Randomness

Here is a picture of uncle Harvey and Michelle, in Toronto

I find it ironic that I went to a job and got compliments on my truck from a guy. I guess I get comments all the time on how well it is set up, but this was about the the truck only. This was from the drywaller. I looked at his van a
90's Aerostar, and realized I couldn't drive an Aerostar for work. I also heard that 35% of business, for companies with fleet vehicles, comes from people seeing the vehicle on their street. I will continue to use my truck for a wile, but I think I will get a sprinter and do some really fun graphics on the sides.

My truck milage is constantly improving its self since the new oxygen sensor. I got 14.1 mpg on the last fill, up from the 8-9 mpg
prior. I am hoping to get it up to 20mpg eventually, but I might just get something new before then.

I have found Larry, my main customer/contractor, uses different guys for every job. I am not sure why that is but I feel special being brought on to every job as the electrician. I tried a new professional aproach to meeting the crew at this new house in Edmonton. I walked in, introduced my self, shook the guys hands, gave them each a card, and dropped Larrys name so they new I wasn't there looking for work, cause there is lots of that that goes on. Well would you believe they
refered me to another job, that will require a permit and my masters. I am thinking at this point, I will go look at this new job on my way to Victoria Wendsday, or maybe Tuesday eavening if time allows it.

Escalated complaints department

This is a picture of the weeds in the back yard when we got back from our 5 weeks gallivanting around Toronto.

I first learned about the escalated complaints department from Sheldon, brother in law. He works for CIBC. I am so calling Royal Banks Escalated complaints department tomorrow. Without mentioning previous attempts to send a wire to my trading account, I sent a wire to my trading account on July 29 from Bloor st in Toronto. Other people from Canada get their wires to their trading accounts from Canada in two days. I called my trading company after 3 business days and they had told me funds can take 5 business days from Canada, and I was not to yell at my bank for 5 days. 5 days later I was in Huntsville and I went to the Royal Bank in Huntsville with my wire paperwork. After shrugging me off and telling me that they can't deal with other branches wires, they decide to help me. I find out my wire paperwork was filled out incorrectly and it was rejected by the receiving bank, now waiting for direction. So I directed them to return the funds to my bank account. About another 6 or 7 business days, on the 17th of Aug, we were back in Alberta and I went to Royal Bank to find out where my money went.
After telling me they can't help me with other branches wires, and trying to shrug me off, they find out my wire was returned because it wasn't filled out correctly, so it was corrected and resent, without my consent.
So then around the 23rd of Aug I contact the Bloor street branch by phone, and don't reach anyone, but leave a message. My phone call is returned and a message is left for me saying the funds were never taken from my account and resent.
So this morning I check my account, and funds were removed on july 29, and never redeposited. So this morning I called Bloor street again, and reached someone on the second call. "Didn't so and so contact you and resolve your issue?" No she told me the funds were returned to my account, I just checked my account and they were never returned to my account. So she agrees to leave a detailed message on the machine for me wile I am at work. I checked the machine and she tells me the funds were returned on Aug 17. So I check my account and there is an unknown deposit 8% short of the original withdrawal for the wire. I expect that was what she was talking about, but that doesn't cut it at this point.

Latest

A pic of Gus, cause he is so cute.

The latest electrical job is going really well, except that I get obsessed w finishing it and that is all I do, 7 days a week. For only one week so far, so its all good.
I was thinking today that I would like to advertise, just a little bit to do electrical work, just for people that are going to pay and not keep adding to the job for quoted bids. Then I realized that I was just offered a lot of work for the county, over dinner a few nights ago. So it is really good I got my masters when I did, and I will go see about this extra work tomorrow.
I get my first electrical inspection tomorrow.

I looked at that van a few days ago, I don't know what I expected for $200, but this didn't meet my expectations. It was very rusty with big holes along the bottom of the body to start with. Then the woman couldn't find the keys, so I waited around wile her husband came home with the keys he took to work. Then it wouldn't start at all, or even turn over. I could have fixed that rite away, but it was full of garbage, literally. Then even if I could have started it, got it into drive, and dumped all the garbage in their back yard, the steering wheel was coated in something like honey. It was really gross.

On the good side of things, I got 13.6mpg this last fill, w the new oxygen sensor. Because gas is $0.93 wile propane is $0.60 rite now, 13.6mpg on propane has a cost equivalent of 21mpg, because gas costs 1.55 X as propane. So thats not bad, the ol Aero stars only ever got 20 mpg. With all that in mind, I am going to run the truck for the rest of the winter, maybe even put a crate motor in it if I can find one cheap enough. I did buy some interior accessories for the ol dodge to organize my paperwork on the road.

So all was looking good to come to Victoria on the second of Sept. But I will have to check that the county doesn't need anything done before I commit to that departure date.

Michelle started her job today, first day. It is interesting to me that her coworkers all figure it is a great time to do renovations, because there are so many unemployed people they can just take the lowest bidder. That works as long as they can finish the job for what they bid it at. Again this job I am doing has surprised me with the cost of everything. I have spent on materials, just about, what I would have bid the job at. Good thing it is a cost plus job. Hopefully I will have a better idea after its done, what to bid.

Fun Pictures

I got some totally fun pictures today of the welder moving a large concrete stair set with the "Bobcat". The idea was to drag them from the back yard to the front of the house. The back yard gets a large deck and will have wood stairs. I don't know what happened to the front stairs but it it a good 5' drop off out the front door. It was way too much for the little skid steer, but the stairs were moving, until they EXPLODED into little concrete pieces. It was awesome, unfortunately I put the camera down at that point. And I still haven't found the usb cable for the camera.

Michelle starts her training today for working at Lamont High School. She gets to learn the accounting program and get her picture taken.

Yesterday I locked my keys in the truck at the gas station. It never really bothered me. I can barely get part of an arm in through the back window, past the tool box and not quite reach the quarter window behind the door to open it. I had always thought I could remove the tool box if that ever happened, but I managed to reach the quarter window latch w a 12" square.

I did get a somewhat victorious 12.5 mpg on propane. Gas costs 50% more than propane here so that is a cost equivalent of 18.75mpg in gas. Still not really good enough for all the driving I do.

I got 2 really cheap Aerostar options. I searched for Aerostars and there are a lot for sale with over 300,000 km on em. But I found 2 in need of repair. One needs transmition work, and has been parked in the garage for a decade, w only 150k on it, the other only needs transmission linkage, the latter I could get into drive and drive home. Either of those would be a great winter beater.

I was really enjoying having an old beater truck wile the welder drove the bobcat in very close proximity to my truck yesterday. I have a high price painted on the windshield, as if to say, you break it you bought it.

First day on the job

The job site is crazy as ever. This job has an out of work welder doing the carpentry with a 1st year apprentice. No plan, and not much organization. So I just pull my wires where I think they should go, then someone mentions in passing, we are going to pull that floor out and raise it up 12". So I pull my wires out of the floor, and pull more somewhere else. But I can't complain, I get paid and its by the hour. I already knew from the last job, that I couldn't put an accurate bid in for this house, with no plan especially.

Hopefully it all comes together by the end of the month, and it can be drywall mayham for a few weeks wile I come to Victoria and get my motorbikes.

I was going to stop in to get a new battery for my truck. Rite now it has two crappy batteries that don't quite give the juice of one good battery. But instead I stopped by the dodge dealer to check out the sprinter vans. They didn't have any, but recommended a dealer in Edmonton that I will pass tomorrow as I go to get supplies, and fill up w fuel. That will be the first tank with the new O2 sensor. I fear nothing has changed, how frustrating is that?

Dodge did show me the Caravans, and they do come in a cargo van. But the cargo van is virtually non existent and probably has no resale value at all. Especially when the seats of the regular van all fold into the floor neat like any van from the 90's with the seats removed. Maybe I should just look for a used minivan, they are so inexpensive, and (besides the sprinter that costs more than twice as much) there is no improvement in fuel economy from 90's minivans to the 2009s.

Got a rough quote from an insulation company and it looks like they can blow it in w their two guys for less than the cost of insulation from Home Depot. There must be a big mark up on the stuff at the store. So we will call and book em to come to the house next time they are in Andrew.

Back at to Electriacal work?

Here is a pic of the low rider I am still kinda thinkin about buyin. It is on air bags so it inflates to normal hight when you start it. It has been 2 months since I drove my big ol dodge. It seems like it lost power w the new oxygen sensor, but it is prolly just the same. I had thoughts of buying a brand new truck today I am so sick of my ol beeter.

To get the O2 sensor today I took my motorbike, which then broke its 3rd chain in 3 years. Its done for the season now. I got picked up by some financial genius wile I was hitch hiking home. He lost his F350 to Ford, and his Sportster to the Harley dealer. He was just racing back to his apartment in Saskatoon to get all his stuff, b4 the land lord changed the locks, for not paying his rent. I gave him $40 for giving me a ride, and so he could at least make it to Saskatoon.

I also met up w Larry, who I have been doing all the electrical work for. He is desperate to get me to wire the Vegreville place. That is the big job that I thought I was missing out on going to Toronto. He had a handyman do some wiring, but wiring is basically holding up everything, insulation, drywall, blah, blah, blah. I will have to go over the handymans work, cause this place has no attic, and no crawl space, and there will be no room to fix any mistakes without tearing drywall down. I get to pull my first permit.
So I guess the full time forex scalping will wait till this house is done. I did say I wanted more money for this electrical job, and it is closer to my house. I think Michelle starts training for school next week too.

Larry actually talked me out of blowing in attic insulation myself, he said its a real pain and it takes forever. He told me a company that can do it for about the same cost, but I think thats w him paying his 2 guys $30-50 an hour it works out the same. He did talk me out of it though when he told me how full his tandem axle dump trailer was w insulation, when he did it. I just can't carry that much stuff in my truck and trailer. The truck is outfitted w tools, can't even get my Kawasaki in it, had to use my lil trailer today to rescue the Kawasaki.

This might delay my trip to Victoria somewhat. I really don't know how long this Vegreville job will take, but if its like Larrys other projects I am sure it will drag on and on.

Motor Vehicles

So much to do now we are back home!
I thought that I might get a small camper for my ranger and use that as the little diesel motorhome. I looked everywhere for a used one for sale, and I found only one for $1500 in Edmonton. Rite away I knew it wasn't worth $1500 because it was from the late 70's, but I thought I should look at it cause it was the only one. It was so small inside I completely scrapped the idea of getting a camper for the little truck. There was no toilet, no refridgerator, I couldn't believe it. I might as well put the canopy back on the truck and get a nice foamy to sleep on in the box. We may end up getting a Vixen motor home yet. The Vixen I was bidding on went for over $15k in the end, same price as Vixens closer to Alberta, that we can test drive first.

I did get out to Edmonton Cast Iron where the Ranger head has been sitting for just about 3 years, all rebuilt and welded up. They were happy to see me, they thought I had abandoned my head. I had only forgotten about it, and my phone # had changed so they couldn't call me to remind me to come pick it up. Now I can start putting the Ranger back together one of these days soon, and run some cheap fuel.

I am replacing the O2 sensor in the ol Dodge, thinking that will greatly improve my gas milage. I will be coming to Victoria in the truck around the end of the month to help Kim with some stuff and pick up my motorcycles from the barn. I expect the truck to get better than double the present 8 MPG with a new oxygen sensor.

I went to look at a low rider Nissan truck that was pretty cool, but a big project. There was a lot more work left to do to it than the ad had described. So I opted to not take on another truck project, and just fix the old Ranger, so I can have a summer truck and winter truck. But I did oddly run into Dave that same day, and he happened to be picking up a crashed Magnum motorbike, which I had a look at. We bartered a deal out to trade the V 4 motorbike for my dirt bike that I don't ride, and the old 70's sled that doesn't work very good. I will make a new frame for the V4 engine, w a longer front end that has been waiting for years to go on something. And presto Chopper two.

Since we got back from Toronto, I insured my motorbike I have been working on the truck so I rode the ninja for my last 300km trip to the city and home. It was a lot of fun, I want to keep riding it until it gets too cold. I was really soar at the end of the day, but it was worth it. I really like that bike but for strait highway and distances you can't beat a chopper.

No pictures lately, I can't find the odd ball Fuji USB cord.

Home in 48 hours

We had a few delays on the drive from Toronto, but no "near misses". The first real slow down was Chicago Rush hour traffic. I would not want to commute to work in Chicago by car. Then there was a lot of construction zones, we got stuck behind a farm tractor in Dakota, and I stopped to sleep twice.

The border coming into the states from Toronto was the easiest crossing yet. Just looked at our pass ports and waved us through. Oddly getting back into Canada at Saskatchewan wasn't so easy, they though I was a baddy. As they put it, "There is another person w the same name as you that isn't so nice". That just involved a short stop over. The border officials took a close look at my ID, and me, perhaps comparing it all to pictures on their computers. Then they let us go, and "released" our car. I wasn't aware the car was seized, it was still where we parked it.

Amazingly we didn't collect a whole pile more stuff wile in Toronto, probably cause we didn't have much money for the trip. The Mother in law was in the market for a new stainless steel BBQ, and wanted to get rid of her old black BBQ that is much nicer than our small camper size one. We couldn't let that go to the dump, so we ended up taking it apart for her and fitting it on the roof of the car. That helped everyone out.

Our electric massage beds that we had picked up just before the road trip to Toronto, were the most loved possession when we got back. Both Michelle and I had soar swollen sausage feet when we got back. Going to bed last night w the of the bed raised, and vibrating massage on the feet, felt so good.

I will try and add some exciting picture when I upload my camera later.

30dc

Michelle and I are doing the thirty day challenge to "make your first dollar online" with your own product. I thought it was going to be a 10 min video every day for the month of Aug, but it is far more intense than that. It has been 6-7, 10 min videos every day that all require more than 10 min plus of work. That doesn't sound as bad when I write it down, that should only take 2-3 hours a day. It is a lot of work, but I am loving it. I will make a real forex blog, and Michelle is making a weight loss blog. I secured the domain forexstrategyblog.com, but that may not be the best name for my final product, I not sure yet. Anyone can join at any time through the month of Aug, as far as I know, and watch all the videos, there is lots to learn from it even if you don't take action. It is offered in several different formats, one being thirtydaychallenge.com, and one being the 30dc application in facebook. There is also Iphone applications and stuff. Hopefully I can get up and running for Sept.

The Vixen

So far the Vixen has been bid up to $12k ish. In Toronto here we are only 5 hours away from the Auctioned motorhome. Despite offers to pay for insureance and all the owner will not let me test drive it because he doesn't trust the brakes, figures it has been sitting so long brake lines have prolly rusted out. For another $3000 ish I can buy a Vixen that I can test drive and barter w price. So the ebay auction is out.

Sprinters appear to be about $50k brand new, and are few and far between in stock. In Toronto w hundreds of Dodge dealers I found only one brand new Sprinter in the east end, too far to bother with today, our free day in Toronto.

I did find a used Sprinter in Manatoba, that we will hopefully stop in and look at on the way home. It is the legendary Mercedes 5 cylinder motor, and only $17k. He hasn't got back to me w mileage and stuff yet.

Winter is coming, and if I do electrical work, I would be much happier w a van. I am sick of truck drawers frozen shut, wire spools covered in snow, frozen drill batteries that won't work nor charge. Although I plan on trading and web site development to be my main focuses, I will likely do electrical jobs for Larry, Ron and any other developer that will profit from my work. Larry has bought a gold mine in BC which is exciting, and I expect some specialized electrical mining equipment work out there from him as well. This Sprinter in Manatoba is really my only chance at one, hope its not miled out. The Sprinter link is... http://showrooms.canadatrader.com/showrooms.asp?RowID=1346836&Dealer_id=388-168&Pagecount=1&status=0

It is so hard to make a decision w so many possibilities. I could buy any number of 90's minivans for $1000, and keep my cheap insurance w no Collision cocerage.

Need a new travel van

For many reasons I feel we need a new van to travel in. I miss the day of the old Arrow star van, as unreliable as it was it was so nice to travel in. Then the Windstar was great for the few months that I got out of it, I would have kept the windstar if I only needed to replace the engine, but the transmission was on the fritz too. I am almost ready to buy a new van, I just have 2 requirements, it has to be diesel, and it has to have the capability of getting at least 30mpg, even if it is with very conscious effort with driving technique. I found this Euro style motorhome on Ebay I am really thinking of buying.
-It is a 1986 so importing to Canada is no problem.
-Its very unique, less than 500 ever made by Vixen.
-Vixen still has a websight and it appears parts are still available although expensive.
-The Vixen is powered by a 2.3L diesel and brags 30mpg.
-The Vixen is only 3' longer than my extended cab full box truck at 21'
-The ebay url is... http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=290336014927&fromMakeTrack=true#ht_511wt_1197
-I am a little sketched out because the radiator was replaced, and it just had an oil change. Turbo diesels over heat very quickly with any cooling system issue, and I suspect a head gasket is gone on this unit.
I have been looking at other options b4 I found the Vixen. I first realized my need when I saw a couple driving a gutted Mini bus here in Toronto. They had a big dog, His and Her bike hanging off a bumper rack, and lots of their worldly possessions in the back. The Buses are called Handydarts in Victoria. They are common little shuttles in Ft McMurray, and I am sure they are available for cheap somewhere. So that is one option is the minibus, without finding a good deal they are available as retired Limos or retired shuttle busses for about $15k US

I was surprised that a lot of ambulances were diesel. Retired Ambulances run a little less at about $12k Canadian But both Ambulances and mini buses are mostly Ford, and very large motors, 7.3 liters and such. However parts would be available and common.

In the used market there is several Mitsubishi Delicas, and Toyota minivan diesels for under $10k, but they are all from Japan and rite hand drive, which doesn't interest me. I feel we are only a few years off from being able to buy these w the North American left hand drive, but its not an option yet, and rite now it seems like the Canadian new car market is going to shrink more, before it expands into these great vans.

That leaves the Dodge/Mercedes Sprinter as the only New option that I have found. There is Ford and Chevy full size vans available w the 7L+ diesels, but they just don't compare to the Sprinter w its 3L Mercedes Diesel. I have to find out how much these are brand new, but I get the impression that they have come down in price to about $50k, although that is probably US, and they are just a cargo van at that point.

I need some feedback, if anybody has any opinions or ideas, email me duckvillage@gmail.com
I have about 4 days before the Vixen auction ends.