This morning my father and brothers came out to Vancouver to move my furniture over to Allan’s house, in preparation for their move to a co-op townhouse on Feb 1. Now all my stuff is sitting on the floor, except for one shelf in the living room that’s going to Eliza, plus the computer table and office chair. Oh, and the IKEA rollaway bed that I’m sleeping on. All the shelving, my futon couch/bed, and the pine entertainment unit are out of the apartment, so it’s bare bones now. I was going to sell my VCR and microwave, since everyone I know has those (who wants a VCR these days, anyways?), but my father said he’d take it. He wasn’t going to take the microwave just yet, but I said, “Ah, that’s OK, I won’t use it.” But what did I get at the corner store for dinner? Oops, frozen pasta. I know I can warm it in the oven, but who would heat up a whole oven just for a handful of frozen microwaveable pasta??

I was tempted to buy jalapeno and cream cheese poppers (see food post, two previous), but I had french fries with my sandwich today instead!

I’m going to miss that corner store. Well, it’s not really on the corner, but it’s very close and very convenient. It also has a decent selection of films, as convenience stores go (at least when it’s not snowing) — I’ve rented lots of independent movies there. The neighbourhood in Pennsylvania has no corner store — the closest store is at the bottom of the hill (there’s no shoulder for pedestrians), across a highway. See here for an aerial pic. Maybe I should get flourescent tape for my coat, or one of those blinking lights so I can be seen at night? How naff! I’ll look like one of those crossing guards at school!

Oy! What’s with the snow!

I just returned from lunch with my friend Tom, and we had our share of sliding around downtown in his new Subaru. We slid around Burrard Street, and we slid down Thurlow Street to Beach Avenue. On the way down, there was a Honda that sidled none-too-gently up against a FedEx truck, much to the irritation of the FedEx driver.

I was feeling a bit of loss today, as I handed over my plants to Tom. One of them was a tree that I’d rescued from the garbage and repotted. It thrived to the point where I had to prune it, very reluctantly, after it started to take over the living room. Another plant was a small tree I bought in its infancy not long after I moved in. I remember back in ‘98 my friend Marc commented on how great it looked in its green, Vietnamese-style pot. The vine I’d acquired much, much later, but it had wound its way around the doorframe and made the area near the kitchen homier. Plants are living things, so it’s natural to get a bit attached to them after you’ve tended and watched them grow for years.

This is such a strange sight, but I seem to recall it snowed once last year in January, as well. It’ll be gone by morning, probably.

More on the folly that is Vancouver with snow.

Technorati tags: snow, Vancouver, winter

Well, so much for blogging more regularly. But, I have a decent excuse this week — I’m moving!

I haven’t moved in nearly 7 years, so I’ve accumulated more since I’ve been here than at probably any other time in my life. It’s the longest I’ve ever lived in one place, and I’ve

– bought a few things
– acquired more than a few things from other people who’ve stayed at Hotel Gail
– and, on occasion, still find things I never realised I had… probably more remnants from other people.

It’s more than a trip down memory lane, it’s a pain in the ARSE, that’s what moving is. The only way I can keep from thinking of it as a pain in the arse is to take those trips down memory lane. It’s not just a simple move, though. I’m shipping my life across the continent, and across a border, so it’s much more complicated than changing my address and getting an amendment to my driver’s license. My sister-in-law has done the same thing, in reverse. She’s from a small town in Maine, while I’m going to a small town in Pennsylvania. But, they’re moving again, too — Allan and Cheryl and the five kidlets were accepted to a housing co-op in Cloverdale, a 4-bedroom, 2-bathroom unit. I’m really glad they were able to move into a HOUSE, finally. Not only do they need more space, the co-op is family-oriented, with a playground. It’s nowhere near a Skytrain station, so I’ll just have to use my car co-op while I’m visiting. Thank heavens for co-ops!!

Making address changes took part of Sunday, all day Monday, and a bit of Tuesday, with one account left to cancel — tenant’s insurance with BCAA, which I have to do by fax. I spent a LOT of time listening to ‘hold’ music, what fun. Some of the utilities were easy — eg. BC Hydro, which was a simple cancellation. Some were more complicated to change, like Primus, because I have two accounts with them, one for the mobile phone (I REFUSE to pay Telus Mobility’s long distance rates, so I use a Primus access number to bypass Telus), the other for the fax and phone number. I had to consolidate the accounts, change the plans, then change the address. I left the worst for last: Telus. I have Telus ADSL Enhanced, hosted on my fax line. I switched my landline over to Primus VoIP last year, which makes things easier because I can keep my Vancouver phone number, and my family and friends can continue using it. I’m transferring my Telus internet over to my Vancouver address up the street (Eliza’s), so I have a utility in my name in Vancouver. For a number of accounts, I don’t have the option of using anything but a Canadian address, but most I can reroute to Pennsylvania.

I’m also no longer an employee of my company, I’m a consultant. Which means I’ll have greatly reduced hours, and I’m in charge of my own expenses. This is my first foray into self-employment, but it’s probably the best time ever to do so — I’ve started a creative venture with a friend, and I need more development time. I also want to finish my degree, and this will allow me to do it without the rest of my hair going completely gray, or getting pulled out like it has been from 2001-2004.

So, the moving saga continues… at the moment I’m transferring my XP files to my Mac via a firewire drive that David borrowed from his office, but I have all sorts of Windows-based archives that must wait until I’ve configured Virtual PC properly, and installed the required XP files. Just the sort of late-night or early-morning activity that drives me to distraction, hence the blogging. More later, of course.