ROCKS, ROAD TEST AND REPROGRAMMING

Aug 12/10

Another full week of activities for us retired folks who are supposed to be taking it easy and not working too hard.  We finally got around to replacing 2 fence posts that were rotten and were pleased at how easy it was to dig the fence post holes.  The soil here is a sandy loam with a few round rocks, not like the heavy clay and sharp boulders that we had in both Kamloops and Salmon Arm.  The job went well and it was fun to mix concrete again. 

The posts after installation:

 On Saturday, we received a quote to pave our driveway from a company who is doing work for the city of Grand Forks this week.  The price was good so we agreed to get it done.  We have good gravel on it now but it does get dusty and the rocks shift around a bit when you drive on it.  So we’re taking the plunge and the work is scheduled to be done on Friday and Saturday.  In preparation, we have scraped up about 30 wheel barrows of rock and created a wide walkway from our carport to our back deck.  Shortly after we moved in, we talked about constructing the walkway but thought we’d have to wait until next year.  This turned out to be the perfect time to do it.  Here are photos of the project that took us 2 days.

Before:

 During:

After:

In the midst of all this, I had my road test to upgrade my driver's licence to tow a trailer over 10,000 lbs.  It took place on Tuesday and was a stressful but successful event.  I scored 100% on my pre-trip inspection which takes about ½ hour and did well enough on my drive to pass.  It is not easy towing a 39 ft trailer through the streets and subdivisions—lots of right angle turns and narrow streets—but I got it done.  What a relief.  No more studying and waiting for the big test.

Yesterday, we had a custom exhaust system put on the truck and bought a reprogrammer for the computer.  It gives us increased horsepower (60 bhp) with the setting we have the programmer on and it will improve the fuel economy.  There is a local guy here who does that type of work and he did an excellent job.  We’ll have to take a load trip to see the improvements.

So we’re having fun and staying fit with all the fresh air, exercise and fresh veggies and fruit that are available here.