Watch Out

Unlike earlier this month, I might merit your concern about the unstable weather in Oklahoma.  Last night, a tornado touched down in the town which borders Tulsa on the southeast.  (I wonder why my mobile phones didn't go crazy with a tornado warning then.)  Tonight, we're under a tornado watch (less of a danger than a warning, so no alerts posted to mobile phones), but this one has been designated "Particularly Dangerous Situation".

Huh?  More dangerous than a tornado?  I looked it up here and learned that tornadoes are likely (so why isn't it a warning instead of a watch?), strong, damaging winds are possible (so what else is new?), and large (4" diameter or larger) hail is possible (my insurance company is going to love me if I call them again about hail damage to my car).

It looks like my thoughts of doing some online work from home – or even goofing off – must be postponed until the weather is less hazardous.  Sure, the sun is shining now, but for how long?

This is a test. This is only a test.

If it were a real blog post, you would have read something anhydrously witty by now.

It appears that my cable internet is active.  For some reason, though, the modem registration is hung up.  Plus, the user agreement for my internet service isn't printing.  I probably plugged a cable into the wrong outlet on the back of the computer, but considering the hassle I had connecting the modem, I'd rather not touch the machine and cords again tonight.  Plus, I really ought to log off because the thunderstorm warnings have been reinstituted, along with a tornado watch somewhere in NE Oklahoma.  (I guess I need to learn the other counties, so I can estimate how far away the risk is.)

Sorry, Charlie.

Sorry about this, everyone, but I've instituted the spam-blocking feature if you want to post a comment.  Blogger used to catch all the spam, but a lot have slipped through the past several months.  (Starting about the same time as my departure from the Noog -- coincidence?)

I'm not dead. Yet.

For those of you who don't have my phone number and couldn't call (or text) to check on me, I want to assure you that I am well and that the tornado wasn't anywhere near Tulsa.  (Tulsa is in the NE corner of the state, and the tornado was south of OKC, which is in the center of the state.)

That being said, we're having a thunderstorm right now (second one today), and every day this week has a good chance of storms.  It figures that the day I plan on loading up the rest of my hotel things to take to the apartment, it's raining, just as it was when I checked in.  On the bright side, I got a parking spot right outside the hotel door, so I don't have to traipse through the parking lot and get drenched this time (well, not quite as much).

This might be my last post for a while, since I still have to call to set up internet service at my new place, and I'll be visiting my mom for an extended weekend.  (Although I might stop by to use the library computers while I'm there.)  I just hope that my apartment is still standing when I return!

Stymied

I did a little more unpacking today.  I put my dishes, silverware, and pans in the dishwasher, but do you think I could find my utensil tray for the drawer?  Of course not, even when I opened all the boxes I thought it might be in.  That leaves only the "fragile" boxes, which doesn't make sense.  Would I have stuffed that on top of one of them?  Will this be the one item in every move which disappears, even though I did all the packing and schlepping myself?  Oh dear, would I have slid it into one of the large, picture boxes?  (Did I put anything besides pictures in them?)

I held off on unpacking and shelving my books because I figured my kitchenware and clothing was more important.  I can't put away all my clothes, though, until I assemble my bed so the drawers will fit underneath it.  I can't assemble my bed, though, since I was a dolt and left my toolkit back in ABQ.  Of course, I could borrow some tools, or I could wait until I visit my mom for Memorial Day weekend.  "But, Cap'n," you say, "it would be foolish to keep paying for the hotel and the apartment."  True, which is why I probably will be sleeping on the mattress on the floor, for the time being.  (I just can't figure out if I should also borrow someone's drill, to put up some hooks in the closet, or get one of my dad's when I go back home.)

I did indulge myself this morning and buy potting medium and flowers for my pots and a couple of weedy areas along my patio.  (I don't recall if the lease has a provision against planting, but surely they won't object to a few flowers.)  I planted the pots but decided to leave the ground flowers until tomorrow.  (I didn't want to have too much fun today.)  Plus, I needed to unpack my trowel before I can do any digging.  (I found it, but still no cutlery tray.)

I finally gave up and unpacked my books (after polishing my bookcase and setting the doors back on).  Those boxes were easy to identify, uniformly sized, and uniformly packed.  (I know books come in lots of different sizes, but I was darn good at packing them anyway.)  It might not have been an urgent or even useful task, but it allowed me to feel good about accomplishing something and about emptying more boxes than I had the rest of the day.

I went to a different grocery store today and noticed a Chinese restaurant across the street.  It was the first in town I've seen that didn't have the word "buffet" in the name nor on a sign blazoned across the roof.  Alas, when I looked them up online, the URL contains the word "buffet", so there's another opportunity down the drain.  Besides, haven't I eaten out too much for my own good already this week?

Apparently not, since a restaurant called Steak Stuffers is in the same plaza as the supermarket.  Seriously, these people need to give me a raise, so I can afford to try all these new (to me) restaurants.

Oh yeah, one more stymie:  I finally opened the box of tumblers I bought in the Noog because I figured it would be good to run them through the washing machine before using them.  (Don't worry; the box said dishwasher-safe on the top rack.)  However, the one I put in the top rack was too tall for the washer (the rack wouldn't slide back)!  It looks like a whole lot more handwashing for me.

Shelled

The POD is empty, thanks to two of my employees (and one of their sons).  Now comes the drudgery of unpacking boxes and stuffing shelves.  I couldn't get into the right frame of mind yet, so I left the apartment and decided to take a break.  Lunch out, anyone?  (I'll have leftover pizza from the other night for dinner, so it's not as if I'm wasting precious funds on meals out all the time.)

Naturally, I'm inclined to try this place, but maybe not today.  I'm in the mood for a more relaxing place, someplace with less expensive-sounding menu items, someplace closer to the hotel or apartment, or, ideally, all three.  I will go to the White Owl some day soon (and ask if they sell T-shirts).

I'm drafting a shopping list for things I need.  Furniture polish is one item (I'm almost out), and I'm blocking several outlets with heavy furniture, so I need a couple more power strips so I can plug things in.  I'd really like some flowers to plant in the pots now on my patio.  I know they're not a necessity, but I can buy them and furniture polish at the same store, so....  I'll keep making my list today as I unpack, and if I'm a good boy and get a lot of boxes emptied, I could treat myself tomorrow.

Squeak, Rattle, and Roll

The borrowed dolly made unloading boxes from the POD almost enjoyable today.  It certainly was a pleasure to move more than one box at a time.  Indeed, if I didn't have the dolly, those two, large boxes would've been in the way of removing all of the others.  I even got one nightstand and the console table into the apartment, as well as my bedroom rug.

I face a dilemma, though.  If I lay the rug on top of the carpeting in the bedroom, then the bedroom door probably won't close, and the closet door most assuredly won't.  It took a few minutes of pondering before I thought of laying it in the living room, as long as it doesn't interfere with the vertical blinds by the sliding glass door.  Then, I suppose, the rug I had bought for my Noog living room but never did put down probably can go under the dining table.  At any rate, they occupy less space all spread out than they do rolled up (well, as far as storage space).

I decided that I would start fresh tomorrow morning by getting as much off the bedroom and living room floors as I can, so there's enough room to bring in and maneuver furniture.  (Considering how I've nearly filled the two closets already, I guess I'll start stacking boxes in the bathtub.)  I did have some trouble getting large boxes on the dolly into the bedroom, so it's just as well my bed is in pieces and my nightstands are small.  We'd never be able to manage shoving the sectional around a corner like that.  That basically eliminates every space but the dining room for my fancy bookcase.  Oh well, tomorrow will tell.

Pack, Troop, Murder, Sleuth

While walking to my car yesterday morning, I noticed that all the cars near it had Texas license plates.  "My, what a large....  What do you call a group of people from Texas?" I pondered.

The answer came almost immediately:  a passel o' Texans.

Boy, are my arms tired!

And my back, and my knees, for some reason.  Mind you, if the POD Person had parked the unit anywhere near my apartment, I wouldn't have had to walk so far, carrying my stuff.  Plus, if my coworker's daughter hadn't borrowed the dolly out of her mom's truck (where my coworker had put it to bring in to work for me to use), I wouldn't have had to carry much at all.  The better news is that a different coworker will bring me a dolly tomorrow, and that will make moving the bigger boxes easier (or, indeed, possible).

You can't get $101 from an A.T.M.

There are many different ways I could begin this post.  (Alas, I chose a boring option.)  I could say, "Call me Alexander.  (Ishmael is taken.)" and cite the book Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day.  I could ponder why, if Murphy's Law is a law, why didn't everything go wrong yesterday?  (Although, considering I couldn't log on yet again to post this misadventure, and that my key card worked when I brought in the groceries but not when I returned from the apartment, it came pretty close.)

I'm sure I've forgotten some things, since that's what I do when I'm overwhelmed with data in one day, but you'll get my point.  I oversee five crews (and a smattering of other people).  At the end of the day, I congratulated the leader of the crew that had not broken or damaged any equipment.  One guy (from the smattering) I'll have to write up because 1) as he was pulling a trailer from the shop to park it just 100 feet away, the trailer came off the hitch and cut a hole into the passenger door of a pickup truck parked there, and 2) the truck he had driven for a repair job at one of the schools was reported for running a stop sign and taking the corner on two wheels.  As far as everyone else goes, I have to see if there's perpetual negligence worthy of writing them up, or if they're all taking turns damaging equipment.  (Oh, did I mention the guy, not on my crew nor in the smattering, who reported an injury?)

I managed to call to set up gas and electric service in my name at the apartment.  The gas company was very friendly and said that my installation charge and my deposit would appear on my first bill.  The electric company insisted that I must pay my deposit, in cash, at a check-cashing agency -- who charged me a dollar for the service, which the electric company didn't warn me about, and which I will complain and request a refund for, which I won't get -- the same afternoon, or they wouldn't turn on the electricity.  (I'm just lucky I had some other money in my pocket.)

That completely rearranged my afternoon schedule, but I did get my groceries out of it, since the ATM is in a grocery store.  I didn't get my razor blades because the drugstore, conveniently in the same shopping center as the discount supermarket (oh, didn't the electric company tell me that the check-cashing agency was inside a grocery store and is not a stand-alone business?) was finishing a remodeling and had only brand-name products on their shelves.  (I can wait a few days for the store brand, or go to another store.  I've shelled out enough money already today, thanks.)

I went to the apartment and discovered that my POD had been delivered, although no one called me.  It was placed in the corner of the parking lot farthest from my apartment and will require anyone wheeling a dolly or carrying any item to pass over a speed bump.  (There are two ways to my apartment from this particular corner of the parking lot, and each way has a speed bump.)  The office manager said that the driver told her handyman he "had to" put it there, rather than closer to my apartment, so it wouldn't block traffic.  (How can something which fits in a parking space, which is where it ended up anyway, block traffic?)  The handyman (whom I fortuitously happened to meet, as he had a box cutter to remove the thick, plastic band slid through the latch, which I didn't know would be there, or else I would've brought my stout shears, which I would've done if the driver had phoned me...) says the driver phoned but didn't reach me.  (He, the handyman, also said he would repair the ceiling above my shower tomorrow -- as I'm writing this, in anticipation of posting, I hope, the day after I composed it, which would mean he fixed it, or not, today, assuming I can get online tomorr... today.  Oh, I give up.  Any tense problems from here on can be fixed with a liberal amount of alcohol, taken internally, by the reader.)  I suppose that might be the driver's phone number in my missed calls list, but as he didn't leave me a voice mail, it might also be a wrong number from someone in this area code, since it's not one I have programmed into my phone, so how am I supposed to know, if, as I have said, he didn't leave a voice mail?

I then phoned the POD People to let them know that (even though I had brought my keys, just in case, and removed the lock) I could not open the POD.  (Hey, you could call me Dave, too.)  After talking through all the troubleshooting options she was programmed to feed to me, I finally got through to the woman who answered the phone that I wasn't having any problems with the door (that I know of) because it's the latch which won't move, so I can't even try the door yet.  Seriously, if I had known that would happen, I could've saved gas and time and phoned in my complaint (speaking of complaints, the POD People had my correct phone number on file, but that still doesn't explain why the driver, if he called, didn't leave me a message so that I'd know that he called) from my hotel room.  So, I wasn't able to vacuum my apartment or even determine if my TV and flowerpots survived the move intact.  But wait, there's more!

The young woman on the phone put me on hold (no classical music this time, just propaganda about how great these POD People think they are) to call the local store manager (who, as it turns out, was the driver who insisted he had called me) and learn from him that he can come back to my POD and assist me "some time tomorrow morning" and that he'll call me when he's on his way!  (I hope you're laughing at this point, because I'm still too close to the situation to do anything but cry.)  I asked the woman if I could schedule a time, and she said no.  (Of course not, as they couldn't be bothered to schedule the delivery with me, either.)

I just had a brilliant thought!  (The quiet book during and after dinner must have helped soothe my brain.)  "Why, no, sir," I'll tell the driver, "I haven't received any e-mail from you POD People about my delivery because the hotel has had internet problems since last Thursday -- or was it Wednesday? -- so I have been unable to check e-mail."  (And, if he doubts my statement that I don't use work time for personal e-mails -- considering I can't even use my half-hour lunch break to set up utility service without someone interrupting my dessert apple with a report of more damage -- I'll just refer him to all of you, who indeed will vouch that I have not sent you any e-mails from Tulsa during my work hours.)

I'm really glad that I enjoyed my dinner treat last night, because I certainly paid for that happiness today!  (Um, that dinner the night before, and the paying for happiness yesterday...)  I was tempted to treat myself again (kind of like drowning my sorrows), but that German restaurant wouldn't be open again, and I didn't happen by any other interesting restaurant signs.  (That's interesting signs for restaurants, not necessarily signs for interesting restaurants, although either would be greatly appreciated.)

Now I think I'll shower and go to bed and dream of pleasant things, like having internet connectivity again.  (Considering the typical weirdness of my dreams, being online would qualify as a pleasant dream!)

-----

This addendum was written on the same day as posting, so there will be no confusion between "today" and "yesterday".  (I still recommend an internal dosage of alcohol.)

The POD Person did phone this morning, and then sounded put out because I said, "I'm in a meeting with my boss.  In about five or ten minutes, I can head over there."  Given our mutual bad moods when I arrived, I didn't complain about the absence of notification.  I didn't even say that the latch looked rustier than when I loaded the POD (mostly because I hadn't seen the unit for six months, so I can't accurately recall how rusty it was, but I didn't think it was as bad then as it is now).  Even the POD Person had to fight with it.  "That needs some oil on it!" was his suggestion.  Well, yeah, and since you work for the company that owns this unit and stored it for me (allegedly indoors, in a temperature-controlled setting), it shouldn't be my responsibility to oil the latch.

Once he unstuck the latch, he had trouble opening the door.  Why?  Because many of my boxes had not just shifted but had come unstacked and tumbled to the back of the unit.  (That kitchen chair definitely was not that close to the door.)  "You should've tied everything down," was his second helpful comment of the day.  Oh?  Well, your company should've kept the unit level instead of slinging it around whenever they moved it, and everything would've stayed where I put it.

Of course, I can't tell you if anything (TV, picture frames, dishes, bicycle, flower pots, etc.) is broken inside because, an hour before quitting time, it started raining, and I'm not going to get cardboard boxes and furniture (small pieces, at any rate) and myself wet with repeated schleps across the parking lot.  I'm going to stay at the hotel, post this, and then enjoy a book.

Two Steps Forward, One Step Sideways

The cleaning of the apartment and the cleaning of the cabinets each took far less time than I anticipated (I could've done them both in one go and saved myself all of Sunday for goofing off), so I figured that putting in the shelf paper would make up for that.  It turns out I was wrong there, as well.  Not only did it take less time than anticipated, but I conveniently had just enough shelf paper on the roll I bought.

I bought a second plug-in air freshener this evening.  The first one is working well at eliminating (not just conflicting with) the stale cigarette smell in the living room and dining area off the kitchen, but I think the little hall and doorways (even though the doors are open) are hindering any effect in the bedroom and walk-in closet.  Plus, I wanted some of those air freshening "beads" for the bathroom, but they're on backorder.  Oh, well.  I think the bathroom can wait, especially since I want them to repair the ceiling over the showerhead before I officially occupy the place.  (I did report that to the office this afternoon.)

On my way to the maul for the air freshener, I saw a sign for this restaurant and decided to treat myself to dinner there, since my move-in process (other than the POD delivery) is going more quickly than I anticipated.  Alas, they are open for dinner only on Friday's and Saturday's, so I resigned myself to returning to the hotel for a microwave burrito.  Then I saw a sign for this place and hit my brakes for a last-minute turn into the parking lot.  There are lots of options on the menu (and, unlike most pizza places in the "I wish people in this part of the country knew what real pizza is" parts of the country, they offer meatballs as a topping, and, unlike most restaurants that have nothing but a brownie/ice cream or chocolate chip cooky/ice cream sundae for dessert, this one offers lemonade icebox pie -- not as good as my homemade, though), and, oddly enough, many of them appealed to me.  That in itself would be a reason to return, but combine all those pluses with good atmosphere and a pleasant dining companion (a good book), it's definitely a winner for me.

When I returned to the hotel, I saw that I had missed three calls and two voice mails, within an hour, from a toll-free number, because I had to leave my phone on the charger.  The voice mails (identical) were truncated, since the robocalls don't take voice mailboxes into account, but I think they might've been about my POD delivery.  (The messages invited me to "press 3" to repeat the message, but that would've made my voice mailbox do something I probably wouldn't want it to do, so I couldn't.)

I intend to call the company's toll-free number in the morning to determine if they had tried calling me about the delivery and to ask if I have to be on hand when the POD is delivered.  (If so, I'll ask if they can return later in the day, when I'm off work, and then argue with them when they try to charge me a rescheduling fee, which most definitely isn't my fault since they didn't give me 24-hour notice before delivery, and especially since the delivery is three days later than they first promised, which not only made me reschedule all my move-in and unloading plans but lost me every single day of rain-free weather to do it in.)  But, you know my luck, the driver probably will call me and say, "I'm here.  Where are you?" before I have a chance to call the toll-free number.  And, since you really know my luck, things always get screwy at work when there's something I must absotively posilutely do at a certain time, you also know that I won't get the chance to call before the driver does.

At least I recharged my phone tonight, so I'll have the chance of calling without the battery giving out.

Oh, yeah.  I almost forgot.  I intended to call the utilities for my Las Cruces condo during my lunch break, and give them my new address for the monthly bills.  I made one call (to the long distance telephone service provider) and couldn't make any others, since I was on hold for ten minutes as some computer glitch (See?!) delayed the confirmation of my request.  (I was forced to listen to Mozart's "Eine Kleine Nachtmusik" one and a half times, which, even for a classical music fan like me, is enough to make me question if I like that piece any more.  At least it wasn't Elgar's "Pomp and Circumstance March #1" or Pachelbel's "Canon in D", both of which already drive me spare.)

If hold music is going to be classical, why not let it be something interesting, like this?



Or even this?

...gang aft agley.

I chose an appropriate enough motto for the previous post because the ending certainly came true yesterday.

One of the crews broke a car window.  Another crew broke a classroom window.  Another crew got a mower stuck in a hole.  Another crew got a truck stuck.  Yet another crew broke a bolt on a mower wheel.  (If I had a nickel for each time one of our mechanics said, "I've never seen that happen before," I'd be rich -- and I've been here only a month.)  The arborist clogged the expelling chute of the chipper.  The phones in the main office conked out right as I walked in the door.  Worst of all, I got a voice mail that there has been "a delay" with my POD delivery, and it won't be here until Tuesday.  (I'm not holding my breath.)  That's a pity, since there is beautiful weather up through Tuesday, which would've been great for unloading and moving in.

Still, I picked up my apartment keys, so one good thing did happen.  I took more detailed measurements, so I could plan how to arrange my living room and dining room furniture.  (The bed has to go in one spot in the bedroom, as that's the only wall where a king size bed and two nightstands will fit.)  I performed my move-in inspection.  (If the place had been cleaned by the previous tenant, it certainly wasn't up to my standards.)  A serious concern is the "skin" of the drywall ceiling loose and crumbling right above the shower head.  (I'll mention that to the office on Monday, as they had closed for the weekend by the time I finished my inspection.)  Plus, I have to buy some of these very effective air fresheners because the previous tenant apparently was a smoker.  (The landlord has a policy against candles of any sort because they are flammable.  Go figure.)

I cleaned the sink, toilet, counter, and floor in the bathroom, and the appliances, sink, counters, and floor in the kitchen.  There still are stains on top of the refrigerator, so I might need to get some more effective cleaner or use some sort of scrubby thing.  I decided to hold off on cleaning the cabinets until tomorrow, as I was in a pretty good mood and didn't want to spoil it.

I'm settled on the arrangement of the living room furniture.  It will work quite well with the placement of outlets.  My only question is where to put the bookcase.  I'm thinking against one of the dining room walls, but that might not leave adequate room to pass the table on the way to or from the kitchen.  It also might fit in the bedroom (with a similar narrowing of the space between closet and bed).  What I think I'll do is get all the other furniture spaced first and then decide where to put the bookcase.  (Since it's in the front corner of the POD, it's conveniently placed to stay there until last.)

I picked up some shelf paper and other necessities at a discount department store, and I was waylaid by the flowers they had out front.  I had thought some magenta geraniums might contrast well with the gray walls outside the apartment, and they had some – but some red salvia and yellow marigolds would look good, too, as would those dark red nicotiana.  If I had my POD today, I could've bought them all and planted some in the ground and the rest in my flower pots.  Oh well, the silver lining of the inconvenience is that I didn't spend more money.

As it turns out, my weekend has suddenly become quite "flexible".  I had planned on treating myself to dinner and dessert (and maybe even a Dr. Pepper) on Saturday at Freddy's, but should I hold off on that until my POD arrives and I have something to celebrate?  At this time, I'm still planning on heading over there, since it's only a few blocks from the mall where I have to buy the air fresheners.  (Convenient, no?)

Oh, yeah, and the hotel didn't have internet connectivity again yesterday.  That's some pretty powerful agley, don't you think?

The best laid plans of mice and men...

Considering all the new things I have to learn, it shouldn't surprise me that I forgot the key parts of what I had planned for after work today.  It was payday, so I anticipated going to the bank and, while at the supermarket, pick up some items.  Well, I forgot to take a deposit slip with me.  I also forgot to take a payment method for the purchases.  And that was the stuff I had thought of before another night of little sleep.

11:59 p.m.  BOOM!  That wasn't just, "Oh.  Thunder.  I guess it's raining."  It was, "Holy clap [as in clap of thunder - like how I did that?] that was loud!"  It was immediately followed by a pickup truck's car alarm going off in the parking lot.  I peeped out the window, and my car wasn't smoking or anything, so I went back to bed.  I'm guessing the lightning hit the power station or cell phone tower next to the hotel (although the power stayed on), given how close it sounded.  The next two flashes were 8 seconds and 15 seconds away, so that was a pretty fast moving storm.

Of course, I tossed and turned the rest of the night, sometimes half asleep.  The good news is that I (eventually) remembered today to request the work order I had thought of in the middle of the night, and I learned how I could attach a photo to it.

I've already put the deposit slip and debit card into my grocery bag with my paycheck, and hung the bag on the doorknob, so I think I'm good to go for tomorrow.

Beauty is in the eye of the beholder.

Whether or not to have a tattoo (or more than one) is a matter of personal choice.  Which tattoo(s) to have is a matter of choice.  Whether or not to display them to other people is a matter of expression.

So what does it mean to the young woman in the grocery store, who had Jack Nicholson's character from The Shining leering at me from the back of her left thigh?

On a Tear at the Maul

Today's adventure was a small one.  1) Go to the closest post office to mail some bills.  2) Go to the closer, smaller maul and visit the used bookstore there.  Both ventures were successful.

I figured I would be safe today, as the bookstore's website leads me to believe that they feature rarer or otherwise more expensive books.  I was pleasantly (I think) surprised.  Through the window, I noticed the spine of a mystery by an author I like, so I decided to start at that display before browsing the rest of the store.  As I entered and approached the table, I saw a sign which read, "$3.00 books this table only."  Oh, dear.  I didn't even attempt to look at the rest of the store.  I found more than enough books (nine) at that table.  (Thankfully, I had read numerous others I saw there, or else the damage might have been greater.)

As I think back to my visit (and book weakness), I realize that I have set parameters for what I will consider, but, within that range, when I see something that appeals to me and is cheap, I can't resist it.  I'm trying hard not to think of myself as a book slut.  (I know I've had that thought before, but as often as I repeat the pattern, it might be true.)

Now I feel the need to "take a leek".

A couple of characters in The Books of Gargantua and Pantagruel by Francois Rabelais are arguing and insulting each other about their ages.  The elder retorts, "Thou twittest me with my gray hairs, yet considerest not how I am of the nature of leeks, which with a white head carry a green, fresh, straight, and vigorous tail."

(My tail is wonderful, thanks for asking!)

Another "Ow!" Moment

As I was walking around one of the junior high schools yesterday, a female student called out that she liked my shirt.  I said thank you, and she said you're welcome.  That was a pleasant sign that there's still hope for future generations, but that's not why I'm writing this.

I was thinking much later about when I got the shirt.  (I don't remember this about all my clothes, just a few.)  I remembered the year, and then I realized how long ago it was, and then came the "Ow!" moment.  I realized that the shirt is older than the girl who admired it.

When did I get to the age that I have clothes in my closet that are older than people?

Two Steps Forward

I received word today that my apartment application was approved.  (All bragging aside, my background check is spotless, and my credit rating is exemplary.)  Yay!  I have a new home!

I wasted no time, and I phoned to set up the move and delivery of my POD to the new apartment.  In ten days time, I should be able to open that lock and start carting in my boxes. :)

Now when should I schedule my move-in party?