La Quinta, California: A crazy morning! We had an appointment at the new house with a security/alarm company at 11a, so started what we thought would be a bit of a leisurely morning. Dave was out on his bicycle, when Maricela phoned me. (Maricela operates the company that cleans motorhomes, casitas, (including ours... when we are not in a pandemic) and watches-over vacant campsites and buses when owners are away. Maricela is a power house of energy, reigns supreme over her crews, and is beloved by her clients.
Maricela was in the Motorcoach Country Club checking on a vacant motorhome. Upon entering, she realized the coach had no power. No air conditioning. She phoned me to say she had no idea how to operate the air conditioner in this coach, but had seen Dave cycling around and around and around and around, and could she stop him and ask him for help. Why not? She did stop him, Dave stopped-by our RV to get a face mask, and then the two of them - while FaceTiming the owner of the bus - tried to get the inverter back on track. Nothing! Dave (who by now is fairly savvy about bus electronics), could not get the power supply back to the bus. Poor Maricela had to remove rotting food from the fridge. Blech! A professional has been summoned to repair the inverter.
Our "leisurely" morning then turned into rushing to get to the house for our appointment. Dave didn't even have time to shower. Blech!
I set straight to work on my project: getting my spices situated in the new house. I brought all the little spice tins from the RV to the house, and filled the glass jars from Portland. Dave attached the metal sheets to the pantry wall, and my magnetic spice jars are now happy in their new home and I am happy to have some sort of normalcy in the moving chaos.
In September of 2014, I bought 5 dozen jam jars, outfitted them with chalkboard tops, glued super-powerful magnets to the bottoms and placed two sheets of metal on our pantry wall.
Dang, if this was not the best thing to ever happen to my pantry! Our new pantry is very similar to our old pantry, so everything is back in place. So happy. These photos are from 2014 (the blog post from 2014 is here). (Note: I am slowly switching from the stick-on chalk labels to actually mason jar lids with chalkboard tops, from Chalk Tops. Genius product. I will try to remember to photograph the new situation soon.)
So the security system guy never showed. After an hour, DT phoned the company and they claimed there was no appointment... but My Driver had a "reference code" which proved they had, indeed, screwed-up. Bonus for us: we received a $200-off voucher because of their error. DT went back to the bus, showered, and returned with another load of our bus possessions. Remember? We moved out of our Portland house in September, and into our bus. Now we must bring our things to the new house. Fun times.
Finally, finally, finally, all the new linens for the master bedroom (from mattress pads to sheets to pillows to pillow covers to quilt) have arrived, so I can begin the washing-o-the-new-bedding process.
We worked continuing to organize the house all afternoon, only returning to the RV around 5p. I'd walk into a room to get something... and then I see something that needs to be measured... so I return to the box we keep in the kitchen that holds the measuring tape, screw drivers, box cutters, etc... and then I see something that needs attention in the kitchen... and then my phone rings, and I can't find it... so run around following the ring... then a package is delivered... then I finally discover which light a wall switch operates, so go to make a label for the wall switch, but then my brother phones... and there you go: my usual day organizing our new house. You know when you walk into a room to get something, and then you can't remember why you are there? This is me, all day, during the move. It's like living with a toddler, my brain this week.
Once back to our RV, I am fine. Nothing to do but make dinner and relax.
Relax takes on a whole-new meaning when you serve potato chips and vodka sodas with lemon for an appetizer. Too tired to shake a martini.
Dinner was equally easy for the non-functioning brain. Butterfly/bow-tie pasta, tossed with grape tomatoes, garlic, olive oil, Parmesan and garnished with fresh basil. Made in the time it takes to boil pasta.
Our "salad" tonight was a variation on our usual appetizer plate: veggies and pickled things... only tonight served on a bed of shredded lettuce and drizzled with a creamy vinaigrette. Eat your veggies, people!
More exciting projects tomorrow!
Until my next update, I remain, your busy correspondent.