After giving two and a half month's notice and packing six to ten boxes a day, I think our mover said it all.  Tom, from Locatelli Moving and Storage, looked around the front room and said "We are moving you today, right?"

I spent the rest of the day slinging unpacked possessions out of the way so the guys from Locatelli could move the furniture and the packed items.  I believe 18,000 pounds was mentioned?  As in, 18,560 pounds?  Almost 9 Tons! Tanya DeCell, of Original Sin (Cheesecakes!), gave us a tremendous helpful shove by helping us pack more boxes as the movers stayed a blur.  The cats were locked in Diane's bathroom, and by all evidence were furious at being left out of the way.

They arrived at 8:30AM Monday morning August 27th, and were done loading in the early afternoon.  A business and a house.  Boxes. A piano.  More boxes. A hot tub.  More boxes.  A queen sized bed.  Did I mention more boxes?

  "I am not moving, and you can't make me!" says evil cat.  "Where's my din-din?"

After they left, Diane and I continued to pack, loading our 65 Ford pickup and a trailer, gifted to us by Jim Danaher, a local Santa Cruz attorney, alternative power advocate, gardens not lawns practitioner, woodworker, bicycle enthusiast...  Okay, yes, we have GREAT FRIENDS!

The live plants went into the pickup, the trailer got our home entertainment system components and other boxes packed after Locatelli left.  The next morning, the cats went into the Jeep, constrained by a baby wall shoved behind the front seats.  I could see them howling as we drove!  This was after I had attempted to sedate them with some pills called Happy Traveler.  I got news for you, Happy Traveler.  Your pills are huge.  You ever try to shove your pills down the throats of recalcitrant cats?  You know what happens if the capsules are opened (okay, partially dissolved by cat saliva and human blood first) and the powder is tapped into their mouths?  After I bandaged my new wounds, I got towels to clean up the foam that was frothing out of their mouths.  Unhappy cats can cover a lot of distance in a house.  You wouldn't know they can drool so much either.  PETA, I don't want to hear about it.  They're fine now.  Really.  The diarrhea stopped long ago.

Tuesday, we made our slow, bumpy way 430 miles north to Fort Dick, CA.  It's just past (8.5 miles) Crescent City, and is 9 miles south of the Oregon border, along the coast.  Ah, 101.  Only 3 places under construction - woo-hoo!

The cats arrived and were shut up (once again) as the movers arrived Wednesday morning to unload the truck.  Bryan, Will, and Eric from Humboldt Moving and Storage helped Tom unload the truck, again finished by early afternoon.

Of course, first they had to move existing stuff out of the house.  Over the years, tenants had left behind furniture, dishes, and other odd items.  Additionally, Diane's parents, Tom and Helen, had been storing furniture here.  We STILL have stuff on the front lawn under tarps!

I spent the next six days helping Diane try to find things in boxes, coaxing the cats into not shedding quite so much, and generally trying to get things into the house that were still on the front lawn.  Then, I drove back down to Santa Cruz, to cover for Daniel Perez (one of our engineers) while he got married and took a honeymoon with his wife Lillian.  This also gave me time to clean up the rental at 931 35th, as well as PACK MORE STUFF.

In fact, there was enough to justify a one-way U-Haul rental.  I drove a 14 footer, so that I could fit the privacy screen for our hot tub, along with other items that had not been packed as of yet.  I also purchased and filled two ice-chests, including one monster that comes with wheels.  I kid you not.  Go look.  It's still on the front lawn.  Yes, you can borrow it.  Just clean it first before you return it.  I have enough fish, already, thank you very much.

By this time, my lower back was on strike, so I had the wonderful help of two more guys from Locatelli in Santa Cruz, and then Bryan and Jesse from Humboldt in Fort Dick.

So, let's see.  A one-way rental truck on Tuesday, meant I had to rent a one-way car from Sue at Hertz in Crescent City to get back to Santa Cruz, where the Jeep was.  While waiting for the last minute rental, I got to watch air traffic, as the Hertz office in Crescent City is at the airport - Cool!

Dan Cohn bailed me out yet again, by giving me a lift home from the Hertz drop off - Thanks, Danny-boy!

Last few days of packing and cleaning were spelled with a wonderful massage from our friend and gifted masseuse Suzy Hunt.  Ahhhh.....

I dropped off the keys to Santa Cruz Property Management Saturday morning.  I'm sure they thought I was just a little bit strange (only a little bit?) when I kept trying to get them to help me drink some orange juice.  There was this mostly full can of frozen concentrate that I had found in the back of the freezer that we had opened for some recipe.  I swear, its fresh!  Bought another tarp, more rope, bungees, and one more ice chest (see OJ story previously).  I had left all of our others up north.  Ah, planning.  Keeps our economy going :)

One last trip, arriving with our dependable little trailer in tow, around 9:30pm Saturday night.

Now my day consists of:

Make my first cup of green tea.  Turn on my computer, which I had to turn off the night before if we want to watch the idiot box.  Apparently when this house was last remodeled, a 15 amp breaker was determined to be quite adequate for the kitchen and over half of the house.  Must not have had all of these wonderful labor saving devices.

Computer - News.  WebbAlert, Dvorak Uncensored, BBC, Quality News Network, and sometimes the Sentinel.  Oh, and if it's Monday, Twit.

By 9:00AM, our three indoor kitties are chewing up the wallpaper, so I feed them.  Then I feed our 8 chickens, collect any eggs left behind unguarded (yes, I am averse to being hen-pecked - go figure).

Next, the 7 stray cats my father-in-law has been taking care of.  I get to learn how to trap the new ones to get them to the vet to get spayed/neutered.  Oh joy.

Last, one of the two dogs, Daisy, is an outside dog, so I feed her, too.

Then, I go back in, and finish reading news until 10:00am.  At 10:00am, I yell "Goooood Morning, Fort Dick!" and start talking to humans, emailing and voice....