Thursday, July 12, 2007
College Son is Back Home. Highlights of the D.C. to Boston area trip:
-U-Haul is an abysmal company. We didn't get the truck until a day later than promised. Too bad I didn't check out all of the blog pages and websites dedicated to bringing to light the shady business practices of U-Haul....
- The only reason son and I didn't get our asses kicked in the actually-not-so-conveniently located U-Haul place is because of what I call the 'shock' factor. Son and I looked so totally out of place in what has to be the absolute worst neighborhood of D.C. that it afforded us a grace period to walk the extra mile from a shady metro station to gangsta' pick-up point. Undercover FBI agents they perhaps thought?
-I ended up moving everything with son because his friend couldn't then come the next day (no 47-year-old woman should be hauling a plasma TV onto a truck)...
-I ended up helping son clean the apartment because his "clean" was a joke i.e. a HazMat suit would have come in handy.
-The truck had 160K miles on it; the 'service engine light' was on constantly; the interior smelled of old sweat and had fleas (I swear to god); and the floor boards got so hot you had to rest your feet up on the dashboard
-I was so physically and emotionally drained when we got home that later that evening I had a mini breakdown -- I was curled up in a fetal position sobbing uncontrollably! (my children joked later I was just trying to get out of doing the dishes that evening).
Son unloaded the truck all by himself the next day. A nice gesture but a little scary in terms of how eager he was to put his stamp on his room by moving some of his furniture into it! (couch, his bigger TV, etc.). I didn't have the heart to tell son his room looked a little over-stuffed to say the least because I do think he was trying to be conscientious in creating a little space he could hang out without spilling into our space. But my oh-so-very-direct husband felt otherwise and told him he had to re-configure because he wasn't willing to compromise the aesthetic value of our home.
So the dance has begun as we all adjust to how this is all going to work. Good thing son has an interview lined up....
-U-Haul is an abysmal company. We didn't get the truck until a day later than promised. Too bad I didn't check out all of the blog pages and websites dedicated to bringing to light the shady business practices of U-Haul....
- The only reason son and I didn't get our asses kicked in the actually-not-so-conveniently located U-Haul place is because of what I call the 'shock' factor. Son and I looked so totally out of place in what has to be the absolute worst neighborhood of D.C. that it afforded us a grace period to walk the extra mile from a shady metro station to gangsta' pick-up point. Undercover FBI agents they perhaps thought?
-I ended up moving everything with son because his friend couldn't then come the next day (no 47-year-old woman should be hauling a plasma TV onto a truck)...
-I ended up helping son clean the apartment because his "clean" was a joke i.e. a HazMat suit would have come in handy.
-The truck had 160K miles on it; the 'service engine light' was on constantly; the interior smelled of old sweat and had fleas (I swear to god); and the floor boards got so hot you had to rest your feet up on the dashboard
-I was so physically and emotionally drained when we got home that later that evening I had a mini breakdown -- I was curled up in a fetal position sobbing uncontrollably! (my children joked later I was just trying to get out of doing the dishes that evening).
Son unloaded the truck all by himself the next day. A nice gesture but a little scary in terms of how eager he was to put his stamp on his room by moving some of his furniture into it! (couch, his bigger TV, etc.). I didn't have the heart to tell son his room looked a little over-stuffed to say the least because I do think he was trying to be conscientious in creating a little space he could hang out without spilling into our space. But my oh-so-very-direct husband felt otherwise and told him he had to re-configure because he wasn't willing to compromise the aesthetic value of our home.
So the dance has begun as we all adjust to how this is all going to work. Good thing son has an interview lined up....
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