Have you ever wanted to do a do it yourself (DIY) renovation? Well, don't. Its not easy let me tell you. All I wanted to do was take down the ugly wallpaper from the bathroom, paint the walls, change the vanity, and retile the floor. I expected this to take 1 week. Well, I'm going on week 3!! The wallpaper didn't come off that easily, took 2.5 days, and when it did come off, it took off the backing of the drywall with it. So, I thought, "oh, I'll just take down the drywall and put up new and improved drywall." Not the smartest idea I ever had. I have spent 3 days now trying to take down drywall. ITs messy, dusty, and just not fun. But, the good thing is that we will now have moist/mold/termite resistant drywall. Plus, I will not have to scrape the wallpaper glue from the wall, so that's good. I figure once I get that up it'll be a piece of cake. All I will have to do it paint and do the floor. Luckily the bathroom isn't too large, so the floor should be pretty easy. I do like doing the renovations though, because when it is all done its a good sense of accomplishment. I will have done it, nobody else. Plus its cheaper, and it will look so good when it's done. I can't wait for it to be done. Then I get to start on my mom's bathroom. What joy. I will NOT remove the drywall this time though, as I think I have had enough of that. Plus, I want to finish her bathroom quickly, as I know it will be a pain for her not to have a bathroom. It will be a nice present for mom, and she deserves it. I know that there are many things that she wants to do to the house, and I want to do them all, cause the house will look nicer, but also because mom works hard and she deserves to come home to a house she loves. Once the bathrooms are done I will paint, and then I will talk her into buying plantation blinds. They are expensive, but they are so pretty.
Have a good night everyone. I have to go to sleep so I can finish will taring the wallpaper down tomorrow.
Saturday, February 7, 2009
Friday, February 6, 2009
Match.com
Well, I have done it. I finally broke down and joined the dating website match.com! I don't really know what I am looking for, mainly just people to hang out with, nothing serious at this point, since things are really confusing and unsettled at the moment. But you know what, I think that everyone's life is confusing and unsettled. How many people do you know are completely 100% satisfied with how things are going? You may know many, but I bet you they are all old, lol. I think people my age are just like me, confused, excited and yet a little nervous about what the future holds. It seems as of lately things have really just been crazy. First my truck dies, then the VA tells me I owe them money, and then my internship falls through. I thought that by moving home everything would just work out perfectly. I would have my truck, an internship, savings, and then get a great job somewhere in Raleigh. Well, surprise surprise. Life doesn't always work out the way we want it to. I guess there is a reason for this that I will doscover later on, but right now it just makes no sense. Oh well, what doesn't kill us makes us stronger. I did learn one really good lesson though, and that is to save ALL documents, receipts, paperwork, etc. My mom is really good at this. She will save bills, receipts, warranties, etc. for years. She probably has warranties for things that we don't even have anymore! I used to give her a really hard time about this, but have learned why she does it. Because it may be years later, but someone will come back to you and say, you never paid for this, or this was never reconciled. But, if you have the paperwork, even from years back, you can show it to them and protect yourself. So thanks mom, you teaching me to keep all my files over the years has helped me and is paying off.
So back to the match.com thing. So, as I said, I joined, about a week ago. Its been interesting. Its kinda like we are all cattle, being put in a herd and being chosen by who looks best and has the best qualities, then to be slaughtered. Well, not really slaughtered, but you get my drift. So this is how it works. You make a profile, describing who you are, what you do, education, favorites, places lived, etc. You even have to write a paragraph about yourself and what you are looking for in a partner. Then you can post pictures of yourself. If you don't post pictures, don't expect anyone to talk to you. People are so picky these days let me tell you, and I guess I am too. So once you have your profile, you can view other guys. If you make your profile available for public view, meaning everyone can see it, and go and look at someone else's profile, then it will store in their memory as who went and viewed their profile. I have had about 200 people view my profile. Some of these people seem a little creapy, crazy, or just odd.
Also, you can "wink" at someone or write them an email. Let me tell you, I have had some really freaky people "wink" at me and email me. I forgot to mention that your profile states your age and the age of those you are seeking. So, when I get a "wink" from a 50 yr old, this is really creepy. I have had several winks from old men or really scary looking men, or those red kneck country boys that think a good date is going mudding or shooting cans off a log. Its been interesting let me tell you. However, I have had some hot, nice guys "wink" and email as well. I even met one and he seemed pretty normal. I am supposed to go out with him again this weekend, we'll see if he calls. Dunno. Whatever. Really, I just want to date several people to get a feel of what I am looking for and interested in. I have been known to date some real "winners." At this point I know my mom and sister are thinking, yup, Dwayne and that other idiot Lance. But, I also think that every person you date you learn something from. I don't regret dating anyone that I have dated, because I have learned more about myself from doing so. If you don't get out there and try, how will you know what you want? If you don't try different flavors, you won't know it when you find that flavor. I just want to settle for vanilla anymore, but am looking for the other flavors that are out there. We will see. I will have to keep you posted on how this thing turns out. Time will tell as my grandmother says.
So back to the match.com thing. So, as I said, I joined, about a week ago. Its been interesting. Its kinda like we are all cattle, being put in a herd and being chosen by who looks best and has the best qualities, then to be slaughtered. Well, not really slaughtered, but you get my drift. So this is how it works. You make a profile, describing who you are, what you do, education, favorites, places lived, etc. You even have to write a paragraph about yourself and what you are looking for in a partner. Then you can post pictures of yourself. If you don't post pictures, don't expect anyone to talk to you. People are so picky these days let me tell you, and I guess I am too. So once you have your profile, you can view other guys. If you make your profile available for public view, meaning everyone can see it, and go and look at someone else's profile, then it will store in their memory as who went and viewed their profile. I have had about 200 people view my profile. Some of these people seem a little creapy, crazy, or just odd.
Also, you can "wink" at someone or write them an email. Let me tell you, I have had some really freaky people "wink" at me and email me. I forgot to mention that your profile states your age and the age of those you are seeking. So, when I get a "wink" from a 50 yr old, this is really creepy. I have had several winks from old men or really scary looking men, or those red kneck country boys that think a good date is going mudding or shooting cans off a log. Its been interesting let me tell you. However, I have had some hot, nice guys "wink" and email as well. I even met one and he seemed pretty normal. I am supposed to go out with him again this weekend, we'll see if he calls. Dunno. Whatever. Really, I just want to date several people to get a feel of what I am looking for and interested in. I have been known to date some real "winners." At this point I know my mom and sister are thinking, yup, Dwayne and that other idiot Lance. But, I also think that every person you date you learn something from. I don't regret dating anyone that I have dated, because I have learned more about myself from doing so. If you don't get out there and try, how will you know what you want? If you don't try different flavors, you won't know it when you find that flavor. I just want to settle for vanilla anymore, but am looking for the other flavors that are out there. We will see. I will have to keep you posted on how this thing turns out. Time will tell as my grandmother says.
Wednesday, January 28, 2009
Trying to lighten up ... think BLENDERS
I figured that since all I really wrote about this week was bad stuff (even though other people thought the posts were hysterical) I would write something that doesn't really pertain to anything. The only problem is I can't think of anything to say. Give me a minute, something will come to mind. Nope... not yet.... gimme another minute.
Okay, so I got something. Blenders. Do people even use these things anymore today? I own one, and I can count on my hands the # of times I have used it. They are a pain in the butt. You MUST add liquid, otherwise you aren't blending a damn thing, just burning up the motor. Then, when you do want to blend something liquid, like ice cream, you usually don't have it in the house so you have to go out to the store to buy the ingredients. So why have the blender, since on the way out to the store, you could just go and buy the stupid shake you wanna make. Plus, its probably cheaper just to go to McDonald's and buy the thing.
I'm currently "visiting" my mom. This means that I am staying with her for a little while until I finish school and get a job, which hopefully will happen by April. Its now January. Anyways, I noticed that my mom has a blender. I have to say that she has used the blender, but to save time, buys premade shakes. So you see, there really isn't a reason to own a blender. They just take up room on the counter. This being said, I still own mine, and probably won't ger rid of it anytime soon. I know, what can you say?
Have a good night all.. I am tuckered out and ready to go and get under the covers, because my mom's house is ALWAYS freezing. Why? Beats me, it just one of those facts.
Okay, so I got something. Blenders. Do people even use these things anymore today? I own one, and I can count on my hands the # of times I have used it. They are a pain in the butt. You MUST add liquid, otherwise you aren't blending a damn thing, just burning up the motor. Then, when you do want to blend something liquid, like ice cream, you usually don't have it in the house so you have to go out to the store to buy the ingredients. So why have the blender, since on the way out to the store, you could just go and buy the stupid shake you wanna make. Plus, its probably cheaper just to go to McDonald's and buy the thing.
I'm currently "visiting" my mom. This means that I am staying with her for a little while until I finish school and get a job, which hopefully will happen by April. Its now January. Anyways, I noticed that my mom has a blender. I have to say that she has used the blender, but to save time, buys premade shakes. So you see, there really isn't a reason to own a blender. They just take up room on the counter. This being said, I still own mine, and probably won't ger rid of it anytime soon. I know, what can you say?
Have a good night all.. I am tuckered out and ready to go and get under the covers, because my mom's house is ALWAYS freezing. Why? Beats me, it just one of those facts.
Renovations begin...bathroom #1
I have always wanted to renovate a house. I think that I would be awesome at flipping houses, because I love to do the work and I do good quality work. I don't belive in doing a half ass job, because it will just cost more money in the long run, more time and more frustration. I have finally convinced my mom into letting me renovate the bathrooms. I have decided to start with the one directly at the top of the stairs. It was the one my sister and I used growing up. I figured that if I started with this one I could take my time and learn along the way. I didn't want to do mom's first because I know that she wouldn't like waiting 3 weeks for it to be done. Not that I plan on it taking that long. However, now that I have started, its going to take me longer to do this thing than I thought.
I go and get wallpaper remover. I am a pro at removing wallpaper. My cousin Keri conned me into doing her house, and it was the ugliest and oldest wallpaper I had seen. I figured that if I can remove 60yr old wallpaper, this would be a breeze. Well, as usual, I was wrong. I started by taking everything off the walls, mirror included. That mirror is heavy by the way. Then I put the wallpaper remover on the walls. It was the concentrate stuff, and didn't work very well. So I just pulled off what was already peeling from being on the walls for the last 25yrs. It was cool. A lot of it came right off with no problem. I left the remaining for the next day when I would get new wallpaper remover. So I go and get the gel stuff, it works the best and paint it on. I start to peel the paper off. It comes off in the smallest pieces, if it comes off. I put on another coat, then another coat, then another but to NO avail. At this point the walls are soaked and still have this ugly wallpaper on them. It finally starts to come off, but you guessed it, it peeled right down to the drywall. So now I have brown patches everywhere that I will have to spackle. Turns out that the idiots that built this house did a crappy job. Instead of priming the drywall and then putting the glue on for the wallpaper, they just stuck on the glue and then the wallpaper. To top it off, they also put tape around the corners of the ceiling, so when I went to put off the caulking the popcorn decided to come off as well. I had planned on removing the popcorn ceiling, but wanted to wait until after the wallpaper was off. ITs now Tuesday, that's right. I have spent 2.5 days peeling wallpaper off the wall, and there is still glue all over the place. The bathroom looks horrible and I am ready to take a hammer to the damn walls. I go to Lowe's to look at replacing the drywall. Its pretty cheap and they have a type specifically for bathrooms, mold and moist resistant. So now I want to replace the drywall. The guy said its easy but time consuming. No more time consuming then peeling paper I tell him. So now the bathroom still looks like crap. I plan on taking the popcorn off the ceiling first and then removing the drywall. I want to contain as much of the mess as possible. I will add pictures of the bathroom in its current state and will also add pictures of my outfit, as I need to have a mask and goggles. This should be interesting. Will let you know what happens later. God PLEASE help me with this. I have a feeling its going to be bad before it gets better.
Well I got the supplies I needed. But I only got one roll of plastic tarp. This was me trying to save money. As usual, me saving money meant spending more of my time. So after I used all the plastic tarp in about 1 minute, I decide not to go back to Lowe's but to get creative instead. So I go and get the back plastic trash bags and cut them up and then tape them to the walls. This is to prevent the popcorn and the water from getting into the molding around the floor. It also helps to contain the mess. Now I will still have to go back to Lowe's tomorrow and buy more tarp because I plan on attaching it to one wall to the middle of the ceiling to hopefully catch all the popcorn as it falls off the ceiling. The last thing I want to do is clean popcorn up for a week, because with my great luck it will take that long. So tomorrow morning I plan on wetting the ceiling and starting on the popcorn. Wish me luck. I'm sure it will go badly, but you never know,
I might just get lucky.
I go and get wallpaper remover. I am a pro at removing wallpaper. My cousin Keri conned me into doing her house, and it was the ugliest and oldest wallpaper I had seen. I figured that if I can remove 60yr old wallpaper, this would be a breeze. Well, as usual, I was wrong. I started by taking everything off the walls, mirror included. That mirror is heavy by the way. Then I put the wallpaper remover on the walls. It was the concentrate stuff, and didn't work very well. So I just pulled off what was already peeling from being on the walls for the last 25yrs. It was cool. A lot of it came right off with no problem. I left the remaining for the next day when I would get new wallpaper remover. So I go and get the gel stuff, it works the best and paint it on. I start to peel the paper off. It comes off in the smallest pieces, if it comes off. I put on another coat, then another coat, then another but to NO avail. At this point the walls are soaked and still have this ugly wallpaper on them. It finally starts to come off, but you guessed it, it peeled right down to the drywall. So now I have brown patches everywhere that I will have to spackle. Turns out that the idiots that built this house did a crappy job. Instead of priming the drywall and then putting the glue on for the wallpaper, they just stuck on the glue and then the wallpaper. To top it off, they also put tape around the corners of the ceiling, so when I went to put off the caulking the popcorn decided to come off as well. I had planned on removing the popcorn ceiling, but wanted to wait until after the wallpaper was off. ITs now Tuesday, that's right. I have spent 2.5 days peeling wallpaper off the wall, and there is still glue all over the place. The bathroom looks horrible and I am ready to take a hammer to the damn walls. I go to Lowe's to look at replacing the drywall. Its pretty cheap and they have a type specifically for bathrooms, mold and moist resistant. So now I want to replace the drywall. The guy said its easy but time consuming. No more time consuming then peeling paper I tell him. So now the bathroom still looks like crap. I plan on taking the popcorn off the ceiling first and then removing the drywall. I want to contain as much of the mess as possible. I will add pictures of the bathroom in its current state and will also add pictures of my outfit, as I need to have a mask and goggles. This should be interesting. Will let you know what happens later. God PLEASE help me with this. I have a feeling its going to be bad before it gets better.
Well I got the supplies I needed. But I only got one roll of plastic tarp. This was me trying to save money. As usual, me saving money meant spending more of my time. So after I used all the plastic tarp in about 1 minute, I decide not to go back to Lowe's but to get creative instead. So I go and get the back plastic trash bags and cut them up and then tape them to the walls. This is to prevent the popcorn and the water from getting into the molding around the floor. It also helps to contain the mess. Now I will still have to go back to Lowe's tomorrow and buy more tarp because I plan on attaching it to one wall to the middle of the ceiling to hopefully catch all the popcorn as it falls off the ceiling. The last thing I want to do is clean popcorn up for a week, because with my great luck it will take that long. So tomorrow morning I plan on wetting the ceiling and starting on the popcorn. Wish me luck. I'm sure it will go badly, but you never know,
I might just get lucky.
Unloading the UHAUL
Its Friday, and I decide that I really need to start unloading the UHUAL. Its the last thing that I wanna do, but it must be done. I figure I will do it before mom starts nagging me about it. I have to give her credit though, mom has been really good with me. She hasn't yelled about my mess, nagged me about anything, and wasn't offended by my bad moods. She's just given me my space and left me alone until I was ready to talk. I think she has finally learned how to deal with me, which isn't an easy task I may add. There are only a few people that know how to deal with me when I am having a hard time, which seems like its pretty often, lol. But its true. Anyways, so I go to move the UHAUL into the driveway. As I'm backing in, I notice something attached to the tire. Once I park it, I notice that the thing attached to the tire is a balloon the size of a child's head protruding from the tire. Great, this is all I need. It looks as though it will bust at any moment. Only me, only me. So I start unloading the truck. I have most of it done within 30 minutes. Mike's estimate of a few hours was wrong, but that's no surprise. The only things left in the truck are the mattress and bedroom furniture. I leave it for later. Audra calls later that day and says what time do you want me to come down. She offered to help me move the truck. I told her that if she was gonna come, then come on Friday. She shows up that evening with the kids and we decide that we will unload it in the morning. Off to bed for me, it had been a rough copule of days.
Saturday morning Audra helps me to offload everything left on the truck. 10 minutes later we are done. Now she wants to rearrange all my crap in the garage, because you know that I did not have any type of organization when I put it in there. Me plan something? Yeah right. We decide to bring the truck back to UHAUL before anything else. Once the guy came to change the tire we brought it back. Then Audra say, do you mind if I go to the consignment shop and look for some clothes. Well, we all know this isn't my thing, but I don't mind. She came all the way down here to help me out, so the least I could do was to go with her to the store. 2 hours later we finally leave the store, lol. Audra had tried on about everything they owned and when she went to pay for it couldn't find her card, so we left empty handed. You know that I found the card about 30seconds later, but she said she'd return later to buy them. Fine with me.
The rest of the weekend was noneventful. It was just mom, me, Audra, Taylor, and Kurtie. It was really nice having them all here, and I think that they really had a good time. We didn't really do anything, just hung around and relaxed. I think that everyone needed that. It was really nice seeing the kids too, since the last time I saw them Taylor was 7 and Kurtie was 2 and a holy terror! But boys are like that at that age. They have really grown up and matured. Taylor is very quiet, but sweet. Kurtie was such a well behaved 8 year old, I was really impressed. Audra has done a great job raising her kids, they will both be very successful and happy when they grow up. As I was saying, it was just a real chill weekend. I even washed mom's car and my car (the GiGi). Now mom can see out her windows when she drives.
Sunday I took Kurtie to FunFunFun. We had a great time. I think I had as much fun as he did. We used over 200 tokens and 2 hours later were ready to go. It was nice doing things like that again. Its also nice to see kids having a good time. I love it when children are happy and you were the source of that happiness. Its pretty cool. Audra and the kids left that afternoon and it was just mom and I. I decided to start doing the renovations on the bathroom that night just to get started. I will have to give you the details in another post though.
Saturday morning Audra helps me to offload everything left on the truck. 10 minutes later we are done. Now she wants to rearrange all my crap in the garage, because you know that I did not have any type of organization when I put it in there. Me plan something? Yeah right. We decide to bring the truck back to UHAUL before anything else. Once the guy came to change the tire we brought it back. Then Audra say, do you mind if I go to the consignment shop and look for some clothes. Well, we all know this isn't my thing, but I don't mind. She came all the way down here to help me out, so the least I could do was to go with her to the store. 2 hours later we finally leave the store, lol. Audra had tried on about everything they owned and when she went to pay for it couldn't find her card, so we left empty handed. You know that I found the card about 30seconds later, but she said she'd return later to buy them. Fine with me.
The rest of the weekend was noneventful. It was just mom, me, Audra, Taylor, and Kurtie. It was really nice having them all here, and I think that they really had a good time. We didn't really do anything, just hung around and relaxed. I think that everyone needed that. It was really nice seeing the kids too, since the last time I saw them Taylor was 7 and Kurtie was 2 and a holy terror! But boys are like that at that age. They have really grown up and matured. Taylor is very quiet, but sweet. Kurtie was such a well behaved 8 year old, I was really impressed. Audra has done a great job raising her kids, they will both be very successful and happy when they grow up. As I was saying, it was just a real chill weekend. I even washed mom's car and my car (the GiGi). Now mom can see out her windows when she drives.
Sunday I took Kurtie to FunFunFun. We had a great time. I think I had as much fun as he did. We used over 200 tokens and 2 hours later were ready to go. It was nice doing things like that again. Its also nice to see kids having a good time. I love it when children are happy and you were the source of that happiness. Its pretty cool. Audra and the kids left that afternoon and it was just mom and I. I decided to start doing the renovations on the bathroom that night just to get started. I will have to give you the details in another post though.
The Saga Continues... Will it ever end?
It's now Thursday. The UHAUL is sitting in front of the house still loaded, thanks Mike. I'm in no hurry to offload it, since I have the truck for 5 days. So I decide to go out and look for cars. I go to Toyota and find a Highlander that I really like. I go to see how much it would cost and all of that, and they do a credit check. Now, I am known for my frugality and cheapness. Which means that I have great credit, which I am very proud of. I almost think that this defines the type of person that I am. I may not have crap right now, but I have good credit! So what a surprise when they check my score and its a 610!!! What the hell is going on! Well, the VA had put 2 deliquencies on my report. Well I am freaking out and leave immediately. I call the VA to find out what is going on. Long story short, when you are a reservist and you are not drilling, you do not rate the reserve GI bill. So, the year that I had dropped to the IRR disqualified me fore benefits that year. Which means that I get to pay back $8500!! That's right, it is EIGHT THOUSAND AND FIVE HUNDRED DOLLARS!!!!!! I'm freaking out at this point, but was proud of myself, I only cried for a minute, mainly out of frustration and my damn luck. So now I have to talk to them about removing this off my credit report. They make me fax in my lease to prove that I had moved, since they kept mailing the letters to my old address in Greenville. So, I go to mom's work to fax it off. All is good. I get back in the truck, it's daddy's truck (I hate this stupid truck) and go home. I'm at the light to turn left. I look up, it's green. I am the third car in line thank God, because the first car goes when the light turns green, and this white car nails him. I mean it was bad, I was like oh crap. Well I was gonna call 911 but there was no need. All of a sudden I hear sirens. There are 5 count them 5 undercover police cars that swarm the vehicle that was hit. Before I know what's going on everyhone in that car is in handcuffs! It was crazy. And the crazier part is that only 1 cop went over to see if the other vehicle was okay, which you could tell the guy was hurt. I'm telling you, that's all I needed that day, was to get nailed. It would have topped my day off, but luckily God didn't want to give me more than I could handle. He did however have another surprise for me though. So I'm on the way home and there is no gas in the car, and I mean no gas. Not a surprise though, as when I got in the GiGi the day before there wasn't any gas in that one either! So I go to Hess because Mama gave me a $50 gas card for Christmas, and I am broke, so I figure I will use this. I fill the truck up, it takes 16 gallons because its so empty. Then, all of a sudden I hear what sounds like pouring water, only it doesn't smell like water. That's because it wasn't water. Nope, it was gas pouring out from un der the truck. GREAT! This is all I need right now. So, I go inside and feeling like an idiot tell the cashier that there is gas all over the ground, and that I will call a tow truck to move my truck. I call mom, and she's like "did you over fill it?" What in the world woman? I have been driving for 10 years, so I think that I know how to put gas in a vehicle. No I didn't overfill it I tell her. So she gives me the number to the tow trucking company, second time in 2 days may I add, and tells me to call Greg, our mechanic. Luckily his work was only a 1 minute walk away. I go over there and tell him and he comes over. God Bless this man. He is the best mechanic in the world. He's laughing, starts up the truck and moves it. Then he asks me if daddy ever filled up the truck, or only put $15 of gas in at a time. I dunno I say. So he says its okay to drive it, and that there is probably a hole in the tank, and that he will fix it. But could I first just drive it and use some of the gas up, because changing a full gas tank wouldn't be fun. No problem. I take it home. Mom calls and says lets go to dinner. I know you need a break. Yeah I need a break alright. I should have ran away to a deserted island. All I wanted to do was just leave and leave all my problems behind. So we go to dinner and I explain the VA situation to mom. She's like, don't worry, you are going to come out of this with them owing you money. Always the optimist my mom. Sorry mom, but that isn't how my life works. I get to pay back ALL the money, oh joy. So then she offers to pay my deby, saying that she and dad haven't really paid for my college, and this is the least they could do. No way. I have the money, and dad is in Iraq to save money for him and mom, not to pay my debts. I was grateful for the offer, but could never accecpt it. I chose to pay for my college, I chose the hard road, and I am grateful for it. It made me who I am today. And it allows me to say I did on my own. I am proud of this. I know my parents feel a little guilty that they paid for my sister's tuition and couldn't for mine, but I don't feel bad about it at all. As I said, things have worked out for me. If I didn't have to apy for college then the events that took place in my life might not have happened. Things happen for a reason mom. "I took the road less traveled, and that has made all the difference." Robert Frost - Road Less Traveled My FAVORITE poem.
We get home and all I want to do is to get away from everything, so I do what I do best in these situations, sleep my problems away. I was so upset I didn't even want to talk to my dad when he called. So mom had to explain the VA situation to him. I just didn't want to talk about my problems anymore, I had had enough. I was just tired of explaining things, as I had been doing this for 3 days now, ever since I moved back to NC.
Well, that day finally ended, maybe tomorrow would be better. I doubt it though.
We get home and all I want to do is to get away from everything, so I do what I do best in these situations, sleep my problems away. I was so upset I didn't even want to talk to my dad when he called. So mom had to explain the VA situation to him. I just didn't want to talk about my problems anymore, I had had enough. I was just tired of explaining things, as I had been doing this for 3 days now, ever since I moved back to NC.
Well, that day finally ended, maybe tomorrow would be better. I doubt it though.
Monday, January 26, 2009
Moving Day 2, the Saga continues
Tuesday: The final packing and first day and driving
I get up at 7am and take a shower. I go to wake up Mike and he's not ready to get up, but I make him anyways. We pack the remaining items in the house and make a few trips to the dumpster. Luckily, the apartment complex has several grocery carts that people use to bring items to their apartments, so I used one to take out the trash. I start putting things in my truck, the S-10, since the UHAUL is about full. I will call my truck Betty, as this is her name, to prevent any confusion between the UHAUL and the S-10. I named her years ago, and she is affectionately called Betty. Anyways, we are now down to the last few items. The bistro set and the grill. The bistro table never made it to the truck, as there wasn't room, and it was already had a huge chunck of it broken off from the move down to New Orleans. We go to put the grill on Betty, and Mike wants to stand it up and tie it down that way. I am arguing with him telling him that its not a good idea, since we have to drive 17 hours, and I don't think it will make it. I finally agree with Mike to do it his way. You should have seen us trying to life this thing up in the bed of Betty. I almost dropped it a few times, and I think I came close to throwing Mike's back out. But we finally got it up there. We do a final check of the apartment, and I vacuum and get rid of all the trash. Its now 10:30.
We are getting ready to load Betty on the Tow dolly, but Mike doesn't know what he's doing, so I say lets go to UHAUL and have them do it since they are professionals. He thinks I'm an idiot, but I don't care, I don't want anything to happen to my truck. This is Bety we are talking about, and she has been good to me and I love her. So we get to UHAUL and I ask them to help me load this thing, since I have no clue as to what I am doing. I ask if there is anything I need to do to the truck, like disconnect the drive-shaft. Oh no the kid says, its good to go. So they hook it up to the trailer, and we a all set.
We go to my old job so I can say goodbye to all my friends. I will miss them dearly as they are great people and they are the reason why I decided to stay in New Orleans for so long. James wanted to take us out to lunch, and since it was already late, I said why not. Well, Mike wasn't too happy, but I didn't care. This was going to be the last time I saw them for a long time.
We went to get Po-Boys. Yet another great New Orleans' food staple. We had Roast Beef Po-Boys, James' favorite. When we finally got back and got on the road it was 1230.
We decided to take the Causeway instead of going through the city. The Causeway is the longest bridge in America that doesn't have any land for 23 miles. James is very proud of this, and tells us to go this way. So, I take the first shift of driving, and we are off. I was a little nervous at first, especially with towing Betty, as it makes it harder to turn and stuff. Everything is going well and we are doing good. We stop after 2 hours just to walk around, as Mike wants to stop a lot to break up the monotony of the trip. I usually don't do this, but whatever. So I go to check on Betty, and notice that the straps holding the tires to the tow dolly are completley undone. The only thing that was keeping her on the tow dolly were the chains that are there just in case this happens. This made me a little nervous, but we fixed it and off we went.
The trip was uneventful after this. Just a lot of driving. We were making great time, and I thought we could get past Atlanta by 10pm and drive straight through. The only problem. Well, there were 2 problems. 1) Snow. Fayetteville got 6 inches of snow. Go figure right. It never snows, but when I want to move home, we get 6 inches. So the roads are icy and this might be a problem when we get close. 2) Mike. We get right outside of Atlanta and he wants to stop for the night. He's tired and says that if we drive through the night it will mess up his sleep pattern, and he wants to work on Thursday and doesn't want to be all messed up. I'm pissed, but whatever. Fine I say. So I get past Atalnta and we stop. Its 1130 eastern time. The room cost me $80 after taxes. Mike wanted to get up at 5am and leave my 5:30am. So that means I paid $80 for only 6 hours!!! Well, we get on the road and Mike drives. Then we stop after a few hours and I drive. Then we stop again and he takes over. Its 10:30am All of a sudden I hear Mike say "oh shit!" and then he pulls over on the side of I-95. We are 85 miles from Fayetteville in Florence SC. I'm asking him what is going on. Betty is smoking he says. So we both jump out of the UHAUL and run to see what is going on. Sure enough, there is smoke and oil pouring from Betty. I pop the hood, and since Mike is a wimp, open it up to see what is going on. There is oil everywhere on the left side of the engine, and its pouring from under the truck. I'm freaking out! So I call mom to get the # for the tow truck. Since there is no way we can tow it anymore, since we have no clue what is wrong. Its going to be an hour wait the lady says. No problem. Well, Mike didn't want to wait, and he wants to leave the truck attached to the tow dolly on the side of the road. Hell no! I say. I tell him I am not leaving my Betty here on the highway, especially since we don't even know what's wrong with her. I also tell him that its not like we have anywhere we need to go. But Mike was in a hurry because he wanted to be home at a decent hour so he could relax before going to work the next day. What a jerk! I was so mad at him. Here I am paying for everything for him since he was supposed to be here to help me out. The whole purpose of him going to New Olreans was to help me move back to NC. He knew it would take some time to do all of this, but now he's in a big hurry to get back to Raleigh. He wasn't even scheduled to work on Thursday, but just wanted to go in and make some extra money.
Anyways, the tow truck driver gets there and looks at Betty and says "you blew the transmission. That is transmission fliud all over the place. You should have towed it from the rear, since its rear wheel drive. Since you towed it from the front, the back tires were turning, and that meant that your transmission was still running. That was going to happen eventually, I'm surprised it lasted this long." So, he tells me I will need a new transmission, about $2,000. He asks what do I want to do with it. Its gonna cost $60 a day to keep it in the yard at the tow truck company. Or he could tow it back to Fayetteville at $3 a mile. Or, he would buy it from me since it was already gone. $800 he would give me. I told him to keep it for now, I will sell it to him, but let me take care of the insurance first and talk to UHAUL. He was really nice, and said he would keep it at his house and it would be safe and free. Remember, my grill is still attached to the back of this thing. There's no room for it in the UHAUL, so it stays with Betty for now.
So, now we have to drop off the tow dolly since we can only drive 45mph with it empty. Mike tells me to find a UHAUL so we can drop it off. I call them and they tell me that its gonna be extra since its not the dropoff location specified on the contract. I'm so mad at this point I tell her whatever, and we go to drop it off. The manager was awesom e and took the dolly for free, he was glad to have it, he needed some he said. He gave me great advice on how to deal with UHAUL since they killed Betty. Once we dropped off the trailor, we were on our way back to Fayetteville. In the meantime I am on the phonw with UHAUL telling them the situation. The manager in LA told me that he was really sorry and that he would do everything he could to fix this problem. Then I call the insurance company and put in a claim. Oh how I love dealing with those idiots.
So we are still on our way back to Fayetteville and I am ready to just offload the UHAUL and chill for a bit. However, Mike didn't want to help me offload the truck, he said it would take hours and he just wanted to go home to Raleigh. So, I had to switch vehicles and drive 2 hours to Raleigh to drop him off, and then 2 hours back. By the time I got home it was 6:30pm! I was exhausted. What a horrible day. I think that my friendship with Mike is over. I mean with friends like this, who in the hell needs enemies. Sometimes I wonder.
Thank God we made it home safe and nothing really bad happened. At least Betty is replacable, I am not!
It was great to see mom again and to be home in NC again. Even though my day was horrible, it was nice to relax with mom and just chill.
More on what happened with UHAUL and the VA to come.......
I get up at 7am and take a shower. I go to wake up Mike and he's not ready to get up, but I make him anyways. We pack the remaining items in the house and make a few trips to the dumpster. Luckily, the apartment complex has several grocery carts that people use to bring items to their apartments, so I used one to take out the trash. I start putting things in my truck, the S-10, since the UHAUL is about full. I will call my truck Betty, as this is her name, to prevent any confusion between the UHAUL and the S-10. I named her years ago, and she is affectionately called Betty. Anyways, we are now down to the last few items. The bistro set and the grill. The bistro table never made it to the truck, as there wasn't room, and it was already had a huge chunck of it broken off from the move down to New Orleans. We go to put the grill on Betty, and Mike wants to stand it up and tie it down that way. I am arguing with him telling him that its not a good idea, since we have to drive 17 hours, and I don't think it will make it. I finally agree with Mike to do it his way. You should have seen us trying to life this thing up in the bed of Betty. I almost dropped it a few times, and I think I came close to throwing Mike's back out. But we finally got it up there. We do a final check of the apartment, and I vacuum and get rid of all the trash. Its now 10:30.
We are getting ready to load Betty on the Tow dolly, but Mike doesn't know what he's doing, so I say lets go to UHAUL and have them do it since they are professionals. He thinks I'm an idiot, but I don't care, I don't want anything to happen to my truck. This is Bety we are talking about, and she has been good to me and I love her. So we get to UHAUL and I ask them to help me load this thing, since I have no clue as to what I am doing. I ask if there is anything I need to do to the truck, like disconnect the drive-shaft. Oh no the kid says, its good to go. So they hook it up to the trailer, and we a all set.
We go to my old job so I can say goodbye to all my friends. I will miss them dearly as they are great people and they are the reason why I decided to stay in New Orleans for so long. James wanted to take us out to lunch, and since it was already late, I said why not. Well, Mike wasn't too happy, but I didn't care. This was going to be the last time I saw them for a long time.
We went to get Po-Boys. Yet another great New Orleans' food staple. We had Roast Beef Po-Boys, James' favorite. When we finally got back and got on the road it was 1230.
We decided to take the Causeway instead of going through the city. The Causeway is the longest bridge in America that doesn't have any land for 23 miles. James is very proud of this, and tells us to go this way. So, I take the first shift of driving, and we are off. I was a little nervous at first, especially with towing Betty, as it makes it harder to turn and stuff. Everything is going well and we are doing good. We stop after 2 hours just to walk around, as Mike wants to stop a lot to break up the monotony of the trip. I usually don't do this, but whatever. So I go to check on Betty, and notice that the straps holding the tires to the tow dolly are completley undone. The only thing that was keeping her on the tow dolly were the chains that are there just in case this happens. This made me a little nervous, but we fixed it and off we went.
The trip was uneventful after this. Just a lot of driving. We were making great time, and I thought we could get past Atlanta by 10pm and drive straight through. The only problem. Well, there were 2 problems. 1) Snow. Fayetteville got 6 inches of snow. Go figure right. It never snows, but when I want to move home, we get 6 inches. So the roads are icy and this might be a problem when we get close. 2) Mike. We get right outside of Atlanta and he wants to stop for the night. He's tired and says that if we drive through the night it will mess up his sleep pattern, and he wants to work on Thursday and doesn't want to be all messed up. I'm pissed, but whatever. Fine I say. So I get past Atalnta and we stop. Its 1130 eastern time. The room cost me $80 after taxes. Mike wanted to get up at 5am and leave my 5:30am. So that means I paid $80 for only 6 hours!!! Well, we get on the road and Mike drives. Then we stop after a few hours and I drive. Then we stop again and he takes over. Its 10:30am All of a sudden I hear Mike say "oh shit!" and then he pulls over on the side of I-95. We are 85 miles from Fayetteville in Florence SC. I'm asking him what is going on. Betty is smoking he says. So we both jump out of the UHAUL and run to see what is going on. Sure enough, there is smoke and oil pouring from Betty. I pop the hood, and since Mike is a wimp, open it up to see what is going on. There is oil everywhere on the left side of the engine, and its pouring from under the truck. I'm freaking out! So I call mom to get the # for the tow truck. Since there is no way we can tow it anymore, since we have no clue what is wrong. Its going to be an hour wait the lady says. No problem. Well, Mike didn't want to wait, and he wants to leave the truck attached to the tow dolly on the side of the road. Hell no! I say. I tell him I am not leaving my Betty here on the highway, especially since we don't even know what's wrong with her. I also tell him that its not like we have anywhere we need to go. But Mike was in a hurry because he wanted to be home at a decent hour so he could relax before going to work the next day. What a jerk! I was so mad at him. Here I am paying for everything for him since he was supposed to be here to help me out. The whole purpose of him going to New Olreans was to help me move back to NC. He knew it would take some time to do all of this, but now he's in a big hurry to get back to Raleigh. He wasn't even scheduled to work on Thursday, but just wanted to go in and make some extra money.
Anyways, the tow truck driver gets there and looks at Betty and says "you blew the transmission. That is transmission fliud all over the place. You should have towed it from the rear, since its rear wheel drive. Since you towed it from the front, the back tires were turning, and that meant that your transmission was still running. That was going to happen eventually, I'm surprised it lasted this long." So, he tells me I will need a new transmission, about $2,000. He asks what do I want to do with it. Its gonna cost $60 a day to keep it in the yard at the tow truck company. Or he could tow it back to Fayetteville at $3 a mile. Or, he would buy it from me since it was already gone. $800 he would give me. I told him to keep it for now, I will sell it to him, but let me take care of the insurance first and talk to UHAUL. He was really nice, and said he would keep it at his house and it would be safe and free. Remember, my grill is still attached to the back of this thing. There's no room for it in the UHAUL, so it stays with Betty for now.
So, now we have to drop off the tow dolly since we can only drive 45mph with it empty. Mike tells me to find a UHAUL so we can drop it off. I call them and they tell me that its gonna be extra since its not the dropoff location specified on the contract. I'm so mad at this point I tell her whatever, and we go to drop it off. The manager was awesom e and took the dolly for free, he was glad to have it, he needed some he said. He gave me great advice on how to deal with UHAUL since they killed Betty. Once we dropped off the trailor, we were on our way back to Fayetteville. In the meantime I am on the phonw with UHAUL telling them the situation. The manager in LA told me that he was really sorry and that he would do everything he could to fix this problem. Then I call the insurance company and put in a claim. Oh how I love dealing with those idiots.
So we are still on our way back to Fayetteville and I am ready to just offload the UHAUL and chill for a bit. However, Mike didn't want to help me offload the truck, he said it would take hours and he just wanted to go home to Raleigh. So, I had to switch vehicles and drive 2 hours to Raleigh to drop him off, and then 2 hours back. By the time I got home it was 6:30pm! I was exhausted. What a horrible day. I think that my friendship with Mike is over. I mean with friends like this, who in the hell needs enemies. Sometimes I wonder.
Thank God we made it home safe and nothing really bad happened. At least Betty is replacable, I am not!
It was great to see mom again and to be home in NC again. Even though my day was horrible, it was nice to relax with mom and just chill.
More on what happened with UHAUL and the VA to come.......
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