Moving

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.