Survival and Evolution

I have survived the Big Move, as have the cats and my favorite Socialist. We are mostly living out of boxes at the moment, except for one of the cats, who has taken it upon herself to unpack her toys and scatter them about the new abode in an effort to lay claim to all she sees. Much good it will do her. The spritz bottle also made the move. The cats can climb the boxes and furniture with impunity at the moment. Once things are arranged and more settled, though, I intend to restore some good manners to the tribe, with the aid of Mr. Bottle.

I’ve not seen much of The Socialist these past few days. He still has a few weeks of teaching in the evenings, and by the time he arrives home I’ve dropped into bed exhausted. He’s taking it in good stride, which I appreciate. This weekend promises no relief – it is our last chance to remove things from the old apartment and do a thorough cleaning over there, and I anticipate two full days of Lysol and Lemon Pledge before I’m done with that place forever.

Just in time, too. In the past couple of weeks, a group I’ve taken to calling the Addams Family has moved in next door to the old place. A man, woman and seven (count ’em, 7) children, in a two bedroom apartment. None of the children are older than twelve, and they’ve taken to using the hallways of the building as their own personal playground. I have no idea if the apartment management is aware of this, but considering their lack of response to my own problems, I see no need to alert them to this. My lease terminates a week from now, and with it comes the end of my having to deal with Gomez, Morticia and their monstrous offspring. That’s good enough for me.

I discovered to my dismay that DSL will not be available at our new address for at least a year. I hope that cable isn’t prohibitive, because it looks to be our only high speed alternative. I’ve seen no cable lines on the second floor, so I suspect if we do go with cable we’ll have to get someone out to wire the upstairs for us. That’s more than I can deal with at the moment. I may dump this problem in The Socialist’s hands to sort out. I sorted out all the utilities, after all, so it’s only fair.

Tonight I fill the car with yet more books and take them to the new apartment. I’m hoping I can have all my books moved by the weekend. I honestly did not realize how many tomes I own. It comes to over a thousand, apparently. The Socialist said he’d help, but so far it’s been a his and her move, where he concentrates nearly exclusively on only his stuff (to the point where he took only *his* spices out of the spice rack and left mine for me to pack!). I therefore do not hold my breath for any assistance from that part of the world.

Between last week’s convention and this week’s move, I feel particularly out of touch with the world. I need to buy a decent newpaper soon, or I will start to show signs of current events withdrawal.