Last night I was saying that I hoped that I would have a good night last night.
And what actually happened was that I went almost straight to sleep and there I stayed, without moving even once, until 05:40. That’s about 7 hours sleep straight through and it’s been a long time since I’ve had a sleep like that.
And not only that,I was on my travels. And quite significant they were too. I remember having a long and involved chat with someone with whom I’ve been speaking at length on the internet just recently – she put in an appearance – and I was also dealing with wind turbine issues at home. The small Rutland WG901 had lost its tail in a high wind and the bearings had seized, causing it to smoke as it tried to rotate. By some incredible feat of gymnastics up the top of a ladder I managed to remove it and replace it with the spare Air 403. Although I hadn’t anchored the mast correctly (and I’ve yet to understand at all why there where two masts) the turbine went round, but the guide light on the charging panel changed from green to orange. A closer inspection showed that the voltage across the battery system was a mere 9.0 volts rather than the 12.7 that it was supposed to be, so there was clearly something wrong. Leaving the fridge running while I was away couldn’t have accounted for that.
But anyway, enough of that. I eventually headed for breakfast and then Rachel and I set out for the tyre depot where I was going to work on Strider – but it didn’t quite work out like that, as indeed you might expect, given the way that things have been going just now.
As well as all of the stuff that had been booked in to be fixed, there had been a breakdown on the Trans-Canada Highway and a holidaymaker from Ontario had limped in to the place with a rather sick car first thing this morning.
It’s only natural that the folding stuff takes priority over any other kind of arrangement and so what with that, and a steady stream of other work that came in, very little was done on Strider before lunch. Rachel and I went off to the restaurant here for lunch, and I had home fries with onions, peppers and mushrooms and a side order of baked beans. I treated Rachel and her friend to lunch, seeing as how Rachel has been treating me to meals for the last week or so and then we headed back.
By this time someone else, driving casually past the tyre depot, suddenly remembered that their car needed a safety inspection so that was another unscheduled job that needed attention. But we eventually managed to get around to Strider and finish the work and perform the safety check.
Of course he passed and so I could go down to Service New Brunswick in Florenceville to have him licensed. And now he’s fighting fit and ready for the road, which is good news, especially as I fuelled him right up. Petrol doesn’t keep like it used to and there’s been nothing put in since the last lot in October last year, so some fresh stuff wouldn’t go amiss. I made sure that there wasn’t much in the tank when I laid him up, so that there would be a full tank at the earliest available opportunity.
Having done that, the next stop was Great Satan. Documentation rules for visiting the USA have changed quite considerably over the last year or so and I needed to know whether I was in order or whether I had to find some more paperwork. But a very friendly (and doesn’t that make a very pleasant change!) couple of US border guards went through the documents that I had, and nothing more was required. I was issued with my entry permit on the spot.
Back at the tyre depot I helped Darren replace some track rod ends on an old Ford saloon that was in for a safety inspection. Had this been the UK, the bodywork would have been a long way short of passing but this is not the UK and we have seen on these pages some examples of what is considered acceptable over here. It wasn’t the worst that we have seen, and not by a long way either.
We all came home after this and as soon as we entered the house I crashed out for well over an hour. I’m definitely not as young as I used to be, am I?
But now that I’m awake again, I’m making plans. Tomorrow with a bit of luck I’ll be off to the seaside. I want to relax in the sun and hear the crash of the surf.
