Howdy Fellow Commodore Users!

 As I write this, I am recovering from our inventory move the first weekend of April. I would like to thank the following folks for helping out: Roger Hoyer, Charlie Needom, Ed Gase, Oliver VieBrooks, Chuck Kern, and of course David Fisher. I would also like to take a moment to thank the Winkle family for the years we have kept our inventory on their property. I'm not sure I remember the exact date of when that move happened, but it seems to me it happened in the late 90s. I know we had an inventory in October 1998, so that would make it 10 years plus!

 I left home at 8:45 AM expecting the hour drive to be somewhat eventless, as it was a Saturday morning. I walked outside and saw a hint of fog hanging in the neighborhood, figured no big deal. First big river I will see will be as I am approaching Morrow Ohio. I forgot to pack my work gloves, so I figured I'd buy a new pair at Home Depot just a mile away from me. After consulting with one of the sales clerks, she informed me they could be in three different locations. To anyone who has not seen the size of my paws, let's just say "one size fits all" doesn't apply to my hands. Large just isn't large enough! The first display the clerk showed me had only the one size fits all and large. I asked the clerk, if the other displays would have other sizes. She assured me that they did. So off to the other side of the store, I found XL gloves, tried one on. Guess what? It fit like a glove! (LOL)

 I took my selection to the checkout, walked back across the parking lot to my car and proceeded on the continuing trip. By the time I got to Morrow, there was no fog present in the river valley. So my time was still looking good at getting there on time. Stopped at one of the traffic lights I popped out the CD I was listening to and decided to turn the radio on to listen to the weather forecast of the day. I looked up just in time to see a tractor trailer of hay going thru the intersection, and then a tow truck, and then a moving van, with a parade of other vehicles behind going thru the intersection. I thought to myself OK, this might slow me down some. On my way again as the light changed for me to go, I kept cheering as I saw each vehicle turning off to it's eventual destination. The line of vehicles was getting smaller and smaller.

 Eventually, all had turned off the main road, without me passing a single one of them. Onward to my destination unfettered I said to myself! I had lost some time, but I might only be a couple minutes late. As I was approaching Blanchester, the time was almost 10am. As I turned onto Rt 28, I rounded the bend that goes into the city as you come in from the west side. There was a bicycle troop, cruising the street on it's way into town. Of course they weren't riding single file, either. So I had to bide my time following behind them until I could find a place to get around them.

 Eventually I passed the group, which spanned for most of 1/2 a block. Onward to my destination, and I was "officially late"! I pulled into the Winkle homestead at 10:10 am. Figured I would be the last person to show up. It looked like everyone was there except Dave Fisher. Was he lost? Did his vehicle break down? Nobody had heard anything. So as we gathered at the barn ready to start, Jan made a brief announcement to those present, and let us go on with our work we had to do.

 A stacking place for everything at the barn door was started for everything we needed to move from the barn loft. In short time, the move was finished, and still no Dave, or van/trailer. During the wait, Jan offered coffee for those who needed the beverage.

 I heard the sound of gravel and strained my neck up to see who was coming down the driveway. It was Dave, with his sidekick Levi. Everything managed to be moved into the van and trailer, and a look at the clock showed it was just after noon.

 A quick check of who was planning to make the trek to Dave Fisher's home indicated I was the only one (crazy enough) to volunteer. At least by that time, it turned out to be a nice sunny day. Perfect for a road trip. Nevermind that regular gas at the gas station was $3.35.9 a gallon. In order to make the trip, it will be a necessary expense. We stopped briefly to fill up our respective vehicles, cleaned up a little bit, and used the restrooms for their expected purpose. I sat in my car eating the Little Debbie Swiss Cake I had bought at the gas station as my dessert for lunch. (I thought to myself, this isn't litterbox cake, but it will have to do.)

 After everyone was set to go, back onto the freeway we went. Arriving at Dave's home approximately at 4pm, I thought to myself how long will the unpacking take. Less than an hour later, we were finished. My job was finished with the exception of making the return trip home.

 Thanking Dave for his donation of space for the club benefit, I packed myself back into my car for the return trip home. At that point, I had a thought going thru my mind wondering if I would make it home that nite, or if I would change my mind and get a hotel somewhere along the way home.

 I decided to trek onward until I deemed it necessary to stop. I still had my dinnertime sandwich I had packed, only one bottle of Coke, and my pretzels and cookie were still in my feedsack. A roadside picnic table would be all I would need to have a moment to relax, and plan the rest of the trip.

 I decided to go a different way back home, via I-70, rather than the original trip via I-74. As I was cruising down I-70, I remembered visiting a restaurant with my dad during my vacation last summer. I decided to revisit that establishment, since their food was tasty last time, and they have no similar establishment in Ohio. On my way to the restaurant, a 1/2 block away was my favorite frozen custard eatery. Had to remember to save room for dessert.

 During my dinner, the hotels across the street were reminding me of how late it was getting. It was already after 6PM. If I got back on the freeway before 7 I should be home before 9. I finished dinner quickly, popped over to the frozen custard shoppe for my dessert, and then hit the freeway again. It was now after 7PM, I felt re-energized from the filling meal, and decided to make the trip home so I could sleep in my own bed. I knew of shortcuts that did not involve the freeways after crossing the state borders of Ohio/Indiana.

 Rt 35 takes me thru some scenic farmlands just between Richmond Indiana and Dayton Ohio and I arrive in Eaton Ohio just as the sun sets. I noticed for the first time a historical marker in downtown that happens to name an individual who happens to have the same name as one of my friends from High School. I'll have to look that up on the internet I thought to myself.

Waiting for the traffic light to change to allow me onward, the traffic let up enough to make a right hand turn on red onward to my last destination via Rt 127.

 I knew that routing well, I would be home in a little under 30 minutes. When I got home, I thanked the lord for a safe journey, went to my apartment, and looked at the clock on the wall. It was the same time as I had left that morning. Twelve hours had passed since!

 I tried to stay awake for the #c64friends chat, but grew increasingly tired. I believe I finally fell asleep around 10:30 Saturday nite. It was a long day for me, but it all was finally done. In case you wondered how much sleep I got? I woke up for lunch and went back to bed, but I figure it was about 14-15 hours of sleep.

 I asked Dave Fisher to gather some photos of the move, so you may see some of those in our newsletter this month. Like I always say:

 Keep on Commodoring!