December 15, 2005

Just a note to let you know I'm coming home Wednesday for Christmas. As slow as the mail is running, though, I may make it home before this letter does.

Christmas stationery

The big event happened: I had my yardsale. It was generally a success, except that my couch and loveseat didn't sell. So I have no excuse to buy a new couch. Not even new, just a little longer. Maybe one of those with recliners on each end. I've seen them at thrift stores for $60. Of course, I could take mine to Goodwill, but I'm going to stick with them for now. I made $400 and got rid of a ton of stuff. That just leaves me with just fifteen more tons. But there's more room in my house and warehouse, I've been able to organise the rest better, and since the yardsale several boxes have gone to the newest thrift store in town, run by Project Safe. I also have a box collecting to bring home at Christmas. I would have sold even more at my yardsale if I could have waited, but I would still be sorting next year if I did.

The funniest thing about the sale came when I went to the paper to place an ad for it. I had it all written up, but the copy girl kept asking me questions as she typed. When she was done, it was completely different from the way I had written it. I told her I wanted it exactly the way I had given it to her, and she said that there was a format they had to follow. Which can't be true, since all the ads are different as I read them in the paper. Mainly, her edition was poorly organised, and when I objected to it, she seemed personally offended. I wanted to ask her if she were a (disgruntled) English major, but decided not to exacerbate the situation. I've since figured out how to place ads over the Internet, so much easier. And now they have free ads for merchandise under $200. I've sold one computer with a free ad and have another running now.

The main objective of the sale was to make the house less objectionable to a new roommate, and I've put that off as long as I can. I thought I could clean up quickly and advertise, but the cleanup process kept expanding and then I decided I didn't want to have to deal with issue during the holidays, so I'm waiting till after New Year's to start advertising. Naturally, I'm a little leery after the David Cope fiasco.

The weather has been crazy. A couple of Sundays ago I took Poe for a walk around 10AM. It was cold and wet. Then all of the sudden, the sun broke out and the temperature soared. A spring day in December. Since then we've had freezes, rain, more warm days, and today is the second day of ice. The first was bad enough for car wrecks. I'll spare you the gory details of broken necks, ruptured spleens, and one amputated leg. Just another day in the ER.

The construction process for our new ER has begun. They blocked off and tore down the front half of our building. One day several of us swore we were getting motion sickness from the "dinosaur" hammering and chewing away, shaking what was left. It was a surreal scene to be working that day. We still have days with little earthquakes. They are digging an underground parking deck at the road, then they will build the first phase of our new ER where the entrance, registration, and the waiting rooms used to be. Then we will move in there, in rather cramped environments, while they tear down the rest of the building and build the second half on the other side. The process will take three years and I'm planning not to be here that long, but I've had my input. The future will be bright, supposedly, but in the meantime they've broken our sewage lines, torn the insulation from one row of rooms, and kept us on our toes. Just another day in the ER.

I'm off to mail this now. We'll see how well the postman does. It's the garbage men I felt sorry for today. Thursday is pickup day in our neighbourhood.