Drive "Home" Day Four

This morning Dad and I got up and around nice and early and headed out over the Hoover Dam. The water level is REALLY low...kinda scary where all the water has gone to, but I'm not going to go down that path of save the environment....

Really didn't have a whole lot of excitement to discuss today. We left Hoover Dam and headed out to Flagstaff and then on to Albuquerque.

Diane commented yesterday that the drive to Albuquerque is really long.... I'd have to agree, it felt like we just kept driving and driving. There was a lot of beautiful scenery. Here in Albuquerque we checked in to our hotel and the weirdest coincidence is that last night we stayed at a Holiday Inn Express in room 313. This evening we check into a Holiday Inn Express...guess which room they give us....yep... 313... A little eerie, huh? Sadly, as I sit here and type this I'm realizing that there is a heavy walker in the room above us and since we are next to the workout room people in there have decided to turn the television ALL THE WAY UP and yeah, we can hear it in this room as well....ah well, we are both tired enough that we'll fall asleep soon and just block it all out... I hope.

Tomorrow we will be making the final push on into Mom and Dad's in Cresson, TX.

Drive "Home" Day Three

This morning I awoke and headed back into Yosemite Park and headed over the Tioga Pass... It was beautiful. I've decided that I like the High Sierra Mountains better than the the valley floor and Lower Sierra. For some reason it struck me as more stark and prettier. I stopped to put my feet in Tenaya Lake. There was a couple there pulling food out of their car in preparation for a picnic. I, of course, had to make a comment to the extent of "Thanks, but y'all didn't have to make breakfast for me...." They got a chuckle; I got cold toes as the lake was really cold, but lovely!!

I then got through the mountains and headed into Nevada.

I went to and down the Extraterrestrial Highway, and my Tom Tom even knew to call it "99 miles down the Extraterrestrial Highway" is what Daniel the computer voice told me what to do. Sadly, I saw no Extraterrestrials... I did see a couple of coyotes and a lot of free range cattle. The whole time I was traveling the highway, I was completely out of cell phone range, so I missed my Dad's call(s) when he landed at the airport in Vegas.

A couple of hours later, I came out of cell phone lock down and started my decent into Vegas. I had programed Tom Tom to find the airport and called my dad to let him know that I was about 45 minutes away and I'd be picking him up soon. Well, that's what I thought. It turns out that I had programmed Tom Tom to go to the wrong airport. (Who knew that there were more than one in Vegas.) I should have realized that I was not heading to the correct place as there were no planes in the sky heading in the same direction that I was heading and the fact that I hadn't seen any signs....Well, I show up at the VTG and that is when it dawns that I'm in the wrong place...I reprogram Tom, call Dad to tell him I'm still on my way, and head out...Only to get caught in a less than nice neighborhood in a construction zone.... An hour later, I show up at the correct airport and Dad jumps in the car and we head off to the Holiday Inn Express (how many of y'all come to Vegas and stay at the HIE?).

We check in and then walk over to a casino which is just on the other side of the parking lot and grad some dinner....no there was no gambling, neither Dad nor I are big on that.

The thing that I noticed was the big difference in the sensory overload that I got at this small casino in comparison to the past couple of nights when I was in Yosemite and enjoying the sounds of silence and the stars within touching distance.

Tomorrow we get up and head out to Albuquerque.

Day Two - Yosemite Tour

Let me start off by saying that I woke up at around 2:00 this morning to go potty and detoured over to the window. I opened the curtains and saw a sky FULL of stars...I felt like I could just reach out and scoop a whole bunch up.... so beautiful!! Being out here where you don't have any light pollution really enhances the night sky!!

Okay on to the tour.... I got myself around decided to just grab some fruit and a muffin out of the snack shop and shovel those in while waiting for the bus to arrive. I somehow ended up being the last person to get on the bus (I decided to make a pit stop before leaving and didn't hear them calling "all aboard"). I got there and ended up having the front seat right behind the driver, which was perfectly fine for me. I was the only person traveling alone; everybody else were all coupled up which got me a little sad to start with because it was just one more thing that I was doing by myself without somebody there to share in the memories with....but I got over that as I was also able to do my own thing. In fact at one of the stops I was chatting with the tour guide and she asked if I was married and I said "no" and she said "I'm always impressed with women who have the courage and are brave enough to travel by themselves." I have to say to myself, "I'm pretty proud of me too."

Anyway, on to the tour. We saw lots and lots of trees and rocks and mountains. We went to the top of Glacier Point and had our lunches...the food was nothing more than a turkey sandwich and chips, but the view was SPECTACULAR!!! We went to the valley floor and visited The Ahwahnee, nice hotel but I was expecting something along the lines of the Overlook Hotel from The Shining...not so much. It was nice, though. The waterfalls, except for Bridalveil Fall, were all dried up due to the late season and global warming. We saw three different teams of climbers climbing the face of El Capitan (talk about crazy). I took probably 150 pictures, which someday I'll get some of them posted so y'all can see.

Oh, and I have determined that the toilets in our national parks leave a lot to be desired.

I wish that I had come to visit Yosemite earlier and been able to spend more time here, doing some hiking and exploring (well, except I'm not really a hiking kind of person), but this is just one more place that I'll have to come back to.

Tomorrow morning I'm getting up at the crack of dawn and heading back out through the park up and over Tioga Pass and into Nevada and along the Extraterrestrial Highway into Vegas to meet my Dad....

Hopefully, I won't get abducted....

Drive "Home" - Day One

Yesterday, I had a great crew of movers show up and do a fantastic job of packing up all of my worldly possessions. I used the Delancy Street Movers and would highly recommend them to anybody moving in the Bay Area...I don't know if they have locations in other cities. The Delancy Street Foundation helps pick people up when they have hit bottom (addicts, alcoholics, ex-cons, etc.). The guys show up and while the team lead is covered in tattoos, from the parts that I can see, and the others have prison tattoos and the like, they were all perfect gentlemen...very respectful of me and my stuff. I have complete faith that my belongings are going to show up in Texas with no issues...aside from the crappy job I did of packing my own things. As I told my sister when she called, "unpacking is going to be very interesting because I have probably 10 boxes that just have 'random' as their label, which means I have something from the bedroom, some books, and maybe a pot or pan in the box.

After the movers finished with me, I headed back to the apartment and "cleaned" until I was just too worn out and decided to just throw everything that was left away and be done with it. I drove down to my boss's house, where I was spending the night, we had dinner and then headed off to bed.

This morning, I slept in, as much as I can. Once I got up and got around, I rearranged my car, then headed out. I love my Tom-Tom that I purchased solely for this trip as it is wonderful in directing me where I need to go and I don't have to drive off the road trying to read my Google Map directions.

I arrived at Tenaya Lodge and thus far am very happy with my stay. I would love to come back to this place in the winter and actually take part in some of the winter activities that they offer like ice skating and snow shoeing. The people here are very nice and helpful. When I first pulled up the bellhop was exceedingly helpful and friendly without, I think/hope, expecting anything from me. I got up to my room and had to take care of some work stuff, but then went for a walk around the hotel and sat outside reading... In fact, I finished my book, Pride and Prejudice and Zombies... Very cute book and since I've never read the original Pride and Prejudice I wasn't offended by having zombies and martial arts thrown into the story line.

5:30 came around and I headed off to one of the 3 restaurants that they have on site. I sat out on the patio and had a scrumptious grilled chicken picata with garlic mashed potatoes, asparagus, and squash. I topped the meal off with a Tiramisu.... yummy, yummy, yummy. I was joined at one point by a little bird that just sat on the table directly across from me and watched me eat... it was a little strange as I munched away on chicken....

Now, I am back up in my room reflecting on the past couple of days and watching Dancing with the Stars....

Easily Distracted

As I'm sure you are ALL aware by now, I'm moving back to Texas. In fact, the movers are showing up on Monday at 9:00 AM..... I'm not packed yet..... I still have a LOT to do..... I'm distracted.....

First thing this morning I got up and went to my storage unit and pulled the last of things out of there that I needed to pack a little better as well as get my luggage, since I'm packing my clothes and taking them with me so that I'll have them with me.... the movers have a 30 day window when they will show up in Texas. I came home and got the stuff out of my car and threw some things in the trash. Then I took a break and did a little Facebooking...took care of my farm and did a couple of Vampire missions.... I know sad, sad.

Next, I started packing my luggage.... and yes, I've managed to get all of my clothes into 3 huge over stuffed suitcases (well, except for my undies and my outerwear).

I took a break and talked to my mom for a bit. Managed to actually zip up the 3 stuffed suitcases and now have sores on my fingers.... oh well.

Next I decided to figure out which shoes needed to come with me and which could go with the movers (see above comment about 30 day wind0w). Of course, instead of just putting them into a box for shipping, I had to try on every pair and sort out which ones I didn't even need to bring with me, which will be left for Goodwill. Then I decided that I needed a break and turned on the television.... Let's see.....

What's on....

"Hoarders"....This show makes me realize that I'm not that terrible, really, I'm not.... yet...

I'm Gonna Have to Move....

I just came across an article that shows the top and bottom cities to be living in for certain jobs based on salary and cost of living, and I think I've made a big mistake....

I looks like Dallas is in the top of the majority of the categories and San Francisco is in the bottom of practically everything.

Well, Mom and Dad, looks like I may be heading home in the near future, even though I did just get settled into my great new place in the city....

What A Week....

I know that it is only Wednesday, but I have a very interesting week already under my belt.

Sunday, as mentioned in an earlier post, I spent at IKEA determining what sort of storage unit to build in the new HOD (House of Dodds). What I didn't mention was that I started the morning off walking to a wonderful bakery called Tartine's with Sam, her sister Cindy, and her nephew Dylan. I have to say that is one plus mark for living in the city because you can walk places and get unique experiences. I also went and got my hair all whacked off and the front part is blond again, which the Queen was very excited about because now I am her true ABBA again (Aries, Blond, Blogging, Aggie). Well, when I stopped at home between the walk to Tartine's to drop off my pastries and jumping in the car to drive to the hair whacking place, I met "John" on the elevator. Turns out John lives in 413 to my 417 in the building. We made chit chat on the ride up and said "see you around" as we stopped at our respective doors.

Monday, I went through a series of very draining meetings at work and then raced home so that I could be home at 1:00 to meet PG&E to turn on my gas stove sometime between 1 and 5. I walk down the hall of my building at 1:05, mind you I saw NO PG&E truck in the street and NO PG&E person in the hall or elevator, I come to my door and there is a note there that says "Sorry we missed you. We were here at 1:05. You will need to call and reschedule." I was FURIOUS!!! I walk in the door, grab the phone, and call the number only to be dumped into call system hell. After 10 minutes of "press 1; press 3; etc." I am in tears. Not just watery eyes, but full blown sobbing, snot running, can't speak tears. I'm screaming at the computer call system that I want to speak to a person and finally, miraculously I am connected to one.

I actually feel very sorry for the guy on the phone who had to deal with me. I started out explaining that I was here at the apartment on time, can I help it if the service guy was probably early and decided to go to lunch? I then screamed at him that I can't take ANOTHER half day off from work to wait for the gas man. I said I'd been living in this place for 2 weeks now and couldn't cook and had even called my daddy back in Texas, even though I knew he couldn't do anything to help me out. I explained the situation, I tried to light the burner, I get the click, click, click but no flame; my building Super came and looked at it and said no gas is getting to it so I needed to call PG&E and have them come light the pilot, even though it really needed to be turned on at the main. The entire time and heaving and sobbing and apologizing for crying. Eventually the guy on the phone said, "let me speak to my supervisor" and the next thing I know, he is back with me saying "somebody will be back out today between now and 10:30 PM.

This entire time I've also been texting Sam and letting her know about my frustration. She calls almost as soon as I'm off the phone and I sob a little more, then let her know that they will be there before 10:30. She comments that is unacceptable as we have dinner plans with our French friends at 7:30. She tells me I should call them back and tell them that I smell gas and they need to send somebody out immediately. Of course, she also says that she knows it isn't my nature to do that. And, I'm like, well "I can't lie, besides, I've already told them that the gas is turned off at the main, it would be a little fishy for me to call them now and say I smell gas." And she agreed. We hung up and a little bit later her wonderful Mum calls me to see if there is anything I need and to tell me that I need to let go of my innocent, Texas manners and get city tough. She also asked if I would like for her to call and give PG&E a few words for me.

At 2:30, my phone rings and it is PG&E downstairs. He comes in, turns on the gas, comes up to the apartment to see that it is working, and explains how to use the stove. I was so grateful that I actually asked him if I could give him a hug. He declined the hug siting some Sexual Harassment BS, but I told him that I was mentally hugging him. I'm sure he went back to his PG&E buddies to let them know that there is a crazy woman in 417!!

After the gas fiasco, I felt great and ready to go to dinner with Sam and the French crowd, which will actually be another blog....

Tuesday, I woke up with a migraine and ended up staying home from work, so there really isn't anything exciting to comment on there.

This morning, Wednesday, I get up, still having residual migraine issues, but need to face the day at least for a little while. I get dressed and open my front door. There leaning up against the door is a bottle of wine and a note welcoming me to the neighborhood. And it is signed "John from 413".

Could I actually have a budding friendship here? I guess there will be more to come on this!!

The "New" Place

So, as you know, I have moved into the city of San Francisco. I moved from a nice sized two bedroom, two bath apartment to a MUCH smaller one bedroom, one bathroom Railroad apartment (see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Railroad_apartment). I have been in the apartment now for 3 weekends and I am slowly getting settled in. It has been a challenge because I've been trying to make my large furniture from my previous apartments fit nicely into this new place. Well, it isn't working.

Yesterday, I went to IKEA. This was my second trip to IKEA in two weeks and my first EVER on a weekend. I will never go back to IKEA on a weekend. However, I did make my way through the maze and pick up a number papers on the different types of shelving systems and storage systems that are offered. I also picked up a little bedside table (because once I rearranged furniture, my old table no longer fit) and some of their Danish cookies, which I have developed quite the hankering for. Yes, my plan was to grab an IKEA associate and explain what I wanted to do, have them design it all out for me, then purchase the stuff and take it home and be done with it. Well, that didn't work because even though I saw a number of employees, they were all busy with other people and in their map they even state that you need to make an appointment (although I really doubt that all the other people there grabbing at the associates had appointments) so I just went home and figured I could do this on my own with some graph paper.

Jump to me at home in my one chair that I currently have in my living/ dining/ kitchen/ office/ media/ studio room with brochures on 8 - 10 different shelving units, graph paper, a pencil and a glass of wine. First this I had to do was determine the amount of space that I had to work with and then convert that onto the graph paper. I have 8' to work with and that is 96". My graph paper had something like 72 squares on it, so I couldn't do a one for one inch to square transfer. So after a lot of counting and determining multiples and equivalents, I finally determined the "space" that I had to work with. Then came the challenge of taking the measurements on the furniture and doing the same thing so that I could have as close as possible an accurate scale of furniture to wall space to graph paper, etc.

Jump to me finally having completed the scaling process, head pounding from all the math and choking on eraser dust because I had to rework things a couple of different times. I now have a rudimentary drawing of my unit in which I will keep my television, and its accoutrements, my books, My Cd's, some kitchen whatnots, probably some quilting paraphernalia, and whatever tchotchkes I deem appropriate. So, next step: purchasing said unit and then begging, borrowing, and stealing from my friendships to gain some assistance in getting it all home and built...

And of course, I have to have ALL of this done by the end of this month so that it will all be settled and organized and looking lovely for when the Queen and her dear husband come out to stay with me!!

EEK, wish me luck!