So this afternoon (as I’m walking out the door for work…impeccable timing again), I get a phone call.

“This is Joe from Accurate Freight. Is Brad there?”

“No. He’s at the Sunrise property expecting you.” Actually, he was expecting you three hours ago…but he’s still there.

“Well, I’m at the end of Noland Road, and it’s about to turn into a dirt road.” (This is the not-NM way to go…the dirt road way.) “I’m not sure whether to keep going this way or to go back to the interstate.”

OK…. My first thought is, Why are you asking me? My second thought is, Really? you have cell coverage there?  We’d been told earlier that he would be driving a truck that was licensed for NM *and* that had a liftgate and pallet mover. At this point, I decide not to about the latter. “Do you have the paperwork to drive through NM?” I say.

What ensues is a long, complicated story about how he has the appropriate paperwork for taking the batteries through NM but the truck isn’t multi-state licensed (or something like that…I really wasn’t clear), and his boss is worried and told him to take the dirt road.

Without hesitation, I say, “Take the dirt road. It isn’t bad at all. Trucks take it all the time.” At this point, I think that getting the batteries here is the most important thing.

He hesitates. I reassure. We go back and forth.

“Well, I don’t have directions to go that way.”

I give him directions. They are not difficult. He sounds unsure and says that he will probably call me halfway to get clarification. I tell him that he won’t have cell coverage and then instantly regret saying that for fear he’ll reconsider and go back to Tucson.

He agrees to try. I call Brad to convey the information and leave to go do some work.

When I get home, I am anxious to hear the rest of the story. Did the batteries actually arrive?

Well, the short answer is yes. The long answer involves Joe stopping in Portal (which wasn’t on the way according to my directions…he admitted to taking a right when I suggested a left) to call again to clarify where we were. It also involves Doug going out to search for him (he didn’t find him) and an incident in which the truck’s mud flap apparently fell off….and part of his hydraulics had been tied to that mud flap. A kind motorist (really? on the back dirt road?) stopped to help him tie up his hydraulics so he could continue on. The whole thing took several hours, and it is only a 30 minute drive. At any rate, he got there and had a liftgate and pallet mover to boot.

More good news is that with all day to work on it, Brad and Doug managed to construct and mount the shelves for the batteries.