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.

5 Things I Won't Miss About Salinas...

Okay, so I could only come up with 3, but I'm pretty sure it was up to 5 a couple of days ago.  So I might update the page if I remember the others.

3. Water On, Water Off
Sometimes, I would wonder if manager of our apartments was channeling Mr. Myagi.  While not as common as they were when we first moved in, water outages would still occur about once or twice a month- usually just before I was getting ready for work (IOW, just about to take a shower).

2. The Overhang Hangover
The upper level of the apartments had a landing which led to the individual apartments.  Some of the children that lived there thought this was the perfect place to ride their bikes and/or big wheels.  Some of the tenants underneath (such as myself), however, had a different opinion of the suitability of the landing for such a purpose considering the amount of noise it made.

1. The Crosswalk Of DOOM!

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While it looks quite peaceful on a Google map, the reality was that the crosswalk at Sorrentini and Natividad Avenue was a death trap more often than not.  Making it worse were drivers going north and, seeing a red light at East Laurel Drive, would slow down enough that they wouldn't pass the crosswalk soon enough for a pedestrian to cross after them, but go fast enough that he or she couldn't pass in from of them.  NEWSFLASH: Yes, there is a reason why the city painted those two white lines crossing from one side of the street to the other side and placed those yellow signs with a black figure that looks suspiciously like someone trying to cross the street.

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.

"We accept quality blog that are in English only and please submit titles and descriptions in English only."

The irony of the above is that it should be :"We accept quality blogs...."  Sad to say that's hardly the only "English" error on the blog directory submission page, such as numerous "We not"'s, "All payment is life time inclusion", and "$5.99 (Before Price Up!!!)",  And to add insult to injury, this is one of the few directories that I've seen that doesn't offer free submissions (and I have a list of at least 12 that don't,. although a few require reciprocal linking), to which I can only add that I hope their service is better than their language skills.
As for the move, we've run into a bit of a snag.  It appears that my brother-in-law's vehicle isn't up to making the trip here and back.  I was considering renting a car, having him drive it up here, and then have him drive the van back while one of his sons drives the car back (it's not like all five of us would fit in the van), but, unfortunately, neither of his sons has a driver's license.  It looks like we'll have to rent the car, fill the van, and send one of his sons and my wife via bus or train.  Adds a bit of cost to the move, but I don't see any viable options out there.

Joining the Technorati:CLAIM TOKEN::AJ75D36UFE2B

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Well, sorry Mr. Sensitive. There. Here it is. Are you happy now?

Yeah, I know: I'm having way too much fun with this.

This brings up the number of blog directories I've submitted this blog to up to six, including BlogHints.com, with whom I'm going to have to remember to resubmit the blog to in a year because that's all the (free) reciprocal listings last. Or maybe not. Who knows what the future holds?
On the plus side, I actually remembered to add the "Labels" to the post BEFORE I published it for once.instead of having to edit it to add them.