Designed by an NBA player...

 

Or, maybe for an NBA player.  I was up early and got in the shower... I had to reach up to get to my shampoo.  And soap.  Getting Rufus's feeder out, since we're going to be out and about, I needed the 2-step ladder to get to the cabinet above the fridge.  We make up for that by putting his food supply at ankle level in a kitchen cabinet.

Another couple weeks in here and I should be more flexible... reach and bend, and reach and bend.  Lift that box, tote that bail.  Bail?  No, we're not putting up hay.  It's early - don't question me.  Well, you can question me, but don't expect an intelligent answer.

Back to the west Valley again today.  The Equinox needs a new battery and it hasn't been easy finding someplace that has one in stock.  The coffee and end tables are still in the car, waiting for the computer system at the furniture store to "get back up" so we can return them.  More stuff to move from the motorhome.  Maybe get the emission testing done on the coach so we can get the AZ registration for it... and drivers licenses for us.

What was the question?

The Sleep Number bed said I got 68 for my "sleep score" last night.  Out of a possible 100.  In a classroom situation, that would be a D.  I could use a nap.

--------

Good thing I was up early.  At 6:45, this semi showed up in front of the house to deliver 18 pallets of pavers,,,

 

My new friend Harold asked where I wanted them.  "Ummm..." I made a judgement call, then texted the landscaper to let him know "I'm having the driver put the pavers across the front of the side yard"...

That is a lot of pavers...

With the pavers off the truck, we started our day - a lot on our plate.  First order of business: get a new battery in the Equinox.  I was able to find a Sam's Club that had the right size AGM (supply chain??) that was 15 miles north of the motorhome.  We got the Equinox to them at 8:05 and were told they'd have it done in 35 to 40 minutes.  We walked to the nearby Denny's for a very decent breakfast (really, the best Denny's food I've ever had) and got a call just as we were finishing our meal that the car was ready.

Off to the motorhome; next order of business: unhook all the utilities and take the coach to an Emissions Testing Station.  I expected a line, but there was no one in the lane in front of us (for "long wheelbase vehicles").  The kid there said, "Exit the vehicle and go sit down" and pointed in the general direction of the door we drove in.

We had to get a ticket to raise the gate to enter the building - I asked the kid, "Do you need this ticket?"

He said, "Exit the vehicle and go sit down."

I asked, "Do you want it left running?"

He said, "Exit the vehicle and go sit down."

Joan said, "He has the personality of a prison guard."

To which I replied, "Yeah, but without the sense of whimsey."

They repositioned the coach so the rear dual wheels were on a spinning device, put it in gear, and revved the shit out of it.  I was hoping the wheels wouldn't get traction and go launching out of there like one of Elon's rockets.

The motorhome passed the emissions test.  I knew that because Mr Personality handed me a sheet and said, "It passed."

A woman guided us out of the bay and we were done.  We were back to the RV park and all hooked up again within a half hour.

The next order of business was dropping off the furniture we were taking back (after stopping for gas) - we've had it in the car since yesterday morning.  Fortunately, American Furniture Warehouse's computer system was back up - I backed the car to Bay 11 and a very efficient guy handled the return with no fuss (and no "restocking fee") - he said, "You've only had it for a couple days, so we won't charge the restocking fee."

I told him, "We tried to bring it back yesterday..."  He acknowledged that it had been a real mess.

Back to the house to pick up the title to the motorhome (forgot that), then to the DMV.  When we got to the house, we had piles of gravel and sand to go with the pavers...

Heading to the DMV, we got a call from our salesman at American Furniture Warehouse.  He was able to input our additional furniture order and just needed to confirm (and have us pay for it).  Joan was on the phone, dealing with paying by text, confirming via e-mail, and checking traffic on the Maps program, all at the same time from the phone.  Ain't technology grand? 

On to the DMV to get an AZ title for the motorhome (now that we have the Emissions Test done) and our drivers licenses.  The line at the DMV was wrapped around like DisneyWorld (see the photo above)... it took us nearly an hour to get to the front of the line.  The lady at the DMV window was nice - we waded through all the questions, took the eye test (I joked with Steph that I was able to memorize the letters in the eye test from the people in front of me) - yes, we both passed... and I didn't even study.  We are now registered to vote and are organ donors.  She took our photo... and said, "Those are nice."  Um, the proportions are a bit off - we look like mongoloids... so that's fun.

Back to her window and she started on the paperwork for switching the title on the motorhome to Arizona.  We got all the way through all that, and she asked, "Is this a Ford?"

I told her, "It is a Winnebago motorhome that is on a Ford chassis."

"The title says it's a Ford."

I said, "It is a Winnebago on a Ford chassis."

She said, "This complicates things.  I have to go talk to my supervisor..." and off she went.  She came back and said, "It's a 'complication' but not a big deal: you'll need to bring it in to have one of our officers inspect it to determine if it is a actually a Winnebago, because your Texas title says it's a Ford."

She had pulled up the exact model on-line (looks just like ours).  I tried to appeal to her sense of humanity... apparently, that isn't a quality necessary for employment at the DMV.  So, it will take a 3rd trip to complete the license and registration stuff.  Later.  After we get the motorhome out of the RV park and into the storage we have arranged.

Back to the motorhome where we finished emptying our stuff out of it.  We'll leave the cargo trailer hooked to it and the bicycles until we can see how things go with the landscaping.

When we got back to the house, we got a call from Steph.  She had submitted the proposal to the HOA for the Tuff Shed I'd like (specially ordered to work with the HOA rules) early this morning.  She had an answer around noon: it went through, "subject to confirmation that the specifications and design is as we submitted."  Yep, that's how we spec'd it out.

Back home, car unloaded.  We got a lot accomplished today... in spite of the DMV and Emissions Testing people trying to prevent it.