The Walterland Blog

Well, we made it. I guess you could say we are now semi-official Arizonians. We rolled in this past Friday around 11:00 (pacific time). More to follow...

A couple days ago, I discovered that being a resident of York County gives me the ability to go and... well, dump stuff at the dump.

This was kinda bitter-sweet to learn. I was told by the folks at the township building that my only other option for disposing of excess garbage was to purchase these stickers from them for $4 a piece. Thinking I had no other option... I bought 5 of them. Not too long after that I learned about the dump/incinerator.

Today, Emily and I made the journey where we were able to dispose of just less than 600 pounds of crap... for $15.66. Kinda makes me regret buying $20 worth of "stickers."

Tonight... we were able to seal the deal on selling the car. We transferred the title over, handed over the keys and they drove away with our car (for a price). That was officially the last thing keeping us in PA. We are leaving for Arizona in 6 days (8/21/06). Start the countdown...

I would like to thank Uncle Sam for calling me today. The PA Unemployment Office is apparently going over my case and needed to verify my information. While on the phone with them I was reminded that this is the first week I am eligable to make a claim. I was able to do all that by answering two questions:

1.) Did you have any income during the period of "whatever" to "whatever?"

2.) Were you able to work during that time period.

That was it. We'll see what happens next.

Yesterday we got our first bite on our ad in the paper for our camper. The fish came up with a figure that we were able to live with, so it will be heading to it's new home tomorrow evening. We had a good run with it. For us, the third time was a charm at being accident free. Let's recap:

Maiden Voyage:
- Camper popped off the hitch
- Forgot to put the jacks down and popped an embarrassing wheelie

Second Outing:
- I don't think I blogged about this one, but Natalie grabbed my coffee cup off the counter and spilled 3/4 of the cup of just brewed coffee onto her left arm and torso resulting in 2nd degree burns and a trip to the hospital. When I poured the cold water onto her arm and saw skin coming off... I wanted to burn down the camper right then and there... I thought it was cursed! Most likely it's me that has the curse and not the camper though.

The charm:
- Trouble free

The camper will be missed... sorta.

Fare-thee-well...

OK, I know I haven't blogged in a while... I have honestly been real damn busy. Here is a recap of my first week of unemployment:

Day One (Tuesday): Drove down to Virginia with Emily so I could fetch my new trailer that I'm taking out to Arizona. The trip was basically uneventful with the exception of missing one turn and ending up in West Virginia.

Day Two: Took Alex back to the airport.

Day Three: Yard sale prep work.

Day Four: First day of a two day yard sale. I didn't realize how much yard sales SUCK. I was so damn beat after the whole day was done, I fell asleep on the couch... sitting up... for one 30 minutes or so. The flip side of that coin... made a good amount of money while getting rid of a bunch of shit.

Weekend: Yardsale again on Saturday... Sunday, threw all the remaining shit in the trailer I just got earlier in the week and drove it to the Salvation Army to dump on their dock. I knew they were closed but I was just going to do a little hit and run. I chickened out when I saw all the signs warning people that "dumping" was illegal and they would prosecute. On top of the building were also a few cameras.

Following Monday: Cleaned the house... still getting ready for the big move.

Tuesday: Retrofitted the AC system in the Explorer to be able to accept R-142A refrigerant and recharged the system. Also realized my trailer hitch was hanging on by one bolt. Got my neighbor to machine me a part for the one side and tightened everything else up snug. Everything tows a lot better now. After all of that, it was time to get ready for camping!

Still Tuesday: Got to Codorus, got set up. Didn't do too much the first day... went swimming and got some dinner. Had a campfire in the evening.

Wednesday: Took about 2 hours after waking up to thaw the hell out... it was freakin COLD overnight. No one slept well. A little later in the day we rented a boat down at the marina. We took it out and I got too close to one of the islands and got the damn thing stuck in less than 5 minutes. That was embarrassing. After raising the motor a few times we got free. I then piloted us well out in the middle of the lake and let Emily pilot us around for a while. She loved it. After that, we went swimming, went in to Gettysburg for a bit, had dinner, then a campfire to end the day.

Thursday (today): Woke up and started packing immediately. I was done camping. Got home and put an ad in the paper for the camper and the car and started cleaning out the garage. After that, we all ran the crap in our trailer up to the Salvation Army... they took 95% of the stuff (much to my surprise). After that, we got some lunch and came home so I could mow the grass. This may be the last time I mow... While mowing the front yard, I hit some water valve thing. That immediately stopped the mower because it bent the fuck out of the blade. I was glad I mowed the front last. I only had like 3 more passes to make and I'd be done so I tried mowing it anyway, against my better judgment. Well, it just started digging into my yard. It reminded me of some video I saw where this kid was getting his hair cut, then the attachment fell off the clippers without them knowing it... well, there's basically a long bald spot in my front yard. I think I'll ask my neighbor if he wouldn't mind finishing it up.

I'm sure there's stuff I'm missing in there but that sums up what's been shaking recently. More to follow...