Monday, February 18, 2008

Arrival!

Departed Knox Vegas 1600 hours, 17 Feb 2008; arrived in the City Of Nap, 0330 hours, 18 Feb 2008. 17-foot van. Trailer bearing BMW Z3 light urban scout craft, qty. 1. Staggered into the house and fell over asleep on the first available surfaces.

Now It Can Be Told: What, you guys think I'd stay here, dustin' an' hummin' a happy tune while my bestest Intarw3b pal herds a whackin' huge van though the Cumberland Gap, with a trailer, in a horrible driving rain, as darkness falls? Not! (I rented a compact car to drive down, then picked it to find I had been given a "free upgrade" to a Tralblazer SUV. Very thirsty but it does go just like the wind).

In fact, it developed that of the two of us, I happened to have driven the most large, mean, nasty vehicles and to have had experience driving with a trailer (a few times. As a teen-ager. On vacation. With my Dad riding shotgun and providing constant guidance. But, ummm, kinda I didn't mention the details?). So at 1530 Sunday when Gunsmith Bob led our convey to where he'd attach the trailer and we'd all load the Zed Drei aboard, I was at the helm...and I stayed at the controls until we pulled up in front of Roseholme Cottage, an infinite amount of time later. I'm not as physically stressed and torn up as I thought I'd be, which speaks well for having had some really crummy stuff happen to one: after awhile, you just react to mere physical terror by shrugging, "meh." Tam navigated with skill and tact -- I can get lost driving around the block if I haven't done it a couple times -- and kept me from spacing out when we hit the long, straight dark stretches. Also the curving, rain-slick ones. I am pretty sure I hit my target heart rate. I'm pretty sure she did, too.

At present, the Collectification d'Tamae is safely esconced in my vault,* VFTP Command Central is crated behind where I'm typing, ready to be unshipped and re-AMORCed, our two pairs of cats are sort of hating each other through closed doors and Tam is coping.

The cats are the most worrisome. Mittens (T) just wants to be loved. The Slinker (R) is as hazy on the details as ever but wants more doors open. Tommy (R) is acting like a grumpy old man with strangers in the house ("Dagnabbit, there's been some wimmin messin' with mah stuff!") and Random Numbers (T) has gone Siamesically scary. She hides and sings a long low lament of blood and death and diresome revenge, of unravelling things -- whatever -- with razor'd claw and needle-sharp fang and loss and horror and having been caged. We're hoping the feline death-ninja trance will wear off. We're really hoping.
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* Fine. Picky: "gun safe." Cost like a car and I believe it might sleep four. Had have it moved in by muscular and cheerful lunatics who said things like, "You might not wanna watch this part," and, "You realize this thing will never come back out, okay? " Geesh!

17 comments:

Turk Turon said...

Glad you're both home safe and sound!

I sense the beginning of a new Age of Enlightenment.

Turk

Anonymous said...

Glad you made the safe trip; I guess we can all resume breathing now.

The cats will get the new heirarchy sorted out pretty quickly.

Come to think of it I did sense a great disturbance in The Force early this morning. That should have been a clue.

Now for the unpacking and placing. (ugh!)

Anonymous said...

turk--

Don't you mean The Great Ensnarkenment??

Tango Juliet said...

I do love the way you write.

Glad to hear everyone is safe.

Rob K said...

Hooray! I'm glad you kids made it safe!

I hope Tam's first full day as a Hoosier was good.

Carteach said...

Phewww!

Coolest news of the last few minutes. There's about this deal, someplace near the end of 'Casablanca'.
Looking forward to some exceedingly good snark flow.... (g)

Roberta X said...

Teach: When did your other blog go invitation only?

Carteach said...

A few days ago. Will be so for a while.... maybe a long while... don't really know yet. Explanation, sorta, on the blog.
Check your mail... you have an invite. If you need it to a different address....
send it along and it shall be so.
Tam as well.

Turk Turon said...

Snarkapalooza 2008!

phlegmfatale said...

Huzzah!

Glad y'all are home safe. Letting the cats be curious through the doors for a while is a very good ideer. Either way, you're both in for some abuse, I suspect.

Turk Turon said...

I would cast Walter Brennan to play Tommy in the bio-pic.

Carteach said...

Gun safe..... I know where for you speak. When I got mine the first time, it sat on the front walk, after being slid off the back of my truck.

Big safe..... steps....door....crud.

My lack of forethought struck home with a passion.

Kindly neighbors to the rescue... and it got moved. One (unknown to me) turned out to be a customs agent, and semi-jokingly asked if he could store his issue M-16 in my safe.... You can imagine my answer.

Tam roosting there sounds like an excellent idea.... Who says the internet is de-humanizing? Idjits.

The Duck said...

Glad it all went well, a bit hair raising, but you all landed safe

Anonymous said...

A friend will drive you to the airport at oh-dark-thirty. A real friend will drive you to your destination.

A friend will help you move. A real friend will do the same and then say "Thank you for the great blog-fodder."

New Jovian Thunderbolt said...

I want a gun safe that sleeps 4.

JohnMXL said...

"...VFTP Command Central is crated behind where I'm typing, ready to be unshipped and re-AMORCed..."

Ya mean there's someone else in this world who recalls (and uses) that phrase from the book 'Single Combat'? I thought I was the only one!

John

Anonymous said...

1. Who could forget it? It's got it all: bad meta-pun, geekitude, and obscure referencing.
2. Dean Ing rules!