2020 strikes again:
(and other things
)
Holy what a year so far, Batman! As you guys have probably figured out, not much has happened lately on the boat. There's a good reason for that - I've been hanging out in eastern New Mexico for the past month. There's lots of sand here, not much water.
The current events started happening back in May when my MIL passed away. The FIL is not capable of handling his affairs alone so the wife has been taking care of him since. She's traveled back the SC once for two weeks, leaving the FIL alone and it was a total disaster, so she's basically living in NM for now. The plan is to move him close to us, and we've been working on the plan for a while. The pile of dynamite needed to dislodge him has been shrinking, slowly, we've got him used to the idea - the sticking point being when. Obviously we want it to happen post haste, while he's dragging his feet (understandably, since he's been in the same house for close to 50 years).
Queue in Part (whatever) of the drama: part of the reluctance on the FIL's part is the volume of stuff he's accumulated over the last 85 years. Not kidding here, he never threw anything away! It is a literal mountain, coupled with no discernable organizational system. So, the wife, the FIL and me had been working on a plan whereas I would make a trip to NM, do some cleanup, pack some stuff up and start the moving process, knowing that it was going to be the first trip of many. So far so good.
Part (whatever+1): during one of our daily calls the wife says she feels a lump
. A trip to the hospital reveals - without going into personal details - surgery required. All plans now are discarded, new plan required, because she can't leave the FIL alone, so the surgery will happen in NM, not in SC. Addendum to Part (whatever+1). Now it's +2. Load up the truck, empty trailer and make the trip as planned but with an extended stay to include the surgical interlude.
Upon arrival, I have some time to play packrat and cleaning boy. The mountain is still a mountain but has shrunk quite a bit (I just finished my 6th load of scrap metal to the recycler, average load 900+ lbs), lost track of the trips to the dump, the shop/barn is looking much better and things are happening.
The wife had surgery, is recovering nicely and all looks well with no complications. Whew and big sigh of relief!
I'll be back in SC late next week to keep the home front, well, up front, and I'll be able to do some boat work, but we're planning on needing several more trips out west before things get settled. So the rest of this year is pretty much toast. SH!
I have some before and after pics of the mountain, you gotta see it to believe it! And BTW, while digging through a box of stuff I found two sticks of dynamite. Not kidding.
More soon,
Cheers,
Mark
(and other things
)Holy what a year so far, Batman! As you guys have probably figured out, not much has happened lately on the boat. There's a good reason for that - I've been hanging out in eastern New Mexico for the past month. There's lots of sand here, not much water
.The current events started happening back in May when my MIL passed away. The FIL is not capable of handling his affairs alone so the wife has been taking care of him since. She's traveled back the SC once for two weeks, leaving the FIL alone and it was a total disaster, so she's basically living in NM for now. The plan is to move him close to us, and we've been working on the plan for a while. The pile of dynamite needed to dislodge him has been shrinking, slowly, we've got him used to the idea - the sticking point being when. Obviously we want it to happen post haste, while he's dragging his feet (understandably, since he's been in the same house for close to 50 years).
Queue in Part (whatever) of the drama: part of the reluctance on the FIL's part is the volume of stuff he's accumulated over the last 85 years. Not kidding here, he never threw anything away! It is a literal mountain, coupled with no discernable organizational system. So, the wife, the FIL and me had been working on a plan whereas I would make a trip to NM, do some cleanup, pack some stuff up and start the moving process, knowing that it was going to be the first trip of many. So far so good.
Part (whatever+1): during one of our daily calls the wife says she feels a lump
. A trip to the hospital reveals - without going into personal details - surgery required. All plans now are discarded, new plan required, because she can't leave the FIL alone, so the surgery will happen in NM, not in SC. Addendum to Part (whatever+1). Now it's +2. Load up the truck, empty trailer and make the trip as planned but with an extended stay to include the surgical interlude.Upon arrival, I have some time to play packrat and cleaning boy. The mountain is still a mountain but has shrunk quite a bit (I just finished my 6th load of scrap metal to the recycler, average load 900+ lbs), lost track of the trips to the dump, the shop/barn is looking much better and things are happening.
The wife had surgery, is recovering nicely and all looks well with no complications. Whew and big sigh of relief!
I'll be back in SC late next week to keep the home front, well, up front, and I'll be able to do some boat work, but we're planning on needing several more trips out west before things get settled. So the rest of this year is pretty much toast. SH!
I have some before and after pics of the mountain, you gotta see it to believe it! And BTW, while digging through a box of stuff I found two sticks of dynamite. Not kidding.
More soon,
Cheers,
Mark
