Friday, January 23, 2015

Chipping away a little bit at a time

After one provisioning run


When I realize how lazy I've been these last three-plus years while living here at our marina, I'm absolutely appalled. I've now spent the last couple of days on the phone trying to straighten out things that should've/could've been taken care of the whole time we've lived here, and since I've had to leave messages in some cases, this will probably continue into next week. I detest talking on the phone, it's almost like a phobia for me so this is particularly agonizing. And even in this age of the internet, you'd be surprised at what still needs to be accomplished by mail. In the next few days I'll take a walk to the library in order to print out a ton of PDF forms that will need to be filled out and mailed.

Another fly in the ointment is the fact that changing our address isn't just an easy matter of filling out an online form with the post office. We receive our mail here at the marina and we can't change it in that manner because this is a business and not a residential address. Everything needs to be taken care of one item at a time; family, credit cards, banks, insurances, investments... Today in addition to making phone calls, sitting on hold, and still rearranging all of our boat crap, we both walked to our dentist for our last cleaning and check up. Last week we paid a visit to our dermatologist where we both had biopsies performed and were zapped for pre-cancer cells (gee, thank-you Teen magazine for informing me when I was a teenager that a sunburn would help rid me of acne. BTW, it didn't).

When Hans sold our vehicle via a hand-shake deal on Saturday, we had until Tuesday (Monday was a legal holiday and the DMV was closed) to get the bulk of our provisioning done. Monday morning we were ready to take off when an insurance customer called (Hans is an agent), and since I always make myself scarce during these calls anyway, I grabbed our lengthy list and took off without him. In the end I think this worked out for the best as I didn't have to waste time in constant search of him. How a big guy like Hans can disappear so quickly in a store is beyond me and I've threatened to dress him in a pair of lederhosen with a leash, and maybe a lollipop to keep him busy.

The stars must have been aligned just right for me because everywhere I went where I needed help, I got it! Even at JoAnn Fabrics (they have the worst reputation in the world for customer service but this one is pretty good) one of the clerks dug around and found a 30% off coupon for my expensive outdoor canvas.

I got home around 8 PM and I'm pretty sure a hazy cloud is still hovering over 66th Street as a result of my still smoking credit card.

We say good bye to our vehicle


The days are counting down quickly and there's still too many things that need to be done. But if we waited until that happened, we'd never leave.

 

 

4 comments:

  1. Since we recently sold our house, I also realized all the things I could have/should have done years ago. Now that we're in a condo, I've sworn to start getting ready for cruising by downsizing even further ... um, the holidays is a good excuse, right?!

    I also hate talking on the phone, so I feel your pain.

    I can't believe so much time has passed since I first started reading your blog ... you're already about to head out! Excited to read your posts from the Bahamas!

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  2. I am so excited for you, Hans and Wilbur!

    Since you have been posting step-by-step, I sort of feel like I'm on this journey with you. You know how this goes: lots of to-do lists and this hopeful idea that it will get done according to schedule ... and then reality kicks in. As much as you are busy and getting things accomplished, more comes up and you find you're doing laundry at 5 PM to have clean undies for your 6 PM departure. Oh well!

    The trip sounds so thrilling and I can't wait for new updates.

    Happy Belated New Year!

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  3. Hi Wilbur and family.
    our blog showed up in my google reader this morning.
    Not sure how that happened but, I'll be checking in to read about your sailing adventures.
    By the way why does my Cinnamon look like Wilburs sister, well i think they do anyway.
    Linda and Cinnamon Seattle WA

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  4. I'm glad we somehow found you! Cinnamon is a very pretty girl and I hope she enjoys following Wilbur's travels. BTW, I have to wonder who could win a snoring contest because Wilbur snores even when he's awake.

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