You think you know how much stuff you have, but you don't. At least, not until you have to inventory everything and label the boxes so you can find it again.
That was my life in May and June. Yes, I started packing earlier but I didn't even seem to miss that stuff. I'll admit it was the stuff I used seasonally. You know, skis, canning, my seemingly endless mason jar collection... But then I started to get to the nitty gritty. What was I going to need between now and say, September. That's challenging planning!
I'll take this box.
Luckily, Harry was a tremendous help.
There was one thing I knew I would not need. And if I never saw that junky clunker again it was fine by me...
That damn car.
I tell you, I have a lot of friends who have owned a lot of Subies over the years, but we seemed to have found the lemon on the lot. From the get-go (well, not exactly "go" or we would have taken it back, 'natch) the gremlins have peeked out and cackled at us. So when we started planning the move to P-town, we both knew the car would not be staying. However, we were hoping it would at least get us there! But I swear to god, the thing started grinding and lurching and stalling in intersections not two weeks before we were scheduled to go.
Insert many appropriate, and maybe a few inappropriate expetives here.
When I took it to the dealer they said, minmum of 500. Maybe 750. But that *should* solve the problem.
Please, insert more here...
I asked if I could get back home without doing anything and they said yes, just drive reeeeeally slowly. I turned around and chugged reeeeeally slowly up the hill, parked the beast and told Colin that I was done with it.
So with much fanagling (how exactly were we going to get to Portland, and then once there, how were we going to get around to find a replacement... first and foremost) and pleading (Mom, Dad? Can I use your car??? I felt like a teenager again.) we got it dialed. And now, who were we going to donate this citrusy gem off to?
Since I was feeling like a teen, we went with BC Teen Challenge. A good cause, but they also would come and it pick up, running or not.
Now, remember, I did drive it back home so techincally, it "worked".
The good folks from BCTC showed up with a flatbed trailer, we signed a few forms, they signed a few forms and I handed them the keys. With a huge smile on my face too! They start up the car, and I'll tell you, I think it sounded worse than when I parked it a few days prior, but hey, they only had to make it about 50 feet to the trailer. And I swear, It was like a movie, the damn thing died half way up the ramp!
Did Colin and I laugh? So much. Because, it was not our problem. I felt a little bad, but not that bad. And I'll admit I did a happy dance as it turned the corner away from me.
Hee hee.
****
Update:
Even though we had such a crummy experience with that Outback, we believed in them. The are great in the snow. Talk about storage; we'd had the rocket box, two bikes and my kayak on at the same time. And I can reach up high enough to get the bikes and boat on by myself. So we bought another one and we are seeing how the other half live. The kind of people who don't worry if the tranmsission will go (again), the lights on the dash will start blinking or the engine will poop out. Again.
So far so good! Haven't needed the jumper cables once in the last month!
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