And so it starts...

Our remodel is actually underway!
Weeks of sorting. Weeks of cleaning. Weeks of selecting. Weeks of packing. Weeks of anticipation.
The pod was due today at 7:00 so I set the alarm clock for 6:30. It got here at about 7:20. The driver was very conscientious. He pointed out that there was a chance of damaging our big tree if we put it where I wanted it. So we moved it over a few feet. We got it on the ground, and I was worried the door wouldn't open all the way because of the curb. So he opened the door.....almost. One of the hinges seemed to be bound up. Several minutes of working it, back and forth, and it will neither open nor close! So we tried the other door. Nope. It is bound up, too. We can see no obvious cause, but the box must have been torqued or something. Two phone calls later, and we are getting a new one delivered.
However, ( I sense the "adventure" beginning) it is by now almost 8:00 and the moving crew is due at 8:00. It will take about an hour and a half to exchange the pod. But that is not a problem, the movers only cost $104 per hour. (DEEP SIGH)
We decide that the movers can begin by disassembling the Off The Wall Bed, and otherwise staging the furniture to be moved. They wrap everything in large rolls of Saran Wrap. Take stuff apart and move things to the driveway. Just when that is done, the new pod arrives. This one has (working) doors at both ends to facilitate the loading. And the company, Mobile Mini, has decided to comp us with really good locks for both doors. So, in spite of an inauspicious start, the move is complete, on time. The house is empty for the first time in 23 years.years.ears.rs.
That last bit is the echo.cho.co.
So we head off to do some errands, and see a movie. Burlesque, starring Cher and Christina Aguilera is a very entertaining show. A little bit of story and lots of burlesque singing and dancing. And we qualify for senior discount pricing.....without even asking. Do we look old?
Now we are in the bedroom, where we had the TV moved, and wishing we had kept some comfortable chairs.
Tomorrow, the ceiling crew starts removing the old popcorn, and the paint crew starts in the laundry and bathroom, where the ceiling doesn't need to be removed.
More coming soon.

Keepin' Up

It is Saturday......but who cares? The days are all the same. Sunshine, 78, same as yesterday, same as tomorrow....but wait. Ten percent chance of rain (whatever that is) tomorrow.
We went to Glendale for the SYTYCD show. That's what the T-shirts say - SYTYCD.
Those kids don't just think; they really can dance. It was the last show on the tour, and two of the participants are from Phoenix, so that made it special. Lots of tearful bows and such.
Our current "adventure" concerns the jeep. The locking differential doesn't lock. So I took it to the dealer. Sat around half the day. The bad news first. The required part is in L.A. It is a $95 solenoid switch in the differential. Which requires 5.4 hours of repair time. Then the bad, bad news. Electrical parts aren't covered by the "lifetime powertrain limited warranty." Of course they aren't. You know whose life this is, right?
So they gave me a ride home because the part won't be in until tomorrow. Tomorrow comes, I sit around waiting for them to call me to come get my repaired vehicle. I could say that I wasted two days on this now, but, really, what would I have been doing otherwise? Then midafternoon the phone rings. This time, good news and bad news. Uh-huh
The bad news, the accuator is also damaged, so now the price of repairs more than doubles. The good news? The accuator is a "mechanical" part. It is covered by warranty. And since the labor to replace it is the same as for the switch, all I have to pay for is the switch. Yay!
They can have it by next week. Tuesday at the latest. Oh man, I was planning to drive the trail to the bottom of the Grand Canyon this weekend. I was going to disguise the jeep as a mule.
Oh, and the dealership was having a promo. Bring in the mailer and get a free turkey. The free turkey turned out to be a $10 prepaid Visa card. I only had to see a salesman to get it. Of course the salesman had to show me how much they have improved the 2011 Wranglers, just in case I am ready to trade in. No. The changes are superficial and cosmetic. I will keep my lifetime warranty, thank you very much just the same.

Missing couple found safe after weekend search

Apparently we failed to inform our NY family of our weekend plans. When we didn't answer our phone, they began a nationwide search. That is, they called Casey in Tempe. Casey called us last night just to be sure we were okay.
We spent the weekend in Cottonwood. It was Cottonwood's 50th birthday. Margie was, naturally, involved in several events related to the celebration. So we came to help take care of Mom while Margie and Dave partied. I got to attend an appearance by Marshall Trimble, who is a humorist/songster and Official Arizona State Historian. He sang songs and told stories about Arizona and Cottonwood history. Margie gave a short introductory talk sprinkled with tidbits of our youth and happenings in Cottonwood. On Saturday, Mom, Peggie and I ate BBQ roasted in a pit at the old Clemenceau school. This is the school we all attended between 1959 and 1965. I have to credit the designer and builder of the school. The building is only half as big as it was fifty years ago, yet still contains the same number of rooms and total square footage on the inside. I think there is magic involved. Margie mentioned the names of several of our school friends she saw at the events. I probably wouldn't have recognized them, since they are all old now.
We stopped in Chandler on our way home, to see the art quilt exhibit at the Center for the Arts. These are not "traditional" quilts. They are hangable art.
Tomorrow, we will be in Glendale for an appearance by last year's cast of So You Think You Can Dance. We bought our seats on-line while in Skagway and we are looking forward to a great show. Also, the Leonid meteor shower is tomorrow night, and we will be up and awake late enough to sit in the hot tub and watch it. It won't be good until the moon sets around midnight.
As an educator, I must pass on lessons from the weekend:
--Let your family know where you are going to be, the FBI has better things to do
--You can go home again, but home will be smaller and older than you remember
--BBQ is goo-ood eatin'
--Family is important, take care of them
--Quilts aren't just for keeping you warm anymore
--Keep up your insurance payments, some A****** might fling a rock at your windshield on
the way home.

Retired Educators Club: Amphitheater Chapter

The Amphitheater Chapter of the Retired Educators Club meets the first Friday of each month at AJ's Fine Foods at Sunrise and Campbell. Meetings are, of course, optional. Meetings begin when a second person shows up, and end when the last two leave. We chose to attend this morning. We have missed meetings all summer, so we had to catch up. What we have in common, obviously, is our past association with Amphitheater Public Schools. But since all members are retired, we don't talk about school!! Instead, we discuss travel, art, family, home decorating, hobbies, etc. Today eight members were in attendance. The meeting lasted about two and a half hours before people started drifting away for other appointments and errands. Peggie and I went to an art exhibition at JCC, a craft fair at Palomino Plaza, lunch at Chad's Steakhouse, and another exhibit of fiber arts downtown, then stopped at Costco, Safeway, and the library on our way home. Whew! That was a full day.
We are making considerable headway on our task of packing things away in anticipation of our redecorating. We have found an amazing supply of trash on shelves, in cabinets, and lurking in drawers. We will have a sidewalk sale sometime, and perhaps put some things on Craig's List. And then we will keep waaay toooo much stuff, anyway.
We also found time for other pursuits. On Wednesday, Peggie went to quilt meetings and I went jeeping. Good times.