Tag Archives: moving

The hundredth day

Posted on by under One Hundred Days of Blogging

I’m actually fairly sure this is probably day hundred and ten or something, but because I wasn’t particularly detail-oriented with all of my mobile posts they weren’t all properly filed. And so this marched along, a proud little soldier, until the very bitter end. My god this has been a long time. It was, if nothing else, a very impressive learning experience in what I’m capable of (and not capable of) as a blogger.

This was certainly a study in self-torment, make no mistake there, but it was really more of a study of myself overall. How I could, and would, handle daily posting despite work, a move, several major life events (I’m looking at you, journey to Chicagoland), and so on. It involved lots of pictures, a good few thoughtful posts, and a good few lazy posts to just meet the quota. And a fair bit of cheating by fudging the time-and-post-based rules. That last bit let me pretend to be something of a time-traveler, which I won’t let anyone take away from me (save for, perhaps, an actual time-traveler, but only on the condition I get to see all of time and space; ahem).

Coming up with consistently high-quality content is not my forte. Doing so on a daily basis proved quite impossible for me, especially given the number of other events life threw my way. Like the only semi-expected move that turned into an absolute shit-show for a number of reasons, the least of which being my rather sudden ankle sprain. Ultimately, the whole thing taught me I can’t force these posts to happen without some sort of eventual detriment to the overall quality of what I’m creating. Surprise.

This paragraph is starting with another word than however, because when it lined up the way it was with the WordPress post builder it spelled out BITCH and that seemed both hilarious and inappropriate.

Eventually, perhaps if only because of this intense and crazy hundred days, I will be taking a short hiatus from regular posting to recharge.

And partially because I am now embarking on the adventure of exploring the possibility of grad school. But that is a post for another day, I think.

Go out there, folks, set your goals and slay them like dragons.

Crunch-time

Posted on by under One Hundred Days of Blogging

Tomorrow will involve the transfer of DIRECTV to the new dwelling, among other madness. The madness will be slower, scaled down madness thanks to my jacked-up ankle, but it will be there.

Why? This is the point I need to be an unstoppable force, moving forward and not quitting until I’m damn-well satisfied with the results. Even if that means living from boxes for a bit.

Make it a great week

Posted on by under One Hundred Days of Blogging

The Hell of my last week transitioning from my current dwelling to my new one is upon me. Wednesday and Friday will be nothing but moving things, cleaning up the old place, and probably a fair bit of swearing and frustration. These things happen, I suppose. To be fair, last night gave Brianne and I some powerful motivation to move out of this place in the form of our bathroom door locking. That may sound like a simple problem, except the doorknob for our bathroom is the kind you’d use for an exterior door. And the door trip makes access to the locking mechanism impossible. And the screws holding the wall panel in place next to the door are painted over, thus they are impossible to remove.

Short version of the solution: I had to jam one of those flat metal spatulas used for cake decorating into the door. It took over half an hour, and was pretty damn awful.

I mention this because this week looks horrid, and I will be sure busy, but I know it’s all for a great improvement in my life. It’s going to be a great week.

Before I go on, however, I should mention I’m borrowing these words from my boss. I’m sure he won’t mind. Each Monday morning starts with the promise of an inevitable conference call, and my boss always ends such calls by saying “Go out there and make it a great week”. Normally, I hesitate to admit, those words just signal it’s time for me to hang up and resume whatever task I was focusing on prior to the call. Perhaps it’s the chaos of moving, or the lack of sleep, or even how I’ve been teetering precariously between being sick and being mostly well, but those words resonated with me this morning. I’m about to get a bit soapboxy here, folks, so brace yourselves.

The week, starting with Monday (or Sunday, depending on how your work schedule goes I guess), is only as good as you decide to make it. I’m aware that there are certain things the Universe can throw at a person that will most certainly turn a week to utter shit, but a lot of those things can be reversed or made better. Yeah, it’s a fair bit of effort, but it’s worth it. Right? A bit of work in favor of sanity, success, and so on, or something like that.

I look around me and I see a ton of things that need to be packed and moved. Two couches that need left out for garbage pick-up. What I’m focused on is how my internet and cable set-up dates worked out perfectly. How my customer service experience with Peoples Natural Gas continued to be exceptional even though I won’t have them anymore (my new apartment uses fuel oil instead, which is provided by the landlord; thank god for that). Above all else, how this move will get me the Hell out of my current living situation. Those things and a good few more are all reasons why I’m looking to make this week a great one, even if it is crazy-busy.

Try it yourselves, readers. It may just prove helpful.

A necessary break

Posted on by under One Hundred Days of Blogging

I moved about ten or so boxes of stuff into the new place, but I still have plenty more to go before this month is over. I’d say that’s a pretty powerful reminder that Brianne and I have a lot of stuff, that moving is quite difficult, and that time goes far more quickly when there’s a limited amount of it to accomplish things. Says the guy who is playing WoW while he writes this.

What I’ve discovered is this: all the good intentions and changes to my schedule can’t actually make balancing this move with writing any easier. I know, I know. That sounds an awful lot like an excuse. It probably isn’t much more than just that, but here are my thoughts on the matter.

My next novel project, which remains unnamed as of now, and any short stories I want to get to writing aren’t going to receive the attention they need, for the lengths of time they need it, while I’m busy finding time to move stuff from current dwelling to new dwelling. The only way I could really give any creative writing the attention it deserves is by using the time I normally set aside for sleeping, eating, and personal grooming. None of those things can actually be cut out of my day-to-day without a risk of serious harm to myself or others. There’s also the not-so-small-matter of me being quite behind on proofreading, so I’d feel quite guilty about doing my own writing before tending to that.

You might say, “But Phil, you found time for video games. Why not time for writing?” This is a fair question, I’ll admit. However, it’s pretty easy to counter with “I moved over half a dozen large, heavy boxes full of miscellaneous personal belongings from my current house, which requires travel up and down stairs and an awkward hill, to my new apartment”. It means I’m made of sleepiness and laziness right now. I know I’ll be like this up until the move’s complete.

Yet here I am, still churning along with the hundred days of blogging. At some point I should check what day I’m on, probably.

For now, however, I’m okay with taking a short break from creative writing. Maybe I’ll return super-charged and ready to go? Related to that super-charged comment: I’m still debating what to use my Warlords of Draenor 90 Boost on.

And dreading how badly my current graphics card will handle the new expansion.