My, how times flies when you are having fun. It seems as if we just got back from our trip to Texas back on last Tuesday. Now it is Saturday afternoon and I am sitting here writing to you about our trip to Goose Creek SC.

Loading the truck only claimed two victims and a couple of scratches for two people. No major injuries and we only damaged two pieces of furniture. The joys of moving a lot is that ultimately things are going to get torn up no matter how hard you try to keep it from happening.

The trip between Travelers Rest and Goose Creek was uneventful and it was not until we landed in Goose Creek around 9pm that things got fun. I took the UHaul truck to the UHaul center to off load the car carrier. There was not enough space in the main parking lot for me to turn the truck around while pulling the car carrier. What to my wandering eyes appeared but a field behind the main parking lot. At first glance things looked dry and I also found several trailers parked in the field. I deducted that it was safe to drive the 26' truck off into the field so I could turn it around. What I should have done was put the truck in park and walked into the field myself to VERIFY that it was indeed safe to do so. For a fleeting moment my brain told me to question my assumption but you know what folks say about assumptions.

It took me approximately 35 seconds to leave the concrete and come to a complete stop while the truck was still in drive and trying to go forward. I tried and tried to rock the truck forward and backward thinking I could disengage it from the soft mud that I encountered. They say that the road to perdition is paved with good intentions but no matter how many good intentions that I may have had the truck was going no where. By this time I had several on lookers who happened to be at the Goose Creek EMS next door. I think that they probably had bets as to how quickly I would get the truck stuck in the mud. I would also believe that they probably have a wall in their garage that has a mark for every time a Uhaul driver has gotten a truck stuck in that very same field.

It is one thing to make a stupid mistake but something entirely different to have to broadcast it to friends or family when you call for help. They always say "You did what? What in the world were you thinking James?" Thanks be unto good manners the laughter was kept to a minimum and my friend , Paul Bunyon, and several EMS workers used a Chevy 4x4 and a chain and pulled the truck out of the mud. I know that you are wondering about who Paul Bunyon is. I want to give him credit for helping me but in order to finish the next paragraph I have to protect his true identity so that I can finish this story. Paul Bunyon , my tree felling friend, is an integral part of this story.

We spent the night at the Pastors house and got some much needed rest for all of the sore and aching body parts. Thanks to the help of about 10 people from church we had the truck unloaded in approximately 1 hour. I am so thankful for the help and assistance that we have received from our friends and church family.

Daniel Boone was a man he was a BIG Man..... Oh, I am sorry, I wandered a bit. I was supposed to tell you about my friend , Paul Bunyon, the great outdoorsman, a REAL man. Paul Bunyon IS a REAL MAN. I am not kidding. This guy can work from sun up to sun down and there is almost NOTHING that this guy can not do with his bare hands. Ok, ok, maybe I am exagerrating a bit. Sometimes he does need to use tools. Can we say power tools? Tim the tool man would be jealous of Paul's prowess with power tools.

Today is no different than most days with regards to my memory of how talented my friend Paul is with regards to his strength, agility and endurance. Not only did he help unload the 26' truck he also hauled all the trash out of our yard into a large burn pile. Paul Bunyon then proceeds to fire up the chain saw and started cutting down trees out of the neighbors yard in preparation for moving out an older trailer and making room for a more new improved and newer LARGER trailer. I KNOW that the lady in the shoe box across the street will be absolutely thrilled but that is a whole different story.

I know, I chase too many rabbits in my writing but I know that it probably keeps you on your toes. Why make writing dull and boring anyway? Lest I digress lets get back to why the power tools and Paul Bunyon are so important to this story. Just as I did not MEAN to bury the truck in mud my friend Paul did not MEAN to cut down the tree and certainly did not expect the tree to take out the power on our entire street. Did you ever wonder how to get all your neighbors out into the street all at the same time? Try killing the power on your street and you will have more friends than you would ever want.

When the power went off I was under my desk amidst all of the different power cords and connectors that have to be plugged in to get all of my computer toys functional again. There are three things that happen first when it comes to getting the household functional after first moving in. Katy works on the kitchen (food) and food making utensils. The computer network and all the essentials for getting online fast. (Must have access) and the stereo equipment comes next. We must have tunes. If we have food, Internet Access and tunes we can survive anything. Well, anything but friends with a hankering to cut down trees in the middle of the day with their power tools.