Tuesday was a typical Tuesday. I had to wake the kids again but Mary got up a little later because it was picture day and she was doing Katie’s hair. I told Katie to get right in the shower. I slept a little longer then took my own shower. We all got our breakfast and then were out the door by 7:15. I left both the kids at school.

I drove to the office and tried to figure out what to do. I started with a few minutes at my desk and then took a bike ride out to get the big truck for the installation tomorrow. I arrived at the Budget rental lot and had to look around for an employee. I found the dude in the back and he met me in the office. I filled out all the paperwork and coughed up my credit card. The guy said he’d bring the truck around so I went outside to wait. I waited a little longer than I thought I’d have to but I think it really wasn’t that long. He brought the truck up and we spent several minutes noting every single scratch or dent on the thing. I threw my bike in the back and took off for the office. Man, that truck is BIG. It’s a 24 foot diesel that has pretty good power. It was a fun drive but it’s probably the only time I’ll drive it until it needs to be returned.

I parked outside the warehouse and went up to the office to count a little bit of money. I had arranged for Kim and I to pick up a couple of coolers at 10:00. We left a few minutes before 10:00 and drove about a mile to the warehouse where the coolers were. We loaded the three coolers and discovered that the lift gate is a tiny bit shaky on the rental truck. It’s not broken but it doesn’t seem so great for vending machines. We knew we’d have to rethink our machine loading plan. We got them on the truck and secured in place and I went out to the street to guide Kim out into traffic. We got lucky and there was a lull in traffic. We were able to pull the truck right out into the street without disrupting anybody.

We drove back to the office and backed up to our dock door. We never use that door and had to move quite a bit of stuff out of the way. It took quite a while to clear the space and then we were set up to move machine straight out into the back of the truck.

It was already lunchtime and Jeff was ready to go. We went to the Oyster Bar and Ruthie served us up some scampi. I had a little bit of salad with mine and then ate the shrimp. Jeff always doubles up on the rice so it takes him longer to eat. I just sat and waited. We got back to the office at about noon and I went to work in the warehouse.

I had to load seven more machines on the back of the truck. I started with a couple of soda machines. It took some doing to get them over the liftgate and then everything else was easy. Kim helped with several and we got them loaded in a little over and hour. We decided to leave the rest for tomorrow.

My mom was supposed to be moved to the rehab hospital today. My dad had called me earlier and let me know that they weren’t going to move her until tomorrow. Well, they changed their minds again and he called around 2:30 to tell me they were coming at 3:00 to get her. I wanted to be there when they moved her and when she arrived at the new place. I had an appointment at the doctor about my shoulder scheduled for 3:30. I decided that I’d get there early and see if I could get in and out. I gathered the deposit and left the office at about 2:45. I made the deposit and drove to the Dr.’s office. I walked in and the place was PACKED. There were probably thirty people sitting in the waiting room and I thought I’d never get out. I checked in and took a seat in the waiting area. It was about a minute later when they called me. I got a few dirty looks from the other folks that had been waiting. I went back and sat down to wait for the doctor. It took him quite a while last time but he was less than a minute this time. We talked about my shoulder and decided that I’d stick with the therapy for a while and I WAS DONE.

I walked across the street to the hospital and up to my mom’s room. They had just put her in the wheelchair and the transport dude was getting ready to haul her out. My dad and I agreed to meet at his house and I would drive us out to the new place. I put a couple of gallons of gas in the car and picked up my dad. We drove out to the hospital and they already had her in a bed in her room. She’d even met her roomate and seemed to know all about her. That was quick! We sat down and all got acquainted with the place. It looks okay. There are a lot of people in the skilled nursing section and it was a little depressing. I think my mom will try to get through her rehab therapy and get back home. We sat for an hour or so and then my dad was ready to go. We got her settled and headed out the door.

We decided to stop for dinner and ended up at Wendy’s. Mary and the kids had already eaten so I still had to have something. We got a couple of burgers and fries. The fries didn’t tast very fresh but I don’t think either of us cared too much. We finished the meal and I dropped my dad at home. I went home myself and sat down to relax for a minute. I did a couple of small things to help Mary out with the painting and I got to work on Keith’s room. I was supposed to put it back together. I had to start with his computer because he had some sort of virus that shut down the whole thing. I had to wipe out the hard drive completely and install everything from scratch. I set it up near my chair and worked on it while I was going back and forth and doing some other moving. We got the room fairly set up and I changed into my workout clothes. Katie and I went down to the gym and picked a circuit to do for the night.

We started with some warm ups and then got into the circuit. It was one of the tougher ones and we went through it three times. I was winded by the end but glad that we had done the exercise. I’m proud that Katie is doing it a few times a week. It should be great for her. We went back upstairs at the end and I went back to work on the computer. I ended up working on it for another hour and then we put it back in his room. He was thrilled and it was working. I sat back down in my chair to have a little snack.

I had some apples and peanut butter and then it was time to relax for the rest of the night.

I went to bed a little later and read a little bit in my book. It’s a pretty good book but it’s taking me a long time to read it. I got through a couple of chapters and fell asleep. I’ll need the rest for the big machine install tomorrow.

Mark