Travels With Miranda

When I was researching parks in the area, it came down to deciding between here and another park I won’t name. I waited for them to get back with a quote for me for monthly sites and they never did, so I came here. Speaking with the camphost, she said that the other park would have been a huge mistake, but I took that with a grain of salt. Until today. The other park just emailed me with the following message:

Hi
Sorry I am slow as we have been busy.
You would need to call XXX.
He takes care of all monthly sites.
I do not know if he has room so call and deal with him.
Thank you

What?! The proper reaction on the person’s part would have been to call XXX and get the information for me.

I’ve started to look at other parks in the area and I have yet to see one I’d be willing to move to, even if the rent would be a lot cheaper. Here, I feel safe and secure, never mind the amenities, while the other parks I visited seemed run down and in poor parts of town. I’m highly motivated to stay here.

Blech!

One thing I really miss about Oliver was how good the tap water was there! I use a Brita pitcher to filter my drinking water. My first day here, I filled up my pitcher and took a gulp of the water, then promptly spit it out, discovering that I was long overdue to change the filter! The water here is highly chlorinated and has an off-taste reminiscent of old socks (a flavour attribute I only appreciate in my cheese, thank you kindly).  I made the mistake this morning of making my coffee with water from the tap rather than the pitcher and I got a lovely caffeinated cup of chlorinated old sock sludge. Yum!

The filter is not able to full rid the water of its nasty flavour properties, so I’m going to have to get water in jugs for drinking and beverage making purposes. *sighs*

British Columbia’s southwest mainland (where I am) is now under flood warning thanks to all that wonderful rain we’re getting that is melting all that lovely snow. The province hasn’t had it easy the last few years thanks to forest fires and now here we are with flood warnings.

The last few days have brought back lovely memories of my time spent in the Scottish Highlands. Until now, there was the only place I ever saw mist and fog so thick as to completely block out the sky. Oh, I’ve lived in the Gatineau hills and made mention of pea soup fog along my journeys, but this sort of fog is a breed unto itself. The sky seems heavy and 1PM looks like 9PM, it’s so dark out. The Scots call this weather ‘atmosphere’ and that’s entirely appropriate! Like those days back in June of ’98 in a stony croft in Glen Nevis, I just want to wrap myself in a wool plaid by a hot fire! Of course, a bathing suit and hot tub are going to have to substitute. 😀

I’m finding it more difficult to find a comfortable ambient temperature inside Miranda in this sort of weather than I did in dry cold. It’s damp and I’m heating with propane, which pretty much makes the problem worse. I don’t have a 15A outlet on my pedestal here, so running a space heater is out of the question. But this is truly a petty concern; it’s not cold, just chilly, and, again, I have a hot tub to run to when my fingers stop working. Okay, enough with the amenities already! 🙂

I’m definitely settling in here, having found the shortest route to the nearest Walmart. 🙂 Thursday afternoon, I have an interview with an employment agency here in Surrey; this is great news! I spoke with another agency yesterday but doubt that anything will come of that conversation. The lady had a hard time believing that I am allowed to take temporary employment during my sabbatical, much less that I left on good terms and that my supervisor is available for a reference!

Going back to Walmart for a second, the south Surrey Walmart is the hugest Walmart I have ever seen!!! It rivals any American ‘super’ Walmart I have ever seen! It even has a complete grocery section that rivals any grocery store I’ve seen in months (for one thing, it stocks halva!). After the absolutely ridiculous grocery store prices in Oliver and environs, I’m going a tad nuts with my stocking up!

Well, I have a a lasagna to assemble and laps to swim and rain to listen to (love that sound on the roof) and interview clothes to assemble, so off I go. It sure feels nice to not be miserable anymore. 🙂