Two Steps Forward, One Step Back

Well, the container finally showed up at 3:45 today. I was lucky to get a time extension on the liftgate truck I rented, but I have to have it back at the rental yard by 7AM, tomorrow. So much for sleeping in after a hard day of moving. But it was a good day. We were able to unload the entire rental truck, get the refrigerator, washer, dryer, mattresses and all of the living room furniture loaded into the container and we still have room. I guess its back to the stores to shop. You can't have any space left in a container when you ship it. It's just not right! Maybe I will get that golf cart after all. Now if I can just get it by Customs as a household item so I don't have to pay taxes and duties on it.


Our 6'X 8' Shed, filled to capacity

The 7'X 16' second storage area, filled to capacity

Our "POD" temporary storage unit, almost filled to capacity

The garage storage area, almost filled to capacity

Back of the rental truck, half filled to capacity

Our container

Starting to load the container

Moving from the rental truck to the container

But as the title suggests, it's not all good. We found out today that escrow will probably not close until next Tuesday, not Friday, as planned. So that means that we will be living in an EMPTY house until then. The container will be packed and on its way to Belize, and we'll be sleeping on an air mattress, with a leak. I had planned to fix it someday, but I guess that day should have been yesterday.

But with those extra days, we'll pick up any items we may have forgot and it will give me a chance to do a little bit of flying before we go. Who knows, maybe I'll even get a chance to solo. I can hope. It was something I wanted to do before we left for Belize, so this may be my last chance. I hadn't flown since late July, but I just had to get up one more time, before we left, so I went flying with my friend, Jeff. Thinking this would be my last time, Jeff let me do a little flying myself. It feels so good to get back in the air. I do miss it.

And on a sad note, I'd like to remember my friend, Gene. He passed away last week, several weeks after an emergency bypass surgery. He was good friend and pilot at our ultralight airport and he will be sorely missed. He had just bought a new, 2 seater, QuickSilver ultralight, just four days before his emergency surgery. He never even got the chance to fly it. He took me on my first flight to the Santa Paula airport. It's something I'll always remember. So Gene, here's to you, my friend. Fly High!!!

Three More Days

Time continues to fly by and we are now down to three days before the closing date on the house. As we scramble to get ready for the move, things don't always go as planned. We had made arrangements for the container to be delivered at 3PM on Friday, had rented a truck with a lift gate and had several friends to help move the heavy furniture. But the best plans have built in leeway, just in case something does go wrong. Well it did. The shipper failed to contact the local cargo company to drop off the container, so here it is, Tuesday morning, and we are still waiting for the container to be delivered. It's cutting it close, but if it shows up as scheduled, by 1PM, we should still have a few days to fill it. But it sure does add some unnecessary stress.

On a good note. We were approved for the QRP program as of September 17th. Now we are waiting for the paperwork on our dogs to be approved, and we'll be good to go.

But for now, it's back to getting things in the moving van so we can transfer it to the container, whenever that arrives.

Watching the Days Count Down

It's now down to 17 days before the move and we are scrambling to get things done. As we keep checking things off our list, more things seem to creep on to it and it sometimes seems like we're getting nowhere.

We finally have the SOLD sign on the house, now that all the contingencies have been signed off.




A garage sale is planned for this Saturday to get rid of all of all the excess stuff we've gathered over the years. We've also been using craigslist to post some things for sale and I've been pleasantly surprised at the volume of calls I received from the ads. A lot more than the ads I had to pay for.

And since we're still here, it's time again for the Los Angeles County Fair. Last year I thought would be our last time to visit the fair, but things always seem to take longer than expected, and we're still here. So, on Friday, it's off to the fair we go. Look at all the goods for sale, little betting on the ponies, a couple of beers and a big ol' turkey leg. I love the fair.

After that, it's back to the grind stone. September 24th is coming up fast.