Still Know a Hawk from a Handsaw!

It's the first night in the new place! I have "Hey There Delilah" stuck in my head, probably because it's a song I heard on the radio recently in both Seattle and Boston. And also, quite possibly, because I'm sitting in the dark in a near-empty apartment, because my lamps are still en route via UPS, and the windows are all open because I'm freaking out about a gas leak and stores closed before I could buy a chair to reach the way-up-high carbon monoxide detector to test whether or not it's working.

I am but mad north-northwest! This evening, I discovered that the pilot light on my stove went out, making the entire floor smell like gas; lightheaded and groggy (from the lack of caffeine and food, it turns out, not carbon monoxide fumes), I freaked out and called all three maintenance guys (who, I learned, are very nice). Then I locked myself out by accidentally using the lock the landlord said they're replacing soon because it doesn't unlock, so I had to call the maintenance guy I thought was least likely to hate me for calling twice in the same hour (and I chose poorly.) When Xtina called I was still slightly coherent. Then I walked for half an hour in three directions without finding the grocery store I thought existed, and realized I was dehydrated as well as uncaffeinated and hungry; so I backtracked, got water from CVS, and headed to the Trader Joe's where I used to shop six years ago. After lugging groceries back home for 15 minutes, I got back to my apartment and realized my silverware and dishware are all in the UPS boxes (estimated delivery on Wednesday), and I refuse to use plastic ones out of sheer stubbornness. I trudged out to the drug store to see if they had wooden chopsticks, but of course they didn't. Then I got back, tried to take a shower, and realized mid-water that I left all of my bath items (like soap) at Lady Grace's way north of the city, so I dried off and plodded along to the nearest drug store to buy some more items and got back to take a proper shower. That's when I realized my lamps are in a UPS truck, probably somewhere in Indiana, and I'd jettisoned the batteries from my flashlight in an effort to make the suitcase meet the 50-lb limit.

This is without a doubt the worst-planned move of my life. I, of the color-coded spreadsheets and lists little boxes to fill in when tasks are complete. But now I know where all my best-laid plans went: one of the maintenance guys said: "Wow, you really have a lot of shoes." (And I only brought about a third...)

The highlight of the day is that someone in the building has open wireless. I have always relied on the kindness of strangers!

So I have the Plain White T's stuck in my head, for no apparent reason.