Bullshit at the border...

Something happens when you want to post on your blog but can't due to technological issues. I have about a million posts in my mind however the inconvenience of not having a regular connection and the alternative being to spend big $$ on a more robust phone connection have kept me from getting them all on the blog.

However sometimes something overshadows the background and becomes a more relevant story. Like getting searched down to my gonch (when was the last time you used that word :)  at North Portal, Sask border crossing.

Let me track back a little and express how much I sympathize with the average American living in this police state. It is about as inconsistent as anything I have ever seen and due to the lack of actual unity with the 50 divided states it is applied differently everywhere....every time.

When I came through the Windsor crossing back in November I was again pulled from the van and asked a number of questions that bordered on ridiculous, my wallet was searched, my background probed and my intentions questioned. I don't mind any of that...it's the border and if you are running a police state then you do what you need to do to lock it down. HOWEVER...

1.    Windsor to Detroit – vehicle searched, personal questions, detained for almost 1hr then told to "GO". During the questioning I decided to cooperate in a vague way "How much money do you have" "enough" what is enough" "cash in the back, line of credit, cash in my wallet" "How much is that?" "enough"...but what rubbed me wrong a out this guard is that he could not look me in the eye. I think that is probably how Israeli soldiers searching poor old Palestinian women do it and not associate that person with their own mother. BUT it makes you feel like a criminal and they treat you like a criminal before they treat you like a person. Long and short...this guy was a super cock and if given the chance I'd have...well...not met him if I didn't have to

2.    Detroit to Windor via rental car – Drove through, no ID requested, one question "Where are you going" "Collingwood" "have a nice day"

3.    Sarnia crossing in order to avoid Windsor bullshit again..."Where are you going?" "Detroit" "Happy Holidays"

4.    Detroit to Windor by Windsor Tunnel Bus – "PLEASE PUT YOUR BAGS TO THE SIDE, TAKE YOUR HANDS FROM YOUR POCKETS, DO YOU HAVE ANYTHING TO DECLARE?" "No sir" "WE WILL BE BRINGING IN THE DOG, DO YOU HAVE ANY FOOD?" "Yes sir...some fried chicken (because Eyvette rocks)" "GIVE ME YOUR CHICKEN (and promptly throws it into the garbage bin beside him)" dog comes in...sniffs about, double sniffs my now empty chicken pocket and the handler pulls him away "OK YOU ARE FREE TO GO"

5.    North Portal "Where are you going?" "Detroit" "Is this your van?" "Yes sir" "Do you have any firearms, tabacco, narcotics, citrus fruit or meat?" "No sir" "Is this your van?" "Yes sir" "Where are you going?" "Detroit" "Is this your van?" "Yes sir" "Pull over there and come inside. **inside** "Come with me" "Yes sir" we go into the back office "Please put your belongings on the table, turn your pockets inside out" "Ok" "Is that your van?" "Yes sir" "We're going to do a routine search on you for illegal items" "Ok" "Please remove your shoes, your shirt and your pants" "My socks to?" **stare** "No" So I'm standing there in my underwear, they pat me down (didn't touch the goodies so what was the point other than some homoerotic border guard being a douche) "Please put your clothes back on, we're going to search your vehicle, have a seat and we will be back" **they came back** "You're free to go...my recommendation is to go further than Savannah to ferndale? (can't remember what he said as I tuned him out)

So really...we have the US side being a shit show, the Canadian side being a shit show...and all for some bullshit that on hindsight if you can't see was a serious false flag op..we aren't looking at the same scenario.

That being said...as I drove away from North Portal I encountered some horrible road conditions. I thought I would hang it up in Minot at around 3:30pm due to being so stressed out from the conditions (20mph on a 65 road for what seems like over 100k). But I kept myself together and sure enough after Minot there was hardly any snow at all. Minot...home of Dakota Fred (Gold Rush).....and a lot of big trucks, big rigs and big big trailer/truck combos. And the Dakota's in general are the home of real country...every single radio station in SD is country music or religion. 

I'm heading down to Sioux Falls to get some Sarsaparilla and then into Chicago after that. Might even try to get a night at the House of Blues if possible.

I was very concerened about the van back in Calgary. After I bought it I cleaned the carb and changed the plugs etc. Then when I was driving it to the mechanic (my friend Mark is the shop foreman at FastMuffler on 17ave SE...he gives it to you straight as it can be) it was buring all sorts of awful black smoke...he said that I cleaned the good stuff out of the carb and that it would have to re-gunk itself to it's original 1982 Thermo-Carb standards....as of today, no black smoke and averaging more than 150kms more per tank over the last van.

Furnace works great, last night in Moose Jaw I was toasty warm and now that I actually trust the propane system I let it run on the lowest setting all night and it was great to wake up warm and not have to find my dink for a morning pee.

Still haven't fired up the fridge as I need to clean the hell out of...plus this van is different in a couple of ways. The old van had an elecric start on the furnace, this one is a pilot light. The other van had the controls to the fridge on the inside which made lighting it inconvenient but could also be way it blew up on me. Guy at the trailer shop said that fridge was a problem child since they built it. But having the control on the outside...in -10 weather is not fun and I'd rather eat PBJ's and canned fruit than go mucking with a pilot light in a bitter wind.

Good news though...spring is like 6 weeks away or something like that and Savannah is 25c+. I will try to find the beach the border asshole talked about...it's 1.5hrs south of Savannah and he said it was paradise...that sounded good even coming from someone with blue gloves on who could have de-virginzed my deriere

And with this pictureless post...I say "Good night"