Images by John 'K'
Life as seen through my lens…
I’m in…..
Posted by on July 3, 2005
It’s been non-stop since Thursday evening, but I’m in and pretty much up and running in the new house….
I spent all of Thursday evening taking apart my furniture (thank heaven for Ikea flat pack stuff) and loading it into the back of my car at the old place, and then all of Friday unpacking it and putting it back together in the new house. By late Friday afternoon everything was assembled, unpacked, and pretty much set up where it wanted to be.
This was just in time for the cable guy to arrive. Comcast had arranged for him to be here sometime between 4 and 6, and he turned up at 5. After seeing where everything was to go, he did some stuff outside, then proceeded to install the relevant boxes in the relevant places. All went OK until he came to get the cable modem going. After much playing around and trying different modems, he came to the opinion the signal strength wasn’t good enough and suggested I go to the nearest Radio Shack and buy a booster.
Great idea, but being new to the area, I had no idea where the local Radio Shack was, and didn’t have a working internet connection to find out either, so I did something I haven’t done in about a year, and resorted to dial-up.
With the address programmed in my pocket PC’s navigation software, I duly headed out to get a booster, and on the way spotted the local Wal*Mart, where they had a good deal on a nice metal framed futon, and a 20" TV, so I ended up coming back with more than I intended, but it was stuff we’d need anyway, so didn’t really mind.
I fitted the booster, and the cable modem started working beautifully, however there was a problem with Comcast’s new user registration system, so after wasting about 30 minutes I gave up on this and went back to dealing with the other stuff I’d purchased. Got the TV stand put together and hooked the TV up to the cable box in the main bedroom, then started assembling the futon. 30 minutes later, I had the futon assembled and kitted out with bedding so I could sleep in the main bedroom and not take over the room that will become Paula’s when I’m joined by my family in 4 weeks time.
I was in no mood to cook, and at this stage had nothing to cook anyway, so popped out for a quick meal, then retired exhausted to bed.
Saturday started quietly. I was expecting the previous tenant mid morning to finish collecting some stuff, so I had a chat to the folks back in the UK until he arrived. While he was here, I was introduced to some of the neighbours – another English family, with 2 daughters, 12 and 14 – should be great company for the family!
With that out of the way, the rest of the day was filled with shopping – proper grocery shopping (something I haven’t done in about 7 months now) and some extra bits that I need for the house. It’s funny but you don’t really think about all the bits and pieces you use on a daily basis until you find yourself in a place without any of them. So I headed out with a massive shopping list, and returned a few hours later with the rear of my car packed out again.
After unpacking the car and putting everything away, I cooked myself a meal (first time I’d done that properly in about 7 months also – cooking a few burgers on the grill in the previous house, while nice, didn’t really count. As I was only cooking for myself, I somewhat mis-judged the quantity, so ended up having enough left over to eat the following day also!
I wound down with a bit of TV and then went to bed, again tired out, but starting to feel a bit more at home.
Then today was another day of shopping – lots of stuff from Home Depot – all stuff that we need, but also spent more than I really should have on a 42" TV (being delivered next week), but it was such a good deal that I really couldn’t walk away from it. I’m sure Jan will forgive me eventually! 🙂
So 3 days later, I’m all in and functional. The fridge and freezer are stocked up with stuff to keep me going for the next few weeks. There’s some furniture in upstairs (in particular, Paula’s room is pretty much ready to roll), but downstairs is somewhat Spartan right now. 🙂
I’m going to have to get more things for people to sleep on – might just buy a few camp beds – we’ll want them anyway if we go camping. I also need to get some things for people to sit on – some beanbags or throw cushions (again we’ll want them anyway), but otherwise any more furniture now will wait until the folks get here.
I spent all of Thursday evening taking apart my furniture (thank heaven for Ikea flat pack stuff) and loading it into the back of my car at the old place, and then all of Friday unpacking it and putting it back together in the new house. By late Friday afternoon everything was assembled, unpacked, and pretty much set up where it wanted to be.
This was just in time for the cable guy to arrive. Comcast had arranged for him to be here sometime between 4 and 6, and he turned up at 5. After seeing where everything was to go, he did some stuff outside, then proceeded to install the relevant boxes in the relevant places. All went OK until he came to get the cable modem going. After much playing around and trying different modems, he came to the opinion the signal strength wasn’t good enough and suggested I go to the nearest Radio Shack and buy a booster.
Great idea, but being new to the area, I had no idea where the local Radio Shack was, and didn’t have a working internet connection to find out either, so I did something I haven’t done in about a year, and resorted to dial-up.
With the address programmed in my pocket PC’s navigation software, I duly headed out to get a booster, and on the way spotted the local Wal*Mart, where they had a good deal on a nice metal framed futon, and a 20" TV, so I ended up coming back with more than I intended, but it was stuff we’d need anyway, so didn’t really mind.
I fitted the booster, and the cable modem started working beautifully, however there was a problem with Comcast’s new user registration system, so after wasting about 30 minutes I gave up on this and went back to dealing with the other stuff I’d purchased. Got the TV stand put together and hooked the TV up to the cable box in the main bedroom, then started assembling the futon. 30 minutes later, I had the futon assembled and kitted out with bedding so I could sleep in the main bedroom and not take over the room that will become Paula’s when I’m joined by my family in 4 weeks time.
I was in no mood to cook, and at this stage had nothing to cook anyway, so popped out for a quick meal, then retired exhausted to bed.
Saturday started quietly. I was expecting the previous tenant mid morning to finish collecting some stuff, so I had a chat to the folks back in the UK until he arrived. While he was here, I was introduced to some of the neighbours – another English family, with 2 daughters, 12 and 14 – should be great company for the family!
With that out of the way, the rest of the day was filled with shopping – proper grocery shopping (something I haven’t done in about 7 months now) and some extra bits that I need for the house. It’s funny but you don’t really think about all the bits and pieces you use on a daily basis until you find yourself in a place without any of them. So I headed out with a massive shopping list, and returned a few hours later with the rear of my car packed out again.
After unpacking the car and putting everything away, I cooked myself a meal (first time I’d done that properly in about 7 months also – cooking a few burgers on the grill in the previous house, while nice, didn’t really count. As I was only cooking for myself, I somewhat mis-judged the quantity, so ended up having enough left over to eat the following day also!
I wound down with a bit of TV and then went to bed, again tired out, but starting to feel a bit more at home.
Then today was another day of shopping – lots of stuff from Home Depot – all stuff that we need, but also spent more than I really should have on a 42" TV (being delivered next week), but it was such a good deal that I really couldn’t walk away from it. I’m sure Jan will forgive me eventually! 🙂
So 3 days later, I’m all in and functional. The fridge and freezer are stocked up with stuff to keep me going for the next few weeks. There’s some furniture in upstairs (in particular, Paula’s room is pretty much ready to roll), but downstairs is somewhat Spartan right now. 🙂
I’m going to have to get more things for people to sleep on – might just buy a few camp beds – we’ll want them anyway if we go camping. I also need to get some things for people to sit on – some beanbags or throw cushions (again we’ll want them anyway), but otherwise any more furniture now will wait until the folks get here.
It felt odd moving out of the house in Sunnyvale. I’d not really realised how much I had grown used to the company of the owner and his cat – both nice and friendly folks, but I’m sure I’ll be seeing them for a while yet – after all, they’re so close to the office, and it’ll take time before all my mail gets redirected to the new house. It’s been odd not being woken up by an ‘I want my breakfast’ meow the last couple of mornings, and it seems awful lonely in the evenings, but I’ve lots of stuff to keep me occupied between now and the end of the month, and I can always talk to (and see) the folks back home thanks to MSN messenger….
Images by John 'K' 