Moving Cross-Country

I have been in Seattle for a couple of days now, but just got internet last night. My Dad helped me with all the programing and whatever to get me hooked to his network (thanks Dad!). It was quite frustrating for him, and it took longer than I would have had patience for. Then again, I don't know computers like he does.

Getting here was a great adventure. There were almost no mishaps, and the one time I got us (an awesome friend helped me move) going the wrong direction on a road, it turned out to be a good mistake. Ended up seeing great landscaping that would have otherwise been missed. There is definitely something to be said about taking the long way and avoiding the interstate.

We were on the road for four nights, but didn't stay in motels the whole time. One night we camped, and there was this great flower outside of the tent when I woke up the next morning:

We were camped at Craters of the Moon National Park. Seeing huge black hills was really neat. I never knew volcanic activity had existed in that part of the country. Or that it could look like that thousands of years after the activity had stopped.

Along the way we went through a town called Boring. Thinking it was incredibly funny, we had to turn around to get a couple of shots.



Boring is close to Portland, OR, which isn't far from Seattle, but it was super rainy so we went for the coast where the internet said the weather was clearer. It only added about 6 hours of driving, but was totally worth it. We even made the random stop for some mini-golf.

I have now learned that there is more fun to be found when you don't have a set schedule, and are willing to take the time to slow down. Hard to do in today's society where everything is go, go, go. Had I been alone I would have taken the shortest, fastest route here and missed out on all the fun I had instead. I didn't even do any of the driving.

It would be nice not to move again, but at the same time I don't think I'll be happy in one place for the rest of my life. Sometimes I just need a change of scenery. But I think next time I will work harder at getting rid of things. I might have brought too much.

Video Games DO Offer Life Lessons

Well, at least Tetris does. The better you can get at Tetris, the more efficiently you can pack boxes. And the more efficiently you can pack the boxes into the moving vehicle. I'm learning that as I go along, trying to pack the last of my apartment. I still have lots of furniture, but, it is sold. Kind of. A couple who has moved to the area has nothing, and will take most everything that is left, so long as they can get the money from their boss to pay me. And if not, another woman is willing to buy it all for her son, who is also just starting out. I ended up selling it dirt cheap, but every bit of cash will help me get to Seattle, and every bit can help either of the people who will end up with my stuff. So even though I would have liked to sell it for more, it is still a win-win situation. I just hope that I can find a similar situation when the time comes for me to get my next apartment. I think it will. I truly believe that what goes around comes around.

Spammers Stop Spamming Me

Sometimes the internet turns out to be more of a hassle than a resource. I was very excited when Craigslist created a site for the Western Slope, since I had seen the site for other cities and always wanted to use it myself. But, as it turns out, it's not all that great. In fact, as it turns out, there are several people out there looking to screw you over. Lucky for me, I knew enough to not get taken advantage of (at least this time), but it was still a waste of time. All I wanted to do was sell my TV, and I thought that by listing it online I might do better than by just putting it my moving sale. Instead all I got were several emails asking me to ship the item to some far away place. It almost sounds real, the so-called buyer wants to pay for everything, but then there is that little fishy thing about sending a money order for nearly 10 times the asking price of the item. Turns out that all of the emails I got about my TV were from spammers.

I suppose it isn't all bad though, some of the people who came to my moving sale today did see my ad online. I only wish they would have bought more of the bigger things, like furniture. It is easy to load up my car with little stuff and find a place to donate it, but what about that super heavy couch that took the better part of an hour to get in my apartment? I hope I have better luck tomorrow.

Super Onion Breath

A couple of hours ago I took a huge bite out of a thick slice of onion. A nice, pretty white onion. Mostly because I wanted it on my pizza, but it didn't get on there in time. So, bite of pizza, bite of (salted) onion. And now?? Super Onion Breath. I can still taste it. Which would be okay if it were a good onion, but I've had better. Too bad I didn't have a date tonight, that could have been fun. At least for me.

Internet Issues

Sometimes, I wish I could charge corporations for their waste of my time. For 3 days my internet wasn't working, yet every time I tried to call I got an automated response that service in my area was down at the moment. At which point I had the option of receiving an automated call when service was back up. I pressed #1, to agree to receiving the call. And the call? Came at 11:40pm, and all it said was "We are experiencing technical difficulties." No mention of who the call was from, just a computer voice waking me up.

Finally today I decided to press different buttons, even though they weren't really for what my problem was. And finally I was connected to tech-service. I installed a new modem, and now it works again. The whole thing was their fault, or the fault of the modem that they supplied me.

Err. I don't feel like dealing with this kind of stuff right now. Next week I'll be calling again, to tell them to cancel my service. If I get new service once I move, I hope it is better than this company has been.