Thought it was safe . . .
2006-03-15, 1:28 p.m.

Day 570 Just when you thought it was safe . . .

. . .to buy plane tickets, plans change. Really. Monday night, we went and bought plane tickets to get our asses down to Florida and prepare for the big move. Busy making plans for the trip north sometime in mid � late April. Renting a Uhaul, getting packing materials, people getting calendars cleared and schedules made.

Then the buyers of my FIL�s house insisted that they must close in 2 weeks because of the deal on their current house, yada, yada, yada. No close in 2 weeks, no deal and a chain reaction big enough to cause every man, woman and child in the USA to have to move again in the next 3 weeks.

Since we don�t want to be the cause of so much anguish (but think what it would do for the economy!!), we more or less agreed that yes, we could be ready to move an entire household in 2 weeks. Even though we live 1250 miles from the house and the sole occupant of said house is slowly succumbing to the grips of Alzheimers.

That was the good news. The way the deal now works is this: We nixed Uhaul. Wayne (my bro-in-law who is down there at the moment) will contact a moving company and arrange for them to pack and move what has to go. The good news for them? Most of the really big furniture is staying. Most of what has to be packed is the kitchen, the closets, one bedroom set, the patio furniture, clothing, wall hangings (including a whole shit load of original oil paintings), small appliances, stuff like that. No fridge, no washer/dryer, no couches, no king sized bed. So really, a small load, but mostly all the knick-knacky stuff. Glad I�m not packing that.

We would like the moving company to have everything ready to go by 3/30. That�s one day before the newly scheduled closing day. All that would be left is to get my FIL up here with his car. No � we don�t trust him to make a 1250 mile drive by himself. The original plan was for Cindy and I to fly down, pick up a Uhaul and pack for a few days. Wayne would come down to help with the driving on our 2 vehicle, 2 day caravan.

The new plan involves fewer people. Far fewer. That�s where I come in. For those keeping score, this would be the bad news. I fly down 3/28. Spend 2 or 3 quality days supervising the packing of the house. Attend closing on 3/31, or not. It�s not mandatory. Then spend 2 or 3 quality days driving north. Alone, with my FIL, who, by the time he brushes his teeth in the morning, has already forgotten what he had for breakfast. This is going to be a loooooonnnnggg six days. I am so putting myself in for sainthood if we both make it back to upstate New York alive.

I�m leaning towards not going to the closing and leaving at the ass crack of dawn (or earlier) on the 31st. From Ft. Myers, it�s reasonable to make it to the Virginia/West Virginia border in one long day of driving. Done it before actually. Plan on stopping in Princeton, WV. (NOT Bluefield, no way, no how). From Princeton, it�s a relatively short day across WV and Pa, then into western NY. Cindy and I have made this trip in 22.5 hours of driving, spread over 2 days on 2 separate occasions. Not fun, but do-able. And the trip through Va. & WV is absolutely gorgeous. Might even see signs of spring through the Carolinas.

Oh. This is going to impact my sacred work out schedule. Kinda in a huge way. Ought to be able to go jogging/running in the mornings there, just need to determine some distances. Weight lifting is going to be nearly impossible, but I could do crunches, pushups, pull-ups, squats and the like. Could swim laps in the pool too, but it�s only 30 feet long at most. Take a lot of laps to equal a mile. I�ll figure something out. Hardest part may be trying to stick to a low fat diet while eating out every night, then being on the road for 2 days. Think I�ll arrange for lots of fruit and low fat, low salt snacks to be packed, along with a healthy dose of bottled water. Better remember to keep one of the coolers handy so we can use it in the car.

Got about a week and a half to psyche my self up for this. Going to have to pull some Zen meditation out of my ass or something. Without it, after this 6 day stretch, I�m likely to implode.

Gotta go write a proposal for a new design. At least typing this warmed up my fingers.

Updated stats:

Weight start: 206.5 on 1/1/06 (265.0 on 1/15/05)
Current weight 199.25 on 3/10/06 (More progress!!) (not weighing myself again till Saturday)
Target: 180 by 7/1/06
Next weigh in: 3/18/06

The Keep on Truckin goal: (idea stolen shamelessly from Marn�s Big Adventure)
Miles at speed 2/9/06: 198.97
Miles with cooldown: 219.24
Target for 2006: 1000 miles

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