I'm Here!

Safely ensconced in our new apartment in Reno. It is beautifully located in an area that the tourists don't visit and convenient to all forms of shopping and living niceties. After I recover I will be able to walk to most of the places I need. Across a very quiet street that is one way until one stop sign from the apartment is an interesting strip mall that contains a pharmacy, my bank, Staples, Coldstone Creamery (thank goodness I'm not fond of ice cream), a Panda Express, a barbecue joint, a McDonalds so old that it still has the original arches, a Vietnamese Noodle house (yippee! I love that stuff) and a pub. I also heard that they are putting in a Smart and Final also. On the same side of the street as we are and right next door is a restaurant supply house. Not bad for picking a place off of Craigslist and renting it sight unseen.

We have a walk-in closet, a huge bathroom (with no heat at all) and a dishwasher in the kitchen. The refrigerator is smaller than my last one but it isn't bad. The big downside in the kitchen is that the cupboards were built for people about a foot taller than me. And as you might guess, all of the tall people who helped me pack didn't understand when I said I needed the step stool to be available when I first got here.

The physical move was a major clusterf*ck . I had wanted to sell my car and rent a U-Haul and then buy a beater with what was left over. Everybody was against the idea and talked me out of it for various reasons. One suggestion was to rent a trailer and tow the stuff behind my car. The day before I was supposed to leave I went to pick up the hitch and it turns out that the moron on the other end of the phone was looking at the hitch ball and there were no hitches in stock. So, I ended up packing my car with as much as I could and putting the rest of our stuff in storage. In a few weeks, after mom is a little more familiar with her surroundings and I can leave her alone, I will make an overnight trip back to San Jose, rent a U-Haul and drive out the rest of our stuff.

The drive itself was absolutely beautiful after we left Sacramento. As we headed into Donner Pass there was a light snowfall but nothing stuck to the road. The trees were dusted with snow and the scenery looked just like all the paintings, spectacular. You could tell when you entered Nevada, the roads are in better condition. The dogs are a little discomforted by the changes and they sniff the air, as opposed to pollution, constantly. Now Shadow follows me even more than usual. I certainly named her right.

When I went to unpack the car, I tried to remove a box from the trunk that had taken two guys to wedge it in (I didn't pack it) and I herniated a disc getting it out. It must have weighed at least 80 lbs. I have a Lidocaine patch on my back but it is only slightly dulling the pain so I've been alternating between trying not to puke and whimpering. One of the things I could do to alleviate the pain is to do some exercises on my exercise ball or use the pain balls to work some pressure points on the muscles but they are, you guessed it, in San Jose. Mom and I don't have any furniture at all so I went and got two inflatable mattresses and a camp chair for mom at Wally World. Then I had to go back and get an air pump because quick did not mean open and the mattresses would inflate. Go figure.

Larry the Cable Guy was here right on time yesterday. I'm joking, his name was Marco, but Ron White will be appearing just down the street at the Peppermill on July 4. Foreigner is going to be there next weekend and Jay Leno performed last night. I think I might have some fun here. :) I shopped at Trader Joe's yesterday and will look for Costco later in the week. I am so excited, it already feels like home.

My landlady is out of town so she said she would come by on Monday and pick up the rent. Things are going to be very tight, not that this is anything new, until I find a job and receive some of the grants for taking care of mom. Her old doctor gave me paperwork with her official diagnoses of Alzheimer's and vascular dementia which will hurry things along. I'm sure things will work out eventually.

Overall this place seems a lot more friendly than where we were and I am looking forward to a new start. Plus, I get to bag on Harry Reid instead of Feinstein and the Governator.

Thanks for all your support.

BBB