97 thoughts on “August 18, 2015: Logistics”

    1. The last time I moved, it was during a pretty bad ice storm. That made an already terrible thing even more awful, although being able to simply use gravity to get to the back of the Uhaul was nice. That was almost eight years ago, so I've been able to not do it again for awhile.

      Of course, I've been getting that MN itch lately myself.

      1. Of course, I've been getting that MN itch lately myself.

        Dido. We've toyed with the idea of moving to Minneapolis. Leaving the People's Republic would uproot us in a very serious way, and I would really miss commuting together, working for the same organization (with a mission that matches our priorities), and especially our friendships. At the same time, I'm conscious of the fact that most of my close friends here are 60+, and that this state is circling the drain with nothing in place to stop it.

        Then again, the thought of not being able to buy beer on a Sunday – or in a grocery store! – strikes me as barbaric.

        1. Come to St. Paul. Hudson is less than a 30 minutes, and you get a nice Sunday drive out of the deal.

          1. I don't have anything against St. Paul, really, though the line of work I'm in leads me to think Minneapolis would be more professionally sustainable. Nord'east between Central & Stinson seems like a nice community, and the Bancroft/Northrop area of Powderhorn/Nokomis has some nice homes.

            To be honest, I'm not sure I'm cut out for living in either city. One of the reasons I live on the edge of the People's Republic is because it was built in the early Sixties and hits the sweet spot between feeling like you're living on top of somebody else (or them on top of you) and the Little Boxes McMansions of modern subdivisions.

            1. I live in exactly the area you are talking about (right off Lowry and Central), and there is a lot going for it. Unfortunately, that draws tons of people. If you are seriously looking, drop me a line.

              1. My uncle's near you, then. Your neighborhood feels like a bit of an oasis. And Hazel's...

                I feel like if we did it, that's where we'd try to land. But I'm probably a few years from upward mobility in this gig.

        2. I've told Mrs. Runner that my tombstone is going to be in the back yard. We've been in this house 15 years and MO 25+ years, and I can't see moving at this point. And we have beer sales on Sunday (and very fine wine country in the county). Home is where you make it, I guess.

          1. And we have beer sales on Sunday

            which matters to you how, since you don't like beer? 🙂

        3. In all seriousness, move wherever you can get the most help with the baby. YMMV of course, but I am pretty sure I'd be in the loony bin right now were it not for the help my family has provided during these last few years.

          In the last week alone it has included shopping for and assembling goody bags for a b-day party, help getting ready for said party in other ways, and today taking a 2-year-old with a 101°F fever to the doctor, thus allowing me to go to my job. Plus free childcare two days a week all year long. (Yes, I realize I'm extremely lucky.)

          1. Our current living situaiton does not have that kind of support, which concerns me. We don't have any close relatives within fewer than two hours' drive of the People's Republic. I'm never moving back home – there's no work for me there even if I wanted to – and I'd really, really rather not live in Chicagoland despite having great friends down there and a really good relationship with my mother-in-law.

            2. I will admit having no reliable support system was/is incredibly difficult and I'm pretty sure I'm suffering as a result (much too quick to get angry and yell), which is a strong part of the itch I have to move back up near my family.

            3. We're also completely on our own out here, as far as family and support go; our closest relatives are almost 2000 miles away. It would have been great to have someone else here when the kids were babies, but we made do. It's not ideal, and I would have loved someone around to take over when we needed a break, but we get by.

              Having so many more friends and relatives around is about the only thing we really miss by living in California. I've been here 15 years now, and it really does feel like home. Short of some huge change/calamity, we're never leaving. I had thoughts in the back of my mind for years that some day, I might move back to Minnesota, but that ship has definitely sailed. My wife and I both have jobs that are hard to find, so getting two in the same area means we're never leaving. Plus, I've gotten soft in my time out here. I don't think I could handle a real winter, and I know my wife couldn't. We were with my mom for christmas last year, and trying to get things done out in the cold sealed it for sure. I've become a Californian.

              1. Same scenario -- our nearest relatives on either side are 5 hr drive away.

                Part of the reason moved out of Los Angeles was to get weather. While we didn't make it up to God's Country, we do have our seasons; maybe a bit too much humidity in the summers, but I get a good chuckle when people here complain about the winter cold.

                1. I do miss the seasons some, but I get plenty of winter by visiting for a week in December, plus there's always the mountains. We can be in snow at Big Bear in 45 minutes. The one thing I miss more than seasons is real thunderstorms. Managed to catch a big one when we were in Minnesota in July, though.

              2. Plus, I've gotten soft in my time out here. I don't think I could handle a real winter, and I know my wife couldn't

                I spent 1.5 winters in Texas, and I dread the upcoming winter. I hated winter to begin with, and I'm afraid I went even softer.

                1. I'm surprised how much of a difference it made being gone for this long. I never used to mind the cold and snow all that much, but this December when we're we visiting my family, I just kept thinking "How did I ever deal with this?"

                2. I definitely went soft after 6 years in D.C. I can deal with temps down to single digits, but once those hit... I'm staying inside. The good news is that I can.

              3. A little different subject, but one of my concerns about getting older is my lack of a support system close by. We have no children, my brothers live a long way away, and none of our nieces or nephews is particularly close, either. We've moved a few times, and while we'd prefer not to move again, the chances are that we will a couple of times, so we don't have the kind of "old friends" that you have when you've lived in the same place a long time. I don't worry about it too much, but my work puts me in touch with a lot of elderly people, plus I see my own parents, so it is a concern.

                    1. Just come here and mention that updates will be early this week because there's not a lot to do in the home.
                      Then I'll fire up the VR travel video chat thing and "visit".

          2. We moved to Central Illinois 8.5 years ago, and we had no family at the time. However, we built a great support system through our church and the homeschool community. They have been invaluable. Then about 2-3 years after we moved here my mom moved to the same town, since she works from home. That has also been a tremendous blessing to have her in town and so close.

            Ever since I left Minnesota in 1989, I pondered the thought of moving back. Now that feeling has largely dissipated. My wife's family is in St. Louis, and my family is so scattered across the states that moving up there really doesn't get us closer to family. However, one of these days I do want to go up there and actually meet some of you fine people in person.

            1. However, one of these days I do want to go up there and actually meet some of you fine people in person.

              We're overrated!

          3. Our closest relative is 6+ hours away. Raising three kids with two working parents is definitely stressful. So is using all of your vacation time to visit relatives and then have them blow you off.

            If we had to do it over, I think we would have ended up in Des Moines. It would have been between our families.

            1. EAR and I grew up about 2 hours apart in the southwestern half of MN. We live about 2 hours from each set of parents.
              Her sisters both live here, so we've had them around and both of her folks are retired so they visit frequently.
              I do have aunts, uncles, and cousins in the cities, but no one we see that often. We should fix that but, life gets busy.

          4. This. So. Much. This.

            Today we took Aristotle in for a second set of appointments to figure out what's wrong with her continued failed potty training/bladder/tethered spinal cord stuff. My siblings were able to watch the other kids, who spent the day playing with their cousins and having a great time. We live 2.5 hours away now, but it's workable when we need to be in the cities anyway. I cannot imagine what we'd be doing if we lived out in D.C. Being even more stressed, I guess.

  2. Speaking of logistics, I'll be leaving early tomorrow morning and basically won't be back until Saturday night.* A couple of days visiting the parental units, and a couple of days with the spousal unit.

    *I'll be home Thursday night, but then will leave again early Friday morning.

    So, I'll need someone to handle the recap of the Wednesday game. The birthday lists are all done and scheduled, so unless I get the dreaded "missed schedule" they should come up. Minor Details, of course, can't be done ahead of time, so I'll work on getting caught up next week. Get the Twins some wins while I'm gone.

  3. So fans who currently subscribe to a Fox-owned RSN and want to watch their local team’s games via the Internet will now be in luck — at least beginning in 2016. In particular, as Maury Brown has noted, the pending agreement will create an in-market streaming option for local fans of the following teams (assuming they subscribe to the applicable Fox RSN): the Braves, Reds, Indians, Rangers, Tigers, Royals, Angels, Marlins, Brewers, Twins, Yankees, Diamondbacks, Padres, Cardinals, and Rays.

            1. Yup, bless Mom and Dad's cable account. I almost feel like I should mail them $10/month like netflix or something I use their password for so many things:

              WatchESPN
              HGTV
              Food Network
              NBC Sports Extra
              Lifetime

              1. My sister-in-law actually does send us a check every month to pay for HBO. We have DirecTV, so it's way cheaper for her to pay for our HBO than to get cable and then add HBO on top. We might lose the arrangement now that she can get it stand-alone for streaming.

                1. I don't even mooch off a family member for HBO. I have my friend's parents' login. And she has my parents' as well for the above applications.

  5. Nothing like moving to convince oneself of packrat tendencies.
    Digitization could save a lot, but I can't part with the physical copies of CDs, and books I may never read again. YMMV, I hope.

    Moving more than a thousand miles, rather than less than one, you probably won't be moving any "perfectly good lumber" that could "come in handy at any time" and "save a trip to the hardware store" and "would be a shame to waste".
    Further, "Why pay for a dumpster to take away perfectly good lumber?" Along with many other raw materials. I finally yielded on a few sheets and large pieces of sheetrock. Those... we could have used in the new house after we found the mold.

    The whole thing should be sweetened by moving home.

    1. I can't part with the physical copies of CDs

      This. So much this. I can't part with those, or books, or video games I've played and will never play again. At least most of those things are specifically designed to not take up all that much space.

      Relevant Wondermark comic.

      1. My wife finally convinced me to start selling off my computer game collection that I can no longer play because I don't have floppy disk drives (and I don't have time to play them anyway). I've made several hundred dollars already. It's tough to part with some of them, but it's just stuff. I'm learning to embrace the future and not so much nostalgia.

      2. The last time we moved, we must have thrown out fifty garbage bags full of stuff. And we still have way too much stuff. And we probably will continue to, at least until we move again.

      3. I can't get fully on board with digital media, either. A house full of CDs and books feels like home; I'd love to have a library in the hosue one day. I haven't watched a DVD in something like five years, though, and with a few exceptions for hard copies of important films, I'd be happy to get the rest of our accumulated DVDs out of the house.

        We just bought our kid's first books this past week. Looking at baby furniture is one thing, but the thought of getting a start on this kid's library has me geeking out.

        1. I would love a library in my eventual house. Complete with big, comfy arm chair and a globe that opens up in to a bar.

          And of course, all the books.

          1. I can't stand digital books. I have to have a fresh copy of a book.
            Digital music and movies on the other hand, I'm totally game. Not near as much skipping.

              1. Dangit, that's not what I meant. I need an actual copy of the book. Kindle/digital copies just don't work for me.

                I LOVE second-hand books. Don't need to be fresh, just needs to be printed.

          2. I tell people I really wish the original owners of our house had built a bomb shelter in '63, because it would make a fantastic root/beer cellar. We do have a pretty smooth, DIY bar in the basement, though.

              3. We have lots of bookshelves. They are all completely full despite all the books stacked in the corners.

            2. There's a word for this in Japanese – tsundoku.

              Learning it was a revelation – suddenly one of my favorite habits had a proper name.

              1. And this is now one of my favorite words. Right up there with the the Portuguese saudade

                1. Heh, I thought you were going to link to this.

                  I read Marie Kondo's book back in December and liked it a lot. I used her method on my clothes, and I'm very happy with the outcome. I want to tackle more areas, but I need my family to take a weekend trip without me so that I actually have time and space for it.

    2. Moving every 6-18 months really helps keep the clutter down.

      That said, I look forward to the slow, inevitable accumulation of crap that comes with settling down.

      1. settling down

        You weren't kidding. Here's hoping she can help you accumulate good stuff, and not just clutter.

      1. I plan on upgrading her nom de WGOM to exactly that once the ceremony is over. But technically, she could still come to her senses.

  7. Not sure if mid-century/Scandinavian modern is anyone else's thing, but Room & Board's weekends-only outlet in Golden Valley is awesome. We went just to see what it's like and try out a few chairs to replace one in our living room, but we didn't have serious intentions of buying anything. We wound up scoring a really sweet mid-century, all-American cherry dining table for $400 off retail.

    1. We're in the market for a full-sized sofa to replace the chaise we've currently got. I'll let FW know, thanks man.

    2. I love their stuff. We have a sofa that was a floor model and a R&B dining room table from Craigslist.

      That said, expect your future progeny to utterly destroy everything you own.

      1. Our platform bed came from R&B, and I'd like to get some matching bedside tables for it. They really make nice stuff.

        We have three cats, including one old, half-Siamese jackass, so I'm somewhat familiar with the destructive tendancies of dependant tenants. I fear for our beloved MCM couch, which so far the cats haven't manage to destroy on their own.

        1. If you like both modern design and frugality, this may be the high chair for you! It's also easier to clean than any other high chair I've encountered.

  8. We're in a dispute with Xfinity. I just threatened to contact Al Franken. Unlikely to result in anything, from either side realistically, but I hope it works.

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