all of the essentials are packed. clothes, toiletries, electronics, books, kitchen gear, etc. despite a late start, it's looking like i'll be heading southeast the day after my birthday, and with any luck starting work the following monday. here's the packing list: # one laundry basket full of clothes. # ten books, max. # laptop. # small pile o' electronics. # skillet, soup pot, wooden spoon, cleaver, silicone spatula, corkscrew and church key. # shaving kit # inflatable mattress + sheets. everything fits in my tiny car, with plenty of room to spare. my life, reduced to essentials, is actually quite small. (reminder to self: clean car.) it helps that boxes for fragile things still populate my storage area, and that squares are stackable. giving some thought to buying a roll of shelf-liner to keep things from sliding around. looking hard at this, if i didn't want to luxuriate on the clothes and use my camp cookware instead of the heavy calphalon stuff, i could conceivably fit everything save the mattress into one laundry basket. i could lose the mattress and take a sleeping bag, but now that's just crazy talk. most of the development/gaming books are digitized, so i won't need their mass. probably going to bring 3.5 phb and spell compendium, because they're easier to reference than a pdf, and don't require having a computer open in the middle of the gaming table. i'm also likely going to bring a few of the more crunchy ruby books, because they're fun to read. also included are a couple of books for light pleasure reading, but likely i'll just pick up sequels when i get there. found a game store already, that comes well recommended. one thing down. i know of a good sushi place, so that's done, but it's not affordable for everyday snacking. two things down? i know where the office is, and know where i'm likely to be living, but the housing situation is far from a done deal. where i want to be is going to be expensive, but i'll be able to walk to work. life essentials though -- makes me think about trimming the fat. given i'm leaving the overwhelming majority of my life here in lex, in the adjective hands of my housemate, it makes me wonder if i couldn't just chuck it all when i got back. but there's the books. i'd have a problem getting rid of the books. and there's half a ton of them. all of which represent some kind of investment in future time. but let's examine the garage: i have tools by the score, and i've used them all. but do i really build enough furniture to justify having a cross-cutting miter saw? especially given that i have neither table saw nor router? i'm not sure. a lot of things like this are purchased with 'the future' in mind. i like making things, and i'd like to spend more time doing it -- but to what end? when does that future begin, and what do i wish to get out of it other than my own amusement? i have a lot of cooking books (and love to cook), but cooking for one sucks, and is expensive and depressing, so i usually eat out, or get sandwich meat, bread, cheese, and soup and live on that. i have a lot of gardening books, but never seem to find the time, and don't really have a good space for it. the initial learning curve is high enough to keep me just far enough away. it, like most things, falls into the classic conundrum: if i have the time, i don't have the money, and vice versa. and i'm double plus ungood at cutting the financial corners on something i'm interested in. working with the best materials makes life better, even if it's a trivial project. so in effect, i have a lot of detritus that's invested in 'future interests' that i'm relatively sure i'm not going to be able to get around to until i'm retired, and a whole stack of clothes i don't need, or am hanging on to until 20 lbs have decided to take a hike. 3/4 of furniture around the house consists of tables and bookshelves. seven of each. the rest of my furniture: a bed, two couches, a clothing rack, and a comfy chair. that's all. would less be enough? sure, but this place would look empty. some of the furniture (couch #2) was free and exists to take up space. the bookshelves are overflowing onto the floor, with more boxes of books in storage. yes, i have a problem. so paring things down, i need the following: something to sleep on, a place to work, a place to eat, and a place to read. work, read, and eat can be the same thing, if the chair is sufficiently comfy and easily cleaned. what does this translate into in terms of square footage? the potential place in charlotte is 500 sq ft. less than 1/4 the size of my existing place. i will not be bringing bookshelves, the new indulgences for my primary vice will be neatly stacked on the floor. there will be a couch for me to sleep, read, and work on. there's a dining bar built into the kitchen. i'll either be much more spartan after four months, or stark raving mad. madder. it's entirely possible i'll come back, sell the house, put nearly everything in storage, and find a tiny place. equally plausible: all that, then i move somewhere that doesn't hate its younger people the way lexington does. doing this has made me realize how much i like having a portable life, and how cumbersome my life is at the moment. 2009-08-02T17:57:38Z 520097391 charlotte-impending 1

moving to charlotte, which entails figuring out the basics of my life again, and finding a new crew or two, probably through a love of gaming, music, and possibly beer.

2009-08-02T17:57:38Z 3