Found in a long packed box

This is 2nd sons duckie that I made for his 3rd b'day. I found it today stuffed in a box containing an odd assortment of items. On a whim I texted a pic of duckie to 2nd son, knock me over with a dust mote, he wants it!

That is the only good thing about packing and moving is finding bits and bobs that bring the past rushing forward in a technicolor blast. Heart warmed, we carry on.

Everything is tickety boo!

We signed the lease on Friday, and the landlords are allowing us to put up a direct tv pole!!! Whoo-de-dooo!! This means TV!! And more importantly???

!!! INTERNET !!!

Life is tickety boo!

Yeah, I'm still packing and some how still unearthing books. I'm beginning to think that I've got a problem with the written word, maybe I should find a 12 step program?

Hello, My name is Biki and I'm addicted to reading.

More?

In odd closets, under random items, I keep unearthing more books.  Some how these ended up in the linen closet...yeah I have no idea how that happened.  I just finished packing what I hope is the last two boxes of books. 

Our house is a disaster zone, and its driving me nutz, crazy and around the bend.  We have boxes stacked here and there, our table is covered in odd items we are unsure of if they need to be tossed or kept.  The kitchen is down to one large bowl, and the bare essentials of daily cookery.  Our pantry is nearly empty, except for the odd things one uses only now and then. 

We are dividing up our items into things we need on a daily basis, things we want to keep and are going to store, and the stuff we are donating or tossing.  Our new place is about 1/2 the square footage of our current abode.  To keep straight which is moving with us and which is going to be stored, future stored items are being packed, and the stuff that is making the move is laying around in untidy heaps and piles as I rush to empty drawers and closets. 

Friday the boys are coming over to move out all of our furniture that is going to be stored until TH retires.  At that point the cleaning can begin, joy joy joy.

The really horrible, gnarly, hate to even think about it job will be the GARAGE OF DOOM.  All winter long I was after TH to clean out the garage and start to box stuff up.  He didnt clean or pack a single item in the entire garage.  Each summer I clean it out, how on earth is is always such a muddled up mess?

I just want this move to be over, ya know?

We Got One!!!

After scouring Craiglist day after day after day, emailing people, who never bothered to email me back, I have no idea what thats about, we finally found a place.  Actually we found two we really liked.

One was on the top floor of a 4 plex apartment.  Mega super clean, new kitchen appliances, new washer and drying being installed while we were there, and they were top of the line too! The rent was reasonable, they paid for fuel, wow!  However, it had one drawback, it was a 3 bedroom and that's just too large for two people, well really one since I'll be headed back to Arizona after the winter curtain drops.

And then we saw the second property.  Its out in the woods, a log cabin and is totally quiet, and TH fell in love.  As you can see, yup thats an actual pic of the place, its in a forest and as long as the trees dont revolt, its all good! 

The list of things we need to have was important but small.  It had to have running water, this place does, its delivered, monthly so we shall have to be careful not to run out between their deliveries. 

It has a washer and dryer.  w00t!!!

Our cell phones work.  Yeah we looked at a place that had no service, and as soon as we found that out, we werent interested.

I need to have the internet, and we do, not DSL however...quietly weeping.....

There are a few drawbacks with the place.  There is no cable service in the area, and no local tv service either!  And the funny thing is we are only about 12 minutes from town, but its quite hilly without a repeater tower in the area.

Its very very tiny.  As in only our tv and stand, {what? I can still rent videos and play the ones I have!} our sofa, a tall skinny dresser,  a hutch sideboardy thing that will increase the amount of storage in the kitchen, and our bed is making the move, the rest will all have to be stored.  I need to buy a tiny dining table for two, and a smaller computer desk, I think they will both wedge in.  

But even with all the drawbacks, TH loves the place and couldnt be happier. 

Proportional Envy-free Allocation Protocol

Once again ENDA is being discussed in the Senate, well its about damned time!  However, the good news of this is tempered, at least for me, in how it brings out the haters, the ones who are just SURE that allowing anyone else any sort of right or boon will some how diminish their slice of cake.  And you know what? It wont.  Any new civil right, only increases the chance of full acceptance for all  HUMANS.  Yes, for all humans, not just gay, or trans or bi, or ___________, or ___________, and yes even _____________.

We honestly need to get our maturity level out of Junior High, we are no longer 12 and shouldn't act like it. 

What brought this up?  While reading over at Towleroad today I came across this ENDA article.  To think!! An honest to goodness trans man is going to testify!  Yes!  Can you believe it?  They are actually going to question someone who has experienced LGBT discrimination.  Wow, what a concept, boggles the mind yeah?  To place a cherry upon this great sundae of delights, Mr. Broadus is African American.  This man knows about discrimination, in heaping dump truck loads, and these Senate sorts are going to listen to him.  Mr. Broadus comments will be entered into the record for all to read, forever. 

But then, like a stupid head, I read the comments.....sigh. 

And over on Joemygod, was this piece about the Netroots convention and this sign.

 

Thanks Joe for posting this!  However... many of the comments again were just sadly out of line again.

While I know that whenever humans are discriminated against, they feel the need to fight for every extra crumb they can get, because who knows where the next tidbit will arrive, if ever, it doesn't make it right to hurt others while getting your "fair" share. 

So, we come to the idea of Proportional Envy-free Allocation.  Which simply is the idea that if two people are warring over something allow one to cut and the other to choose.  If the LGB cut the cake into two pieces that are wildly unequal then not much is left for the T's, right?  But if the T's get to choose from these vastly unequal slices, which slice would you expect them to pick?  However, if the cake is cut into a close as possible halves, then everyone leaves the table full and happy, and no one is a loser. 

See?  That's the deal here, a win for any of us, is a win for all of us.  Any step whatsoever in the direction of LGBT civil rights is a win for all of us. 

                                          A WIN FOR ALL OF US.

If you have no interest in marriage?  Fine, dandy, fan-freaking-tastic.  But dont piss on the rest of us who want with every molecule in their being to marry their partner.   All you can think about is LGBT homeless teens and how the religious ran shelters who wont accept us?  Good for you! Protect the weak, the young and the elderly, a society is judged on how it treats its weakest members.  But stop and give a think for a moment please.......and I want you to be completely honest here, yeah?  If LGBT were 'given' the right to marry, in many ways it would legitimize us as a people.  And if we are deserving to sit at the big people table and order marriage, how many other rights, would flow from that one single right?  In states where we are allowed to marry, adoption is easier than an the non-marriage states. We can adopt our spouses children, we can adopt as a couple, like them straight type beings.  If 'gay' marriage has no effect on 'straight' marriages, how do you think it will negatively impact your life?  Is it because now your family can harass you to 'finally settle down and get married"?  Does it not fall into line with your views of being a class/gender/sexuality warrior, I mean how edgy can being gay be if we are 'allowed' to marry?  Get over your bad self and stand for a moment in a life not yours, ok? If our very own federal government would grant us full marriage rights, what else just might follow?

My grandmother was right, be nice to everyone.

*** for more info on the proportional envy free allocation, look here.

All boxed up and no where to go

For the past week, I've been combing the classifieds and Craigslist looking for a place for TH and I.  And after viewing several places, we are becoming discouraged.  The three places we looked at were moldy, not a good thing when our houses are closed up so much of the year. 

What really its quite surprising just how many places for rent here in town are "dry".  No, they dont mean alcohol free, they mean without water.....yeah.  I've done the whole last frontier lifestyle back in the day, and hellz no we are not going back to that again.  Let me tell you using an outhouse in the middle of the winter is no fun whatsoever.  Most people who live this way, bring their toilet seat in the house in between uses, or one can have a tendency to umm freeze down to the seat, yeah.  Most laundromats here also offer shower rooms, due to the lack of water in so many of our cabins.

Here is a typical ad from Craigslist.
"For rent is a 20x30 Cabin with loft that is located on its on 2 acre lot, the cabin was wet till the well froze so its now a dry cabin. There is a composting toilet in the bathroom located in the cabin :). the rent is 500 a month. It has electric baseboard with a wood stove for heat. the wood stove will be removed this summer and a oil furnace will be installed. the stove is propane. All utilities are payed by tenant." 

TH and I have finally done some long overdue talking.  We seem to be on the same page on several important things, which is great.  My gender is still a tripping up point however.  He is honestly adrift as to how to act and whatnot.  TH was teasing me about something silly last week, and after he said "silly woman" like he has done for a zillion years, he fell silent, and the mood chilled.  So, it looks like we are going to have to have that talk again.  I dont mind talking about this with him, but what bothers me is how often we seem to walk the same trail over and over, and nothing ever gets resolved to anyone's satisfaction. While I dont enjoy having to refer to myself in the feminine, its ok for others to do so.  Yeah I know weird, but when I do so, it feels like a violation of my self.  I've never felt comfortable using the feminine words, and for years had issue even typing the word 'girl'.  When others use the feminine toward me, I'm ok with it, well....more or less, because its what they see, so for them it fits.

So, far I've packed 3 boxes of books, 1.5 of which were manga, and I've still have at least 3 more boxes to pack.  Wow!  I didnt realize just how many books TH and I actually read.  Since I've gotten the Ipad, I'd say at least half of all my book purchases are digital, thank gods for that, or I'd have even more boxes to pack.  Oh, and these books were all purchased in the past 2 years....We have close to 30 boxes of books in the storage unit. 

TH came in the house a few days ago to find me standing in the kitchen, fridge door open, me looking in.  Nothing within looked delightful, ya know?  So, after some funny banter, we finally agreed upon barbeque.  Now, I dont know about y'all, but for me when I'm chowing down on some good 'que its either sweet tea or a beer to quench the thirst.  This was most def a beer night.  After ordering up our dinners, I asked what sorts of dark beer they stock.  The sweet waitress told me, I chose, and then she proceeded to card me.  Tis one of those 100% card places, its s'all good, yeah? 
TH was feeling playful and told her in a shocked voice, "You're carding her?  shes 52!"
Waitress rolled her eyes at him and said, "No she's not!"
At this point I whipped out the license, and proved the point. 
"So, how old did you think I was?"
"31!"
FTW!!!!

Knitted friends for Grandbaby

Grandbaby's eyes got ever so large when she pulled out her new elephant friend. 

And when she pulled bunny from the bag, she shouted, "BUNNY!!!!"

I'm a thinking both of them were a hit, yeah?

Our wee grandbaby turned 2 on Towel Day, and even though she Loves any computer as befits a child born on the geekiest day of the year, if she grows up to be a surpreme geek, there is no doubt she will do it as a Geek Princess.  Because this wee scrap of humanity is 100% girl, girl, girl. 

We nestled into the soft sofa while I read her a picture book on my ipad.  It was so nice to hold a wee one in my arms again.  Sigh, while hubby wants a dog, I'd love a new houseful of kid-lings.  Nothing is more fun, more engaging that small people.