Petersburg

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A Long Overdue Hampton Roads Homecoming

Around 5 this afternoon, I was finally able to take off and do the 45 miles that would take me to the end of this segment of my trip. I never thought I would be so grateful to see an Econolodge; I’m staying at the same hotel I stayed at four years ago. Would you believe that I was given the same room?! Hilarious!

I texted my friend an “OMG, I made it!!!” message, took a shower, and headed over to pick her up. I can’t even describe how wonderful it was to finally make it. The emotions were almost overwhelming.

I’d joked that I had sent a ‘huge’ Amazon order over to her place. It turns out that said order arrived in pieces so there was a ton of boxes waiting for me. We loaded up the car and came back to the hotel. It’d been so long since I’d made up the order that I didn’t remember most of what was in those boxes. It turns out there was a lot of useful stuff, including a new electric blanket with a timer on it. 🙂

My friend had bought tickets for the midnight premiere of The Avengers (thank you!!!) so we headed out for a very late Applebee’s dinner that will double as brunch tomorrow. The movie was awesome and hilarious and totally worth the insanely long day. It’s 3:45AM right now and I can’t remember the last time I was up so late. I’ve planned a well earned sleep in. 🙂

 

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Slowly Getting an American Disguise

I’m driving a North Carolina plated car right now, have a wallet full of Jacksons,  my cell phone area code is for North Dakota, and whenever someone asks for an address in the US, I have one in Virginia to offer. I think I could pass as an American to the casual bystander, but I definitely need to work on my twang! 😀 The accent here isn’t nearly as strong as what you get when you hit the Carolinas and Georgia, but’s still a little tough.

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The First Bit of Good News

I just got in from fetching the rental car. My insurance company is definitely paying for five days, not ‘two or three at the most’ as they said they would. I am very happy about that! So I have the car and motel for sure until Monday morning and then we’ll see what happens. I can renew both, with the car being out of pocket, but at least I’m squared away from the weekend.

My rental car is a four-door Accent, but it’s not as nice as mine as it doesn’t have power doors, mirrors, and locks. Or a manual transmission. I’m used to driving Miranda as an automatic, but I get flustered driving an automatic car. I haven’t yet done the ‘step on the brake and the gas at the same time thing’ when I try to stop that I am guaranteed to do at some point. 🙂

The mechanic just came by to touch base, saying he was upset that I didn’t have my rental car yet. I explained that it took a while, but I got it by the time I needed it, so that is fine. You’ll never guess what he said next! He asked me if I needed to borrow a generator so I could leave the AC running for the kitties since he knew I’m heading out overnight! But it has not been nearly that warm and with roof hatches, open windows, and ice water in their bowl they will be just fine. But isn’t that thoughtful?

He also thinks the appraiser is going to go to bat for me and is fine with my sitting tight until we get the go ahead to get going. I have a few more things to do here, then I’m heading out around four. Unless I get word from the adjuster, I am hoping to have 24 stress-free hours. Keep all your appendages crossed for me! 😀

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How Do You Measure Wealth?

I was raised to believe that wealth is defined by your bank balance. Then, as I said at the RV show seminar, I discovered that material wealth is very fleeting and that we are wealthier in our memories than in how much money we have.

This past week, I have discovered yet another measure of wealth. This realisation has resulted in a profound paradigm shift, one that is rather overwhelming. Wealth can also be found in a community that bands together in hard times. The individual members might not have a lot, but together they can make things happen.

For the first time in my life, I truly understand what it is to truly live in a community of like-minded people with comparable stressors and life experiences, to be part of something bigger than myself, to not be alone. I have always felt so alone because even though I was surrounded by lovely acquaintances, there was no support in bad times, no one to turn to so I could unburden myself.

When the problem with the rig started, I moved from, “I can deal with this by myself” to “I can’t do this on my own.” When the issue with the brakes happened, I felt I was to blame and that it was my burden to carry. But this time I am a victim. I loathe that word, but it is accurate, and I need support to get through this.

I reached out to my community and the response has been touching. I feel supported, cared for, valued. People have responded in whatever way they could, from legal advice to financial help. Knowing that I can unload about what’s going on to people who actually understand what’s going on is doing me a world of good.

I’ll be fine, but I’m holding it together in the meantime thanks to all of you, my readers. Thank you, thank you, thank you.

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Visit From the Appraiser

The appraiser just left. He was very kind. He walked around Miranda and documented all the existing damage and made me list all her options, including the solar panel. He couldn’t tell me anything, only that he will make his report and recommendation to the adjuster. He looked at the invoice for the brake service and agreed that I wasn’t anywhere due for that kind of work again. I told him that I won’t let the mechanic start until there is an okay from the insurance company because I am not going to pay for this work even if it means having to sue. I am through being a pushover.

I will confess that I’ve been holding it together since this happened, but I lost it with him. I didn’t realise just how worried I was that, because of Miranda’s age, the insurance company might decide to just write her off. The way the guy was talking and asking me questions and hemming and hawing, the fear just became too much. I was absolutely mortified, but that was enough to push him to reassure me that he saw no evidence for that and that the rig will easily be road worthy again.

The rental car situation is approaching resolution and I’m hoping to get the car by noonish. I can’t check into the hotel till four (they are booked solid), so I’d like to be on the road by three. I’ll shower, have a nap, and then pick up my friend around 7. So the day might not be a total write-off after all.

I’m hoping to get a good night’s sleep there, then spend the afternoon with my friend. Her mom is making dinner for me Friday night and you have no idea how much I will appreciate a home cooked meal. I have barely eaten anything since the car wreck. Part of it is nerves, part of it is that there is so much stuff crammed into the front of the rig that cooking just isn’t pleasant. Thank goodness that I can pretty much live off peanut butter sandwiches and that they are a reasonably healthy meal. 🙂

Right now, the big concern is that I need to leave Virginia on May 12th to make it back to Canada on the 15th at a reasonable pace. I can get to Canada on the 18th and still make my deadline there, but I told US Customs that I would be out on the 15th. I don’t know if that’s something that can be stretched with a phone call due to extraordinary circumstances, but I have a full week to worry about that.

I’m off to try the car rental company again. For some reason (probably my area code), my insurance adjuster’s request got routed to Bismarck, ND, so now the folks down the street here need to get hold of the folks in Bismarck to get all the information. It’ll be fine; I’m just glad I got the ball rolling yesterday. Enterprise car rental has never let me down.