoing projects. I headed to Larry and Stephanie’s picking up some Carbonaut bread at Costco on the way. Just enough to complete the steps for today.

I had their address on my iPhone. Apple doesn’t always play well with Google maps. It took me about 100 meters away from the right spot. Larry and Stephanie recently moved into a secure building. I was at the mercy of a map app plus I needed to help from them to get into the building. Having arrived at where Google said I should be. I texted “here” which started some back and forth since “here’ was not where I should have been. Eventually I used Apple Maps to extract the address correctly and followed its instructions. United with Juanita again, we carried the bags into Larry and Stephanie’s for supper, a visit and a two-night stay.

Larry went out to a meeting for a while and a friend adjusted his schedule so we could get a short visit at a Tim’s on Albert Street. Back at our home for the night I failed at tomorrow’s Wordle, breaking my best so far streak of 119 days in a row. On the bright side, I am at 302 days for >10k steps a day.

We all stayed up late visiting.

Despite the late night visiting I woke at 4:30 clock time. Nobody else was stirring. I finished a borrowed e-book and returned it three days early.

I lay in bed and quietly finger by finger poked out a pretty fleshy narrative about yesterday and emailed it to myself. Often, I do a point form summary of a day’s highlight but this was more complete. There are two printers in the apartment. I connected to the one in the dining room and hit print. I heard happy printer noises. Thus encouraged I got up and did a safety orientation which had been on hold until a printer was available. I need the completion certificate to get a site pass next week. I now have one. What else do I need?

After breakfast with our friends, I booked a pre-employment drug and alcohol test for 9:30 this morning, shaved for the first time since October and drove to the test. Having blown in tube, been swabbed under the tongue and provided a urine sample I was done. Blew zero. Zero bad things in the cup. The swab will be couriered to a lab. That over with I phoned around and found somebody who could do a couple of half mask respirator tests. It was only a couple of blocks away from the D&A test.

Back to Larry and Stephanie’s. More visiting. Lunch. More visiting. Larry went for a haircut with their grandson. I walked around Wascana Lake and back while Stephanie and Juanita visited. Then supper and more visiting.

Latish to bed we set the alarm for six with the plan to be on the road by seven or sooner if we woke early or were functioning efficiently. We agreed if I woke early, it would be okay to wake Juanita at five and we would get on the road.

I woke up at 2:19 but managed to go back to sleep until 4:30. I turned on the coffee and did my meds, psyllium and teeth. Juanita woke at 4:59 as I was zipping up my carry on. We were backing out of the parking space precisely at 5:30.

We arrived at our driveway before noon. The snow was deeper than it looked. I pulled in, high centered the car and spent around three hours digging. When all the snow was removed from under the back half of the car it had enough traction to be backed out onto the grid road and parked until I had cleaned enough of the driveway with the snowblower.

I didn’t need to go looking for make-up steps to get 10k today. The tally ended up over 15,000 with the day’s activities.

After supper we went to Deborah and Ernie’s for a visit with them and their three kids. They leave tomorrow to fly from Edmonton to Puerto Rico in the evening.

I went through the mail accumulated since November and picked out the stuff needed for doing income taxes. Doing our tax returns took the rest of the day with a few breaks to shuffle stuff that came out of the car yesterday but not stowed away yet. The shuffling tallied up a few steps but I needed to walk some more to get to 10k.

I started walking to the highway. About halfway I slipped badly but recovered without falling. I came back home, got in the car, and went to Deborah and Ernie’s. I walked around inside their house for the last 3k steps. While there I filled some water jugs. There is no point turning on our water system for three days and then go away with it vulnerable to freezing. We can live with a barrel of water in the bathtub for the short time. We have lived like that in Nicaragua for much longer.  

Juanita went to Deborah’s to do laundry. I shuffled the tax forms printed yesterday until they were ready for signing and mailing. I cut my hair and “showered” Nicaraguan style before getting dressed for town.

In town the insurance office was closed despite the door sign saying it would be open until noon. There was a woman at the door also trying to get in. Her driver’s license expires tomorrow. All I needed was to renew the insurance on the Rogue. It runs out mid April and we might not be back. I would have done it online but the renewal notice said if the vehicle was going to be driven outside the province in the next year it had to be renewed in person. I sat outside the closed office and tried renewing online anyway. It wouldn’t let me but there was an 800 number. That worked. I did some other shopping and went home for lunch.

After lunch I vegged a bit then put some traction aids on my boots to do a bit more snow blowing. Ever the optimist I put the snow blower away behind the lawn mower. After locking the sea can and the sheds I went for a walk to the highway and back. The traction aids worked like advertised. No slipping on the path to 10k for today.

Too tired to do any more we went to bed early. Packing can wait until the morning.

Happy Easter. He is Risen!

Up at five packing and shuffling stuff. I opened last year’s Christmas cards and read them. Despite good intentions we still managed to leave a little late for church which we understood to start at 10:30. There were no cars in the parking lot of our home church. Apparently there was a joint Easter service at another church. It started at ten. We were already marginal for a 10:30 service. We left town for the drive to Edmonton.

The gas gauge was low but I was irrationally juggling fill-ups to get two more fills of more than thirty litres at Shell stations by the end of today. With a three click detour to Loon Lake for Ten bucks of gas we managed to get more than thirty litres of gas in both Paradise Hill and in Vegreville. The things an irrational person will do for 100 Air Miles.

We did a bit of shopping in Vegreville on the way to Nick and Rebekah’s. After unpacking the car, we drove to Southgate mall for steps and a pita wrap each. Then to Walmart for the rest of the steps and some lunch groceries.

Back home we sorted our stuff and I set out what I need on the morning and cleaned up the narrative from the past week.

That was March.