DAY 15: Chaos Ramps Up

After a lousy night of semi-sleep, we were up at dawn; Nathan was soaking in the tub, trying to loosen up his body. The U-Pack haunted us every time we passed the foyer; it was visible from our front door.

At 8 AM, I requested a tow to the tire shop I had booked an appointment with the night before, for my 9 AM installation appointment. It was due to arrive at 8:50, which would work perfectly.

At 8:50, a call came in from the towing company; they were confirming the address and said their ETA was 9:45. UGH. I immediately called the tire shop which was very accommodating, rescheduling me to 10.

At 9:30, said tire store called me again - their ONLY scheduled tire installer called out. Could I reschedule for tomorrow...? No, I really can't! We need to be mobile. I then scrambled to call the few other stores that Google said were open on Sunday; 2 just rang and rang; 1 was disconnected. I was also looking online and Firestone was open and had a tire in stock, so I requested their first available appointment at 2 PM...and waited for e-mail confirmation of the appointment. The minutes creeped by, and before I knew it, the tow truck had arrived. I made the executive decision to tow to Firestone and beg/plead with them if I had to, in order to get the tire installed the same day.

Naturally, the tow driver was not eager to re-route and told me I had to call his company. I showed him on a map that it was the same distance (about 1 mile away) and gave him my woeful story. He caved, and started loading up our car. Then he gave me more bad news: all four tires looked awful - cracked, peeling....a disaster waiting to happen.
I don't know what that stringy-thing is, but it can't be good!

Knowing I would hopefully be transporting 3 cats across town, in the dead of summer, on Phoenix freeways later that afternoon, I prepared for that hemorrhaging of cash. On a car we will be selling in 2 weeks. That is nine years old, with 110k miles on it.

We rode to the Firestone store and the lady at the counter agreed to have our car worked in on the calendar, as scheduled. The tires they had in stock were $880 for four. Probably 25% of the value of the car, but we were stuck. I signed for the work with the guarantee it would be finished the same day, and Clayton picked me up.

Zach moseyed over around noon and helped for a few hours; most important was having him help us load that pinball machine. We don't know exactly how heavy it is, but it's a beast.

On a day when, "What else could go wrong..?", we then received a dust storm warning. It's monsoon season in Arizona, but we have had one, maybe two windy storms, nothing like what we usually see with torrential rain and dust. About that time, Firestone called that the car was ready, so Zach took me over to pick it up, and we returned back to the home just in time for the rain to start. Why not..?

Everyone scrambled to return the items in our driveway back into the garage, which we had to close on account of the driving rain. 

The storm passed before too long, and thankfully dropped the temperature and the humidity slightly.

We called it a day around 5 again, not having lunch. I was to check on my mom's cat as she is on a trip, and her home is maybe three miles from our AirBnB. I wrangled our cats into their carriers, loaded them in the car, and hit the road; Clayton was going to drop Nathan at the AirBnB along with our checked bags, since he drives a pickup.

As soon as I hit the freeway, I realized: I left my mom's house key at our house. Expletives ensued. I called Nathan and asked him to go back and get it, since the cats were not interested in an extended ride.

30 minutes later, we arrived at the rental, and I unloaded three very grumpy cats. They were cautious but curious, checking out their new temporary home.

As expected, the house is not nearly as nice as the photos made it look; I tried to temper that with the fact that our options were limited on rentals that allow three cats, and it's just for 16 days. Well, 15, since we didn't check in on the first day of the rental.

Mela thankfully showed up minutes later - she had made us all dinner! Egg salad and bacon sandwiches, perfect as no one wanted hot, heavy food after a blistering day toiling in the heat.

Nathan and Clayton rolled in shortly after. We ate, then I headed to my mom's house to tend to her cat.

When I returned to the AirBnB, I showered, and we crashed - physically, mentally, and emotionally spent. What a day!

We did not hit our goal of having the trailer totally loaded and ready on Day 2. We HAD to finish it on Day 3, or else we'd start incurring fees. Time to kick it into high gear..!