we fled columbus 11/30 around 10pm when we were finally packed and loaded. (a shout out to cq for saving our asses at the last minute, holy crap, we didn't see that snafu coming!) i guess you could say we didn't expect the packing & loading would take so long. it was 10 degrees and blistering cold when we left. there wasn't spare room in that van for anything else. we threw away a lot of stuff, and we had to push the van doors closed. exhausted, we drove for only 2 hours and spent the night in cozad, ne, where we had to unload all the plants (jasmines, yucca, cacti, hot pepper, herbs) out of the freezing cold van to the hotel room.
the following day, we woke up with full blown colds and drove all the way to van nuys and viewed the apartment around 1pm. i was sort of disappointed, and after unloading the van, we slept for what we had planned on being only 5 hours, but turned into 12. woke up around 5am with the cargo van pimped out in the back for sleeping. we were SO tired, driving and sleeping in shifts for the next 26 hours. arrived at omaha around noon 12/4. khamphy had a little party for us, and we made spring rolls and sang some kick-ass karaoke. then we slept like dead people that night.
during our third 26-hour trip back to california with a fever and stuffy nose, it finally dawned on me that perhaps this method of moving (though it was cheaper than all the other alternatives) was definitely NOT reasonable. it would've been cheaper to buy new furniture here than to do what we did. and MUCH less exhausting.
after 4 days of unpacking, buying cleaning supplies, and scrubbing, the apt is starting to come together, and it's kind of neat seeing our stuff in a new place. it wasn't exactly filthy. shawn said that if he were living here by himself, he wouldn't have scrubbed the place down at all. but my bare feet turned black after walking across the kitchen floor! blech!
on 12/7, we were out shopping for cleaning supplies when we witnessed an accident. i didn't hear it, but all the sudden saw a cloud of glass shards and a black mercedes in the median. shawn said, "park the car, we gotta see if they're alright!" before i even put the car in park, shawn was already out and running across the street helping out the woman who struck the mercedes. apparently, the mercedes had run the red light at that intersection. the hispanic woman was leaning back in her chair, crying and in shock. hate to admit it but i did notice how nicely she had drawn in her eyebrows.
shawn called 911 on her cell phone. the guy in mercedes stumbled out and sort of staggered as we began walking away. a crowd of people were there by this time and a few of them followed the driver of the mercedes until he got as far as half a block, then the witnesses told him he had to come back. when he did, he walked right to where i was standing and by this time, the fire dept & lapd arrived and when they identified him as the other driver, they told him to sit down in the patch of grass in front of me. he didn't want to be transported to the hospital. but when he saw that the other woman was being hauled away in a gurney, he started to wince and moan in pain and laid down in the grass rolling around as if in pain. so the emt's hauled him off in a gurney too and put him in the same vehicle as the woman he hit! can you imagine the conversation going on during the ride to the hospital!
later that night, we went to the home depot for bolts, and shawn saw a short japanese man trying to load a huge box containing a new toilet into this tiny little car. so he hurried over and helped the guy. dang, i think he may have used up all his good samaritan points for the year. when we left the home depot, 2 hispanic guys carved a piece of pineapple and cut up some oranges for us and we bought a 20 lb bag of oranges and 2 sweet pineapples, both for $12.
at ralph's grocery yesterday, avocadoes and pineapples are $1/each. the swiss chard is crisp and fresh. i actually heard a woman on her cell phone exclaim, "can you believe i'm here doing my own shopping!" it was a ralph's that was close to the hills, and i had my hair in a bun with sweatpants on. i told shawn that we spotted jg, that he was required to let me run away.
yesterday, i took the written driver's exam for a CA license and while i was in there taking the exam, the examiner kicked out 2 korean guys who were apparently cheating. the older korean kept saying "dao!" i think that might be "no". the both of them kept coming back wanting to finish their exams but the examiner kept saying, "get out of here, i ain't in any kind of mood for cheaters. can't stand for no cheaters." it was hilarious!
we still have loads of stuff to unpack but it's coming together slowly. we're going to ikea and then to the beach today. hopefully it wont be too cold. hah! i can't believe that i'm thinking 60 degrees is too cold!
the following day, we woke up with full blown colds and drove all the way to van nuys and viewed the apartment around 1pm. i was sort of disappointed, and after unloading the van, we slept for what we had planned on being only 5 hours, but turned into 12. woke up around 5am with the cargo van pimped out in the back for sleeping. we were SO tired, driving and sleeping in shifts for the next 26 hours. arrived at omaha around noon 12/4. khamphy had a little party for us, and we made spring rolls and sang some kick-ass karaoke. then we slept like dead people that night.
during our third 26-hour trip back to california with a fever and stuffy nose, it finally dawned on me that perhaps this method of moving (though it was cheaper than all the other alternatives) was definitely NOT reasonable. it would've been cheaper to buy new furniture here than to do what we did. and MUCH less exhausting.after 4 days of unpacking, buying cleaning supplies, and scrubbing, the apt is starting to come together, and it's kind of neat seeing our stuff in a new place. it wasn't exactly filthy. shawn said that if he were living here by himself, he wouldn't have scrubbed the place down at all. but my bare feet turned black after walking across the kitchen floor! blech!
on 12/7, we were out shopping for cleaning supplies when we witnessed an accident. i didn't hear it, but all the sudden saw a cloud of glass shards and a black mercedes in the median. shawn said, "park the car, we gotta see if they're alright!" before i even put the car in park, shawn was already out and running across the street helping out the woman who struck the mercedes. apparently, the mercedes had run the red light at that intersection. the hispanic woman was leaning back in her chair, crying and in shock. hate to admit it but i did notice how nicely she had drawn in her eyebrows.
shawn called 911 on her cell phone. the guy in mercedes stumbled out and sort of staggered as we began walking away. a crowd of people were there by this time and a few of them followed the driver of the mercedes until he got as far as half a block, then the witnesses told him he had to come back. when he did, he walked right to where i was standing and by this time, the fire dept & lapd arrived and when they identified him as the other driver, they told him to sit down in the patch of grass in front of me. he didn't want to be transported to the hospital. but when he saw that the other woman was being hauled away in a gurney, he started to wince and moan in pain and laid down in the grass rolling around as if in pain. so the emt's hauled him off in a gurney too and put him in the same vehicle as the woman he hit! can you imagine the conversation going on during the ride to the hospital!
later that night, we went to the home depot for bolts, and shawn saw a short japanese man trying to load a huge box containing a new toilet into this tiny little car. so he hurried over and helped the guy. dang, i think he may have used up all his good samaritan points for the year. when we left the home depot, 2 hispanic guys carved a piece of pineapple and cut up some oranges for us and we bought a 20 lb bag of oranges and 2 sweet pineapples, both for $12.
at ralph's grocery yesterday, avocadoes and pineapples are $1/each. the swiss chard is crisp and fresh. i actually heard a woman on her cell phone exclaim, "can you believe i'm here doing my own shopping!" it was a ralph's that was close to the hills, and i had my hair in a bun with sweatpants on. i told shawn that we spotted jg, that he was required to let me run away.
yesterday, i took the written driver's exam for a CA license and while i was in there taking the exam, the examiner kicked out 2 korean guys who were apparently cheating. the older korean kept saying "dao!" i think that might be "no". the both of them kept coming back wanting to finish their exams but the examiner kept saying, "get out of here, i ain't in any kind of mood for cheaters. can't stand for no cheaters." it was hilarious!
we still have loads of stuff to unpack but it's coming together slowly. we're going to ikea and then to the beach today. hopefully it wont be too cold. hah! i can't believe that i'm thinking 60 degrees is too cold!
2 comments:
Glad you made it to your new home. Are we going to see pictured of the inside.
love your knit stocking hat!
pix are great! sounds like you guys will see and run into interesting stuff happening there everyday. you'll probably find it "normal" one of these days....
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