Anker MMZ

Throwing caution to the wind and embarking on a strange, irrational tangent can sometimes create the best experiences.

Those of you who've been following my blog know that I take care of my elderly mother.  She had a massive heart attack and so I'm living with her, making sure she takes her medicines, eats properly, visits the doctor regularly for blood work and exams, I take her shopping, do her laundry, make sure she doesn't burn down the house, etc.  Not to complain but it's not something I've ever done and I find it very stressful as well as tiring.  My life didn't stop when all this happened; it simply became far more complicated in a way that hasn't allowed me to take a breath.  24/7 home care for someone who asks the same question 30 seconds after you've already answered it is not my idea of a good time.

But she's Mom and I love her.

I saw a machine on eBay that I couldn't get out of my mind.  The problem is, it was in Los Angeles and Seattle to L.A. is one long trip and completely unjustified.  To even entertain the idea (while rational) of buying, then retrieving it would be a confirmation of my being certifiable, a touchstone of a buying spree that simply had no reasonable, sane limits.  In passing (sort-of), I mentioned it to my mother and without hesitation, she replied that if I wanted it and knew I wouldn't find another like it, the issue is settled: buy it and go get it.

This is no easy matter.  I had to arrange for a potential emergency for Mom as well as prepare the car (oil and all fluids changed, battery checked, etc.), plan for food, pick a hotel (or motel, in my case -- I'm a cheapskate) as well as plan the trip and make the arrangements with the seller.  I didn't give myself time to think about it much, I simply did it all and left that Saturday at 4 a.m.

I reached Lost Hills, a truck stop near Bakersfield, and decided to spend the night there, then drive to Los Angeles the following morning.  Other than the room having no hot water (I needed a shower) and not being able to sleep save for 2.5 hours in a hot little room across the street from a truck fueling station whose busiest times are apparently 9 pm to 6 am, I had a very nice stay.

I managed to make it to Los Feliz -- my destination -- by 8:30 a.m.  The weather was wonderful: cool and cloudy, I drove through a heavy rain storm in the Shasta area and the same system edged east along the coast through The Grapevine and the Tejon Pass, making the trip cool and comfortable for a dyed-in-the-wool PNWer.

Well, here is the machine, an Anker MMZ.  It's a German industrial zig-zag with a 12mm width, needle position, and the original table and Kobold motor.  This model was not sold here in the US and this machine was shipped around Cape Horn (not even through Panama, amazingly enough) and used by a German tailor in the Hollywood costume industry.  This machine has been through a lot and it was really, really grimy when I picked it up (from the husband of the seller, a guy who was clearly not happily married and expressed an interest in "extending my trip", if you get my drift).

Let's face it: the real reason I took this little trip was to take a small vacation, two whole days when I wasn't responsible for babysitting an elderly person.  I stopped and ate where and when I liked.  I cranked the stock Subaru stereo and sang at the top of my lungs.  I drove 80 mph through California and liked it.  (No one follows the speed limits there and if you do, you'll get crushed.)  I swore at bad drivers (and there were plenty) and waved at the nice ones (and there were plenty).  I ogled the first palm trees I saw way up near Redding and muttered in boredom at the hundreds of miles of fruit and nut trees I drove past while nearing the L.A. metro area.  I pointed at Burbank and Glendale and laughed at how little they had changed since my last visit.

So it turns out that I was able to escape my mother for a couple of days and the person who made it possible was my mother.  Had she given me reason to worry about her safety, I wouldn't have made the trip but she understood I needed to get away.  Thanks, Mom.