Oy! You won’t believe the adventure I’ve had, some good, some bad. I woke up Friday, rarin’ to go. I spoke to Eric, and he was very excited that I was going to see friends and family in Los Angeles.
I got the car packed with all the stuff I was bringing to my cousin’s house for the garage sale on Saturday. I got everything in and then remembered I had the two round end tables with the fabric covers. I tried to get them in, but they wouldn’t fit. As I was trying, I was noticing that scraping them against the boxes was causing them to disintegrate and leave sawdust on everything, so I figured it was best that I didn’t bring them, because they weren’t really sale-worthy anyway!
I left them right by the dumpster, so if someone wanted them they could take them, or the building manager would put them in the dumpster, if he so desired. I decided to keep the round glass tops, because it’s something easy to pack with other framed art and I could use them as a table top on any kind of base, so they were worth keeping. I completely forgot that I wanted to bring my folding table, so we’d have extra table space, but it turned out we didn’t need it, so that worked out, too.
When I was done packing, I showered, dressed and drove to Hotel Circle for my Allergy Focus Group from 12-1:30pm. It was the smallest focus group I ever participated in. I don’t know if that was due to lack of participation, or they only needed a few. I kind of think it was the former, because at first they were offering $80, and then when they called to confirm they told me it was $100, so I guess they were desperate!
They had a nice lunch served, along with snacks, and there were four of us and the interviewer, who asked us all kinds of questions. I gather that it was specifically for people who use Allegra, because that was the basis of all the questions. I’ve been using the generic Allegra for about 3 years, so I fit their requirements.
We got out promptly at 1:30pm, I picked up my $100 cash, filled up with gas, and got on the road at about 2:00pm. I figured I’d be in L.A. by 4:00pm, unless I hit a lot of traffic.
I had some great CDs with me, but I listened to the radio for a while, drinking my STARBUCKS (which I had purchased on my way to the focus group), and making great time. At around 3:00pm, I started to hit traffic. I had gone about 70 miles in one hour, and now I figured it might take me another hour to go the other 50. The traffic was pretty stop and start, so we were just rolling along, then stopping, then rolling along, then stopping.
The next thing I knew, I hit the guy in front of me. I have NO idea how it happened. I wasn’t going fast at all, and the first thing I thought was that I was hit by the guy behind me (again), because I have rear-end paranoia! That was not the case. I had rolled into the guy in front of me, but because he was in a giant Yukon, my bumper went right underneath his truck and it smashed the grill on my PT like it was made of tin foil. I didn’t know this until we pulled over to the shoulder and I looked at it. I was SHOCKED, because I thought it would be even less damage than when I was hit from behind a month ago, and I was hit pretty hard!
It was just my bad luck that instead of hitting another car, and just bumping, with no damage to either car, I hit a truck, and his bumper was slightly damaged, while my grill was smashed. Well, I’m going to make a long story short. A highway patrol officer showed up, we exited (we were just about 100 feet from the next exit, so it was very convenient), drove about 4 blocks off the exit into a residential neighborhood, the cop interviewed both cars separately, they called a tow truck for me, I emptied my car, and waited on the street for Ilene’s husband, Kyle (my knight in shining armor), to come and rescue me!
After the tow truck arrived, the highway patrol officer left. When the tow truck came and took the PT, I was left sitting on boxes on the street with my suitcase. People were driving by, stopping to ask if I needed help. I looked like someone had thrown me out and I was left homeless. They were so sweet and I explained that I was waiting to be picked up. People are so kind.
Meanwhile, I hadn’t gone to the bathroom since noon, and now I REALLY had to go, but I couldn’t ring someone’s bell and ask if I could use their bathroom and leave all my stuff on the street, so I just sat there, waiting for Kyle. He got there a lot faster than I dreamed he could (since I was 20 miles south of L.A. and it was Friday night rush hour traffic). He picked me up and dropped me off at a theatre in L.A. where Ilene’s friend’s daughter was performing in BEAUTY AND THE BEAST.
I went to the bathroom (ah, sweet relief!), and then sat down with Tyler, Evan, Elise and Ilene (Kyle went home after dropping me off). I sat through the first act, but I was so stressed, exhausted and tired that I told Ilene I didn’t think I could stay for the second act and Kyle rescued me once again by coming to pick me up.
I got back to their house and he had unloaded all my stuff into the house and onto their porch. He was SO great, and so sweet and supportive. I really was so grateful for his help.
I got washed up and into my pajamas. I had spoken to Eric so many times during the whole afternoon and he was so upset. I really felt bad, because I was fine and I hated to upset him, and he was frustrated because he’s so far away and he feels so bad already that I’m dealing with the whole move by myself, and now he felt even worse, because this happened. I told him the only thing that mattered was that I’m fine, and I’m coming home in 7 days!
When Ilene and the kids got home we relaxed for a while and then they set up the pull-out bed that inflates in the living room and I settled in for the night. I was comfy and cozy, but unfortunately, I was so overtired, stressed, and exhausted that I didn’t sleep very well. I tossed and turned, thinking about the accident, about Conrad at home alone, about Eric in NY worried about me, and about everything I had to do before I left San Diego. It wasn’t the worst night’s sleep I ever had, but it certainly wasn’t the best!