I'll probably have to do this in parts

August 16th -- We got on the road by 9:30 a.m. or so. Several stops to pee dogs and pee people, a rather long stop-and-go stint between Gainesville and Longview, TX, and a long search for a motel in which to sleep in Longview. At the FOURTH motel, we finally managed a ground floor wc-accessible room for me and a second floor room for the folks. We ordered pizza and crashed. I cried the hardest I've cried since my sister died and eventually crashed.

August 17th -- Got back on the road by about 8:30, made NO city limits by about 4:00. The Yahoo maps directions I got to get to our hotel were seriously screwed up and had us looking for an exit that didn't exist. We wound up on the West Bank of the Mississippi River where I have NEVER been before. We drove around a bit and then stopped at a neighborhood grocery and asked directions. We were told to follow the road we were on until we got to the ferry. $1 per car got us back across the river and dropped on Canal Street -- and I knew EXACTLY where I was. Finally. We got our stuff out of the vehicles and let the valets park them. We ordered in Chinese, I put together a Power Point for my QE the next day, and we all crashed.

August 18th -- Called Erika and arranged for her to pop by the hotel in the evening so we could reconnect and my folks could meet her. The drive to the U was depressing as hell as I got my first taste of how much NO has "progressed" in the last year. So many houses stand empty. So many businesses stand empty. The neighborhood grocery store does not stand empty -- it no longer stands at all. The whole place has been leveled.

Went to the Privateer Place office to pay the rest of what I owed to rent the entire two-bedroom apartment and have Veronica as my "special guest resident" -- a deal that saves us each $107 per month on rent. After much confusion, we got it taken care of and they actually gave me my keys early. While I went off to my QE, my folks got my stuff into the apartment.

I met with Barney and we went over my classes and the degree requirements and finalized everything for the committee meeting. I barely remember any of it. I was in shock still from the drive. Mona's is gone. Italian Pie is gone. All those houses.

The committee meeting went well, but to talk about that is a whole other entry. Suffice for now to know that I passed -- with flying colors, according to the chair's administrative assistant. Fastest deliberation she'd ever seen, she told me. Five minutes -- literally. I wasn't even aware that it was possible NOT to pass the QE. We also approved the transfer-for-credit of a couple of my WSU classes so that after my stats class and molecular bio seminar this semester, I will officially be finished with classes. I will take an additional stats class when it is offered, but I will be officially finished this semester. Hooray!

Mom picked me up (a typical LA "afternooner" storm had blown in while I was in with my committee) and we went to the apartment. New carpet, new living room furniture, new bedroom furniture, new paint, new stove, new dishwasher. Same retarded sink, same tub, less space in the bedroom, no medicine cabinet in the bathroom, no rod in the closet. Where am I supposed to hang my flannels and my sweaters?

Went back to the hotel. Met Veronica and gave her her key. We'd been talking all day about getting supper, but Dad started making noises about ordering in again. As I went to the bathroom, he looked up a barbeque place and found out they delivered to our hotel. They were just a few blocks away, and I offered to go pick up a menu so we could decide on what to order. Suddenly, he wanted to go to the restaurant. Guess he didn't like the idea of me walking in the Quarter at night -- we'll just neglect to mention I've done it before, yeah?

Erika dropped by, we visited for a bit, and she walked with us to Zydeque. When we were seated, she went off for her date and we ate. Walked back to the hotel and eventually crashed.


To be continued . . . .