Getting Ready to Depart

11/12/04 - So Much To Do - So Little Time
We were going to drive back out to the coast today, so my wife could attend a meeting of her tole painting compadres on Saturday. After rushing to get ready to go by three or four o'clock, we decided that perhaps it would be better if my wife just drove out to the coast by herself tomorrow, and I stayed home and worked on new versions of some of my software. It was a little disappointing to change plans like that at the last moment, but I think it is a very wise decision.

11/15/04 - An Unexpected Delivery
This morning we were awoken by a car pulling into our drive at 8AM. Steve's daughter (remember the Steve Saga?) who lives in Yamhill brought us the hot tub cover that had been ordered months earlier. Not knowing quite what to say, I accepted the delivery and said that I still needed to talk to Steve about the cover and lifter. It will be interesting to see if i ever hear from him, if we ever see our cover lifter and if we keep or return the cover.

Tonight we had Tom (our handyman friend) and his wife Marsha (my wife's Nikken sponsor) over for dinner. They have become good friends and it was great to have them over for a farewell dinner on our new dining room set. My wife cooked a good baked chicken dish and afterward we sat out in our new coach for a few hours, talking and drinking decaf coffee. These new friends will be one of the things we look forward to seeing when we return to Carlton (whenever that will be - probably in the Springtime).

11/14/04 - Bliss Returns
Today my wife went to visit Bliss and to pick out one of her puppies to bring home. When she got there however, she asked the woman we had sold Bliss to if she would be willing to part with her instead of one of her puppies. Because she had had some problems with Bliss and their other dog and their new son, she agreed to give Bliss back to us. Dayadevi was thrilled - she had missed her very much. I felt a little slighted because I wasn't sure I wanted another dog on our journey and was not consulted in the decision.

11/16/04 - New York Life Insurance Saga Begins
This evening a nice guy by the name of Grant came to our house and spent several hours with us in our new coach selling us life insurance. We had some mortgage insurance from many years ago which by now was worth much less than we felt we needed, so for a bit more money we decided to nearly quadruple our coverage. The next step is to meet up with a nurse who will report back on our health to New York Life, who will then issue us a policy we can amend or reject. Stay tuned for the next chapter in this saga...