The fun continues. Yesterday morning the decision was made to remove the computer from life support and initiate file recovery.
Meanwhile the phone was flashing red when I got up and the screen had a message reading line in use. That was odd. I picked up the receiver, no dial tone.
I disconnected the phone and watched the red light flash. The batteries were removed and reinstalled, and the light flashed red and the screen had a message reading line in use.
I plugged the phone back in and tried a random selection if numbers. The three key changed the screen to redial, the pound sign made the screen go black, but nothing provided a dial tone. So, we added the phone to the very long list of things that broke in the month of September.
The office was an absolute zoo. An attempt to use lunch to craft a speech for the appearance on the 17th of October at the Westerners in Flagstaff failed miserably as there wasn’t time for a lunch. There was only time for hurried bites between customers with real complaints and those with complaints carefully crafted in a troll for refund scheme, customers making reservations, customers with reservations, and customers returning trucks early.
Still, the day ended on a better note than it started with as I arrived home to learn that nothing had broken in my absence. That and a laughter filled dinner with my dearest friend allowed for a hint of relaxation to settle in.
Then the cell phone rang. It was another round of mixed blessings in the form of Karel Kuperus and his brother, and their U.S. Biker tour group from Holland.
With the computer down for the count I had missed his note pertaining to a request for information about Oatman Road. My response was a day late and a dollar short.
Still, they were in town for the evening and requested that we hoist a pint with them at the Dambar. As always it was a most delightful visit. The only thing that could have made it better would have been if Hanneke Wiersma, Karel’s better half, and Dries and Marion Bessels had been in attendance.
The mixed blessing part of the story was in regard to the insanity of the government shutdown. Their tour had reservations at Grand Canyon National Park as well as Bryce and Zion Canyon, Death Valley, and Yosemite. Now they were left scrambling for alternate routes, sites, and lodging.
This morning started on a most happy note as nothing else had broken while we slept. So, over breakfast I cranked out a rough outline for the speech and went to the office where another fun filled awaited me.
The reservation list indicated only one truck was needed for the day. So, I had foolishly agreed to work with Roger Allison in setting up a GPS program for the reconnaissance mission on Route 66 next week, the foundation for the April and September tours hosted by Wes Davies of New Zealand magazine, over lunch.
Well, we succeeded in mapping out the course of the Illinois route and ate lunch, it just took six hours. There were customers who wanted to make reservations, customers with complaints…
In an unrelated note, the 2014 Route 66 International Festival in Kingman is taking shape. Now, in addition to a very special Chillin on Beale on Saturday evening, there will be a Saturday afternoon Bug Fest at TNT, also the site for the Bob Waldmire exhibit and of a Bob Waldmire mural.
There will also be a cruise night Thursday and Friday night, an informal car show on Friday night, and a spirit tour to the area wineries and distillery. Stay tuned for more exciting details.
