so now that the initial shock (!) has worn off, its time to talk a bit more about “the move.”
for starters, we’ll be living just up the street (or hill) from our friends Cassie and Jacob at an apartment place called Summerchase. its a nice little number, not too much more than what we’re paying now, but it does have a 24-hour fitness center, a large pool, lots of trees, tennis courts, and carpet. it was a bit of a happy accident finding the place. our place in mind was a complex called Riverchase Landing (or something like that). we were ultimately disappointed by anything they offered (including answers to questions that should have been easy). for example, the apartment the rep showed us there was a great size, huge i would call it. but the previous tenants had lived there seven years (seven!), and she wasn’t even quite sure if they would change the carpeting there before we were to move in.
gross.
feeling a bit defeated, we stumbled across Summerchase and had a great little tour of the place. whilst our new digs won’t have any hardwood floors (all carpet, blech), its got a nice size kitchen and should provide us with plenty of space to put all our stuff. our porch will be considerably smaller, but at least we’ll still have one. it is also on ground level, and that’s a great relief. the fear of a noisy upstairs neighbor (like The Horse, now) is somewhat quelled by that notion of carpeting. while not a fix all, it should make things slightly more pleasant should our soon-to-be up-neighbor wear high heels all the time. or move furniture at odd hours of the night.
so there’s that.
so lets talk about cable. i’ve been spoiled (apparently) all my life with the greatness that is Knology. when i lived in Montevallo, our only choice was Charter and i grew to harbor a great hate towards them: customer service, price, internet connection drops, lapses in cable service, etc etc. now that we’re leaving again, we have no choice but to go with Charter again. i refuse to go the DirecTV route, as the only bundle i could find including internet was DSL, and, well… that just ain’t fast enough for me.
but who woulda‘ thunk that for the exact same service we’re receiving from Knology, right now (HD, HD-DVR, cable internet), we would pay an extra $40 a month just because they’re the only cable game in town. there’s no other choice. it sickens me that because they have no cable competition in the area, and they know that cable customers tend to stick with cable when the move, they can charge whatever they want for the same service offered in other areas at a higher rate. and i don’t need you (Charter) to tell me not to worry about rates going up after six months just because what i’m getting isn’t promotional, that the rate i have know is the best available. give me a freaking promotional offer! i want six months of cheaper rates! and why, oh, why must i pay the cable installation guy $160 up front, before he does any installation work? $160?? i went slack-jawed when that little figure popped out of the customer service rep’s mouth over the phone.
but what can i do? if i’m not gonna go satellite (and i’m not), i don’t have a choice. its sickening. i’m sorry to see that Montgomery and Knology are currently having a row with one another. if Knology is forced to leave the city, its going to be an absolute mess.
other than that, prep for the move is going quite well. most of our utilities and such have been contacted and either switched or turned off (not now, obviously, but later next week). the only thing that is sucking right now is the packing part. we did some last night, but not enough to really say we’ve put a dent in it. i have a feeling that the more we do, the tougher it will be.
this is the first place we lived together, our first residence as a married couple. all of these pictures and memoirs we have will have to find new homes and mantles at Summerchase. we’ll have to get used to not being able to pop in to Cafe Louisa/Tomatinos/Sinclairs, on foot, for a bite to eat. everything will require a drive of some sort, somewhere. there are lots of positive sides to this whole thing, but the negatives, numerous as they are, keep crawling back into my mind. so, here are some things i will miss…
- as discussed, walking and getting almost anything we need on foot: books, lunch, dinner, drinks, fresh air, whatever.
- close proximity to family. we’re just as far away from Jac’s family as we are now (i look at it like a slingshot effect), but not so much with my family. so that will suck.
- friends. of course, we’ll be close (very) to cassie and jacob. and that is wonderful. we’re completely stoked about our proximity to them and having more opportunity to hang with them. but it would be obscenely remiss to think that will be more than enough to compensate for the distance between us and the mielkes, mcfees, jason, and martins (not the restaurant, but that stinks too). if there’s one major regret here, right now, its that everything is happening so quickly and plans to all meet up will be very ramshackle and thrown together. whatever we can work out to gather will be more than enough to have a great time, but still…
- my SBux crew. i’ve never felt as home in a work environment as i have at Starbucks Eastchase. we’ve all had our differences and such over the past almost ten months, but i would be hard pressed to point out any job i’ve had where i generally look forward to coming in to work. i’m sure that wherever i end up in the B’ham area will be great (Mountain Brook, hopefully), but my friends and co-workers at Eastchase will always hold a particularly coffee-stained piece of my heart.
- Old Cloverdale. i’m sure someone could dispute it, but in my mind, there is nowhere in the world (especially Birmingham) quite like here. i know that Jac and I both can agree on one thing: when we are finally able to completely settle and have a place to live, Old Cloverdale will be tops on the list.
so yeah. there’s all that.
i won’t/can’t say too much about Harry Potter. Jac hasn’t quite finished her copy of the final book, but i did manage to finish mine this morning. and i know there are many out there who haven’t even started on it yet, but i feel a deep compulsion to say at least a few words after completion. firstly, it was about as perfectly wrapped up and finished as anyone could have hoped for. absolutely brilliant. second, the only way i could ever see Rowling writing on Potter/Wizarding World matters again is if she was dirt broke and living out of a car. that’s how tightly finished off everything is. with that, its with a sincere, unheard thanks to Ms. Rowling for giving me and my generation the chance to discover something that i believe is quite on par with Tolkien’s Middle-Earth saga.
i don’t think that revealed any secrets, right?
the only other thing of true note is regarding my friend and your, William Jones. jac, cassie, jacob, and i all attended his Bon Voyage party at the Alabama Coach Company this past saturday. it was great to see lots of faces that i haven’t seen in awhile all gathered together to see Mr. Jones off before his departure to Niger. and of course, it was great to see William himself. the news of our move to Hoover has travelled up I-65 quickly, so its no secret there either, and it was nice to get some preemptive ‘Welcome Back!’ hugs and backslaps.
and that’s all i’ve got for now. i’ve got work today, and i need a shower, desperately.
