Tag Archives: moving

Sound Mobility

I don’t write about podcasting on this blog much anymore, but since it *IS* a creative endeavor, it felt appropriate to do so in this case.

Since I’ll basically be a couch-surfing vagrant for about eight weeks between finishing work in Madison and moving to Saint Paul, I’m glad that I have my “mobile podcasting” equipment, ready to set up anywhere that I can find electricity and an Internet connection.  There is still quite a bit of stuff that I need for any given show, though, so I also needed a good way to carry it around.

Some time late last year, I got an old briefcase from my brother-in-law.  It’s a fairly standard-sized briefcase, faux leather on the outside, combo locks, and a few folio pockets on the inside.  My test run of using the briefcase came a few weeks ago, when I wrapped up my equipment in old t-shirts and found out that it would indeed all fit in the case.  The move prompted me to finally complete the idea I had when I first acquired said case…

Without even measuring the case to be sure of what would fit, I bought 2 sets of Pelican  Pick n’ Pluck foam for a 1200 case.  Since I was buying the foam for a briefcase, I figured I wouldn’t find an exact fit, anyway.  I went with something that I *knew* was smaller, and hoped to make it work.  The other options that I found online were unbelievably expensive.

Working with this perforated foam lining was pretty easy.  The two “main” compartments fit pretty nicely inside my case, with a little room to spare in the back.  That worked out perfectly, with my “fragile” components going into those main areas, and cables/power packs tucked in the back.  Take a look at the pictures — I thought the whole deal turned out pretty well.

[flickr_set id=”72157644292600690″]

All set for ‘casting on the road this summer!

Back on the Move

Photo by: Christopher KoppesCC BY-NC-SA 2.0

So, I’m moving out of another apartment at the end of this month.  This will be my 15th move ((456-A High Ave, 456 High Ave, 6140 S 18th St, 3520 Shangri-la Rd, 4415 Johnstone, 606 Nelson Story, 2716 Woodridge Ln, 2080 Dickinson Ave, 470 N Main St, 661 Division St, 6524 W Wright St, 4121 N Ardmore Ave, 2131 Effingham Way, 5327 Westport Rd)) since the spring of 1999.  I’ve written from time-to-time about how good I’ve gotten at it.

I definitely haven’t aspired to this transience, but that’s just the way things have gone.  Even though I’m just getting started with packing, I’m confident that I’ll be able to get things boxed up and ready without a lot of teeth-gnashing.  I’ve got a whole weekend without any other obligations coming up, and a fine storage facility to start stashing my stuff.

It never hurts to get rid of some things when you move, though.  I eliminated a mess of books the last time (predominantly from grabbing public domain digital versions instead), and I might cut out some more on this go-’round.  At various times since I moved into my current place, I also thinned out my wardrobe, sold or stored more DVDs, and dumped some bulky electronics.  I could see CDs going into semi-permanent storage this time, and ditto for all these old toys that are rapidly losing their sentimental value.

Some of those who know me will try to point out that I still have lots of stuff, and don’t want to part with a good portion of it.  My attachment to those sorts of possessions, though, have more to do with lifestyle and income than sentiment, though.  Of course I don’t want to lose or get rid of my computer(s), TV, cameras, and other favorite gadgets; they are how I make myself seen on the Internet, stay in touch with people I know, and enjoy my hobbies.  Any of them could replaced, if they had to be, some at substantial cost.  I have, in recent moves, made a habit of cutting loose from things that might be considered highly sentimental.

There are times that I wonder, then, if making snap decisions about my sentimental attachment to “things” has dulled my overall capacity for sentiment.  “Stuff” that I own doesn’t really affect me that way very often anymore.  My desire to reflect on the past and dwell in warm memories seems to be reduced.  Is this change attributable to my detachment from certain possessions, a by-product of my brainaltering pills, or a simple matter of getting older?

In a way, the technological times that we live in have made preserving memory so much easier.  What are my most valued possessions?  The photos that remind me of the people, things, and places that I’ve experienced hold that distinction.  I’ve got 90-ish percent of those tucked away on a hard drive the size of a deck of cards.  I just need to keep good backups.

Some Housecleaning

After we moved, there was a long period of time where all our spare moments were taken up with sorting through stuff, moving things around, putting things away, etc., and then all of a sudden it was the holiday season.  By about mid-January, I could sense that we were moving past that stuff and a little extra time would be opening up.  I’m glad, not only for the sake of my sanity, but I feel like I can start making lists of other things to worry about again.  A little quality time with this site is one of them.

I changed to a new ‘theme’ shortly before we moved out of Milwaukee, and I still like it quite a bit.  It has some limitations with a few things– the photo gallery “sub-pages” no longer display correctly, and using an image in the banner at the top is troublesome.  These are things I want to work on sooner than later.

A few other miscellaneous tidbits:

  • I’ll be getting an event created on FB in the next several hours as well, but be advised that Michelle and I are inviting all sorts of peeps we know to come out to Sun Prairie/Portage on Saturday, 2/27, for a ski weekend at Cascade, followed by a party back at the “lodge” (i.e., our residence) about 30 minutes to the south.  More details to come soon.
  • Speaking of event planning, it’s time to think about Brewers baseball (even though I hope to get *plenty* of skiing in before opening day).  I’ll add some other details about possible outing(s) to the Brewers 2010 page in the next couple days.
  • I just realized that the Mozilla project Sea Monkey just recently came out with a 2.0 release.  They say there’s a better/easier extension system with this version, so I’m going to give it a go; if I can get most of my Firefox and Thunderbird extensions to work with SM, that would be cool.

OK, I should probably return some phone calls.  Have a good weekend!

… And, We're Back.

I know, I know– I never really left.

Michelle and I are now settling in to our new apartment in Sun Prairie.  It’s nice here.  So far we like it.  It’ll probably be even better after we dig out from under all the boxes.  Big thanks have to go out to all the peeps that pitched in last weekend, because we definitely couldn’t have done it without them.  It would have taken us 2 days easily, and we might not have even fit in the trucks we rented; props have to go to Lisser and J. Hill for the mad packing skillz.

At this point, I am having a hard time figuring out where to start with unpacking.  We have so much to dig through, you can’t really *put* anything anywhere.  What would be ideal is a second apartment next door that could have been used as a staging area.  We could then open boxes, unpack them, and immediately put things away in the place they should go in the real apartment.  Is that too much to ask?

Michelle said that when the cable guy came over today, he asked, “So did you guys just move from a REALLY big house?”

Anyway, there’s plenty to do, but I’m glad that we’re back online and in contact with the outside world while at home.  The site will be going down over the weekend for a while as my old internet service gets shut off and the server gets moved to its new home.  Because of this, I will post the Drama Jocks’ sportscast in a different location (there will be a redirect).  I better get done with this blog, though, and start helping Michelle with boxes…

This Is Where the Fun Begins.

Just got home from work for the day, and I have off for the big move until Monday. Jen is going to come over for a while this afternoon to help me lug some bigger-ticket stuff to Goodwill, and to lend a hand with a little living room packing.

Most everything here is packed, but there are some things in nooks and crannies that you just don’t always think to put in a box right away, y’know? Eh, maybe you don’t.  Anyway, I have today and most of tomorrow to finish it up.

Right now, I’m going to order me up some Jimmy John’s; they’ve got kind of a crappy drive, so I don’t think it’ll be as fast as usual.  But I’ve got enough to do in the meantime…

But, my point was that you may not here much from me in the interim.  I wanted to have most stuff done by tomorrow in the afternoon so I could do a podcast with Schneider and get it up on the web.  That DEFINITELY won’t be the sort of drawn-out process it was last week.

Other than that, though, we will most likely next commiserate from my new address!

Into the Home Stretch

Michelle and I are moving this upcoming weekend.  I have made it pretty clear to everybody that, giving my brutal moving schedule of the last several years, I feel like I have no karma left when it comes to requesting help for a move.  We seriously contemplated hiring movers before coming to the conclusion that we just couldn’t afford it.

Michelle had the wonderful idea of turning it into a “moving party,” complete with an evite, competetive furniture moving, and of course, plenty of food and beverages along the way.  We got a lot of our friends and family to voluteer to help, and because of that, I feel like we’ll probably have an OK time with the move.

Here at my house, I am starting to run out of places to stack the boxes and still be able to pack.  Probably going to have to start stacking in front of the TV pretty soon.  Maybe I should have packed the living room first instead of last…

Anyway, if you’re helping out this weekend, thanks in advance.  I was really impressed with all the support we got up front.  Off to bed for now!

Pause For a Breather

Been a lot happening in the last week-plus.

  • Michelle got a new job.  She’s going to be working here.
  • As a result, we are going to move.  To here.
  • Meanwhile, we had a whirlwind week of Brewers baseball on their last homestand.  We saw them do this, this, Dave went with me to this, and finally, a nice ending with this.
  • We looked at many apartments.  It was hard to keep them all straight, but I think we have a winner, unless someone steals it out from under us.

Also, it got cold.  I like moving in fall the best, I think.  How about you?

Oh, Who Has Free WiFi In Your Neighborhood? In Your Neighborhood? In Your Neigh-bor-hood…

Here’s a clue: probably the one that never changed the default SSID.

I am now relocatified to Ardmore Ave in Shorewood.  I’ll have my own Internets rokkin out tomorrow, but for the time being, I thought I would give it a shot, to see if I can entertain myself this evening.  Not that I don’t have enough to keep me busy, but I figure I’ll get sick of putting stuff away at some point.

Right now, I have to stand at the laptop in the living room, cuz this is the only place where I can get a stong enough signal, and there are no chairs in here yet.  A few initial comments and observations, though:

  • I was first planning on trying to make this move unassisted.  That would have been a mistake; I’d only be half done at this moment if I had.  It was good to have assistance from Joe and Christy and Jen.
  • I have given the ghetto Wal-Mart on Capitol Drive two fair chances.  But the place is a dive.  I’m going to have to do that sort of shopping elsewhere.  Someplace NORTH of my building.
  • I can hear the neighbors on the stairs, but it’s not too big a deal.
  • My linen closet is freaking huge for a 1-bedroom apartment.  It reminds me of the one that Grandma and Grandpa Bock had up north, but full-on floor-to-ceiling.
  • Nice to have wood floors again.

OK, I need to at least finish putting the bathroom together before the end of the day…

Staying on Vacation

Got the next five work days off.  The major project is going to be moving, of course.  The last time I did a cross-town move like this, the feeling and preparedness were pretty similar– I get the keys to the new apartment tomorrow morning, I have to be out of Wright Street on Monday, and I don’t have that much stuff packed right now.

These are usually lower-impact moves, though.  You don’t have to secure everything for a lot of miles traveled over highway, and as opposed to last year, I can take everything out of one place and immediately put it in its new place.  I’m not too worried.  I’ll work on stuff today, and Grandma and Jen said they’d come over and help out tomorrow.  Better get to it; I’ve got some calls and things to make.

And speaking of calls..!  There are a few of you I’ve been meaning to get in touch with and just haven’t had the chance yet.  I’ve got off for several days here, so feel free to ring my bell.  Or maybe I’ll turn that around on you, who knows?

Weekend Successes

Had a real fine summer solstice weekend here in Milwaukee.  The weather was mostly beautiful, with a couple occasional rain showers.  It set up a nice backdrop for outdoor activities…

On Friday, the Justin Roth show at Jen & Joe’s was great.  The hosts provided ample food and beverages (including Spotted Cow on tap), and the music was awesome.  We got to hear a few new songs, and some classic faves like “Dead Horse Trampoline,” “Ones to Hold On To,” and “Fatima’s Waltz.”  Got a chance to chat with Justin a bit, and he said he is starting to work with a new producer on an album– but it sounds like it’s nothing that’s immediately on the horizon (maybe within the next 12 months or so?  Hopefully?).  Also got him to sign the picture that Christy took of him behind the wheel of the Festiva; he chuckled recalling the days when he shaved his head.

It was really cool that a lot of Jen and Joe’s friends who had never seen Justin or Storyhill, et al. were around to take in the show and enjoy it.  That’s been my experience more often than not– if you get a chance to see the talent that these guys have in person, and how much they truly enjoy what they’re doing, it’s hard to not feel that energy and to have a really good time yourself.  Justin sold a ton of CDs afterwards, if you want to use that as a measuring device.  And of course, I took pictures during the show, so I’ll post a few of them here within the next couple days.

On Saturday, Mom, Grandma, the Mundschaus and I all went over to PolishFest for a few hours.  I rode downtown with Mom and Grandma.  We parked at WI & Plankinton, then caught the shuttle down to the grounds, but considering how early we got there, probably could’ve parked right there just as easily.  We ate, drank, shopped for some Polish paraphernalia, and got to catch part of a set by Neal Zunker’s Music Connection, and Eddie Blazonczyk & the Versatones, respectively.  We also ran into our cousin Chris and his buddy Scott, who got some free tickets from Uncle Mark.

Sunday was Michelle’s mom’s 60th birthday shindig at Joey Buona’s on Water Street.  It was EXTREMELY filling, as usual.  Sheryl seemed to have a really nice time; a number of her old high school chums made it out, as well as Michelle aunt & uncle from Sheboygan, among others.  It was a fun party.

Earlier that day, I got to visit with Eric and Christine Kiefer for a while (!!).  Yes, you read that correctly.  I was thinking of them as we got primed for the Justin Roth show, and decided that I had put off actually getting in touch for long enough.  They seem to be doing well, both on a professional and personal level.  They’re staying very busy with 2 young kids around the house, but they seem pretty happy, top-to-bottom.  Hopefully, I’ll be able to stay in touch a little better, particularly since I’m moving to their side of town.  I got to share what limited news I could about myself, and I also spilled the beans about everything going on with everyone I know from back in the Osh Vegas days; didn’t think I was probably spoiling any surprises.

Sunday night, Michelle came over and helped me actually start packing a little bit.  We took everything that was hanging down off the walls, and I began to strike the living room.  I think I’m going to work on finishing that up tonight; I barely watch TV in the summer anyway, and if I really want to veg out, I have a laptop and the Internet.  Packing up always seems daunting when you get started, but once you’re on a roll, it moves along.  I think I’ll pick out my wardrobe for the rest of the week and get clothes packed out of the closet tonight, too…

Got a short week at work this week (took Thursday and Friday off to doing moving business), so I better get to it.