Dicky Says Whatever

July 26 Trip:  Sooke to Port Renfrew (~1.5hr) Activities/Visits: Kayaking, Shirley, Sheringham Point Lighthouse,  Pacheedaht Beach (Port Renfrew) It was another beautiful day at Sooke. The harbour was majestic and quiet in the morning. Importantly, the kids woke up on time to do sea kayaking in the morning. We met our kayaking tour guide , Randal,  at Kaltasin Park,  who ran Mystic Beach Adventures Inc , which guided people on nature and wildlife tours at Sooke. The kids weren't strong enough to paddle on their own, so I towed Frederick's kayak, while Randal towed Charlotte's. My Son and his Kayak There were many starfishes, moon jellies and crabs. We even saw a few blue herons fly around to catch the fish. Moon Jelly Video Purple Starfish I got a drone shot of myself kayaking. Kayaking was a lot of work when towing your kid who paddled backward, but it was fun. I wished that I lived closer to the water so that I could do more kayaking. This is one of the f...

July 25 Trip: Sooke to Victoria, 45 mins Activities: Whale Watching, Fisherman's Whaft Park, Victoria waterfront walk After two days of driving, we finally got to do something exciting: Whale Watching! We booked a 3.5 hrs with Eagle Wing Tours. The cool thing about this company was there were a few boat options you could pick from. Because of the little one, we picked the boat with a semi-covered boat. Eagle Wing semi-covered tour boat Surprisingly, this was a full 50-person tour. I was glad we booked it ahead online. Front of the boat The weather couldn't be better. It was warm, with some cloud coverage. Awesome for taking pictures. I didn't know what to expect, but I was delighted there were multiple tour guides who explained to us what to look for and helped us understand the marine ecosystem. Definitely better than watching Octanauts (a kid cartoon) From all the excitement on the boat, it was rare to see these many humpback whales this close. I felt lucky! Here was an o...

Thanks for visiting my long-lost blog. I haven't posted anything in many years. I hope you will enjoy this post and the upcoming ones. July 23 Trip: Calgary to Kamloops, 7 hrs Hotel: The Hue Hotel, Kamloops After months of  on-and-off  planning, this was the big day! My first time bringing the family out for a 12-day road trip. What could go wrong! My wife, Hilda, packed all the kids' stuffs, and I picked toys like the Nintendo Switch, iPad, drone (DJI Mavic Mini Pro 3), action cam (ASKSO V50X), and many accessories I could have thought of. As much as I want to limit my kid's screen time, age six and ten, these gadgets were tremendous assets for a long road trip for the driver with kids. This trip wouldn't be cheap. The average hotel cost was $300/night. We could have picked the cheaper options: camping, air B&B, motel, etc. But for the peace of mind, hotel it was! Map from Calgary to Kamloops 20 minutes out from my house, just about to leave Calgary city limit, I a...

Finally, it is time to try out new. I just bought the ESCORT C550. There is a hot deal $150 off from Future Shop this week.  So, I decided to buy it and test it out. In the worst case, I will refund it within 30 days Here is the picture of the box 2. Here is what you get. The GPS navigator unit Window mount Car power adaptor Regular USB Data Cable Protective bag for the GPS unit Sticker (if you decide not to use the window mount) Garmin Lock instruction Manual GPS Navigator manual Features: Preloaded City Navigator North American v8 Bluetooth connection for pairing with your cell phone Plays Mp3 music SD Card slot of loading other maps and mp3 Text to Speech, the GPS can read the street's name for you Come with 1 year manufacture warranty Notice that the company is call ESCORT. It is a sister company of Garmin. I didn't see much a different between ESCORT c550 and the Garmin StreetPilot c550. It is a bit thicker than the Garmin Nuvi. From the side, it has ...

Ah... Thanks to Professor Sit! Now I got addictive to Desktop Tower Defense . Last time when Professor Site told me about Grid War , I couldn't stop playing everyday. Anyway, I was playing Desktop TD, level medium and I manage to get to level 41. My torrents just can't beat those giant Crap! Here is the result of how I placed my torrents. I only got 2579 points, but I was very happy already! Enjoy the game!

Today, I got an very important letter size envelope. On the envelope, it has a green tag indicating a tracking # of the envelope with the following instruction "The contents have been sealed and dispatched under supervision to ensure compliance with all entry deadlines". It indicated it send from Montreal... I wonder what is it. So I opened it and... WOW, I am a $500,00.00 winner! Wait... how come the cheaque has the word "Specimen Only". Oh.... I am a " potential " winner to the $500,000.00. Wait, wait, wait, there is more, I actually have three pink cheaques: a $500,000.00, a $155,000.00 and a $33,750.00 one. All stamped "Specimen Only" Let read more... It also has statement stating that I am invited to win the Grand Prize, the Multi-Prize Draw and Super Bonus, and I am a potential winner for the "Cash On Demand Price Draw" Wow, sounds so exciting. Since I have nothing else to do today, I kept reading and I started reading a letter th...

I should have posted news about my long lasting parking lot accident last week. So... finally, I am breath again! Here is what happen and a bit of recap: About four weeks ago, my adjuster tired to negotiate with the other insurance company, stating that they believe the case isn't my fault. However, because of the current law (not sure if it is Alberta traffic law or some insurance company's rule), the decision stayed as 50% of my fault. Basically, when your car is in reverse, you are consider to be a moving vehicle , even you step on the brake paddle and stopped fully . That's why even I stopped, and hit by the other person, I am still consider at fault. Without success, my adjuster helped me sum up a report about this incident and send it to the policy manager (or another manager... too many of them), hoping that my insurance company will waive my premium increase. After 3 weeks.... The manager finally had time to look into the file when my premium is about to due in abo...

Yes, it is about the car insurance again. After calling the adjuster back for like million times. Pretty much I called 3 times a week. I need to know if they will waive or decrease by premium increase by this week since my premium is about to due. Finally, today I called and the adjuster told me that she is working on my file. She need to write a form to her manager. Some good news here at least. Hopefully I get more info this afternoon.

You may have thought the whole parking lot accident was over. No, not at all. Feeling disappointed what I heard from my insurance company, I decided to file a complain letter. Stating that I was disappointing about the outcome of this incident. Well, for awhile there was light shinning on me. My insurance took the witness statement and believe that my case was good and they would negotiate with the other insurance company. After another depressing week... I finally able to find my adjuster (it has been very difficult to contact her). Unfortunately the news was that the other insurance company wouldn't change the decision on its 50/50. Because of this liability issue, my adjuster cannot do much with this situation. Remark: Whether you have stopped the car or not when the other car hit you, when both of the parties are backing out, both are liable and therefore it is a 50/50 split. If I know about this, I would have just pull my car back without even honk the other car. So, what else...

Finally, after all the "hard work", I beat the final boss. The bottom picture shows all the tonties!

Too bad, I can't beat the boss!!! It is too crazy. I play too much.

Ok, I played this game too much, my right hand is very tired. I know that the last level is level 20 . I am so close of finishing this game. Anyways, I have to prepare more cover letters.

Feeling frustrated and helpless, I decided to called the Edmonton Police and my insurance adjuster to get a better understanding on how they view my situation. Insurance Company vs the Police It turns out even the police lay charges (when damage is over $1000) against the other driver, insurance companies looks into the report and disregard the police's point of view on this accident. Hence, police charged the person at fault doesn't mean I am not at fault according to the insurance company. Insurance companies pretty doesn't look at how the police conclude the situation, it is up to the insurance company to figure it out themselves. Parking lot Accident So, why it is still a 50/50 split. Basically as long as you are still in the progress of reversing your vehicle, even when you have stopped during the middle, are you still consider reversing. The technicality is that you are still backing out, once you hit, or being hit, you are still at fault. The only time you are n...

Remember my recent parking lot accident story, please read it first before continue on read this blog. I am screwed, big time!!! My new insurance rate with Allstate has doubled ! It is crazy, insane and unacceptable. I shouldn't file the claim. I should have deal this whole matter myself. As I typing this blog, I am holding the burning fire inside of my heart. This is the biggest gamble I ever made, filed a claim. This one small parking accident cost me too much, too much to the point I feel like I shouldn't drive again. I lost all my confident of driving. How many have I been driving you may ask, 11 years already. 11 years, experienced? or just a meaningless figure! I took the risk of filing a claim because my agent told me if it happen to be a 50/50 split, I would expect my insurance to increase by about $300 most. Feeling that I am right, and I can take that risk, I filed the claim. Now, the agent called me, my insurance has doubled due to frequent accident. Yes I have 2 ...

Ok, this is another addictive game. I play this game before. However, this is a newer version. The best I can play up to is level 18. I was surprised how my numpad survive that long! The last level that I played was crazy! Try this game yourself!