Well, today was a busy day. I had to go into Vegas to cash my unemployment check and to get the bus tickets to Texas. This gets the clock ticking towards our move.

I came back and decided to pay a visit to a friend, the hoistman from the mine where I used to work, to ask him to lodge our dog for a couple of months, to which he was agreeable. He and many of the other miners are preparing to head upstate to Elko to try their hand at the mines up there in January. The mine is now hard to access via the road; it's actually still blocked off to all traffic except the vans the mine rented to haul the men out. This just underscores the mentality of American Borate; it's all about the ore, the miners be damned.

Finding out what I did about the mine situation only made me happier I am no longer there. The men were paid a grand total of $89 by California unemployment for two weeks without work, nothing by the company, and nothing by the union (doncha love them union jobs). I will always respect the miners, having been part of that brotherhood, but I pray I never have to go down again, especially in a mine as unsafe as Billy Mine.

I got back home and called the family who lent us the wagon we've been using (they also have a van that got a flat when they were here and has been sitting here since; I wanted to let her know we were moving so she'd have plenty of time to move it). She was glad I called, as she would be needing the car back shortly (she's a midwife, that's how we met her, and she has several babies near due), but she didn't want to leave us without transportation. So the timing, while sudden, really works out best for all.

We have the logistics involved regarding our transportation into Vegas on moving day; now to the hard part of actually moving and selling our appliances.