House, work, family
Trying to get the cable, internet, and phone hooked up has been trying (to say the least). For those of you familiar with the Suddenlink commercials advertising how easy it is to get bundled services... um. Not so much. It actually has been more like bowling with meat.
We finally got cable yesterday (and, to their credit, the Suddenlink technician who came to the house was a pretty great guy), but in getting cable, I lost my internet, which was on Wednesday for a glorious 12 hours before disappearing again. Then, according to Kate, it was on again for an hour yesterday before getting cut off before I got home from work. So, I don't know when I'll get internet access at home again. And our phone isn't supposed to get connected until next Tuesday, which has really forced me to become addicted to my cell phone. This is probably a good thing, I suppose, since I spend money on it every month.
Note: I will be losing my brightok.net email address. I'll be going with my strix @ gyrfalcon.net (no spaces) email for the immediate future.
My brother and sister-in-law are visiting from Tokyo, and they came out with my mom to see the new house last night. They were all favorably impressed, my mom in particular. Mom always had negative things to say about the Stanley Street house (though she loved the yard), so it was refreshing to hear her say good things for a change.
Mike and Hideko did the short hike to the lake/pond, and while we were there, I got to meet our neighbors on the north side of the pond. It turns out that I know the woman from high school, and it was a pleasant encounter. Her husband has been (and volunteered to continue) mowing our part of the dam, which is very kind, since it would be almost impossible for us to get a mower through the creek bottom from our house to do it ourselves. They said we could use their rowboat if we wanted and promised big fish if we liked to fish.
At work, our director decided to retire unexpectedly, and it was quite a shock for many of us. I always approved of his vision for the organization and the direction he tried to lead us, so I feel it is a loss. Plus, it adds a degree of uncertainty to our future that I personally could do without.
Monday I'm heading to Boston for a meeting at NFPA headquarters on Tuesday, returning bright and early Wednesday. I'm not looking forward to it, because I'm already running on fumes.
We finally got cable yesterday (and, to their credit, the Suddenlink technician who came to the house was a pretty great guy), but in getting cable, I lost my internet, which was on Wednesday for a glorious 12 hours before disappearing again. Then, according to Kate, it was on again for an hour yesterday before getting cut off before I got home from work. So, I don't know when I'll get internet access at home again. And our phone isn't supposed to get connected until next Tuesday, which has really forced me to become addicted to my cell phone. This is probably a good thing, I suppose, since I spend money on it every month.
Note: I will be losing my brightok.net email address. I'll be going with my strix @ gyrfalcon.net (no spaces) email for the immediate future.
My brother and sister-in-law are visiting from Tokyo, and they came out with my mom to see the new house last night. They were all favorably impressed, my mom in particular. Mom always had negative things to say about the Stanley Street house (though she loved the yard), so it was refreshing to hear her say good things for a change.
Mike and Hideko did the short hike to the lake/pond, and while we were there, I got to meet our neighbors on the north side of the pond. It turns out that I know the woman from high school, and it was a pleasant encounter. Her husband has been (and volunteered to continue) mowing our part of the dam, which is very kind, since it would be almost impossible for us to get a mower through the creek bottom from our house to do it ourselves. They said we could use their rowboat if we wanted and promised big fish if we liked to fish.
At work, our director decided to retire unexpectedly, and it was quite a shock for many of us. I always approved of his vision for the organization and the direction he tried to lead us, so I feel it is a loss. Plus, it adds a degree of uncertainty to our future that I personally could do without.
Monday I'm heading to Boston for a meeting at NFPA headquarters on Tuesday, returning bright and early Wednesday. I'm not looking forward to it, because I'm already running on fumes.