Well, day one of the drive from North Carolina to Texas is completed. Toby and I are safely situated in the hotel room for the night. It would be an understatement to say that he’s not taking to the hotel room very well. All the noises from other human beings in this building is causing him no end to worry and annoyance. Hopefully he won’t be too lively tonight, so I can get some rest. HE gets to sleep during the entire trip, if he wants.
The trip today was mostly uneventful. Toby was good, which made it a lot easier on me. We left Raleigh at around 8:30 am, and headed westward. We stopped every hour or two, so I could stretch my legs, and/or get something to eat/drink, or whatever else. He remained in his carrier during the trip, and didn’t complain much at all.
The only real thing of interest on the drive here was a big thunderstorm just as we entered Alabama, which reduced visibility to nearly zero for a time. We pulled in to a rest area for a bit, and found that their power had been knocked out by the storm.
I used Twitter to keep my friends updated about the progress of my trip today, and got a lot of amusing responses when I got to Alabama. Apparently people were surprised that the rest area was more than just an outhouse with a lightbulb.
I’m going to wrap up for now. Day two promises to be more driving, but also a lot closer to College Station.
I’ve said my goodbyes, packed my car, and closed out all of my business here in Raleigh. It’s time to start a new chapter of life.
I leave Raleigh tomorrow morning, bright and early, and will wind up in Montgomery, Alabama by evening.
It’s really happening. I hope I’ll be able to sleep a little bit tonight.
So… been a few days since I posted here last. I guess I’m slacking on the blog already, oops.
Since I last posted, things got slow, then very busy, then slow again. I was on vacation in California during the week after I finished at NC State. I had a nice time visiting the other coast, seeing some family, and otherwise just getting to spend some time with my parents (who went along for the trip). It was deathly hot where we were staying in Palm Springs, CA, with some daytime temperatures reaching above 110 degrees F.
During this past week, I finished the packing, and had the movers come ship everything out. As I write this, I’m sitting on the floor in my now-bare bedroom. No furniture, no bed, no nothing. It’s surreal.
I have to finish packing some things into my car, then cleaning up in here, in preparation for Noah to move over. One nice thing about having your roommate buy your house… it’s a short move for him. 
That’s it for now. I leave North Carolina for good on Monday morning. Excited, scared, and ready to begin the new chapter of my life.
So I have a LOT more stuff packed up now. The boxes, conveniently sitting in my living room, are starting to pile up. I’ve taken the strategy of taking care of the low-hanging fruit first, so I can build some momentum.
Things left to pack:
- Pots and pans
- A/V electronics
- Lamps
- Bedding
- Some misc kitchen pieces
- Remainder of my clothes
- Pictures
- Drapes/hardware
- My desktop computer
- Printers
- Remainder of my office supplies
A long list, but no so long considering that some of those are things I can’t pack until the last minute anyway.
I’m tired.
It’s official… I will be leaving North Carolina on Monday, July 6, 2009.
I’ll be traveling through North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana, and finally Texas, over 3 days. It’s a 20 hour trip according to Google Maps:
View The Big Move in a larger map
Apparently they found out who created the random Barrel Monster that was near the NCSU campus in Raleigh… N.C. State student accused of creating a ‘monster’
Just what NCSU needs right now, more publicity. Woo.
Spent part of my Friday and Saturday working on getting some accounts set up with local utility providers in the Bryan/College Station (BCS) area. I’d kinda like to have the lights and cable turned on when I arrive, so I can get myself set up quickly. Thankfully water and trash collection are already covered by the apartment complex, and there’s no natural gas service to worry about.
So here’s the score:
- Electricity (Bryan, TX Utilities [BTU]): faxed account setup request
- Cable (SuddenLink): requested service via website
- Telephone (Vonage): account created, awaiting delivery of connection hardware
- Water (apt complex): done
- Trash (apt complex): done
Hopefully those first two will be fully set up by mid-week, so I don’t have to rush on them at the last minute.
If there’s one thing that I’m learning (or is that relearning?) during my packing process, it’s that I don’t have enough room to actually do the packing. I have boxes piling up literally everywhere. How can one person collect so much stuff?
Tomorrow, I need to set out a couple of general lists for myself… items to be shipped, items to carry with me. The contents of these lists will change as I continue to pack up, but I’m going to have limited space in my car, and there are some things that absolutely need to go with me. At the top of this list is my cat, Toby. After that, my desktop computer (I am absolutely not having that shipped), several days worth of clothes, toiletries, possibly some non-perishable food, cleaning supplies, and whatever else that i can reasonably fit in my car.
Some days I’m very thankful for owning a mini SUV. I think moving day will be one more of those thankful days.
Just a quick note before bed. I spent much of Saturday trying to figure out how to start packing, which is actually much harder than it would seem. I realized that there are a lot of little knick-knacks that just don’t need to go with me. I’m looking at you, office supplies. It’s time for you to get gone.
Well, here we go. I’ve tried my hand at blogging once or twice, usually with pretty inconsistent (read: terrible) results. I didn’t really have a subject to write about, and rambling for the sake of rambling isn’t of much interest to anyone, least of all me.
This time things are different. I have a purpose.
In early July, I’ll be moving to College Station, TX, to effectively begin a new life for myself. I’ve accepted a job at the English Department of Texas A&M University’s College of Liberal Arts.
Yes, Texas. No one is more surprised about this than me. When I applied there a month ago, I figured it was a long-shot bid, but it seemed like a really great opportunity to move up (and move on) with my professional life. Since I’ve spent the last 10 or so years in Raleigh, all of them with NC State University, now seemed like a good time to look elsewhere.
So. Why this blog? My goal here is to have one place where I can share my experiences moving to and living in a new state. I don’t know if anyone will ultimately read this thing, but it’s my hope that I can use it to keep my friends and family updated on my life in the Lone Star state. Fair warning, though… it might just be boring.
Over the next few weeks, I’ll be talking about getting ready for the move, and my new job. Pictures and other assorted stuff will likely follow.
Off we go!