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big but not clever 2006-06-22 Highlights of our trip, both good and bad: -- We didn't get out of our house until 3:00 on the 10th, but fortunately we only had to drive to Knoxville, TN. About two hours into the trip, Esther peed, and when we stopped at a rest area we hauled her out of her box to clean her and it up. As I was holding her pee-soaked body against my admittedly already grubby shirt, she lashed me across the face with her pee-soaked tail. Fade to black. -- The next morning, fearing a repeat of the peeing incident, Francisco asked the desk clerk at our motel, "Do you know where I could buy a whole pile of cheap towels?" The clerk, struck dumb by the request, was no help, and was clearly wondering what the hell he had done in our room that would necessitate the purchase of a whole bunch of cheap towels. Awesome. We ended up at an auto store and bought a pack of 18 shop towels. Esther did not pee in her box again and Lucy didn't either. -- On the second day, driving behind the moving van/trailer hauling our pickup truck, I saw it veer sharply and swervingly onto the shoulder. I was sure they were crashing, and since I was watching them, I saw the huge chunk of 18 wheeler tire too late to avoid it and hit it square on. It made a huge ruckus under the car but there was no apparent damage. More on this later. -- We stayed in Sioux Falls, SD on the third night, and we expected very little of it, which is why, when we saw our huge and fantastic room we were thrilled. Then we were thrilled all over again, to the third power, when we went out looking for a place to have dinner, and discovered an Ethiopian restaurant. An Ethiopian restaurant that was practically empty but had great food and genuine Ethiopian beer. AND THE WORLD CUP PLAYING ON TELEVISION. I almost cried with joy. -- At one point during our trip, the car got about 42 miles to the gallon of gas; I drove almost 600 miles on one tank. The popular theory is this happened because I was driving at the exact right spot behind the truck to take advantage of its draft. -- We stayed in Gillette, WY on our fourth night, and what I would like to tell you about that place is it's a shithole and you should never stay there if you can at all help it. We stayed in a crappy Super 8 motel with no real amenities and in a smoking room because it was all they had left, and it cost us $100. The Days Inn, across the street, was sold out, but had it been available it would have been $200. I am still bitter at Gillette for being located advantageously enough that they can gouge people who need to stay there. Screw you, Gillette! I hope you burn to the ground and I am not even kidding a little bit when I say that. -- The cats were very good for the first four days of the trip. They did some complaining, of course, but for most of those four days they were quiet and slept. On the fifth day they'd had enough and started making their displeasure known--I think it was partially because we had to cross a bunch of mountains from there on, and it messed with their little ears. Toward the end of the 5th day they were both howling from the back seat for the last couple hours of the drive, so that by the time we arrived in Missoula, MT (where we stayed) I was almost out of my mind. After the motel clerk told us AAA had made a mistake with our reservation and the motel didn't actually accept cats anymore, I started weeping, right there in the lobby. Not my finest moment, I know, but he did end up relenting and letting us stay anyway, so I guess my unfortunate behavior paid off. -- On the sixth day, we went through mountain after mountain and the cats began tag-team yowling--trading off for maximum efficiency and crazy-making. I did not drive off a cliff but I was overjoyed to finally arrive at our new place in Ellensburg. It's kind of a strange little house but is overall very cute and will be comfortable once we finally get completely settled in. Things I Like About the House: -- Pergo floors in the kitchen and dining room/family room area -- Big closets -- Garage; not used for parking but rather for storage -- There are dozens of rose bushes in the yard, and TWO PEONIES! We'll have flowers for cutting all summer long. -- The yard has a stream running through it We were unaware of this when we were arranging to rent the house, but there it is. It's a natural stream that I guess the city diverted through town and it's mostly flowing underground except through our yard. I'll take and post pictures of this soon. -- It has a closet off the tv room with lots of storage, but most importantly with a hideous rug we aren't worried about the cats possibly ruining, so we've put their poo box in there and are calling the closet The Poo Room. I'm happy we don't have to share a bathroom with their cat box. I also discovered today that The Poo Room is utterly dark when the door is shut, even during the daytime, and this has already come in handy for rewinding film from the Smena. Maybe I could someday arrange things in there to accommodate an actual darkroom. Maybe. -- The back door is a dutch door. I approve. Things We Can Walk to From Where We Live: -- Everything. Which is to say the library, post office, numerous restaurants, a couple of grocery stores, several hair salons (I got my hair cut two days ago, and though it was not quite as thorough a cut as I'm used to, it was also only $15, which is good because we are officially poor now), a handful of bars, the Saturday Farmers' Market, and basically just everything we need. This is Good Because: -- Last Saturday, when we were going to Yakima to drop off the rental truck/trailer, the car started to overheat and we've been without it since then. We towed it back to our house and got the pickup truck instead, and Francisco took the car to a shop yesterday. Apparently there's a hole in the radiator and HELLO repercussions of the truck tire chunk! I am stunned at how good the Universe was to us, to allow us to make it all the way out here without overheating on the way. Stunned, I tell you. -- We like to walk and need to do more of it. See Also: Too fat. Miscellany: -- The people who were scheduled to come over last Friday and unload our moving truck told us, on Thursday night, that they weren't coming. Apparently they had a regular client wanting their help for a bigger (and therefore better paying) job that day, so we had to unload the truck ourselves; a long and painful process. Fuck those guys right in the EYE. -- I love this town, but -- I'm afraid I won't be able to get a good-paying job, and -- I had a minor panic attack last night about having utterly ruined our lives and thrown us into poverty and we'll never have any friends and why did we leave North Carolina in the first place oh my god I cannot breathe. Thank dog for Francisco, who talked me off my panic ledge and back into sanity. On Saturday I'm going to apply to be a Receptionist for a Busy Chiropractic Office [apply in person between 1 and 2]. I have no idea what the job pays, but it can't hurt to apply. -- On Sunday afternoon, the doorbell rang and at the door was Bennett (one of Francisco's best friends) and his wife Yasmine. They live in Seattle but were over here camping and fishing (they gave us one of their HUGE trout) and decided to stop by on their way home. They brought wine and we drank theirs and ours and ate whatever we could scrounge from our place and their RV. It was a fantastic time and I only wish I could remember most of it. My liver has been on strict bed rest ever since. -- It's weird to be in the Pacific Time Zone now. I keep thinking if I want to call my parents I have to subtract three hours from the real time to make sure they're awake. I'm positive there's stuff I'm forgetting to tell you, but I can always come back.
come over some time & see me - 2011-02-25 |
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