Now that I have started this, again, I am being interrupted all the time. Not sure if I can write or not. Seems everyone knows this is my last day and they keep stopping by to say goodbye. Very nice of them but I don't remember who half of them are but somehow, they all seem to know my name. Very touching. Guess I will miss this place after all.
I leave on Monday, on the boat Tuesday, arrive Tuesday night. Then start driving to Brisbane. Not so sure about the route at this point. Lots of fires between me and Brisbane and they haven't closed the roads yet but I keep seeing pictures of the highways I will be on with lines and lines of cars backed up because of the fires.
I was thinking of going up through the middle but there are fires that way too and the roads are not as good. You'll have to look at a map to see where I mean but basically, you can go along the coast through Sydney or up through the middle via Dubbo. I don't like the Dubbo route but haven't been that way in a long time so maybe it has changed. I doubt it but it is a possibility. Guess I will have to wait and see what issues are on the Sydney route before I decide. It's a longer route through the Dubbo but if there are fires and road closures, it might be quicker.
I am noticing that lately, I do not do a lot of talking about the kids. Or maybe I do but I seem to talk about my troubles and my adventures more than I do them lately. Maybe it has always been that way but I seem to be noticing it more lately. Not that I am planning on changing anything but just thought I would mention it in case you have noticed it also. I am aware of it and hope to get more on the kids when I get to be with them more but for now, I am just a lonely fat man stuck here in Tasmania with no family or friends to talk to so I complain a lot. I don't expect understanding but I do expect ridicule and apathy to my plight. It's just the way it is. Having no readers of this blog, I am really just talking to myself but since I enjoy that so much it is never really a problem.
So lets get back to me. I have the dilemma of how I am going to pack. I also have the dilemma of how I am going to clean, but one dilemma at a time.
I can pack everything with no problems. I have boxes and the time to do it all. The issue is, when do I start putting it in the trailer. I had planned on doing that starting Sunday and finishing Monday before I leave. But I have to move the trailer to a place where I can do it from and not where it is sitting now. Which means, I have to connect it to the car since once I start to load it, I am not going to be able to move it by myself. I probably can but I don't want to take the chance since I am on my own and if I do run into problems, there is no one to rescue or help me.
That in itself is not a problem. It is the question of the carpet cleaner coming on Monday. If I connect the trailer to the car and then load it, there is no where for the carpet cleaner to get to the house. I think they need a connection to their van when they do the carpets and if I move the trailer somewhere to allow access, then that means I cannot be loading it at the same time. Plus, I will have to move it back closer to my house so I can finish loading it and that is a problem due to trying to back a fully loaded trailer via the obstacle course that my new neighbor has created for me to get to my driveway. I won't go into that other than to say I have to maneuver around their car and then swing into my driveway backwards and the space to do that in does not leave a lot of room for error. I can usually maneuver the trailer fairly well after I practice for a bit but since I don't due that except every couple of years, I forget how and have to practice all over again to get the hang of it once more.
My other option is to fully load everything on Sunday. But that means I have nothing to sit on, nothing to watch and really nothing at all to do Sunday night and Monday morning before he gets there. Everything will be packed. That's not a real problem but something I wanted to avoid. Since I am putting the TV into my van, I was going to do that last so I have something to watch/do until it is time to leave. Guess that is a real first world problem but doing it all Sunday is not my first choice.
I could load the trailer, back it into my driveway so it does not block the door, and then take my car to get a coffee or something while the cleaner is there. Then come back after he is finished and load the rest. That way, I only have to pack the TV into the garage before he comes and then put it in the car when he gets there so I will be ready to leave once he finishes. It is probably the best option but as I mentioned, it is the backing the trailer into the driveway that is the issue.
Since you are tired of me writing about this, I will say what I am going to do. Connect the trailer Sunday. Pull it forward in front of the garage and load everything that is going into that from there. Then back it up to the end of the driveway so it is not in front of the door, disconnect it, and then move my car when the cleaner gets there. Come back after the cleaner leaves and load everything into my van and begin my trip. It's a plan and not something anyone, anywhere, wanted to hear about but since I am not doing anything else, it made it easier for me to work it out on here as opposed to sitting around thinking about it all the time.
So lets move on the next boring topic. Cleaning the unit to moving out standards. I won't go into the merits of the moving out standard they have here. It's just too anger inducing. What I want to talk about is how I am going to get it all done. I should have been cleaning for the past month. I have, but not as much as I needed to be doing. I still have both bathrooms, the kitchen and the living room to do. I don't really see that as a problem but what is a problem is the outside. I need to weed, clean up the weeds, and generally make the place ready to moving out standards. Since it was not that way when I moved in but they let me move in anyway, I am not sure I should be held to that high of a standard. I think all I need to do is put it in the same shape it was when I moved in. I am sure they do not see it that way, so I need to do everything. I can do it, probably only take a day but that gives me two days to do the outside and finish the inside, plus finish packing all the boxes. Not an easy task but it is my own fault and since I have no choice, it has to be done. I am thinking I will be doing it in the middle of the night both of the next two nights but maybe it will not be as bad as I think it will be. That's me doing some wishful thinking. But since I work best under pressure, I am sure I will get it done. Not like I have a whole lot of choice.
Now that I have bored you all and talked about things that have nothing to do with anything, it's time for lunch. Not that I am going to lunch, I am leaving early today, it being my last day and all, but it is that time of day and my hands are getting tired. So I am going to begin the wrap up for this entry. Expect only a few more pages of stuff.
There is trouble in paradise. One of the grand-kids was apparently robbed yesterday. Anna, to be exact. I am told her purse was stolen while she was sleeping and the dogs did nothing to stop them. I do not know the whole story but the effect on me is that Juanita is now giving her money, which means I am giving Juanita money, which means any money I have saved for when I do not have a job, starting tomorrow, will disappear quickly. I am also told that she knows who did it but I do not know what that means or if she will be getting it back. And I thought she lived with her boyfriend, so why is there nothing being done by him or how is this all working out. Just another thing I am going to have to deal with when I get up there. I will comment no further on that issue until I have more facts.
Maeghan went to a doctor yesterday. Not for anything in particular but really just to establish that she has a doctor and they can get all her records together. They have to make recommendations and things about her so she can get help or special treatments and special doctors, so it is the first step in doing that. Plus, Juanita lost all her scripts and she has to get new ones. I don't know much about what is going on or what needs to be done but as I will be directly involved on this soon, I will need to find out. I am not sure that they realize that since we will all be living together again, I will need to be directly involved in all this and maybe some of the mistakes that have been made in the past will have to be looked into so they do not happen again. Like Maeghan being pushed from one person to another every time her current coordinator quits or is fired. Seems like every time they get some answers or make any progress, someone in the chain leaves and they have to start all over again. I will be making sure we have all the records and all the correspondence and everything that has to do with anything with us so we do not have to try to get it all again for each new person. I'm not saying anything has been done wrong but it seems there is way too much turn over and way too much backtracking all the time and it shouldn't be that way. Or maybe it can't be helped but since I have not been directly involved, only on the periphery, I will have to start finding out for myself.
William is becoming a teenager, and not in a good way. I hear he is arguing all the time and not doing things and generally being surly. Maybe it is the heat, maybe it is the hormones, or maybe he just needs an attitude adjustment. Not that I am saying I have the answers but maybe he needs more of an example and I can certainly provide that. Just basically be there for him, let him know what is wrong and show him how I deal with things. It probably won't help but it can't hurt. I am sure it is just becoming a teenager. Everyone goes through it and no one has found an answer yet so we will just weather the storm as best we can.
Ok, it is time to go. My hands hurt from typing. No more interruptions so I haven't had a break. Just been typing this whole thing all in one go. I will try to get back to this at some point in Queensland but since I have no internet up there, I will have to see when I can do it. Don't want to try to type on my phone so it will have to wait for my computer to be set up. Guess it is goodbye for now and goodbye for later.
Until next time
Dude! I just came by to see what's what? Did you get to QL? Email me if you want.
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