In which I make some resolutions and relate some thoughts on moving

Resolution #1: Get rid of stuff

I have way too much stuff. Moving it around is just silly. I kept taking loads of stuff out of that tiny apartment and it didn’t seem like I was making any headway. I’ve already thrown out a garbage bag of clothes, donated another two garbage bags of clothes and a box of miscellaneous stuff, gotten rid of bags of old magazines and papers, given away a computer, etc. But more must go. I am sitting in my new home office as I type this and there are dozens of boxes behind me filled with stuff that needs to go somewhere.

Resolution #2: Efficient storage

No more piles of boxes. I need to empty the boxes. I have already made big strides towards this goal. I bought two bookshelves (which increased my book storage area by 150%). They are all filled with books. Some of these books I haven’t seen in many, many years. It’s a wonderful feeling to be able to see them, touch them, read them whenever I want to. The microwave cart in the kitchen is also new. My wheeled “toolbox” is not exactly new but all my tools are being sorted into it finally. There’s more to come. Some sort of basket/shelf storage for by the bathroom sink, a modest entertainment center for my TV and accompanying electronics and media, and shelves (or something) for my computer software and hardware are things that leap to mind.

Resolution #3: Pack sooner

Packing at the last minute for this move nearly killed me. I thought I was doing pretty well until it came down to the wire and I kept finding stuff. On the other hand, a large part of the reason why I didn’t do much packing is because the apartment was too cramped. Even without packing I was regularly moving boxes around just to get to different parts of my apartment. Now with the house it should be much easier to pack. Packed boxes can be stacked in the basement or garage. I just need to actually do it. But if I follow my first two resolutions it should be much easier.

Okay, no more resolutions.

In case you have ever wondered, 48 fluid ounces of pennies is worth $18.83. A little less than 32 fluid ounces of nickels, dimes, and quarters is $46.35. (I put all of my spare change in plastic cups and monopolized the credit union’s change counter for a good ten minutes.)

My current shower solution is a lot more modest than I had first planned. A spring-loaded curtain rod, two curtains, a new tub spigot, and a new handheld shower manage to do a pretty nice job. And it only ran about $45, most of which the landlord will reimburse me for. I am also putting in a new toilet seat and remounting the mailbox. Little fun things that keep me occupied.

My mailbox has gone strangely unused. I stopped by the old apartment today and had the manager open up my old mailbox. A ton of mail popped out including my forwarding notice. I stopped by the post office and asked why mail postmarked Sept 13 was still not being forwarded. The postmaster promised to speak to my carrier. Hopefully that will help.

I was able to grill out on Labor Day! I had to use oven cleaner to get 4 years of cobwebs out of the grill and I slightly charred the burgers, but I grilled out! It felt so nice to have some people over for some burgers.

I live on the main north-south drag of the greater Stevens Point / Whiting / Plover area. I didn’t think about it at the time but road noise has proven to be a much bigger issue than I anticipated. You can hear the road noise everywhere in the small house and my bedroom faces the road. Luckily it’s a pretty steady, predictable noise. After the first week I was able to sleep right through it without any issues. Dawn used to live two houses down and she told me that she couldn’t sleep when she moved away. Too quiet…

I have a roommate. The end of the month came and Saryn still didn’t have a place. Her choices were either to crash in Dawn’s basement with the litter boxes or crash at my fairly empty, quiet house where her stuff was in the garage. The latter option made too much sense so she is crashing here. She got the job in Adams-Friendship and is looking for a place. She’s none too thrilled to be driving two hours a day (especially with today’s gas prices) but there are hardly any places for rent in the Adams-Friendship area. She is widening her search to Wisconsin Rapids (only a half hour away from where she works). Hopefully she will find a place soon.

I still don’t have Internet access from home. I have signed up with the local cable company but they aren’t installing it until the 15th. In an emergency I can stand outside in my lawn and pick up the wireless signal from Central Staking Inc. across the street. I can also get it at work and school, so it’s not that bad. Still, I miss it. But I found Diablo II while I was unpacking and my necromancer is keeping me entertained.

I am caving and getting cable TV. Only channels 2-13 though. Getting and Internet and cable bundle drops the price of the Internet by $8 per month. The 2-13 option is $9 per month. So it costs $1 per month to get 2-13. I am a cheapskate but I’m not that cheap.

My computer desk is clean an usable again. I am playing around with different ways of using my laptop on the desk. Ideally I would “dock” the laptop to an external keyboard, mouse, printer, scanner, and monitor. I have played around a little with some of those things and it’s looking promising. (I am already playing Diablo II on the external monitor.)

On the whole I am wondering why I didn’t move into a small house years ago.