Alex is home for the summer! I went out the Seattle to get him this week and summer break is now underway for him. I found the cheapest flight out there from Indy, which is a much easier path than either of the airports in Chicago, so I went with that. Unfortunately the return flights to Indy are more expensive, but I'll take it anyway. Early flights are the cheapest, so I thought I would get a park-sleep-fly deal but then the truck broke in half, so I wasn't going to drive it as far as Indy and back. Beth went with me and we stayed overnight in a motel near the airport, then she dropped me off and went to visit Missy. I got to Seattle around 9:00 am Thursday morning (I sat behind someone on the airplane that looked JUST like Beth's late sister Pam), and Scott picked me up. He was off work Thursday, but had some business to take care of downtown, so he took me downtown and left me to wander around Pike Place Market while he did his stuff. I had some of the most amazingly incredible salmon that I've ever tasted there, but didn't see them throwing fish. The line for the original Starbucks was not as long as it was last fall but I still didn't feel the need to go there. Scott picked me up again after he was done; I stayed at his apartment while I was there so didn't need to get a motel. That saved crazy money BTW. At dinnertime we picked up Alex and I took us all out to dinner at Red Robin in Redmond. Alex had been studying all day and wasn't done yet, so we just dropped him off after dinner and let him study more. I took the Honda so Friday I could get it in for service, specifically to check out the battery issue he still keeps having. Friday morning I was up early, big surprise, so I left early to get things taken care of. First off I checked the battery and found the terminal cable was very loose - hanging off the terminal - which probably explains why it wasn't starting but then would if he slammed the hood. I tightened that up and the problem was gone. I got a car wash, bought a bunch of cleaning products, then found the nearest Honda dealer. Last fall the guys at Jiffy Lube recommended changing the brake fluid so I wanted that done at least. All the fluids were pretty dirty apparently so I got new brake fluid, transmission fluid, power steering fluid, coolant, and oil (even though Alex drove barely 1000 miles since last August), plus they found an old rodent nest in the ducts and cleaned that out. Done around noon. Alex's last final was at 1:00, he was done by 3:15 and said he was terrified. I picked him up and took him to Zaucer's for pizza, and while we were there he found out he got an 87 on the final, way to go!!! After lunch we did some moving, getting the large stuff moved out and into the storage unit. Packed up all the clothes and bedding he doesn't need for the summer and whatnot, and moved the dresser that doesn't really fit into the car. Then we parted again for the evening, and I went back to his apartment Saturday morning and the packing up began in earnest. We made several trips to the storage unit, and got everything put away or packed by afternoon. Alex had a get together with friends at 2, so he took the car and left me in Redmond. At the time, I thought he'd be done by dinnertime and pick me up then, but dinnertime came and went. I walked a lot that day, from the apartment to Digipen (to drop off apartment keys) and back to Redmond to find a place to hang out and read (Starbucks), but they closed at 6:30 so I lost my hangout, and walked around until making it back to the Subway by Zaucer's. I got dinner and hung out there for a while. Eventually they were closing soon too, and my phone was dying, and Alex was still with his friends. So, Alex ditched me. Without other options, I texted Scott, who interrupted his own dinner plans and came got me with his girlfriend. They had been just going out to dinner, so I treated. Afterwards he dropped her off at her place and we went back to the apartment to wait for Alex, who finally got there at around 12:30 am. I had texted him a few times reminding him that we had an early flight. So we spent the last night at Scott's, got the Honda parked into a good spot at his place, and he dropped us off at SeaTac in time for a 10:30 flight, and we were away.

In other news, before I went to Seattle, on Tuesday I got the prospective new truck in to Ab & Tom's for an inspection, which was a mixed bag. I'm coming to terms with the fact that money will dictate that I need to get a truck a little older and rougher than I really want. Anyway the inspection was ok, they found some oil leaks, some brake wear, a blower motor with a bad bearing, and some bumper rust. Other wise it was ok and the price was more or less reasonable. I was teetering on the edge of pulling out of the sale, but the guy offered to fix everything "like new" for $1000 more and I took it. So they will have the truck in the shop until next week sometime, and I will get the loan finished from USAA.