California or Bust...1965-style

I remember the first time I moved to California.  Two weeks after my oldest sister got married - the rest of the Woods clan moved from God's country (aka the frozen tundra) of Hibbing, MN and headed for California - the land of Opportunity, decent weather, and tacos (whatever those were!)

I was very sad to be leaving as I was sure I was going to die without my best friend Kathy Martire living across the street from me.  I was also concerned as I remember someone saying that when God created the earth and picked it up to put it in place - all the nuts rolled into California! 

The year was 1965 and my parents packed up the remaining available 7 kids - and a Yorkie named Muffett - into the family station wagon and pointed it west.  Kids in tow ranged in age from a 17-year-old upcoming high school senior to a 17-month-old cute-as-a bug toddler. 

The drive to the west coast was as fast and no-nonsense as was possible in those days.  Think about it - 9 people and a dog - all nice and cozy in a car in the middle of summer!  Getting there fast was my dad's defense mechanism.  I'm convinced it was the chocolate malt spilled down his back during the very first food stop that set the precedent for speed.

I slept most of the way - sitting up with my head resting... somewhere ...waking up occasionally to inquire about which state we were in.  It was usually "Chaos".  Sleeping my way through the trip was my own version of a self-defense mechanism.

We got to Southern California and spent 5 days with relatives in Whittier.  We were pushing it.  As my mom says - "Relatives staying with you are like fish - they begin to smell after 3 days".

In those few days we found a 3-bedroom house to rent and Mayflower delivered our stuff.  Well - most of it.  They missed an entire bedroom of furniture and had to put it on the next truck out of Hibbing - which was the equivalent to a "slow boat from China."  So now we had 7 kids in 2 bedrooms with 2 fewer beds.  Ahhhh - the good ol' days!

All things considered - the move west went pretty smoothly. This opinion is based on my 11-year-old mentality and not being privvy to the "real world" details.

I know that my dad found a job.  I think it was in Monrovia - about a 30 minute commute.  Compared to Hibbing - it must have been a brutal drive for him to get to work.

Imagine...an hour or more in the car every day without anyone kicking the back of the front seat, without fear of wearing a chocolate malt, no listening to whining and arguing coming from the back seat, getting to listen to his choice of radio stations....  Hey!  I think we were duped!  Subtle dad...but brilliant!

The 'Not So' Thrill of the Hunt

I'm on a job hunting mission....its time has come.  According to the national and local news - it's particularly bad timing.  That's why I limit the amount of time that I watch the news.

Now that I'm mostly physically settled in San Diego (I'm still working on the psychological/emotional part) I want to get out and get connected.  It's proving difficult to have too much time on my hands as I worry and lose trust in myself.

Job hunting is a very different process than in "the old days" as almost every application is done electronically.  Company websites have their online applications. 

Businesses advertising on Craigslist want cover letters and resumes to be emailed to them.....no phone calls please.  It's unsettling and difficult to stand out when you're initially just an email address.

My resume includes my first major job of 8+ years with General Mills (1975-1983).  It was an amazing time of learning and growth for me and I like to include it in my work history. 

However - it doesn't take much for an HR person to "do the math" and figure out that I'm in my mid 50's.  So my application could potentially go... - as Eddie Izzard would say - "...in the Bin!" 

I don't know if it's a good idea or not - but I resorted to putting a small picture of me in the corner of my resume.  They will see that I like to smile - and still have all my teeth.  I figure they will at least have a visual connection of my name and face.   ;o}

After years of office jobs - I would be content to work at Trader Joe's.  There is a fun and relaxed atmosphere there that I find appealing.  Problem is - so does everyone else. 

But - I got my application in and stop by regularly (per their suggestion) to let them know I'm still interested in being part of the Crew. 

It could happen.....

Dragonflies, Dad, & Little Brothers

For some reason I am drawn to dragonflies - like bugs to light.  I'm not exactly sure why.  As a child I was frightened of them.  They moved way too fast for my liking. 

I remember being told that they would sew your mouth shut if you were too loud.  Being one of 8 kids - maybe our parents or a neighbor slipped that message in.  I don't recall - but I wouldn't have blamed them for trying.

Dragonflies were abundant in my Minnesota backyard.  You could simply stand still with outstretched arms and they would land on you.  That was pretty cool.

In summer 2006 - Five of the 6 Woods girls pilgrimaged to Virginia, MN to visit the graves of our two little brothers - Michael and Stevie. 

Our mission was to bury some of our dad's ashes at their grave sites. 

Their resting places were in different rows so we placed dragonfly lawn ornaments at their headstones - facing toward each other. 

It was an awesome and moving experience - and with the miracle of cell phones we were able to include our mother - who lives in Las Vegas - in the "ceremony".

We returned to the Twin Cities later that evening.  I walked into the 2nd story office room and saw a huge lime green dragonfly with golden wings on the window screen.  It was at least 5 inches long and I had never seen one like it before.  We all got to see it and were in awe of its size and beauty - and its patience - as it let us talk about it and even touch it's feet through the screen without flying away.
(It was several years later that I was able to snap this photo of one just like it that visited us while eating outside at a local restaurant)

There was an energy and aura in that room that night that had our pulses racing and the hair on our arms standing on end.  We felt that it was an amazing sign - a validation from our loved ones that they knew our hearts and appreciated our symbolic efforts to reunite them.  As I write this - the hair on my arms is again standing on end.  I get to re-live their gift.

Thanks Dad, Michael, & Stevie.  We love you forever.  You are not forgotten.

It says "Welcome home"

Kathy, Penske #2, and I stopped in Dillon, CO on our journey to California.  Our original plan was to meet Kathy's sister-in-law at the local DQ for Blizzards.  We had a reasonable driving day to get to the next stop of Glenwood Springs - so we accepted her invitation to go to her house for dinner.
 
We went for a walk - which felt awesome after all the driving! - and came upon a house with this wonderful front door.  The house was for sale - but I would have been happy to just have the door!

Is this the coolest door or what!?

Healing...

I've been resisting writing this entry as it feels like I've slid backwards a bit.  I am fear-filled today and I guess I don't really want others to know.  But it's the reality of my world right now and I have to face it.

There had been a lot to do to get moved from Minnesota to California - so the emotions had to be put aside to get the real job done.   

My focus of late has been to get unpacked and make the new digs feel like my home.  It will take some time but it's getting closer.  I still need to hang some things on the walls.  I've always had a hard time committing to putting a nail hole in a wall.  Seems so permanent.  I have to remind myself of the reality called spackling compound.

I know I'm still healing and coming to grips with my life decisions and what my future holds.  I'm frightened about the dismal statistics about the unemployment rate.  The anxiety gets overwhelming at times.

I have to trust that things will work out okay.

Judging Holly Hobby

Last week I stopped into the bank to get quarters. It’s been over 35 years since I’ve needed quarters to do my laundry. I seem to have regressed regarding that phase of my life. Oh well. However - that’s not my point here….

...I was in the bank waiting in line and saw just the back of a woman who was rather “loudly” dressed.  Being in the same room with her was like being in the middle of a pink explosion!

She also wore a big-brimmed straw bonnet - reminiscent of Holly Hobby – that tied under her chin. She had a four-wheeled wire cart like those that many of San Diego’s homeless use to hold their few possessions. Her cart was full and her purse was perched on the top.

My mind drifted several directions while waiting my turn in line. I wondered why she was in the bank. Did she have an account? Did she have a place to live or was she homeless? Where on earth did she find that gaudy sweater and goofy hat?

When she finished at the window she turned around and walked toward those of us still waiting in line. She and I made immediate eye contact and we smiled at each other. I was totally unprepared to see her strikingly beautiful blue eyes and kind genuine smile. She was - in a word - Stunning! She continued past me - pushing her little cart out the door.

I got my turn with the teller and left with my quarters. I was driving through the parking lot to my next destination and saw Holly Hobby heading toward the Ralph’s grocery store. I suddenly felt compelled to get a picture of her.

She was almost in the store so the best I could do was a side view – not unlike my first glimpse of her in the bank. I’ll have to rely on my memory to see her eyes and her smile.  Maybe we'll cross paths again some day.

I thought about her often during the day as I went about my business. I also thought about my behaviour and how I had made an unkind and unfair judgment of someone based on their clothing choice.  I got a quick glimpse of her soul...her inner-beauty that transcended her bright pink sweater and Holly Hobby hat.  She didn't teach me tolerance - but I was reminded of it.

This Holly was deeply touched by another Holly that day.  Thanks Holly!

Break time!

It's been a crazy busy time with all the logistics of planning - and executing -  the move from Minnesota to California.  I'm discovering that the unpacking process is almost as stressful and time consuming.

My goal was to try and put things away only once - to be methodical about where things should go.
I have failed miserably at that goal.  Oh well - it's not like it has world-wide repercussions - but it is frustrating and draining for me.

I took a much needed break and drove to Las Vegas on July 4th.  My Camry felt like it had wings compared to driving Penske #2 - especially having cruise-control.   I had a great time with my mom and sister Ruthanne and her husband Dan - who were passing through in their motor home on the way to Montana and Canada.

I also had six wonderful relaxing days of kicking back with MRW,  his mom, sister, and Pepper the Prison Kitty.

It was a time for reading, napping, hanging out at Starbucks with the laptops, eating out, cooking in, and getting hooked on watching the Tour de France.  We even seemed to get a bit acclimated to the hot temperatures.  It's weird how moderate 90 degrees feels after a day of 107!

It was so nice to not have all the move-related stuff staring me in the face - as I would have been compelled to keep working.  I'm now back in San Diego - back to reality and finishing what I started.

But....can't go without sharing the latest Las Vegas street-corner food item.  This poor soul was dressed in this get-up with temps over 100 degrees! Whatever he was getting paid - it wasn't enough!

Bye for now...

The Light Was On...

With working mirrors – Kathy and I changed lanes many times through southern MN to Des Moines and onto Interstate 80 heading west. We enjoyed the ‘green-ness’ of the corn and soybean fields and even noticed the light number of deer carcasses (aka deer smear). We were happy about that on several levels.

We gassed up Penske #2, switched places to share the driving, and rocked out to the tunes of Disney Classics, Cat Stevens, Dan Fogelberg, and John Denver. Maybe ‘rocked out’ isn’t the correct term here. Anyway – we enjoyed the companionship, the music, and putting the miles behind us.

We decided that we’d stop for the night in North Platte, NE. We didn’t have any reservations but didn’t think North Platte would be a crowded vacation destination. According to our trip odometer - we’d driven 707 miles – and deserved a good nights sleep.

We saw that the Motel 6 had “left the light on for us” and decided to forgo the higher rent accommodations - as we weren’t going to be staying there long anyway.  We got to the front door of the office and realized that they’d also “left the light on” for about 8 million bugs that had landed on the door in a light-induced frenzy!

We parked Penske #2 and got to our room - #225.  We immediately folded the bedspreads inside out and put them against the wall far from the beds.  We’d both heard enough news stories about what is often found on motel room bedspreads!  We considered putting them in the hallway but thought that might have been considered rude. 

The blankets rivaled your average Brillo pad and so those came off too.  I added the extra security of full body pj’s and a bath towel over the pillowcase.  Neither one of us walked around without shoes or socks.

It really wasn’t that bad - but why take chances.  Kathy was basically okay with it – being a world traveler she said she’d seen worse.   It occurred to me that sisters Erin and Ruthanne would have had to be sedated to have stayed there.  I was on the fence – I just wanted to be prone for a change – and get a few hours sleep.

That’s about all we got as both of us felt like things were crawling on us – they weren’t – but the mind is a powerful thing.  It also didn’t help that the vintage 1960’s air conditioning unit went on and off every 3 minutes.

The next morning we discovered that we had a room with a view.  The view was a cinder block wall and part of the parking lot.  No worries - as it was dark and a view would have been irrelevant anyway.

With bloodshot eyes - we packed up our stuff.  We probably shouldn't have - but we passed on taking showers – although the shower area looked new and actually quite nice.

We saw this license plate in the Motel 6 parking lot...don't know what it meant to the owner...but somehow seemed to fit our situation!

We went across the street to gas up Penske #2 and scraped another 8 million bugs off the windshield. We literally had to let the windshield “soak” for a few minutes to soften the carnage.  The station attendant had been watching us and we believe was impressed at our windshield-cleaning prowess. Like I said – this was North Platte, NE.

From North Platte we continued on through the rest of Nebraska, gutted out incredibly boring eastern Colorado, and passed through Denver to catch I70 for the beautiful drive to our next destination of Glenwood Springs, CO.

So - that’s my story so far and I’m sticking to it.

We're Off!

On Sunday June 27, 2010 - Kathy and I pointed the “packed to the gills” Penske #2 south on I35W with our first destination being Des Moines - and then a right turn west on to I80.

Our Penske #2 was humming along great - when there appeared an issue with the passenger side mirror. We realized that the wind speed of freeway driving kept moving the mirror out of place to keep it functional.  It needed to be tightened.

Of course I had tools packed in the cargo area of the truck – but who knew where. (my bad)   Penske #2 had a handy dandy little red box behind the seat – however it wasn’t handy enough to have tools for tightening a loose mirror. It held those emergency road triangles and such – we didn’t want to have to look in that box ever again.

 So – I got on my handy dandy cell phone and talked to Ken at the Penske call center. I told him we were driving south on I35W heading to Des Moines and asked about the location of the nearest Penske lot where we could get the mirror tightened.

He said St Paul – which meant he obviously didn’t know where St Paul was in relation to I35W and Des Moines.  But I forgave him because he got us set up to get the mirror tightened at the T/A Truck Stop in Albert Lea, MN.  We just needed to ask for Kate at the service center.  I also forgave him for asking me if I was calling from a landline or a cell phone…..

We found our destination at Exit 11 and pulled in – gassed up Penske #2, got some snacks for the road, and eventually located Kate.  She was expecting us!  What I wasn’t expecting her to say was that it would be about 1½ hours before one of the 2 mechanics on duty could help us.  I told her that was longer than I could wait and asked for a screwdriver to simply tighten it myself.  Her eyes literally glazed over and she gazed right through me and didn’t respond to my request for a screwdriver.

The other joker behind the counter – his name unknown except for the none-too-flattering one I gave him later – also went into shut down mode.  I asked again for a screwdriver to tighten the mirror myself and this time was told that the mechanics own their own tools and don’t loan them out to anyone.

By now I was annoyed – questioning the logic of a service center not having a screwdriver just hanging around in the back room somewhere.  I used to have at least 3 of them in the junk drawer in my kitchen!  Finally “Butthead” realized I wasn’t going away and found a broken little screwdriver for me.

Of course – the screwdriver only managed to remove the cap and I really needed a hex wrench.  Of course - they didn’t have one of those either.  But miracles do happen and Kate’s husband showed up and thought he had one in his truck.  Of course – it didn’t fit.

By this time – sister Kathy was working the crowd of Army guys – who were taking a break by their van - trying to get us a hex wrench.  I was encouraged to see them scrambling around trying to help her out.

I went back in the service center (I use the word ‘service’ loosely here) and Butthead was on the phone talking to my friend Ken at the Penske call center.  He handed me the phone and I could tell that Ken was as frustrated as I was that they wouldn’t take 2 minutes to tighten the friggin’ mirror.

Ken suggested I go into the T/A store and buy a small wrench set and Penske would reimburse me. I went outside to tell Kathy of the latest plan and Kate’s husband showed up with a small socket set (from the infamous back room no doubt) and tightened the mirror for us.

I thanked him profusely.  He said that he was impressed that we were concerned about the mirror position - as it meant that we were actually using the mirrors.

I took that as a compliment...

Fixable? Of course (or not)

Saturday morning moving day - June 26, 2010 - started without a hitch - until sister Kathy and I went to pick up the Penske truck. The cab cleanliness was not up to Woods girls standards – but was fixable - with exam gloves on.

We opened the back of the truck and found 7 blue moving dollies lying there – removing them - also fixable.

We drove away to the scary sound of metal-on-metal – which turned out to be not fixable. After driving the truck for a bit we decided it needed to go back to the rental place.

Of course - they had no more trucks and the closest place to pick one up was in Burnsville – about 25 miles away. Of course - it was a weekend and they had no one to drive it to us - so we had to drive there to make the trade.

At first glance the 2nd truck looked okay. Of course – the condition of the cab was worse than the other one – which was annoying - but fixable. The good news is that it didn’t make any weird noises and actually drove quite nicely.

By now we were about 2 hours behind schedule. Nate and his good friend Nate – had already moved all my stuff from the second floor of the storage unit to the main floor to be put in the truck. We were able to drive the truck right into the building. Let me clarify – not hitting the building – but actually pulling the truck inside the building. Big difference!

By this time - Annie and Eric had also arrived to help with the packing. Getting everything into the truck was like playing Tetris.

It might have been a fun challenge if it wasn’t so stressful – as everything I own in my life was going into that 11’ x 16’ x 8’ box. I’ve discovered that I don’t require as much as I once thought – but I wanted to protect the few special things that I still needed to call mine.


With the distance ahead – and the terrain – we bungeed, roped, and ratcheted as much as we could. Eric said he’d never seen a truck packed so well. Thanks Eric!

It took about 2 hours to finish. We had tried to start early but circumstances with delays didn’t allow finishing early. Thanks to both Nates for hanging in there when I know they really wanted to go watch the USA’s FIFA soccer match.

I did have one meltdown – that had been building for lots of reasons. It was short-lived but necessary I think. Sorry everyone.

Later that night at the Paul’s - we had a wonderful dinner of grilled salmon, asparagus, fruit salad, pasta salad, etc etc etc. It was a wonderful feast topped off by laughter and kudos to all for getting through the day.

I love you all!