Except....

Slowly, but surely, we're getting everything set up here for our new life.  Except...
the phone line isn't working.  According to what the person I talked to at AT&T, it sounds like the problem is with the external (i.e., the one we wouldn't have to pay for to get fixed) line, but if we have someone come out to fix it and it turns out to be the internal line, we'll have to pay not only for the phone dude fixing it, but just for coming out as well.  Oh, and except...
I think we've got my wife's SSI (fancy talk for Social Security Supplemental Income or something like that... they don't pay us anything extra for knowing what the acronym stands for) and Medi-cal.  From what I understood, the social worker (or whatever the lady was who we talked to) said that my wife can continue her old Medi-Cal card and won't need a temporary one.  However, since we got to the office late (around 4:30 and they closed at 5:00), I might have misunderstood her (understandably) hurried explanation.  I'll probably call them Friday to make sure, though.  And except...
the gas still seems to be off, but I thought I had gotten it turned on.  So another call, this one to Southern Californian Gas or whatever the company is called (friends don't let friends blog late.  However, for better or for worse, there isn't a friend available to stop me at the moment).  Plus, I've got to call them to see if we qualify (which seems very likely, considering that my wife is getting both SSI and Medi-Cal, and I think she needs only to get one of them for us to do so) for the C.A.R.E. program.  No, I don't know what that stands for any more than I know what SSI stands for, but it's basically a need-based discount.  Somewhere around 25%, IIRC (that's one acronym I do happen to know what it stands for).  Once again, except...
we still haven't had the time to buy a fridge or oven (apartment didn't come with either) and I'll probably have to get new glasses (the current pair are being kept together with tape on one side of the hinges where the screw fell out and the screw holes are messed up even if I knew what happened to the screw- I mean, besides that it got lost) and work shoes.  And one last except...
the apartment still needs a few minor repairs.  There was supposed to be someone coming over to fix them, but it might be our fault that we weren't here if he had come over.  But any way, it's late, my brain isn't exactly firing on all cylinders (or at least fewer than usual), and I've got a lot to do tomorrow.

This Is The Last Day Of Our Acquaintance...

The day has come... that is, if everything with the moving truck works out as we hope/expect.  Problem is, I have a debit card, but no license, and my brother-in-law has a driver's license, but no credit card.  Now, if only the rental place will accept a debit card, we should be o.k.  Otherwise, I might have to go to the bank, withdraw some money, and hope they accept that instead.  While I realize they have to be security conscious about who they rent the trucks out to, I would think we would have enough identification among us to establish our identities.  Odd on how the whole move might be jeopardized by such a small detail.  And I have no idea what we're going to do if we don't get the van.
The bathroom looks weird in a spartan sort of way.  The only things of ours left in at the moment are some soap, a towel, and some toilet paper.  There's also a bit of an echo in there now, but we're not planning on taking that with us.
If nothing else, we got rid of a lot of trash.  Hopefully, a few prayers and/or some fast talking will be enough to see us through this difficulty.  Anyway, my brother-in-law and nephews should be here in a few hours.  Que sera, sera.

The Experiment Was A Success; Status Report At T-minus 2 Days

I is genius!
On the home front, I still have one (half) bin of garbage to toss out unless we find some more, which I highly doubt.    The only things left to pack are pretty much stuff that will have to wait until the last minute (food, dinnerware, the telephone, clock, cables from the TV and computer, etc.).  I've taken everything we had hanging on the walls off, but still have some nails in the combination dining room/ kitchen that I'm going to have to wait until we remove the boxes that are piled in front of the window which is under them (the nails, that is).  I still have to call to get gas/water/electricity turned on, but, other than that, my day today (the 23rd) should be fairly free.  My brother-in-law and a couple of nephews (from my wife's side) should be coming from Los Angeles sometime Friday (night?) to help us get the truck, load it, and move our stuff there and we've already cleared a space for them in the living room for them to sleep.  Then the fun begins all over again with unpacking and getting settled in.
My brain, meanwhile, is still in that weirded-out zone between "Wow!  Are we finally going to do this?" and "AUUUUUUUUGH!  Do we really want to do this?".

EDIT: Just had a scary moment when I heard something fall in the kitchen.  Turned out to be just the ironing board which was leaning against the refrigerator sliding down.

5 Days To Go... & I Sometimes Wonder Whether We're Throwing Away More Than What We're Keeping

Beyond that, not much to write about.  Just another day of throwing more stuff out and packing.  Tomorrow (or, that is, later today) ought to offer a bit more variety, if not excitement.  Have to cancel one doctor's appointment for my wife which was supposed to happen in March and confirm a change of service with the phone company.  Other than that, it looks like more packing and... well, there doesn't appear to be much left that we're planning on throwing away.  Of course, it might well turn out that not everything fits on the truck, but I don't foresee having that problem.  On the other hand, most people who that has happened to probably thought the same way ahead of time.  So it may well turn into one of those cases of "oops, time to go to plan 'b'"- that is, if there is a plan 'b'.

One Week To Go... And Then We're Off To L.A.

I'm currently on vacation and plan to move with my wife to Los Angeles next week (February 25) to an apartment that's only a couple doors down from where her sister lives.  We're pretty much all packed up, but have a few more things that we're still have to get to.  I've called the utility companies to shut off service here.  Still have to find out which company is supposed to supply gas and electric down there, as well as make an appointment to get internet connected.  I'm also still waiting to find out whether I'm going to have a job down there at HomeTown Buffet.  I currently work at the one in Salinas and have been with the company for almost 13 years, but evidently, that's not enough to assure me that they're going to let me work there.  I'm just going to what I always do, though: the best I can and after that, not worry about it (not that I'm claiming that that's always as easy to do as to say).