Still In Recovery Mode

Last night was the first night of real rest I think I have had in three days. And I had to ruin it by getting up about an hour earlier than usual, to go to the dentist for a crown. An hour and a half later, here I am. Let's catch you up on how my weekend went...

Friday, around 1:30pm, I get a call from U-haul. According to my online reservation I put in place about 2 weeks prior, that the online reservation was not a guarantee of equipment being available. This guy confirmed it. I reserved a 14 foot truck in Tucson to be ready 8am. I was to drive the Wife's van down Friday night. Uhaul tells me they have absolutely NO TRUCKS OF ANY SIZE available, in Tucson, for Saturday morning. There was one 14 foot available, but not until 630pm, if the previous users turned it in on time, which was not an option for us. No trucks at all. So we started brainstorming, the uhaul guy and I. He said he might be able to find something in Phoenix (where I am) and I could drive it to Tucson, load it, then go to Safford and unload, then leave the truck there (the whole one way trip for the truck as I had planned). He threw in that they would upgrade me to a 20 foot truck, and they doubled the amount of miles they allotted as I was driving twice as far. I explained that the van I was to drive to Tucson was to be our ride back to Phoenix from Safford, so I needed to find out if the Daughter would be willing to drive the 3 hours one way from Safford-Phx, twice in one day, as she would need to return home. Got his number, would call him back in 15 minutes.

About 17 minutes later I call back, and of course the guy I was talking to has left for whatever reason. Explained the whole situation, the upgrades I was getting, and that I needed to know where in Phoenix to pick up the truck. She has to transfer me a different uhaul phone system as they don't have the Phoenix area (different than what the first guy told me) so I spent another 20 minutes on hold before someone answered. Another time explaining what was going on, but this guy was pretty good. he saw they had added the perks to my online rental contract. Spent another 15-20 minutes on the phone with him as he searched for any truck in Phoenix available. In the end, we did find a 20 foot truck, about 30 minutes drive from my house. Preacher Tom was kind enough to drive me there when they opened at 8am on Saturday, and I headed to Tucson.

So, already 2-3 hours behind the original time schedule I had in my head, we are loading the truck up. The Daughter and Fiance are coming out of a 1 bedroom on the second floor, so stairs. And I couldn't get the truck close, so we had to walk about 40 yards to/from the stairs. Any closer, and I closed off traffic to the complex in that area. Five of us. That was all there was for most of the time. They had one friend show up, and he helped for a bit, but then needed to leave. There was no way a 14 foot truck would have held the amount of stuff they had. *This is where Reverend Mother says something about how God made our plans be all messed up so he could make sure we had the bigger truck*

By near 8pm, everything was loaded, apartment was cleaned, and we were getting on the road for the two hour drive to Safford. They had got this apartment through word of mouth from his parents, and it was a converted building/warehouse south of the actual town. The drive, I was told, was marked by some reflectors on posts on either side of the drive, and if you saw the Church of Christ, we went too far. Luckily, having had much experience with directions like these, I found the place (they all were behind me, I was int he truck). Being about 10:30'ish, we unloaded just enough to get out their mattress. Then they gave us a ride into one of the local hotels I had picked out from online for a room. The oldest boy stayed with the Wife and I in town. Sunday we had it all unloaded in a matter of about three hours. Dropped the truck off at the location I needed to, and spent the night at the hotel again. Monday morning, the Fiance started his new job, and as soon as he was gone, the Daughter picked us up and drove back to Phoenix. Made it home about 9:30am, in time to change shirts, get in the truck and go to work for me. The Wife had the day off.

Needless to say, the hotel we stayed at wasn't 5-star, but their beds had much comfort to be desired. I had seen sheets of paper that were thicker than the pillows, and lain on boards that were softer than the bed. But it was decently priced, and in a close location the the apartment. What is important is that they got moved, even if I had to do all the hard stuff to make sure it got done (drive the truck, make the truck rental, deal with the arranging of the truck). I am sure we spent a pretty penny in costs that the Wife offered to help with in the move too.

I feel more tired now having to sort of relive that while typing. Ugh. Almost time for work.

PeacE