I managed to sleep until almost 9:00am. It’s a miracle! Okay, I didn’t turn off the TV until 1:00pm, but it’s still 8 hours!
Unfortunately, Eric had a bad night. He has one of his neckache/headaches and it’s really bad. It’s definitely stress, but what can you do? Knowing what causes it doesn’t stop it from happening, or make it go away.
The guy who wants the RV was supposed to call this morning and let us know when he was leaving and when he would get here. At 10:30am he still had not called. Meanwhile, I called the woman who sold us the RV and asked her to send us the Lien Release letter via UPS or FED EX, so we might know exactly when it will arrive. If she sends it registered mail, you have to sit at home to sign for it, but you don’t know when it will arrive – it could be anytime, morning or afternoon.
We would like to avoid having Eric sit in the apartment for days, waiting for this thing to arrive, so if they send it via UPS or FED EX you usually get a date and an approximate time of delivery (although we’ve had problems with that, too -- it’s all in the blog – Labor Day weekend in Chicago – DHL!).
It’s a good thing we had no plans for this weekend, because we have to play it by ear until Eric feels better and the guy calls. I’m almost hoping he doesn’t call, because I’d much rather sell the RV with the original Lien Release letter in hand and sell it to someone who lives a bit closer to us. This is really complicating matters.
I spoke to my niece, Melissa, this morning. She will be going into the hospital next Wednesday and will probably be released after 24 hours. They’ll operate in the morning, monitor her overnight and let her go home on Thursday. I’m so happy for her, because she will finally be on the road to recovery. She has been through so much and it’s just horrible all the symptoms she’s had to suffer with – a fever for 3 months? Itching? It’s like a test of endurance, strength and persistence and she is a master. She was taking kick-boxing classes! Anyway, our thoughts and prayers are with her for a super-speedy recovery, so her life can finally get back to normal!
So, Eric and I hung around the apartment until a little after noon and then we said, “The hell with it!” and we decided to go out to lunch and to the movies to see HAMLET 2. We were about to leave when the phone rang. It was the guy and he said he was coming down to San Diego. Eric said we were going out and that we wouldn’t be back in the apartment until 5:30pm. He said he’d plan it so that he got there after 5:30pm.
We went out and drove to HILLCREST to find a place to eat. We ended up at BRIAN’S AMERICAN EATERY, which is a diner our friends Marianne and Allan told us about. It’s on Washington, off Cleveland (two of our presidents!). It has a total 50s diner style with lots of booths and a fun 50s décor.
Eric got a BLT, which came with onion rings and I got a veggie melt. It came with two sides and Eric wanted macaroni and cheese and french fries. They really didn’t have many healthy choices, but this was REALLY heavy on the carbs! I mostly just ate my sandwich, which was really good, but I did try the fries and mac & cheese, which were great, too. Eric had a vanilla malted, but I just had an iced tea.
We asked if they had any t-shirts or mugs, or any souvenirs, because we have a good friend in NY named Brian, and a brother-in-law, too, but they said they didn’t have anything. Boo hoo! It would have been so cool to mail Brian a t-shirt with his name on it! I noticed that the employees didn’t even have the restaurant name on their shirts. They all just wore black polo shirts!
After lunch we drove up Washington a few miles to see where we’d end up, and then took the 805 back to Balboa and Clairemont Drive, which is right near the shopping center where the movie theatre is.
We stopped at STARBUCKS (of course) and then went to see HAMLET 2. It was really funny.
I was surprised to learn that one of the leads (a high school theatre nerd) was in the original cast of SPRING AWAKENING on Broadway, which means Eric and I saw him perform! Wow! He was so cute and funny in this movie.
After the movie we headed back to the apartment. I was thrilled to find that the check we were expecting from the union actually arrived. Now, if my paycheck comes on Monday I’ll be feeling a LOT better about our mail delivery!
Eric still had a bad headache, so he decided to take a nap and I decided to join him. When we woke up it was 8:00pm and we hadn’t heard from RV guy. Then the phone rang and it was him. He said he couldn’t come today and would come tomorrow. This is the fourth time he’s said he was coming and didn’t show. First, he was supposed to come Friday morning, but he didn’t make it. Then, he was supposed to come Friday night, but he didn’t make it.
Now, he was supposed to come this morning, but he didn’t make it, and then he told us he’d come tonight, and he didn’t make it. The truth is, I’m not worried about it, because we still don’t have the original Lien Release document (more on that in a minute), and I’d much rather hand the buyer the original document and the title when we sell, plus the fact that there are lots of other buyers interested, so I’m really not stressing. It’s just a pain in the ass to get your hopes up so many times and then have them dashed.
So, I called and asked the seller in NY to please FED EX the document to us instead of mailing, so we would get it ASAP. She agreed and it was sent out this afternoon and should be here on Monday morning. I have a tracking number, so I can track the package. It cost almost $40!!!!
Eric was so surprised it was so expensive, but I know when you send things overnight, and on the weekend, it’s more expensive. I thought the woman would tell me to forget the money, because it’s really THEIR fault that we’re going through all this – and it’s absolutely no fault of our own – but of course she told me exactly how much and I told her I’d send a check. I’ll tell you one thing – I’m not sending the check until the document has arrived safely and until the RV is sold.
After we knew that the RV guy wasn’t coming, I decided to do a load of laundry with all my work clothes. Eric carried everything down for me and then comes when I’m done “steaming” he carries it all back, so we can hang it on the line together.
As I’m typing this, Eric is watching TV in the bedroom and I can hear Conrad tweeting. He’s not really singing. He just tweets every few minutes. It’s like he’s trying to get Eric’s attention, I swear. I really think he’s bonded with Eric a lot more than me, but that’s probably because Eric’s home so much more.
I hear Eric whistling back, and making noises, and then sometimes I hear him say, “What birdie? What Conrad?” as if Conrad is talking to him and he really wants to understand. How cute is that? Then, I heard him say, “Birdie” but kind of in a baby talk. It’s the cutest thing. Eric is so sweet with animals. That’s something I always loved about him. He can’t pass a dog on the street without petting it. He always loved the stray cats we’d rescue, and would really get attached to them. When we first started dating, he loved my parakeet, Duke, too. You always know if a guy is sweet with animals, he’s got a good heart.
We have no plans for tomorrow, but I need to go food shopping. We’ll probably go have brunch someplace. The good thing about cell phones is that we don’t have to wait around for this guy to call. We can go about our business. Remember the days when you sat at home waiting for a call? Remember before there were even answering machines?
I can remember in the early 80s sitting in my apartment waiting for a guy to call for a date and being afraid to even go to the bathroom, because this was also before cordless phones and I would have to RUN from the bathroom to the living room where the phone was. OMG! I can remember answering the phone and if it wasn’t who I was waiting for I’d say, “I can’t talk now!” and hang up and then worry for the next hour that he tried during the 5 seconds I was on the phone and got a busy signal. How neurotic was I?
Do you know that in the 70s and early 80s, when I went on auditions, I paid for a service that would answer the phone and take messages and then you’d call the service and say, “Are there any messages for me?” Can you imagine? These businesses all went bust when the answering machine was invented. Now, there aren’t even many answering machines sold anymore (if at all), because phone companies all have the voice mail service. Only my parents in Florida still have a regular answering machine. Does anyone else reading this have a regular answering machine? We don’t even have a landline anymore. Just our two cell phones. Who needs it?
Well, I’m going to watch TV with Eric. There’s not much on, so maybe we’ll rent a movie! Before I close, I want to say HAPPY, HAPPY BIRTHDAY to our darling friend, Ted!