July

July was marked by two purchases--one an accident and one a necessity.

I have always been in the habit of buying a cat toy from the dollar bin when I go to the vet's to buy catfood and so the last time I went, I automatically picked up a toy. It was so automatic that not until 2 weeks later, when I was staring longingly at the pink fluffy cat toy in Safeway, that I suddenly realised that I had bought a toy at the vet's.

The necessity was an alternator. We were headed from Enderby to Calgary and just east of Sicamous we developed a squeak and I smelt burning. We stopped and checked the belts. We couldn't see a problem. We started the engine and after a few seconds the squeak and the smell disappeared. No problem, we thought-- just one of those things--and we headed on our way. A half hour later some ten miles west of Revelstoke, we lost power. Got a boost and made it another few miles (into cell phone range). Alternator. It was either abandon the car or buy an alternator and aside from its being illegal, we were also loaded down with camping gear. So, I bought a rebuilt alternator. I might have been tempted to think that really counted as second hand except that the box says "more new parts".

I am getting better at the second hand, though. I managed to get stoned on second hand pot one night.

We came close to having to buy a new tent on the camping trip. When we unpacked our tent, it reeked of mould and mildew. Turns out the person we lent it to last summer packed it up wet and we never thought to check. Seemed bad enough to be a tent killer. We went on line and all the advice said the same--don't put it in the washing machine--swab with lemon juice or similar. Well, this tent was was past swabbing possibility so we figured what the heck. Through the tent and fly into two machines with 2 litres of vinegar in each, staked the tent in the sun for a few hours and the got some waterproof spray and sprayed the iffy looking areas. We camped in it for three nights, it smelled fine and we didn't get wet from the rain. Before this year I probably would have just dumped it. Seems like I have really in the past few years developed the bad habit of just throwing money at problems for a quick fix.

This camping trip was also noteworthy for its being the first time in years of camping in Enderby that I have not bought something tacky at the Enderby dollar store. The thrift stores in Nelson more than made up for that loss, though, including a birthday present for someone.

So to sum up July, total full on nonconsumables--1 catball and 1 rebuilt alternator. On the iffy list hair shine and nail polish.

The real challenge is about to start, though. I am off to Iceland and England for three weeks. No postcards, no souvenirs, no newspapers (unless I can find them). I'm a tacky souvenir junkie--this will be a first. However, Reykjavik is supposed to have a killer flea market with lots of garage sale stalls but only on weekends and England is loaded with charity shops so I may be able to do a little sublimating.