I'm not overly thrilled about having to go to work this morning.
First of all, I've never been a fan of working weekends for any reason, but especially when Friday night happens to be the 4th of July. Basically, last light I attempted to sleep through the bombing of Pearl Harbor (less the planes of course). I actually did a fairly decent job of it. I know I woke a time or two, but overall not bad. But I am tired.
The 4th of July activities in my neighborhood differed from other places I've lived. I'm used to a certain amount of explosions of course--that's what we do. We are Americans and we like to drink and blow shit up. But it was different here. Because it's a rural setting, I didn't expect a whole lot of localized fireworks activity. I was wrong. The whole evening was filled with "whump" BOOM sound of mortar activity. Maybe mortars are just this year's "thing" or something. Maybe every neighborhood was filled with airborne explosions yesterday. I just know during most of the evening it was pretty intense. I never saw much of anything, but I heard it. At some points they were literally rapid-fire.
I was hoping for a hot day yesterday so I could lie out in the sun. This has been a very turbulent summer so far, and even though it's been a very good one weather-wise, I've had so much going on I haven't been able to soak any of it up. It's time the weather ramped up on my days off.
I took off at about 8am yesterday and went to Winco in Sumner to stock up on some food items. I was pleasantly surprised about the distance and the ease of getting there from here. Just down the hill toward Puyallup and right onto the freeway. 7.5 miles total from door to door. It was a good time to be there because it was not busy at all. I could tell it would be though, because when I left there cars were filling the parking lot.
To work I will go this morning. It will be weird. For one--the shop will be a skeleton crew I'm sure. Not many people will come in to work. The other weird thing is that I'm "on loan" to the group next door during this coming 3 months. (I moved my workplace last Monday.) Even though I'm going to be physically in the other office, I will still do my prearranged weekend overtime rotation working for my regular group. It will be like delivering and filling Coke machines while wearing a Pepsi uniform. Well okay--not quite like that.
Well, the rooster clock out back just crowed... time for breakfast.
Saturday, July 5, 2014
Friday, July 4, 2014
Moving Out and Moving In
I woke up here in my new place for the first time last Sunday. It was a little weird, but exciting at the same time. A lot of work went into getting to that moment. Let's back up a bit.
I don't mind saying: When my divorce became imminent the worry set in. Where would I live? I had to start looking and had to start right away. The more I looked the more I realized how lucky I had it at my previous rental before we were married. It had the central location, wood stove, 1.5 baths, garage, and it was big--all for a good price. I couldn't find anything like that anywhere this time. I didn't want to live clear out in Bumfuck, Egypt so-to-speak. I wanted to find somewhere that fit all those same sorts of requirements, and yet--kept me from commuting on highway 167. Good luck.
I looked at some duds, believe me.
After the first place I looked at in rural Edgewood I started keeping an eye out for something in that area. I loved the green pastures, the rolling hills, and the quiet. There was lots of quiet. Anyway, after more looking I found it, rented it, and moved into it.
It's nothing great. As a matter-of-fact it's got a lot of things wrong with it. It's also got a lot of things right with it. On the outside: A friendly wave from a neighbor across the street while I was moving, a "welcome to the neighborhood!" comment from his wife a few days later, a nice mailman, a nice neighbor lady on the other end of my unit (it's a duplex), semi-secluded front and back yard, storage building, and even the rural sounds of chickens from one yard away (just far enough away to not bother me). It's very peaceful.
Inside? Well, it's worn--I won't deny it. It has the usual rental issues: the carpet is not very new-looking, the windows have crappy vinyl blinds, and the cabinetry is poorly-chosen and horrible-looking. I don't like the little toilet it has either. It reminds me of an RV toilet. I will replace that on my dime as soon as I feel like it. I like the fact that it has a garage door opener, but it seems to be a very, very old one and dying fast--likely needing replacement. It has a fireplace in the living room, but it's a prefabricated one, and chances are it doesn't work well. I will be trying it out before the weather gets cold and I really need it, just to learn if and how it works. I love the shower/tub, and it has good water pressure. I get to mow my own lawn, and I'm okay with that. It makes me feel good to do it. The back yards on our duplexes are separated by a nice fence so we have some privacy, and the patio outside my dining room has a gazebo the previous tenant put in. It's worn but works. The back yard has an overgrown rock garden, lots of shade and sunlight, and even a water feature in the corner. I'll clean that out one of these days. My cell phone signal is spotty at best, but it works. I have a natural gas furnace and water heater, so winter may bring a little "sticker shock" when the bills come--mainly because of its biggest shortfall: single-pane (gasp!) windows.
I'm still setting things up and will be for a while I'm sure. Today I'm going to make a run to Winco and tank up on groceries. My fridge has the definite bachelor look to it. Beer, milk, and sandwich-fixins is all that it contains at this point. Not much better in the freezer or canned goods department. I did go to Costco and bought myself a nice set of hard-anodized pots & pans a few days ago. I was also wandering in Fred Meyer that same day and bought a big set of glasses. At half off of the last-marked clearance price they were only $7.50 for a 16-piece (8 each of two sizes) set! I still need lots of little things that become apparent when I need them and have to make do.
The garage is a mess. It's packed. Now that the Harley is in there is kind of a "squeeze play" to walk through it. All it really needs is to get some shelving up and get some stuff put away.
The move was done largely by myself. All of the garage loads were loaded by me, and there is some pretty heavy stuff in there. Bulky too. Sue helped me unload two of my loads during times she had nothing to do and was bored. By the time I finished all that stuff over a week's time I was sore and tired. I worked my ass off. The stuff that was mine from the house was moved by me and my friend Greg last weekend--when I officially moved out. With our two trucks it only took us one trip with both trucks and a single truckload after that. Two days later the final piece was moved: the Harley. There is still my guest bed there. Sue is sleeping on it until she leaves for Kauai. The first thing I did in the place was get my cable and wifi all hooked up. I think I did that during my first carload of boxes. That way I could still communicate when I was here, even if the cell signal was nil. Besides, "home is where your wifi connects automatically" right?
I get mail here now, I get spam phone calls on my new land line, and my commute from work is very short (I don't even need to get on the freeway). I'd say I'm home. Also, I haven't slept this well in a long time.
And I wake to the sound of chickens in the distance.
I don't mind saying: When my divorce became imminent the worry set in. Where would I live? I had to start looking and had to start right away. The more I looked the more I realized how lucky I had it at my previous rental before we were married. It had the central location, wood stove, 1.5 baths, garage, and it was big--all for a good price. I couldn't find anything like that anywhere this time. I didn't want to live clear out in Bumfuck, Egypt so-to-speak. I wanted to find somewhere that fit all those same sorts of requirements, and yet--kept me from commuting on highway 167. Good luck.
I looked at some duds, believe me.
After the first place I looked at in rural Edgewood I started keeping an eye out for something in that area. I loved the green pastures, the rolling hills, and the quiet. There was lots of quiet. Anyway, after more looking I found it, rented it, and moved into it.
It's nothing great. As a matter-of-fact it's got a lot of things wrong with it. It's also got a lot of things right with it. On the outside: A friendly wave from a neighbor across the street while I was moving, a "welcome to the neighborhood!" comment from his wife a few days later, a nice mailman, a nice neighbor lady on the other end of my unit (it's a duplex), semi-secluded front and back yard, storage building, and even the rural sounds of chickens from one yard away (just far enough away to not bother me). It's very peaceful.
Inside? Well, it's worn--I won't deny it. It has the usual rental issues: the carpet is not very new-looking, the windows have crappy vinyl blinds, and the cabinetry is poorly-chosen and horrible-looking. I don't like the little toilet it has either. It reminds me of an RV toilet. I will replace that on my dime as soon as I feel like it. I like the fact that it has a garage door opener, but it seems to be a very, very old one and dying fast--likely needing replacement. It has a fireplace in the living room, but it's a prefabricated one, and chances are it doesn't work well. I will be trying it out before the weather gets cold and I really need it, just to learn if and how it works. I love the shower/tub, and it has good water pressure. I get to mow my own lawn, and I'm okay with that. It makes me feel good to do it. The back yards on our duplexes are separated by a nice fence so we have some privacy, and the patio outside my dining room has a gazebo the previous tenant put in. It's worn but works. The back yard has an overgrown rock garden, lots of shade and sunlight, and even a water feature in the corner. I'll clean that out one of these days. My cell phone signal is spotty at best, but it works. I have a natural gas furnace and water heater, so winter may bring a little "sticker shock" when the bills come--mainly because of its biggest shortfall: single-pane (gasp!) windows.
I'm still setting things up and will be for a while I'm sure. Today I'm going to make a run to Winco and tank up on groceries. My fridge has the definite bachelor look to it. Beer, milk, and sandwich-fixins is all that it contains at this point. Not much better in the freezer or canned goods department. I did go to Costco and bought myself a nice set of hard-anodized pots & pans a few days ago. I was also wandering in Fred Meyer that same day and bought a big set of glasses. At half off of the last-marked clearance price they were only $7.50 for a 16-piece (8 each of two sizes) set! I still need lots of little things that become apparent when I need them and have to make do.
The garage is a mess. It's packed. Now that the Harley is in there is kind of a "squeeze play" to walk through it. All it really needs is to get some shelving up and get some stuff put away.
The move was done largely by myself. All of the garage loads were loaded by me, and there is some pretty heavy stuff in there. Bulky too. Sue helped me unload two of my loads during times she had nothing to do and was bored. By the time I finished all that stuff over a week's time I was sore and tired. I worked my ass off. The stuff that was mine from the house was moved by me and my friend Greg last weekend--when I officially moved out. With our two trucks it only took us one trip with both trucks and a single truckload after that. Two days later the final piece was moved: the Harley. There is still my guest bed there. Sue is sleeping on it until she leaves for Kauai. The first thing I did in the place was get my cable and wifi all hooked up. I think I did that during my first carload of boxes. That way I could still communicate when I was here, even if the cell signal was nil. Besides, "home is where your wifi connects automatically" right?
I get mail here now, I get spam phone calls on my new land line, and my commute from work is very short (I don't even need to get on the freeway). I'd say I'm home. Also, I haven't slept this well in a long time.
And I wake to the sound of chickens in the distance.
Thursday, July 3, 2014
The New Chapter
I thought about calling this chapter of my life the Epilogue, but it sounds so... I don't know--final. While it seems fitting based on my age and so on, I didn't much like the sound of it. I'm not creating this blog to be full of amazing, insightful, thoughtful writing. I created it as more of a chronicle. For some reason, I feel every time I make some sort of major change in my life I need a new blog. Kind of an "in with the new, out with the old" kind of thing I guess. It's a signal that it's underway. As to why I feel the world needs to know--I guess it's just something I do. It's kinda weird considering how much I hate to share on Facebook...
Most of us were raised to believe that everyone is destined to be paired off with a mate. A mate for life. It was all around us when we were growing up. At least in my era it was. I have been on my own more years than I have been married, and I have come to the realization that marriage is not for me. I married two completely different women, for two completely different reasons, and at two completely different periods of my life. In both instances the end result was the same: I ended up unhappy and wondering how I got there and if I could (or should) continue. In both instances the common denominator (besides myself) was that we were both needy. In both instances, we chose each other for what we thought was love, but it was not. While there was certainly love and respect in both marriages, it was not the deep love that should have been there--a requirement for longevity. In both of my marriages I have had tons of really great memories and experiences, and they both helped shaped me to be who I am.
I'm not an unhappy man, but I am apparently somewhat confused. I guess I sometimes think everything we do or everyone we become should have a purpose, reason, or direction instead of floating aimlessly through life. Then I think maybe my place in life is to do exactly that--float aimlessly. Maybe my blogs, my stories, and my poems are my purpose--however insignificant they are.
The bottom line: I'm again single and living on my own, and I guess I'm again writing about it.
Most of us were raised to believe that everyone is destined to be paired off with a mate. A mate for life. It was all around us when we were growing up. At least in my era it was. I have been on my own more years than I have been married, and I have come to the realization that marriage is not for me. I married two completely different women, for two completely different reasons, and at two completely different periods of my life. In both instances the end result was the same: I ended up unhappy and wondering how I got there and if I could (or should) continue. In both instances the common denominator (besides myself) was that we were both needy. In both instances, we chose each other for what we thought was love, but it was not. While there was certainly love and respect in both marriages, it was not the deep love that should have been there--a requirement for longevity. In both of my marriages I have had tons of really great memories and experiences, and they both helped shaped me to be who I am.
I'm not an unhappy man, but I am apparently somewhat confused. I guess I sometimes think everything we do or everyone we become should have a purpose, reason, or direction instead of floating aimlessly through life. Then I think maybe my place in life is to do exactly that--float aimlessly. Maybe my blogs, my stories, and my poems are my purpose--however insignificant they are.
The bottom line: I'm again single and living on my own, and I guess I'm again writing about it.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)