Friday, November 25, 2011
Monday, November 21, 2011
"Apparently not..."
So, the answer to the question "Are you ever going to stay put?" is, once again, "Apparently not."
Off to Camarillo this past Saturday so we could visit with KW's dad and get some papers signed for the house that was just sold. Plans were to spend time with him, then toodle around Camarillo/Ventura/Oxnard and look at apartment complexes in preparation for (possibly) moving down there in the not-too-distant future.
That's not what happened.
What happened was a growling/creaking/groaning noise that started to come from The Beast (KW's BMW) when he was turning the car, especially at low speed. We noticed this late Saturday when we first pulled into the real estate agent's parking lot and noticed that about an hour later, it had gotten noisier when we pulled into the parking lot of the ALF where his dad lives.
By the time we had gotten back to the hotel (a real pit, but that's another story), it was obvious that driving it around on Sunday would not be advised and driving it home on Monday was out of the question. So Sunday morning was spent trying to find where we could score some fluid for that model BMW. It seems that his year and model BMW (2001 740iL) is very, um, special. You can't just pop in to Pep Boys and pick up a can of Valvoline generic stuff. Oh no, this is going to require special stuff that's very expensive.
We learned all the above after a few phone calls Sunday morning to said Pep Boys, AutoZone, and O'Reilly, so the next phone call was to a car rental agency at the Oxnard airport (which is an airport in name only, as there are no flights in or out, but that's another story). Oh, and by now, it's raining the first and biggest rain storm in Southern California since the last first-and-biggest. The plan was to drive the rental to the local BMW dealer, which, we assumed would be open even if the service department wasn't. We would leave the car on the dealership's property, put the key in the 'night owl / early bird' box, and have them work on it.
I think we found one of the only car dealerships in California that's closed on Sundays. Not only closed, but all the driveways in were gated off. We couldn't even get the car to where the service department was. And even if we could, KW roamed around and noticed that they didn't have a drop box!
Instead, we managed to find a car repair shop that specialized in German cars (that had an after-hours drop box!), and left his baby in their parking lot with a note letting them know what was going on. The really really bad news about all this? Any other weekend, we could have waited around for them to fix the car and come home Monday evening or even Tuesday. This time, though, no such luck. We had to be back on Monday - HAD to be back - in time for KW to attend a client meeting in Sunnyvale at 2:00 PM.
So after all the phone calls today, the car will be ready by Wednesday, when we will drive the POS rental car (Nissan Versa - don't get one) back down to Camarillo, get the BMW, go back to the rental company and give them their car back, then decide if we want to drive back Wednesday night or stay over Wednesday night and drive home on Thursday - Thanksgiving Day.
Despite all this, we really are thankful, and we don't have any problems in our lives, just minor inconveniences, as evidenced by our next trip - we'll be off to Vegas on Monday. Happy Thanksgiving, everyone.
Off to Camarillo this past Saturday so we could visit with KW's dad and get some papers signed for the house that was just sold. Plans were to spend time with him, then toodle around Camarillo/Ventura/Oxnard and look at apartment complexes in preparation for (possibly) moving down there in the not-too-distant future.
That's not what happened.
What happened was a growling/creaking/groaning noise that started to come from The Beast (KW's BMW) when he was turning the car, especially at low speed. We noticed this late Saturday when we first pulled into the real estate agent's parking lot and noticed that about an hour later, it had gotten noisier when we pulled into the parking lot of the ALF where his dad lives.
By the time we had gotten back to the hotel (a real pit, but that's another story), it was obvious that driving it around on Sunday would not be advised and driving it home on Monday was out of the question. So Sunday morning was spent trying to find where we could score some fluid for that model BMW. It seems that his year and model BMW (2001 740iL) is very, um, special. You can't just pop in to Pep Boys and pick up a can of Valvoline generic stuff. Oh no, this is going to require special stuff that's very expensive.
We learned all the above after a few phone calls Sunday morning to said Pep Boys, AutoZone, and O'Reilly, so the next phone call was to a car rental agency at the Oxnard airport (which is an airport in name only, as there are no flights in or out, but that's another story). Oh, and by now, it's raining the first and biggest rain storm in Southern California since the last first-and-biggest. The plan was to drive the rental to the local BMW dealer, which, we assumed would be open even if the service department wasn't. We would leave the car on the dealership's property, put the key in the 'night owl / early bird' box, and have them work on it.
I think we found one of the only car dealerships in California that's closed on Sundays. Not only closed, but all the driveways in were gated off. We couldn't even get the car to where the service department was. And even if we could, KW roamed around and noticed that they didn't have a drop box!
Instead, we managed to find a car repair shop that specialized in German cars (that had an after-hours drop box!), and left his baby in their parking lot with a note letting them know what was going on. The really really bad news about all this? Any other weekend, we could have waited around for them to fix the car and come home Monday evening or even Tuesday. This time, though, no such luck. We had to be back on Monday - HAD to be back - in time for KW to attend a client meeting in Sunnyvale at 2:00 PM.
So after all the phone calls today, the car will be ready by Wednesday, when we will drive the POS rental car (Nissan Versa - don't get one) back down to Camarillo, get the BMW, go back to the rental company and give them their car back, then decide if we want to drive back Wednesday night or stay over Wednesday night and drive home on Thursday - Thanksgiving Day.
Despite all this, we really are thankful, and we don't have any problems in our lives, just minor inconveniences, as evidenced by our next trip - we'll be off to Vegas on Monday. Happy Thanksgiving, everyone.
Monday, November 14, 2011
Travel interrupted (for 12 days, anyway)
We got back from our annual Pismo Beach trip (which was lovely, by the way) on Sunday, November 6, and we're heading down to southern California to visit KW's dad on Saturday, November 19. Those 12 days between the 6th and the 19th represent the longest stretch we've been home since... well, it's been a while. This past weekend was the first weekend we've been home where we didn't have to travel or where we didn't have work to catch up on or work-ahead for.
It was glorious.
We slept in. I walked. We listened to the radio. I knit. I cooked. We watched one of the Oceans movie (can't remember which one; it doesn't really matter, does it?). We were supposed to go out to dinner with friends on Saturday, but one of them got sick and had to cancel. I hate to say it, but we didn't mind - it meant we could slug around all day and not worry about being 'on' for anyone. We know C. will recover and we'll have dinner with him and M. another weekend. For this weekend, it was okay they had to cancel.
This coming weekend will be a quick turnaround for us. Early drive on Saturday to meet the real estate agent (KW's parents' house sold!), visit with dad, poke around some neighborhoods down there, then a very early start home on Monday morning so KW can go to a client meeting at 2:00 in the afternoon. That means we'll have to be on the road by around 6:00, maybe 7:00 at the latest. After I nap, I'll be able to knit for the rest of the ride. But after I nap. Definitely after.
Is everyone sure they don't want a nice teak wine rack? Roll-top desk? Long dining room table? Well, I got rid of my knitting machine; I'm sure I'll get rid of these things before we move, too.
It was glorious.
We slept in. I walked. We listened to the radio. I knit. I cooked. We watched one of the Oceans movie (can't remember which one; it doesn't really matter, does it?). We were supposed to go out to dinner with friends on Saturday, but one of them got sick and had to cancel. I hate to say it, but we didn't mind - it meant we could slug around all day and not worry about being 'on' for anyone. We know C. will recover and we'll have dinner with him and M. another weekend. For this weekend, it was okay they had to cancel.
This coming weekend will be a quick turnaround for us. Early drive on Saturday to meet the real estate agent (KW's parents' house sold!), visit with dad, poke around some neighborhoods down there, then a very early start home on Monday morning so KW can go to a client meeting at 2:00 in the afternoon. That means we'll have to be on the road by around 6:00, maybe 7:00 at the latest. After I nap, I'll be able to knit for the rest of the ride. But after I nap. Definitely after.
Is everyone sure they don't want a nice teak wine rack? Roll-top desk? Long dining room table? Well, I got rid of my knitting machine; I'm sure I'll get rid of these things before we move, too.
Sunday, October 30, 2011
Not This Year
No, not going to do NaNoWriMo this year. Did it for 6 years (2005-2010) but am just not into it this year. In previous years, when my mouth was saying "no" in October, my brain would be saying "yes" by having Betha (my main character) pop into my head and tell me what she would like to be doing. Not this year; she's been oh-so-silent. It's just another sign that I am totally done with this year - when Betha doesn't speak to me, it's time to move along. Maybe next year.
Thursday, October 20, 2011
Done, done, done
Dad's girlfriend, Ann, went to Biloxi on a gambling junket this past week, a bus trip she took with her friend, June. Her souvenir of Biloxi? A pacemaker. Passed out in a casino, needed a pacemaker, had one put in. She's okay; coming home tomorrow (flying) instead of yesterday (15-hour bus ride).
I've said it before, I'll say it again - stick a fork in this year, it's done.
Tuesday, October 18, 2011
She's here! ...aaaaand she's gone...
At the beginning of the year, we had decided that we would not do as much travel as we did last year. HA!
January - Meg went to Vegas with Kei; we both took a day trip to Chico to pick up some files from Kelly's divorce.
February - Kelly off to Ottawa (work); Meg to Santa Clara for a "sleep-over" Stitches West; an Oxnard weekend trip.
March - Spring training in Arizona; DRJ conference in Orlando (work).
April - Kelly to Memphis (work); Kelly back to Ottawa (work).
May - Kelly back to Ottawa again (work).
June - Oxnard weekend trip.
July - Sacramento for the Model Railroader's Convention; planned trip to Vegas postponed so I could fly to Florida after dad's 3rd or 4th hospitalization; train trip to Portland for Sock Summit.
August - We actually stayed home the whole month!
September - Oxnard weekend trip; DRJ conference in San Diego; back to Oxnard following Kelly's mom's death; overnight in Novato (wine train weekend); Healdsburg weekend trip.
October - Back to Oxnard to help Kelly's dad get situated in an assisted living facility and get their house ready for sale; I'll be going back to Florida to spend a week there after my dad's other 2 or 3 hospitalizations.
And we're not even done yet; we still have our Pismo weekend and the postponed trip to Vegas, both coming up in November.
I wonder how much travel we would have done if we *hadn't* decided not to do it too much? I'm not even going to try to say anything about 2012, especially since we already have a cruise on the books for February and a weekend in Healdsburg for a Wine Road event...
January - Meg went to Vegas with Kei; we both took a day trip to Chico to pick up some files from Kelly's divorce.
February - Kelly off to Ottawa (work); Meg to Santa Clara for a "sleep-over" Stitches West; an Oxnard weekend trip.
March - Spring training in Arizona; DRJ conference in Orlando (work).
April - Kelly to Memphis (work); Kelly back to Ottawa (work).
May - Kelly back to Ottawa again (work).
June - Oxnard weekend trip.
July - Sacramento for the Model Railroader's Convention; planned trip to Vegas postponed so I could fly to Florida after dad's 3rd or 4th hospitalization; train trip to Portland for Sock Summit.
August - We actually stayed home the whole month!
September - Oxnard weekend trip; DRJ conference in San Diego; back to Oxnard following Kelly's mom's death; overnight in Novato (wine train weekend); Healdsburg weekend trip.
October - Back to Oxnard to help Kelly's dad get situated in an assisted living facility and get their house ready for sale; I'll be going back to Florida to spend a week there after my dad's other 2 or 3 hospitalizations.
And we're not even done yet; we still have our Pismo weekend and the postponed trip to Vegas, both coming up in November.
I wonder how much travel we would have done if we *hadn't* decided not to do it too much? I'm not even going to try to say anything about 2012, especially since we already have a cruise on the books for February and a weekend in Healdsburg for a Wine Road event...
Saturday, October 8, 2011
Enough is Enough
We have decided that we're done with 2011 and are very close to declaring it over. We'll have a "goodbye and good riddance" party to kick its sorry ass out the door.
Dad's back in the hospital again. More ventricular stuff going on, and oh by the way, he probably has pneumonia as well. He's being pumped full of antibiotics since early this morning, and as of late this afternoon, they're giving him a new IV medication to control the ventricle. (I don't know the exact term for what's happening.)
Too many bad things this year, so we're done with it. I'm going to start writing '2012' on my checks.
Dad's back in the hospital again. More ventricular stuff going on, and oh by the way, he probably has pneumonia as well. He's being pumped full of antibiotics since early this morning, and as of late this afternoon, they're giving him a new IV medication to control the ventricle. (I don't know the exact term for what's happening.)
Too many bad things this year, so we're done with it. I'm going to start writing '2012' on my checks.
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