No TV Stations

As I once must have already said, I didn't keep the Google TV channels when I moved to the loft. It was because it cost $80 a month more and I didn't think it was worth that. I also didn't keep my old land-line number so my total Google bill went down, from $140 a month to $50. I hooked up an antenna the other day, but I only get, like, three channels. I don't know what you're supposed to do if you still think TV signals are just in the air, free for the taking, like they used to be. Nowadays, you have to PAY for your advertising to be beamed, no, pulsed--possibly pumped--into your livingroom.

Today I went out for breakfast, then went to my old apartment to load up some more of the remaining miscellaneous crap still left there, then went to the management office of the building I now live in to give them the list of things they need to fix--already--in the new place. Then I ate lunch, and then sat and talked with a friend at the coffee shop for about three hours, then went to find a grocery store. There is a Price Chopper four miles away. They have these ridiculously large, plastic grocery carts that make you feel like a little kid whose mom let him push the cart for her. I picked up a few things, and tried to make sure none of the things touched any of the other things, as they all were just swimming around in this huge grocery cart. I was successful. Except of course for the two bananas, which were connected at one end. While waiting in line, I remembered that I once read somewhere that grocery stores sometimes supply huge carts to encourage people to buy more stuff. I estimated that if I had filled this cart up to the brim, it would have cost me about four hundred dollars.

Right at the moment, I am beginning to binge-watch the seven seasons of Star Trek: The Next Generation on Netflix.  I wonder if there are any episodes that I haven't seen at one time or another. Surely. Last night I watched S1 Ep.1 and 2. Hilarious to watch the actors plunge into these roles with, apparently, no idea what they're going to do with them yet. They were all like animated cardboard cutouts.  So, episode 3 coming up.

M-day + 4

I'd have to say that I am moved into the new place, mostly.

Still trying to decide where I'd like to sit when I write. At the moment, I have a Mac sitting on the little wood table just to the left of that upright beam. Not sure I like that. Probably stick with the Twilight Zone corner. 

I have a growing list of things the building managers need to address in the new place. Just little stuff, though after all the glowing reports I've heard about these guys I'm a little surprised that they didn't go through the loft first and get everything up to snuff. It's as if they want to see what they can get away with.  

The first day here I took my walk in the morning. I walked across the bridge that spans the Interstate (the "downtown loop") and went downtown. I walked to the Kansas City Public Library, near 10th and Main, and back. That was about two miles in total. Not bad. Yesterday I took a similar route but went to Cosentino's Grocery, a huge grocery store at 13th and Main. I did this as a test run. Maybe not something I would do if I needed to buy something at the last minute, but OK for a planned shopping excursion. If I bought too much, I could take the street car back. Or, I suppose I could take the street car both ways. 

It's all kind of cool. 

The Writer's Nook

    As referred to in a previous comment response, here is the writer's nook, occupying a sort of odd corner of the loft. At first I didn't think I would like it, but it has a kind of vibe. I put spacers under the right side table legs so the mouse won't slide off onto the floor. If my writing seems kind of skewed, perhaps this asymmetrical situation is partially to blame.
    I have ten days left to completely vacate my old apartment. Unfortunately, on the main moving day, the 15th, I "overdid" it, and pulled something resulting in a doctor's office visit during which I was told not to do any lifting for a few days. So, I have a couple days off before me. Yay, I think.
    Speaking of the writer's nook, I made what I think will turn out to be a wise decision in not getting Google TV channels when I transferred my service. I simply got the Internet access. This seems to be conducive to a desire to sit at the computer and write. I hope it indeed works that way.

It is the middle ground between light and
shadow, between science and superstition

M-Day -1.5

I am a little amazed that after all the hours of work I have put into my packing, I'm still not finished. All I can say, and I keep saying it, is I'm glad I decided to "get a jump on it," because it wasn't really a jump, but a slog. Did I think I was going to get ahead? Anyway, glad I decided to start on this when I did. If I'm lucky, not too many things will remain unboxed by the time the movers get here. 

And I'm not sure how it's possible, but even after the very short duration stay here in this apartment I managed to accumulate some crap.

No one is helping me. I'm not complaining, but I say this because moving, by one's self, is a very lonely proposition, on more than one level. And--correct me if I'm wrong--using the ceiling lights only, after packing up all the lamps, looks very dreary and goddamn depressing. Maybe it's a good thing I didn't start this earlier, because, this way, I don't have to live in this barren wasteland very long.

I admit if I had my critters I might feel better. No doubt that they would be annoying me, cruising in and out of rooms, in and out of boxes, turning up completely missing after I had taped up the tops of all the boxes, causing me to worry about taping a cat in a box. Of course that's never what happens--they delight in this kind of subterfuge.

Tomorrow is another day, and the last full day here at this address, according to my plan. I can finally pack up everything, knowing I won't need it here.

Well, thank you for reading, imaginary person. I feel better ventilating, and I'm ready to get dinner, or make dinner, or something.

The Pre-Move Ramble

I have sorely neglected this poor blog, but to tell you the truth, I kind of don't care. I say that only to be totally honest. And I kind of do care. Previously I may have mentioned that I wonder if each creative genre, or type, such as writing, photography, music, all utilize different parts of the brain, and all these various creative outlets compete with each other for blood flow. I am not actually that old, but maybe I don't have that much blood flow to spare  nowadays.

I think it's been a pretty eventful year, for all I have complained about boredom. I got out of suburbia a year ago--it was December--and moved here to the edge of Midtown (every city has a Midtown, right? It is that treeless area buffering the suburbs from the urban core, where tattooed, financially disenfranchised Millennials drive older cars with no insurance, and each having somewhere between zero and one-and-a-half jobs and who eat breakfast in the parking lots of gas station convenience stores.) So, yeah, I'm on the edge of that, and after a year, the suburbs still look kind of boring and dismal, and downtown begins to look pretty good.

I'm moving again, as I have said. Downtown, sort of. I found a loft on the top floor of an old metal company warehouse that overlooks the Missouri River, across the street from the end of the street car line. Now, I'm only on the 5th floor, so it's not a truly spectacular view, but it is superior to the view I have at the old place, which is of the side of a building identical to mine about fifteen feet away.

I move next week. I have packed everything in boxes except what I need to live for the next week. Many of the boxes are still unpacked from the last very recent move. This might be a new record for me for the shortest duration occupancy of an apartment. Seems like I'm usually good for about two years.

My two previous cats, Uma and L-Bot, have been given to new homes. I miss them and the only thing that makes me feel better about that is they probably don't miss me--I'm confident that they just kept on being cats, which is a good thing. I think I am better off not taking the Claritin for my cat allergy.

So that's it in a nutshell.