Gringo A Go-Go

-being sent an annoying number of memos by email, all of which the bosses also print out and place in mailbox.

-the above mentioned paperwaste which could be taken care of by printing each document only once and pinning to a bulletin board in staff lounge. None of these documents are private.

-”scrap paper” signs made from color paper. Why not make these signs out of scrap paper? duh.

-lack of careful proofreading which results in staff photocopying hundreds of documents, then catching error, then fixing and reprinting.

The only way I can reasonably fix any of these is to become an administrator. But then I’d have to off myself for selling out.

After a really cold snap, I was all set to take my brand new bicycle out for a spin today, but when I woke up, I was greeted by fresh snow. Ugh! Her first real ride around town would not be through slush. By the time I got out of work, most of the snow had melted off the road, but my riding companion (AKA designated camera man) got caught up in doing some much-needed work. Truthfully, it probably is just as well because it’s still on the chilly side and there’s still slush, even if I wish there not to be. I thought I’d try again tomorrow, but I don’t think that’ll happen. Friday is supposed to be the warmest day all week — and sunny — so maybe that’ll work out.

I’m still moving and unpacking and arranging. In place of riding, I moved a table upstairs and took care of some house stuff. Not as fun, but necessary.

I have about 75% of my stuff moved. Unpacked? No.
I am grateful, though, that all of my shoes are in one place now.

Two evenings ago I picked up my main bicycle and rode it home. The ride was freezing, but traffic was light and I was just happy to ride it. The bike is now parked inside, where I am slowly peeling off old stickers. I want to put snazzy reflective stickers on the frame and on the new fenders, which have yet to be installed.

The temperature is insanely cold right now, so I am going to wait until it’s at least double digits again before spending too much time doing anything outdoors.

As for the house, I need to figure out something in terms of cutting the draft from windows.

I got to haul my gigantic recycling bin to the curb this morning. That was about the peak of my joy for the day. I’m still dealing with the phone company and my utter lack of phone service. They have one more hour tonight, and then I can assume I’ve been stood up once again. I’m annoyed because this has been two afternoons wasted this week. Instead of efficiently stopping off at the apartment after work to grab more boxes, I had to go straight home. The dispatcher had the nerve to ask me for my contact number. Do they have to fail an intelligence test or a literacy test to work there? If I had a working phone, I would not need service would I?

And I am annoyed that I can not remember the last time I rode my bike. I would have to actually look at the blog to know the answer to that. With all the moving, I did not expect to get much in the way of riding in, but I’m not moving so much as sitting around, feeling angry that something as simple as utilities is thwarting me.

Also, I have no idea what to have for dinner. It’d be simpler if I knew where my can opener or the lid to my crock pot was.

I just activated my RecycleBank bin. The previous tenant never did this, so I just inherited their 600+ earned points. This totally made my day.

Okay, I’m going to stop with the counting.

The major part of my move is over, and it did not involve the glorious caravan of bikes that I had imagined. To pack, I reused boxes that a friend used previously, and have been unpacking those to reuse again. When I am done, if there are any in good shape, they will be passed along to a friend who is planning to move in a few months. To wrap fragile items, I wedged glass and ceramic between dirty clothing and old newspapers.

Right now, I’m frustrated because the phone company tells me that there is no high speed DSL possibility in my new home. This is only a mile from where I lived previously, and I know that neighbors have internet access. They tried to sell me on some fiberoptic thing, which would be fine, but they only pair it with cable TV, which I am not buying. And as I type this, I’m waiting for the phone guy to show up because I have been without phone service since Friday, even though it should have been hooked up then. I hate dealing with utilities and mundane crap.

In less than 48 hours, God willing, I should be a home owner. I am in total frenzy/panic mode because of this, and also because this is timed as I begin the semester. I will have to step away from the blog for a couple of days while I get everything in order.

Just had three — count ‘em — three really nice days in a row here, and I took full advantage by riding my bicycle. Saturday night I delivered dinner by bicycle. That was ill-planned, but nothing disastrous came of it. On Sunday, the roads were clear despite all the freaking out about possible freezing rain. My rain home was dry, and just chilly enough for me to need to wear my gloves. Today I rode downtown to visit the museum for a little while. I think traffic was lighter than usual because of the holiday. This worked out well because I did some asinine maneuvering on the street and only potentially pissed off one driver because of it. Anyway, the ride today gave me a much-needed break from the stress of preparing to begin a new semester, move, and buy a house. It’s like the Holy Trinity of Ack, and I don’t have an intern or spouse to serve as a buffer for any of this. And now that I’ve blogged about this, I need to return to refreshing my syllabi; classes begin (for me) on Wednesday.

This was one of the better days I’ve had in awhile. I finally got a closing date locked in, which is my major news. I may have to suspend this project for a few weeks while managing the packing, buying, moving process, but who knows…

I also got to take a trip to Willimantic, a place I’m sentimental about because it’s where I went to college. I visited the campus for the first time in years. Barely recognized it. There are so many new buildings there. We then visited the food co-op, did light shopping, and had lunch there. I snagged the plastic spoons when we were done eating and took them with for reuse.

Then, we visited a bike shop. I got to test ride a Schwinn Jenny, my dream bike. It was smooth. It was comfortable. It was money I can not spend for a little while (see: closing on a house). They let me borrow a helmet which fit way better than the one I own does. So, after the house, I have my sights set on a lovely yellow bicycle.

I saved an envelope by scanning a letter of recommendation into the copy machine, having the image saved as a PDF, sent to my email, and then emailed it to the student. Because this had to be on letterhead and signed, the printing out was necessary. This isn’t anything high impact. If I continue doing things this way, I might save all of four or five envelopes per year. Still, it’s something.