Moving week

This past week was moving week and like all the others recently it was also hectic. We left Ariel again early Wednesday morning to return to the house for last minute preparations. We still needed to patch and paint nail holes and get the last of the documents to our attorney. It was just our luck that the day we had picked to load the truck had temperatures in the 90’s with very high humidity. This was the biggest problem for us, requiring breaks to avoid heat stroke. It took all day and the truck was filled to capacity. The last time we moved ourselves was in 1973. We have moved many times since, but they were always corporate relocations and the moves were handled by professional movers. We wanted to do it this time to have more flexibility as to timing and the arrangement of the items in the container on the other end. While we did it without damage to our furniture or serious injury to us, this is clearly the last time we will load and unload the truck ourselves. Just the fact we will both be five or so years older for the next move precludes this option. Barbara Wheeler our broker stopped by with a wonderful gift, a painting of the USS Constitution. It was so thoughtful, reminding us of Massachusetts and tying into our interest in the sea. We originally met with Barbara in January and have been in frequent communications since. This was a tough market but Barbara worked very hard to find a qualified buyer. We were on our way early Friday morning after loading the few remaining items. Our Budget truck was fairly new and the drive to Penn Yan went well. We unloaded about 1/3 after arriving Friday, but put off the remainder until the next day. We knew from the load size that the fit in the container would be tight so we gave the living room upholstered furniture and a television to Linda’s brother Durwood and his family. We were happy that he accepted these item because we were always unsure whether we really wanted to store these long term We were able to leave a very narrow aisle the length of the container providing access to just about all the boxes. It was fairly easy unloading the truck as the ramp into the container had a gentle downward slope. We took our time with the container so it is well organized and things we may need are positioned near the doors. We covered the entire contents with tarps in case any condensation drips from the ceiling and the solar powered cooling fans were working well. Even working at a casual pace we were able to return the truck by 3 pm.

Sunday was a day of relaxation. It was actually a little hard to wind down, but it was much needed by both of us. Norm’s brother Bill came up for the day. It was just what we needed and everyone enjoyed the day.

Visting family and friends

The pace is pretty quick right now. We are trying to maximize our time with family this summer so we were off again. We had a flight to Cleveland on Saturday and spent Saturday night with Scott and Pamela. Scott surprised me with four new baseball hats with the IP star embroidery. We have adopted this as Ariel's logo. It is uncanny how he can read my mind especially over such a long distance. I was planning to ask him to have some more made but he beat me to the punch. Sunday we drove to Grand Rapids to visit Dan, Lesli and Thomas. Linda spent the week, and Monday morning I drove onto Mishawaka, Indiana for project work. Mishawaka is just outside of South Bend and only a two hour drive south from Grand Rapids. At first Thomas was afraid of us, as he hadn't seen us since Christmas, but he warmed up very quickly. We had expected this reaction since it was the same at Christmas. I returned to Grand Rapids Thursday afternoon and worked remotely from there on Friday. Both Dan Lesli work so Linda and then the both of us got to baby sit. It was a delight to spend time with Thomas. He will be three in October and he is very curious, bright and of course energetic. Saturday we were on our way early back to Ohio for a planned lunch with our friends John and Linda Piper. John and Linda just finished almost two years of cruising. Over the years as we all excganged idesa as we planned the live aboard cruising life.. They just bought a condominium back in Ohio, where they started. It is hard to believe they are moving back on land and we haven’t even left yet. They made two trips south, spending much of the first winter in Charleston, SC and the second in Florida, most of it in Fort Myers. Later in the day we stopped to visit Kim, Jason, Michael and Evelyn in Avon Lake. We couldn’t stay long as we were supposed to be dog sitting for Scott and Pamela and we were running late. We will be back in Ohio in two weeks so we didn’t feel too bad. Sunday morning we visited a little with Scott and Pamela, but they were exhausted from returning late from a wedding reception the night before. A little before lunch we were off to the airport, and arrived back on Ariel at about 8 pm after checking on the house on the way. While we enjoyed the week, we were also glad to be home again, although only for three nights this time before we are off again.

Retirement Announced

This week in Pittsburgh we had a team event at work. It was planned as a golf outing, but rain and the threat of more rain caused us to substitute bowling. It was a great afternoon of bowling which was then capped off with dinner at a Japanese Steakhouse. We had a separate room and our group of thirty two. We celebrated Margaret Mackenzie’s retirement. Margaret is a wonderful person and is extremely interesting. She has been working as a full time consultant at D&T and running her dairy farm in West Virginia for several years. Margaret is 64 and the high travel demands and long hours finally got to her. Jim Bertino as planned used this opportunity to announce my retirement. This was a real surprise to most everyone as I had kept this very close to the vest at work. While we felt pretty certain about our date, I felt the need to keep my options open if I change my mind or if something unforeseen happened. I really felt everyone was happy for me.

Pictured --

Udaya Neelam

Lou Deutsch

me

Jim Bertino

Abhinav Gupta

Lou Vitolo

Pictured --

Alien (Margaret's friend)

Hans Levert

Margaret MacKenzie

Lou Deutsch

Alex Tomchik

Srinivas Ryagalla

A few steps closer

This was quite a week for us. Luckily this week included a holiday as we sure needed the time. We signed the Purchase and Sale agreement on Thursday having agreed on the terms and setting July 31 for the Closing date. There were no interior issues from the home inspection but the condominium association needs to address a couple of items on the exterior. Right after the signing we then found out we have more to do. It seems in Massachusetts carbon monoxide detectors are now required on all floors with living areas. We need to add an additional carbon monoxide detector on the second floor and then schedule an inspection of the smoke detectors and carbon monoxide detectors by the fire department at our expense. We also need to get a certificate from the condominium association that our account is up to date and this too has a hefty fee, and lastly we need to schedule a water meter reading by the town which also has a fee.

We have packed the last of our belongings and wrapped the furniture in moving blankets. Everything is now staged on the first floor near the entrance ready to load on the truck. It was back breaking work but we think the worst is behind us. Assuming we can back the truck up to the front door and set the ramp into the hallway, we should be able to wheel everything into the truck on the furniture dolly. Our guesstimate on moving supplies was pretty close. The number of boxes was almost perfect. We could have used another ½ dozen blankets, and we had to go out for more packing tape and additional bubble wrap.

Our battery monitor failed this week. I cannot correct the problem so off it goes for servicing. This is an important tool as our batteries are our primary source of power. This particular model is no longer manufactured and is very complex. It accepts values to use Peukert's exponential equation that relates battery capacity to rate of discharge. Enough said about its’ complexity. This is actually our first failed piece of equipment, but we know there is more to come. The battery monitor has been installed for about five years.

Sunday was the first day this year we just relaxed on Ariel. With a flight scheduled later in the day and after a really hard week, we both decided just to forget about projects and enjoy the day. We both opted to spend the day reading.