Z/Web

I slept a good ten hours, Joel twelve. When I told him he’d had twelve hours and it was time to get up, he groaned that he only needed another twelve to be caught up. It took most of Sunday to get the truck unloaded. I was nervous for a while because it seemed interminable, but eventually we got to the back wall of my mom’s stuff and it all went into my garage (easy). I also got a bit frustrated, because some of my stuff got damaged in transit. We lost another bookcase (Joel had piled too much heavy stuff on a fixed shelf), and a lot of my boxes were put in upside down and sideways, whatever would fit, and that destroyed the boxes and sometimes damaged the contents. I’m the kind of person that throws out a piece of paper that gets a corner bent, so this was depressing for me. I supposed I should have packed better (anticipated boxes being stored sideways), or done the truck packing myself (though it would have taken me longer), but in the end, it really isn’t such a bad thing, just frustrating since we were short on space and I did have to abandon a few things in California I could have brought instead. I’d already been second-guessing on many items: is it worth bringing crappy old furniture I’d paid $100 when I could buy a new piece for less money up here? We’re talking cheap fabricated stuff here, not hardwood. Just simple bookcases and shelving. If I’d had more time to think and do the math, I probably would have done that, but with so little time to plan, I just hauled everything north, which might not have been the smartest thing. So when I saw that stuff breaking in transit it was annoying, to say the least. But I’ll live.

At about 12:45 I happened to hook up the TV in my bedroom. I’d brought in a cart for it to rest on and placed it there, then hooked up cable just to confirm everything worked. Why not? I was tuning in a channels when suddenly there was a soccer game on. I stared at the screen in disbelief. It was the 2004 MLS Cup final! Oh my Lord I had completely forgotten! I couldn’t believe it. How could I have forgotten the biggest game of the year? Of course my team wasn’t in it, and I did have a lot going on this weekend, but I did remember telling Joel that we had to have Tivos hooked up noon Sunday so I wouldn’t miss the game. And then I’d completely forgotten. Of course now I had deadlines (Joel’s flight) so there was no time to watch the game now: I needed to record it somehow. Hey, how about ancient technology known as a VCR? I found one in a box, hooked it up, and found a video cassette. I rewound the tape and got it recording, then went out to help Joel unload the truck. The game was 30 minutes in and already there were like three goals scored. Insanity. I still couldn’t believe I’d missed it. At one time I’d seriously considered trying to fly to L.A. for the game. If the Quakes had been in it I’d probably have tried that. But it was a good thing that didn’t happen because there was no way we’d have gotten the truck unloaded Saturday.

When the truck was finally empty we showered and dressed and went out for lunch at Izzy’s pizza. It had sounded good but wasn’t what I (or my mom) expected. It’s an all-you-can-eat pizza bar, basically. For $7.95 you get unlimited salad bar and pizza, plus the dessert bar (soft ice cream and treats). It was decent, but not exactly Sunday dinner material. My mother wasn’t too impressed, but I liked the value. Weekdays you can get the same thing for lunch for just $5.95, a real steal if you’re starving. Afterward we took the U-Haul over to Wal-Mart where I bought a six-foot ladder (something needed in a place with 12-foot ceilings and light bulbs to change). I knew a ladder wouldn’t fit in my car so I wanted to take advantage of the truck. Then we filled it with gas, returned it to the U-Haul place (right nearby), and were off to the airport. This time traffic was non-existent and we made it in a little over an hour, not bad at all. We dropped Joel off and my mom and I returned home.