Hey, i'm moved in! Well, okay, so there’s this whole room full of boxes that i haven't even made a dent in… but i got it all in the house! Now i just need to clean out the old apt, and then it’s serious unpacking time, soooo many things to figure out. It’s going to be great, though; i'm already really enjoying Josh and Kim as roomies, they're supa-cool and very gracious. Steph has been a huge help this weekend - thanx Steph, you totally rock! - with everything from lugging boxes around to volunteering her Blazer for big stuff to helping me pick out a Sten at Ikea (that’s a bookshelf). She’s a practicing believer in moving karma, and her assistance shall not go unrewarded! ;)

Talked with Christian while i was hanging clothes in the closet last nite. He was just getting out of bed for a day of skiing in Austria. His prospects to extend his contract are still looking good, as are mine to visit him. Despite not being able to get Ben & Jerry’s there, he’s really enjoying Garmisch, although the European dating scene is apparently a little winky. I know he must be keeping busy with work and a social life, because he’s been there since july and his wardrobe still hasn't doubled in size… :D

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Well, moving day has finally arrived! I'm up early, cause i couldn't sleep, and cause i had a weird dream that Ann Penner and i were neighbors and i was still unpacking and it made us both late for class. Weird because i'm not in school… Anyway, the gang will be here in 4 hours, and i have a few things to clear out before then, but i couldn't start my day without a little internet time… and without talking to you all ;)

This is totally unrelated - just a warning. The record companies lost a lawsuit, and anyone who purchased a CD at a store between 1995 and 2000 is the winner. That’s probably you. They admitted to using price fixing and price inflation to make money illegally off of cd purchasers (again, that’s you) and the results of the court case are that you might get a check for up to $20. The official settlement page gives you a little more info, and an online claim form to add your name to the list of claimants and be included in any settlement payout. Rather than keep anything i get, i'm going to send it to these people, as they're the ones we really owe for any small bit of rights we still have in this fight. “They" are the Electronic Frontier Foundation, and they've been taking on the RIAA and the MPAA for years, trying to keep our rights from being totally trampled. If we all send our $20 to the EFF, they can keep fighting our battles and (hopefully) win. Think about it, mkay?

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Just sitting here in the office, working late. Actually, i'm not working… Patrick brought his freaked-out computer here so we could try to fix it. We're formatting the hard drive right now. Guess sometimes being a computer nerd pays off… at least for my friends ;)

Tomorrow is thursday, the day i officially start paying rent and get keys at the new place. Sweet! Hopefully i'll be un-busy enough at work to take a half-day friday and start moving stuff. Soon it will all be over, and i can start enjoying my new home, saving money, and driving my roomates crazy!

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Financial update: just filed my taxes, took about 20 minutes, cost 9.95. Turbotax rocks. Best part: i'm getting money back! Yeeesss!

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Aren't Moms the best? Mine sure is… Long story short, she’s a magician and has helped me figure out a way to pay off the set of tires that’s been on layaway for two months now. And she’s crazy generous… My old tires have been getting scarily bald, but it was going to be a few months yet before i could afford to take the new ones home, without her help. Thanx, Mom, you rock!

Otherwise this week, i've basically been concentrating on moving. Which means, i've been thinking about it alot while i procrastinate and do other things. I have a few things packed… but i have until thursday, right? ;) Spent sunday in Ian’s garage, helping him (okay, watching him) change out his front axle. Also, EB showed me which belt was making noise in my car and helped me figure how what i need to change it. Now i just need to buy a new belt, but that’s only $20, i can afford that kind of repair. Patrick is the bomb and brought us lunch, and we all took a few test rides in Ian’s supercharged Max - for which one really needs a helmet. It’s FAST.

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Just a quick update for ya. The news is now searchable (bottom of the page) so you can see how many times i've talked about you. ;)

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Well, that was a waste of a morning… Just left a meeting that lasted from 8:30 until noon, over at the bellevue hilton, from this crack-addled company that’s trying to sell stuff to John L Scott’s agents. They're currently hosting the JLS website (rather poorly so, i'd add) and want to unload a bunch of their other substandard products on our people. As the tech department, we went along as requested to show our support and meet some of the dunces, er, colleagues responsible for this racket. If you've ever seen that commercial on late-nite tv with the guy that has question marks all over his suit, and is trying to sell a book full of “secret" government programs, then you know what i just spent 3 hours watching. In between stuttering with excitement, jumping around and yelling, this guy dropped names left and right, rattled off techie buzzwords like a Dilbert boss, and finished up with a “special, today-only deal for this presentation group only!" Even so far as to “impress" the audience with his SAT scores from high school. Yeah, i know, who cares? Besides, mine were higher… ;) He used every tacky, dirty, cliche salesman trick in the book - “his family all uses it", “here’s a testimonial from a satisfied customer", “i'm not even making money on this stuff", “i use it myself all the time" - the list goes on. I'm serious, he actually said all those things and more. It was completely ridiculous, and what’s so frustrating and depressing is that people were actually in the back of the room afterwards, signing up. He actually took their money (and quite a bit of it), and we weren't able to say anything about it, and a few months from now when it doesn't work they'll be calling us for help, and we'll be saying “i told you so." I really hate people like him, people that spout jargon, speak loudly and trick tech-unsavvy folks into parting with their money. We were supposed to be there to meet this company; what i'd really like to do is arrest them. Oh, btw, www.wheretolive.com are the evil bastards. I didn't link to it, cause they don't deserve the hit traffic, and i don't recommend visting it or anything. I just wanted to make sure none of you gave them any $$…

Oh, and if all that wasn't bad enough, they didn't even have any food. Four hour meeting, and no breaks, no refreshments, nothing. So clearly, they completely suck.

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Gabe called me this morning while i was in the shower. Obviously, i didn't answer the phone… but i did call him back. He was supposed to ship out to texas or somewhere with the Air Force today, but he’s been bumped back a week. So i guess that’s another week of me not getting any sleep. :) It may turn out to be more than a week, in which case i'll enlist him for another civic duty… helping me move! I'm hoping to get a key on the 23rd (which reminds me, i should call the new roomies - Josh and Kim - and make sure that’s okay) and i don't plan on giving any more money to the dilapidated chaos that is my apartment building. I'm moving to a great house that’s only about a mile away, closer to the downtown-y part of West Seattle (the Junction district). The only thing the new place doesn't have is a garage, but i don't have that now, so no biggie. Oh, and i guess it doesn't have a dishwasher. But i'll happily trade that in for the washer and dryer in the basement. No more quarters - yeess! I'm excited to move, Josh and Kim are very cool, and my bedroom’s on the ground floor, so i don't have to carry anything up any stairs! [sigh of relief]

For those of you that actually have my landline number, might as well throw it away, as i'm likely dropping it. I'll get an email out to everyone with the new addy this week, or just drop me a line and i'll send it to you (if, perchance, you want to send me a housewarming gift or something…). I actually got my cell working again yesterday, thanks to a great deal on ebay. So my phone broke last week, totally dead, couldn't even get it to pick up a signal. And no, it wasn't something i did! [scowl] Verizon wanted 20 bucks for a new one if i signed a 2 year contract, or 50 bucks with a 1 year extension. Well i found the same phone (just as new) on ebay for 52 (shipped) with no contract extension. And then on the phone with them switching the ESNs, they tried to get me to take an unlimted text messaging plan that would have extended my contract a year. Um, how about NO. Yeah, so i digress. But it works again, so call me there. Or email me from here. Or whatever. Just try not to be so uncommunicative, m-kay? Slackers…

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Here’s the story, of a lovely lady…. oh, sorry, nick-at-nite flashback. I do have a cool story for ya, though. Well, i think it’s cool. So i paid rent on sunday, right, the 5th, the day it’s due. Trouble is, i get paid friday, the 10th. Well, actually, sometime thursday nite, the 9th, thanks to the miracle of the automated clearing house system. But it’s my last month in this apartment, the last time i'll be paying them rent, and i'm really not happy with them anyway. And i looked in the lease, and it'd be cheaper to bounce my rent check than to pay 4 days in late fees. Sooo…. i wrote the check. ;) Meanwhile, back at the ranch, i had a couple checks to deposit, so i stuck them in the mail on the 3rd (friday). Citibank has been the best bank i've ever worked with, but the one fault of their service is that the nearest branch office is in L.A. or Chicago. :[ So i mail my deposits, usually it takes about 7-9 days for them to post. I mean, at least they give me postage-paid envelopes, that’s super cool. Pretty much wasn't counting on those to make it until sometime next week. I think you see where this is going…

So i log into the bank today and whattayaknow, the rent check hasn't posted yet, but the deposits have! In what, 5 days? That rocks! Obviously, the big guy upstairs has His thumb on the banking system, and is keeping an eye out for me. Thanx! I was expecting the worst, and once again slid by with less than an inch to spare. Gabe, what were you saying yesterday about luck and survival instinct…? :D

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I really might have to add a timestamp to these sometime, but this time i'll just tell you: it’s 1:00am. Just dropped Gabe off at his parents' and headed back across the lake. Jammed all the way back to a great new tune i suggest you all check out: Breath by Swollen Members, off the Monsters in the Closet album. We ran some errands, closed down the mall, and stayed up late talking like we always do, about everything from skiing to cars to college to our little sisters. And then skiing again. ;) We seem to face many of the same struggles in life, and if nothing else it’s nice to know you're not alone. If you have to be trapped in a life, better to be trapped there with someone, and even more fortunate, with someone who equally recognizes your mutual predicament. In the last few weeks as we've reconnected, i've seen we have a great deal more in common than i'd ever realized, and i've found his goals, challenges and worries to be a window into my own soul. I only hope that i can provide such an insight to him in return, as i know he needs it as badly as i do.

I still have these lyrics in my head, and i'm just going to explode if i don't share them with you, so tonite i leave you with an excerpt from the above-mentioned song: (this part is sung by Nellie Furtado)

I'm alive; i can feel The blood rushin' thru my veins And that’s all i need to know Cause i'm not lookin' for a change. I got friends and enemies But it just don't bother me Cause as long as i believe I can breathe.

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