See if you can find him on the monitor
Oh, speaking of Freecycling, I’ve got a flatscreen TV in the apartment that neither Starr nor I want to carry downstairs, much less haul out to the house. It’s a 27″ (or 29″, I can’t remember) Philips HD television that handles 1080i (and I think 1080p). It’s got an HDMI input, S-Video and composite video on the side, and coaxial and 2 or 3 composite inputs in the back.
We bought it off the Philips website as a refurb for about $500. It came with a power board issue that would cause it to spontaneously turn off, but it could always be turned back on in 2 or 3 minutes or so, and the problem hasn’t recurred in about 6 to 8 months. It’s a flatscreen, not a flat panel, so it still has a nice heavy picture tube, and that’s why I’m not interested in moving the thing. We have Craigslisted it, but everyone interested so far has been a no-show.
Anyone willing to come over and haul it off can have it for $200. We have two nice flat panel TVs that Starr’s parents are leaving with us, and are planning to just buy our own flat panel when we move again.
Takers?
Nativity
I had a good, if exhausting, birthday weekend.
Starr bought me the delivery pizza I like (which we don’t get often, because they don’t have much that she likes) and a couple of this year’s Trek ornaments for our Xmas tree. Some new clothes and a Barnes & Noble card rounded out my birthday. I confess that I’d rather be 30 than 40, but I’d rather be 40 than dead. Besides, my life doesn’t exactly suck right now. 40 ain’t so bad. Thanks much to the people who wished me Happy Birthday on the last entry! My friends absolutely rock, and I’m fortunate to have folks like you in my life. *group hug*
Of course, we also moved furniture and unpacked stuff at the house, and made another run to the apartment. The front room’s full of empty packing boxes and stuff to be Freecycled, and the kitchen and full bath are just about clear; we still have the half bath and the bedrooms to do, though all three bedrooms are at least partially done. I had hoped to clear them this weekend, but that turned out to be unreasonable. We’ll work on them this week instead.
However, because of the dust we kicked up and the wacky weather, I was sneezing furiously all weekend – I know it was driving Starr crazy. I had to take two Benadryl before bed to ensure that I could breathe all night; it worked, and I got a good night’s sleep, but man, I’m still feeling those Benadryl this morning.
On The Move
It’s been a heck of a week, and I haven’t had much opportunity to post. Let’s see if I can catch up a bit.
As of Wednesday evening, Starr and I began sleeping at the new house. This was slightly impeded by the fact that our bed hadn’t been moved yet, and Starr’s parents had returned for some of their stuff, so we had to share a twin bed in a guest bedroom. Note: no matter how cuddly the other person is, tucking two people into a twin bed gets old quickly.
I’m now getting up at 5:30 every morning to get out of the house by 6:30. My efficiency’s improved, as it was taking me up to 90 minutes to get showered, dressed, and moving, but it means I have exactly enough coherence to drive safely and not a bit more. The commute’s indeed an hour; thank goodness for podcasts.
Each day last week, I stopped by the apartment on the way home to grab some more stuff. Slowly, all the vital necessities of life have been put in place at the house, such as transforming Macross toys and Lensman paperbacks. By this weekend, I expect to have the silly stuff moved like cooking gear and clean underwear. (Okay, I *am* kidding about the underwear; that was high-priority.)
Starr’s parents left on Friday – or was it Thursday? – but returned once more on Saturday for more stuff, and so we could take her little sister to Nekocon. We only stayed for a few hours Saturday afternoon and evening; I had no idea that the con was so HUGE. 3,000 people were claimed in one press release, and it sure looked like it. I could not believe the number and variety of hall costumes! (Of course, I forgot a camera.) Starr dressed as a loligoth, while her sister wore an InuYasha costume. Many pictures of them were taken, but I have seen none posted; me, I was grumpy that morning, and didn’t wear a costume. By the end of the evening I regretted the decision, but oh well.
Tuesday, I had the day off, and I headed back over to the apartment to collect more stuff. Our downstairs neighbors are both military, and were also home; when they found out what I was up to, they instantly volunteered their two pickups, and pitched in on the packing. Thanks to them, we’re about 70% done with the move, and should be able to finish this weekend; I had reason to appreciate our veterans even more that day! They were awesome folks.
We’re switching the house from Verizon to Cox for our internet and phone, and were surprised to learn the the cable junction box is across the street. Shortly after we learned this, we learned that the underground line to our house is bad, and they’ll have to bore a new conduit for us this week. The cable, phone, and Internet at the apartment was disabled on Wednesday, so communications have been impaired. Right now my cell phone and work Internet are my main connections to the world.
Midori has been introduced to Tigger and Precious, two cats we’re inheriting from Starr’s parents. They seem to be more amused than anything else by her hissing and posturing, and she seems to be slowly understanding the uselessness of making all the fuss. With any luck, they’ll civilize her a bit.
This Saturday, I hope to have everything out of the apartment that isn’t tucked in my office. Sunday, I’ll pack all the little figures and toys and books and such I have on display in my office, and move that over, and at that point the actual move should be about done. We can then spend a week or so cleaning up the place nice before we hand over the keys.
Then… maybe… perhaps… a rest. I don’t think that’s an unreasonable reward!
Now, we get to work.
The time is not too early to note, as John Scalzi does even more eloquently, that the movie’s not over.
Last night brought hope to many and anger to many others. But neither the left-wing paradise nor the right-wing apocalypse began at 11pm yesterday; we still have all the social, economic, and diplomatic issues we had 24 hours ago. The new president is a human being who will have to work with, negotiate with, and compromise with other human beings who disagree with him; by this time four years from now, there are likely to be conservatives pleasantly surprised by his administration, and liberals deeply disappointed.
We didn’t elect an emperor for life, we elected a Chief Executive for eight years tops. What happens to the country in the upcoming years is still more our responsibility than his: that’s the privilege and burden of being an American. I think we can handle it if we choose to.
Forward to the Frontier
Since I was four years old, I have maintained an irrational belief in a color-blind human future where we tore around the universe in shiny white FTL spaceships.
I can’t foresee whether, in the long run, history will consider this man a competent president. But I do know that tonight, my species has just taken another tiny symbolic step toward that future where there’s only one human race. And yeah, I’m getting a little verklempt about it.
Good night, everyone. See you tomorrow.
Brief updates
- 09:38 Was not expecting polling line to be so long. Pleased to see it, but means I will have to go back again after work. Poor time management. #
- 17:06 Morning wait to vote: 60-90 minutes, impractical. Afternoon wait: 2 minutes, no worries. #
- 21:17 I cannot believe I’ve got CNN on the TV for the first time in years. #
Sent subspace radio by LoudTwitter
Arcadia 990, please respond
I’ve been away from any real Internet contact for three days. It was kind of like being stranded on a desert island, except with three or four other flesh-and-blood people for company. Anything awesome happen?
My access might be spotty this week, too, as I have to get home Internet moved to the new digs.
At my door there came a tapping
Happy Halloween – the one day of the year I’m expected to dress funny.
In honor of the season, here’s an audio recording of Edgar Allan Poe’s “The Raven“, read by Starr, myself, and other LJ friends and associates of lemonlye. (5MB mp3 file). You can see the list of participants and the lines they read in this LJ post.
I wore my “Enterprise”-era Starfleet uniform to work today – it’s gone over pretty well. What’s everyone else wearing today or tonight?
Change in Status
I think it’s best to just be blunt, here: as of this month, Rain and I are legally divorced. We moved on from the relationship sometime ago, but the Virginia legal system (specifically, the law firm we were paying to handle this) was in no hurry whatsoever to recognize the situation.
Rain’s doing pretty good right now with her work, and what I know of her personal life seems smooth too. I hope the future goes very very well for her.
