The Penultimate Move

I've written some about my impending move to new quarters here in Los Angeles, and the the day is just about upon us. In all the times that I moved, which is admittedly not many, there has been an interestingly grim kind of feeling as the bitter end draws near. One by one, your possessions become inaccessible as they go into a box and get sealed up, or are sold and given away. Various utilities and services begin to go offline, and you start to fear touching anything or using anything in the place, lest it require any kind of cleaning or repair that would jeopardize that great brass ring, the deposit. Of course, this particular move is different from most, given that it will itself be a temporary situation. In that, it's most like the summers I've spent working at Boy Scout camp. There's also a similarity specifically to the dorms I lived in during college, especially the one I was in for a summer semester.

As I said, I'm boxing things up. I wanted to watch a dvd the other day, and decided against it because it had already gone into a box and I preferred not to disrupt things. I'm sure you would have guessed that there's no rhyme or reason to what goes into what boxes, and they certainly won't be labeled or destined for a particular room in the new place. They'll all just go into the biggest room, I'm sure, and I may just get it all sorted out by the time I must move out. The furniture and big items will be easier, most likely. It was my hope to reduce the quantity of perishable possessions by move day- namely, food- but I've met with limited success on that front. There will probably be a box of food that shall go directly into the kitchen, but I must be careful to be neat about it, and not create a mess from day one in a home which I don't really see as mine, so little time will I spend there.

I mentioned services and utilities. For the time being, everything is active. It seems to me that there's a balance at this moment between the new place to come and the old place. Eventually, the balance will tip to the new place when the last of the essential items reach it, and at that time I guess things can be shut down. Of primary concern for most would be the account for electricity. I guess that in my case the service period may not neatly coincide with moving day. Also too there are accounts for cable, internet and delivered water. For my part, nothing will transfer. They will either be replaced by something administered by my new roommate, or I will be doing without them. It ought to be interesting how I get by. I may find a better way of living through it.

I'm not sure yet whether there will be any kind of 'moving party'. I was always resentful of work which was somehow characterized as a party, as though I could be fooled into believing that. Now, I've always been glad to help out when someone is moving. I've done it plenty of times, although the most essential thing that could be contributed- a car- I haven't got. I do have time and a modest amount of muscles, and I am always ready to put them both into practice for a friend. I don't suppose I have ever expected food, but that tends to be a part of it. However that goes, the time is nigh, and the next great adventure of domesticity is about to begin!