Ye Olde Rad Blog

When I mentioned "heading north" (04.December), I meant "north", as in North Laguna, as in moving there .. from South Laguna, that is. In other words, we moved ~3 miles north, up Pacific Coast Highway, closer to Newport Beach and Crystal Cove, and the Big Newport ("biggest screen in the West"). Waliing distance from Shaw's Cove and Heisler Park.

I've moved twenty-something times since I was 18 years old. It makes my head hurt to count them all up (Florida, Maine, Pennsylvania, New York, Hawaii, Connecticut, Washington state, Illinois, Guam, Idaho, California, etc). Heck, I remember walking around a shopping mall one time, and forgetting what state I was in (Pennsylvania). People look at you mighty weird when you ask them, "Excused me, can you tell me what state this is?"

Anyway, this new place is nice .. altho not as nice as the last place. Lots of cool plants here. Giant plants. Has a jungle feel to it. My new neighbors are yoga instructors, shrinks, and writing teachers at UCI. Haven't met the rest yet. Buddy & Fran have been on the prowl, checking out the new neighborhood, peeking in windows. Lots of other cats live around here. Good rodent control.

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Got the computer set up. Had to reseat the SCSI card. It must've came loose during the move. Also got a new cable modem. Cox (my internet service provider) sent me a Motorola SURFboard (model SB5120). They actually have an image of a surfboard on the box. Seems to be working okay.

I also got one of those big, new, honkin' digital cable boxes. And they gave me a free-trial of everything for 3 months: HBO, Cinemax, Showtime, etc. I usually don't like foreign films, cuz you spent most of the picture reading subtitles, but I've been impressed with the foreign film channel (285). The films shown there have a wonderful artistic look.

I'm pretty sore & whupped. Moving suks. Have bruises I don't remember getting. My hands are a mess, with cuts, nicks, a little swollen. Been eating Advil like candy. Feel like I could sleep for a week. It always takes much longer to pack than you think. I was up until 3AM three nights in a row. You know you're tired when a double-cappuccino does nothing. Need a shave before I scare somebody. An old lady at the local 7-11 said, "Take my money, just don't hurt me." =)

Gandhi is my new idol. When he died, all he owned was a pair of reading glasses, a robe, a pair of sandals and a rice bowl. That would've made moving a lot easier. I could've called a cab instead of U-Haul. Our capitalistic society breeds the accumulation of possessions. And the things we own, end up owning us. It's hard to resist the influence of the Marketing Machine.

The Dog still has me beat: he has moved nearly 40 times since he was 18. I know migrant farms workers who have more stable living conditions than that. The Dog was just here the other day, on a biz-trip from the East Coast (NYC). Here in SoCal, anytime you see dolphins it's a special day. Anytime you see whales , it's a magical day. And anytime you see the dogbrother, well, those days are the best of all.

Happy birthday to Sidney (the Captain), who turns 78 this week. What's his secret, you ask? A little sip of scotch everyday. (Sidney prefers Glenmorangie.) That and two strips of bacon for breakfast.