Changes are Coming :: Empty Spaces

It's looking a little empty here in the apartment. As stated in Changes are Coming :: The Plan I have been selling off lots of stuff - the washing machine and dryer were the first to go, just before the Georgia trip. It's been over 20 years since I've experienced the "joys" of going to a Laundromat! But it is something that I'll have to adjust to along with life on the road.

Over the past four weeks bookcases have been sold as well as filing cabinets, the dining room table, end tables and other household items. Today the television disappeared as did the living room furniture (sofa, loveseat, chair, ottoman). The only pieces of furniture left are my computer desk, two chairs, and the bed. Those will be the last things to go into storage the end of next week. The place definitely has that empty feeling!

It's sad in a way, to see things you've enjoyed using going off to a new home. But they are just things and I wasn't really attached to most of the furniture since I'd only had it three years - though I really hated to part with the dining room table, it was quite nice.

The van is almost set up the way I want it - thanks to some very good friends (Cindy, Bill & Ben) who spent an entire day (14 hours actually) planning, designing and building the "platform" to even out the floor of the van and to provide access to storage areas and a sleeping area. It's awesome and much better than I had envisioned.

Window coverings need to be added to the van and then I think it will be ready to go! I'm still trying to figure out how to do that but got an idea last night that should work. At least, I'm hoping it will…

After the Georgia trip, the van was serviced and tires aligned. At that time the service manager said two of the tires would have to be replaced but that they should last several more months, till winter at least. I had an uneasy feeling about them and every couple of days would look at them. I noticed that on one of the tires the steel belts were showing through! There was still quite a bit of tread in the middle of the tires but the sides were worn bare. So, yesterday I got two new tires and that uneasy feeling has gone away, along with several hundred dollars.

The van is doing pretty good on mileage. Not what my little Cavalier got, but then the van is a 6-cylinder vehicle. It has been averaging 23-24 mpg around town and driving back and forth from Albion to Columbia City. On the Georgia trip it got 26 mpg on the Interstates and 21 mpg the two days in Brunswick. Not too bad, better than its rating of 17 mpg/city and 24 mpg/highway. So far I'm quite happy with my choice and I'm hoping it will serve me well.

To say that I'm tired right now would be an understatement. I'm exhausted. Physically, mentally, and emotionally. But there is still lots to do. This coming week I'll finish the packing (which is mostly done, whew!), work on window coverings for the van, finish scanning a small box I found with pictures from Dad (mostly unidentified), load software on the new netbook (a lovely, amazing piece of hardware!), figure out how to use the mapping software and GPS, work on ancestor reports and continue making the research list, try to get caught up on blog reading (3 days this week I never even connected to the 'net!) as well as go visit friends and relatives that I want to see before I go. All that, and only 9 days left before departure! Oh my, the end of the month is coming up awfully quick.