Changes and frustrations
Jan. 31st, 2008 09:57 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
missroseroseMoving is finally over; it only took about three times as long as it should have thanks to weather. See, originally, we'd planned to have use of a box truck, so we would've been able to move everything over in one trip (two at the most). However, thanks to a foot and a half of snow plus a cold snap, we weren't able to use the box truck, so we ended up hauling everything in our friend Chris' small pickup truck. It took thirty-odd trips from the Valley to North Douglas and back, but eventually we got everything moved over, and the original apartment cleaned. So now I'm just fighting exhaustion from exerting myself more than I have in months. (The problem with being a bibliophile: lots and lots of very heavy boxes to sling around when moving.) And let's not forget the unpacking. Lots and lots of unpacking.
Mass thanks go to Chris for not only lending us his truck for three days but also helping us for something like fourteen hours on Sunday. We literally couldn't have done it without him. I realize that, being from the South, he has the "help your friends when they need it" gene, but this went above and beyond the call of duty.
So far, the new place has been great; it's slightly larger and much much nicer. (Hooray for having our own washer and dryer!) The water pressure's somewhat less than the other place (probably as a result of being so far out in North Douglas), but it gets blessedly hot in the shower, which is what I care about most. We may have to get rid of an item of furniture or two, however - we acquired a desk with a chair from Adam and, now that the theater will be in the living room, have no real need of a second coffeetable. There might be room for it, though - we'll see what happens when we get all the boxes out of the way.
Unfortunately, the desk came at the expense of our friend, who is on his way to Colorado as I type. I can't blame him, though - he made a good effort of living here, but being on his own was just too expensive in Juneau (and the dark didn't help his depression issues any). Brian and I really, really miss him, though. We're hoping he'll be able to meet up with us for PAX later this year.
In completely unrelated but rather annoying news, I've recently learned that in order to vote in the Democratic Caucus on Tuesday here in Alaska, I have to be registered as a Democrat. Longtime readers of this blog will likely be unsurprised to learn that I always register as an independent on principle; while it's true that my views generally align more with the (vaguely) liberal party, I don't agree with them on everything (especially their absolutely paranoid views on natural resource development in Alaska), and I'd rather not align myself with a particular party anyway. (You never know - the Republicans might one day come up with a candidate I'd like to vote for. It could happen.) But apparently the caucus is Dems-only, and while it's not like it'd be hard to register as a Democrat and then re-register after the caucus, the principle of the thing bugs me.
What's kind of annoying is that normally, I wouldn't even let it trouble me - Alaska's such a small state, population-wise, that it rarely has any influence on the outcome of national-level elections, so I'd just figure I may as well not bother. But the primaries have been so hotly contested this year - on both sides, but especially among the Dems - that for once, Alaska does have the chance to make a difference. And even if it doesn't, I like Obama enough that I'd want to make the gesture.
Grrr. While I'm glad that we have the political process that we do, I really really hate the politics of it.
Mass thanks go to Chris for not only lending us his truck for three days but also helping us for something like fourteen hours on Sunday. We literally couldn't have done it without him. I realize that, being from the South, he has the "help your friends when they need it" gene, but this went above and beyond the call of duty.
So far, the new place has been great; it's slightly larger and much much nicer. (Hooray for having our own washer and dryer!) The water pressure's somewhat less than the other place (probably as a result of being so far out in North Douglas), but it gets blessedly hot in the shower, which is what I care about most. We may have to get rid of an item of furniture or two, however - we acquired a desk with a chair from Adam and, now that the theater will be in the living room, have no real need of a second coffeetable. There might be room for it, though - we'll see what happens when we get all the boxes out of the way.
Unfortunately, the desk came at the expense of our friend, who is on his way to Colorado as I type. I can't blame him, though - he made a good effort of living here, but being on his own was just too expensive in Juneau (and the dark didn't help his depression issues any). Brian and I really, really miss him, though. We're hoping he'll be able to meet up with us for PAX later this year.
In completely unrelated but rather annoying news, I've recently learned that in order to vote in the Democratic Caucus on Tuesday here in Alaska, I have to be registered as a Democrat. Longtime readers of this blog will likely be unsurprised to learn that I always register as an independent on principle; while it's true that my views generally align more with the (vaguely) liberal party, I don't agree with them on everything (especially their absolutely paranoid views on natural resource development in Alaska), and I'd rather not align myself with a particular party anyway. (You never know - the Republicans might one day come up with a candidate I'd like to vote for. It could happen.) But apparently the caucus is Dems-only, and while it's not like it'd be hard to register as a Democrat and then re-register after the caucus, the principle of the thing bugs me.
What's kind of annoying is that normally, I wouldn't even let it trouble me - Alaska's such a small state, population-wise, that it rarely has any influence on the outcome of national-level elections, so I'd just figure I may as well not bother. But the primaries have been so hotly contested this year - on both sides, but especially among the Dems - that for once, Alaska does have the chance to make a difference. And even if it doesn't, I like Obama enough that I'd want to make the gesture.
Grrr. While I'm glad that we have the political process that we do, I really really hate the politics of it.
