One of the reasons we decided to schedule our moving date for October was the Skittles Waco Wild West bike ride. As I have mentioned, we have both been on the organizing committee for several years.
The week of the ride happened to also be the week of Hurricane Rita. Erring on the side of caution after Hurricane Katrina, weather forecasters were predicting devastating weather for Texas. Even Waco, hundreds of miles from the Gulf of Mexico, was threatened by chances of high winds and heavy rain. If the storm had tracked as predicted at one point, Waco would have been directly in the path of what would have been at least a tropical storm as it passed over.
Wednesday before the ride, we found out that one of our major sponsors that also hosts our premiere rest stop for the riders, had decided to cancel their rest stop for the safety of the volunteers there. This left the committee in a big dilemma. We have never canceled our ride before. We had 600 + riders preregistered for the event. On the other hand, the supplier of the porta-potties said he didn’t want to put his porta-potties out with the likelihood of hurricane winds. Waco was also fast becoming a destination point for Gulf coast evacuees, to the point that every hotel room in Waco was booked.
So, we took stock of the situation and decided to cancel the ride. A very tough decision, but ultimately the only one that made sense.
Luckily, we decided to cancel before we spent some of the money we usually spend. Some of the T-shirts were printed, but not all. No money had been spent for the police escorts, the fruit and cookies hadn’t been purchased yet and we hadn’t yet gotten the big tent we use for registration.
This did leave us the predicament of contacting over 60 people to let them know of the decision. We had email addresses for many of the riders, so mass emails were sent. Others were called on the phone (my new packet 8 VOIP service was handy there!) Our website was updated to show the cancellation.
Friday night is normally packet pickup. We told people they could come get their T-shirts then. About 100 folks did come. We will be mailing out T-shirts to all the preregistered riders soon.
It was very disappointing to have all our hard work go unused. Waco ended up not having any hurricane weather, but we did get lots of Gulf coast evacuees. All in all, we received high marks from almost all our riders on our decision, the communication to let people know of the cancellation, and our interest in the safety of both our riders and the volunteers involved.
Friday, September 30, 2005
Monday, September 19, 2005
Details, details
Ever heard the expression “the devil is in the details’? Well I am telling you, it is true! I was expecting to have lots of free time after we moved out of our house. Other than going to Curves three times a week and working at my really part time job 2 afternoons a week I pictured having a pretty free calendar. Boy was I wrong!
Both Harold and I are on the organizing committee of a large bicycle tour called the Skittles Waco Wild West Century Bicycle Tour. This is the 21st year for the ride, which averages 1,500 riders per year. Routes are 10, 25, 50 65 and 100 miles. I formerly was in charge of publicity and have been able to pass that duty on to another committee member. Harold is in charge of recruiting groups to run the rest stops. So far, no other committee members have stepped forward to handle that. He has been busy lining up groups, working out conflicts with locations and schedules and ordering supplies. Additionally he and I both have been trying to find sponsors to help defray costs. The ride is coming up on Saturday, September 24. One reason we decided to make our Mexican move in early October is so that we would be here for the ride.
There are many things to consider when moving out of the country. We have been consolidating bank accounts, setting up and checking electronic banking options as well as back-up plans for accessing our money. We have arrangements made for our mail (Mom and Dad will screen it and let us know what’s important). My health insurance will cover us in Mexico. I called Aetna several times to make sure I know how to file our claims properly. Our prescription drug coverage will not mail drugs to Mexico so we had to get an exemption allowing us to get 6 months worth of prescriptions instead of the normal 3. Both Harold and I have been to the family doctor for check-ups.
Lake Chapala Moving Company will come on October 4 to pick up our household goods. We are completing packing boxes to go in the moving truck. An inventory list is required for everything going in the truck. There is another stack of stuff that will go with us in the car.
I called the American contact person for Lake Chapala Moving and arranged the trailer drop-off and pick-up. First we had to make sure the guys who are doing the loading were available that day.
I have also been doing some shopping for things for other people. Ebay has been busy with my orders! Then when the things come, they are packed to go.
We now only have a few weeks to go. After the household goods leave October 4, we plan on leaving here October 9 and arriving in Bucerias on October 11.
Both Harold and I are on the organizing committee of a large bicycle tour called the Skittles Waco Wild West Century Bicycle Tour. This is the 21st year for the ride, which averages 1,500 riders per year. Routes are 10, 25, 50 65 and 100 miles. I formerly was in charge of publicity and have been able to pass that duty on to another committee member. Harold is in charge of recruiting groups to run the rest stops. So far, no other committee members have stepped forward to handle that. He has been busy lining up groups, working out conflicts with locations and schedules and ordering supplies. Additionally he and I both have been trying to find sponsors to help defray costs. The ride is coming up on Saturday, September 24. One reason we decided to make our Mexican move in early October is so that we would be here for the ride.
There are many things to consider when moving out of the country. We have been consolidating bank accounts, setting up and checking electronic banking options as well as back-up plans for accessing our money. We have arrangements made for our mail (Mom and Dad will screen it and let us know what’s important). My health insurance will cover us in Mexico. I called Aetna several times to make sure I know how to file our claims properly. Our prescription drug coverage will not mail drugs to Mexico so we had to get an exemption allowing us to get 6 months worth of prescriptions instead of the normal 3. Both Harold and I have been to the family doctor for check-ups.
Lake Chapala Moving Company will come on October 4 to pick up our household goods. We are completing packing boxes to go in the moving truck. An inventory list is required for everything going in the truck. There is another stack of stuff that will go with us in the car.
I called the American contact person for Lake Chapala Moving and arranged the trailer drop-off and pick-up. First we had to make sure the guys who are doing the loading were available that day.
I have also been doing some shopping for things for other people. Ebay has been busy with my orders! Then when the things come, they are packed to go.
We now only have a few weeks to go. After the household goods leave October 4, we plan on leaving here October 9 and arriving in Bucerias on October 11.
Thursday, September 08, 2005
Hanging around Waco
Since we left our house in Hewitt we have been staying with my parents. They live about 5 miles from our old house. Mostly we have been taking it easy. I have been working, if you can even call it that, at the Safety Store at Masterfoods. It is only 4 hours a week and mostly consists of socializing with former coworkers. I’ve also been going to Curves three times a week. I plan on continuing Curves when we get to Bucerias. The club there is only 4 blocks or so from our house and it’s a great way to meet people as well as keep in shape.
For the moving company, we have to have an inventory sheet of our possessions. As we packed the boxes and took them to the storage building we did have the contents written on them. This week we took every box and tub out of the storage building, numbered the boxes and made up our inventory sheet. The warehouse looks pretty good now. There are still some things in Dad’s shop, but we have gotten most of them in the warehouse. Our friend Paul and my Dad helped with the restacking so it didn’t take too long.
The dogs have to stay outside here since my Mom doesn’t like dogs in the house. We have been taking them for walks many days. A couple times we have taken them to a park near the lake. Fox likes running on the edge of the water and she also goes in swimming. Sarah will wade into the water but having only three legs keeps her from swimming much. There are some pictures on Webshots of the dogs at the lake.
Our grandson Joshua started kindergarten this year. He has to wear a uniform to school – either khaki or navy blue pants or shorts, and a red, white or blue polo shirt. The kids all look very cute. Joshua loves school and seems to be learning a lot.
Harold and I both are on the organizing committee of the Skittles Waco Wild West Century Bicycle Tour. This is the 21st year for the tour and we expect 1,500 riders. The committee works hard to get this fund-raising ride together. We wanted to stay here at least through the day of the ride, September 24. We’ve been busy with planning and meetings for the ride. Harold is in charge of the rest stops and has to locate groups to man a dozen rest stops along the ride. There are routes of 10, 25, 50, 65 and 100 miles.
Since Joshua’s birthday is October 11, we will stay here long enough to have a birthday part for him a little early. It looks now that we will send our things southbound the last week of September or the first week of October and we will leave around October 10th at the latest.
I keep thinking there is some detail I am overlooking in getting ready for the move. Banking, mail, telephone, bill paying, insurance, credit cards, the list goes on and on.
For the moving company, we have to have an inventory sheet of our possessions. As we packed the boxes and took them to the storage building we did have the contents written on them. This week we took every box and tub out of the storage building, numbered the boxes and made up our inventory sheet. The warehouse looks pretty good now. There are still some things in Dad’s shop, but we have gotten most of them in the warehouse. Our friend Paul and my Dad helped with the restacking so it didn’t take too long.
The dogs have to stay outside here since my Mom doesn’t like dogs in the house. We have been taking them for walks many days. A couple times we have taken them to a park near the lake. Fox likes running on the edge of the water and she also goes in swimming. Sarah will wade into the water but having only three legs keeps her from swimming much. There are some pictures on Webshots of the dogs at the lake.
Our grandson Joshua started kindergarten this year. He has to wear a uniform to school – either khaki or navy blue pants or shorts, and a red, white or blue polo shirt. The kids all look very cute. Joshua loves school and seems to be learning a lot.Harold and I both are on the organizing committee of the Skittles Waco Wild West Century Bicycle Tour. This is the 21st year for the tour and we expect 1,500 riders. The committee works hard to get this fund-raising ride together. We wanted to stay here at least through the day of the ride, September 24. We’ve been busy with planning and meetings for the ride. Harold is in charge of the rest stops and has to locate groups to man a dozen rest stops along the ride. There are routes of 10, 25, 50, 65 and 100 miles.
Since Joshua’s birthday is October 11, we will stay here long enough to have a birthday part for him a little early. It looks now that we will send our things southbound the last week of September or the first week of October and we will leave around October 10th at the latest.
I keep thinking there is some detail I am overlooking in getting ready for the move. Banking, mail, telephone, bill paying, insurance, credit cards, the list goes on and on.
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