Sep 17 - wills, finally

Sandy set off for her 9:30 dermatologist appointment while I played around with the pvc pipe to support the boat cover. Both endeavors were unsuccessful.

I did cut some pipe for under the bow portion but am not sure that it is sturdy enough. However, as I rolled the cover back further it was quite wet underneath -- even though the cover is supposed to be "breathable" it really isn't. The floor is still wet from travel and our recent outing. The floor staying wet is not a good thing -- eventually the wood gets soggy, no matter how well it's sealed.

I'm not sure at this point whether it's better to just let the boat get dirty but stay dry or be clean and wet. What I really need is one of those side-less sheds as a cover for the boat. Perhaps I should break down and do something along those lines. I could also try just putting a large piece of window-screen over the boat that would stop big trash (eg. leaves) from accumulating in the boat but let it breathe. That would be cheaper ! It's also a simple matter to bring in the boat seats while we're away for any significant length of time. That would only take minutes.

Then I set out for the 11am lawyer's appointment. Sandy called me along the way and said that she still had not gotten in to see the doctor. Well, it seems that the doctor was running at least 1.5 hours behind at 10:30 -- how could that be when Sandy had an appointment for 9:30 ? Even if her first appointment was at 8am, which I doubt, could she have taken twice as long with every person ? Was she just late arriving and therefore running way behind ? Sandy was not impressed. We decided that she needed to tell the receptionist that she'd be back another time -- so she made an appointment for next Tuesday.

Of course, as I was thinking, will the lawyer be on time ? We walked into the lawyer's office just before 11am and they immediately apologized because she was on the telephone. Within a couple of minutes we were in a conference room looking at the wills and a few minutes after that were signing and talking to the lawyer. Out of there by 11:30, that was the first time in dealing with this lawyer that things have moved on schedule. I finally met all the people who have been non-responsive -- not answering phone calls, not responding to emails -- I did not complain though, I just wanted to get this over with.

It's quite the procedure though -- the lawyer and receptionist act as witnesses to our signatures, supported by driver's licenses as ID, and the lawyer's assistant signs / stamps as the notary. It takes as many people and as much initialing and signing as a house closing !

Done ... copies on file at Caldwell Law in Daytona Beach, original in our hands waiting to go into a safety deposit box that we have yet to open. We had one in Radnor that we closed last year and will probably open one in Toronto soon ... we have other documents to put in there like car titles, marriage certificate, citizenship papers etc. Our intent is to open one near Stef with her having access so that if anything happens to us that she can open the box. We don't have anything of value to put in a box -- no stamp collections, coin collections, gold bars ... just papers.

Leaving the lawyer's office, we headed up Speedway Blvd to Boaters World. They have a great selection of shorts etc. and we both bought a pair. I looked at sandals for David, called him and he decided to just keep the ones that he bought in Edmonton. I also bought a rain / windbreaker to use in the boat rather than keep my ski jacket shell down here and risk not having it with the ski gear which is up north.

Pep Boys is next door and I took in the used battery from the X5 that was replaced last April. I was supposed to get $10 back but guess what, the returns have gone up to $12 -- perhaps I should have just hung onto the battery and waited for further returns ! 20% gain in 5 months -- is that a taxable gain ? Will I have to declare the $2 ?

Sandy meanwhile went up the road to Linens 'n Things to pick up a food processor that Stef wants. We had separate cars of course so we were both back home around 2pm. Thunderstorms were around us most of the afternoon but we had no rain. Overnight we might have gotten some rain -- it's still dark so I can't tell yet. This morning we are supposed to have showers, but all that activity is south of us, according to the doppler, with the wind from the north pushing it further away. No doubt eventually it will rain, but it hasn't since we got here.

We had grouper for dinner along with asparagus and sweet potatoes. It was good.

Today -- I'm going for a bike ride, assuming of course that it doesn't start raining or show up on the doppler in the next 1/2 hour. Sandy has promised Abby that she'll take her to the dog beach and I know that Abby will hold her to it !

Tomorrow we intend to go to Punta Gorda, close to Fort Myers, to a boat show. We're not shopping, just going for the outing. Boat shows are always fun. We used to attend them in Toronto but of course they are not as big a deal as the ones with ocean access where you go on board these yachts after having donned special slippers, and see how the other half lives. Lisa Swan, the lady who looks after our place, will come over at lunch and after work to let Abby out and give her dinner. It's a 4 hour drive each way so we'll be gone for the day.

There's nothing else new, or at least nothing else comes to mind.