A Conversation Starter

So now the blog writing style will be changing, and hopefully you’ll be seeing some posts from Julie soon too. We’re pretty much at our most recent adventures (maybe a week or two behind, but we’ll try to catch up before we leave).

Big news: Cloud 9 and I are no longer parking ticket virgins. In fact, we received TWO tickets for parking on Maria Goretti Cir. for longer than three hours. I was mad about that because someone living on Maria Goretti had to have called for me to get a ticket. I know it’s an eyesore people (for those with less refined tastes of course), but come on! You don’t need to call bylaw and have me ticketed just because you don’t like her look. I have a feeling that we are going to be a giant “pull us over” billboard to police on this trip. I wonder if Noni and her friend had any issues with that.

 

So yeah, got TWO parking tickets. See, I was moving out of my place using the van to move the big items like the dresser and my desk, but I didn’t move out all in one day, more like, over the course of two weeks. I only used the van for the last few days of the move though. I was supposed to pick it up on Monday and take it back to my cousin’s place, but Doug’s car decided to die, right after being at the mechanic's, so I spent the better part of my night stranded at an Esso gas station in Nepean.

Tuesday, I bused over to my old place, but I knew in my gut that I’d probably gotten a ticket. Sure enough, there were two little pieces of paper under my windshield wiper. Great start to another eventful day with the van! I wish tickets were hand-filled out still. The last time I got a ticket, the officer didn’t sign it, so I didn’t have to pay the fine. It was awesome. Not so much luck with these tickets. I had to pay both of them, but the fine wasn’t terrible…$35 each.

Anyway, got in the van after removing the tickets, stuck the key in, turned, and…nothing. She didn’t make a single peep. (You’re probably thinking, dear god, why did she purchase this thing???) I thought, for crying out loud! I mean, is this van going to be such a hassle every single time I climb into the driver’s seat? Because I’m really starting to wonder if it’s me...

The battery was completely dead. Clearly, we’d forgotten to turn something off when we left the van overnight. Doug thinks it might have been the ignition…the van is special and doesn’t always turn “off” even when you turn the key in the ignition to the off position. I think that the last time we drove the van, we turned off the engine but didn’t turn off the ignition, so it’d slowly drained the battery over the past day or so.

I texted my landlord since I’d seen her car in the driveway when I’d walked up the street. She came out almost right away, as did my awesome neighbor, Jeff. Together, we collaborated to get the van going again. My landlord brought the cables, and Jeff provided the expertise and the car.

With the boost, the van started perfectly. We let her run for a little bit, and then disconnected the umbilical cord. Jeff was asking me all about the van, and my trip. He was looking at her like a kid in a candy store. I laughed when he asked if he could take her around the block. He was so excited when he got back. My favourite line was “Giver hell girl!” This coming from my big construction-type neighbour…Too funny.

With the first boost of the day behind me, I drove over to Doug’s place to move the last of my shit into his apartment. I turned off the van and then my phone vibrated. Doug: “Make sure to take the van for a long spin before you turn her off”. Woops. I turned the key in the ignition. Sure enough, she was dead again. I wasn’t going to let it phase me though. I got the remainder of my stuff into the apartment with the help of Julie, who had arrived shortly after I had, and then we met our first stranger-now-friend (I’m sure we will be meeting many of these over the next few weeks!).

She was a young mother living in the lovely house across the road from Doug. We saw her van in the parking space behind the house and thought, perfect, a mom will totally be sympathetic to our plight! (Doug lives in a really hoity-toity area where everyone drives fancy BMWs and has three cars per person…lol). We were right. She was a lovely lady, and she was totally willing to help us out. So for the second time that day, we boosted the van.

As we waited a few minutes for the battery in the van to be “charged”, we gave our new friend a tour of the vehicle. I have to say, I am EXTREMELY proud of Cloud 9. She’s beautiful and I love showing her off to people, even if she hates me and tries desperately to get me to take her to the junk yard. I won’t do it. I’m not ready to give her up!

Anyway, we learned from my previous mistake and drove Cloud 9 out to Nepean before taking her back to my cousin’s. Julie and I then frequented the Local Heroes up the road and savoured a much-needed pitcher of Rickard’s White and some burgers.

P.s. We’ve had to boost the van only one other time since…I think the mechanic is going to tell us the alternator is dead. My conclusion: Cloud 9 is trying to sabotage my dream trip. My feelings about that: Bring it on Cloud 9.

-Nicole