107493469808441487

Plano: Day 5

I’m almost done with The Magician’s Nephew; I figure I’ll be through it tonight. I can already see that, as soon as I’m done with it, I’ll be compelled to begin the next book. This is some good stuff.

My TV got here a couple hours ago and, as I expected, it’s good ‘n’ big. I was going to get the smaller version of the same TV, but Best Buy didn’t have it in any of their stores around here and they couldn’t deliver it (“limited delivery area” for that particular TV or something). Anyway, I decided I’d just go ahead and get the bigger version. I figure it’ll be a little more fun anyway.

I tried to play around with the DVD-player/TiVo I bought, but I can’t use it until I perform the initial setup on it… Problem is the initial setup requires a phone line, which I don’t have. So, I’m trying to think of a way to get to a phone line that I can use for an hour while plugging my TiVo into a television, so I can see what I’m doing. I’m still not sure what I’ll do.

I let those jokers at Best Buy talk me into buying the super-expensive Monster Cables (component video and RCA audio) rather than the cheaper Acoustic Research versions of the same cables. After thinking about it and talking to friend, I’m going to take the unopened cables back and get the Acoustic Research ones instead. I doubt I’ll be able to tell the difference in quality, but I’m sure I’ll notice the difference in the quantity of money in my bank account.

In a little bit, some friends are driving over from Ft. Worth for some lunch and then they’re going to help me decide what furniture to get. After three straight days of browsing furniture stores, I’d experienced information overload and couldn’t seem to make a rational decision. Hopefully, some objectivity and good taste will help me decide on something.

All done with Book 1: The Magician’s Nephew

I’m through the first book and that leaves six more. I really enjoyed re-reading the history of Narnia (I had read this book when I was 10 or so, but didn’t remember much of it) and I’m excited to re-read The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe over the next few days. What a good use of my time.

Furniture bust

Well, after a few hours and several stores, I decided on a furniture set I really liked. I had actually been looking at the set for a few days, trying to decide if I liked it and what color I’d prefer. This afternoon, I decided I did like the set and that I preferred khaki (over olive and cherry). About 30 seconds after I’d declared my decision to my friends, a salesperson walked up and said, “Oh, you like this set? It’s been discontinued. I think they’re all out of the khaki loveseats.” Of course. The one color of the one set I decided on is discontinued and can’t be found anywhere. So, I’m basically back to square-one. I’m headed back there on Monday to see if they found any of those loveseats, or if maybe one of their warehouses is holding one or couldn’t deliver one or something. It’s all wishful thinking, mostly; I essentially have to just be patient and hope that a local store gets something that I like in soon. Until then, I’ll keep using my leather office chair for all my sitting needs.

Vineyard

I’m going to a Vineyard church tomorrow. I don’t know what to expect, but I hope I enjoy it and meet some people.

107493466677436835

Plano: Day 4

I spent most of the day laying around and watching TV. It’s a good thing it took me a few days to figure out that I could watch the tube with my computer, or I wouldn’t have gotten anything done since I moved here.

Anyway, the major thing I accomplished was getting my car an oil change and a “state inspection”, which is apparently a way that Texas gets lots of annual revenue from everyone who wants to drive a car in the state. The whole deal shoulda’ taken about a half hour, but there was a little misunderstanding that cost me about an hour-and-a-half more: After they’d finished the oil change and had begun the inspection, the guy came inside and said, “You know, one of your wiper blades–I guess it’s a refill or something–is leaving a couple little streaks on the windshield ’cause it’s not making contact or something. Do you want us to put a new one on the driver’s side for ya’?” And, thinking they’d charge me ten bucks or so to install a one-dollar part, I said, “Naw, that’s ok. I’ll just do it myself.” So, a few minutes later, the guy comes in and says, “It’ll be…dollars for the oil change and the inspection, which you failed.” “Failed?”, I said. “Yeah, ’cause of that wiper blade.” And, of course, if I’d known I was going to fail the stupid inspection because of the “little streaks” the wiper blade was leaving, I’d have gone ahead and gotten gouged for the stupid wiper blade. But, because he didn’t explain that I was gonna’ fail the inspection if they didn’t replace that blade, I had to go to Wal-Mart, get blade refills, change the blades in the parking lot, drive back over and wait an hour-and-a-half for the jokers to look at the new blade, give it a test run and decide my car passed.

But, at least I got the oil change and inspection done, so I don’t have to knock off work to get it done later. Tomorrow, I’m going with some friends (who lived in Gainesville and moved out here a little over a year ago) to try to make a final decision on the furniture I’ve been trying to buy.

The Magician’s Nephew is coming along nicely and I’m really enjoying the adventure. C.S. Lewis has a super knack for telling a great, vivid story with very few words. I’ve only read about 100 pages and I feel like Iï¿½ve been part of the kids’ adventure for months.

107493464017831946

Plano: Day 3

Well, a new day has begun and it didn’t begin with a neighbor banging on a wall or the lawn-maintenance people doin’ their thing. Unfortunately, it did begin with a few hours of tossing and turning since I seem to be having trouble sleeping soundly. I’m hoping that I’m just not used to my new environment or something, but I might be breakin’ out the Tylenol PM pretty soon if this restlessness doesn’t subside.

I’m about to head out to buy more stuff. First, I’m off to the furniture stores to see if I can make a decision on some stuff. I think I’ll go with a set at Rooms To Go, but I’m having a little problem over there: I’m considering two sets. The “nicer” set is a little more expensive, but a lot more comfortable and it looks a bit more casual (which is what I’m after), but it only comes in three colors–khaki, olive and cherry–none of which is very appealing. The khaki and olive are not only ugly, but too light and would show dirt after about four minutes of use. The cheaper set (cheaper by about $300 American) has better colors (I guess)–both much darker versions of khaki and olive–but the cushions feel like they’re actually rocks wrapped in fabric. The fabric is kinda’ strange too, because it has that suede look (the one where you can write your name with your finger, then erase it with a swipe of your hand). But overall, the set is decent looking. The good news is that I found a dining room set (table and four chairs) that is reasonably priced and the wood matches the wood for the “cocktail” tables and end tables of the two living room sets. I’m going crazy just writing this junk.

Then, I’m off to Best Buy. I decided I’m going to buy a DVD player/TiVo combo by Toshiba. It looks like it’s the best of both worlds (it’s the 80-hour version of the TiVo and a decent progressive scan DVD player with all the standard outputs) and it works out to be a little cheaper than buying a DVD player and TiVo separately. I guess intuition says it should be cheaper to buy them in a combo deal, but that isn’t always true with new technology. The rule of thumb with new technology is: the newer and/or more convenient, the pricier. I’m also getting a little TV stand for my new TV.

I’m off to read a little more about Narnia, then I’m braving the furniture stores.

TV up and running

I had my cable turned on a couple days ago, but hadn’t been able to watch any TV since I don’t have one yet… until I was looking through a box of computer junk and stumbled upon a TV-tuner card that I borrowed from my roommate a while back. It took a little doing (the card was made back in ’98, so it was tough to get it to work with Windows XP), but I was able to catch Must See TV tonight and I’ll have something to do tomorrow night as well.

Phone home

I’ve been spending a lot of time (mostly at night) on the phone with friends and family from back home. I think it’s necessary that I keep in touch with those who are close to me, so I can maintain my grip on the reality that exists outside my little world here. Also, I just really enjoy talking to people from back home and it’s nice to hear familiar voices.

107493458265631402

Plano: Day 2

I haven’t been this exhausted in a while… I didn’t sleep well or long last night, thanks to my own restlessness and the lawn maintenance guys. I woke up pretty early (around 9) and got back to running errands, making phone calls, browsing–furniture, mostly–and buying stuff for my apartment. I’ve spent about $150 at Target over the past couple days and I still haven’t even got pots ‘n’ pans and things like that. All I’ve bought is various soaps, stuff for the bathroom, a Foreman Grill and some other little things I needed.

Seems like furniture shopping’s a little trickier than I’d hoped. I’ve been to a few stores and none of them have exactly what I want–style, color, comfort, price–but all of the stores have some of what I want. I guess compromise will be the name of the game and it ain’t gonna’ be as cheap a game as I’d hoped.

My cable’s turned on, but I don’t have a TV yet, so I’m enjoying looking at the little black chord coming from the wall. I don’t have any idea when my internet will be turned on, so that’s making it even more difficult to do all my shopping and furniture buying and such. Also, I have about 15 “anytime” minutes to get me through next Tuesday (although the weekend will be free, so I’m having a hard time getting a hold of everyone I need to and I’ve been ignoring a lot of calls during the day.

As I’ve driven around Plano, I’ve noticed things that remind me of home and I’m thankful I’m so busy because I’d probably get pretty down if I allowed those things to cause me to stop and think about what I left behind. In fact, even this blog entry is more of a voluntary distraction than a necessity. I find myself taking solace in the fact that I know I won’t be here, doing this, forever.

The Chronicles of Narnia

I finally bought the box set at Christmas Conference, but I wouldn’t allow myself to begin reading them until I was here in Dallas. As I suspected, I’m already having a hard time putting them down; I had to pull myself away to go brush my teeth a little while ago. I’d forgotten how much fun C.S. Lewis’ stories are to read and I’m already totally engrossed in the plot. I’m surprised how similar the basic premise is to Tolkein’s Lord of the Rings stories: people touch gold rings and suddenly disappear; other people look after those with the rings.

Anyway, I’m really looking forward to plowing through these books as I’ve been anticipating it for some time now.

Buying stuff

I’m glad I left a week buffer before my start-date to do some shopping and furnish my apartment. Already, I’ve found I haven’t enough time in the day to run all the errands and buy all the stuff I need. I’ve been to Target several times and I browsed several furniture stores today. Best Buy is my new home-away-from-home and I spent a good deal of time looking at stuff in other electronics stores (although, surprisingly, Best Buy has the best prices on basically everything). The thing that is most difficult about shopping right now is that I don’t have an internet connection, so I can’t do the research I usually do. It’s rare that I’ll buy something without spending a fair amount of time browsing the web for specs, reviews and bargains; but, without an internet connection, my only recourse is to drive around looking for stores that might sell the stuff I’m after. I generally have a pen and paper in hand and I just write down whatever I need to remember that piece of furniture or electronic thing, so I can make comparisons later. It’s painstaking, frustrating and pretty imprecise.

But the most frustrating thing is that I’m buying only the things I think I’ll need to feel at home, but I still feel like I’m just blowing money. I mean, I’ll be bringing home a decent paycheck soon, but I’m definitely already spending some of that money before I’ve earned it. I’m not accustomed to spending money I don’t have, but I guess it’s ok to make an exception in this situation. I’m trying to exercise as much self-control as possible, so hopefully it’ll pay off.

Friends

I’m realizing how fortunate I am to have a large group of friends thinking of me back home. I spent quite a while on the phone tonight with several people and I felt very encouraged while I spoke with them. Some friends, I was just shooting the breeze, seein’ what’s up back home; some friends, I was asking for advice on whether to buy this or that; some friends, I was looking for pointers to help me make this transition as smooth as possible. But all my conversations were encouraging to me and made me thankful that I have such good friends who care about me and are praying for me. I’m sure their prayers and concern will make this time much easier for me.