Wednesday, January 16, 2013

Not so fast there, Bucko!

Still hanging out with those phones,  as it were.  Somehow in our conversation I failed to point blank ask the Relocation Lady (that’s going to be her moniker from now on, methinks) if she handled everything right up until and after “moving day”.  Well, it’s probably just as well I didn’t, as I would not have been overly keen on the answer. 

See,  she can look after handing over the keys, reading the meters, closing accounts and all that stuff,  but she doesn’t get to pick the movers.  That’s not her deal.  That bit of activity has to come from the very smart people in Texas.  Oh joy.

 

When Travelling Companion finally got home last night she mentioned this little snippet,  and then proceeded to call someone in Texas to ask just what the plan was.  I don’t remember her exact words, since I think too much blood had rushed to my head at that point.  Deafening,  really.

The simpleton on the other end was going to “call someone right away”,  at which point T.C. mentioned that it was after 8:00 p.m. in Austria (and the rest of Europe for that matter,  not that they’d know where that is)  and whom exactly were they going to call??

 

I’m firmly of the opinion that the people who are running that dog and pony show only have one set of functioning teeth to go around,  and half their time is spent looking for it.   Not that I’d want to imply that they’re a bunch of toothless… idiots or anything.  Who me?

There was a word that starts with ‘f’ that I wanted to insert between ‘toothless’ and ‘idiots’,  but I’ll let you figure that out.

I’m calm.  Really. 

 

I mentioned that Travelling Companion was a wee bit late last night,  and that was due to her last ever trip up to the Czech Republic.  She and her replacement decided to make the trip together.  Some sort of act of solidarity or something.  Certainly not a requirement.  It wasn’t really T.C.’s deal at all,  but I guess she felt bad about sending the replacement off into the boonies on her own.   

My preference would have been for the two of them to just stay over night in Shrems or Gmünd, instead of driving home in the dark. 

None of us (I’m including myself here, especially) do so well driving at night any more.  Visual acuity going down the tubes and such.  To top off the lateness, the Crackberry that she had been using for the longest time finally decided to take a powder a few weeks back (wouldn’t hold a charge) and the new one has been having some fits connecting up to the Bluetooth in the car.  So phone communications were somewhat pitiful.  I therefore had no clue where the heck they were. The original plan was to leave at 3:00 p.m., and when I hadn’t heard anything until well into the evening,  I did start to vacillate between being concerned and annoyed. 

I gave up worrying about what could possibly happen on the road way back at some point in 1999 or 2000.  It’s just not even worth troubling my little pea brain.  Just the same, when there’s no word?  It’s very easy for the mind to wander.  It would have helped if my call at around 7:30 p.m. didn’t go straight to voice mail.  

Turns out the “leaving at three” plan was a bust.  Presumably there was some evaporated time involved,  since she came to the door with a bag of goodies,  along with some flowers.

 

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Of course,  having an actual flower vase hanging around is a bit of a challenge in these parts,  and we only have one glass one,  which was part of a previous “parting gift” when we left the Netherlands.  It was in use,  so we had to rummage around for the collapsible green plastic one that Daughter Number Two discovered and gave to us for Christmas a few years back.   It’s actually kind of a neat thing really,  since it stores flat,  and then to use it you fill it with warm water which softens the plastic enough to make it into a vase.  Who thinks up this stuff?

You’ll notice though,  that the flowers are in the corner?  The vase is actually too small and the whole arrangement is top heavy, but it’ll have to do.

 

 

It’s ever so slightly above the freezing point today in Wienerland,  although it just didn’t feel like it.  Probably had to do with wind I would imagine.

The view out on the street this morning. 

Oooh,  look at all those shoppers!

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You’ll notice the red and white sticks leaning up against the buildings?   Those are to warn passers-by of the possibility of snow falling off the buildings.  I guess it’s their version of “due diligence”. 

 

I think tomorrow is going to be story time around here.  I might have something in the wings.  

Y’all come back!    And keep those sticks on the ice.

 

Thanks for looking.

 

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4 comments:

  1. The only time Jim and I even thought about fighting with each other was when we were moving from VA to MT. So stressful. Good luck you guys.

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  2. Hmmmm, that vase looks like something that should be in an RV. I can't imagine dealing with the Company and Texas and the entire moving thing across that giant ocean to, you know, that place the Texas guy has no clue about. I was moved by the government a couple of times, within the US of A, just between a couple of states and it was crazy making. Nice not to have to pay for it, but still crazy making. Your stories remind me of those days. Ahhhhhhhh. Retirement. Now if I move, I have to do it myself. hmmmm....maybe I'll just roll around in an RV instead of actually moving anything. Good Luck!

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Well, I've been getting too many spam comments showing up. Just a drag, so we'll go another route and hope that helps. So, we won't be hearing anything more from Mr. Nony Moose.
I guess I'll just have to do without that Gucci purse.