Well just to let you know I typed for over an hour and as I tried to post it everything was lost......... Some days I feel like Ziggy! So to start all over with my saga, I am currently in Phoenix and have no transportation. Why you ask, well that is what I had explained in the last hour that I spent typing. So I guess I'll give it another go. My original plans after dad got out of the hospital and comfortable at home were to take his three horses to Washington, fly to Phoenix and pick up a new handicapped accessible van that we bought, drive back to Washington where I would be met by my sister TJ and her husband Jeff and we'd all drive both vehicles back to Alaska. Well, it is a good thing ConocoPhillips hired me as an Instrument Tech and not a Planner because I would probably be out of a job and trying to make a living at being a writer. You all know as well as I do how poor I would be! That plan didn't quite work out. First off I was planning on surprising my parents with the new van since I knew they would be opposed to me (actually me is "us" meaning all of my sisters their significant others and also my favorite wife Sandi) just going out and getting a van for them. So on the advice of my uncle Buddy (and my favorite wife), we told them. They weren't as thrilled as I'd hoped but hey they haven't driven it yet (actually neither have I and that gets back to my being "stuck" in Phoenix). Kay and Jim drove the van for me originally and said it was very nice. I had the conversion company add hand controls and two transfer seats so mom could get into either seat without dad having to lift her, as he is limited to forty pounds for life (although he seems to forget that part and he is still won't be above his ten pound limit for a few more weeks). So after the seats were added I bought a one way ticket to Phoenix. The gentleman who I worked the deal with was going to have the van ready to go with a temporary permit on the Thursday or Friday before Labor Day so Kay could pick it up before the weekend. My friend Chris Johnson bought at one way ticket from Portland to Phoenix to accompany me as far as Longview Washington. The day I left (Friday) I talked to the sales guy and he said the DMV was closed until Tuesday that they had taken a four day weekend, so the van wasn't licensed yet. This meant I wouldn't be able to leave Phoenix Sunday night or Monday morning as planned. This would not really be a big deal but the day I left I bought Sandi and Thane one way tickets to Seattle for seven am on Thursday morning. I called Chris and he changed his ticket to Tuesday but Sandi has to work on Monday the 12th at eight am so there is a little time crunch to get from Seattle to Alaska. Then when I got here on Saturday Jim told me that they had checked and the DMV wasn't actually closed on Friday, and that maybe the sales guy just didn't feel like driving across town on a Friday afternoon. I attended Sunday School this morning with Jim and Kay and everyone prayed that I picked up the van on Tuesday and had a safe trip back to Alaska. I almost asked everyone to pray that if I didn't get the van on Tuesday that my sentence for the strangulation of a car salesman would be short. In truth being "stuck" in Phoenix is great, I have gotten to spend time with all of my family here that I haven't seen in almost ten years and meet six of the most adorable children (aside from my own) that I have met. I volunteered to take a few of them home with me (I am driving a new minivan after all). All in all, my "planning" not going as planned has actually been a great blessing. Now I just hope to meet up with Sandi on Thursday and I will continue to be happy. If I don't get the van on Tuesday however my next Blog posting might be from the Arizona State Penitentiary (luckily Alaska and Arizona have a prisoner exchange program). So wish me luck, Tyson