Like a Bat Outta...

This past week has been interesting. Two weeks ago I found myself in Baltimore, teaching a Linux fundamentals class. On the way back I got to connect in Atlanta, and my flight back into Salt Lake got in right around midnight. It took a little under an hour to get back home, but it would be my last hour-long trip to and from the airport. Around 6am, my wife and I arose and got to work. We still had a few boxes to pack, and help wasn't expected until around 8:30am. It was moving day.

We bought a house in Magna, which is only about 10 minutes away from the Salt Lake City airport, and perhaps 15 to 20 minutes from work. Considering how much I fly, the location was perfect. Well, almost perfect. I still would have liked downtown Salt Lake, but Magna will have to do for now.

Moving day was rough. We had family show up in the morning to help load the truck, and we expected to be on our way well before 11am. For that reason, I asked a handful of coworkers to meet us at the new house around noon. I finally left the old house just before noon, knowing that I was to meet with several impatient coworkers. Fortunately, they were all even later than I was.

Unpacking the truck wasn't much more fun than packing it. We finally got rid of it around 3:30. I think I almost killed at least one coworker, possibly two. Quite frankly, I don't know how I held up myself. It was a long day for everyone, especially those of us that started around 6am and other than much needed breaks, didn't stop until almost 10pm.

I took the entire week off of work. There were things to do. When I first scheduled the vacation time, I intended to use it to unpack. A week after moving day, and unpacking has barely started. My wife and I managed to get the master bedroom painted and get some furniture moved in. We managed to get almost all of the primer on the walls of the baby's bedroom before I had to fly out to San Jose again for work. At least we managed to finish the ceiling in there. My wife tells me that about half of the walls have now been painted yellow, and I'm sure she'll be done with the rest of it tomorrow. A couple of days to air out the paint fumes, and we can move the kid in. Then we can take the bedroom that her crib has been set up in temporarily and turn it into my study. I've always wanted a study.

Getting Internet access has been a pain. We decided that Qwest was less evil than Comcast (if only by a hair) and decided to get a data-only line from them with Xmission as our ISP. I made the first phone call to do this while I was in Baltimore. In subsequent verification calls that Qwest made back to me, I discovered that nothing was actually set up right. Most of the calls involved either switching from MSN to Xmission, and then Qwest.net to Xmission. Now I'm afraid to call and make any further changes, for fear that they might screw something else up.

We got DirecTV out on moving day, and they gave me a new dish and then aligned it for me. Unfortunately, all of the receivers were still packed. I asked them to leave me a few feet of cable, and I would do the internal wiring myself. So they left me a box of cable, and let me have at it. I didn't get a chance to do any of that until Thursday, and at the moment I still only have one set up. And it's in the wrong room. But at least my wife has something to watch while I'm out of town.

The kitchen is about half the size of the old one. But at least the stove and fridge were made this century, so it's already a little ahead in that respect. My brother in law wants to help me expand the kitchen, but I honestly don't think it's worth it. If I need to do any large-scale cooking, it's probably best for me to just quit the computer world and get my own professional kitchen. But since I love where I'm at, I don't think I'll be doing that anytime soon.

I've noticed a few differences between Magna and Orem, where we used to live. There's certainly less traffic in Magna. And people seem, for the most part, to watch where they're going. I'm not in constant fear of getting into an accident just because I drove down the street to get gas. Also, while Orem city officials seem to care for little other than themselves, Salt Lake County officials (Magna is an unincorporated township, not a city) seem to care for the environment, and we have recycling pickup every other week.

There are drawbacks. We no longer live across the street from a mall. Actually, I consider this largely a boon. I also like the fact that we no longer live dangerously close to a major university. University Parkway in Orem is a deathtrap. I won't miss it. Wait, wasn't I talking about drawbacks? Okay, Costco is no longer a 5 minute drive away. It's closer to 15 minutes. In fact, there really are no major stores in the area, unless you count the grocery store a mile away. This is both a pro and a con. On one hand I'll miss being able to drive 5 minutes to pick up music, but on the other hand, I won't miss excessive traffic one street over from our house.

All in all, we think it's a good move. We don't know how long we'll be in Magna, but it'll do for now. Maybe one day we'll have enough equity that we can actually afford to move downtown. But 15 minutes away isn't bad either.