Each week seems more and more of an exercise of the purest optimism.

No PT this week since I'm in Idaho. Traveled over last weekend to save vacation days. Stayed the nights in Coralville, IA and Cheyenne, WY on the way. Could have easily made it to Laramie the second day but wanted to watched the Final Four games. UNC busted my pick for the winner, but I had Kansas, so I won both the family bracket challenge and took 3rd in the work game. That may be the first time I've won a bracket challenge.

Things haven't worked out as smoothly as I planned here, but most of the important things got done.

It started on the drive out. Ten miles on the road and the tarp I had on the load just in case it rained was torn by the wind and I had to take it off. Stop at the next Home Depot and get a replacement or trust the weather forecast that said it was going to be clear all the way across? Went with choice B to avoid the hour delay and because the only thing in the back that might be damaged by rain was an old loveseat that we'd considered not even bringing.

Woke up the next morning in Iowa to a cold, hard rain.

Don't recall ever driving Iowa in the early spring. I have to say it won't be on my "Really want to do this again" list. Normally I see the corn along the freeway and it's a beautiful, lush green. Makes me proud to live in a country that feeds much of the world. Most of the rest was just as scenic, but nearing the Wyoming-Idaho border south of Jackson, things got a little better.

The previous renters in their apartment had left a washer but no dryer, so I figured it'd be easy to find one on FB Marketplace or Craigslist on the cheap. And it was, except most of them didn't mention whether they were gas or electric models. Needed gas. At last found one for $75 and brought Dad along to pick it up. I had $70 cash but figured to Venmo anyway. Apparently selling used furniture is the woman's business and she wouldn't do Venmo because of the new tax law. Fortunately, Dad had a fin in his wallet.

I get the machine back to the apartment and discover that the attachment hose was too short by two inches to reach the gas line coming out of the wall. So, off to Home Depot where they only had a full installation kit with a four foot hose. Fine. Back for the install and there was just one inch of clearance between the dryer and the door. Close one. But it went in and works and they're set with that.

The main piece of furniture they needed was a bed. I brought a Hollywood bedframe with me. Planned to get a box spring and mattress, or maybe a platform frame and just a mattress. My dad said he was replacing his mattress and they could have it for free. He also knew the guy where it came from and he could probably make me a deal on a platform frame. When I finished work that day and came up from the basement where my temporary office is, Dad was ready to go. Remember, he's 89 and while still pretty sharp, he's slowed down quite a bit since he ran a 3:40 at the 1979 Golden Spike Marathon. So instead of a quick run to a few thrift and furniture stores to see what I could get, it became an entire afternoon of going to one place to find it was only open on Friday and Saturday, another that was no longer in business, then having to search for him because he'd gone to the WinCo to buy some peanut clusters. In the end, we came up empty as the places that normally had what I wanted were out of the size I needed.

I'd remembered stopping to use the restroom at a Walmart somewhere in Iowa that they had a platform frame for $140. That was about half what the furniture stores wanted for them. So plan B became dropping in on the local store and just getting one. To be sure, I went into Mrs. Dave's Walmart.com account and ordered it for pick up. Then the credit card she had on file wasn't working. No problem. I used mine. A few minutes later I received an email that my order was cancelled because of suspicious activity on the account. Called Mrs. Dave and she ordered it. All set. Until we got to Walmart and they had no record of the order. Checked the account and the third transaction had also been cancelled because of suspicious activity. Went inside and the shelf was empty. Found someone to check in the back but she couldn't check because they were unloading a truck. Wouldn't be done until 10pm. There "might" be one at the other store across town. So we went there to find the shelf also empty. Asked another guy to check the back room and after what seemed like 3-4 days he came back with what was apparently the only queen platform bedframe in the state of Idaho. Oy vey.

We'd been trying to get SIL to attached the license plates to his car for the last couple of months to no avail. Turns out he likely wouldn't have been able to anyway, since they were missing a bolt from the real and he had no idea. It also attached differently than the front so that needed to be figured out with one trip to Walmart and another to O'Reilly's. When I removed the temporary sticker from the back window I noticed the expiration date. February 28. SMH.

When they bought their second car, it only had one key. Next quest was to get a second one, plus another one of each so they'd have spares just in case. I don't remember being quite so inept in my 20s, but maybe I was. Anyway, since we were at Walmart for something else and they make keys in their auto area, I waited five minutes to ask about getting one. Bet you didn't know that a 2001 Civic has a chipped ignition key. The associate trying to help was particularly inept herself, and I took the advice of another guy who was waiting for something at the counter and went to the Ace Hardware store down the road. I gulped when he told me it was $90 for the key and then we'd have to program it to mate with the car. Maybe Mel's Lock & Key could do better. Fine, where is that? On the other side of town. Good thing Idaho Falls isn't a big town. Mel would do it for $80, including programming, but we needed to bring the car. We were in my truck. So we went back to the apartment, traded the truck for the car and came back. Geez o Pete.

Yesterday I realized that the can of spray adhesive I spent $30 for at O'Reilly's ... I had an almost full can back in Michigan from when I'd replaced T-Rex's headliner. I knew I had this job on the list to do but didn't even think to bring the adhesive that I'd paid $25 for five years ago. Anyway, we were able to get the edges that were falling off reasonably well re-attached and they don't have it secured to the roof with thumbtacks (I kid you not).

Met one of my brothers (Robert, the Ironman) for dinner and had a good talk.

Took the kids out to Red Robin last night and tried to wrap up my visit with some life advice. Item one is to do the things that need to be done. It's been a year since the wedding and she just barely got her name changed on her SS card so she can now change her residency to Idaho and get a driver's license and register her car in the state.

Anyway, I'll head back today as soon as I get through with work. Most of what I came here for got done, although not without what seemed like hiccups at every turn.

Life's like that most of the time. Like running.