Life Off the Grid 28 -July 11, 2012

Life off the Grid 28 - July 11, 2012

7:15 AM

Windy. But the sky is clear. Getting ready to head to town.

5:00 PM

Got back from town about an hour ago. Everything takes so bloody long! Internet in McDonald's parking lot sucked and I totally failed to upload most of my blogs.

Went to Home Hardware and bought stain for the cabin. We are departing from the Parks Canada Red/Brown that the cabin has always been. The new stain is closer to the colour of the dock, sort of a sand colour. We shall see. I guess, if we hate it, it can be redone. Couple of hundred dollars for stain...

Went to Canadian Tire and got dog toys and big plastic buckets to store the camping gear in. More and more I am thinking I need to build a shed in the parking place. I could store camping gear, lock in the quad... Also bought an electric clipper so I can give Seamus a haircut. Poor guy can hardly see and he must be sweltering. And now I have electricity from the sun!

Went to the vet. It was really busy and we had to wait a long time. Guinness was good as gold. Seamus was great with the people, but when a girl dog came in he went bonkers, barking and barking. How embarrassing. Finally they put us into an examining room and again we waited. But at least it was an enclosed space with no one around, so I could relax a bit. When the vet came in I let her know right off that Guinness finds vets really nerve-wracking so she went away and came back with a muzzle and two helpers. Once Guinness was muzzled and held down by one assistant and me, and Seamus was controlled by the other assistant, the vet shaved the nasty thing on Guinness' neck. He cried. We both were having a very bad time. She said it was a “hot spot” which is a kind of excema that dogs get. It's a horrible looking thing. Like a huge boil, bleeding and oozing pus. She said if he swims he should have his collar off because it is the wet fabric in contact with his hot skin that causes it. She gave him a prescription for Prednisone and another for Cephalexin. He gets a bunch of pills twice a day. And he has to stay out of the lake for a week or more, until it is healed up. It's going to be above 30C all week, so this is grim news indeed.

Just before we left, while I was paying for the pills and the exam, Seamus further distinguished himself by pooping on the floor. Oh, joy. He never poops inside. I guess he was just disturbed by the whole thing. Or he was being a brat. Who knows?

After a stop at Canadian Tire for gas and propane, a chat with Jeff and a stressful conversation with irate youngest daughter, we headed out on the road. I set the trip odometer as we left town to see if we would be inside the 50km radius for satellite internet free installation. We are. But just barely.

While I was trying to upload blogs I spoke to a roofer who knew where we are and seemed to think there would be no problem getting supplies in and doing the roof. He lives out here and knows people on the lake. Beauty! An estimator is coming out next week to size up the job. This, if it works out, will just solve a multitude of problems.

Once we got home the dogs drank bowl after bowl of water. Then I gave the new clippers a go. Pursuing Seamus around the cabin, clipping away. It's a start. Took almost as long to sweep up the poodle hair as it did to clip it off. I'm giving him a break now, but we will have another go in awhile. It's got to help make him cooler.

5:40 PM

Still 33C. Only supposed to go down to 20C overnight. About the same expected for tomorrow as well. And the next day, and the next day, and the next day... I should get up and do something. It's only 28C in the cabin. But I just feel like sitting here... So hot. I have such a long to do list. I am going to have to start getting up at the crack of dawn to get anything done. By 11AM it just seems best to sit very still and quietly. Or else be in the lake. But since Guinness is supposed to stay dry, it looks like we will all be staying dry for awhile. I will have to go get water soon. The dogs drank half a bucket when we got in. I think it's going to be Kale chips for dinner again.

OMG! According to the radio it's free small slurpee day today. The 80-somethingth birthday of 7-11. Somehow, I don't think a small would be adequate today. And there's no 7-11 in Kenora. And that's 45 minutes away anyway.

Blasting at the quarry. Boo! They're cutting it fine. They are only supposed to blast between 6AM and 6PM and only on weekdays. They don't always abide by that.

The dogs are hot and sleepy. Both flat out on the floor, eyes closed, panting. Poor Guinness has had all kinds of trauma today. He is really freaked out by vets.

6:00 PM

Days with trips into town are really lost days. First, it's a 45 minute drive each way. And Kenora is not a navigation-friendly town. It's just hard to get from here to there. Wherever you want to go. Parking sucks, especially when you are trying to park a big truck. Everything takes so long. Even if you only have a few things to do and leave early in the morning, it is late afternoon when you get back to the cabin. And tired out. The stress of driving so much (especially in town where the traffic is erratic, pedestrians are unpredictable, familiar roads are closed for construction and suddenly you are in uncharted territory trying to get somewhere but no idea how to go about it...), waiting in line-ups, dealing with worrisome issues back home via cell phone (teleparenting I call it)... I am always just drained when I get back.

The cabin needs a good cleaning. Blah. I think back to those old tv shows like “I Dream of Jeanie” and “Bewitched” where the women had the power to zap their house clean and chose, instead, to do it the non-magical way. Why? Why on earth? I would love to be able to bob my head or wiggle my nose and have everything fly into place. Send the broom out to do the floor. Send the buckets out to get water. How glorious would that be? Of course, it was the men in their lives that wanted them to do everything the hard way. They were embarrassed by their partners' special powers and suppressed them. The more I think about it, the more I think those shows were analogies for male insecurity in the face of powerful women.

According to the news, some poor woman in Afghanistan has been executed for suspicion of adultery. Suspicion of adultery. And adultery there does not necessarily mean either partner was married to someone else, only that they were not married to each other. Now, cheating on your partner is a horrible, awful, hurtful thing to do. But not warranting execution. Maybe a couple of years of extreme penance... Loads of gifts for the injured party, a lot of apologizing and grovelling, dinners in fancy restaurants, breakfasts in bed, exotic vacations... But, really. They shot her repeatedly while a crowd of of men watched and cheered. It is disgusting. And no indication that anything happened to the guy. He probably got slapped on the back and applauded. And, as I said, it was “suspicion” and no word that either was actually married to anyone else. So, how do you get rid of an awkward one-night stand in Afghanistan? Accuse her of having sex with you. Makes me want to scream. Capital punishment for murderers is something I have severe reservations about. This is just...just... I really have no words. Atrocity maybe comes close.

When I was in town I had a look at my blog stats. Someone is reading my stuff! That amazes me. That people in Russia, Germany, the UK and South Korea are reading my stuff amazes me even more. Hey, there's a comments thing on here. Let me know something about you. Where are you reading this? How did you find my little blog? What do you think of it? I crave feedback! Talk to me! Please?

11:00PM

Must go to bed now. Must get up early. Peace.