"Training Orders" 2013 Seattle 48hr film challenge suspense/Thiller

NZS JR Dorks

Long Time... No post!

Well, we've been in WA now for over  a month, settled in at Josh and Coleen's house, and began learning how to help people save their homes form foreclosure. Or more accurately from entities who have no legal right to collect money from people let alone foreclose. The fun part of my work is the Forex market side. I've been learning how to trade the market and I have to admit.. I like it a lot.

Now for baby News...... this is the letter I sent out to the family.......

Incase you haven't heard Michelle and I are having a baby boy most likely around the 15th of November. There have been some complications that had us very worried but have since started looking up. Our little guy has IUGR (intrauterine growth restriction) in the One percentile. So out of 100 babies with IUGR he is the smallest. His head was normal sized but his body was too little.

2 wks. Ago he was 3 lbs. when he should have been 5lbs. they said if he didn't grow by the next ultrasound they would induce Michelle. At 34weeks. 

 

Fast Forward >>>>>>>

 

Michelle and I go the the Hospital twice every week, Tues. and fri., for a few hours of  of non stress tests, ultrasounds, ect. The good news is that our little man grew just under one pound in the last 2 weeks with the help of everyone’s prayers and Michelle's tenacious Protein intake. He's weighing in at about 4 lbs. now. He's still IUGR but has moved up to 2nd percentile now. When his Lungs have developed enough they will induce Michelle. He will grow faster and stronger outside the womb with mother’s milk then he can inside with a "bad" placenta. Our Due date is somewhere in the 3rd week in November. Probably Tues. the 25th or Fri the 18th. He will be a preemie baby but I'm sure will grow big and strong. 

 

You've probably already heard about our epic road trip from Louisiana to Seattle Veggie powered School Bus that I built into an RV, but if you haven't here's a link to our blog. "We Live on a Bus"  (www.weliveonabus.blogspot.com)

The bus didn't quite make it to Seattle and neither did any of our worldly possessions. But as it turns out, the less you have, the less you need and it really puts into perspective what is, and what isn't  important. What is important, right now,  is baby needs. Thats why we have a registry here BABY. or you can search on Target's baby registry for Dave McGrath or Michelle Walsh. Anything will help right now, even the $2 extra nipple pack. 

We're lucky enough to have great friends who have been gracious enough to let us use their Guest bedroom for the time being while we wait for our new rental house to be ready to move into and wait for me to get over my new career's learning curve. I was forced to stop diving due to a Neck injury that ended in Fusion so I'm now a Forex Speculator and I help people fight Foreclosures when the entity foreclosing has no Legal right to do so.  

So far we've decided our baby's middle and last name will be Alexander McGrath, but havent' decided on a first name. Some favorites are Nathan, Bishop, Diver, and Logan. if we go with a "D" first name we can call him "Dax or Dex" for short using the "EX" in Alexander. If we go with a "B" first name his Initials will be "BAM" and would be a good nick name too. We'd love to hear your Ideas and look forward to Showing off our beautiful bouncing baby boy. Please forward this to all the friends and family that I dont' have saved in my email contacts. 

                                      Thank you for all your thoughts and prayers,   David

                                        

Finally that Ahhhhhhh Moment

Well we made it just in time to see a few friends and family and catch my flight back to New Orleans.  The trip was not too welcome since I was next to a crying 1yr old the entire way who's mom couldn't figure out to turn the kids kicking legs towards the isle. But on the way back I had the pleasure of sitting with a celebrity and that was pretty cool.

We're just getting in the swing of things and getting settled. Visiting old friends, family, and taking trips down memory lane. Michelle is happy with our new digs and the Beauty of the North West. I think we're going to be very happy here.

I'm making big plans to get the bus in the spring so the trip will continue soon. Until then look for Michelle's blogs leading up to the trip and the First half before we broke down.

Short but Sweet

We drove 11hrs today from Evanston Wyoming to Kennewick Washington. We've gone 1020 miles since we left the Bus at in Laramie at 7pm on wednesday. We went back in time one hour and almost ran out of gas in the Hills of Oregon, but we made it, and found out my car can go at least 24.6 miles past the blinking empty light. I'm very happy to have learned this interesting bit of information and to not have to knowledge of how long it would have taken to walk it.

Only 3.4 hrs of driving left in this cross country trip and if all goes well I'll  be able to see Raven and still make it to Seattle  one day before having to ride a Jet back NOLA. One month to Get here and One Day to get Back! Life is Funny...

I can't wait for someone else to do the Flying, it should be relaxing.

We Live in a Car Dot Com.................................. (Pics and Video up Tomorrow)

So Marty the Owner of Ben's Diesel in Fort Collins Colorado shows up yesterday at around 3PM with the fixed turbo unit. We're ecstatic and can't wait to get on the road. While Marty is working we're cleaning, picking up, securing the Bus for travel, and making arrangments to pick up the Uhaul trailer that the Scion will ride on. Marty gets done, we take it for a Drive with him to make sure it sounds fine this time. I asked Mr. Marty what he thinks could have caused the 2 blown turbos and how we could prevent it happening again. He says it was probably a bad part we received. I said, and I Quote, "Do you think the turbo blowing out 2 times could be a symptom of a bigger problem and we're just putting a bandaid on an open wound?" Marty says No. He's the expert.....

Michelle, Duffy, and I take off on the newly fixed Bus with Big plans to make it to  Bosie ID but just  happy to be on the road again. We stop at a Tree Growing out of solid rock and found out it's been there since 1867. They built the railroad to intentionally go by it and the Train would stop there so the Fireman could water it with their water buckets.

We were not up to normal speed at this point but I figured slow and steady wins the race and at least were making forward progress. Well that lasted till about 5 miles outside of Laramie Wyoming when the Damn Turbo did it's now all too familiar trick it's now an Expert at performing. It said Wheeeeeee, POOF, crunch, crunch crumble crunch. And I just laughed and thanked GOD that this time we made it over the Crest of the mountain and were now heading down hill for as far as the eye could see.

We coasted to the next exit which had to be 8-9 miles down the highway and What happened to be Right there on that Exit? A Walmart of course! The one place we know we can spend the night with out problems for free. So we made a plan. Sleep the night, unpack the Bus into the car with the essentials, Find outside storage for the Bruised, Broken, and Battered Behemoth, empty the fridge, turn everything off and drive to Seattle in the Scion.

Good News! were now getting 36 miles to the gallon instead of 8 miles to the fried Chicken.

Bad News... Everything we own is in Chyeyenne Wyoming and our Home is in Laramie Wyoming broken.

First we Limped the Bus to the storage at about 20mph on I-80 with Michelle following, flashers on. Again All Down Hill. We spent over 5 hrs packing the car, securing the bus, putting tarps over the AC, fridge vents, and generator. We secured the tire covers with zip ties, cleaned out the fridge and freezer, blocked the wheels, and then Drove 6 hours  to Evanston Wyoming about 1hr 20min from Salt Lake City.

Then I treated my baby to a nice Steak Dinner and a night at the Best Western. After being on the Road over a month and living on the bus for the last 3 months this place feels like a palace. We'll be on the road again tomorrow trying to make it to Seattle by this weekend so I can Get on a Jet to fly back to NEW ORLEANS. LOL

Life is an adventure and we're living it to it's fullest, and if you hang out with us you'll get a taste of it too. I may not have made it across the country in the Bus with the 30ft trailer but at least I tried. I'm sure I'm not done with this trip either. I'll pick it up again in the spring. Until then we might have to change the name of this blog to "We Live in a Car." I asked Duffy what he thinks and he said he's cool with it.

We'd get there faster on bicycles

Today was the day we were going to be fixed and back on the Road. I called Marty who told me the part he ordered on Thurs. got mixed up by the shipper but came in Today Monday at 10:30AM and he would be up here just after lunch to put the turbo back on. Great! now I need to call Uhaul and set everything up to pick up the trailer again.

I called Uhaul and found out that I was charged for the one day we had the trailer and a refund was issued which would take between 3-5 business days to get back to my card. The problem was that If we were ready to roll out today, we'd be waiting for the refund before we could get the trailer so I called Uhaul corporate to see if they could put a stop to the refund an just keep the money. No Dice. They couldn't stop the refund since it already went through on their end, but what they could do was 10x better. They issued me $300 dollars worth of corporate coupons that I could use to pay for the trailer just because we were in a pickle. Wow, I've never had any company do anything like that for me. I'm beside myself. In essence Uhaul just gave us a free one way trailer for the car from Cheyenne to Seattle.

So 2PM.... No Marty.........3PM... No Marty.......4PM.....No Marty......... I figure he decided to just come up after work so I call him. He says he's running behind, I ask if he's still coming today and he says the truck isn't packed yet. I tell him that we can't stay in this Parking lot much longer without water or a toilet and he agrees with me and understands, but sounds preoccupied so I ask him to call me after work to let me know either way if he's coming to put the turbo back on and he agrees.

Well here it is almost 2AM and no Marty, no call, no show. Now this is getting old to be honest. I guess we're not a priority and I'm going to have to push a little bit to get things done.