Trials, Troubles, & Tribulations With Teamsters

It's a pleasant night here in Natchitoches. I spent part of this evening playing with the neighborhood kätze (that's cats, for you non-German speakers) and taking their pictures. Oh, and I got eaten alive by skeeters that have these funky black & white striped legs. I think I should go get some tonic water in case these buggers carry malaria.

Alright. I've got the ashes. Got the death certs. The next time I hear from the realtor will be when I get a bid on the house. The succession hoo-ha awaits only a signed affidavit from my uncle & stepaunt and then it gets shipped off to the court. I think I've done everything I can possibly do here. I know I have a mound of paperwork the size of Texas awaiting me at home.

My trials, troubles, and tribulations with the movers seem to be over. On Tuesday I received a call saying that they would not be able to make it on Wednesday. Instead they would be here Friday (tomorrow). Not having heard from them about a pickup time, I called around 1 this afternoon. And I got the dispatcher's voice mail. So I leave a message. Three or four hours later still no word. So I call again and get a friendly woman who said that we were still on schedule for a Friday pickup but she'd have to call and find out the time. Would it be alright if she called me back? Suuuuuure. How can I fight the Teamsters?

So I waited around. Miss Rosie called to make sure I hadn't gotten a job and settled down here. Then I called an aunt and chatted for a while. As we were talking, a kätze jumped up to the window and started meowing loudly. I ain't superstitious but it was a black cat. At the end of the call, I was given explicit instructions by my aunt to "keep in touch and call". I also received an email from my cousin who's in the Navy. He's been sending me pictures of his carrier battle group out in the Pacific. He retires later this year and will move back to the Twin Cities. He's even promised a visit to Madison once he's a civilian again. It makes me sad, in a way, to start reacquainting myself with members of my family only after my dad's death but better late than never, I guess. It's always nice to chill with others who are cursed with the same genes as I get to do it so infrequently.

Anyway, after coming in from the skeeters and the kätze, I found a couple messages awaiting me. One informed me that the movers will be here Saturday morning between 8-8:30. I was even given the driver's cell phone # so I can harrass him if need be. Granted, if I were to do so, I'd have some Teamsters show up and kick my ass but - hey - at least that would mean that they're not ignoring me.

So the plan is to leave Saturday morning after the movers leave. Just 2 more nights of sleeping on the floor! And there's chocolate waiting for me in Madison. At least there had better still be.

Well, I'm gonna air drum with a couple pens to this Gentle Giant song before tuning back into The Majority Report hosted by my new love, Janeane Garofalo, comes back from commercial. And this air drumming is harder than you think - damn contrapuntal music!