Jul 8 - racing the flies

There's an Abby update below, if you didn't see it yesterday.

I'd forgotten to mention that I spent 2-3 hours on bike maintenance on the 7th, cleaning, adjusting brakes, finally installing the cable couplers so that I can take the bike apart, etc.  It's just about due a new chain as well, so my chain-checker tells me.  I took all that out for a spin on the 8th, doing my usual trip south.

I had to turn onto 529 just past Britt as Highway 69 was closed due to a major accident at Harris Lake Road.  Apparently there was a fatality in a northbound SUV that hit a southbound truck and motorhome.  Ugh.  All traffic other than 18 wheelers was being routed on 529.  The 18 wheelers had to park by the side of the road awaiting the road re-opening.  Googling the news, I see that 69 was still closed 4 hours after the accident, no report on when it re-opened. 

For the most part the traffic on 529 gave me plenty of room but one CN truck just had to get around me in spite of oncoming traffic and only left me inches.  I had to drive into the gravel.  I guess he didn't hear about Ontario's On Metre law !   It was one of those trucks with the rail wheels ... I wish that I had gotten it's licence plate number.

On the way out Osprey, I had to contend with an accumulation of deer flies that I left behind once on 522.  Occasionally I'd build up a following and then shake them.  On the way back it was the same but the return on Osprey was ok.  By then it was 5pm and the road was mostly shaded.  The deer flies are at their worst in the sun.

529 was one of the roads that we took when we did the 600k and stopped at the cottage.  On that day, I don't think that we saw any cars ... but not yesterday !  While I was heading south, I spotted Sandy heading north, on her way back home from shopping and the Vet. 

Speaking of which, I now have the plumbing parts that I need to do the work on the on-demand water heater ... hopefully.  The first step will be putting in the two disconnect valves and then I can work on it with the house water back on.  While out of commission, there won't be any showers but now, with the new cold-water feed to the kitchen hot water heater, that won't be impacted.

This is a project that I'll tackle first thing today, so that if something goes wrong / I need an extra part, I've got time to make a quick trip to Home Depot.  Never do critical plumbing when the stores are closed !

I continued my Plex project, ripping DVD's.  Oh, I see that another has finished, time to reload.  Each one takes 25-30 minutes. 

I also got the trimmer out for a short time, doing more cleanup.  I'm loving that Stihl trimmer.

I haven't been out fishing again; checked the minnows yesterday a.m. and there were only a couple left, so I'll go out this morning and set the traps. 

Onward !?!