Monday, August 30, 2004
A Moving Experience
Have you ever wondered what happens when you go through a toll booth and you don't have enough money? Well, I found out yesterday that in NJ, they take down all your info and give you a slip of paper that tells you where you need to send a check or money order in the amount of the toll. You must do this within 5 days. I owe the state of NJ about $25 because they said my U-Haul had an extra axle or some nonsense like that. No other state said that. Jerks.
I left New Bern, NC at 1:15-ish on Saturday, drove to Chantilly, VA, where I spent the night with my friend Rachel. This took about 7 hours. On Sunday, we had brunch and I left around 12:30 to drive the rest of the way to NYC. MapQuest said it would take 4 hours and 21 minutes. I don't know what they were driving, but it took me 8 hours. I realize that everything goes slower in a U-Haul and that traffic was ridiculous yesterday, but come on MapQuest. Slow it down, for as the sticker in my U-Haul truck says, "Speed kills. Slow down and live." This was just one of many entertaining internal "bumper stickers" that kept me amused for 15 hours in the U-Haul.
I drove through 7 states (at least I think I went through PA). Deleware is by far my favorite. You just have to come into the state and already you owe them money. I'm not sure how that's fair, but I suppose they have to do what their little no tourism selves have to do to stay alive. I mean, if nobody wants to stop there, they have to make money off of us somehow. I'm just not a fan of the toll road. Really, "Welcome to Deleware. $2.00 please." Welcome indeed. The rest of the country finds ways to stay afloat without charging poor U-Haul drivers a fee just to pass through.
Poor U-Haul drivers. In the future, I will be overly considerate of them. I hope that everyone else will too. They're not professionals. They're used to driving mini-vans, and Corollas, and maybe a Highlander or two. But an SUV is nothing compared to that beast of a vehicle known as the U-Haul truck. First of all, you can't check your blind spot because you don't have windows behind you. You have to use the mirrors for everything...and it's just the side mirrors because there's no rear-view mirror, because again, no windows in back. And the U-Haul doesn't stop as quickly as a smaller car, so when people cut you off, it's quite dangerous. So the next time you're driving on the highway and you see a U-Haul, just remember:
1) They don't know what they're doing. They're driving something 5 times bigger than what they're accustomed to and they're paranoid because it's not theirs and they're scared to death of wrecking the thing.
2) They can't see anything. If they have their turn signal on, let them in.
3) They can't slam on the brakes. Please do not cut them off and drive 10 mph.
So 15 hours and a huge amount of confusion and frustration later, I made it to NYC. I finally found the G.W. Bridge and came into the city on 178th St. I came across B'Way. I turned right. I picked up my roommate on 162nd and B'Way. We parked in front of the fire hydrant and turned the hazard lights on. We unloaded that bad boy.
Now, this wouldn't be a good story unless at least 3 more things happened to me. So here goes. (1)Two of my friends who were supposed to come up and help couldn't make it so it was me and my 3 roommates (who were so sweet to help) unloading basically a living room plus. This was not really a problem as we were just taking everything out of the truck and putting in the lobby of our building (while the whole neighborhood watched). (2)The problem really started when the elevator broke BEFORE we got anything upstairs. It was just all sitting in the lobby...the whole living room. And it wasn't just that the elevator broke...the DOOR FELL OFF OF IT. This could only have happened when I arrived with a sleeper sofa. (3)So we got the neighbors involved. We went out to the corner and hired some boys to haul our stuff up to the 4th floor. An entertainment center, a book shelf, a coffee table, a dresser, a sofa, an end table. They did it all. We carried a few things, but they did all the hard labor. Now we're organizing. I'm trying to get enough crap out of the way so that my bed will fit in my room when we get it here. That is the project for today.
And when everything is in place, you're all invited to come and play Nintendo. We can have a big "California Games" tournament.
Oh...and 10 points to my mom for the title of this post.
I left New Bern, NC at 1:15-ish on Saturday, drove to Chantilly, VA, where I spent the night with my friend Rachel. This took about 7 hours. On Sunday, we had brunch and I left around 12:30 to drive the rest of the way to NYC. MapQuest said it would take 4 hours and 21 minutes. I don't know what they were driving, but it took me 8 hours. I realize that everything goes slower in a U-Haul and that traffic was ridiculous yesterday, but come on MapQuest. Slow it down, for as the sticker in my U-Haul truck says, "Speed kills. Slow down and live." This was just one of many entertaining internal "bumper stickers" that kept me amused for 15 hours in the U-Haul.
I drove through 7 states (at least I think I went through PA). Deleware is by far my favorite. You just have to come into the state and already you owe them money. I'm not sure how that's fair, but I suppose they have to do what their little no tourism selves have to do to stay alive. I mean, if nobody wants to stop there, they have to make money off of us somehow. I'm just not a fan of the toll road. Really, "Welcome to Deleware. $2.00 please." Welcome indeed. The rest of the country finds ways to stay afloat without charging poor U-Haul drivers a fee just to pass through.
Poor U-Haul drivers. In the future, I will be overly considerate of them. I hope that everyone else will too. They're not professionals. They're used to driving mini-vans, and Corollas, and maybe a Highlander or two. But an SUV is nothing compared to that beast of a vehicle known as the U-Haul truck. First of all, you can't check your blind spot because you don't have windows behind you. You have to use the mirrors for everything...and it's just the side mirrors because there's no rear-view mirror, because again, no windows in back. And the U-Haul doesn't stop as quickly as a smaller car, so when people cut you off, it's quite dangerous. So the next time you're driving on the highway and you see a U-Haul, just remember:
1) They don't know what they're doing. They're driving something 5 times bigger than what they're accustomed to and they're paranoid because it's not theirs and they're scared to death of wrecking the thing.
2) They can't see anything. If they have their turn signal on, let them in.
3) They can't slam on the brakes. Please do not cut them off and drive 10 mph.
So 15 hours and a huge amount of confusion and frustration later, I made it to NYC. I finally found the G.W. Bridge and came into the city on 178th St. I came across B'Way. I turned right. I picked up my roommate on 162nd and B'Way. We parked in front of the fire hydrant and turned the hazard lights on. We unloaded that bad boy.
Now, this wouldn't be a good story unless at least 3 more things happened to me. So here goes. (1)Two of my friends who were supposed to come up and help couldn't make it so it was me and my 3 roommates (who were so sweet to help) unloading basically a living room plus. This was not really a problem as we were just taking everything out of the truck and putting in the lobby of our building (while the whole neighborhood watched). (2)The problem really started when the elevator broke BEFORE we got anything upstairs. It was just all sitting in the lobby...the whole living room. And it wasn't just that the elevator broke...the DOOR FELL OFF OF IT. This could only have happened when I arrived with a sleeper sofa. (3)So we got the neighbors involved. We went out to the corner and hired some boys to haul our stuff up to the 4th floor. An entertainment center, a book shelf, a coffee table, a dresser, a sofa, an end table. They did it all. We carried a few things, but they did all the hard labor. Now we're organizing. I'm trying to get enough crap out of the way so that my bed will fit in my room when we get it here. That is the project for today.
And when everything is in place, you're all invited to come and play Nintendo. We can have a big "California Games" tournament.
Oh...and 10 points to my mom for the title of this post.
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