Z/Web

I was up at the crack of dawn, but it didn’t help. There was still way too much to do. There was tons of trash that needed to be put into bags, I still hadn’t packed up my computers or AV system, and I still had stuff to pack. My plan was to get most of that done in the morning, but unfortunately I ran out of time. I did some packing, then had to go to the hardware store for supplies like rope and dust masks and gloves. I went to the post office intending to close my PO box only to discover that the post office was closed! Apparently today was a holiday of some kind. That had not been on my calendar. I then had to stop at the printshop to help with a problem there, and that made me late for picking up Dave. We were slow getting to Oakland to pick up my cousin Joel and didn’t arrive until about 1:30 p.m. (I’d wanted to be there before one). We stopped in Pleasanton for a quick lunch that wasn’t quick and it was two-thirty before we were on I-5. Then we had a “discussion.” I was for staying on I-5 until we got to Los Banos and taking 152 over to 99, but Dave was looking at the map and seemed to think that would be much longer. He favored taking little 133 over to Modesto and catching 99 there. We finally followed his plan, though the mileage numbers he was quoting didn’t add up to me. We seemed to travel at a glacier pace though we actually made okay time. There was rain occasionally, but as I hoped, it cleared up as we neared Fresno. I’d wanted to be at the U-Haul place by three, but we didn’t arrive until twenty after five! The placed closed at 5:30, so we just made it. It was six o’clock or so as we made our way to the storage locker, and it was dark. I hadn’t counted on that. Daylight Savings Time strikes again! Of course the storage locker wasn’t lit, so we basically had to load in the dark. Brilliant. Or rather, not. I parked my car with the headlights pointing at the garage and we turned on the dome lights inside the truck. It probably was better, in a way, since we couldn’t see all the dust and dirt on the stored stuff. We sorted stuff a little, moving out some of the heavier stuff and finding boxes we could pack in the space above the cab (you don’t want heavy stuff there). We packed it in thoroughly and roped it in to help hold it, then brought up large furniture like the couch and loveseat to help hold it in. The next problem was that obviously there wasn’t enough stuff to fill the entire 26’ truck, so we were concerned about stuff sliding around in the half-empty truck. But of course we needed stuff packed efficiently because I had a ton of stuff at my place to come. That also was a problem because it was impossible to pack efficiently with only a third of the ingredients on hand. We finally just threw stuff on the truck, positioned and roped it not to move, and closed up shop. We reluctantly concluded that we’d simply have to unpack the bulk of the load the next day: there was no other way to do it.

Next we went to meet Dave’s dad for dinner, but it was eight-thirty and he’d already eaten and was ready for bed. So we all went over to Tahoe Joe’s and feasted on delicious steaks and shrimp appetizers, with a mountain of creamy cheesecake for dessert. After that it was a long drive home. We had to fill up the U-Haul with gas first, and I can’t remember what time we actually left Fresno, but it was probably approaching eleven. By the time we parked the truck at the printshop (they have a bigger parking lot than my driveway) and dropped Dave at home, it was two a.m. before we got to bed.