Yesterday was my last day at work. I caught many people off guard because they still had me on the schedule through next week. I actually got a little misty eyed. I thanked the handful of people who were actually nice to me and thanked me for the job I did for them. Jim and the girls in coordinator’s office drew up a card for me. It was sweet. I promised some people I would come back to visit after things get settled and I have extra time and money. 

Ruts are easy things to get into. And you can stay in them because they are familiar. I actually had trouble imagining life beyond those damn walls. Its only going to get worse for them. In an attempt to save money they are never going to make anyone full time, only temporary. So they now have a labor shortage because no one wants to work that shitty job for starting pay and no benefits. Like I did for 3 fucking years.

The others just ignored me or avoided me because they didn’t like me and knew that I could cuss them out. What are they going to do? Have me fired?

Today I packed more stuff for my move tomorrow. Ruth, who I always call Miss Ruth, took me out to lunch. She bought me groceries once when I was broke and forbid me from paying her back. She is sweet and always positive even after the way they treated her. Being the only Jewish woman in an all Baptist bakery was hell of Earth for her. Especially when they made Nazi holocaust jokes at her expense and still kept their jobs!

She took me to my favorite Chinese restaurant. I gave her a big hug and bid her goodbye.

I am probably going out tonight. There is a late showing of Jurassic World and I think I will go see it.

There is a problem the power at my new place. My mom won’t tell me the renter’s phone number so I can ask if the duplex has numbers other than the goddamn street number. But of course she can’t find it and is too busy to give it to me so I can’t do anything to solve the problem. You’d think I’d need to know that but I don’t. Its going to be all sorts of fun  when the rent is due.

But I can’t complain too much because she helped me get this place and get it set up.

I did my orientation for my new job on Friday. I took EIGHT HOURS. I got up at 5 that morning to get an early start because it takes about 2 hours to get to Hickory from Boone, and damnation it is hot in the flat lands off the mountain! We had to fill out reams of paperwork and take tests. Essentially we had to go through the application process all over again and sign and date every single piece of paper we were presented with.

We then went into an office and did it all electronically!

After I was done I propped off a load of my stuff at my new place and met my mom and went to her house. Her place is only a 10 minute drive from mine. She insisted that I stay for dinner so I didn’t leave until 8:30 that night. It was 10:30 by the time I got back to Boone. I had time to take a shower, read two chapters of “War of the Worlds” by HG Wells and fall asleep to be at work again the next morning at 5am.

I told my boss that I was putting in my two-weeks notice but he barely acknowledged it. Too bad. I had some more choice words about how he treated me.

I start my new job on the 27th. So, I have this week to call Duke Power and get them to connect my electricity, and I have Friday, Saturday and Sunday to move the rest of my stuff with Wednesday to do the final walk through with my old renter to get my security deposit back. I also have to file a change of address with the Post Office, give my renter my new address to have my mail forwarded and change my billing address with the NCSECU. I still get mail for the people that lived their before me. Just junk mail. I’d hate it if that Anubis book I contributed to on Kickstarter didn’t get forwarded to me. Maybe I should contact them too.

Today me and mom, with the aid of my car and her pick-up truck, moved a significant amount of my furniture. Now, all I have left is three futons (one not in use) a chest of drawers with no draws, my mattress, my chest, entertainment center/bookcase and a couple of end tables. I’ll try to take some on Friday, but mom thinks that we should just get a 10′ truck from U-haul or something. That will cost about $90.

I got the job and apartment! I’ll be living and working in Hickory in about 2 weeks. I passed the interview and signed the lease today. I’ll soon be leaving Boone. 

At first I felt nostalgic. I’m going to miss Boone. I thought that I will never look at its hills or walk along its streets again. Then some idiot frat boy screamed at me from a passing car and laughed when I flinched. Then I remembered why I wanted to leave in the first place.

The up shot is that my cost of living is going to be much lower, but I will have to take about an dollar an hour cut due to my level of experience as a CNA. But, now I can get more certifications and that can raise my pay. Also I can learn other skill sets to get me out of CNA work. Its not a dream job by any stretch of the imagination but it will keep me alive until something better comes along. And I hope something better will come along. 

But, I will miss Boone. I hate change and I hate moving. My parents divorced when I was three and even though they lived in the same county, they moved around a lot and shared custody of me. I moved around a lot and not to sound to cliche but I loved the stability living in one place. But when all your friends move away and your family is a two hour drive away it makes for some lonely, desperate living.

I am so glad to be leaving this place, but damnation I fucking hate moving! seven trips out to the new place and I still have so much shit left to move. I have been at it since 8 this morning and I gave up around 5. I feel like I have run a marathon. 

I guess have come to another conclusion about myself. I have a subconscious fear of change. Any kind of change. I suppose it is from being little I was never in any one place for too long. My parents moved around a lot, even though it was in the same county mostly, and they had shared custody of me so there was a week here and a week there. To answer Pink Floyd’s question, I would never exchange cold comfort for change. I always end up losing piece of mind, friends, things, etc. I think this might be for the best though.  

I signed the paper work today. I will spend all weekend moving into my new place. It is clean and high above any flood zones. Also, it will only take me 10 minutes to walk to work. It will do, but I am still set on getting a room in Hunter’s old building. 

I thought about the days I help her and Yvonne move and I got a little nostalgic, and a little misty eyed. I really miss them. I still talk to Hunter and I really need to pay Yvonne a visit. Sigh…

I hope this works out better than this one. No floods or idiots. Much needed solitude. So, for those who follow me here, I will be online sporadically over the next week until I can get my own connection again. This one might go down tomorrow.

Wish me luck.