Random OT experience

I was offline yesterday for a very good reason—I was moving my oldest child out of her dorm after her first year of college.  The move-out policy was strange—on a week day, not a weekend, and the deadline was less than 24 hours after her last final!

Nonetheless, it was a good experience for me/us.  On my end it started the day before last when I went to bed at 8:00.  I then naturally (naturally for me that is) rose at 1:00 a.m., had my coffee and was on the road by 2:00 a.m.  

It is a 4.5 hr trip and starting so early was almost inviting.  I got on the road when it was virtually deserted and made my way through interstate and secondary roads for about 2,5 hours when I made a very quick stop for a caffeine break and was back on the road again.  But when I got back on the road, I noticed that the night had decidedly turned to dawn and the early phase of my adventure was over.  I liked driving through the night, having virtually the entire road to myself.

I did arrive at my destination at 6:30, got some breakfast and started packing and thanks to family who lives just 40 minutes away. We were on the road by noon.  But the road back was just not as good.  In addition to the obviously higher volume of traffic, the road seemed ordinary, like this was the time people were supposed to be traveling.  A part of me wanted the clock to turn back to the pre-dawn hours, but of course that is not possible.

We arrived back home by 4:30, a long day’s work done, feeling quite satisfied and again I was passed out by 8:00 p.m.

Eric

Eric, I hope your kid did well on the finals and enjoyed their first year of college.

Glad you made it there and back safely.

Happy trails!

Thanks Anne,

Haven’t seen the grades yet but I think things went well.  Overall it was quite the learning experience.  Now we have a more laborious chore of unpacking and storing stuff over summer.

One note I am particularly proud of.  When I was in college I had built a loft for my bed, but then wanted a couch that not only fit under the loft (difficult in itself), but was also easy to move.  My solution:  build one that could be disassembled.  I built it out of 2x4’s that were held together with heavy lag screws.  The cushions were 4 pieces of dense polyurethane foam that my mother sewed a cover over.  The cushions were held in place with rope stringers that ran along the back and underneath the cushions (actually 1 80’ piece of rope!).  

That couch sat under my loft for 3 years of college and in various rentals I lived in and it was set up in our existing house as an extra seating area in the basement.  Now that couch is getting use as a second generation in a dorm room.  I am kinda proud that the basic design has held up for so long.