Two life-changing relocations in less than a year. Ack. I need to slow down. But first, I need to speed up. I still have so much packing to do, and a little more than a week left before I have to load up the moving truck. I’m not very good at getting it done, either.
I bought a bunch of boxes… four small ones, four bigger ones, and a big one that’s double-corrugated for electronics. It’s turning out to be way more than I need, which is better than the alternative, I suppose. But it’s still so hard to pack! Things like books are easy – I packed my bookcase in under ten minutes – but all of the crap I have lying everywhere else formed of less agreeable geometries is much more difficult.
There is snow piled up on the ground and we are having another cold snap. I’m hoping against hope that the snow will have melted by next Saturday and that it will have warmed up a little, but it seems unlikely. There is no dedicated space in front of my apartment building to park a moving truck, and I’m sickly anxious that the driver will refuse to block up the road, in which case I could be majorly screwed. Maybe I should have fifty bucks or so in cash on me to persuade him if necessary. The truck needs to be loaded that day come hell or high water; I’ve already bought the plane ticket and reserved the rental car for Sunday.
Oh yeah, that Sunday should be interesting. 7 AM flight to Seattle… I should get there shortly after 10, which makes it a six-hour flight with the time-differential. Drive to my apartment, sign the lease, get the keys. Drive three hours to the border, spend the next four hours or waiting in line, hoping that my work permit application is approved. (There’s no real reason it shouldn’t be, but it’s human beings working there and human beings that have total discretion and can make the call however they see fit, so there’s ample cause for stress.) Drive three hours back, maybe buy some groceries before crashing on the inflatable mattress I’m packing.
Then on Monday I’m going to see if I can get my Washington-state driver’s license. It basically comes down to whether they will let me take the knowledge test and the road test all in the same day. Since I’ll have the rental car and will have practiced in it for 6 hours the previous day, it would be much more convenient than doing it a few months later. I’m not counting any chickens, though. If it can’t be done, I’ll return the car and go to work instead.
Work is getting more and more laborious. There is a mile long list of projects I’ve completed that have yet to be deployed, and won’t be before I leave. I have been taking my time these past couple of weeks, trying to prevent the list from getting significantly longer. It is frustrating to be doing relatively little when I have so much else that needs to get done in my life. And I’m not just talking about the packing… I have a class tonight and two performances between now and next Saturday. My subletter is moving in this Saturday (she was supposed to move in last weekend but couldn’t because of the blizzard), and Richard is visiting this weekend out-of-the-blue, so I’ve got to catch him before he leaves as well. And I want to spend time with Laura. It is all very difficult.
I don’t even know how I’m going to load everything onto the truck. Carey (my subletter) will help me, but it may be more than a two-person job.
I’m very nervous. Right now I’ve got a lot of things I’m expecting to happen, but that’s not the same as having a plan. I really hope things don’t get screwed up. Not this time.
Dan.