Post move randomicity

I got back from my final trip to Savannah today.

It's weird but cool, in a way. I now feel more positive about all this.

I'm also digging the new apartment, especially now that I've rearranged my living room so that I have some room to move around. I realized the other day that the arrangement I had before mimicked the one I had at the old place and it was really inefficient and claustophobic. Now I've got this nice clear area in the middle and I can move around.

There are a couple of things I've realized during this move, both of them totally unrelated:

• No matter what, movers will find some way to mess with you. It's happened to me every frakkin' time.
• If you drop a medicine bottle it does not matter how secure the lid is, it will come off, and every single pill or capsule or drop of liquid inside will wind up on the outside, on the ground.

I stopped and spent the night at my dad's on the way back from Savannah--it was something I needed to do but dreaded for a number of reasons. In particular, I have a lot of memories there of Atari and I could feel his ghost there many times. It just sort of tore the bandage off of that wound. Somehow I feel like he knows about this new place and approves, though, which helps. I know, I'm deluding myself, but like John Lennon said, "Whatever gets you through the night . . ."

Talyan, my goddaughter, will appear in three episodes of Two and a Half Men in a row, beginning April 9th. The final one she appears in, on April 30th, is the 200th episode, which is a really big deal. Another guest star on this episode is Kathy Bates, just so you know. Watch for Ava, the unbelievably cute little girl with the English accent.

The oven in my old apartment tripped a breaker every time I used it. I finally realized that this is no longer an issue. My plan is now to make biscuits for breakfast tomorrow. I think I remember how . . .

Anyways, that's about all I have the strength for tonight. I hope you are having a lovely weekend, wherever you are!

Pre-move randomocity

I think I've got most of the big stuff accomplished.

I move Monday and most of the stuff I've got left to do will have to be done at the last minute--like packing up my computers.

And I'm a bit scared, mostly because so far everything has gone exactly like I planned. In my experience this is the prelude to a major clusterfuck. Let's hope this feeling is just something I inherited from my mom--she was the queen of anticipating disaster--and not something that actually occurs.

I did go back into the office for a few minutes this week for a co-worker's birthday celebration. It was weird, being there, seeing my old desk with all my stuff gone. I'll get over it, though--my stuff has been shipped to the new office and will be ready and waiting at my new desk.

Yes, I still miss Atari, still feel sometimes that he's around, and I still forget that he's not going to come into the living room while I'm watching TV, wanting to be walked. I guess, in some ways, I was really lucky when he died--my best friend (and Atari's mom) and my goddaughter really helped me over the immediate aftermath, and all this moving crap has given me a ton of other stuff to concentrate on. In the mean time the gaping hole in my heart has scabbed over, I think. Plus, Talyan's success in pursuing her acting career have given me some positive things to focus on.

I do have an idea for a web series that I need to develop. I'm still at the ruminating stage with it--I won't be able to concentrate on it until after the move. I think it'll be a Good Thing, though. It's something I've never done before.

Anyways, I'll be missing all the St Patrick's Day festivities here in Savannah--in case you didn't know, we have a huge blowout every year. It's no big deal for me--I lived in the Historic District for several years and was at Ground Zero for the festivites more times than I care to remember. So, with me it's a Been There, Done That kinda thing. That many drunk people in that small a space leads to some interesting occurances. Like the argument I almost always get into with a drunk Yankee who is going on and on AND ON about how wonderful things are up north of the Mason-Dixon line and how nobody in their right mind would want to live here . . . don't get me started.

So, what are you doing this weekend? Partying? Or chilling out?

The end of an era . . .

You know, I've been working in the same building for 24 1/2 years. Yep. Damned near a quarter century.

That came to an end yesterday. I am now officially on vacation, in preparation to my move to the new Douglasville office.

Yes, it was a bit sad, but I"m also looking forward to beginning this new chapter in my life. I like the new apartment, and the area seems to be pretty cool. We'll see.

I still have quite a bit of work to do. Still got a ton of stuff to haul out to the dumpsters. I got lucky earlier today--I was tossing this cheap, beat up old electronic drum kit and when I came back to the dumpster to toss the pedals one of the guys landscaping the property here was fishing the drum kit out and putting it on a little cart. So, I took advantage of this opportunity to get rid of my old and extremely heavy TV set--dude was happy to take it off my hands. Since I actually gave it to the guy instead of making him have to dig it out of the trash he also got the remote that goes with it, too.

Anyways, I estimate I'm maybe two thirds of the way done going through all my stuff. I need to hurry--have to be done by Thursday morning, when the surveyor comes by to come up with the estimate for the movers. I think I can make it.

Keep your fingers crossed for me!

The countdown

This will be my last week in the office here in Savannah.

I don't officially move for a couple of weeks but I've got a ton of stuff to do to get ready for it. I've already done quite a bit but I have a ways to go. Most of what I have to do involves throwing stuff away.

I'm a little sad, leaving the office. I've gone to work in that building for almost 25 years--something I would have thought was impossible when I first moved here. The longest I'd had a job before was a year and a half. Hopefully I'll be working this one long enough to retire.

I've said before that it's probably time to leave Savannah anyway. All of my friends have moved on and I think I've pretty much gotten everything from this town I can get. Time to see what a different area can give me.

Yes, I still feel Atari's prescence all the time. I think I'm gradually moving into a place where I can accept that he's gone but I still miss him and the pain is still almost inconceivable. Maybe a little less inconceivable than before, though, if that makes any sense.

The last stage of grief, I've heard, is acceptance. I'm not there yet. Hopefully I will be soon.

In the mean time, I still miss you, Big Silly mutt.

Wednesday stressing premove randomocity

So, I'm getting stuff ready for the big move.

Yes, it's stressful. I haven't moved in a long time and I've accumulated a lot of stuff. A surprisingly large amount of it is being tossed.

I have a new address, new phone number, and I'm working on getting my cable service moved, so that's out of the way. I spent an awful lot of money today on other things, today, like new mattresses, new phones, and some other stuff. Most of it will remain in the boxes it came in until I'm in the new place. I will be using the new mattresses, though--the ones I've been using are shot all to hell.

I actually find myself looking forward to it, in a way. Mostly looking forward to being done with it.

I still miss Atari. I dreamt about him last night. I still miss him, especially early in the mornings and in the early evenings, when we usually went for our walks. Last night I dozed off on the couch and I could swear for a moment he was standing there next to me, like he used to do when he wanted me to take him outside. I got his ashes from Banfield and they are on the dresser near his usual spot in the bedroom, where he spent most of his time. I reach up and touch the box when I'm back there, and talk to him like I used to. Maybe it's silly but it helps.

I just need to keep moving, keep that forward momentum, as hard as it is. One day, one day, the pain will fade, and I can remember the good things without the pain of the loss rushing back.

Sorry. I promised myself I would shut up about this, but I just can't. I do apologize. I know you understand.

Where to start, where to start?

OK, this weekend is when I start making plans for the Big Move, coming up at the end of March. I was just planning on when I was going to take time off to go look for an apartment, find some apartments close to the new location that have a pet policy that I can live with, research deposits and the like.

Right now, though, I'm just having problems getting motivated.

There are a couple of reasons for it. One is that the task I have in front of me is so overwhelming--it wouldn't be so bad if I had someone to help me but I don't. I'll have to do everything myself. Fortunately the actual moving will be handled by a moving company and my company will pay them, but the rest of it I have to handle solo.

Second thing is my beautiful, perfect little goddaughter, Talyan, booked a gig on Two And A Half Men. She shoots it next week. It could become a recurring role for her. I'm am terribly proud of her, and excited--this is one of the most watched shows on TV, even without Charlie Sheen.

Third thing also involves my goddaughter--the movie she appears in, The Devil Inside, just came out. She only has a short scene in it but there is a lot more on the website. Look for videos of Isabella Rossi as a child--that's her. As for the movie itself--well, exorcism movies aren't really my thing. I guess my atheism makes it a bit hard for me to swallow the idea of demonic possession, since there are no such things as demons. Plus, people screaming obscenities at priests isn't especially horrifying to me--I've done that myself, though I was drunk, not possessed. Anyways, I went to see it yesterday and I've been excited for her for that reason, too.

I'm sure I'll buckle down, concentrate, and get busy. By Tuesday I'll have all the days I'll need to take off to find a place to live and all that, and have some ideas of potential places to live.

I hope!

Pre-Falcons game Sunday randomocity

Yes, I love my Atlanta Falcons, even though they looked like a Pop Warner team last Sunday against Chicago. They play like that tonight they will lose. Again. They're playing Philadelphia, which starts Atlanta's former quarterback, Mike Vick. Yes, I loathe Vick, and not just for the dog-fighting thing. It won't be long before Eagles fans start seeing what I saw when he was in Atlanta. And then they will not be shy about showing their displeasure.

I need a project. I've made a second start on this novel but, while I am happy with what I have so far, I'm just not feeling it. I may try to do a little more on it and see where it goes, but I'm thinking it's pretty much DOA. I just don't feel like it's something I need to be working on.

This drives me crazy. I know what sort of story I want to be telling, but I don't have the actual story. It's not something I think I can explain to someone. If you are an artist of some type, though, you'll understand.

I do know that I'm not all that interested in returning to prose fiction, really. The prospect just doesn't do all that much for me, even though I'm much more likely to achieve something that way than by writing a screenplay or something. I actually have sort of a relationship with a small publisher and get asked sometimes if I have something they'd like--I always have to answer 'no' because they specialize in horror and that's not a vein I'm interested in mining right now. Believe it or not.

I'm going to work on coming up with an idea, and I'm sure something will come up, sooner rather than later. I may do another screenplay, though I'm not sure if that's worth the time right now, for a variety of reasons.

And I found out--unofficially--that I'll probably be moving at the end of December. Which means my holidays are going to be really crazy this year. I'll probably go up to Douglasville to look around for an apartment around December 1st--there are a lot of places right around the office up there, apparently, so maybe I can find something I can sort of afford and which will allow me to keep Atari. Lots of apartment complexes have this rule about no dogs larger than 60 pounds--hopefully I can find a place that doesn't discriminate.

So, root for my Falcons tonight! If you know of a decent apartment complex in Douglasville, GA, let me know!

Friday night randomocity

So, I'm watching wrestling on Syfy after spending a couple hours recording guitar tracks for the new tune, "Walks Like a Man." (See previous post for the lyrics if you want.)

It's been a long week and I'm beat. Unfortunately I'll be going in to work tomorrow morning, too. The phones will be down, though, so it won't be so bad. I can put on my headphones and listen to my iPod for hours.

Speaking of work, got some news about the future yesterday. The office here will be closing a year earlier than we thought--by April 2012 instead of April 2013. Which means I'll probably be moving to Birmingham or somewhere west of Atlanta next year sometime.

I hate moving and I'm dreading this one. It's going to be expensive. Yes, I get reimbursed for most of the cost, but that's the key, isn't it? Reimbursed. Gotta front the money myself. I think I can come up with it but it means borrowing against my 401K. Just finished paying off another loan against my 401K a couple months ago. So, that sucks. Still, if I want to have a job I need to find a way to do it. I've just got too much time in with this job to try to find something else.

Healthwise, I've lost 20 pounds so far. Blood sugar is balls-on perfect. The program there is progressing. Of course, Thanxgiving is coming up, and that's gonna be a challenge for me. I love turkey, dressing, mashed potatoes, all that. I can still have that stuff, too, but only in very small doses. I'd rather not have it at all than just have tiny tastes of it righ tnow.