You are lost

Page isn’t a very large town and the area we were in was like a dust bowl with a Wal-Mart dropped in the middle of it.  Sara’s mom had to take the grandmother somewhere to get the thumb looked at and we had to wait for Matt’s car to cool down enough to quit spitting coolant, so we were stuck in the parking lot.  The mid day sun was hot and unforgiving, making the Wal-Mart more hellish than usual.  We grabbed some subs from the in store Subway and hid in the small amount of shade the trailer provided to eat.

After some time had passed Sara’s mother and grandmother returned.  Since the grandmother had severed the tendon of her thumb there was nothing the local doctor could do for her; she’d have to see a specialist.  This meant spending the night in Flagstaff when we got there, and possibly more delays in an already long journey.  Feeling not at all refreshed we got back on the 89 and headed south.

The drive to Flagstaff was pretty, but uneventful.  The air became cooler and short shrubberies gave way to tall ponderosas.  We were making good time, though late in the afternoon, when we hit a snag just outside Flagstaff.  The truck got a flat tire.  A bad one.  We had AAA roadside service, which took a while to get there to service the vehicle.  It was dark by the time we got moving again.  Good thing we weren’t planning on going much furthur.

We found a hotel in Flagstaff.  The grandmother, feeling pretty bad about the delays she had wrought, bought us all pizza.  Matt and I spent a good deal of time chain smoking while wandering around the balcony areas.  The new plan of action for the next day was formed.  Sara would stay behind with the grandmother to take her to the hospital while the rest of us would continue on to Phoenix to unload the trailer at Matt’s grandparents.

The drive from Flagstaff to Phoenix was quick and easy, made only more so by not having the grandmother along.  We made it to Matt’s grandparent’s house and after a very brief rest and greetings we unloaded all of our material possessions into their garage.

Later that night Sara and the grandmother arrived.  We all sat together reminiscing about the events of our journey, enjoying each others presence before the mother and grandmother had to depart.  After many hugs and goodbyes they headed on their way.

And so after 4 long days of driving we finally made our destination and settled into our guest rooms on the 10th of August.

Linh had transferred with Wal-Mart, and would be employed in Cottonwood, over 100 miles from Phoenix, so finding housing became the next priority.  We began looking into Campe Verde, Prescott, Chino Valley, Cottonwood; anywhere closer and considerably cooler.  The northern part of Arizona has a higher altitude and a considerably more tolerable climate.  Some house hunting could be done online, but most of it would been done “on foot”, which meant commuting 200 miles back and forth each day to look at houses.  We grew very fond of the radio very quickly.

Linh had to return to work before we found a place to live, and the long drives back and forth looking for houses were time consuming and expensive; we’d been searching for about a week.  We had taken a liking to Prescott Valley, for it’s affordability, job opportunities and temperate climate.

Sara and Matt finally found what was to be our new domicile.  I had become ill the day prior and had vomited in the front yard of a house we were looking into at the time, and thusly was not present for the moment of discovery.  The location was nice, the price was good, the landlords were pretty cool.  Everything clicked.  The landlords were a little concerned about renting to a bunch of unemployed kids, but after flashing some money and job credentials we were in.

Linh stationed herself at the house first, being as it was over 120 miles closer to work, while the rest of us prepared for moving again.  We wouldn’t have the luxury of the large trailer this time, but Matt’s uncle Steve had a smaller trailer and after several trips we got everything moved in.

And so that’s how we came to live in Prescott Valley.  With the financial obligation of shelter on our shoulders we set out looking for work immediately.  Being a strip mall on a highway most of us were applying at big box stores, and after a couple of weeks we were all gainfully employed again.

Sara won a mattress set during a work event, so we now have a brand new Bamboo mattress to sleep on.  It usually goes for around $1,000 so free is pretty sweet, but most importantly it’s pretty comfy.

They put a 2nd Stacker machine in the mall, so now we have 4 to raid in the area.  I probably haven’t had a chance to mention yet that our household, Matt in particular, is pretty damn good at Stacker.  Our haul so far?  An electric scooter, a Nintendo DS, a Creative Zen M Mp3 player and 2 GPS systems (one is a Tom Tom, I don’t remember what brand the other is).  We’ve maybe put $50 - $70 into the machines since we started playing so we’re pretty pleased with our success thus far.

So with the help of Larry’s mechanical prowess we changed the starter on my car.  It was a long procedure that involved removing the exhaust manifold to get at the starter but in the end I learned many things.

The most important thing I learned is about shims, and how they don’t belong next to the flywheel ring gear.

For those of you who are as confused as I was here’s a breakdown of how it works:  the starter receives a jolt of electricity from the battery when you turn your key.  This causes it to spin.  A small gear meshes with the gear of the fly wheel which cranks your engine and everyone is happy.  A shim is a spacer.  In order for the gears of the starter and the flywheel to mesh properly you have to have the right amount of space in between.  My shim had come loose and was in the flywheel housing, bent to shit and eaten away from grinding on the flywheel gear.

Hahaha I feel enlightened.  And sunburned.  Proper sun protection is important if you’re going to spend most of your day outside working on a car.

“You can’t place faith in material things / material things will fail you” -Machines Of Loving Grace

So my day was exciting.  I had to go to Flagstaff for management level food safety testing and certification.  Before heading out I tried to check some things online but the power supply on my computer decided to go wonky and I got blue screened instead.  Whatever.  So I head off, take the course, finish the test, and having completed my mission prepare to set course for home… but my starter isn’t engaging.  Yay!  Stranded halfway across the state!

Anyway, I beat my starter in to submission with a crowbar and made it back home.  As for my computer… it seems something had come loose so after checking all the connections it’s working fine.

The boy introduced me to the awesomeness of Ronald Jenkees.  I thought I’d share that experience.

Thanks to the loving patience of Sara my site works again.  Woohoo!  I’ve got a little tinkering around still to do, but it’s nice to have it working proper again.

We’ve got a lot of catching up to do.  But that’ll have to wait for another day.

After nearly 3 weeks of abstinence I have resumed my nicotine habit.  I’m beginning to remember the reasons I decided to quit but I can tolerate my job again.

My DM had to reschedule our meeting on account of his becoming ill after a trip to Mexico.  I haven’t heard back from him for almost a week.  I like the guy but part of me hopes it’s Swine Flu.

Speaking of overdue pandemics and scares over the years, does anyone else remember SARS?  God that was funny.

So I have a game for everyone to play!  You’re fucking excited aren’t you?  It only works well if you’re in debt, or at least being in debt makes it more interesting.  It all starts with a simple question:  What did you buy with the last of your money?  Let me clarify a little.  Most of us owe someone large amounts of money be it through student loans, credit card debt or perhaps a home loan.  So think back to before you saddled your debts to when you had any money you didn’t owe anyone else, the last money that was truly yours.  What did you spend it on?  Not the purchase that put you under, but the purchase that brought you to $0.  Then think about what that might say about your priorities in life.  I’d love to hear your stories so feel free to respond.

Here are a couple of examples from around the house to get you going:

Matt-  Shortly after turning 18 was down to his last few ill-begotten dollars which he used to buy a stick of Old Spice deodorant and a pack of cheap razors.  Conclusion:  Buying hygiene products turned out to be a good investment, potentially leading to his getting laid and eventually married.

Lynh- Used to pay for everything in cash.  Really good with her money.  She bought a car with the last large lump of it.  Then college began.  Conclusion:  Cars are made to go places.  Lynh wanted to go places in life.

And for me?  I haven’t really pinned it down to one item yet, but I’m working on it.  So far my unofficial answer goes something like this:

Chris- At the age of 23 I had a large disposable income and no financial obligations.  I would save up large sums of money then splurge on whatever took my fancy that month.  I needed a bedroom set, a car and a new computer.  I also had some other interests that we won’t mention here that took some capital.  Somewhere in there I hit the $0 mark and a little past.  I had nearly recovered fully before moving to AZ.  Conclusion:  Luxury.  SxRxR&R.  I traded the last of my financial freedom to create my own mini feel-good empire.

How about you?

Still not fixed.  Hmm.

It’s been 1 week of not smoking.  So far so good.

Explored around Prescott and Prescott Valley a bit more lately.  Found some neat areas.  I’ll have to take some new pictures soon.

Fallout 3 is great, and the soundtrack is wonderful too.

Full of buffet… must digest.

My blog is all hurr.  I’m still working on that.

I’m attempting quitting smoking again.  So far 4 days.

Wii fit is fun.

Starbucks is not fun.  Or cool.  Tell your friends.  Not cool.

I was hoping that by April I would have done enough damage to my debts to move again, but it’s looking like that might not happen.  Poop.

John McCain will be in Prescott tomorrow night.  I’m tempted to go.

In case I haven’t said it in a while or haven’t made it clear:  I hate my job.  Taking this position has been nothing but stress since I started.  Some days it’s not so bad, but some days it’s just not worth it.

I’m hungry.

Forwards, backwards, forwards, backwards… every time I turn around, any way I try to look at it there’s always more of it.  I could build a replica of every house I’ve ever lived in out of all the paperwork that keeps appearing for me to do.

Meetings here, a walkthrough there… make it happen.  Corporations suck.  This would be easier if I were on salary so I could just work without worrying about hours.

Nothing else really happening.