The Wedemeyer Family

Written July 21, 2007:

At the end of June, we moved from North Liberty to Piedras Negras/Eagle Pass. We took several days and made several overnight stops: Omaha, Independence, MO; Ardmore, OK; and San Antonio. We stayed with Preston, Margie and Ely; Don and Naomi; and our friend Lorraine.

There was much flooding along I-35 from southern Kansas to northern Texas, and we narrowly missed two interstate closures—one that occurred in Texas before we arrived and one in Kansas after we had passed through.

We rented a U-Haul again, and again, U-Haul managed to dissatisfy me as soon as I picked up the brand new truck in Iowa City. (When we moved from Ames to Iowa City in 2000, the truck’s odometer added 30 extra miles to the trip as evidenced by the mile markers on the interstate). The agent signed a form showing a quarter tank of gas, “but it really has about a half a tank,” he said. The yellow gas light blinked on literally seconds after I drove away. Because of the rush to move, I just kept going to the nearest gas station, figuring I’d deal with the gas issue when I dropped off the truck. Otherwise, the truck ran great despite my anxieties about driving it. Jacobo rode the whole way in the truck with Dad.

Ale followed in the car.

Gasoline prices were high, between $2.85 and $3.00 per gallon. We considered renting a tow dolly and towing the car behind the truck but it probably would have cost more, and I didn’t feel like learning to drive a moving truck with a car in tow. To rent the dolly would have been around $375. The truck made about 10 mpg without towing and cost $70 to fill the tank. Economics…

Economically, U-Haul must not care about customer satisfaction. The business is characterized by isolated, one-time transactions in which one agent delivers the truck and a completely different, distant and unrelated agent receives it. Thus, they must invest in advertisement, and colorful trucks to keep a constant new flow of young movers. When I dropped off the truck in Eagle Pass, I tried to setoff the extra $80 charge for extra miles by the quarter tank of gas. The woman asked me if I had the opportunity to check the gas level in Iowa City, to which I replied, “Yes, but I just took their word for it.” Silly me.

The move was difficult. From all the packing to driving the truck without a rearview mirror. We drove slowly and cautiously. I avoided any parking where I had to back up, which is fairly easy to find along the interstate.

We’re in Piedras Negras now. The Texas Bar Exam is next week. I’ve studied constantly—except for all the time packing and moving—and am now taking a break. It’s raining here now. It’s rained a lot. The ranchers say that there’s been enough rain to cover the rest of the year, grass-wise. As Ale says they say, “When the canícula begins with rain, it continues with rain.” The “canícula” is the hottest part of the summer. It lasts forty days from mid July to the end of August. The word, “canícula,” is derived from canis, which I think is related to Sirius and the dog days of summer.

Jacobo has been very active since we arrived. He’s taking several different lessons at the “Casa de Cultura (library/cultural center),” including drawing, painting, guitar, singing and literature. He loves it there and has made many new friends. While he’s in class, I study in the library. Last week, Jacobo won a two-mile bike race in the kid’s division in Eagle Pass!

We’re currently looking for places to rent in Eagle Pass so that we can enroll Jacobo in an elementary school there this fall. I start work on August 13. Ale begins student teaching at the end of August.

Spotty internet access these days.