Friday, May 22, 2009

They've got a week

I've been home for 24 hours and except for one thing, it seems as if I have never been away. The Trip to Redding was a frantic whirrrrr of getting to Sacramento, getting car, getting fed, getting Jr Girl, and getting to Redding all on four hours of sleep.

The Hearing was a day of frustrations: no face-to-face so we still don't know what the other guy looks like and no movement on the part of the insurance co.

It was also, I hope, a strong shock to the insurance adjuster when we hauled out the photos that, to any motorcycle rider, categorically prove that NO, the Sr Boy did not run into her client because there is no F*cking damage to the bike except WHERE??? The SIDE of it. When was the last time any of you saw a motorcycle running into something sideways and upright??? And which side? The RIGHT side of it, the same side as the broken leg which would have been in place about the point of impact. Think about it.

Got it?

Thought so.

Apparently, no one bothered to ask to see the bike other than the iccybiccy adjuster who is used to dealing with cars so there was a large focus on the jeep but not so much on the bike as everyone was listening to the guys who could still talk and their story was that Himself had hit them and blahblahblah...

The mediator used to ride British bikes. He looked at the pictures, listened to The Juniors'explanations, observed the perfectly straight front forks and true front wheel and took the pictures into the other room. I don't know what he said but it wasn't enough to get the local adjuster to move. If she's smart, she'll be spending this long weekend down there making some calls to her higher-ups and maybe looking for a new job.

The Afternoon of the Hearing Day was driving back to Sacramento trying to decide what the orchards were that weren't olives or citrus (Why doesn't CA take a note from WA and put labels on things like that, big labels that can be read by curious Canadians?) and wondering where the water for all the rice paddies had come from and what happened to it after it was finished in the paddies. And trying not to think about all the effort and energy we had expended to get the three of us down there to have nothing in our hands to come home with.

The Afternoon finished with the usual when I am driving without looking at the map: lostness of tempers and tears in the bath.

The Evening was better: excellent meal and wine in this place and a taxi ride in a converted police car (The Jrs were very impressed, I was oblivious other than wondering if the holes in the dash were possibly created by bullets being the YouNitedStates and all - apprently not, simply boltholes from removed equipment) followed by the helpful people at the airline (that is not an oxymoronic combination - they were helpful airline employees) who changed The Jr Boy's and my flight so we were leaving about the same time as The Jr Girl. This was a good idea in theory but meant another night of about 4.5 hours of sleep for Miss I-Have-to-Return-the-Rental-Car-and-I-Don't-Know-How-Long-That-Will-Take.

So, here I am: Home again and nothing different

Except for the piano in the family room.

The Sr Boy's father's piano arrived yesterday afternoon.

Good thing we changed our flights.

Guess I'll be looking for a piano teacher.

And figuring out a new furniture conformation.

I'm supposed to be getting rid of stuff, right??

Still breathing

and playing scales......

Sunday, May 17, 2009

Why I haven't been answering the phone. Part 2

This is how the week has gone:

Tuesday morning: "May we have 20 - 30 photos representing your husband's life? and may we have them by Thursday?"
Tuesday evening: "Where are your family statements about what the loss of your husband has meant to you and your children?" Ah yes, those - the ones that are to be one-page, practical-not-emotional and, therefore, supposedly 'easier' to write. The ones the other lawyer said we didn't need until the morning of the hearing.

All I can say is it's a damgood thing I got laid off because this dealing with the last-minute is a full-time job.

Thanks be for friends with computer skills and my unwillingness to put away the photos The Juniors chose to represent The Sr Boy on the posterboards for the post-funeral BBQ and bike gathering wingding almost 3 years ago.

Thanks be for amazing English teachers for both The Juniors.

Thanks be for The Juniors who are dealing with this with suspiciously adult grace.

If this new stage were a child, it wouldn't even be in pre-school yet....

Only 3 more sleeps....

Off to dig in the dirt

Still breathing

Monday, May 11, 2009

Waiting

A week tomorrow, The Juniors and I will be going to Sacramento, CA and thence to Redding for a hearing about The Sr Boy's accident. After all these months, it will seem to most people that we may be "getting near the end."

Except that it isn't the end. I don't think this ever "ends". It is hard to explain - this emptiness, the silence - and Himself used to say, "If I have to explain, they won't understand." I don't want to seem cryptic but there is really nothing to be said about this other than "A week tomorrow, I will be..."

Not sleeping all that well and not answering the phone much but pruning the garden bushes

and

still breathing

Sunday, May 03, 2009

New Career??

Well, that went better than expected!

Upon checking The Cottage on Tuesday, "There," as my family likes to say, "he was gone" - Yay!!!! Upon close checking, there it was ICK!!

While there weren't crreeeepppyyy crawlies or needles or other such lovely things, there was grotty person dirt. And stuff: odd stuff - an apparently good pasta pot - he must have lifted one from work and doesn't need another?? All the cleaning supplies - what, he's not going to clean in his next place? Oh, wait, he wasn't cleaning in this place so I guess he didn't need 'em. A scrofulous hide-a-bed. 27 clothes hangers. And so on.

Large sighs of relief heaved about the emptiness and a bit of concern about the stuff + dirt issue. More discussion with Dad: do it ourself and take weeks vs get help and get it done. He agreed that the two pages of single-space typing listing cleaning and repairs required was going to take too long if I had to leave again soon (I do) so back to the phone and help was acquired.

Here is what money can buy: 2 lovely Cleaners: hard workers and easy on the eyes who started at 0730 and finished at 1630 (that's 16 hours of cleaning for a 500 sq ft cottage!) and 2 lovely Junk Guys: hard workers and easy on the eyes as well (the e-o-t-e part seems to be the bonus I get for having to do this stuff. Remember the tree guys in the previous evict??) The Junk Guys arrived at 1030 and left at 1115 with a full load as Dad decided to also start the clear out of the shed behind the cottage and that was good with the sofa-bed and the non-working ("I didn't want to tell you because I was embarassed about not paying the rent") frig for filling up about 3/4 of the truck bed. All this on Friday and we spent the day alternately hauling stuff out, sorting and re-packing the shed, re-setting the railway track (don't ask - it involved me with a shovel and bowlined rope around my waist and my father calling directions down the cliff. An improvement over what he was planning which was the opposite configuration of available personnel which could have led to a premature sorting out of the rest of his estate!) and oohing and aahing over the improvement. The 2 page list is down to about half a page. Next up? Painting - also to be hired out.

We celebrated yesterday by going to the Crow and Gate for lunch and came home to a phone message from my father's cleaning lady: "Is your daughter still there? If so, would she be willing to help me with a tenancy issue?" Four hours later, I think she is sorted....

I should hang out my shingle.

Off to smell the lilacs and gird loins for the pre-California preparation.

Still breathing