Moving Plans Updated

Ok, having discussed the idea with Pat and with David, I've agreed to go ahead and move to Seattle on May 24th. I will still pay David all but the last month's rent (so May, June, July), but even with that, on the new plan/budget I'll actually have a couple hundred bucks cushion. I think this is definitly the best plan given the circumstances. David's agreed to sell off or trash anything I leave behind, and I'll be photographing anything that I have any particular memories attached to so that I can retain those. Thank goodness I got this camera, it's been such a life-saver!

Post Stormy-Surgery Budgetary Discussion

Well, the good news is that Stormy's surgey has not cost me enough to make the move to Seattle impossible. It has however taken enough of a chunk out to make me wonder if a change to my planned timetable might be in order.

The original plan was that my job would end about a week before I fly up to Seattle with Stormy to visit. While up there I'd get to know Pat all over again, have some fun, and meet the TEKSystems recruiters. After 2 weeks of fun I'd fly back here and proceed to pack up my stuff for the move, selling off or trashing what I don't want. I figured on giving myself a few weeks for this, given the sheer amount of work it entails. Once everything was ready, I'd ship my stuff out via UPS, ship my car via auto-transport, and then fly up to await their arrival with Stormy.

This plan gives plenty of time for everything that needs to happen, and plenty of time to adapt if something goes wrong, but it also means spending a long time in between jobs (about a month and a half), and lengthening my stay in the apartment in FL for another month.

An alternative would be to get everything ready for the move before I visit, send everything off, then fly up for my visit and just stay there. This would eliminate a lot of the jobless time, eliminate a month of rent here in FL, eliminate me having to buy another plane ticket, etc. It would also mean I'd have just 1 week to pack everything up for the move, so anything I won't be taking with me will be left to David or trashed. This isn't too much of a change really, I'd planned on leaving anything valuable or useful to him anyway, to either use, sell, or trash as he sees fit, and he'd already promised to send me a share of the money he gets from any of it.

Financially, there's about a $1000 difference in cost between the two plans (minimum), and if you add in the fact that I could start work sooner you can add another $1000 in potential earnings that I'd have a chance to get. I think that in itself is a pretty strong argument in favor of the alternate plan.

However, it would mean having a lot less time to pack things up, I would have to make rather last-minute arrangements for the van, and in general it doesn't allow as much leeway for things to go wrong as the original plan. I'm fairly comfortable with all of that tho, especially given the trust factor that Pat and I have, I *know* that nothing major is going to go wrong... or, if Murphey really does decide to knock us a good one, I know that we'll be able to overcome it, whatever it is.

Additional benefits would be much less stress for Stormy, and truthfully less stress for me as well since it'll all be over so much sooner.

Pat should be back from Ellensburg sometime this evening, I'll definitly discuss things with him, see what other options we can come up with, and weigh the pluses and minuses of them. If we come up with anything definite I'll post again.

Stormy's Pre-Surgery X-Ray 1

  

Stormy's Pre-Surgery X-Ray 2

  

Stormy's Return Home

Stormy came home today! I picked her up at the vet looking and feeling much much better than last night, the meds had worn off and she was my usually kitten :) After getting her home, she headed for the littler box (of course), then got a can of prescription cat food. She explored the apartment, made sure we'd kept it for her just the way she left it, then made a short appearance on my web cam to reassure her distant friends. After that, she hopped up onto my computer monitor for a nice warm nap, which has to feel good. I'm not surprised she had trouble regulating her body temp at the vet, what with how cold they keep those places, and the amount of belly she had shaved... heck, she only has one layer of fur anyway. So yea, she's zonked out about 6" above where I'm typing this right now, and it makes me happy :D

For a look at her x-rays showing the gas bubbles that indicated the intestines were starting to get tangled up and cut off, go to www.vetpacs.com and select VEC Seminole from the drop down on the Get Exam side. Enter the code 5TB6EJKL, then hit ok. You'll need to install an ActiveX control to view and manipulate the images.

Anyway, I'm just gonna sit here and smile in Stormy's general direction :) cyas!

Stormy's Surgical Adventure!

So last night I hear Stormy hacking, look over, and she's got about 1 foot of a 3 foot string hanging out of her mouth, all covered in slimy goo. I called the emergency number, cut off the bit sticking out, and she threw up again (this time no string) so they told me to bring her in. I got her to the clinic (she was acting normal now) and waited in the waiting room 4 hours. Then I waited in the exam room another hour.

The doctor came in, decided we need to do an X-Ray to see if there's any sign of damage to the intestine or not yet. At this point, she's had enough. She fights them so hard they have to use gas to sedate her (can't get near enough for needles) for the X-Ray.

The X-Ray shows a lot of gas bubbles throughout her intestines, some of which are normal, but that many indicates that the string has already begun to twist up and tie off parts of her intestine, thus trapping the gas. At this point, there's a slim chance she'll pass the string ok, and a very good chance that she won't. If she doesn't pass the string ok, a whole lotta very bad things can happen, all of which involve either extremely long-term recovery, or death. I decide to do the surgery ASAP, since there are no serious problems currently (no sign that the intestine has been breached yet) it seems like the smart thing to do.

At 2am they do the surgery, I'm at home trying to either pull an all-nighter, or set up enough alarm clocks to feel safe getting some sleep. I end up going for sleep. At 4am I get a call from the surgeon, everything went very well, the string was already bound up in the stomach and would definitly have caused one of the serious injury/death scenarios within 24-48 hours, but he was able to get it all out through just 1 incision in her stomach.

At 7am I go in to pick her up, and take her to the regalar vet to be watched for the rest of today, she's having trouble regulating her body temp but that is normal for a cat of her dainty size recovering from surgery (not enough fat on her for her to self-regulate). If all goes well, she'll be home tonight, and back to normal in a day or two. Stomach incisions heal ridiculously fast, and I've already seen signs that she's mentally as sharp as ever.

Total bill will run about $1200, maybe a little more depending on how much today's observation costs. She's lucky I've been saving up for the move to Seattle. And I'm lucky to have someone like Pat who's first reaction was to offer any/all assistance I should ever need to make sure the move happens anyway. Well, after he'd finished expressing proper concern and confidence that Stormy will be ok :)

I'll post more here as soon as I have news, including pics of Ornery once I get her home!




EDIT: Update: The vet she's with just called, they said she's a little dehydrated, they're continuing the pain medication therapy, and her temp is a little low. Bottom line, they can fix her, but she'll be staying with them at least until tomorrow morning. I'll go visit her after work tonight, see how she's doing, take some pics, etc. They also mentioned that she seems anorexic (being only 4lbs 13oz at a year and a half old) but I think that's bunk. Someday maybe I'll do the bloodwork to prove that there's nothing wrong, but not right this minute like they wanted (I think they're digging for money).

Pat's New Apartment (and mine)

Here's a link to the apartment complex where Pat's new apartment will be, it's called Archstone at Canyon Creek. We'll have a 1 bedroom 700+ sq ft with a living and dining room and a deck, probably not a fireplace but I was a little worried about Stormy and fire anyway ;) The complex has 1 heated indoor pool, 2 outdoor pools, it's own soccer field, a fitness center, and a buncha other cool stuff, it's near a major highway but our building will be well away from the road noise. There's also a nice park and hiking trail immediatly next door. It's in the Bothell area of Seattle, one of the many nice little suburbs out there. It actually looks like fairly new construction most of it, probably not much older than Arden Villas, which is good. Anyway, once the contract is worked out and a specific apartment is selected I'll post more info.

Flight to Seattle!

Ok, here's all my flight into for the trip to Seattle (and back :( )

-----------------------------------------------------------
Trip Details
-----------------------------------------------------------
Flight: from ORLANDO FL to HOUSTON BUSH INTL
Day and Date: Wed, 5/24/2006
Flight: CO 1087
Class: Q
Depart: ORLANDO FL, 7:10AM
Arrive: HOUSTON BUSH INTL, 8:35AM
Equipment: 757-300
Meal: Snack
-----------------------------------------------------------
Flight: from HOUSTON BUSH INTL to SEATTLE WA.
Day and Date: Wed, 5/24/2006
Flight: CO 267
Class: Q
Depart: HOUSTON BUSH INTL, 12:05PM
Arrive: SEATTLE WA., 2:39PM
Equipment: 737-800
Meal: Snack
-----------------------------------------------------------
Flight: from SEATTLE WA. to NEWARK EWR
Day and Date: Sat, 6/10/2006
Flight: CO 1480
Class: V
Depart: SEATTLE WA., 11:55AM
Arrive: NEWARK EWR, 8:05PM
Equipment: 737-800
Meal: Lunch
-----------------------------------------------------------
Flight: from NEWARK EWR to ORLANDO FL
Day and Date: Sat, 6/10/2006
Flight: CO 1692
Class: V
Depart: NEWARK EWR, 9:00PM
Arrive: ORLANDO FL, 11:50PM
Equipment: 737-800
Meal:
-----------------------------------------------------------
Traveler (1):
MATZELLE/ELIZABETH
Frequent Flyer:
Seat(s) listed in flight order and subject to change: 23D/28D/16C/21C

Important Updates for Family/Friends

Ok, I think it's time for me to set a few things in stone. Or at least as close to "in stone" as plans ever get ;)

In summary, the plan is to work here in FL until mid-May, fly to Seattle on May 24, visit with Pat at his new apartment until June 10 (while doing oodles of stuff, like starting the job hunt, throwing a LAN party, and seeing Les Mis). Then I come back to FL, pack up and sell off my stuff, and move permanently to Seattle about a month later, give or take.

In more detail, here's what's going on:

My current job ends in mid-May, so timing really couldn't be better. Between now and then, I'm getting in nice and snug with TEKSystems, and they're already looking for positions for me in Seattle during my timeframe.

The visit to Seattle is rather self-explanatory, although it is worthwhile to note that Pat will already be in his new apartment by then, and that I'll be taking Stormy with me for the trip.

The moving arrangements themselves will be fairly simple, I'll put the van on an auto-carrier and box up my stuff to ship UPS. Anything not ridiculously expensive or personally important will be bought new (well, off craigslist anyway) if/when the need arises. As far as terminating my arrangements with David here, he's actually planning to move to Japan when this lease expires in June/July, so he said I'm not obligated to find a replacement roommate. Once everything's been sent on it's way, I fly myself and Stormy up to Seattle and wait for it.

Once I'm semi-settled up there (which shouldn't take more than a couple of days) I start pounding the pavement, assuming TEK Systems doesn't already have a job lined up (which it's very likely that they will, given that that's kinda what they do, and they're very very good at it). No matter what, I'll have enough $$$ to cover me for about a month, maybe a month and a half of job-hunting. Given my incentive to make this work, there won't be any problems ;)

That's about it as far as I can tell... I'll try to post updates here whenever something changes, but... I don't really make solid plans a lotta the time, so expect some changes ;)

Forget cute... Pat's now HOT!

  

Pat and I during my first visit to Seattle

I swear we were not this young... we were 19/20 at the time I believe, this was around Christmas of 2001.  He flew me up to Seattle to spend the holidays with his family, which was totally awesome, and then we flew back to FL to have a late Christmas with my family.  This picture was taken by his Dad(?) who was probably stooping over to try to get more at our height (5'2") behind their house.  Pat and I were about to go have a nice dinner and see a funny play.  It ended up being a very cold night, and we spent what seemed like forever wandering through a dark freezing park with a fountain in it that people play in during the summer.  That's about the sum total of what I can remember.

Still tho... cute couple, no?  ;)

Life is EXCELLENT

Sorry for it being so long between posts, I actually forgot about this thing for a while. Shows you how distracted I've been lately thanks to a certain someone's web cam... ;)

Let's see, to start with the most interesting stuff, I will be moving to Seattle about a month after my visit. My visit has been lengthened, so I'll be up there from May 24th through June 10th or so. The move will consist of having the car shipped via an auto carrier and all my stuff shipped via UPS. David plans on moving to Japan as soon as our lease expires, which I believe is in July, so I don't even have to worry about finding him a roommate.

Things with Pat have been going great, other than wishing I had a webcam, or wishing I could fly up for a quick weekend, I can't find any complaints. Well, his free shows have been a little distracting, but luckily there haven't been any more since the first day. His plot 1 arrived, and was cool, except for the picture of the two of us from ages ago, which was awesome. I swear we were never that young, but we were a pretty cute couple ;) I'll post the pic as soon as I get home. My plot 3 is still in suspended mode, and I got a rough start to plot 4, but at least it started on schedule, and I'll be able to kick it back on track in about a week.

Work is good, I am the only employee left, and Lisa has been quite comfortable working from home a lot of the time. Gary (from AES) actually contacted me today, sounding me out about getting involved in eSports again... to my surprise, I think I'd rather like to do so... I think part of why I'm setting up this CAL team is because I'm bored and miss that sort of organizing/managing thing that I used to do with Gary. We'll see what happens, but I'd certainly be open to doing some more of that sort of work, just for the hell of it really.

Stormy is totally and completely awesome. She can do pull-ups now. There's no way for me to describe her, or the reasons why she's so awesome, in plain text. All I can say is that she's nearly human, and very very presious to me. She continues to make me smile and laugh every day, and is (almost) always there when I need her. She also cuddles, which gives me an unfair advantage during these last 50 days until the Seattle visit over Pat. Although cat cuddles are very different from people cuddles... and the anticipation of course will make the reality all that much sweeter.

There really hasn't been that much else going on, except that the fact that I'm moving away from my parents has begun to sink in. Not that I have any seperation anxiety about them, but just that... well... after seeing so many of my grandparents go the way of alzheimers, I know that I should appreciate and treasure all these years that my parents are still "all there". I also think that's a good basis for an argument for starting a family sometime, as my sister is finally doing (for those of you who don't know, she'll probably have a kid sometime in the next year). But I think the fact is that I've been near them for too long. I still love spending time with them, but the fact that I always can means I rarely do. Just one of those human quirks. I think putting some distance (say about 3500 miles) between us will help that tremendously.

I think that about covers it for this morning, except to say that all of you should start playing OGame! It's a free html-based space empires game you can find at http://ogame.org if you want to try it (like I said, it's free, you've got nothing to lose) please sign up for Universe 16 that's where I am with my alliance called The Viking Kittens (TVK is the tag) :D