![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
damontFriday 20Jun08: After getting Jenny moving (as noted here), we headed off for food, and thence to the Ponte Alto Newcomers Night at ![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
melaniesuzanne and penguininarmor's, where we got to talk to salviati, tattycat, azpapillion, weebaby, and at least one other LJer whose handle I don't know, along with C. and several folks new to the area (some new to the SCA). It was a nice time.
Saturday 21Jun08: I had to drive down to Potomac Mills to get a trailer from U-Haul. It took an hour to get there despite being only a 25 mile drive. Relatively smooth checkout and hookup at U-Haul. Luckily it only took 45 minutes to get home, as people were far less insane/stupid in that direction.blaisedec and nostasia arrived about the same time I did, so no time was actually wasted. Getting the trailer lined up in the driveway took two passes and ended up with the trailer between the sidewalk and street, and the van at a 120-degree angle to the trailer, pointing the wrong way down our side of the street. Then it took some effort to get Jenny up on the trailer: one of the wheels would still occasionally lock up, which required rocking and pushing and parying to get it all the way up on the trailer; also, it took two passes to get her up there, as we had to realign the ramps so that they pointed rather far in at each other, lest the tires slip off the ramps! The trailer's two tire tracks were spaced far enough apart that they were almost TOO far apart for Jenny! But we managed it, and after nearly clipping the mailboz while pulling the trailer out of the driveway, I got it all out, parked across the street, and rolled up all the windows against the coming rainstorm. We went for dinner, came back, said goodbye to our helpful friends (Thank You!), and headed for the Northern Neck. It rained a bit on the way down; between the wet roads and the fact that the trailer was wider than the van itself, it was a stressful drive down trying to make sure I kept the trailer in my lane. We arrived at ayrfield a little before midnight.
Sunday 22Jun08: I was stupid in the morning; I should have had some food and some coffee before going out to get things into position. But I didn't, and in my fuzzyheaded state, totally forgot that we'd gotten 3/4 inch of rain the night before; the recently cleared areas were going to be spongy. I should have parked the trailer in the driveway area, as close to Jenny's destination as possible, *without* going through the recently cleared patch; Jenny would roll forward, so we could just push her to the right spot once she was off the trailer. But nooooooo... I tried to be clever and get the trailer in such position that Jenny would just roll off into the desired spot... which meant I drove through the recently cleared area, which was of course spongy, and I got bogged while trying to go around a curve. There things stayed until a local friend (and his grandson) showed up. His arrival had been previously planned -- but, luckily, he's with the local Volunteer Fire and Rescue, which pulls vehicles out of ditches among their other tricks. One big-ass pickup, plus tow chain, plus van going in first gear, got me un-bogged. We then un-hookoed Jenny from the trailer and rolled her off, right onto the tarp I'd put down... and she came to a stop on the tarp without benefit of brakes (the regular brakes were reluctant at best, and I didn't dare use the parking brake lest I freeze up the wheels again). We got all that done just in time, as the friend's VF+R radio went off right then and he had to go un-ditch another vehicle or something. I went in, showered, and we headed back to Potomac Mills to drop off the trailer. The drop-off was not as smooth as the pick-up: the lady at the desk had to come move a vehicle so we could get around a corner, and then it took a while to get someone out to un-hook the whole thing. All that bring finally managed, we headed up tokillernurd's to drop off stuff his Grannie had given us for him, and then went home.
On Monday the 23rd I drove the van back over to Bowie, got a ride to New Carrollton, came home via Metro (rail and bus), and tried to get things as ready as possible for Signing Day on Tuesday. Thanks to the folks at Unicorns Rest for printing out some important paperwork for me after Ludus. Tuesday the 24th was the journey to my soon-to-be new office wherein contracts and other agreements were signed, government forms were filled out, and so on. I have 6 days left before starting my new job; three of those days will be spent in Pennsylvania.
melaniesuzanne and penguininarmor's, where we got to talk to salviati, tattycat, azpapillion, weebaby, and at least one other LJer whose handle I don't know, along with C. and several folks new to the area (some new to the SCA). It was a nice time.Saturday 21Jun08: I had to drive down to Potomac Mills to get a trailer from U-Haul. It took an hour to get there despite being only a 25 mile drive. Relatively smooth checkout and hookup at U-Haul. Luckily it only took 45 minutes to get home, as people were far less insane/stupid in that direction.
blaisedec and nostasia arrived about the same time I did, so no time was actually wasted. Getting the trailer lined up in the driveway took two passes and ended up with the trailer between the sidewalk and street, and the van at a 120-degree angle to the trailer, pointing the wrong way down our side of the street. Then it took some effort to get Jenny up on the trailer: one of the wheels would still occasionally lock up, which required rocking and pushing and parying to get it all the way up on the trailer; also, it took two passes to get her up there, as we had to realign the ramps so that they pointed rather far in at each other, lest the tires slip off the ramps! The trailer's two tire tracks were spaced far enough apart that they were almost TOO far apart for Jenny! But we managed it, and after nearly clipping the mailboz while pulling the trailer out of the driveway, I got it all out, parked across the street, and rolled up all the windows against the coming rainstorm. We went for dinner, came back, said goodbye to our helpful friends (Thank You!), and headed for the Northern Neck. It rained a bit on the way down; between the wet roads and the fact that the trailer was wider than the van itself, it was a stressful drive down trying to make sure I kept the trailer in my lane. We arrived at ayrfield a little before midnight.Sunday 22Jun08: I was stupid in the morning; I should have had some food and some coffee before going out to get things into position. But I didn't, and in my fuzzyheaded state, totally forgot that we'd gotten 3/4 inch of rain the night before; the recently cleared areas were going to be spongy. I should have parked the trailer in the driveway area, as close to Jenny's destination as possible, *without* going through the recently cleared patch; Jenny would roll forward, so we could just push her to the right spot once she was off the trailer. But nooooooo... I tried to be clever and get the trailer in such position that Jenny would just roll off into the desired spot... which meant I drove through the recently cleared area, which was of course spongy, and I got bogged while trying to go around a curve. There things stayed until a local friend (and his grandson) showed up. His arrival had been previously planned -- but, luckily, he's with the local Volunteer Fire and Rescue, which pulls vehicles out of ditches among their other tricks. One big-ass pickup, plus tow chain, plus van going in first gear, got me un-bogged. We then un-hookoed Jenny from the trailer and rolled her off, right onto the tarp I'd put down... and she came to a stop on the tarp without benefit of brakes (the regular brakes were reluctant at best, and I didn't dare use the parking brake lest I freeze up the wheels again). We got all that done just in time, as the friend's VF+R radio went off right then and he had to go un-ditch another vehicle or something. I went in, showered, and we headed back to Potomac Mills to drop off the trailer. The drop-off was not as smooth as the pick-up: the lady at the desk had to come move a vehicle so we could get around a corner, and then it took a while to get someone out to un-hook the whole thing. All that bring finally managed, we headed up to
killernurd's to drop off stuff his Grannie had given us for him, and then went home.On Monday the 23rd I drove the van back over to Bowie, got a ride to New Carrollton, came home via Metro (rail and bus), and tried to get things as ready as possible for Signing Day on Tuesday. Thanks to the folks at Unicorns Rest for printing out some important paperwork for me after Ludus. Tuesday the 24th was the journey to my soon-to-be new office wherein contracts and other agreements were signed, government forms were filled out, and so on. I have 6 days left before starting my new job; three of those days will be spent in Pennsylvania.
