# Life is good on the Island today



## curmudgeon (Nov 1, 2022)

"Move to the Island.", they said. "You'll love it." , they said.

We'll, I do love living here, but it does come with some challenges.  I can happily go a year and longer and not have cause to leave, but if you want international air travel be prepared for much extra $ and time.  Or, if you need to drive to the mainland, pour yourself an extra dose of patience.

The 95 minute ferry ride has beautiful scenery for most of the voyage, but the ferry waits have gotten more than a bit tiresome.  Reservations for this morning's trip were sold out by the time I got everything confirmed with the seller yesterday, so I arrived 90 minutes early for a 95 minute trip and then sweat the "possible wait" status until boarded.  A missed ferry today would cost an extra 2 hours. 

I won the the lottery on the way home though.  The highway signs on the freeway around 1:30 advised that they were now selling tickets for the 5:00 ferry.  When I arrived at the ticket both around 2:15, the sign said "possible wait".  I assumed  that was for the 5:00 and started reconciling myself to wait for the 7:00 PM boat.  The 3:00 boat was late and seemed to take forever to load.  As the lanes beside me emptied, I began to wonder... As my lane started to move, I began to hope... As I approached the traffic controller, I chanted in my head, "Don't make eye contact.  Do NOT make eye contact."  Dang; I looked at him; he looked at me; we made eye contact; I waved hopefully... He waved me onwards, then stepped in front of the next car with his baton raised to indicate "STOP".  I was the last one allowed on.

Yay, my "new to me" lathe is safely on the truck and we're safely on our way home before dark.

Life is good on the Island today.


----------



## YotaBota (Nov 1, 2022)

curmudgeon said:


> I was the last one allowed on.


Been there, have also been on the other side of the "STOP" sign. My Dad was late for his own funeral because we were on the wrong side of the stop. On a brighter note we were the first ones on the next boat.
Hope you made it the rest of the way safe and the lathe is in the garage.


----------



## curmudgeon (Nov 1, 2022)

YotaBota said:


> Been there, have also been on the other side of the "STOP" sign. My Dad was late for his own funeral because we were on the wrong side of the stop. On a brighter note we were the first ones on the next boat.
> Hope you made it the rest of the way safe and the lathe is in the garage.


Thanks Mike - I got everything off the truck and stacked in a pile; closed the garage door at 7:30.  Can't decide between taking a nap or going to bed.  The dead centres, most of the change gears and the chip tray still have their factory wrappings on.  The seller mostly used the lathe to turn stainless bushings for motorcycle restorations. 

We also seem to be on the wrong side of the "STOP" signal too often; we call ourselves "3'rd loser" when we're left behind and are 3'rd to board the next boat.


----------



## jcdammeyer (Nov 1, 2022)

I've been second to get on and last to get off.  There is no rhyme or reason to the ferry.


----------



## David_R8 (Nov 1, 2022)

Congrats!


----------



## Chicken lights (Nov 1, 2022)

I’ll never understand island life, I don’t think it’s a bad thing but the ferry rules and times make it onerous. I’m guessing as mentioned you learn to live with the procedures. 

We need pictures of the new machinery once it’s unwrapped and home please


----------



## jcdammeyer (Nov 2, 2022)

Chicken lights said:


> I’ll never understand island life, I don’t think it’s a bad thing but the ferry rules and times make it onerous. I’m guessing as mentioned you learn to live with the procedures.
> 
> We need pictures of the new machinery once it’s unwrapped and home please


Digikey, Mouser etc. 1 to 3 day delivery.  Amazon 1 to 3 day delivery.  Aliexpress doesn't seem any different than anywhere else in the country.  Because we no longer have a pick and place PCB assembly shop on the island I have to travel to Coquitlam and I did that a lot this summer.  But then it's right by IKEA and used to be by BusyBee Tools.  KBC could be on the way back to the ferry terminal if needed.

Past that it's not really a lot different than living in Edmonton or Arnhem (The Netherlands).  

A number of years ago now I rented a Cessna 172, piled the kids into the back seats, my wife into the right seat and we flew to Tofino which is normally a 5 to 6 hour drive.  Walked to the beach, had a picnic lunch and put our toes into Pacific on the west coast of the island.

Flew back to Victoria and drove out to Island View Beach (5 minutes from home) and dipped our toes into the water on the other side of the island. 

There are some pluses here in the land of the Newly Wed and Nearly Dead.


----------



## Dan Dubeau (Nov 2, 2022)

Congrats on the new to you lathe.  Having to add a ferry trips into consideration would probably keep more money in my bank account on those impulse buys for tools and machinery.  It's like those people that keep their credit cards frozen in a block of ice in the freezer to make them pause and evaluate purchases.  I can't operate like that.


----------



## curmudgeon (Nov 4, 2022)

Chicken lights said:


> We need pictures of the new machinery once it’s unwrapped and home please


No "at home" pictures yet, but here is a picture from the seller.







The chip tray is still in the factory wrapping.  The seller opted for easy chip collection.  I will install the chip tray when I set it up - how could I pass up a new horizontal surface clutter collection opportunity...


----------



## curmudgeon (Nov 4, 2022)

Dan Dubeau said:


> Congrats on the new to you lathe.  Having to add a ferry trips into consideration would probably keep more money in my bank account on those impulse buys for tools and machinery.  It's like those people that keep their credit cards frozen in a block of ice in the freezer to make them pause and evaluate purchases.  I can't operate like that.


Absolutely Dan.  This "quick" day trip to pick up the lathe cost 10 hours door-to-door, $166.30 ferry and about $65 in fuel.  On the other hand, I've saved quite a bit of time and $ over the last 4 years, sitting on the fence until other lathe purchase opportunities sell to someone else.


----------



## DPittman (Nov 4, 2022)

curmudgeon said:


> No "at home" pictures yet, but here is a picture from the seller.
> 
> 
> 
> ...


Nice. Alot of fun is about to happen.


----------



## YotaBota (Nov 4, 2022)

I normally figure $250 by the time you total the ferry, gas and food into it, then there's IKEA and the Tsawwassen mall on top of that.
Congrats again, once the reno's are done and the lathe is setup there will need to be a show and tell.


----------



## Downwindtracker2 (Nov 4, 2022)

Congrats on the lathe. With the staffing shortages, just getting on *A* boat is a victory, never mind the when. Too many years ago now, I can remember parking on the highway in West Vancouver and reading half a book while waiting . I was going to Long Beach on a holiday weekend. Believe me, it's gotten better.


----------



## Tom O (Nov 5, 2022)

My buddy and I took our girlfriends to long beach from Victoria we sat on the beach for a hour and rode back I was riding my 750 Norton Highrider and he had a chopped 500 Triumph with no front fender well they were paving the island highway in one spot, it’s amazing just how much tarry gravel can stick to the face! Lol


----------

