3 Construction camps. Liard River in the background.
Copyrite `04.
This is, as near as I can remember, an accurate list & description of the places I have lived. Some for as short a duration of one night but always with the intent of making it a home, if only for a temporary time. Therefore the list does not include hotels, or camp spots, that were for the purpose of holidaying.
PLACES I HAVE LIVED (Page II)
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* * * * * * * * * * * *
ABBREVIATIONS USED ON THIS PAGE
A - Abodes 98 accommodations in which I have resided.
Abbreviations for Canadian provinces: Alta, Alberta; B. C., British Columbia; Sask., Saskatchewan
Alcan - Alaska Canada Highway
Bsmt. - Basement
Cr. – Creek
Crt. - Court
Dr. - Drive
Hwy. – Highway
KD – Kraft (Macaroni) Dinner
M. – Mile
PG. – Prince George, B.C.
Pl. – Place
P.N.E. – Pacific National Exhibition
Rd. - Road
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* * * * * * * * * * *
1979
We moved into a house within a couple of blocks of
downtown.
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When I broke up with S. I moved into a small house, East of downtown.
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A-53 North of Ft. St. John,
B. C.
Bunk house, across from the Thompson Truck Stop on the road to Chetwynd,
at mile 54 on the Alcan
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Img A-54
3 Construction camps. Liard River in the background.
We flew from Ft. St. John, over Ft. Nelson to Liard.
There we were to pick up a mechanic but we had to circle a few times until someone chased buffalo (Bison) off the runway.
The camp at Nahani Butte was actually three camps on either side of the new road.
designed for; 200, 300, and 500 people, we (20) were the only ones there.
We flew in to surface a 10 mile stretch of the Liard
highway. The equipment had been sent down, or is that `up', river by barge
in the summer. After surfacing the newly built road we had to drive the trucks
home over the frozen tundra through Enterprise, NWT.
There was no road on either end of the stretch of road we built.
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A-55 S. W. of Pouce Coupe, B. C.
Img A-55 
D's farm.
When I wasn't working I would stay at my sister's. She was living on a farm South of Pouce Coupe.
We got snowed in for 3 days. My car wouldn’t push the snow as it was too deep and the trucks and the farm tractors wouldn’t start.
D's father-in-law ran the grader for the Department of highways and went right past the driveway but wouldn’t come in.
It wasn’t until the grader, with a stranger operating, had a flat tire. G. helped them change their tire and they ploughed our ½ mile of driveway. Then we were able to get to town and get some milk for the baby.
G., my brother-in-law, and I stayed in a small travel trailer on farms while we were building grain bins.
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A-57 Bunk house West of Hythe, Alta.
A-58 Bunk house South of Grande Prairie, Alta.
A-59 Basement room N. W. Edmonton
A-60 703 George St. (Hwy. 97A)
Img A-60 
(Photo `98) 703 George St.
Formerly a police station
My mother bought a little cottage on the main highway that passes through the city. Only a block from downtown, it used to be a police station. My mother used the room that used to be the one cell, and the guest room, where I would stay, used to be the C/O's office.
A car had run into the front of the building one time and the department of Highways had sunk large posts into the ground to prevent it from happening again. The tops of the posts where joined with a long flower box to disguise and beautify them.
When I stayed there I tore the boxes off, as the bottoms were rotten, and rebuilt them.
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A-61 Hwy. 97 Trudeau's Trailer Court Nelson St.
When I first went to Quesnel I noticed a sign, `Trudeau's Trailer Court’. This being the days when P. E. Trudeau was the Prime Minister of Canada I told myself that I wouldn't want to live there. So of course that is where I ended up renting a little mobile home.
It was an older trailer with lots of wood and little cupboards everywhere. I really liked it and offered to buy it but they wanted too much.
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Img A-62
(Photo `03) I looked out the
window, at something in the snow,
I went out, and sure enough, it was a, folded up, $5 bill.
The couple who lived in the trailer behind me, moved to Prince George I moved with them and the three of us rented a three bedroom townhouse.
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1980
L. had gone to Vancouver to look for work and D. and I rented a trailer on a farm East of Prince. There were horses that D. would be able to ride.
Before I had finished moving our stuff L. found work in Vancouver and came back for D. Neither D., nor I, slept in the mobile.
I moved my stuff out of both places and put it in storage for Xmas.
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Img
A-64
(Photo `03) Great landlord
After Xmas I found a big basement suite.
It smelled bad because the carpet covered the entire floor, including the bathroom and the area around the stove and kitchen sink.
I wasn't there much as I went to Edmonton to find work.
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1981
A-65 Edmonton, Alta Cousin V's
Img A-64a 
(Photo `04) 8703 93 Ave.
I rented a room from V. B. who had a big house with
an unused bedroom, I wasn't there very often as I was usually out of town.
A friend phoned me and we were making arrangements to go for a trip to
the Okanagan Valley. My cousin over heard me say something about sponging
a meal and a place to sleep from my mother.
V. got all up set and accused me of sponging off her, despite the fact
I was paying her rent, and asked me to move out.
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1982
A-66 3165 Hart Highway
Img A-65
(Photo `03) The tall trees,
used to be five, but 2 got burned when I was burning the grass.
I moved into a shack that I agreed to fix up in lieu of rent.
My mother helped me pack up the garbage. We filled 4 big bags out of the refrigerator alone.
We had a lot of parties in that house.
One night someone was using the washroom and their foot went through the floor. My next project was to completely redo the bathroom. I tore out everything and rebuilt it from the joists up.
Many people remember going to parties, during renovation, and having no where to go to the bathroom except the end of the pipe sticking through the new floor boards.
In truth the house should have been burned.
My next project was turning the back porch into a darkroom and very little renovation got done after that as all my time and money went into photography.
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1984
A-67 Box and front seat.
While traveling about the Northern part of the province as a salesman
I would sleep in my pick up truck. In the back with the dog, if the weather
was nice. Across the seat if the weather was bad.
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1986
A-69 hwy. 16 Tent & Trailer Park East of Houston.
I lived in a tent in the trailer court East of Houston because there were no places to rent.
Eventually when the dog's water dish was frozen solid every morning I quit my job and moved back to Prince.
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Img A-70 
Not sure of the house nu. The one on the left is 2112 I couldn't read the one on the right where I stayed.
While S. was working in Whitehorse, NWT. I house sat for her. I was sure glad when she got back because I detested the water bed that she loved.
I was also putting on weight as her house was only one block from Dairy Queen. I was heavy into Peanut Buster Parfaits, now, of course, I can't afford them.
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A-60 703 George St.
I moved back to Enderby, to stay with my mother.
Most of my belongings, and furniture, went to
my sister's house in Wells. Which was the same as returning some of the bigger
furniture which I had borrowed from her. My model corvette was packed in
one of the big trunks.
I received an unemployment cheque but my mother thought that I had gotten
the money by steeling her bone handled dinner knives and selling them.
My mother had become upset because I had used one of her knives and left
it in the sink, dirty, so she hid them and forgot.
I never did find where she hid them.
However, after that we didn't get along and when A. said he wanted to go
partners on a logging show, I moved back to Prince.
A-66 3165 Hart Highway
As the house was still empty and I had never informed the landlord that
I was moving out, I simply moved back in, though I left most of my stuff at
my sisters.
Working for the carnival means there is not a lot of places to sleep.
I was driving a five ton truck with a large box. Most of the box was filled with prizes for the joint line.
One side of the truck was a small room with two bunk beds.
I slept in the lower one.
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From Nipawin, Sask. I hitchhiked back to Prince George to get my van. C. and I were going to quit the carnival and go to Nova Scotia to find work.
Yes I have been in Love, Love, Sask.
Actually, while hitching I got a ride with a minister who had a church in Love.
I loaded my van and rejoined the carnival. C. had changed his mind about quitting.
One of the other carnies would drive my van from
town to town, and I would sleep in my van at night.
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A-73 Northern Alta. to Vancouver Island
When the Carnival split, some rides going to the P.N.E., I was given a cab over to drive and one of the carnies took my van to Vancouver.
I slept in the COE and didn’t see may van until we finished the season and we all reunited at the barns in Langley, B. C.
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Img
A-72 
(Photo `89) The orange truck
belongs to L.
When I was in town between trips I would park my van by S's apartment and sleep in their parking lot as their couch was too short.
I really liked the amenities of that building. I said that if I was to ever live in Vancouver that is where I would want to live.
I did check it out when I moved to Vancouver but
it is too expensive.
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1987
A-74 Nelson Court 920 Ahbau
St.
Img
A-74
(Photo `03) on the third floor.
Many is the time I wanted to throw the cat off the balcony.
My friends had a two bedroom apartment but were only using one and it was still too warm to go to my job in Ft. St. James.
D’s cat was a terror and when I tired to pet it, it clawed and bit.
The scratches would go away and then come back.
Several times over the next few years I would go
to doctors. A skin specialist finally killed the `Cat
Scratch Disease’ with cortisone.
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The company had a big house that was furnished and the drivers used it as a bunk house and cook shack.
There was a young lady who came around and did some cooking and cleaning. I think she was a groupie.
She quit coming around after I tried to put a move on a friend she brought with her one time.
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When I moved back to prince I rented an extra room from M. but he and his lady friend split up so I moved back to A's for awhile.
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I rented a room from S., doing repairs to the house in lieu of rent.
They were busy building a restaurant
and didn't have time for anything around the house.
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Img
A-78
(Photo `03) My room was lower
right.
I eventually felt that I was overstaying my welcome with Lance and found a little room near Metrotown.
There were two other boys in the basement and three girls on the main floor, all from Singapore, and all students at a local business college.
One of the girls from upstairs went out the back door and the stairs shifted underneath her and she went sliding to the bottom.
I pulled the stairs out and let them drop so that no one else would use them and get hurt. When the landlady got home she was mad at me. She said there was nothing wrong with the stairs and I shouldn't have pulled them down.
The girl had hurt her back and I told her to go to a chiropractor and then a lawyer. Needless to say the landlady was not too happy with this bit of advise.
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A-77 910 Tupper Coquitlam, B. C.
Img A-79
(Photo `03) Twice I lived here.
A room on the ground floor of a house just off Hastings St. in skid road.
One day someone kicked in the front door, the door to my room, and stole the money I had hid in the bottom of my flight bag.
Nothing else was touched. It was like they knew where it was.
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A-80 439 Campbell St. Upstairs
A small room in the attic.
Fewer people to share the floor with but I still had to share the kitchen and bathroom on the main floor.
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A-81 Walton Rooms 90 Alexander 2nd Flr.
Img A-81
(Photo `03) When I lived there
the trees were shorter and I had a view of the street.
I arranged with manpower to put me through training. I sold my van and found a room within a short walk of the college.
A once prominent hotel, called the Ankor, in the heart of Vancouver, on the edge of Gastown. I rented a room on the second floor overlooking a small treed square on the corner of the intersection of Carrall and Powell.
This building was one of the first brick buildings in Gastown and was the first and only, legalized, house of prostitution
in the British Colony.
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1991
Img. A-82
(Photo `03) I threw the extension
phone off the balcony, she used to eavesdrop on my phone calls.
I fell in love with a Filipina who lived in Langley. I moved her, her two children, and I, into a three bedroom apartment in South Vancouver. It was a fair sized suite on the second floor of a mixed building.
There were four stores on the main floor and two suites up stairs.
Our suite stretched the length of the building as did our balcony. There was a park behind us which meant that we overlooked the houses on the other side of the park.
Our view encompassed the Strait of Juan De Fuca, the mountains of the Olympia State park, Richmond and Delta.
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A-83 Walton Rooms 90 Alexander 3rd Flr.
Img A-83
(Photo `03) This entrance,
on Alexander St. was used in a milk commercial.
The entire block was redecorated, to 1920, and used in a movie with Anthony
Hopkins.
One night I had U. staying with me, her daughter, her son, K. and his girlfriend A., from PG. and my friend P., also from PG. All in a 12’ x 12’ room
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A-82 Apartment on Victoria
I broke up with U. and knowing she would be looking for me I lived in my van. At nights I would park amongst the container chassis in the CPR yard, which is now all tall apartment buildings, along Burrard Inlet.
As I still had a key to the Anchor I would use their
shower.
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A-85 The Walton 101 90 Alexander St.
Img A-85
Someone drove by and put a
couple of bullets through the doors to the nightclub.
The club was downstairs and the entrance was on the Cordova St. side of
the building.
I had a room on the first floor directly above the nightclub but it was closed at the time I lived there. Here I really did a lot of writing.
My neighbour, M., plugged in his kettle and blew the breaker. My computer died and I lost hours of work. I didn’t know about `backing up’ at that time.
Scrounging some parts out of a construction site
across the street I installed a new breaker in the panel and ran a series
of outlets into M’s room so that he was on his own circuit.
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A-86 157 5130 North Nechako Rd.
K. had a large mobile home in the North Nechako trailer court. Actually he had three and rented two of them out.
Years ago he and I had gone to Kelowna and brought back a dune buggy. The motor was in pieces waiting for a new head. I moved the pieces aside and made room in the master bedroom to put a folding cot.
K. had hurt his back at work and in lieu of rent I cut firewood and did other chores around the house.
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A-87 Omineca Camp, West side of Stewart Lake, North of Mackenzie.
Img A-87 
I usually slept in the daytime
and another driver took the truck to town.
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A-88 Jubilee House 401 540 Helmcken St.
 The upper portion of the window opens upward and reflects the noise from the sidewalk into the room. The high heels of, and the horns honking at, the transvestites |
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 Through the window I could see the large clock downtown |
 Looks clean but it was infested with cockroaches |
I persuaded welfare that my room at the Anchor was scum city and they got me into a low cost housing project downtown where the main view was the hookers walking around the block, across the street from my window.
That or watching the cockroaches run up and down the wall. I wished I had never moved in there.
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 Squirrels and raccoons would come on the patio to eat |
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 I put my bed in the front room |
 A squirrell would come in and climb on the table looking for peanuts |
My friend, M., went to California for the winter so I moved into his apartment under the Granville St. Bridge.
It was a really nice apartment, less than a block from the waters of False Creek.
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A-90 Marie Gomez 416 490 Alexander
 A great view of the alley and the drunks that staggered out of the Drake, to take time away from their beer, to stick a needle in their leg |
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 (Photo `94/2) The computer is set up to send faxes. I spent a fortune in long distance calls while sellling real estate. |
 The room was very small, I stored most of my stuff in milk crates. My fourth wife lived here, with me, when she first came to Canada. |
A low cost housing project, four blocks East of the Anchor. I lived there for four years, including my first year of marriage to W4, in a small room with bath and kitchen, in the hall, on the top floor.
The corner window overlooked the alley and the binners, people who live from garbage bin to garbage bin.
After the hookers used the mattresses in the back alley they would twist the mirrors on my van so they could put on their makeup.
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1995
A-91 West Sechelt, B. C. 6531 Jasper St.
Img A-91 
(Photo `05) New paint and fresh flowers, since I stayed there.
I stayed in an empty house that my boss owned.
It was high, on a fairly steep hillside.
There were no street lights in the area and at night it was pitch black.
I took a foam out of my van and slept on the floor in the main bedroom. It was difficult to sleep at night because of the noise of a waterfall which was only a few feet from the window.
In lieu of rent I held an open house on weekends.
I had a fantastic view of Georgia Strait and Vancouver Island. I could see the ferries after they came out of Horseshoe Bay and on a clear night I could see the lights of Nanaimo. On a clear day I could see the buildings.
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A-89 Marie Gomez
1997
A-92 Bsmt. 360 Wilkinson I rented a room from my sister and was supposed to fix up the basement in lieu of rent but I never got started because she said I was making too much noise, using my computer, and asked me to leave.
She slept on the couch above my bed, instead of in her bedroom at the far end of the house.
She accused me of taking mother’s TV when I moved out.
As far as I know my mother’s TV was with my mother in her room.
To this day I don’t talk to my sister, unless it is absolutely necessary.
Despite the fact that she claims to be religious she will not forgiven me.
I always thought forgiveness was a big part of religion.
Forgive those who trespass…..
Religious people are such hypocrites.
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Img A-93 
Unit 7, on the far left.
I moved into the office above the shop. The boss put in a bed and I set up a camp stove that I borrowed from A. in Prince George.
The smell got pretty bad when they were running the
motors of the trucks in the shop. I had my computer
set up and every morning before heading out I checked my Email.
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A-94 The Oakmore 105 6739 Royal Oak
Img A-94 
Old, wood framed, damp, lots
of cockroaches.
W4 and I rented a two bedroom apartment near Metrotown because we sponsored her fifteen year old son to come to Canada and we needed a bigger place.
It is old and damp and has more cockroaches than the place in skid road.
I had many an argument with the landlord because of heat. It finally turned out that the control valve on the radiator was faulty.
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2000
A-95 June Montegama 203 227 15 Ave. E
Img A-95
A rare sight, in Vancouver.
A one bedroom apartment.
Down some stairs from the main entrance, to a short hall
The balcony stretches across the living and the bedroom, facing an alley.
Lots of North facing windows so it was fairly bright, but it was damp.
It had wood floors and lots of character with oblique
corner walls and many intelligently placed cupboards and closets.
While living here my sister and I put my mothers house, 703 George
St., up for sale. I went up to clean all my stuff out of the shed. Most of
it had been stolen. One of the big trunks which held one of the two sets
of, collectors, china. All, but one, of my oil paintings. Now why would anyone
steal those? (I think my sister went in and took most of the stuff, for sure,
being religious, she would have destroyed my `unfinished nude'.) My fishing
rods, my chair, a big arctic sleeping robe of my father's, along with many
parts of his uniform and most of the clothing that was made for him by Eskimos.
My sister says she hadn't been to Enderby for years but neighbours told
me that they saw her around mom's house only a short time before I went there.
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2001
A-96 Oct. Ashcroft Manor TCH. Kim & Audrey Jenner (Owners)
Ashcroft Manor.
Historical marker.
The inner courtyard.
My room was on the right.
Roadside, heritage house with cabins in the back.
I rented, for one week, while I drove for Arrow Transport.
I napped there one afternoon, slept there one night, then moved out since I was spending all my time in the truck.
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When S34 came to visit we had a long shower, the lady from below us started pounding on my door.
Water was coming through the wall in her bathroom.
It turned out that the shower valve, inside my wall,
was leaking.
Going through my stuff I donated what was left of my father's stuff:
22 rifle, scabbard, and two dog whips that had been made by Eskimos, medals,
that he had won as a marksman in the RCMP, to the Vancouver Maritime Museum
for their St. Roch display. My Father had once told me he had ridden on the
St. Roch while moving from one patrol area to another. However the records
from the RCMP don't show that he served in the North at all. I know he served
on Victoria Island and Ellesmere Island but this is not in the official records.
I have come to believe that father may have been involved in the Newfoundland
scandal, a movement of Eskimos from the Arctic wastes to civilization, in
which many Eskimos died. This matter is very hush hush and the RCMP will not
talk about it. I do know that after this my father hated Catholics. I'm not
sure what the church had to do with the movement of the Eskimos.
In one of the trunks was my model Corvette, still in good shape, still
unfinished. I put it on display at the top of my bookshelf.
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2002
Img A-97 
(Photo `03) 302 2222
Cambridge St. Vancouver, B. C.
(The left side of the upper balcony on the left of the picture.)
I bought a one bedroom apartment.
It had an excellent view of inner harbour.
The former owner became my tenant for awhile, until he found a new place.
I repainted, fumigated and, according to a memo that was passed around, used Boric Acid in all the cracks and crevices.
It had a lot of cock roaches before I moved in but I haven’t seen any since I used the acid.
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2004
In `03 I attended a liquidation sale and purchased a Dremel, like tool with attachments. In `04 I put it to good use, I finally resumed work on my model Corvette. opening the box and the containers I found that the Humbrol paints had separated but were still good. By simply stirring the oil back into the paste they were quite useable, despite the winters they had spent in freezing temperatures and the summers in oven like temperatures.
The decals were also good despite the fact that the covering layer was dried and, slightly, shrunken. The flags had also retained their sticky backing.
A small table became my work station. A scrap piece
of carpeting protected
the model when it was out of the cradle. When the
weather was nice the
work station was set on the balcony where I could take a break by
enjoying the view of Vancouver’s inner harbour.
The edges of the cradle were covered with a thin layer of felt.
Assuming that signal flags would not fly from the vangs I added a couple
of extra lines from the ends of the yardarm. The signal
flags, during the war, were given different alphabetical values each day.
According to the chart that came with the model the flags spell out `Jin
Mei’. The name of my fifth, and present, wife.
The main flag was excessively large but I cut it into sections, along the
middle of the red lines, then over lapped the pieces to make the lines narrower.
By trimming off the edges and misaligning the pieces I made it smaller
and gave it a wavy appearance.
The completed HMCS (Jin Mei) Snowberry resides in my front room and is highlighted
by a strip bar light.
Purchased in 1979 the model was completed July 20 2004
The original Snowberry was launched in 1940 and decommissioned in 1947. She served as convoy escort in the North Atlantic Ocean.
Img A-98 
(Photo `05) 1806 6611
Southoaks Crs. Burnaby, B. C.
(North-West corner. 4 floors from the top. Long balcony across
the Western half of the North side of the building.)
Shortly after bringing my wife back from China we had a fight. I packed her bags and moved her into her sister’s apartment.
I got a job driving to Texas and was gone for 2 weeks at a time. During the two days that I was home between trips I made up with my wife but let her stay at her sister’s when I was out of town.
I sold my apartment, and moved in with my wife, and her sister, (my 4th ex).
At that time the real estate market was easy to sell but hard to buy. Eventually I purchased a place a couple of blocks from Lin’s but didn’t get possession until June 1.
Img A-99 
(Photo `05) 1002 7275
Kingsbury Ave. Burnaby, B. C.
(East side. 4 floors from the top. Balcony on the Eastern side of the building.)
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