Monday, April 03, 2006

Still here

Seems I am reminding you lately that I am here more than usual. Life has caught up with me and has intruded on my blog writing time. The nerve of real life butting in like that. Here is the short list (maybe) of what has been happening.

Tammy was leaving for Florida (and did) on Saturday morning. We were trading vehicles with Jim, one of the teachers here at the school. He claimed to have a full size cargo van. We were leaving him the Camaro. When we got to Jim's place to do the swap, we found out that it was a Chevy Astro mini van, extended version. It wasn't what we had hoped, but still could haul much more than a '95 Ro. So, we made the swap. He informed us that the window on the drivers side quits sometimes, and several other quirks about the van. He did mention that the brakes (according to his wife) had just started making a sound.

OK. The sound was the sound of metal rubbing on metal. The pads were shot. We considered returning the van and having Tammy drive the Bravada. She didn't think that was necessary. She got used to the van and figured she would drive it. When she got it to FL she would have friends there fix the brakes. The gas gauge in the van is yelling. We stop and fill up. Even with our 10 cent per gallon discount, and the lower prices in Nicholasville, the first fill up is $55.

The gas mileage wasn't too bad. She filled up again in South Carolina, where the gas was $2.39 per gallon. She topped the tank off just before leaving SC to enter FL.

Along the way, she picked up her uncle to help with the driving. He was a tremendous help along the way. He did comment that she and I talk more to each other than any couple he knows. We did talk a few times during the drive.

Once in FL, she discovered that Jim (dad) had lied (surprise surprise). He didn't have as much done as he had indicated. As usual, there was more to do then he said, and he was still trying to get out of paying for anything.

There wasn't enough room to bring all of Tammy's furniture back, so we began looking for storage units. Tammy looked in FL and I looked online. I gave her a list to check out. The cheapest she could find was over $300 for three months. This also precipitated that we had to make arrangements in 3 months to retrieve the furniture. I told her to find a one way rental to bring it here. If it cost us $400, we would still be money ahead.

She went to the U-Haul place. It turned out the girl working there was a distant cousin. There were some bobbles, couldn't rent a pull behind because of no connector for lights, but we finally settled on a 14' truck with a car hauler for the van. We got 5 days rental, 1041 miles, and a free months storage at the U-Haul facility here in Lexington. That was right at $600. Still, it was cheaper than storing it there and returning to get it. Also, by hauling the van back, we didn't need an extra driver, we could load it full, and there was no gas expense for it. Mission accomplished.

She and the kids got everything loaded. Jim wanted to put some things in the U-Haul. She told him he had to pay for part of the rental. He gave her $50 and said they were even. Yeah, he is out of his mind. When we get to KY, we will store his stuff, and when he pay up, he can get it back.

I want to give a shout out to www.Travelocity.com. I did find her a cheap nice room thru them. They even called the motel to make sure there was no additional charges that might surprise us. I booked it and paid for it, so all Tammy had to do was check in.

I talked to her several times last night. She was tired but much better emotionally. The loading was done. All that lie ahead was the drive home. She is nervous about the drive. I told her to let her uncle, a former trucker, drive the truck hauling the van, and she could drive Jim's F-150. She will work those details out today.

I called her this morning. Man, she sounds sexy in the morning. I have missed her like crazy. I got new pillows for the bed while she was gone. They didn't help much when aching for her kept me awake.

Today, I am working on establishing a lesson plan database for the state and missing her. Seems my day will be full.

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