I’m Still Here, Still Determined.

Yeah, it was a might bit nippy this morning, more so than I had expected.

So, this sums up my morning . . . 

  

Those are not more grey hairs, nor are they white ones; those are frosted and frozen whiskers. This is me after getting to work, after walking that 1km to work in this.

Why? Well you see, as soon as I wake up, but before I get out of bed, I check the weather app, just to see what greets me after emerging from my hibernation. 

This is what I saw . . .

   

No matter how you slice it . . . that’s cold. Sure, that’s the weather outside, but my trailer is not heated so inside it was hovering around -15C (at best). 

To tell you the truth, I didn’t bother to look at the thermometer in the house.

It takes a special kind of motivation to get out of bed at moments like that, I can assure you of that. (Remember, I sleep in my skivvies.)

By the time I finished getting dressed, my fingers were getting numb and fumbling. This is even though my clothes were laid out at the foot of my bed. 

I didn’t bother to move the truck and trailer, and just walked to work in my plain street clothes. I didn’t even bother to dress up in my cold weather gear. 

(My grumbling, bitching and bemoaning at the injustice of it all kept me warm.)

Yet, I am still here, despite the more cold weather to come. Sure, it is not supposed to be as cold as it was, but it will still be darn cold. 

Yet, I am still surviving and thriving. I stay motivated by looking at my budget and peak a few ahead; so as to see my savings grow. 

I remind myself of my goals and dreams and how enduring this now, is getting me there faster than calling it quits.

I do not like the cold and I hate the bitter cold, but I hate admitting defeat much more . . . so, I’m staying.

As always: Keep your head up, your attitude positive, and keep moving forward!

The View From My Front Door

So, as most of you know, during the week I park on an industrial side-street not far from work. No big deal, I am not bothered (for the most part) and things go along fine.

Where I park there is a green space (when not covered in snow) out my front door, and a nice bit of “Borrowed Patio” in the form of a sidewalk. 

This is from this past summer (in the same spot) . . .

   

So, you know that when I say sidewalk, I mean a proper concrete city owned and “maintained” sidewalk. 

As in not only is it a sidewalk on a city street but the land that is my green space is a garbage dump, or rather a long-deactivated-which-no-longer-smells garbage dump . . . owned by the city itself (as far as I know).

This, however, was the view out my front door this morning . . . 

   

On the surface that may not seem like much but keep in mind that is my trailer door and I am in my trailer, that is about two feet (or more) of a lovely mixture we call “snowcrete.”

Snowcrete is a mixture of snow and ice that is packed together and hardens into a glacier like consistency that is as hard as concrete. 

This happens when you pile up snow and it melts and freezes and melts and freezes and is also walked on to compress it. (It’s lovely).

So that pile is about two blocks long and runs the length of this forlorn sidewalk. On one hand it is handy as I don’t need to step up into the trailer.

Think I’m kidding? 

  

Here’s a close up of the back of the trailer and the snowcrete. 

  

Here is the view beside my trailer. 

   

Looks kinda smooth and level for a random snow bank eh?

As most of us know the city will get on property owners to keep the city owned sidewalks in front of their properties ploughed and clean, fining them if they don’t. 

This is to ensure that those sidewalks are safe to walk on. 

Yet, the ironic thing is that, which may come as some shock (or not) that the city can (apparently) pick and choose which sidewalks of its own it chooses to clean. 

I can verify that this one is used on a regular basis, by more than just me. 

As always: Keep your head up, your attitude positive and keep moving forward!

88.25%

No, that was not the interest rate of some loan shark “debt consolidation loan” that I saw on offer. That is the percentage of my paycheque (today’s) that will into savings.

This is something that I have been working towards, something that I am most proud of. I have reduced my cost of living to the point where I can put that much into savings.

The whole point of this is not to be a miser or have a large savings account for the sake of having a large savings bank balance. 

The purpose is to build up those savings so as to bring my dreams into existence that much sooner. (At which point move out of my trailer . . . but not until then.)

I have the Wanda Repairs and Upgrades which will be coming out of that savings account, but that’s okay. 

The point is to build up those savings while staying debt free. That way, whatever I have is mine and mine alone. 

I will be keeping an eye on what is going into savings, however, as well as how much is in and how quickly my savings are growing. 

For now, I will keep trudging on and stay motivated by looking to my future while keeping in mind what I can do today, to move me towards my desired future.

As always: keep your head up, your attitude positive, and keep moving forward.

Wanda’s Repair Date

Okay, so Wanda finally has a date with the RV Dealership’s repair shop. That date is at the end of this month, as in the last day of this month, the 28th.

The upside with the wait, which I expected, was that they will be able to slip Wanda in and out fairly quickly, which lowers my hotel bill.

There is still the one subcontractor for one part of the repairs, which I may have to deal with on my own. 

They have not, as yet, gotten back to the RV Dealership with regards to an estimate of time and cost. 

Such is life. So, I am going ahead with the repairs that the RV Dealership can do itself. 

As for me, and how I am doing with regards to this cold snap. I am doing fine, I know how to handle the cold weather. 

I am still just hibernating the cold snap away, so while I am spending more time than I wanted in my bed, I am at least warm (and I have a nice: comfy and warm bed.

This morning was warmer than it was when I went to bed. This warming trend will continue and by the weekend things should be not so bad, weather-wise. 

I am still just getting through winter, and not enjoying it; perhaps that can be a challenge for next winter . . . we shall see. 

As always: Keep your head up, your attitude positive and keep moving forward!

I Survived

I made it through the weekend, staying in my Eastern Home, with no power and no heat. It is not something I would do to someone else, but it is something I will do to myself; I’m funny that way.

One of the first things I did was refuse to get out of bed until the sun came up.

So, I checked the weather app while remaining snuggled in my bed, sporadically checking the clock, to ensure when sunrise arrived. 

Then I would get up, put on my six layer cold weather gear and toddle off to the local Tim’s for breakfast. It is in walking distance, so I didn’t need to move the truck and trailer. 

After that I would return to the trailer and sit in a sleeping bag as I listened to the radio on my phone (with that FM tuner app).

Again, not that fantastic or exciting, but it was alright and I was able to get through it. I am looking forward to next weekend when the much milder temps are due to return. 

This week seems to be a week of transition going from the bitterly cold to the not-so-bitterly cold.

No matter what comes, I will endure it. 

As always: Keep your head up, your attitude positive, and keep moving forward!

Staying and Enduring

Okay, so this weekend is going to be cold . . . and boring. As in pretty much hovering near -20C and staying there. 

(Yet, it will be between -12 and -17C in my house.)

So, the urge to run to the hills and Banff is strong. Yet, the other urge to just not spend any money I don’t have to is strong. 

The trouble is that this payday coming up was a surprisingly good one. Yet, if I run to the hills that extra cash would be gone. 

I just don’t feel like tossing that bonus away for a bit of warmth and comfort. I have repairs to pay for and savings to build. Besides, it feels weak to run away anyways.

I may or may not run the generator for a bit tonight, just to run it, and to put a bit of a charge in the batteries. 

Yet, I will not be doing anything with that charge, just putting it there to be drained away by the cold, and for the health of the batteries. 

I keep reminding myself that this will most likely be the last of the really cold snaps of this winter. There is no way to know for sure, however, but that is what I am telling myself. 

I want to get back on track with regards to my savings plan and at the end of the day, I just don’t want to spend on something that is not essential.

As always: Keep your head up, your attitude positive, and keep moving forward!

Warm Socks Are Essential

Okay, so it got cold, into the bitterly cold temps overnight (as in south of -20C). The happy thing to report is the fact that the temperatures were manageable last night.

This was due to the fact that my mattress kept me warm from underneath and my quilts and down comforter kept me warm from above.

The only difference is the fact that I wore my thick wool socks to bed (along with my sleeping-toque. This helped keep me warm all night.

My head needs the sleeping-toque because it sticks out of the covers all night.

My feet need the socks on these really cold nights because there is not much flesh on them, so there is not much there to warm themselves up.

At least that is my theory, but all I know was wearing the warm socks to bed yet still being down to my skivvies was the best way to go.

You see, your body, your core will warm up the bed and that will in turn keep you warm all night. For that to work you need to be wearing as little as possible.

Yet the feet take the longest to warm up at the best of times, on such a cold night as last night, I didn’t want to risk it.

Once again I am taking this cold snap one day at a time, or rather one portion of a day at a time.

Get through the mornings and into work (and warmth). Then after work get through the evenings and on into bed (and warmth).

As I have said before, I tolerate the cold, I do not frolic in it. Never underestimate the power of wearing a good pair of warm socks (or three).

As always: keep your head up, your attitude positive, and keep moving forward!