FTP 52 - Attitudes on the road

     One of the (many) things that I wanted to keep a close eye on when I moved from the midwest to the east coast was my attitude while driving. Having learned to drive in the DC area, it was quite a shock to go out to Colorado and have people actually be nice and move aside to let me pass if they were going slowly. I took complete advantage of it for about a month, and then started thinking about how maybe- just maybe- if they were able to do it, maybe so could I. Slowly but surely, I became a calmer driver, slowed down (a bit), and realized that, if I drove better, I would arrive at my destination maybe a minute or two later, and in a lot better mood. Moving out here, I'm fighting to hang on to that and not revert to the "I'm important so to heck with you" attitude.

     One thing I noticed, however, is that a lot of the east coast attitude seems to hinge upon the desire to judge and improve those around you, rather than yourself. I could be wrong in this, but the message that I see when someone cuts in front of someone else and hits the breaks (if the road is otherwise clear) is that "you're driving slowly and holding people up, so I'm going to show you what it feels like." Or perhaps, "you pissed me off, so I'm going to piss you off." Not because it will actually improve anything- because let's face it, all that attitude is likely to do is continue a cycle of anger and aggression- but because of the first driver's desire to make the offending driver aware of a) first driver's existence, and b) first driver's presumed superiority.

     Along the lines of "wouldn't it be nice if we all just got along," I'd like to add my take on it: "wouldn't it be nice if we could all just concern ourselves first with improving ourselves, and only secondarily with judging and critiquing others." Wouldn't it?

Brilliant stupidity

     The past week had been quite busy, with applying for jobs, helping out friends, and buying, selling, and moving stuff around inside the house. It's slowly coming together, although there are still boxes here and there full of less important things that we'll get to... eventually. For the most part, however, things are where they ought to be, and we've been able to turn our attention to things we want, but don't have (but can still afford: sadly, a brand new yacht is not in the works just yet). As such, a trip to Ikea was made, and we got to break out the tools to set up new stuff.

     One of the things I have always wanted is a nice, big, sewing table. It's very annoying to try to lay out a seam for flat sewing when the wall is only 5" past the sewing machine, and the table you're working on is flexing under the weight and vibrations of said machine. Unfortunately, most heavy, solid tables are also ridiculously expensive, so when I found a series of choose-your-own table tops and legs at Ikea, I was thrilled that the large table tops were a) solid, b) cheap, and c) fairly lightweight still! For $26, I got a 60x30" table top, and four adjustable legs were a grand total of $14. Considering you can't find an adult-sized work desk for less than about $100, I was in heaven.

FTP 51 - Home

     Finally getting things together, but even when it's not finished, a home means a lot to the people living in it. What stories are you making, wherever you are now?

Still moving in

     Still moving in and getting settled; my computer is standing in the middle of a room full of boxes,  running on a wireless internet connection. I'll get things sorted and get back to writing eventually, promise...

     In the meantime, a short story: when I was working at the tax office this past spring, we had a temp worker in who would try to guess what I was humming (I tend to sing or hum when I'm doing menial tasks in order to keep my brain occupied). I started humming a familiar tune, and he finished it off with "POP, goes the turtle!" I stared at him, confused, and he said, "what, that's not how it goes?" In order to commemorate the moment when this guy finally caught up with the rest of the world, I drew this on his whiteboard:

Cheers!

Quick update, post-move

     I am alive, and made it through the trip from CO to MD unscathed! My car suffered some minor damage, but it appears all of my stuff made it unbroken as well, which is highly appreciated. While things are not completely settled in the new place, we do at least have all the furniture where it ought to be, and basic internet connections set up. With luck, posts will resume Monday as per usual, probably with a recap of the move. See you then!

Moving Day

     Made it 440 miles to Salina, Kansas. So far, the ride has been fairly flat and boring; the most exciting event so far was passing a herd of buffalo on the side of the road. I'm all graduated now, and only 1300 more miles to go to a new chapter of life. Woot!

Counting down: 4 days

     This past week has been a frenzy of packing, taking things to the thrift store, taking things to the dump, saying goodbye to people, and preparing for the move that will happen this Friday. My mind isn't doing much better than last Monday, which is not the greatest, because I have my last final exam today at 4pm. I think I know what is needed for it, but the way my brain is(n't) working lately, I'll be lucky to find the right language to work in when I get there.

Though my confusion is from mental exhaustion, not pot.

FTP 50 - One week to go

     In seven days, I will be on the road, with all of my worldly goods in a trailer behind me. The good news is that this week has been a substantial improvement over last week: I finished my Russian paper early, got the trailer situation sorted (mostly), have almost everything packed and sold, and have finally gotten confirmation that yes, we will have an apartment come the 10th.

     Does that stop me from occasionally wanting to run and hide in a corner, overwhelmed at all the changes going on in my life? Heck no. I'm pretty sure that if I live to 100, there will still be a part of me that wants to do that when faced with the unknown. However, I refuse to let that part be the one in charge. So, here's hoping things all work out! I've made all the preparations I can, time to jump and see where I land. Cheers!