Be Aware!

Until the deposit arrived, I still let people see it but told them that I was expecting said deposit and more than likely, the vehicle would not be available. I had two parties that week offer either a deposit or the full asking price with another (the following week) also willing to purchase the Dart. Of course, I held off, because I thought this was a done deal.

I had the Dart in storage (in an attempt to keep the peace with a few neighbors). I only have room for one car in front of the house and that space was taken. Dates to pick up the Dart kept changing. The initial weekend pickup was postponed and blew some plans the family had to get away. Then I was told of a re-tiling job in Hemicop's house that was going beyond schedule which would postpone it once again. Then, there was a family medical emergency in NY (which I hope resolved favorably) but resulted in another rescheduled date a week later.

Because I gave my move out date to the storage facility, I had to take the car out or re-up the contract for another month. Although I knew the neighbors wouldn't be very happy with it, I told Hemicop that I could keep it outside on the street (on the trailer) for a few more days when he asked. Well, the pickup date was pushed back again and there were some discussions with the neighbors. I could have just set it up in storage again until he was ready to pick it up and pass on the storage bill to him but I was trying to be accommodating.

BTW: All of this is going on while I am working, dealing with the family and trying to get my own tow vehicle (new air bags, brakes), trailer (new deck, brakes, tires) and Cuda (water pump, trans service) ready for Spring Fling. I was absolutely sweating it because the Dart was supposed to be picked up all ready so I could focus on everything else. I had to unload and load that car several times (by hand) to get work done on the trailer and it was truly a PITA.

So, the latest scheduled pickup date was Wednesday (4/30) and two days before we were supposed to meet a Pacific Coast caravan on Friday morning (5/2) @ 9am to head down to Spring Fling. I take the day off from work to make sure that everything is good to go. I have asked Hemicop to call me when he's about an hour out. I patiently wait and mid-day I start calling him but there is a problem with his phone service. I give up calling at around 4pm. Approx. a half hour later, he calls and says they are in Fresno and that he miscalculated the driving time. He says he could be here by around 10pm but again, trying to be decent, I tell him that it would probably be better if he saw it in the daylight and also, it might be better to get a room and hunker down for the night with plans to meet at 10am the next day. One other disappointing aspect is the fact on Wednesdays I am involved with a program for at-risk youths as a mentor/tutor. For the past several years, I have only missed one session due to being ill. It's something I am very passionate about and don't mind going into work early on those days and going back to work later after the session is over. Needless to say, I wasn't happy with how the day turned out.

So, I call into work and left a message that I wouldn't be in at least the first half of Thursday. Well, as fate has it, I was needed that morning so instead of disconnecting the trailer from the day before, I haul everything to work some 25 miles away with a rig that gets about 10mpg with a loaded trailer (so $20 in gas for this one of many jaunts - in case anyone is keeping score). When Hemicop called that morning, I was on my way back up the freeway to meet him. As planned for Wednesday's meet-up, I told him that it would probably be better to meet at a large shopping center near the house so it would be easier to transfer the Dart from one trailer to another and gave him directions. After getting to the shopping center, I got the call that he was at a different shopping center on the not-so-nice side of town and proceeded over there.