Since we are not scheduled to close the escrow on our home until September 30, the next two weeks will essentially be watching the clock. We can't buy anything for the house since there will be no place to put anything until the 30th, so we will just cool our heels and make plans.
Friday morning was time for the big weigh-in, to see what damage had been done during the French excursion. Amazing! Becky gained only one pound and I gained only three pounds. The rest of the morning was mostly playing with the dogs and finishing up our re-entry into normalcy. In the afternoon, Becky went to a local salon and had repairs done to the hair job she had on Wednesday. While she was doing that, I spent some time on the phone with my former partner Marshall Rutter discussing the enforcement of an agreement I wrote for a client 20 years ago.
It's interesting revisiting some of my past feats. Friday night we had filets mignon and fake mashed potatoes (i.e., pureed cauliflower) for dinner. Yum.
Saturday was supposed to be dedicated to watching college football (by me, anyway) since we'd missed the first two weeks of the season. It didn't quite work out that way. A baseball game ran so long it delayed cutting to one game until the second quarter. Another game was delayed by lightning for 1 1/2 hours. I did get to watch UCLA beat Texas, in Texas, by a 20-17 score.
The Bruins were very lucky. They almost lost a game they were supposed to win by a mile. This has been the pattern for the 60 years I have watched UCLA football, although they don't usually almost lose a game; they usually lose a game they are supposed to win.
Before the game we watched The Other Woman from the redbox. We had heard mostly good things about this film. It had a few funny moments, but overall it was awful. We almost turned it off.
We also received great news from our daughter, Donna. David has been pursuing a new job opportunity for about a year. It finally came through. Starting immediately, he will be the President of Lapauw USA, LLC, a new U.S. subsidiary of Lapauw International, a Belgian company that is in the commercial laundry machine business---something David knows a lot about. According to the press release announcing his appointment,
"Bernstein, who has more than 20 years of professional experience, has been named president of Lapauw USA. His résumé includes serving as president of Consolidated Laundry Machinery Co., as director of the Uniform and Textile Services Association, as chief operating officer of F-MATIC Inc., and as senior vice president of Turn-Key Industrial Engineering Services. A frequent teacher at industry institutes and schools, Bernstein has also served on several boards and held a number of committee chairmanships as well, according to Lapauw International."
Congratulations, David!
Sunday was a little more football (Yea, Broncos) and another movie---Draft Day, with Kevin Costner, from the redbox. It was a lot more fun to watch than I expected. But Kevin Costner remains the world's worst actor, not counting Ben Affleck.
Monday and Tuesday were fairly routine since Becky and I are still suffering from the crud we picked up in France. The "highlight" on Tuesday was A Simple Plan from the redbox. It was a 1998 "oldie" starring Billy Bob Thornton and Bill Paxton. Quite depressing, but it held our interest.
On Wednesday we noticed some heavy machinery and construction buildings at the vacant lot across the street from our RV park. They were beginning to clear the area for what will be a Holiday Inn. Exciting! It turns out there are plans to eventually build another hotel next door to the Holiday Inn. The more, the merrier, in my view. Williams, like all small towns, needs all the business activity it can get.
That night we watched The Double, with Richard Gere, from the redbox. It was one of those foreign-made CIA thrillers that are only OK.
Thursday was a nice, very calm, no-nonsense day, with nothing to report.
Friday morning the four of us went to Flagstaff. While I went to the doctor, Becky and the dogs went for a long walk, shopped at Wal-Mart and the True Value hardware store, and dodged the intermittent rain. We had sushi for lunch at Hiro's, then went to the Chinese restaurant next door to Hiro's and picked up a quart of hot-and-sour soup for dinner.
On the way back to Williams, our tire monitor informed us that our right-front tire was losing air. When it got to 35 pounds (down from 55 pounds) we pulled over and called AAA. A half-hour later, the truck arrived and, rather than change the tire, towed us the 14 miles to Williams. It was one of those big muthas that hauled our truck up onto a bed.
The four of us rode in our truck while we headed down the highway. It was a strange feeling, but fun. Along the way, the sky opened up with some very heavy rain. It stopped just as we arrived at the tire store (the AAA location) where, coincidentally, we had bought the tire two months ago. The manager spent an hour trying (unsuccessfully) to locate the hole in the tire that had caused the leak. He finally determined that the tire was fine, and that the monitor's transmitter that fits on the valve had simply vibrated loose enough to start a leak at the valve. Whew! I replaced the transmitter onto the tire, and tightened the other three transmitters. That ended the excitement for the day. Except, that is, for when I had the delicious soup for dinner.
Saturday involved college football, of course, with a few interesting games. I happen to like LSU (it's one of the few southern teams I like) but I still enjoyed seeing Mississippi State win in such a good game. Something about underdogs winning once in a while. LSU was the only top-10 team to lose that weekend.
Saturday night was the annual Taste Of Williams, which was held at the Elephant Rocks Golf Course for the second year in a row.
One of the couples we met there spend every summer in Williams (their winter home is in "the Valley" which is what people from the Phoenix area call it) at their cabin in Sherwood Forest---a subdivision about three miles into the Kaibab National Forest from I-40, about seven miles east of the center of Williams. We decided to visit it on Sunday just to get to know more about our new "home" area. It's very forested, the buildings (all on one-acre lots) vary from mobile homes to cabins to mansions. It's very eclectic and there are no utilities other than electricity and telephone. All water is trucked in. There are also no stores or other services there---or between there and the middle of Williams. Clearly, it's not a place we would like, but the residents apparently love the seclusion.
Sunday afternoon, I watched the amazing game between the Seahawks and Broncos. It was the first time in 17 years that the two Super Bowl teams met in the following regular season. I was sorry the Broncos lost---in overtime---but it was fascinating the way they hung in after it looked like it would be another blowout.
Monday was another casual day, mostly thinking about things to do regarding the house and contacting the people who will need to be involved in those things. On Tuesday, we went to Cinder Hills Kennels, a boarding kennel east of Flagstaff to visit the facility and meet the staff. Kelsey and Ramsey will be staying there for almost a week. Al, the owner, was very proud of his facility.
That afternoon, we met Danielle at the house for our official walk-through. Everything that was supposed to be fixed had been fixed and the house had been emptied of the things the sellers were taking with them. So it now looks like it will when we take possession on the 30th. We are getting very excited. On Wednesday, we went to the title company in Flagstaff and signed all the final paperwork. On the way back, we stopped at the Goodwill thrift store and bought two table lamps and a few small items we need for the house---spending all of $17.00!
Thursday, we dropped off the dogs at Cinder Hills, and spent the rest of the day preparing to leave on Friday for our odyssey to Los Angeles, Temecula, and Las Vegas.
