Moving is one detail after another

We spent much of today helping Diane’s father and his SO find a place to stay until their permanent apartment becomes available on February 1st. First, we went through the phonebook and did some Internet searching to find a short list of possible locations. Then, we phoned what looked like a promising short-term apartment, only to get an answering machine. So we drove over there; there was a note on the door claiming that the manager was “on the property” but could be paged by pushing a button. We pushed the button; it’s a good thing the weather was pleasant, because we waited an awfully long time before giving up.

After that, we took a tour of their new home, Fellowship Square, and then had lunch at Dragon Palace (chosen by using the car’s GPS to find nearby restaurants and then guessing), which was quite pleasant.

Then we visited the Extended Stay Tucson, conveniently located across the street from the Sheraton, in hopes that it might fit the bill. And it did.

So with a place to stay taken care of, it was time to continue celebrating; back to B’nai B’rith Covenant House for the second half of the birthday celebration. We were the last ones to leave, I think — and I think Diane’s dad is going to enjoy being in the same town as his sister.

We finished the day by getting a cellphone for Diane’s dad; this was more of a problem than it might otherwise have been because he uses hearing aids. The nice folks at the Cingular kiosk in Park Place Mall let us try many phones, taking them outside, and eventually he found an LG which works pretty well for him. We will have to call Cingular tomorrow and turn off all the junk services that come on “free trial”, like the Roadside Assistance plan, but other than that, I think he’s set.

Fortunately, we’d munched a lot at the party, because it was 8pm before we were finished with the phone. None of us were very hungry, so we got a pizza from Magpie’s at Shaw and Speedway. The pizza was quite good, and I wish I’d gotten a bigger pie. Maybe another night or another visit….

My first ninetieth birthday party

We only had 260 miles or so to drive today, so I didn’t think we’d need to wake up particularly early. And we didn’t. But I had forgotten that Arizona was on Mountain Time, so that meant we were an hour behind schedule even before we left the hotel.

The first part of the trip went very smoothly — the speed limit was 75mph, and traffic generally hovered around that figure. So when I saw the sign offering a bypass of Phoenix, I didn’t even consider it. I should have; soon after passing the sign, we were in bumper-to-bumper traffic going about 15 mph, with another 40 miles of Phoenix to go.

So we did the intelligent thing: we got off the road and had lunch at the Bamboo Inn in Goodyear. I wouldn’t make a special trip to Goodyear to eat there, but it was better than our original plan: Arby’s. And by the time we finished and were back on the road, the traffic was moving again, and we got to the hotel about 4.

Diane’s family was in the lobby, so we started catching up immediately; then we went to our room. Suite, actually, with lots of living space and a teeny-tiny bathroom. It could use a bit more sound insulation from the street, but it’s otherwise quite nice — nice enough that I decided to see whether the hotel would be more reasonable in extending our stay than the reservations agent had been. They were willing to give us two more nights at the same $79 rate, so, barring surprises, we’ll be here till we leave town.

I was wrong, though; the party wasn’t here. It was where Diane’s aunt lives, in the multipurpose room of B’nai B’rith Covenant House, a five-minute drive away. About fifty of her friends and family gathered and celebrated — and there’ll be more tomorrow.

We had wanted to bring a ninetieth birthday card, but we didn’t find any we liked. They all talked about “as you look back”, and Diane’s aunt is not ready to stop and look back! So we got her a 40th and a 50th instead. And, as it turns out, we were not alone — her son bought her three 30th cards for the same reason. I think Hallmark is missing a bet here.