So it's been a while. Unlike some of my cohorts, who are simply too lazy to post, I've been terribly busy, without power, without phones, without internet access, etc. So that makes me better than them, I guess.
We're in the new house! We were about four days late in moving in, as some finishing touches needed to be made over the final weekend. The sod in the front yard is still not in, and there are a couple of niggling details, but all in all we're in good shape...
...or we are *now*. The move itself was a bit of an experience.
We got the moving truck (the 26-footer) loaded up okay. Two guys from church helped, and things went very smoothly. We went out and had a nice lunch at the Palmdale El Dorado ($4.95 AYCE lunch buffet!). The drive up to Tehachapi was pretty uneventful.
As soon as we hit the Tehachapi Pass, it started to rain. Just sprinkling, so no big deal. We got up to the house and I showed the guys around (which rooms were which and so on). All at once, it started to sleet like crazy. After only five minutes or so of painful, driving sleet and numerous welts, it began to snow. Well, "snow" as a verb is a little tame: visibility was zero, snow was going sideways. It was nearly impossible to keep the moving truck's (un)loading ramp from icing up, and more than one dolly-full of boxes went sliding down the ramp with mover hanging on for dear life behind it.
We were able to get everything moved into the garage without major incident. By then it had *really* begun to come down, and Nase still wasn't home with the two kids (and the cat). I tried to call, but it turned out Pac^H^H^HSBC hadn't turned on my phone lines like I had ordered. And Edison hadn't turned on my electricity like I had ordered. Hrm.
Nase eventually arrived just fine, only after driving into a few drifts to avoid crashing. (snow + steep hills = bad) So there we were, Nase and me, the two movers, the two kids, and the cat. Without power. Oh, and they closed the gate into our community because of the snow, so no one could enter or leave without either 4x4 or chains. (Our movers came up in a rear-wheel-drive Toyota truck.)
So there we all were. No electricity. No heat. Don't know any neighbors. No landlines. Poor cell coverage (depending on the side of the house you stand on). No warm clothes. No bedding (at least, not for *six* people).
I went next door to ask the people for some firewood. After politely declining their repeated offer to have us sleep at their house, they mentioned that they didn't have firewood, but would be happy to run electricity from their garage to our house. They also suggested a couple of different houses that we could try if we needed firewood. (They *also* brought over two Tombstone pizzas with paper plates (aka, "kindling") and napkins (aka, "good kindling").) I went across the street and found a couple that helped us out with a wheelbarrow full of firewood. (Good thing too, as it took Edison an additional two days to get our electricity on... :-/ )
To summarize, we moved in on a Wednesday, got power on a Friday, got our first phone line on Monday, got the second line on Monday, lost the second line on Tuesday. Aside from the fact that I was offline and missing work for about five days, it was a really interesting experience. I'm sure we won't forget huddling around the small fire, covered in moving blankets, trying to stay warm. :-)
In any case, things are mostly finished now. I'm still on 56k dialup (high-speed microwave is about two weeks out), but other than that things are great. I enjoyed my time as a retiree, and look forward to the next time I can do that. :-)
To celebrate getting back online and caught up (mostly), I picked up a 6-pack of the Anderson Valley Brewing Company's Barney Flats Oatmeal Stout (located in my favorite little hole-in-the-wall liquor store here in Tehachapi). It is absolutely incredible. AVBC shows a lot of promise with its other brews, and I shall do all diligence in bringing the full story to you, my loyal readers.
There's a lot of negativity going around. Not in any sort of hippie sense, but more in a spiritual malaise sense. I used to feel that same spiritual malaise, that sense that "life certainly has to be better than this". One phrase changed that.
Freedom in Christ
The concept of "freedom" has been skewed by American politicophilosophy. (Yes, I made that word up.) Freedom has come to mean that you can do whatever you want, so long as you don't hurt someone else... a very Wiccan view of things. In fact, "freedom in Christ" means the freedom to NOT displease God, to NOT have to worry about tomorrow, to NOT face an eternity apart from our Creator.
Without Christ, we cannot please God. We want to do what is right, but fail miserably. And yet, it's not even up to our own efforts. As Christians, we are FREE to please our Maker apart from our own actions.
That would be enough: I can be pleasing to God where before I couldn't. It still requires that I constantly give myself to Him, rather than TRY to please him. It's an odd dichotomy: as I try to please Him more, I fail. As I allow Him to simply give me what I need and make myself more available to Him, I please Him more.
However, it doesn't stop there. "Freedom is Christ" means that I don't have to worry about my mistakes, my big life decisions, or my "lot in life". I know that I cannot thwart God's plan, nor can I really make a mistake so long as I am seeking God in my life. Basically, it boils down to wanting what God wants, and the rest just falls into place.
Before you ask, no, my life isn't perfect. I have different problems than most of my friends, but there are still problems. Being 27 with an eight-year-old boy and a four-year-old girl and having been married for nearly nine years... there are definitely difficult periods. However, at the end of the day, I'm content with knowing that God is in control (because that's where we've put Him) and that NOTHING can change that.
So basically, I'm a cheerleader for living the carefree Christian life.
Y'know, it all comes down to Dixie Chicks references...
It has been a while, O my brothers, but things are going well. The house is nearing completion and we're going up tomorrow to sign loan papers and pick out plants for the front yard. The builder is confident that 2/14 is the finish date, our realtor is fairly confident that they will hit that date, our mortgage broker is a little nervous, and the appraiser said, "That does NOT look like a house that is ten days out." So I guess we will just see. Not the demulcent feelings I wanted to be getting, going into a new house purchase, but I think we'll be fine.
Beer notes: I found a Flying Dog brewery selection at a small liquor store near here. The first I've tried was a "Road Dog" Scottish Porter. This was easily the one of the three or so best beers I've ever tasted. A little lighter than most porters, it had a very distinct, almost sweet-tinged flavor to it. I'm looking forward to visiting the brewery/pub in Denver when I go later this month, then in April. The other cool beer thing is that I found a Bass Ale 6-pack at my local grocery store for $6. :-)
I've been seeing some bizarre behavior from that old adversary, Network Solutions. Aside from their "errors" in the WHOIS database, where domains appear to expire later than they really do (think about it), I received a, uh, helpful email from them: