The great RV adventure begins...

Another milestone has been passed.  We successfully got the 5th wheel from Indiana to Minnesota.  Or rather, Chuck did.  I drove the car, so Chuck drove the truck and RV by himself.  The scooter that was fastened to the back of the RV jiggled around a lot, so Chuck had to stop several times to tighten it.  I had visions of it falling off and me running over it.  Not something I cared to have happen, but it didn’t.  We are now parked in the Minnesota Daughter’s yard, at least for now.  Starting to get moved in, unpacking items that I packed back in June.  It’s like Christmas because I have forgotten what I packed.  Speaking of unpacking, I feel like I have been unpacking for a VERY long time.  We are enjoying the company of our Minnesota family, especially our almost-two-year-old granddaughter.  Being with her is what this move has been all about, and it is worth every moment of exhaustion, uncertainty, confusion, and expense.    We just trust God that we will make a positive contribution in the lives of those we love.

Saving $$ on appliances

When we were preparing to move, we decided to bring our washer and dryer with us.   Buying new didn’t fit into the budget at all, they are only 4 years old and I am pretty fond of them; Chuck is, too.  We thought that in fairness to the new owners of our house, we would bring the washer/dryer from the condo back to Upland for them to have which they were fine with.   We were good to go with Plan A.  The weekend we started moving in, Chuck unhooked the appliances to bring back to Upland.  Surprise!  The dryer is a gas dryer.  Our Upland house and dryer are wired for electric.  Never thought to check.  Now what?  Load up the washer/dryer from the condo and take to Upland, and come up with a Plan B on the way.  Grateful for smart phones.  Get on craigslist and see if there are any washer/dryers for sale in our area.  Found one!  Woo hoo!  Turns out it had been posted one hour before I got on the site.  The owner lives near Indianapolis.  Oh.  But wait, he is traveling this afternoon to Daleville to go fishing with his son.  Chuck will drive to Daleville as soon as we get home from Michigan to look these over and purchase.  Oops, forgot to take cash.  Fortunately, the owner will accept a check because we know it won’t bounce.   Now our garage is full of washers and dryers, plus a refrigerator we brought along also to trade with the one in the house (that we also wanted to take to MI).  Are you confused yet?  We were.  

Arriving back in MI with our washer and electric dryer, Chuck is confident that he can run some wiring so that we can use our dryer.  Daughter works for electrical contractor as does a friend.  He comes to look at the situation, takes the numbers back to the office to consult.  Daughter calls that afternoon.  Official recommendation is, “Buy a gas dryer.  It will be cheaper.”  We start the rounds of looking.  Do we buy a set or try to find a dryer that is like the one we have?  We end up at Chuck’s favorite store and find a dryer that is the same as the one we had (only the updated version), so we opt for purchasing just the dryer.  Electric dryer now sitting in garage waiting to be sold on craigslist.  So far, our costs are about the same as they would have been had we left the washer/dryer in the house and bought new ones.  Sigh.  

Small world P.S.  The man who helped us at Chuck’s favorite store was very gracious and knowledgeable.  It turns out that he was a professor at TU from 1970-73…and I had him for a class!!!  I was glad he didn’t remember me because it was a required gen ed class that I hated and I did not do very well in it.  He has been designing kitchens for quite a few years…his other love besides teaching.  You never know who you will bump into, do you? 

No TV

Basic cable is included in our monthly condo fees, but I just got around to calling the cable company this week.  They scheduled a technician to come on Wednesday afternoon  to set things up.  On Tuesday evening I got a recorded reminder call, then Wednesday morning got another recorded call asking me to give feedback on how the visit went.  What visit???  Not only did the call come in before the scheduled visit, but no one ever showed up for the appointment.  Back on the phone again.  This time the customer service rep was even harder understand, and I really think it was her first day on the job.  She never could quite pull up the information she needed about my account.  And during a 25 minute call, I swear I was on hold for 20 of those minutes.  She kept asking for my patience and to “bear with her.”   I told her I expected that the charges would be reduced because I was stood up.  Yes, and someone will be here on Monday afternoon.  Note to file…if offered the opportunity to provide feedback on a customer service “experience,” never turn it down.  I would give a lot to be able to tell someone about that conversation.  Bottom line?  I haven’t missed having TV at all and don’t really care if it doesn’t get hooked up.  The Cubs have totally tanked, so I haven’t been watching them and I would probably even survive without football season this year.  After all, the Colts aren’t the same, Peyton is a Bronco (I think I will probably be a Broncos fan this year), and while I have always liked Tim Tebow, I will not become a Jets fan…ever, even for him.  I’ll still pray for him, but not root for his team.  Now the internet is a totally different story.  I would have serious problems coping without that.