Hubby 2 Lubby ~ Day 4 Touch Down

Our intrepid cowboys made it to Lubbock around 2:00 PM yesterday. That was pretty much within the time frame I predicted.

I was at Carol's new condo when her phone rang. It was Neil. They arrived at Lubbock. And they were flat bloke, with only enough money to last a few days. Help!

(It was really amazing to see how much money it took to travel cross-country by driving a moving truck ~ whose rental cost more than half the money Neil received ~ towing a car. Carol gave him a goodly amount that we all thought would be enough. However, there were lots of little hidden costs that did not materialize until the guys were well under way.)

I suggested that we try Western Union.

Our first attempt was through on-line. Carol's order got rejected.

The we tried the toll-free number that was on the website. But that seemed to be sending Carol through the same voice menu loop.

The next thing was to a search for local Western Union agents. The service revealed that Western Union service was available right at Carol's favorite supermarket, the Stop and Shop in Fairhaven.

(The web search also revealed that there were 9 Western Union locations in Lubbock.)

So Carol and I drove down to Stop and Shop with the hope that Neil will have access to some money that very same day.

Carol filled out the appropriate paper work and gave it to the young man over the counter. It was then when we found out that Carol could not pay with her credit card. It had to be cash only.

With Monday being Columbus Day, the banks were going to be closed. So that meant that Carol could not get the cash to wire transfer to Neil until Tuesday.

The fellow at the counter gave Carol a different toll-free number and told her that if she keeps pressing "5" during the voice menu, she will eventually get a human being.

When we got back to Carol's condo, we tried the number that was given to her by the fellow at Stop and Shop. And sure enough, after pressing "5" several times, Carol was connected to a real live human being.

However, partway through the telephone exchange, she handed the phone to me because she had difficultly understanding the Western Union representative on the other end of the line.

After receiving the phone I could understand why Carol had difficultly understanding the fellow on the other end. He spoke with a heavy Hispanic accent which would have made it difficult for any hard-of-hearing person to understand.

So, most of the phone transaction was done through me.

Unfortunately, the phone money transfer did not work either. Due to the large amount of money that Carol was intending to transfer, the bank rejected the transaction until it could perform a manual verification of Carol's Visa account.

So, it wound up that we were going to be stuck until Tuesday, after all, to wire the money.

I called Neil back and explained the situation. Fortunately he still had some money left to be to able to last him until the Western Union money transfer came.

Anyhow, that was yesterday midday.

Later that night, Neil called at 9:00 PM, while 'Miah's mother, Barbara, was still visiting with me. She left shortly afterwards. And so I called Neil back.

Neil was still at his room, trying to rest, while 'Miah was cruising around Lubbock in Neil's Camry, taking in the sights and locating important things for Neil, like apartment books, the yellow pages, the location of a CVS pharmacy, etc.

They still have not unloaded the truck, let alone return it to the rental place.

Neil discovered that his GPS did indeed work in Lubbock, that it had the Lubbock maps. That's good because Neil thought that the GPS was only programed for the buyer's area and that you had to pay extra to have other area maps downloaded. Turned out that wasn't the case.

Anyhow, Neil has until the 16th to return the truck. But 'Miah wants to do it sooner, before he has to fly out of Lubbock on Wednesday morning. He wants to make sure that Neil is all set and that everything is taken care of before he leaves.

When Barbara was visited with me last night, she said she told 'Miah before he left, "Make me proud."

And he's been doing that all the way, tirelessly assisting Neil where he needed help and making himself available to kick the crap out of anyone who would give Neil any grief. That's our 'Miah!

Anyhow, 'Miah already has his mementos from the trip. He got himself a cowboy hat, and for his mother he got a set of state refrigerator magnets from each state that they travelled through.

Today Neil started his first day at work at Allied Associates Consulting Engineers about an hour ago.

Because the working place is walking distance from the motel where the guys are staying, that left 'Miah all alone with Neil's car, and up to his own devices.

It would be safe to assume that 'Miah now is tooling around Lubbock in Neil's car, taking in the sights, and most very likely getting phone numbers from the cute girls that he meets.

Hubby 2 Lubby ~ Day 3 On the Road

The fellows have been making good time.

Around 5:00 Neil and 'Miah were in Arkansas.

Neil had sent this picture from when they were on the road in Arkansas. Except for the row of trees, it looks kind of lonely, doesn't it?

While the picture may appear somewhat desolate, the guys have been seeing plenty of corn, cotton, and wheat fields.

While the route was straight forward, the roads were in disrepair with bumps everywhere. However, traffic was very light.

With all the driving they have been doing and the poor radio reception, Neil and 'Miah have fallen behind in the news. As such, Neil was not aware of the other dive that Wall Street took yesterday.

However, there is nothing wrong with taking a break from the media. In fact sometimes it can be a good and healthy thing. I know for sure that when I was in Arizona last year, I found it rather pleasant being out of the current affairs loop for that one week.

When I talked with Neil at around 9:00 PM, they were already in Oklahoma.

They hadn't yet reached Oklahoma City. But with the good time they have making, there's a very good chance that they could be in Lubbock by midday tomorrow.

Other than that, there is not much to report. We'll have to wait until tomorrow night to find out more.

Her Majesty's Gift

Not too long ago, my dear friend Ruth from Australia took a workshop in free form crochet given by Prudence Mapstone. She had sent me the link to Prudence's website, and immediately I was smitten with free form crochet.

Pretty soon I was scrumbling away. It was addicting. I never knew that I could have so much fun with just a little stick and some yarn.

Of course being in dire financial straits did not make it easy to obtain lots of scrumptious yarn to play with. In order to satisfy my new addiction, I was deconstructing sweaters, scarves, and anything knitted just for the yarn. If it was knitted, it trembled in fear when my shadow darkened its path.

In the meantime, I joined a Yahoo group called International Free Form Crochet where I could connect with others who share this passion.

In posting about my financial situation requiring me to deconstruct knits in order to get yarn, I was contacted by a fellow member, Margo, who has Her Majesty Margo Fiber Studio. Margo was so kind to offer to send me yarn from her stash so that I could have some goodies to play with.

The yarn arrived today!

And I was SO excited! What was especially exciting was seeing the number of colors in the cool end of the spectrum, because most of my nice yarn is in the warm end of the spectrum.

I cannot wait to start playing.

Thank you SO much, Margo!

Hubby 2 Lubby ~ Day 2 On the Road

Whereas our 2 cowboys made great time yesterday, they weren't as lucky today.

When Neil called me at around 7:00 PM last night, he said that they were about 2 1/2 hours away from the Ohio border. Maybe he had miscalculated the time it would take to cross over into Ohio, because when he called today at 3:30 PM, they were still in Ohio, quickly approaching Cincinnati.

The road-trip odyssey gods were not with him for the first half of the day. Not only did they get stuck in a wicked traffic jam, they also went off the AAA Trip-Tik, and had difficulty finding their way back on course.

Looking at my road atlas at home, I could see the route that they needed to take to get back on course:

• follow Rt. 71 from Cinci to Louisville, Kentucky
• get onto 65 in Louiseville and follow that to Nashville, Tennessee
• then get on 40 and head out straight to Amarillo, Texas
• and from Amarillo, it's a 1 1/2 hour drop south on 27 right smack dab into Lubbock

Unfortunately, Neil and 'Miah did not have the advantage that I did in holding a map in front of me while comfortably sitting in my living room. They were fast approaching Cincinnati, and Neil had to get off the phone to lend his pair of eyes to help navigate the unknown tangle of highway.

The next call came 2 1/2 hours later, at 6:00 PM, when they just reached Kentucky.

They had come to a truck stop, where one of the truckers showed them a map that they did not realize that they had. And the kind trucker helped them get back on course.

And can you guess what that course was?

If you can't, just look at the bulleted list above.

Now that the boys were back on course, we were able to discuss how the trip was fairing.

Neil said that for the most part it was tiring and boring. However, he was very grateful for 'Miah's company and the good conversation that they shared.

Did they take in the scenery?

Not really. Though Neil did comment that the scenery in New York state was impressive. Not so with that of Ohio.

Did they eat the stuff I packed, like the cans and packets of chicken, bulky rolls, cereal, aseptic cartons of milk, Oreos, Snickers, peanuts, etc.?

"Oh, I forgot about that box."

Anyhow, they did eat some of the food that 'Miah packed, along w/the apples, pretzels, and ginger ale that I placed in the cab. And they stopped at Micky-D's and Arby's.

But hey! They better dig out that box of grub I packed and chow down on that too. After all, I didn't go through all that effort for nothing, you know.

Why I even packed them a crude mess kit that consisted of cutlery and 2 used Kool-Whip containers. I didn't bother with cups, figuring that since they were guys, they were going to be swigging out of bottles and cartons anyway. LOL

They already had to stop and gas up 4 times, at $75 a fill-up. There must be at least 5 or 6 more fill-ups left to go. It's bad enough that the truck is a gas hog, but trailing a car behind them creates drag that consumes even more gas.

Oh, I forgot to ask what the gas prices are like down there.

I mentioned to Neil that I discovered that 2 hours west of Lubbock is Roswell, New Mexico ~ the land of Area 51 and UFO fame. (Now I'm really excited about moving to Lubbock!) That aroused Neil's interest. Perhaps there may be a future trip to Roswell.

Anyhow, the fellas plan on driving until midnight, when they plan on finding a place to bed down for the night.

It'll be interesting to find out how far the guys get to by then. Do you think they'll make it to Nashville, or perhaps even get onto Rt. 40?

Well, I will have to wait until tomorrow evening to find out.

Hubby 2 Lubby ~ First Day On the Road

I heard from Neil at around 7:30 PM.

He and 'Miah were in Pennsylvania, about 2 1/2 hours away from the Ohio border. With sharing driving responsibilities, they were making good time.

In addition to exchanging turns driving, the 2 fellows were also exchanging turns in listening to each other's preference in music.

It turns out that chaining the axle to the trailer was a good idea, for while Neil and 'Miah were in New York, the webbing slipped off both front tires. If it weren't for the chain wrapped around the axle, it would have been "Bye, bye, Camry."

Pulling into a service station to gas up, Neil and 'Miah secured the front wheels, this time making sure that the webbing would stay put. And it did through the rest of new York, New Jersey, and most of Pennsylvania. I suppose that it will stay put all the way to Texas.

With the great time that the guys were making on the road, there is a chance that they may arrive in Lubbock in 3 or 4 days instead of 5.

That would be great.

That would give Neil and 'Miah enough time to secure a roof over their heads, unload the truck at a self-storage facility, and return the truck to the rental place.

And with that, the 2 fellows may have some time to chill and take in the sights.

Hey! 'Miah may even get a chance to check out some pretty girls at Texas Tech! LOL

10 Minutes After Neil and 'Miah Left. . .

. . . Ariana and left to go to Bristol Community College, where Ariana was enrolled.

Seeing that the moving truck could not travel faster than 55 mph with Neil's car trailing behind it, I wondered how long it would take before we would overtake the two travellers.

Silently I calculated that would happen in Westport.

Sure enough, when I had a "visual" on the truck, it had just crossed the Westport line.

Eventually I reached along side the truck and blasted my horn. 'Miah just stared straight ahead, apparently wrapped in deep concentration. I can't say that I blame him. That was a big truck to be driving.

Hubby 2 Lubby ~ Texas or Bust!

Yesterday's departure for Lubbock didn't happen. And that actually wound up being a good thing, for if Neil had left as originally planned, he would have not had the occasion to gain a travelling companion.

The road trip buddy was 'Miah (short for Jeremiah), a confident and take-charge young man who was Ariana's friend. Oh yeah, 'Miah can be a bit cocky and mouthy, but we love him still the same. He's a fine young man who very seriously takes his responsibility to accompany and assist Neil on his major move to Texas.

Everyone was up early, and it was a rainy and still dark morning when 'Miah and Ryan started loading up the truck.

The rain made the loading ramp slippery, and 'Miah had fun sliding down the ramp.

After the truck was loaded, 'Miah and Neil paused before closing up the truck.
After locking up the rear of the truck, the next step was to get Neil's car up on the trailer.

After the car was up on the trailer, the front wheels had to be strapped in tight.

And once that was done, the axle had to be chained to the trailer as an added safety precaution.

Now the boys were all set to roll, with 'Miah at the helm.

Here they go. . .

. . . down the road.

And at the very end of the road. . .

. . . they make their final turn onto Route 6.

Neil and 'Miah are one their way to the wild, wild west.

Have a safe and fun trip, guys!