Tuesday, August 01, 2006

Bye Bye Chi - Chicago to Florida, Days One and Two


** The title of this entry should be sung to the tune of NSync's Bye Bye Bye, as a nod to Lance Bass' recent revelation. There is nothing in this entry about Lance Bass, NSync or homosexuality. Get over it **

Day One - Sunday, July 30, 2006

7am - wake up with nasty hangover

8:45am - receive call from movers, some of their crew hasn't shown up and they'd like to push back the 10am start time. He'll call back by noon with status

9am - begin calling U-Haul to find location and time to pick up truck (U-Haul should have called on Saturday, before 5pm, to provide me with this information. They did not. I spent an hour on Saturday attempting to contact U-Haul and the best I got was a woman who said she would send an email to the regional office, asking them to call me - they did not. Spent another half hour later on hold, talked to someone at national U-Haul number who could do nothing for me. Nothing at all)

10am - walk to nearest U-Haul pick up center. Talk to the guys working (who are filling their completely empty lot with people parking for the Cubs game) and find out that there are no trucks available in the Chicagoland area

10:15am - head to McDonald's for hangover remedy and begin calling U-Haul's national number

10:45am - speak with U-Haul representative who tells me she can do nothing

11am - return to U-Haul pick up center and call regional office, who has JUST put their phone back on the hook. Remain on phone for just over half hour and give up

11:45am - begin searching internet for other options

12:15pm - find Budget with an available truck in Chicagoland area - inform Budget associate that he is my hero. Unfortunately, he ruins the moment by saying he hears that from a lot of women

2pm - leave Budget rental lot with super-humongous truck that I should need a special license to drive

2:20pm - arrive in Wrigleyville, where rain-delayed Cubs game has begun, and parking is nonexistent. Run truck into dumpster. Park truck in alley with hazards on

2:25pm - movers call to push back time to 4pm

2:28pm - breakdown due to exhaustion

2:30pm - move truck to illegal spot on the street

2:40pm - speak with police to ensure the monster truck will not be towed

2:45pm - try to finish packing

4:00pm - receive call from U-Haul asking if I'm going to pick up my truck. Seriously?

5:08pm - call movers, who have not arrived or called. Leave message

5:40pm - call movers, who have not arrived or called. Leave message

5:41pm - breakdown due to frustration

6:01pm - call movers, who have not arrived or called. Speak with Randall, who insists they are on the way and will be there in 20 minutes

6:50pm - movers arrive

8pm - movers depart, having finished the gatorade and packed the truck in a manner that certainly makes me look like I have too much "stuff"

8:30pm - Katie departs. I have made her too sad

9pm - Lisa departs. We have done everything possible for packing the truck

9:05pm - Sweep floors, empty fridge

9:10pm - Shower. Beautiful, wonderful, blessed shower.

9:40pm - Eat Uno's stuffed pizza (frozen, warmed in oven) on cardboard Uno's box. Drink milk from gallon carton. All done sitting on floor of dining room while attempting not to share with the cat

10:30pm - take cat in carrier, turn off lights, close the door of 1109 W. Grace #2 for the last time

10:40pm- Jewel for cold water, lock for the truck and batteries for CD player

11pm - Call Lisa for directions out of Chicago. Yes, seriously

11:10pm - Turn onto Lakeshore Drive illegally (no trucks allowed on Lakeshore)

11:11pm - 11:35pm - Stomach turns incessantly as I pass two cops (they'd already pulled people over and weren't in their cars - phew) and attempt to navigate Chicago traffic (yes, even at 11pm on a Sunday night) without completely passing out.

12am (Monday morning) - Begin to relax out of city traffic. Cat freaks out and sends food, water and kitty litter all over me, cab and mostly into my purse

*** and then time gets fuzzy ***

There was a stop as soon as I hit Indiana. There was another stop where I purchased a McDonald's coke. There was another stop where I actually was in and out of sleep for about an hour. There was another stop on the side of the road (one of those "Emergency Only" cutouts). There was another stop that included a Burger King croissant (with cheese and egg) and a Dr. Pepper. There may have been one other stop. I have no idea.

10:30am - Arrive at parent's house in Cleveland. (Yes, the trip should have been between 6 and 6.5 hours. And yes, the trip - including the time change - took me 10.5 hours) The first bag I take out of the car has the cat dishes. The bottom of the bag falls out, the dishes fall onto the curb and shatter. Bring cat, purse and cat food into house. Put cat into basement, put out cat food in mom's dishes. Try to talk to mom.

10:45am - Shower. Beautiful, wonderful, blessed shower.

10:55am - Sleep. Beautiful, wonderful, blessed sleep.

4pm - Wake up, still completely brain dead and worthless. Work on crossword puzzles with mom.

7:30pm - Bloody Mary. Beautiful, wonderful, blessed Bloody Mary.

8:30pm - Steak, caprese salad, parmesan toast, red wine and Strawberry Parfait Pie

10pm - Sleep. Beautiful, wonderful, blessed sleep.

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