House Rules

New House Rule #1: Miscellaneous piles of crap on the stairs or at the basement door must vanish by bedtime.

I stayed at home today to work on the kitchen and put our shelves back together while Paul ran some errands and went out to his school to meet with the band teacher. The two of them have really hit it off so far. I'm betting they're going to work together well.

The propane guys came out and hooked up the dryer, after which I began the first of about 17 loads of laundry. We're emptying the basement dehumidifier twice a day -- the air has been SO moist. Not hot, thankfully, but humid and drizzly.

Today was also supposed to be I-Day: Internet Day. While the house's previous owner had told us that our neck of the woods had no access to cable, Comcast assured me otherwise when I called to double-check. They said there is a lot of work being done to expand their service area around here, and their database showed that we could get the works: internet, tv, phone.

They lied.

The installer showed up at our place late in the afternoon to let us know this would be a pretty short service call. Just long enough to come in and tell us we were SOL. So now our only other option is satellite, which has it's own long list of limitations. Expensive, mediocre speed, and it does not play well with chat or VPN software. I'm really bummed. Paul stopped by the post office and saw a sign-up sheet for a coalition of local residents that are moving to put pressure on Comcast to get us service -- we'll have to see what we can do to help.

Between that and the spotty cell phone reception (we had to switch carriers, and even so have to call from the right part of the house while standing on one foot), feelings of isolation are starting to sink in. I know we'll continue to adjust, and that we're not trying to recreate the same way of life we had out in CA. But boy, is it hitting me hard right now. I had an hour or so of real panic tonight. Delayed reaction as the euphoria of finally getting here wears off. It was a real "What the f*ck have we done?!?" moment. And it's at times like that when the cracks begin to appear and all the "what if" questions start to flow in. What if I don't find a job? What if we cannot afford to live out here? What if we have to move in another 3 years because we just can't hack it out here in the middle of nowhere? What if the price of gas jumps to $5/gallon? What if George W gets buys himself a third term?

Good lord, what if we get stuck with dial-up?

But then a doe and two fawns come wandering through our yard, nibbling on the trees, and my brain settles a bit. Over the past year I've better learned how to handle the big What Ifs. Sometimes you just have to let them come. But in the end, there is a pretty big difference between practicality and blind hysteria. And we've gotten this far. Two years ago that seemed pretty impossible too.

P.S. We've been waking up by 6 or 6:30 and having very busy days, so staying up until 10 or 11 to make phone calls back to CA is proving to be a challenge. Bear with us. We'll make some calls over the weekend!