Too Long
Yes, I made it to NY intact, and in short order. For some reason I haven't been able to sleep more than a few hours here and there on the trip, and things are only somewhat better since I arrived in NY a week ago. If nothing else, the trip was uneventful. Nothing went terribly wrong. Only one ham contact the whole way across, calling on the 2m and 70 cm calling frequencies as well as an occasional shout on 6m sideband. But the trip was solid with no real surprises, and the hardware all worked flawlessly. Trailer returned without issue or surprise costs, too.
Life is settling slowly into a routine here, as much as can be expected when such a big change comes to the household. The eldest daughter, who survived leukemia, has been having all kinds of serious health issues probably resulting from the chemo itself. Most recent is a thinning of the optic nerve and permanent loss of peripheral vision, which could be from the chemo or could be glaucoma. Last night at 10 pm she lost most of the vision in one eye, and we went from the house to the ER in Kingston, where she was transferred to the ER in Albany. So I was awake about 40 hours and did the driving back to the house from Albany, about a two hour drive. I wasn't making a lot of sense when Rachel tried talking to me right before I finally was completely asleep; I was walking and talking, but was actually not awake at the time. That's what tired really is. There is so much to do here and if it doesn't get done things fall apart, so I so, without recovery time from the trip, without enough sleep, and so on. I have to prepare all the documentation for my court case against Eradea that's next month, get my back support with Saratoga County cut back by 5 figures and get the current support reduced to the proper level, take care of Rachel and the years of neglect she's suffered from worthless mates, and get on social services in NY in time to get a new pt appointment with a doctor here before my meds run out. Needless to say it's been quite a trial, and it will probably get harder before it gets easier. But since finding someone worth doing it for, someone who can communicate and ask for what she wants or needs, I'm motivated like I haven't been in years and years. Finding the balance point between driving myself into accident or worse and getting things done for the family I love is the order of the day. And it's so nice to know I won't get blindsided by resentment over things never asked for; I have finally found a grown-up to do this life thing with, and just wait until we start working together on creating new things to turn loose on the world. Plans are forming, and progress is being made...
So that's about all the news from over here. The ham gear is all up for sale, as the money would be a huge help since the thieving of my things and the expense of having to move somewhere where I could actually afford to live after someone threw a grenade into my living situation for no apparent reason. I hadn't realized how incredibly good it would be to be with someone who is direct and honest in her communications, but WOW, what a huge difference it makes. Of course there are bumps in the road, learning each others' quirks and details and so forth, but a near 30 year-old love story won't be denied, and that's what gets us through everything, good, bad or otherwise. It's nice to finally be loved enough to hear the truth at all times. And Rachel and I both continue to wonder why it was we waited so long to seek each other out again, but we also know that this had to wait until we were both learned, developed, and connected enough to be able to have this sort of a relationship together. It was worth saving for the right moment, I can say that. With certainty. :)
Watch for some great panoramas from the trip, including a bunch from the Hill AFB Air Museum.