If It's August, I Must Be Moving
It must be this time of year, summer coming to an end, people going back to school. Somehow, I wind up moving to another place in August. Obviously this happened a few times because of school, but other times the situation just dictated that I pick up and go somewhere else. So after my previous August relocations in 1996, 1998, 2001, and 2004, here I am fresh off another move.
This move seemed to be a lot more complicated and crazy than those of the past, mostly because I have somehow accumulated WAY too much stuff. The late George Carlin would appreciate that I was not really looking for a new apartment, but rather a new place for all of my stuff. I tried to unload what I could, but still wound up moving a ton of stuff to my new home in Philadelphia.
Which means I had to lift and carry a hell of a lot of boxes... but the real joy was driving what all those boxes went into. I am not a fan of driving large vehicles. My first experience with a larger vehicle came when I had to drive the Snow Patrol vehicle for the radio station for which I was working at the time. This particular vehicle was an oversized truck used to navigate the treacherous snow-covered roadways of Central New York whenever the situation called for it, which in Syracuse is pretty often during the winter. Anyway, after making my way through all the lake effect, I proceeded to ding up the truck... pulling into the parking garage. I tried to take the corner into the garage like I was driving my car of the time, a VW Golf. It didn't work.
As such, anytime I have to drive a large vehicle, I get petrified. I was hoping to just tow a trailer behind my Dodge Stratus and be done with it... but it was going to cost me over $300 to put a hitch on it, because those things were not designed for the very purpose I was hoping this one would serve. So I had to get a truck... and tow my car behind it. So I went into this hoping to not drive a big vehicle, and wound up driving an even bigger one. Coming down the Northeast Extension, I was absolutely gripping every time we came into a single-lane construction zone and I had to squeeze this monstrosity between the barriers on either side of the highway.
Thank goodness I didn't need to take this thing onto the Schuylkill Expressway with drivers who are completely unwilling to let you change lanes in a regular car, much less a moving truck with car carrier. As it was, I dropped the car carrier off, took the back way past the airport to get to my new apartment in South Philly... and promptly took a wrong turn and wound up at UPenn. I finally got to the new place 2 hours later, and on fumes.
But I'm here, back in PA with its state-controlled milk prices and ridiculous liquor regulations. And my car insurance premiums have DOUBLED because Philadelphia is such a crime-ridden, accident-prone city. But they have IKEA here, and thank god for that. However they also have a charter school that was just raided by the feds. I guess that's one sure sign that your school isn't doing too well...
One good way to find out what's going on in a new town is not so much watching the local news, but watching the commercials during the news. You get all the issue ads and the election ads, and right now the biggie is the New Jersey gubernatorial election. Governor Corzine is down 13 points in the latest Rasmussen poll, and in an attempt to get himself back into the race, he has stooped to airing ads linking GOP nominee Chris Christie to former President Bush. Yup, he's going with the old Christie = Bush strategy. I'll be interested to see if ginning up Bush Derangement Syndrome in a blue state gets Corzine back in the race. If it works, it may be a bad sign for Republicans with the midterm elections coming next year.
There are also ads from the dealers union in Atlantic City, trashing the CEO of Bally's and Caesars for his multi-million dollar salary and refusal to negotiate with striking dealers. The ads pretty much tell you not to go to either of these casinos because you'll be harassed by picketers, and of course you're helping evil corporate businessmen. I don't gamble anyway, so I really don't care. Lastly, SEPTA (the local transit authority) is threatening to strike. Great... I need to take the train to get anywhere because... well, Philadelphia is such a crime-ridden, accident-prone city. This is not good. Welcome to my new home!
This move seemed to be a lot more complicated and crazy than those of the past, mostly because I have somehow accumulated WAY too much stuff. The late George Carlin would appreciate that I was not really looking for a new apartment, but rather a new place for all of my stuff. I tried to unload what I could, but still wound up moving a ton of stuff to my new home in Philadelphia.
Which means I had to lift and carry a hell of a lot of boxes... but the real joy was driving what all those boxes went into. I am not a fan of driving large vehicles. My first experience with a larger vehicle came when I had to drive the Snow Patrol vehicle for the radio station for which I was working at the time. This particular vehicle was an oversized truck used to navigate the treacherous snow-covered roadways of Central New York whenever the situation called for it, which in Syracuse is pretty often during the winter. Anyway, after making my way through all the lake effect, I proceeded to ding up the truck... pulling into the parking garage. I tried to take the corner into the garage like I was driving my car of the time, a VW Golf. It didn't work.
As such, anytime I have to drive a large vehicle, I get petrified. I was hoping to just tow a trailer behind my Dodge Stratus and be done with it... but it was going to cost me over $300 to put a hitch on it, because those things were not designed for the very purpose I was hoping this one would serve. So I had to get a truck... and tow my car behind it. So I went into this hoping to not drive a big vehicle, and wound up driving an even bigger one. Coming down the Northeast Extension, I was absolutely gripping every time we came into a single-lane construction zone and I had to squeeze this monstrosity between the barriers on either side of the highway.
Thank goodness I didn't need to take this thing onto the Schuylkill Expressway with drivers who are completely unwilling to let you change lanes in a regular car, much less a moving truck with car carrier. As it was, I dropped the car carrier off, took the back way past the airport to get to my new apartment in South Philly... and promptly took a wrong turn and wound up at UPenn. I finally got to the new place 2 hours later, and on fumes.
But I'm here, back in PA with its state-controlled milk prices and ridiculous liquor regulations. And my car insurance premiums have DOUBLED because Philadelphia is such a crime-ridden, accident-prone city. But they have IKEA here, and thank god for that. However they also have a charter school that was just raided by the feds. I guess that's one sure sign that your school isn't doing too well...
One good way to find out what's going on in a new town is not so much watching the local news, but watching the commercials during the news. You get all the issue ads and the election ads, and right now the biggie is the New Jersey gubernatorial election. Governor Corzine is down 13 points in the latest Rasmussen poll, and in an attempt to get himself back into the race, he has stooped to airing ads linking GOP nominee Chris Christie to former President Bush. Yup, he's going with the old Christie = Bush strategy. I'll be interested to see if ginning up Bush Derangement Syndrome in a blue state gets Corzine back in the race. If it works, it may be a bad sign for Republicans with the midterm elections coming next year.
There are also ads from the dealers union in Atlantic City, trashing the CEO of Bally's and Caesars for his multi-million dollar salary and refusal to negotiate with striking dealers. The ads pretty much tell you not to go to either of these casinos because you'll be harassed by picketers, and of course you're helping evil corporate businessmen. I don't gamble anyway, so I really don't care. Lastly, SEPTA (the local transit authority) is threatening to strike. Great... I need to take the train to get anywhere because... well, Philadelphia is such a crime-ridden, accident-prone city. This is not good. Welcome to my new home!
Labels: moving, Philadelphia
posted by Dave | 10:56 PM
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