I'm frantically rushing to get my office organized before I leave tonight. The library closes at 7 pm but will likely stay a bit later. Trying to back up my computer but it's taking too long -something isn't right. Just tried putting in a different zip disk. We'll be in Edmonton in almost 24 hours - hard to believe. I printed out our Edmonton Itinerary and hopefully we can accomplish a few things. Big issue is securing a photographer and luckily Mom and Dad have a couple of people. Our Yuletide party at my place last Saturday was a lot of fun! Darcy and I cleaned up the place and made it festive. Even had the fireplace Christmas log VHS tape playing. Darcy discovered, just a few hours before the party was to start, that our email invitation had incorrect driving directions and no phone number. My phone number was on the email and not the invitation. Darcy created the invitation but I did a crappy job of proofreading it! Darcy was able to call guests enroute to the party so a major crisis was averted!
This damn backup is not working! Need to try a CD-ROM I guess. See you in Edmonton....
posted by Michael at 6:10 PM
I've been trying not to succumb to a cold despite other people at work being sick. I've felt run down and tired but I think much of it is from the crap that occurs at work. I didn't feel like going to yoga class last night but did and felt much better afterwards! But I can tell that I don't have much strength and have held back from lifting weights. Although I have managed to do my hundred plus chin ups and dips at the park.
Winter temperatures have finally hit South Florida! It got down to a frigid 45 farenheit or about 7 celcius last night. But my apartment was stuffy and warm when I got home last night so I had to have the windows open over night. It was nice to put a top blanket on my bed too! Alas temperatures are expected to soar back into the 70s by the weekend :(
Apparently we will be able to move into an apartment at the Atriums complex at the end of January. I called their office today and they assured me a unit would be available but none are at the moment. Two bedroom places vacancies occur more frequently than one bedrooms. So we can only wait and hope that a few people give their thirty days notice over Christmas so we can move in. Darcy will have to give her landlord the standard thirty days notice too before we fly home on Dec. 22. Our Christmas party is this Saturday at my place so I need to get organized. Not sure how many will show up. Time is flying by and hard to believe we will be in Edmonton in one week!
Almost forgot - I added new websites to my personal website. They are: http://www.missilebases.com, http://albinoblacksheep.com/games, http://escapeartist.com, and http://levenger.com. Should go home soon I suppose...
posted by Michael at 7:28 PM
I'm ready to head home after another hectic day at work. Our group met today and submitted a list of twenty journals to cancel. As Bush would say, "It's hard - it's hard work!" He repeated that line over and over again during the first Presidential debate in October. Anyway, I'm not sure what the amount saved is yet but it would be around $3,000. Only $50,000 to go with 10 weeks remaining! I finished reading a strange book called
Undying Love. It was about a German doctor, with several degrees, who emigrated to Key West and fell in love with a young Cuban woman. She soon succumbed to tuberculosis and he was grief stricken and a few years later dug up her coffin, preserved her body and lived with her for eight years. Weird. The book was poorly written and consisted mainly of excerpts from the doctor's memoirs and newspaper stories. Darcy noticed the book at the Key West Lighthouse Museum and she subsequently ordered it throught interlibrary loan. Still no word from the apartment in Plantation as to vacancy in February. It would be nice to know before we leave for Edmonton. Otherwise I would need to stay with Darcy for a month and put all my stuff in storage. Better go home now...
posted by Michael at 7:45 PM
Well, December 1 was a significant day as I notified my landlord that I would not be renewing my lease. I had been renewing my seven month lease for a couple of years because I was not sure how long my past roommates were going to stay. Darcy's and my decision to live together, combined with my lease renewal notice. My fourth roommate, Ceejay, was understanding about it. So I will move out the end of January. A two bedroom, one bath apartment became available across the street from Darcy's place. The timing was uncanny so we met the owner and looked at it. Floorplan was the same as Darcy's with the exception of an additional room. It was cleaner and better maintained. There are several complexes that house between four and eight units in the neighborhood. Many are run by different people and one can tell how better kept some are.
The drawback to this one was that it was still on the small side (about 840 square feet), no storage space, parking right underneath the bedroom window, noisy a/c units from other apartments and a lack of amenities. It was a simple, no frills apartment and, I think, a bit steep for $800.00 a month. But it was on the ground floor and would have been an easy move. So we had to make a tough decision Monday night and say thanks but no thanks.
Darcy needs to give her 30 days notice before we leave for Edmonton on December 22. The worst case scenario now was that we would not be able to find a place by the end of January and we would have no place to live. We looked at a place where a friend of mine lives and it's in a decent location (close to where I work and only a few miles east of where Darcy is now). I had called them on Saturday and they had a two bedroom one bath (837 square feet) opening for Feb. 1. It was perfect so I said I'd be over Sunday or Monday. We both visited Monday morning but it was taken. The complex was large with probably a hundred or more units and the grounds were well maintained. A nice pool and deck but no work out facility. The unit was a simple no frills place like the one by Darcy's.
So we drove around the area and north towards Nova (where I work) but had no luck. The offices were either closed for no reason - their loss, not ours. Darcy decided she would look for places online and she quickly found two nice one. She contacted one and we have an appointment this Saturday at 10:00 am at the Atriums of Plantation. It looks quite nice and a hell of a better deal than what we've seen so far and the units are huge. Darcy drove by the complex last night and was impressed with the grounds and amount of privace. They have vacancies so we may be able to get something this weekend to move into in January!
Can't believe we will be home in three weeks! Have not done much Christmas shopping and don't know what to get people. Work continues to be busy as I, and a few others, grapple with the Herculean task of cutting tens of thousands of print journal subscriptions. I'm trying to finish the book Paris 1919 but don't seem to have enough time in the day. Also brought out the works of Edgar Allen Poe and have read two stories: Fall of the House of Usher and Cask of Amontillado. Obviously well written but I find he tends to be a bit verbose. He can have one sentence become the length of a paragraph. Since I don't have a literature background I'm sure other legendary writers follow this characteristic. I'd like to read some Hemingway at some point - just add it to my pile of other books I want to read!
Thanksgiving Day last week was fun as we were invited to a friend's place. The husband's brother showed us some neat websites. One is thinkgeek.com - it has some really neat stuff such as a dual 15 inch computer screen and a player that plays tape cassettes and converts them into audio files! I need to go but I'll list the other websites next time - stay tuned.....
posted by Michael at 7:02 PM
