Sailing the Karina C

We've been adapting to our terrestrial lifestyle. There is still lots of music. Fortunately, this all ended with the church choir singing the cantata on December 21.

I was disappointed to discover my PSA test went through the roof. Looked like Mexico would be off for this season. However the doctor came through with a new drug that is supposed to help things. It will likely give me another 6 months without any significant medical intervention. I'll take it. Life is good right now.

A couple of weeks ago, I hung a "for sale" sign in the back of the van not expecting to get much of a response. To my surprise the van left us next within the week. This would have left us carless but for the help of my friend Heinz. He (technically) loaned us his stepson's Chrysler Dynasty (similar to picture) to us for the winter as he can't afford to keep it on the road. It is a 21 year old in decent mechanical condition. It was hoped that should get us around town for the interval between the van's departure and the new vehicle's arrival. We are astounded at the fact we got the asking price for the van. We owned the van longer than any other vehicle as it served us so well. It was expensive to operate with appalling fuel economy. The new one gets better than twice the fuel economy with all the performance we will require.
As fortune would have it the Dynasty lived up to its name and died nastily on the trip to get the oil changed. We had it towed to the GM dealer with whom I have a good relationship with. They indicated that the alternator was gone. After a chat with Heinz and Lisa, they indicated they wanted to fix it. I will pay part of the repair. Heinz will come back in a few days and pick up the Dynasty as it won't do what we want it to do.
After doing a lot of digging with the dealer and Ford Canada, we discovered our new van has yet to be built. This was a disappointment as this meant we couldn't have it before the planned March trip to Mexico. So we engaged plan B and bought a Chevy Traverse off a lot in Vancouver. It is a lot more car. Significantly quieter ride, more power, similar fuel economy to the Transit Connect. As well, it came with a sun roof and (best of all) XM radio. We have quickly become XM addicts. All this came at a cost. I have paid more for this wagon than I paid for my first house. That is a milestone and tells me this will be the last car for me. We took it to Victoria to spend Christmas with our family and it performed very well. It has a handling package that gives it a nice ride on corners.
We have confidence that this wagon will give us a nice ride to Mexico in the early spring. So far all seems to be working to a good spring for us. I have a friend who is on the new Cancer drug I am on and he has done well with it for the past 2 years. No need for treatment. I will take life one day at a time and savour every minute of what it offers.