Written a good three weeks ago and never finished or posted...

Hmmm… The plan was to update this every week or so, wasn’t it? I’m looking at the date on the last thing I wrote and feeling like very much of a slacker. Ah well, I hide behind the feeble excuse of being forever busy.

A fair amount has happened in the past little while. I had my month in Island Bay, then sat on another house in Johnsonville for the rest of July, and up until yesterday, and this weekend I have moved (a little more permanently) into a flat in Newtown, which is rather exciting.

America is still in the same state as it has been for quite some time. Yes, I am going. I’ve given them over a thousand dollars, I’m damn well going. It’s a question of when, not if, and I promise I will let people know as soon as I get my act together and get things organised. When I know where I’m going, or when I’m going, or anything else, I’ll put something up on facebook, or here, or both. I’m not just going to vanish off overseas without warning. Currently I’m planning on November. Knowing me, that will morph into December, but I should be gone by the end of the year.

I’ve found living alone to be a very interesting experience. It was something I enjoyed a lot of the time, but certainly not something I think I could do long term. At least not while spending most of my working time alone as well. I think that was one of the things I found a little difficult at times; having several days in a row without any real conversation. Much as I love talking with the kids at work, the conversation is not always especially thrilling, and I did get a tad lonely at times, especially now that the younger boy has started school, meaning I get nearly six hours of being completely alone at work.

In Johnsonville I was pretty much doing the same thing as Island Bay. Feeding a cat and bringing in the mail. Although I was a lot closer to work, I actually had to leave earlier (Yay for leaving the house at 6:30!), as I had no car, so was walking twenty minutes to the train station every morning. I didn’t seem to mind it too much, though. Once you’re out of bed and awake, it’s rather nice to be up and outside before many other people. It’s just the getting out of bed part that I’m not so fond of. Ah well, to get to work from the flat I’ll have to leave even earlier.

I’ve also turned into a crazy lady who continuously talks about her cats and her kids. It’s actually scary how much I do it. I have resolved to change this, and am working on talking less about both, and finding other things to do with my time besides looking after kids and cats. I suspect that living with actual human beings and no cats will be helpful in this endeavour. I am, however, most delighted that my drugs to keep the kitty allergies at bay are working effectively. They certainly make work a lot easier.

I’m going to be living in Newtown for about three months. I’ve committed until the 24th of November, at which point I will leave, as one of the flats is being dropped, things are being rearranged, and there will no longer be room for me. At that point I should be not too far off America, so I’ll go back home for a few weeks until I leave.

I’m also going to buy a scooter. I’d like a car, but they’re fairly expensive to run, so I’m settling for a little scooter that will get me as far as work and back, and perhaps a few other places that I might choose to go. Looking at Trademe I reckon I can get a fairly decent one for about a grand, maybe a bit less, if I’m lucky. All I really need is a cheap little thing that will get me where I need to go for a few months, then I’ll probably put it straight back up on Trademe when I leave, thus hopefully saving a fair amount of money on transport, as those things run pretty cheaply. It also means I won’t have to be getting up quite so early for work, which is certainly a bonus.