So the last of day of relative normalcy I have experienced in the last couple of weeks was at the first night (Friday) of Pitchfork. The day began with a furious swarm of movers who came in to my apartment and carted all my belongings out. Other than costing me around $1K more than my initial quote (!!), it went pretty seamlessly. That being said, these guys inadvertently packed up some stuff I didn't want or need them to...
So my buddy from N.O. and I got to decompress and have a blast that evening. But I gave Todd my phone to hold on to. He slipped it into his camera bag and somehow, the damn phone managed to slip out, leaving me telephonically stranded! I recently got a new one, same number, so if people could message me with their contact info, I can reinsert it all into the phone. What a pain in the ass...
The next morning I fired up my laptop to see if I could find an open wireless connection (I had shut off my cable/internet the day before). In a moment of boobery, I knocked my coffee cup over, showering the computer with hot liquid. I promptly shut the mac down so I could turn it over and let the coffee drain out. After an hour or so, I went to fire it up again. NO DICE!!! Boy, the hits keep on coming.
(But my buddy George in N.O. is a mac guy and has determined that the laptop's logic board is wasted; he has charitably lent me a computer while we wait for the part to come in.)
So Todd and I hit the road Sunday afternoon, leaving a day earlier than planned because my buddy had misread his work itinerary (he's in the movie/film biz) and had to be on a shoot a day sooner than he thought! So OF COURSE, the change of car reservation came with MORE FEES; but at this point I felt so wrung out that I willingly ate it, said "fuck it" and just hit the road.
And finally: my belongings didn't arrive until YESTERDAY. Nothing like not sleeping in a bed for over two weeks to make one appreciate a badass mattress. And on top of that, I didn't have any A/C for the first two weeks of living here! And the highs have been firmly in the 90s with insane, oppressive humidity. Running on poor sleep and constantly being overheated left me in a crazed, lethargic state. Last night's sleep was SO GOOD, however.
But luckily I drove down here with a bike! BUT, the packers/movers packed my tools and pump. So of course I managed to get two flats in a week and had to scamper to a shop with my tail between my legs and PAY for a flat to be fixed. I also managed to hit some meeeean road debris and this crap shredded right through my new-ish rear tire, rendering it unusable! So I had to buy a new one.
Well, despite hemorrhaging absurd amounts of cash during this relocation debacle, it's really good to be home. But I miss all y'all, and hope that everything's going well back in Chicago! Remember that you have a place to stay when you head down to New Orleans.
And maybe, by then, my living room set will have arrived...;-)