So much for The Quil.
Leave Vertigo to Jimmy Stewart
One day with The Quil in charge and I feel restored. Yesterday I suffered occasional light-headedness, but none of the outright spinning vertigo or nausea of the previous evening. I definitely have a slight cold, but without these added symptoms, it would have been nothing to write home about. Whatever it is or was, I sure hope it's gone now!
The Pod Commeth...
I'm delighted to report to you that it appears as if the contents of the pod (read: virtually all our worldly possessions) are safe and sound. The contents don't appear to have shifted much at all (thank you all those who had a hand in this). Everything in the container looks pretty much exactly as we left it, even the last-minute items tied near the door. WHEW!
I'm really impressed with PODS. I'll definitely use them again, and I certainly recommend them. $2,000 is a pittance for a cross-country move. A U-Haul would have cost us almost that much, probably more in the long run since we'd have had to go so slowly we'd have needed another night in a hotel at least. Not to mention how much it would have sucked. We're paying an extra $550 (flat fee) to hire local movers to unload for us. We know no one here to help us, and the prospect of doing that with just the two of us - in July, in Texas, in the rain - fahgedaboudit! Spending that extra dough was the right choice! The quotes we got from traditional movers just to move, not to pack anything, were around $4,000. Financially, I consider this a huge win.
PODS' customer service is also excellent, something not to be ignored here. Their phone reps. are polite and knowledgeable in detail. I appreciate that they can give me straight talk rather than read canned answers - my, how I hate that trend in call centers! At any time I was able to check online or with a phone call to check on the status and predicted arrival time of the container. The only slight disappointment I feel is that I think the pod arrived in Dallas on June 28, and I had to wait until scheduled delivery on July 3. I understand why that is, of course, and it's what we agreed on. Still. I was anxious and wish I didn't feel now like maybe I could have gotten the stuff earlier? Best to ignore that feeling and move right along. The trains must run on time, after all.
The local movers (recommended by PODS, in the BBB, and in business for nearly 30 years - also with great follow-up on the phone so far) will be here between 8:30-10:00 tomorrow morning and we can finally be reunited with our stuff! Just think, tomorrow I'll have a DESK and a CHAIR and a REAL BED! Oh joy! What I will not have is a television (due to lack of TV stand; it's in shipping), or a living room set (delivered Saturday). But that's okay. It'll all fall into place!
Independence Day: At Least My 3rd, Arguably My 2nd Favorite Holiday
(Christmas is the 1st. Duh.)
Since I gave The Quil the omelet it demanded, it kindly allowed me to discourse with Ian at IHOP yesterday. I told him that I LOVE the 4th of July! It's a natural holiday for hosts, and hobbits in particular. In my Dream Life, I'd like to have a house with a big backyard and a swimming pool, and an attached deck/patio off the kitchen of my house, with a nice gas grill there. I'd host a huge BBQ and pool party for the 4th every year! I'd hang flags and bunting on my porch. I'd make fried chicken and BBQ pork ribs! I'd enslave my mother to make Nana's potato salad recipe. We'd sit on the porch and sip lemonade (and absolutely not mint juleps as the_hive_mothernot what they're cracked up to be). We'd listen to Credence and Boston and Skynard and American rock 'n' roll (until Ian couldn't take it anymore and hijacked the stereo, so give that, what? Three songs, tops? The Emperor is not as forgiving as I am). And after all the joy and revelry of family and friends and little orange striped kitty-cats named Marmalade, then it's 'SPLODEY TIME! Sure, you occasionally get to see fireworks at other times during the year, but 4th of July fireworks are like the taste of someone else's drink that you stole because you were too lazy to the fridge. They're just sweeter somehow!
That, and I really appreciate the concept of the holiday. I enjoy taking the day to appreciate consciously how much America is the country that ROCKS, and how deeply I revel in being American. Don't I know how lucky I am to be born here, to live here! This country is totally devil hands AWESOME!
And So We Celebrate Our Independence... With A Movie, What Else?
No backyard, no pool, no stripey cat named Marmalade - and in fact, no friends. ("Aw!") So this year we celebrate in typical hobbit fashion - with a movie. We've got a movie date to see "Transformers" here on opening day (we're opening day/night sort of people). Hopefully it'll be our chance to meet some people, too. I advertised on the Guildhall boards, trying to get a group together. There are supposedly four people meeting us at the theatre. It'll be nice to meet some people here finally. Ian and I have many months since degraded our debate over the essential cause of the Civil War to a fight of: "Was too!" "Was not!" and traded accusations of narcotics use. Although we had an excellent long talk yesterday about our hopes for the education of our future child or children, public and private education in general, do's and don'ts of parenthood, etc. -- we need variety in human companionship. Well, that and GIANT ROBOTS TRYING TO TAKE OVER THE WORLD AND LARGE EXPLOSIONS TO BOOT! The holiday is all about the 'splodey. Yeah, baby!
A Breakthrough in Nomad Entertainment
Last night, bored beyond belief - like not quite "upside-down" bored as Pontus would say, but getting there - Ian suggested to me that I listen to my iPod.
!!!
Somehow I forgot I had one. All this week I've been thirsty for music, and asking Ian to please play some from his computer for us. It never occurred to me to don headphones and listen to my iPod in the house. It seems... I dunno... rude somehow to isolate one's self with headphones in the house like that. Truth be told I could still hear Ian just fine and see him when he came in the room. It didn't interrupt our interactions at all. I was being silly. This added a wonderful dimension to my quiet entertainment of sitting down with a good book. I no longer minded the hour after hour of sitting on the air mattress with only fictional characters and stuffed animals for company. It was quite nice, really.
Prince of the Blood is really quite entertaining. I'd forgotten how much I like Raymond Feist. Yes, he concentrates too much on the fights and the goblins. His characterization is natural and fun, however. His stories are adventuresome if low key. You can tell he writes from his D&D games because he includes things that must have amused him while gaming even if they don't advance the story much. Dude wants to escape a city on a boat. But no, there are rocks, and ships, and then when he thinks all is well, there's a leak in the boat, and then in rains. And then the negotiation with the random ship that rescues them. Could've happened in one paragraph, but it's all a setup for a funny line and a character anecdote that was clearly beloved by the author. It's fun stuff and doesn't require much from me, so it's good for this week. I think I'll continue with the series. (Marie, you might or might not enjoy the Riftwar series. Lots of goblin fights, but you'll read these in like 5 minutes. Very crunchy stuff for you.)
Miscellanea
("Gosh, how much can she write with nothing going on in her life?!")
Got the Texas emissions test done on the car yesterday, step 2 (after insurance) for getting settled to be on wheels in the Lone Star State. Turns out Texas has no ad valorem or excise tax on vehicles! It costs $70 to register my car here every year, and that's it. No more $300-$400 tax on the Rat Mobile - wahoo!
Traceroo
One day with The Quil in charge and I feel restored. Yesterday I suffered occasional light-headedness, but none of the outright spinning vertigo or nausea of the previous evening. I definitely have a slight cold, but without these added symptoms, it would have been nothing to write home about. Whatever it is or was, I sure hope it's gone now!
The Pod Commeth...
I'm delighted to report to you that it appears as if the contents of the pod (read: virtually all our worldly possessions) are safe and sound. The contents don't appear to have shifted much at all (thank you all those who had a hand in this). Everything in the container looks pretty much exactly as we left it, even the last-minute items tied near the door. WHEW!
I'm really impressed with PODS. I'll definitely use them again, and I certainly recommend them. $2,000 is a pittance for a cross-country move. A U-Haul would have cost us almost that much, probably more in the long run since we'd have had to go so slowly we'd have needed another night in a hotel at least. Not to mention how much it would have sucked. We're paying an extra $550 (flat fee) to hire local movers to unload for us. We know no one here to help us, and the prospect of doing that with just the two of us - in July, in Texas, in the rain - fahgedaboudit! Spending that extra dough was the right choice! The quotes we got from traditional movers just to move, not to pack anything, were around $4,000. Financially, I consider this a huge win.
PODS' customer service is also excellent, something not to be ignored here. Their phone reps. are polite and knowledgeable in detail. I appreciate that they can give me straight talk rather than read canned answers - my, how I hate that trend in call centers! At any time I was able to check online or with a phone call to check on the status and predicted arrival time of the container. The only slight disappointment I feel is that I think the pod arrived in Dallas on June 28, and I had to wait until scheduled delivery on July 3. I understand why that is, of course, and it's what we agreed on. Still. I was anxious and wish I didn't feel now like maybe I could have gotten the stuff earlier? Best to ignore that feeling and move right along. The trains must run on time, after all.
The local movers (recommended by PODS, in the BBB, and in business for nearly 30 years - also with great follow-up on the phone so far) will be here between 8:30-10:00 tomorrow morning and we can finally be reunited with our stuff! Just think, tomorrow I'll have a DESK and a CHAIR and a REAL BED! Oh joy! What I will not have is a television (due to lack of TV stand; it's in shipping), or a living room set (delivered Saturday). But that's okay. It'll all fall into place!
Independence Day: At Least My 3rd, Arguably My 2nd Favorite Holiday
(Christmas is the 1st. Duh.)
Since I gave The Quil the omelet it demanded, it kindly allowed me to discourse with Ian at IHOP yesterday. I told him that I LOVE the 4th of July! It's a natural holiday for hosts, and hobbits in particular. In my Dream Life, I'd like to have a house with a big backyard and a swimming pool, and an attached deck/patio off the kitchen of my house, with a nice gas grill there. I'd host a huge BBQ and pool party for the 4th every year! I'd hang flags and bunting on my porch. I'd make fried chicken and BBQ pork ribs! I'd enslave my mother to make Nana's potato salad recipe. We'd sit on the porch and sip lemonade (and absolutely not mint juleps as the_hive_mothernot what they're cracked up to be). We'd listen to Credence and Boston and Skynard and American rock 'n' roll (until Ian couldn't take it anymore and hijacked the stereo, so give that, what? Three songs, tops? The Emperor is not as forgiving as I am). And after all the joy and revelry of family and friends and little orange striped kitty-cats named Marmalade, then it's 'SPLODEY TIME! Sure, you occasionally get to see fireworks at other times during the year, but 4th of July fireworks are like the taste of someone else's drink that you stole because you were too lazy to the fridge. They're just sweeter somehow!
That, and I really appreciate the concept of the holiday. I enjoy taking the day to appreciate consciously how much America is the country that ROCKS, and how deeply I revel in being American. Don't I know how lucky I am to be born here, to live here! This country is totally devil hands AWESOME!
And So We Celebrate Our Independence... With A Movie, What Else?
No backyard, no pool, no stripey cat named Marmalade - and in fact, no friends. ("Aw!") So this year we celebrate in typical hobbit fashion - with a movie. We've got a movie date to see "Transformers" here on opening day (we're opening day/night sort of people). Hopefully it'll be our chance to meet some people, too. I advertised on the Guildhall boards, trying to get a group together. There are supposedly four people meeting us at the theatre. It'll be nice to meet some people here finally. Ian and I have many months since degraded our debate over the essential cause of the Civil War to a fight of: "Was too!" "Was not!" and traded accusations of narcotics use. Although we had an excellent long talk yesterday about our hopes for the education of our future child or children, public and private education in general, do's and don'ts of parenthood, etc. -- we need variety in human companionship. Well, that and GIANT ROBOTS TRYING TO TAKE OVER THE WORLD AND LARGE EXPLOSIONS TO BOOT! The holiday is all about the 'splodey. Yeah, baby!
A Breakthrough in Nomad Entertainment
Last night, bored beyond belief - like not quite "upside-down" bored as Pontus would say, but getting there - Ian suggested to me that I listen to my iPod.
!!!
Somehow I forgot I had one. All this week I've been thirsty for music, and asking Ian to please play some from his computer for us. It never occurred to me to don headphones and listen to my iPod in the house. It seems... I dunno... rude somehow to isolate one's self with headphones in the house like that. Truth be told I could still hear Ian just fine and see him when he came in the room. It didn't interrupt our interactions at all. I was being silly. This added a wonderful dimension to my quiet entertainment of sitting down with a good book. I no longer minded the hour after hour of sitting on the air mattress with only fictional characters and stuffed animals for company. It was quite nice, really.
Prince of the Blood is really quite entertaining. I'd forgotten how much I like Raymond Feist. Yes, he concentrates too much on the fights and the goblins. His characterization is natural and fun, however. His stories are adventuresome if low key. You can tell he writes from his D&D games because he includes things that must have amused him while gaming even if they don't advance the story much. Dude wants to escape a city on a boat. But no, there are rocks, and ships, and then when he thinks all is well, there's a leak in the boat, and then in rains. And then the negotiation with the random ship that rescues them. Could've happened in one paragraph, but it's all a setup for a funny line and a character anecdote that was clearly beloved by the author. It's fun stuff and doesn't require much from me, so it's good for this week. I think I'll continue with the series. (Marie, you might or might not enjoy the Riftwar series. Lots of goblin fights, but you'll read these in like 5 minutes. Very crunchy stuff for you.)
Miscellanea
("Gosh, how much can she write with nothing going on in her life?!")
Got the Texas emissions test done on the car yesterday, step 2 (after insurance) for getting settled to be on wheels in the Lone Star State. Turns out Texas has no ad valorem or excise tax on vehicles! It costs $70 to register my car here every year, and that's it. No more $300-$400 tax on the Rat Mobile - wahoo!
Traceroo