The Laughing Wolf

U-Bake Mobile Oven

Well, the major items excepting the bed are now all in storage despite adventures. The son of a neighbor had volunteered to help me with the loading and such, and I took him up on the offer. It is a rare treat these days to meet a well-mannered, nice kid and to spend a bit of the day with him.

The day started early, 0430, as I got up to take care of paperwork and the like. After getting coffee, I walked down to the place where I had rented the truck only to find that U-Haul had double-booked them by renting the truck without checking to see if the location had rented it. So, I ended up getting a cheaper price on a different truck, a 26-foot monster, when I would have taken a 10’ truck if it had the vertical room needed. My help was late in arriving courtesy of delays at the vet (had to take his puppy in for routine), so I got a lot of the boxes on in, along with the filing cabinet, a wardrobe, and a couple of other items.

High summer in Alabama is not the time to be in a metal box. It is not the time to be in a metal box doing manual labor. We are into the 90/90s right now: 90 plus degree temperatures and 90-100 percent humidity. Not fun, and even less fun once we deal with the wine cellar (lead lined?) which had to handled just so. Now, I know that there are lots of rituals and superstitions related to wine, but had no idea it extended to cellars. You can’t tilt it back past 45 degrees, it has to sit for 48 hours in the new location before being plugged in, etc., all of which are being faithfully done. I did elect, however, to ignore the instructions regarding dark of the moon, the 6th house, and issues of sacrifice. The washer and dryer, two antique dressers, a freezer, and the kitchen table made it in and we went to lunch.

I had promised my helper to buy lunch, and told him anywhere he wanted, from 801 Franklin on, just that if he chose McD I reserved the right to eat elsewhere. He decided he wanted to try the new Pizza Inn, so we did and it was fair. There was nice scenery that more than made up for shortcomings on food, and he was happy so I was happy.

We made it to the climate controlled storage just in time for the storm. We had unloaded just part of the truck when it hit, and I got soaked, but didn’t mind too much as it was cool/cold. My helper didn’t think we could get it all in, but we did and with room to spare. I can get a bit more in and should be able to get the bed in as well, maybe.

Today is going to be spent trying to get everything else except the computer packed, so I can see what needs to go where and if additional storage is needed. It will not be a fun day, but hopefully nowhere near as interesting. Free ice cream may be sparse as a result.

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