Camping & Internet

Last evening, I could see sheet lightning in the sky to the west and heard the odd distant thunder clap for about 45 minutes.  However, around midnight the sky seemed to clear up and there were stars twinkling when I looked up. I thought I was probably safe from any rain.

When I awoke however, the rains had come – and stayed. There’s a light drizzle going on and I’m glad that I got most of my gear under cover.  However, I forgot to pull the tarp over the firewood and also left our bikes out.  It looks like the rain could be with me for the entire day, which means I will probably get lots of work done without the temptation of the sunshine and the pool to call off in. The thermometer right now is reading  19.3C in the shade (all there is today is shade with no sunshine through the clouds).

Along with my regular work that goes with my business (and hoping my internet connection stays solid), I have a few other jobs today.  The water leak in the Glendale trailer is getting worse with water seeping onto the bathroom floor. I had one of the park staff guys come by to take a look hoping he’d be able to advise me where to start looking or what to suspect in regard to the water leak. He pointed to the “drip….. drip…. drip….” (once every five seconds)  from the water heater tank. But I don’t think that is the main problem. A “drip… drip… drip…” does not cause that much water to seep onto the floor and then cause a “drip drip drip drip” (about two or three drips per second) out of the corner of the trailer. The trailer park guy was not all that helpful in regards to the water leak.

He was helpful however in regard to another problem I had the other day. The toilet in the trailer had backed up which I thought was weird as it’s not used for any solid waste at all. Instead, we all use the park washrooms for that which are only a 30 second walk away. So I couldn’t understand how the toilet would be backed up or plugged. When I purchased the trailer, I had the staff tow it to the site and when I saw that they had hooked up the water, electricity and sewer, I assumed that everything was done that needed to be done.

Apparently not.

The pin or whatever it is called that opens up the holding tank to release its contents had not been opened. So the toilet back up was because the holding tank in the Glendale camp trailer was full.  The staff guy showed me how to pull the holding tank release pin and we heard the gross sound of everything in the tank being drained away into the sewer pipe. As well, there was some spillage through the connection that is clamped to the trailer pipe – the staff guy didn’t seem to care about the small amount that emptied on the ground.  I think I’ll try to tighten that up though.

Or plant some rhubarb in the vicinity of the drain.

Today, I’m going to try to fix the leak from the hot water tank. I picked up some clamps from Home Hardware the other day. I turned the water off last night so hopefully the leak will have drained the hot water tank over night and I can get at that soon.

I’m also going to try to figure out how to get the trim along the back of the bathroom wall removed and check the plumbing under it as that is where it seems the water is seeping from in the bathroom. Not sure how I’ll do it as there is not much room to work without getting my head stuck in the toilet.  Hopefully I’ll figure something out and it will be an easy repair.

The other problem that requires attention has to do with the propane. The other day, I got whiffs of propane odour but I couldn’t tell where it was coming from. I wasn’t even sure it was coming from my trailer, but about an hour later, there was no propane left in my tank that is connected. So I’m pretty sure I do have a propane leak somewhere. I checked under the trailer and the main gas line does have some surface rust on it – perhaps somewhere in the pipe there is enough rust that there is a perforation and propane is leaking.

It could also be the regulator which appears to be original equipment of the 1983 Glendale Glendette Cottager. One of the rubber hoses of the regulator unit that connects to a propane tank does have a hole in it, so I have that tank shut off.  But the other rubber hoses do appear to be old and probably the unit should be replaced to be on the safe side.  I’ll give Home Hardware a call and see if they can order me a new propane regulator unit.

If that is not the problem, I’ll replace the gas pipe under the trailer. That shouldn’t be an expensive job – it’s all standard pipe and I have a friend that is a pipe fitter who can probably make me up the correct size of pipe.  Hopefully either of those two fixes should fix any propane leaks as I don’t really want to get into replacing the smaller gas pipes to the stove, oven and hot water tank.

I do have a couple of Coleman stoves with plenty of naptha fuel so I don’t absolutely need the propane water heater and stove in the trailer. My first priority really is to try to fix the water leak to prevent any rotting of the floor. When we took the carpet out of the bedroom last week, we discovered that there was some rot in the bedroom floor and I’ll have to fix that up at some point.

Off to work I go! And hoping the Bell Mobility broadband is dependable today.

Oh oh!

I’m taking a break from cleaning. I’ve heard some interesting things today! I met my some of my neighbours – a Newfie and his wife who wanted permission to walk along the edge of my site to head toward the washrooms and showers. I don’t mind a bit and they seem like good people.

Earlier though, I heard a “screamer” – some man just hollering at the top of his lungs at what sounded like a toddler about 3 years old. Now I’m no one to advise folk how to be good parents, but screaming like that puts only fear into the child and more than mildly annoys everyone else around.

Hopefully there won’t be too many “Trailer Park Boys” incidents here, but it is now the Long Weekend – the first one of the summer, and probably the busiest here. Hopefully some of the Trailer Trash screamers don’t come up too often. Even better, hopefully they figure out that screaming at your kids doesn’t accomplish much as far as positive behavior in the long run.

I’ve tried to get an Internet connection with the Rogers “Rocket Stick.” No luck. Nothing. This worries me a great deal. I do have cell phone connectivity with Bell Mobility (although it’s flakey), but there is no internet.

I do need internet access! I don’t know what I will do at this point or what my options are if I don’t get internet connectivity. I’m thinking:

1. See if I can get a usb stick from Bell Mobility on a test basis. It needs to work here, and it needs to work under Linux.

2. See if Zing Networks has a tower nearby and can provide point to point radio wireless.

3. Last choice – but if needed, find out about satellite options. I’ve heard  upload speeds are horrendous though.