LA to Ashland Lift Off, 7 days and counting

Yesterday was simply another ho-hum chaotic day in escrow. It was "install a wall heater that nobody wants, but FHA insists upon" day. The buyer showed up with a "bargain heater" purchased on Craigslist ... you know the problems started there! The contractors spent the first part of the day fixing the bargain heater. Installation ran from 8am to 5 pm which meant dust, noise and interruptions.

Luckily we really liked the contractors who were upright fellows who know their shit and kept the work impact to a minimum for us. However, the heater is in and works about 1/3 as well as the existing space heaters and is loud and ugly like a motel heater. It blows all the heat under the living room couch, and the heat gets trapped there because of the 6 inch foam padding of the couch seat. I bow to great silliness.

Alex and Ben scrambled to pack up some hand-me-downs, to send back to Georgia Tech. My stepson built a linux server box out of one of his dad's old computers, and is now the proud owner of my old turntable from 1981 and the best of my eclectic record collection. :-)

Al's also getting our sturdy and dependable Revere cookware set - I bought it for $70 at Sears in about 1990. I was always proud of that set as a marker of my growing savvy. When I moved to LA in 1986, I had no idea how to go about securing a piece of cookware. I blew some exorbitant amount, something like $30, on a crappy pan at a supermarket. I didn't actually know how to use cookware, so I probably made short work of ruining that pan. However, 4 years later and 4 years smarter, I bought a full regiment of cookware (including bonus stainless steel bowls with lids!) for a mere $70. Seeing as my early years in LA had much to do with unfolding the sleeping giant of wisdom within me, it was a significant marker indeed.

In fact, much of this moving business keeps putting my grown-upness square in my sights. What's funny is that it surprises me - I hadn't really thought of myself as grown up at all, but the evidence is incontrovertible. And it seems as though I'm leaving my growing-up nest, and moving onto the arena of my mature happenings. Hmmmm. Interesting.

Anyhow, as of today, we have a moving truck coming in 6 days, but no confirmed place to move it into. :-0 The property rental company has been closed since 3 pm Christmas eve day, and has archaic practices for collecting applications and fees: my dad is kind enough to drive over there tomorrow morning to drop off cash when they open at 9 am, hopefully beating anyone else to it, as the first application with cash received gets first crack at the rental. (erm ... no cc payments or wire transfers?! Wha's up wit dat?) The tedious application sent Ben and I scrambling to find social security cards, even. Blech.

It's no wonder people simply stay put - transition is hard. Even the cable company conspires to make our move difficult (we have to hand deliver the cable box to an office in Hollywood on the day of our move, and the new residents can't begin the week long wait for their service until we turn our equipment in - that is retarded, I say!)

Looking forward:
Our new hometown is organizing to gain status as a "Transitions Town", signaling a commitment to sustainability in energy, food, water, finance and other areas.