Mission accomplished

                STOW, Ohio – Finally got the marathon process of purchasing our condo completed today. In keeping with the mind-grinding struggle we’ve gone through, we finally got the total needed on the bank check for the closing costs 12 minutes before the meeting with the title company representative was supposed to begin.

That’s the meeting where you sign the documents and become the owner of the property, the big moment. Showtime.

We didn’t have a bank check because, after all, we didn’t have the exact amount to fill in. And then came the moment that all husbands live for. We dream of this stuff. We relish the opportunity and we tell the story for years to come.

Amy put the car keys in my hand and said, “Hurry.”

First time that’s happened since the day our youngest was born. I hurried then and I hurried again today. All those years ago I got us to the hospital on time and today I reached the assigned address in very short order.

Unfortunately, the address we found on the computer was for an ATM, not an actual branch of the bank. I rolled into the nearest parking lot and searched for my goal. Lots of banks in the area, but a close inspection revealed nothing of value for my purposes.

Just then I spied an employee of a Wendy’s restaurant dumping trash into a bin behind the eatery and it turned out the young trash dumper knew exactly how to find the nearest bank branch. Rearmed with new information, I dashed through the streets of whatever town I was in by this time and found the appointed bank branch.

Eight minutes after walking in the bank, I was walking back out, check in my grasp. Pretty quick work. Steering wheel in hand again, I roared back up the highway and returned to the hotel. It turned out that I made it in plenty of time. The title company rep was late.

“Well,” I thought, “I did my job.”

Finishing up from yesterday’s blog: The final stats for the Mustang: 2,431 miles in about 79 hours, 32 minutes. The Mustang used 90.26 gallons of gasoline, averaging 26.93 miles per gallon. For the final stint, she averaged 28.4 mpg.

Thanks for reading.