Frozen pipes creak and groan as I try to fill the coffee percolator this morning. I awoke to snow on the ground, and when I tried the water-tap- a soft but clear cracking noise rose from the floor. As I sit down to type, I hear another pop, and a fuse conks out. I've already forgotten yesterday's lesson about the oil-heater and the percolator. This might be a l-o-n-g winter...
I had to scrounge water from Nalgenes and half-drunk water-glasses to get a half-pot of coffee going. I selfishly hope Kate doesn't wake up early enough that I have to share... I can handle driving to Starbucks after a coffee or two, but not before.
Our next-door neighbour assures us that if we woke one morning in Oct/November to frozen pipes, they at least will not burst. "It will be a 'soft freeze.'" We had planned to have them heat-taped and insulated by now, but we've yet to find the right length of heat-tape, so here we are, testing this fine theory.
We've also piloted a couple of our silver-wrap window solutions, and notice warily that each window ends up with condensation on the other side. We are hoping that the moisture wrap will help there, but we're waiting for a warm enough day to get it installed.
Furthermore, when we changed from a seasonal to a winter site, we lost our wifi connection. We'll need to figure out getting on the EDGE network, or getting some kind of phone-line/DSL account- complete with installation/cancellation fine-print, I'm sure. I write from the trailer, but send belatedly from the Rec Centre.
On the bright side, most of the area under the trailer is now stuffed with those R66 insulation bags, and we've noticed the difference already. The floor is warmer to walk on, and the bedroom was super cozy last night. The heater only came on a third as often too, which is going to help save serious cash. After finishing that, we'll complete the wind-barrier (these are hard sheets of interlocking insulation).
Today's priorities are clearly going to be finding some right-sized heat tape, and sourcing some more of our Roxul. Home Depot had run out yesterday.
In the meantime, in-between time, I've got through Robertson Davies' Fifth Business again, as well as Sinclair Lewis' classic, As For Me and My House- the bleakest prairie novel ever written. I'm now beginning Margaret Lawrence's This Side Jorden, the only one of the lot that isn't being re-read for the tenth time. I've been picking up second-hand books this summer, in a bid to have good reading that I don't feel obligated to keep. I just enjoy, and pass them along.
I've also been working on a video for this park. As with the first park we stayed at, EagleVista in Squamish, this park wants its own video as well. I've taken hours of video here, between the landscaping, pool and hot-tubs, ponds, playgrounds, wagon-rides, mini-golf, and of course St. Jacobs, and Laurel Creek. I've spent many many hours capturing, logging, editing and selecting, and I'm just putting together the first rough sequence. It's endlessly fussy work, but it is something you can work on, stop, and go back to. In fact, the rendering process guarantees that with only one machine, I can't work at it steadily. Anyway, it's fun.
For every hour I spend on video, Kate is spending another on her websites and Flash projects. She's got all the markings of an incredible interface designer. She started with the graphic design background, she's already at the intermediate level in Flash, CSS and web design, and she's making headway in programming. She would have fit in well with the best I worked with at Cyberplex.
Speaking of CX, I got a call from Sean on our mutual birthday on Monday, which positively tickled, and we're making plans to hang out. He managed to remind me of how he got me so bad when I turned 30 with a hilarious email to the whole company. Despite that, plus nine more years of gloating about it, I remain fond of him.
Actually, now that I look outside again, we're not going anywhere until the snow melts off the truck- I haven't carried a snow/ice scraper thingey for 3 years!! Not to mention, I've got to get that ridiculous looking, snow-covered kayak off the roof and into storage...
