PA

Well, I made it to Clarion, PA. A day from hell.

The movers: They were supposed to load the truck from 8-10. At 8, two guys from the local agency arrive. No truck. They get a call from the driver who says he is stuck in traffic on the GW Bridge. They move all of the boxes outside. They can't do anything with the furniture because the driver has all of the blankets. We wait. Wait some more. Driver went the wrong way on our street. We tell him to turn around. He drives up and has to turn around to be on the right side of the street. 18 wheeler. He has been tearing down wires throughout UC and Jersey City because they are hanging too low above the street. He finally pulls up. He is with another guy who has his head buried in his hands. Driver is pissed. He gives me attitude about the local office not recommending a shuttle truck because of the wires. I said they didn't think there would be a problem and I didn't have a problem the last time an 18 wheeler delivered my stuff. I am also confused because I contracted with Mayflower so why is United Van Lines at my doorstep? United owns Mayflower. Funny since I was debating between both companies for the move.

He gets out of his snit with me and everyone starts wrapping up the furniture and loading the truck. At one point, I am standing outside and I hear the driver yelling at this other guy. I start to feel uncomfortable so I go back inside. He continues to yell at him...loud enough for me to hear at the back of our apartment. Nice. They finish around 2. They were supposed to be down at 10. I tipped extra nice because I felt bad for the guys working with this driver. It will be interesting to see what he is like in Portland. He did loan me a book on CD.

Clean a little. Load the car. Say goodbye. I can't think of another moment in my life when I felt so horrible.

Elston is in the passenger seat and is glassy eyed from the sedative. The car could have been filled with treats, toys and her dog friends and she wouldn't have blinked. We crawl through NJ because of traffic.

As I started driving through Pennsylvania, I decided to entertain myself by counting dead deer. I was up to 8 when it started raining. Yea, it started raining so hard that I could barely see the lines on the highway. It was this way for 3 hours. I found out later that the area was under watch/warnings for severe thunderstorms and possible funnel cloud sightings.

We arrived at our hotel around 9:30. I feel wrecked. Elston is asleep and I am going to follow her lead.

No funny stories today. Just one drugged up dog and one really sad human.