Posts Tagged Alameda
Posted on May 20, 2011 by jason
STEP 1:
Announce to all your friends and family that you are going to do something preposterous.
This serves a few purposes. You can hear yourself say it and explain it out loud enough times that it starts to make sense… or it might help you realize you’re completely full of sh!*. In either case, you’ll probably learn something valuable.
If it’s just crazy enough (and you live in a small enough town) you might get some attention from the local paper. Maybe they’ll come interview you. Maybe they’ll put your picture in the paper. Smile! Somehow, we ended up on the front page.
STEP 2:
Assuming your hometown is small enough, you might send them an update after a few years to let them know you actually went through with it and haven’t been kidnapped or dissolved your marriage. They might even have a feature in the paper where they publish photos of people ‘reading’ their paper in other parts of the world. Take along your front page spread, big shot.
Lest you think we’re major narcissists, we haven’t been carrying around newspaper clippings of ourselves for the entire trip. We came across the paper when were purging more of our belongings from Angela’s parent’s house over the holidays. It was either chunk it or pack it. It was small enough – we packed it.
And, many thanks to Mike C. for providing the newspapers clippings/scans!
Posted on August 15, 2009 by angela
Your know your car has character when it plays practical jokes on you. Today was the day we finally moved out of our house and literally the first time I have ever ridden in this bus. We made it about, oh, 20 miles or so before the horn came on… and stayed on. We had to pull over and disconnect the wire to the horn. Classy.
BEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEP!
-Red Beard
We’re not really the honking type, so we probably don’t need it anyway. One interesting observation: At first, the people around us turned to look at us in disgust… assuming we were an impatient jackass blaring their horn at a little old lady. Once they realized it was coming from the old red bus, they all just shrugged it off – like it was either expected or excused coming from an old VW. When I was in high school I inherited my grandfather’s old truck. It would honk whenever I turned left… that’s character.
Anyway, getting that far down the road was a feat in itself.
Now would be the time when we thank our new tenants. We appreciate their patience while attempting to move their beloved possessions into their new home, but waiting for their new idiot landlords to get their heap packed and out of the driveway. Did I mention Jason has a PhD in something really impressive? You would never guess if you were to judge by today’s display. Think Beverly Hillbillies.
Aside from the frantic last-minute packing and shoving-off, we will be floating around the Bay Area for a few more days until we sell one last car. It’s a bit of an anticlimactic start, but we see it as a blessing. We’re now relaxing at the home of a generous friend and hope to take a few days to ease into our new life, run some more errands, re-pack under less stress, and maybe do some local sightseeing before heading out.
Speaking of generous friends… thanks to all the people who have helped us get it all together in the past few weeks. There are old friends like Doug who helped play Tetris with our furniture in our storage room, Breean who not only helped clean up the house but also dyed my hair in the front yard (the house was already cleaned out!), and Sarah, Jennifer and Julie for feeding Bode sorbet and keeping him entertained while we packed everything up. There are also new friends like VW guru Kris who has come over at least 4 times to help tweak up the bus, donate parts and bent over backwards to help ensure we could leave successfully (note: inspect the horn next time!)
We were most surprised by new friends and some complete strangers who were interested enough to come find us and share their well-wishes and experiences. These are the types of people we hope to continue to meet along the way…
Posted on August 12, 2009 by angela
Apologies for not posting recently, but we’ve been beyond busy . There are house projects, packing, storing, selling stuff… and the van still isn’t ready. We are also making every effort to see our friends, and that included a very fun party Friday night. We did manage to clean out our liquor cabinet, but ended up with more food than we started with.
Speaking of ending up with more, yesterday was not very productive. Jason’s new VW buddy, Chris, was kind enough to come over for the ‘final’ tune up. Now the the van is running great. Meanwhile, inside the van Bode was playing with tools and tore several holes in the back seat’s upholstery.
Later, when we occupied him with computer games, he downloaded viruses that took Jason 3 hours to clean up. Needless to say, he was frustrated. A bit exhausted, Jason laid down (collapsed) to rest for a while and got an unexpected nurse. In perhaps his first ever significant sign of empathy, Bode sat down next to Jason and began rubbing his back… followed by a big hug. It worked.
Jason has had to work all week, so things at the home front are moving slowly anyway. Thanks to the help of several of our friends I am still hopeful we will be out of the house when the renters move in on Friday. No, we will be out. Whether we get the van ready and sell two cars will determine if we get to leave the Bay Area.
Posted on August 7, 2009 by angela
Jason and I have been married 11 years and in that time have tried very hard to avoid quarreling or cursing at each other. This week the obscenities have flown.
So much for not feeling the stress of packing up and leaving . I’m sure that living for a year or so in tight quarters will remedy that.
Posted on July 28, 2009 by angela
We spent all of last week getting ready for the yard sale. We had piles and piles of things in the basement, and Friday we tried our best to organize them.
I hate having yard sales, and Saturday morning I remembered exactly why. The sale was to start at 9 (no early birds, please!) and people were there by 8. Not just people walking by, but the yard sale professionals. They were there, bargaining, looking disgusted at our things and rolling their eyes at our prices. But they still bought it.
One of Jason’s super hero traits is an unbelievable amount of patience. While I found many different reasons to go inside and get away from it all, Jason was out bargaining with the skills of a border town street vendor. All I can say is, way to go. We did great.
Although we made more than we were expecting, we had tons and tons of crap left. An entire garage full, plus some things we forgot to put out. So we reposted our signs and held another sale on Sunday.
The second day was much more laid back, and I was able to stay out there all day. Unbelievably, we sold almost as much as we did the first day, even though everything had already been picked through.
The two best parts of the weekend? A VW not in my driveway, and all this crap out of my life.
Posted on July 21, 2009 by angela
Jason hooked up the engine, and after a few failed attempts and missing pieces…got the van running.
We can’t drive it anywhere yet (no back seats), but there is that familiar VW engine sound coming from the driveway.
This bodes well for our journey.
Posted on July 17, 2009 by angela
My new computer came today! It is so adorable, and just the right size for the van.
She’s replacing my aging laptop that no longer gets wi fi from anywhere but the guest room. Jason’s laptop battery won’t hold a charge, so it has to stay plugged in. With these 2 computers, we aren’t very mobile. Our new Asus Eee pc should help.
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