Deflection

It is not too hat today with a high of 74 degree, but we have had light rain off and on today.

As of one o’clock today, I have an accepted offer on my house, and I am finding it a relief and a burden. A relief that the closing will be on July 8 with the money in the bank. With the current economic numbers in the news, it seems like a big long recession in the future. This way I can save my funds for a down payment on the construction of my new house that seems like an eternity away. But, at this time, I will check on the numbers again to build my house in September, since the materials supplier states that a rough in builder would need a start up time of nine months.

It seems like I have seen the last month cleaning and rearranging my house to sell (make it look nice). Although some of the stuff I have gone through, there is a whole lot more stuff to go through in the next four weeks. I have a ten-foot box trailer from my brother to take my stuff back to Whitewater, but it is a little hard to judged how many trips it will take. Although two seems reasonable, three might be more accurate,

As side note, my pick up has an issue with the torque converter. Since the repair is under warrantee, I get a rental car to drive, but the car rental places do not have cars available. So, it looks like I need to wait a week to get a car that would now be Tuesday or I move the trailer out of way and use the Trans Am. Life and its issues.

It is impossible to think of all the stuff that I have accumulated in the last sixty years. When my great grandmother Rhoda Walton (Madian name Frew) passed away when I was five, I was given a small chest to remember her by, I still have it today, and I still remember her. There is stuff to keep, stuff to review in the future, and stuff to throw away. It become difficult to know if it should be pack or it should be throw out. Then there are old computers, old computer programs and manuals, old VCRs, and old VCR cassettes. I have a big pile of old electronics and recycling paper. There is old stuff that need to be thrown away and new stuff bought at the new house, like a barbecue grill. How did I ever get so much stuff?

It is hard going though all of the stuff, since it brings up so many memories. There is stuff from grade school; high school; Red Oak, Iowa; Ames, Iowa; and Cedar Rapids, Iowa. But the places are the easy part of going through the stuff, it is remembering the people that is even harder. There are good people that I enjoyed being around that I will never see again, and some of these people are gone. To that point, I found a piece of paper that I wrote my meetings for the interviews when I can to Iowa, and it had the name of the person that I first meet with the Department, Tom McDonald. About fifteen years ago, he died of cancer. These are tough memories. By going through this stuff now, it should not be so hard to go through in the future.

I am going to need someone with a strong back to get my heart stuff out of the basement and into the trailer. At this time, I have no one in mind. The good news is that some of the stuff will go the land fill. If my pick up is in the shop next week, It seems doubtful get someone to help me load my stuff loaded by Thursday, so I can get back to Wisconsin for the weekend, but I have plenty of packing to do here.

But I am glad to be leaving Iowa. For over thirty-five years, I have had an impact on the Transportation system, but now I do not, but I see everything thing that is going on. I see up coming projects not happening, projects that I feel need to be done differently, and projects with construction issue. By leaving, I will not see these issues and will not know what is going on around the area. Maybe I should feel glad that I have nothing to do with it, but I feel a commitment to the tax payer.

Tomorrow is another day filled with feelings and it is just part of being human.

Roger