Blow Out!

Now that we are through the golf of June, it was time to get things fixed for the next adventure for Fillmore. Grad 2018. Yes Anna is graduating from high school, and to my delight she has asked me to act as their limo driver for her and a bunch of buds going to and fro for pictures and the dinner and such.

When we were in Manitoba and the destination window blew in, the mess was mostly contained within the cabinet above the drivers head. Although some pieces blew in, it was mostly help in the cabinet space awaiting for me to take everything apart for clean up.

The nice thing was....I have done this tear apart numerous times, so it was relatively easy and fast in the grand scheme of things.

Thanks to a wonderful suggestion from Chris Kruse, I sourced out some plexi-glass for (at minimum) a temporary fix. The lass was .2mm thinner than the plexi-glass, but there was wiggle room in the rubber seal.

The big site boss gave her seal of approval, it wasn't a vivacious endorsement but given that I really didn't have to twist her arm to come check out the final product speaks volumes.

With Grad looming around the corner, I didn't want to start to tear things apart. So it's status quo until this next milestone is finished. Having said that a guy has to enjoy the creature comforts of his workspace.

I wasn't tearing apart but there was no reason why I can't continue to build. The under counter medicine cabinet is on the agenda.

With the cutest little drawer pulls! These things are 6" deep!!

All the while Jeff is working on replacing the brake calipers on the 240Z

Grey Owl 2018

I know this is a blog about working on Fillmore, but I take poetic licence in sharing some Fillmore escapades. Every year I take a few days (more than a few in my wife's eyes) and I travel to my home province of Manitoba to take part in "The Grey Owl" golf tournament. Since the inception of Fillmore it had been part of my plan, my vision to have Fillmore be a part of that annual journey. This year marked the third year of making the trek across western Canada in the bus!

I worked a half day on my last day, had a lunch with the boys from the building and then picked up my father in law at the airport for the trek back to Manitoba

There is always something that makes me smile when I'm driving and the copilot is able to rustle up snacks on the fly!

It also makes me smile when I hand over the reigns to someone else....

And I grab a snooze....                                                                           ...or make fresh coffee



The tournament was great, we golfed like chumps, but the company was awesome and the food was(as usual) more plentiful and flavourful than the previous year!

But the trip was not , and seemingly never is, without incident. While enroute a big truck threw up a rock and "BOOM!" My destination window took it right in the kisser!!

Which meant on the way up to the lake before the airport we had to make an emergency stop to get roadside repair supplies. Thank goodness I brought the tools!.....always bring tools!

Mac and I did a decent job, was't super pretty but it was functional and got us home! Chris Kruse saved my butt yet again with a long distance mobile repair service call(thats another story for another time) but he gave me an idea of a more permanent fix.....acrylic!. I owe that man a good bottle of scotch!

What would you take?

 An interesting exercise really...
Easy to say that now because it all turned out well. But a few Sundays ago I was outside working on the bus (surprise). While puttering away I noticed smoke in the air, which I dismissed as someone's back yard burn pile. But then I started to get email notifications that there was an out of control Wild fire south of us. Although we were 10+kms away , a slight shift in the wind could have devastating consequences. We were not ordered to evacuate, but after a family Pow wow we decided to pack up our prized possessions and load them into the bus. That way if the evac call came at 2am there would be no panicked decisions about what to grab. We grab the computers, the dogs and the car keys and we are out of there.

We tried to stay calm, but its a funny reality when you know you may have to run for the hills and leave your home behind.

The fire (red) and our house(teal)....to close for comfort.

On the monday, we all were away from the house. I couldn't leave the dogs, I couldn't leave our possessions, I couldn't leave Fillmore! So I put the dogs in the bus with all of our important things....For Anna:Grad Dress&shoes and assorted clothing, for Jeff: a couple small duffel bags with hoodies and T shirts, Michelle: Digital picture collection and old photo albums, and me?.....tools. Odd yes but it's what I thought was important to have if all else is lost. Monday was a warm day but the dogs were fine in the bus with shade and air flow!

Within 48 hours the disaster was averted and the "on call evac order" was lifted, everyone and everything was back home safe and sound.

Which meant it was time to get moving!....The Grey Owl trip to Manitoba was right around the corner! There was tile to cut!

And floor to grout!

It was a real different material and technique, but the outcome was great.

Next on the list was to finish the locking latches for the kitchen. Filling the drawers with dishes and cutlery means they tend to roll open with the bumps in the road. Most of the drawers were without incident but one needed some mods to get it right.

The final touch I wanted was to do some filler in the floor, when it was done it had a little religious feel to it! That's OK, I'll need all the helping hands to watch over me on the road trip ahead...