Brrrrrrrrrr!!

Wow, what just happened? Sweated like a little piggy yesterday and woke up this morning frozen solid... just about! Thank you Luna for snuggling with me in bed. Why do the season changes have to be so abrupt? Keeping my frozen fingers crossed that there are still a few warm/hot days left!

Because even though I don't like crowds I would gladly put up with them for a few more weeks of beach weather. I'm not ready to put summer behind me yet!

Day at the Pinery 

Another day, another soggy Dorito.

Last Sunday - Jazzfest in Wortley Village along with 150 craft vendors - including my brother!

Love the image on this guy's T-shirt!

There's my bro below...he makes and sells birdhouses so that he can buy a new T-shirt. I think it's Day 12 for the Pink Floyd shirt!

                      Here he is wearing it on our visit to see our sister in Bracebridge!!

The rest of the photos were taken at Pt. Bruce on Monday during the eclipse. While we didn't see a total eclipse in SW Ontario we certainly felt the effects. The sparkling lake became less sparkly, the air became much cooler temporarily and it got quite a bit darker.

It got so cool that I came out from under the beach umbrella and sat on a blanket instead. Eventually the sun came back and I had to retreat to the umbrella once again. It was a very interesting experience.

August Transportation Update:

• two car rentals of $19 each for a total of $38
• gave my brother $40 for gas on the way to Bracebridge
• $134 for last car insurance payment (now cancelled - I am on Kazi's insurance policy to ensure continuity in my car insurance history)

That's it. The total for August so far is $212, most of that being the last insurance payment. If we have more nice weather I might squeeze in one more trip to the beach before leaving for Scotland on Sept. 3rd.  I've used my feet and bicycle to get around the city. I cancelled one bicycle outing due to stormy weather.  When I rented a car I took the opportunity to purchase the heavy things I needed, specifically cat litter. 

The total for September will be zero! I'll be using my feet, shuttle buses, airplanes and trains to get around Scotland. All transportation has been paid for as part of my trip. Starting in October I will sign up for Car Share and see how that works for me.  There is a Prius parked a couple of blocks from me which I can rent by the hour. For longer trips I'll continue to rent a car from Kazi at Enterprise and use my feet/bicycle as much as possible. I am considering this an experiment. It may work out and then again it may not but I'm not ready to give up yet!

Wow, What a Week....

......in American history!! And that's all I've got to say about THAT!!

Because my life is much more interesting...NOT!! But it has been a busy and productive week here in little old London, Ontario. 

Transportation Update:  after walking with me around my neighbourhood in my last post (thanks for tagging along :) I realized I had forgotten a few things...important things...other places I get to by walking or cycling. 

Such as... our dentist is a block west of the library - very handy - but my doctor is a 20-30 minute bike ride away which is ok in the summer but not so much in the winter. I only go a couple times a year so it shouldn't be too onerous - that trip will be a CAR SHARE trip. (There are two medical walk-in clinics near by that I could use in a pinch but regular appointments will remain with my family doctor.)

My best friend is a 30 minute bike ride away but we have other ways of getting together, like meeting halfway, sharing a car rental or Car Share. I'll be seeing her tomorrow at a craft sale which I will bike to. 

Thursday (the day before yesterday) was my weekly get together with my brother, Kim. However, it rained all day and there was a Severe Storm Watch in effect so I had to cancel. That was disappointing and I'm not sure how I can get around in bad weather when it's "at the last minute" type of thing. 

I am waiting til after my trip in September to sign up with Car Share. I can use that when the weather is bad. Or use Uber, whichever would work out to be the cheapest. I haven't mentioned taking the city bus - I'm not fond of taking the bus and am not really familiar with the routes near me. I'd rather not go down that road (haha) if I can help it. 

I also forgot to mention that I'm only 1km from London's system of bike trails. I certainly cannot go without forest bathing at least a couple times per week. It takes me about 5 minutes to get to scenes like below, which calm my nerves and make me feel whole once again!

Okay, this is a bit random but I am thrilled that a vegan restaurant - Globally Local - has opened up near me. It is only a block and a half away and I rode my bike there last night for vegan tacos and fries. Soooooooo good!!

Also random - on Tuesday I rode my bike to the final protest and laying to rest of our Hydro One action that I've been involved in for almost two years. Here we are all gathered one last time at our local MP's office after the gov't sold a company that belonged to the people of Ontario to raise a little short term cash. BOO!!!

 Then on Wed. I rented a car to take Julie and I to the beach - it was a perfect weather day! Booking the car through Kazi I paid only $20 for a 24 hour period!!! Less than the cost of gas if we had gone in Dougie the Dodge!

 And, in other news, Luna kept a close eye on me while I made up 10 bags of trail mix and other energizing snacks for my upcoming trip to Scotland. Isn't she helpful?

Overall I am happy with how "transportation" is going but there are definitely some kinks to work out. I don't know if I can do this forever; time will tell. It's difficult to be spontaneous and hard to work around bad weather.

On the other hand it's wonderful to not have to worry about costly repair bills, insurance and the price of gas :)

I've Gone and Done it!

I had a lot of  possible titles for this post: like "Bye-bye Dougie Goodbye", "Going Car Free", or "Car Sharing- is it for me?" and so on.  Yes, Dougie is gone, sold and hopefully loved by his new owner. Unfortunately Dougie is just not the vehicle for me anymore. Sentiment is not a good reason to keep a car...or truck. 

I've debated for awhile now whether to try living car-free as Dougie can sit there in his space for a week or more before I drive him anywhere. The last time was a week ago when my friend Julie and I went to the beach. The steering seemed a bit stiffer than usual - I knew something was up.

So on Monday I took Dougie to my local mechanic. It was bad news - the steering column was seized up and would need an expensive repair. I had to decide whether to get it fixed or if this was the time to let Dougie go. One consideration I had was to donate it for a charitable receipt. But my mechanic knew someone looking for a small truck, took a couple of photos of Dougie and contacted him. We were able to work out a deal then and there - I pocketed a goodly sum of cash - more than I expected and walked home. 

It does hurt a little to give up Dougie but he was meant to live in PEI (along with me:) where having a pickup truck is standard. I kept driving Dougie for three more years after selling my house in PEI but knew I'd have to make a change at some point. So I finally did. And now on to the next adventure - seeing if I can manage with my feet, my bike, a car-share vehicle located a few blocks from me (a Prius), taxi, Uber, bus, train and car rentals (Kazi can give me really good deals!!)  She's already quoted me a price between $20-$30 for a day at the beach (24 hours) which includes insurance and gas!! Yes, I don't even have to pay for the gas! Dougie takes at least that much just in gas to get to the beach; so I've got that covered :) 

Bye bye Dougie!

I know I can manage without owning a vehicle for most of the year but then of course there's winter to consider! I'll have to be creative.  I am motivated by the fact that I will have two less budget lines in my monthly budget - car insurance (around $110/monthly) and gas, currently budgeted at

$80 per month. Yes, only $80 a month for a V8 truck! When I first retired I allotted $200 a month for gas and sometimes used more than that. I have gradually reduced that amount over the past three years by walking and biking more. Fortunately I have most of what I need in the immediate neighbourhood. I'm debating whether to add a "Transportation" line to my budget or whether to include it (Uber, car share etc) in my Misc budget. I'm leaning towards having a transportation line so that I can easily see how much I'm spending. 

I can say that I am feeling lighter. Being an environmentalist and owner of a V8 truck just don't go together well in my mind. Going car-free reduces my carbon footprint quite a bit. There was an article in the paper recently that listed BIG ways to help the environment: having one less child,  reducing travel by one international flight per year, don't eat meat and/or go car free. 

I'm working on the meat.

Let's see how I do without a car.

Dougie taking a beating from a hailstorm.