Taking Care of Business

Monday, Monday. I had slept poorly, and work was difficult. Just couldn't focus very well. I got some things done, but certainly wasn't as productive as I could have been. And then that night, for some unknown reason, I couldn't sleep at all! Woke up at 3am and just stayed awake, no matter how hard I tried to sleep. Ugh. The one thing of import that I did was to give official notice to my employer. Here we go, decision made.

On Tuesday I was fortunate to be granted a day off...not a real "day off", but a day to take care of a LOT of things that need to be done before I can move. First, I went to the Toyota dealership to take care of regular maintenance and check for any problems, as I'll be driving quite far soon. Next, I went to my leasing office to discuss the possibility of subletting. I've got to say, while this has been a nice place to live, I've been very disappointed in the lack of communication from my landlords. For example, I sent several emails and made several calls in advance of this meeting to try and set an appointment. I asked what day/time would be convenient for them, who I should meet with, and whether I should bring anything. No one ever responded. So a day or two beforehand, I called and told someone that I'd be coming in on Tuesday. Then I showed up on Tuesday, and was told, in person, to "leave a message". What??? I'm standing RIGHT THERE. Whatever. I "left a message" and was told I'd get a call. Then I went to do laundry (it's in the leasing office basement). This took about two hours. Still no phone call. So I went back upstairs and stood there and waited until one of the women came out to ask if I'd been helped. Then, finally, I got to talk about my options for breaking my lease.

I pretty much already knew what they were, but wanted to see if there were exceptions to the "no sublease" rule, and also get something in writing about what it would cost to break the lease without subletting. That was all I wanted. It took maybe ten minutes. While I understand it's a small office with a lot of people to serve, no one else was waiting in the lobby, the phone was not ringing off the hook, and it was normal business hours. Meh, anyway, I was glad to get that over with.

After that I debated listing some of my furniture for sale, but decided against it in favor of a much-needed nap. Then I went to get a haircut, then a trip to the bank. I haven't been to the bank once since moving here...I've never even set up a pin number for my card! Ridiculous.

Back home I cooked all of the food that I hadn't made time to cook over the weekend. Boiled chicken and baked fish, pasta and potatoes. I listened as Jameson taught his online classes, and looked for/applied to jobs. It was a very productive day.

On Wednesday it was rainy and chilly, I like that weather! Work was good, I got to take a drive to the factory to pick up some instruments, then back at the store Kristy and I sorted them into piles: leftover repairs, consignments, and BAC-owned instruments. We then created records for all of the instruments needing repairs, and added the consignments and BAC instruments into inventory. I spent the rest of the day trying to finish inventorying more instruments and fielding phone calls. After work I stayed a bit to practice.

When I got home that night my Mom called, and I realized to my shame that we haven't spoken in a REALLY long time! I talk to my Dad via email often, but recently my parents have been busy with visits from other family members and other events, so I guess subconsciously I thought, "They're busy this week," and didn't call. It was great to catch up! Especially since I hadn't told them ANYTHING about my plans to move to Florida! UGH! Despite the suddenness of it, they took it well. I hope to visit my family before the end of the year.

Thursday was very slow at work. Hardly any customers came in. My boss was supposed to be there but got caught up working at the factory. He'll be on vacation next week. I spent the morning having an infuriating battle with my computer...for some reason it wouldn't connect to the internet. Wasted two hours of my day with customer support so that I could do my work.

Friday started out with myself, Eric, Kristy, and Dirk at the store, and ended with just me. I managed to finish inventory for ALL of the instruments in the store (finally!), and then made a nice display out of some Powell flutes that were recently sent to us.


I was supposed to start listing items for sale on eBay, but eBay itself was having issues with photos so it was slow going. I have been using my own computer at work, and because of the internet snafu on Thursday I'd decided to offload all of my work-related documents to an external drive, which I will leave behind for whoever comes after me.


After work I practiced a bit, then hit the grocery, then went home. Eric had kindly aligned the slide on my Bach 42 earlier in the day and had suggested that I wash it, so I did. Then I had the urge to start sorting my belongings into "taking to FL" and "not taking", but I knew that once I started I wouldn't be able to stop and this could go on into the late hours of the night. So instead I looked for jobs and tried to relax.

Saturday was very slow at work. A few people came in for repairs, and since I'm not a tech, all I can do is take the instrument for someone to look at on Monday. I listed some instruments on eBay (why is eBay SO SLOW with uploading photos?!) and cleaned, and before long it was time to close. I had wanted to go to "Japan Fest" at the nearby community college, but was very anxious to start sorting, packing, and listing my belongings in preparation for the move. It is amazing how much stuff I'm going to have to offload this time around. All of the furniture that I bought, and I'll have to get rid of most of my books, many of which have been with me for much of my life. But to be honest, I've been thinking of digitizing them.


By evening someone had already come for my desk, and I had appointments set up for people to come and get most of my other furniture the next day. Not bad.

On Sunday I woke early because someone was supposed to come get my office chair, but he ended up late (he made up for it by giving me $5 extra). I spent the afternoon generally making a mess of my apartment, sorting many things into piles. In the afternoon I had rehearsal with the community band, then quickly drove home because someone wanted to buy my bed frame and mattress. Someone else wants my small bookcase and will pick it up from me at work tomorrow. Now all the furniture that I've got left is my folding chair, another bookshelf that's not worth selling, an end table, and a nightstand (that I hope I can take with me because I like it!). This is really happening. Crazy.

On Monday I'm leaving work for about an hour to have a lesson with a local trombonist. He's offered to go over my orchestral excerpts with me. I'm already embarrassed at how I know it's going to go, but there's no helping it. Few people can improve without outside input, no?