Monday 30 January 2006

Pic of the day: A new Chaos Node, at least until I get unpacked. I've thought about a new name after that, in the pious hope that this place will look less chaotic than the previous. How about "Fortress of Solitude" since this is my first house all alone? ^^

New home

It is Monday, and I am in my new home. It is midnight, and I have put my living room computer up on a table that isn't even screwed together, just balancing on a set of drawers and a pair of legs. But the table seems to balance quite fine, and the computer runs. Which is more than it has done for the last few days. It has been packed away for moving.

This morning I came to work and once again spoke with my colleague, Staffman. My plan was to take him up on his offer to drive my stuff on Tuesday or Wednesday, whichever day he was free. He, however, decided that today was as good a day as any. Agreeing with this was the third computer guy, who used to be the second computer guy, Next to Next to God. Staffman would bring his car, I would rent a wagon to hang after the car (not sure what they are called, they have four wheels and walls and a roof and are used for occasions like this) and they both would help me carry stuff.

I hurried home and finished the wash that was in the washing machine, as well as gathering the last of my stuff and putting it in crates and, failing that, plastic bags. I washed some surfaces. I have arranged for a professional or two to come on Thursday to wash down the place, but it can't hurt to wash a little. At least it seems my Sims save a little when they do that, even if they have hired a maid. Anyway! I was barely finished when my coworkers showed up. They did most of the heavy carrying, truth to be told. Not that I haven't spent more calories this past week than most weeks of my adult life, so I'm OK with it. Eating has been rather irregular too, although I munched Maryland Cookies from time to time. They are great when no meal is available. Too much fat to eat my fill, but that was hardly an alternative.

Each trip took nearly 3 hours, with loading and unloading, but we made it. I have only unpacked a fraction of the stuff, but again that's OK. I have five months to unpack it, and pack it again. Of course I hope I can stay longer. If not, is is barely worth unpacking more than the most everyday things. My current lease is until the end of June, so I may have to start looking for a new place already in spring. Of course I hope I can have it longer, preferably a few years. But I don't even know at what point in time I will be informed whether I can continue to live here. That's OK, though.

A lot of things are OK compared to this last week. Being ready to move and then being told to look for a new apartment two days before I had to get out (or so I thought), that's pretty harsh. That's what we here in Norway call "American conditions", that is to say, money is more important than righteousness and mercy. I'm not really surprised that people who rent are considered second-class citizens: This is the default here in Norway, where all governments since the second world war (at least) have encouraged self ownership through generous tax breaks and special, favorable loans. As a result of this, most people who don't own their own flat or house after the age of 25 (or leaving their parent's house, if that is later) have some kind of serious problem in body or soul.

Anyway, I am here. I am sitting in a rather cold room which I have set aside for my home office. Two tables will hold the three computers that I expect to have running most of the time: One for playing the Sims2 and games in general, one for writing my journal and for various Internet related stuff, and one for anime. I suppose when all the three computers are up and running along with a couple extra hard disks, the room won't be so cold anymore. But that's some time off, since it will probably take two weeks to get telephone in the house, and then two more weeks to get ADSL. At least that was roughly the timetable the last time. I think I will take a chance this time and order the DSL before the phone line is in place. The phone cable is in the wall, after all. It is entirely possible that the DSL line would work even before the phone number is transferred; after all, my ISP is also offering broadband telephone as an alternative to normal telephone. In that case, there is obviously no phone number and normal carrying wave. More about all this later, if it comes to pass.

Last night I woke up a bit past three in the morning because I could hardly breathe. My nose and my throat were both clogged. I guess sleeping on a mattress on the floor could have something to do with it. There may have been more dust, although it is hard to imagine anything more dusty than my old bed. More likely it had something to do with my sleeping positions, which are different now. And they are likely to be approximately as bad here in the new apartment until I can buy a new bed. Anyway, I'm about to go to bed now. If I die before I wake, you are unlikely to ever hear about it, since I doubt anyone will go through my computer looking for diary entries. Still, for the record, if I die before I wake I will do so in the hope of being resurrected at some future point in time to get new chance to replace my flawed soul with a greatly improved version. But you already know what I think about that.