TubaOrNotTuba

I am not a gambler at heart. However there was a brief moment in my life when I found out how to double my money. Not much money by today’s standards but a half century ago, $0.50 went a long way. And I learned that at the lunch table I was able to put down a bet of $0.50 and from time to time double it period. Able to buy 2 pastries instead of 1 In the school kitchen. Now the mechanism is murky. There are people who played cards every lunchtime and some of the boys would bet on their games. One option was known as double or nothing. I figured out that if I could find someone willing to take my money and lay it down as their own temporarily I could make a bet on a game. I would not always win but I did have the option of deciding whether or not the odds were in my favour. And those days when my money suddenly doubled, I had a better lunch. From where I sit it was not that different from the current schemes that people use to change their money into something more. And not everyone was willing to take my quarter but when they did I realized that luck was something you created not something you were born with. As it happened I never had more than 1/4 at a time because even on those weird days where money doubled I still wanted it at least one pastry. If I had shown up with real cash I know that I would have lost everything and walked away somewhat the wiser. I bring this up because I keep getting these stories of people who bet on something called crypto and I do not understand the mechanism. Maybe it’s because I’ve always had to work for my money one way or another but the idea that your portfolio suddenly doubled in value just because you’re there at the right time makes no sense to me. As you can guess I have no interest in going to a casino or betting online. I learned at those lunchtime betting sessions that you did not always win and that you’re single coin could just as easily turn into nothing. It taught me an important lesson. I am now at an age where I am not apt to bet on much of anything. Not the outcome of a hockey game as some were wont to do or anything else for that matter in fact I can hardly remember the last time that I had a coin in my pocket. We live in a different age.

When it comes to the changes of season, all that really changes is the date. Today was my start to summer. We led it with more than 100 people running by the end of the lane going to who knows where. And then with that out of the way I started moving the deck furniture from down to up. This stuff is heavy. I say that year after year because it does not get any easier. But, I move the big reclining chair first and then the four individual chairs and that I stopped I did try to maneuver the big table into position but I realized that one of us was going to win. An object with four legs probably. And so I waited until I had someone else to help bear the load. All done now. Nobody got injured. This does not mean that I will spend afternoons laying in the sun but if someone stops by we can suggest having a coffee inside or outside. The option is now available. I should have known when I bought furniture that the wind would not move around. If the wind can’t move it neither can I without effort. What else of note? Well the weather is getting warmer before long, we will start getting summer visitors. A matter of weeks. Who will come to visit? I never know. My life is filled with surprises. Maybe someone will come with a dog. That would be a nice change. Someone else did stop by yesterday with food and that is also a great way to come and visit me. You know, from time to time. I am pleased that the outside work is taking shape. The lawn mower has a new battery and sooner or later we will get the choking part figured out. It’s been an easy seven years of maintenance. I wish I knew more about internal combustion engines but the need was never there. I spent three decades following the electrical cord around the aired. Also although I live in the country I have rarely had to shovel the snow. Part of climate change? It might be. I will do an analysis someday and when I do I will add it in here. In mentioning that battery it cost more than I expected but still came within our budget. Is there anything that costs less than before?

Now that we’re back home it is time to do some metrics period. Our trip was approximately 4200 kilometers. Not exact but good enough. We do know how many times we had to get on a boat and we do know where we went put all that together and you can make a pretty good trip report. If anyone else was interested. We had no flat tires no serious incidents and we know that we can keep warm on a cold night. Thanks to an electric heater. We saw some new things and we saw some old things we went uphill and downhill and we learned that there is snow even in the month of June if you go to the right place. Are we going back next year? Who knows? We have a whole winter to decide that part. What did I learn? That the people there are really friendly and that the boat is usually sailing through smooth waters period. Do you need more than that? Again who knows? What I did notice is that there were fewer moose on the roads than I expected. That is probably a good thing and also due to the time of year we were traveling. I imagine that by the end of the summer those poor giant beasts are being tormented by the bugs. Did we have much problem with bugs? There was a mosquito or two but that was it between the bugs and the smooth sailing we’re all home again. And no I did not send any postcards. Seems very old school and also requires that I track people’s current addresses. Even my mother has sold her house. Posthumously. Someone else might ask if I’m going to miss the old place. Not so much. I have been gone from there for 1/2 century and although I could find my way around the house in the dark that is hardly a life skill. I wish the new owners, whoever, good luck and warm winters. Make that gas bill meaning natural gas worth something. And do not leave the doors open you never know who might wander in.

This was a day to sail away. Away from Terra Nova and back to Terra Firma. A bright sunny day with calm seas middle to do but wait out the five or six hours of passage. We even went for a full meal in the restaurant. The only moments to note in today’s travel were the differences between boarding debarking. To get on board the ship we had asked for assistance and we were allowed to join in a parade of flashing lights which took us right to the apron of the elevator. Excellent service. At the other end of the chip the complete opposite. Called to descend to our vehicles was oddly timed. Go when you can it seemed to be. What you should know is that for people trapped in tiny elevators the idea of flight or fight comes first. I’ve learned to keep my head down in such moments but there is no patience among those who think that the other half of the boat is going to leave without them. And so it went. We were safely in our van and traveling before the stress had worn away. And now we’re back in the campground we visited at the other end of the trip. The feeling of coming home when the Wi-Fi recognized as you immediately. This will be a normal night and tomorrow morning we will head straight for the next boat. We dumped all our dirty water this morning because as I’ve said before that’s something you do when you can. And by the time we get back home tomorrow evening it will be as if we had never left. Well not exactly like because no travel is free but we have managed to do 3 weeks away in the RV which is a new record for this vehicle as someone in the background points out, 24 days today. Where will our next trip be to? Who knows. I heard rumours of a visit to the Magdalen Islands. Another five hours sail for those who are counting. I did ask the guy in the gift shop if he was able to work all winter long and the answer was affirmative. The route to Newfoundland is a busy one with hundreds of vehicles every day. For the main part; large trucks. This is how you feed a hungry province when the cars have gone away.

Rule about using other peoples Wi-Fi is use it while you can. This is the original ongoing struggle for anyone trying to keep posts up to date while on the road. Today we’re mooching on the Wi-Fi at the local Public Library. Parked up on the hill above a train that seems to have lost its way over a quarter century ago. The members of that consist are oddly marked. I do not believe that the newfoundland railway under that name had diesels before they stopped. But I could be wrong. We also had lunch in the local mall which I remember visiting about a decade ago. Little had changed other than the location of some of the exits. And now we’re preparing for our final full night here in Newfoundland. Sometime tomorrow we will come up, present our credentials and get a place on a deck. From what they told me last time around I should let them know I’m coming so they can get me into an elevator. Apparently I am a bit of a hazard wandering around a large vehicle deck with a cane and no idea of where I’m going. Back to campsite I was able to score just enough Wi-Fi to get my language lessons done just before dawn. I will either try again after midnight tonight or put it off until we’re back on the mainland. Still thinking that one through. In fact I’m posting this a little earlier than usual with the day only half completed. Too afraid of losing signal. I think I have some days missing in the blog and I will have to recreate them at a time when I can actually figure out what’s going on.

Stop the white screen hard to believe we’re already into the month of June. Today we have things to do and so after listening to the local traffic on portable radios we went off to attend an event. We started with wings and waiting until it was time to connect to a podcast or videocast or something cast a zoom session apparently I wasn’t actually doing this but we were there because a member of the family was doing something that most people never do defending a doctoral thesis. We were in a restaurant and unfortunately the background music covered up most of the conversation for me. I swear I am never going to Nashville. But after that was done we drove for what seemed like hours and hours to get down to the bottom of the province. We are now camped within a long stone’s throw of the ferry terminal ready for tomorrow or the day after again time is getting confusing. But it was warm and we have electricity and we have our wits about us. In a couple of days who probably be back home and this will just be a set of memories but while we’re here we are enjoying it. Did I mention that we had wings while we waited never done that before. It is possible that a couple of blog posts are missing right now and I do not have suitable bandwidth to actually analyze the situation. Hang in there and we will get back to normal before you know we were gone. Still have a long ferry ride ahead. 

For now we’re we’re parked up in a small RV place not far from Deer Lake. We stayed here coming up and this seems to be a perfect spot to just relax. We did take some sort of a bridge across the lake so I know there’s water in the region. Hard to believe we were back home by the weekend. If the current plan holds out we will stop close to the ferry terminal tomorrow night catch our ride the following morning. Once back on the mainland we have a reservation at the same spot we stayed coming out. Easy to go for places that you know. We went for breakfast, this morning and a place that is called Big Stop something and their menu offered a Big Breakfast. I should be careful because this was clearly too much food for me. From where I sit a small farm was decimated to provide me everything on my plate including baloney because we notice that it is an important ingredient in this part of the world. The weather was gray and wet all the way from there to here. I guess we’re in a rainy spell. It should be warmer though because otherwise that rain would be snow. In retrospect we have been fortunate all systems have worked well and that the only nights we have been cold have been our own fault. We have not been wet nor have we been seriously inconvenienced by the climate. Hey, some people are even getting to mow their lawns around here three weeks behind home. So far almost no large wildlife on the roads. We knew that was a possibility and if you can’t see them you can’t hit them. Not something we want to do. Standby ’cause the trip isn’t done yet. There are miles to go before we sleep as one famous poet put it.

In a province where the highway seemed to follow the various bays there is always another new reach. Tonight we are north of the TCH close to a place called Triton. I will find it on the map eventually. We’re here to try that variation of a bed and breakfast no I think as a supper in bed. Good food though. It is rare that I dine on lamb shank. And after supper was done we headed up to our suite, replete with a bidet and a wonderful heater. I mean last night wasn’t bad in the RV but you do stretch things when the heat goes out halfway through the night and you have to bear down until daylight. We also got in an exhibit building with the skeleton of a fairly good sized whale. A sperm whale according to person in charge. We had an interesting couple of hours learning more and more then I had ever thought to know about this species. We were not alone there were a number of tourists on hand despite the closed sign. I also have to try and figure that one out. We know that our days are numbered and we will soon have to pack away our dreams of traveling all summer and go back home. To be fair we never dreamed of traveling all summer but things like that can happen I suppose once you get to a certain age and your list of responsibilities drops away. As I said the food was good and the company was better even though we could not hear ourselves talk softly to each other due to the next table conversations. Young people tend to use their outdoor voice even when inside. But it doesn’t matter I’m now under a huge comforter and I am warm and I will sleep until dawn and then we will find another direction to travel. Isn’t that what vacations are supposed to be like? One of my sons is currently cycling in Norway. I’m not sure that his scenery or roads are any different. Something about the north and the way it bounces the asphalt up and down and back again. Not much else I can add tonight I think I’ve hit my talk quota for the afternoon.