aadler | Awaiting delivery

(The following entry was written at my ‘new’ home, while I waited for two separate furniture delivery trucks to arrive.)

I’m sitting in front of a picture window. Outside, there’s ceaseless precipitation going — freezing rain and light snow — but not a lot of accumulation, and it isn’t especially cold.

Susan and I had expected to spend a month or two looking for a place to live, but at the end of our first week an unexpected opportunity arose. My niece and stepsister were both renting houses from the same man; one of his properties came vacant, and on their recommendation we were approved for it in quick order. We’ve bought some new furniture, but it hasn’t been delivered yet (that’s why I’m here today), and we figure to spend next week moving in fully.

Incidentally, if I previously stated that Susan got a 20% raise when she transferred from one VA position (and location) to another, I was wrong. It was 25%.

We’ve left our son in the place where Susan was living before we remarried, and we drive down to visit with him almost every weekend. (That ‘almost’ is to cover the times when I drill with my Reserve unit.) He’s in the gradual process of turning it into his home, quite a bit of which will involve our periodic removal of Susan’s accumulated possessions. The current situation will continue for another two years, or possibly three, until he completes his undergraduate degree. He wants to go to Ohio for graduate work, and I don’t know how exactly we’ll handle things when that time comes. This is just how it is now.

Our daughter Roni (sroni) has accepted a unit leader position with her traveling drama ministry, which obligates her through the end of this year, with only a two-week summer break instead of having the entire summer off. We knew about the first part; the second, while somewhat unexpected, was not hugely surprising. As it happens, though, there have been yet further developments: she’s been offered a repeat of the Far East tour she did just after my return from Afghanistan, once again in a leadership role. Fantastic opportunity … but she’s been away for four years now, with only brief visits home, and the last Far East tour obligated her to an additional subsequent year Stateside, and just how much longer is this supposed to go on? In the past five years I’ve been on three foreign deployments and one long-term assignment, I haven’t had an uninterrupted year in the U.S. since 2002, and I’ve still spent more time at home than she has.

Yes, I’m well aware that many people would pay handsomely to have our problems, much less our “problem” child. But we miss her all the same.

Because of the constant moves and adjustments of the last several weeks, I haven’t accomplished much. Soon, that will change. Once Susan and I are fully into our new home, I’ll begin to establish a routine. With Susan’s agreement, I’m going to acquire a treadmill; I already have other exercise equipment, and we’ll start a fitness schedule. Along with periodic workouts, I’ll further divide my day into household routine, language study (continuation of Farsi, and I think I’ll go ahead and begin Arabic on my own), and writing.

In a prior entry, I said I wanted to do twelve fanfic stories this year, including one short-novel-length for NaNoWriMo. No progress yet in that direction, and I’ve definitely not met my one-a-month quota for the year so far. I intend to improve on that. Brave talk, but I did good output while I was in Iraq, better in Afghanistan, and met a deliberately lowered standard while serving at Guantanamo (lowered to keep fanfic production from weakening my performance in actual military duties). While nothing is guaranteed, my past record is enough to justify some confidence.

* * *

Okay. I’ve received the first furniture delivery. One more to go.

* * *

With the new laptop I bought just before I left Guantanamo, I got accustomed to going into one library or another and accessing the Internet via my wonderful new wireless modem. (I know, old news to lots of people, but I’ve never been inclined to embrace emerging technologies until they’ve established themselves. Gives time for initial bugs to be worked out, the items themselves to become smaller and faster and more efficient, and the price to go down.) Then, on returning to my transition lodgings — the place from which Susan and I will soon be moving — I got even further spoiled: there was a wireless network in the area, which I could readily use without even leaving my bedroom. Alas, the new home apparently isn’t in range of any such networks, so I think it’s time for me to take another technological leap forward, and arrange for a cable modem hook-up.

Upsides and downsides to that. Upside is obvious: quicker, more convenient Internet access. Downside, apart from cost, is equally obvious: however did people manage to waste their time before the appearance of the World Wide Web? I already could spend hours on ’Net surfing without accomplishing anything tangible, but then my son discovered some sites where episodes of popular TV shows are archived for online viewing, and suddenly there were no limits. I caught up on Heroes through ep 2-11, went back to begin likewise catching up on Smallville (I’ve seen various episodes here and there, but remember, I’ve been out of the country a lot; I had to start at the beginning of the third season). As in so many other areas, I’ll have substantial problems if I don’t exercise some discipline there.

I think I may also need to make some LJ choices soon. Though my FList isn’t remotely the size of many I’ve seen, it’s gotten big enough that, in the effort to keep up with it, I’ve gotten less active than I was in the beginning. Some of my reduction — both in posts and in comments to others — has derived from the many recent changes in my personal life. Still, I can remember how much pleasure I got from my LJ contacts and activity in my initial exposure, and I miss that. If I filter my FList … well, I think it’s better to interact regularly with a small number of people than seldom with a large number.

The Rogue Poets Awards announced its winners in the latest round. I wasn’t among them. Oh, well.

It’s snowing faster now, and in thicker clumps.

The furniture delivery was supposed to take place between 1 PM and 3 PM. Currently, it’s 2:40. I’ll have to leave by 3:30 to pick up Susan from work. (For now, we’re just using my car, and my driving her to and from work gives us an extra bit of togetherness that we enjoy.) The man at the showroom — just talked to him — says they’re running only slightly behind due to weather. I hope “slightly” is less than half an hour.

* * *

Okay. Second delivery done. On to pick up the wife. (That word is SO much nicer than ‘ex-wife’.)

And that’s it for now.