Whew. What a weekend.
Before
Last Wednesday, Emily tells us that her hard drive appears to have crashed. She got an appointment at the Genius Bar (Apple Help Desk) in Walnut Creek--the one in E-ville couldn't give her an appointment till Saturday. So, Thursday afternoon (the day before leaving for Santa Barbara), we went to Walnut Creek where the Apple "genius" informed us that, yes, the hard drive was dead. D-E-A-D, dead. Getting the rest of the information was a bit like pulling teeth. She could get her data retrieved by calling a phone number on a card. (Frank and I made the mistake of paying for lost data *once*. I would not recommend it.) We explained that we were leaving town the next day--what should we do about replacing the hard drive? Well, he suggested we buy one.
Well, okay then. Thanks. Um, any recommendations? Oh, sure. Okay? And? What might those be. Oh, well, here's how you take this one out and put the new one in. Okay, super. And, um, any specifications? (I'd just like to mention here that this guy is so lucky we saw him before the trip and not after. I think I might have had to bite him if I'd seen him after the trip....)
We eventually got specifications and we left.
Friday morning
Frank, Emily, and I went to a U-Haul pickup in E-ville at 9:30. The woman "assisting" us was at full capacity and it was not particularly comforting. After about 30 minutes, we had our 14' truck and Em & I went to Ikea to get her
bed and a mattress. Then we headed up to Jackie & Yusuf's to get the furniture they so kindly gave to Emily (a dresser and two end tables) (along with the mattress and box springs they even more kindly gave me & Frank).We got home a bit before noon. Frank helped us get the mattress & box spring out of the van and into the garage. Emily loaded the rest of her stuff into the truck. She and I had lunch. We ran some errands (including dropping off the painting that used to hang in the living room at Frank's office). Becky dropped off her screwdriver drill bits (thanks Becky!). And Emily and I hit the road sometime around 1:30 or 2.
The U-Haul truck drove reasonably well. The front seat is a bench, though, and I wasn't able to get comfortably to the gas pedal. So, after several hours, I was getting a bit of a pinched nerve in my back, from hyper-extending my right foot. We pulled over for an early dinner at the Copper Cafe in the Madonna Inn and then hit the road for the last 90 minutes.
We got into Isla Vista around 7:30. Unloaded the truck and immediately started on putting Em's bed together.
We finished building the bed around 11:30, and after a nice cup of hot tea with her roommate Lauren and their "temporary" guest Cooper (sleeping on their sofa till he finds a place of his own), we went to bed around 12:15.
Saturday morning
Boy, people like to party in Isla Vista. It was a bit surreal being completely and utterly surrounded by serious partying, into the wee hours. Some neighbors were going strong at 3:30, but I found my earplugs and all was good. Em slept with her roommate, leaving me the new bed. I felt a bit guilty, taking Em's bed the first night, but it was better than a sleeping bag on the floor, let me assure you. :-) It was quite comfy and I think Em will enjoy it this year.
Anyway. We found breakfast in the morning and then I took the truck to a drop-off in Goleta. Hertz picked me up and took me to the rental facility where I got my zippy little economy car. After getting roughly 11 miles to the gallon in the truck, I was thrilled to have the Hyundai.
I went back to U-Haul (the line was so long and the Hertz guy was waiting, so I left without settling accounts) and finished up there. Then picked up Em and took her to K-Mart for some essentials.
We took her stuff back home, and got things mostly organized, and then, I hit the road for home.
I felt a little bad about not taking my daughter to lunch before leaving, but: it had been a loooooooong 1.5 days, and I think she really wanted to get unpacked anyway.
I got to the Hertz rental at Oakland airport around 6:30. Frank picked me up, took me home, and made dinner for me (Thai shrimp). We watched a movie (Charlie Chan in Shanghai--pretty good) and I was in bed by 9 p.m.
I slept a good 11 hours and woke up Sunday feeling human again.
Em is all unpacked and has been enjoying cooking for her roommates. She made cinnamon rolls Sunday morning and then stir fry for them Sunday evening. A few of them are in downtown Santa Barbara today, looking for jobs. Oh! And I ordered a hard drive that will be shipped to her, hopefully this week.
And now? Back to my routine. <whew!>
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