the new place

We're in the new apartment now. The move, exhausting and tedious, went fine. Boxes are still littering the kitchen and the smell with which we were greeted is now beginning to fade. I can't believe the amount of space - and light! I think we'll enjoy being here; solving a few minor plumbing problems will help. It's so quiet. Logan Square is a wonderful, safe neighborhood, though lacking the dining and entertainment options we grew accustomed to in bucktown.

I leave for work in a couple hours and I'm trying to find constructive ways to spend my time as Xtina is working the morning shift today. Working at Whole Foods is going well - I'm surprised how much I like it. I work with some great people and I'm learning interesting things about fine cheese. My parents think I should stay here as a career position but I can't say I'm terribly satisfied with working in a grocery store, giving up my nights and weekends and serving customers. I must say I've been somewhat offended at my parents comments; sure, they just want me to be content and I know I have difficulty in that department, but I'd like to believe that my own parents would think I'm destined for better things than the service sector. Now I have to find my way out. I've stopped applying for outside jobs for the moment. The people are so great I couldn't up and leave weeks after starting, but I'm afraid the longer I wait the less chance I have of getting a job outside the service sector. The graduate school search is at a standstill - I don't know what to study and I don't have the guts to pick something and go.

But for the moment, I'm fine. I'm making money, eating and sleeping well. We got our couch yesterday, ending a two year search for such an item.

Discovery I'm most excited about: wifi signal! It's low and slow, but works.

address changes, moving vans, 12 month aged manchego

Perhaps this has been the most unique week in my Chicago tenure. I started working at whole foods this week. I got to a point where I needed to get out of the house and start earning a living and whole foods was definitely the best option considering the circumstances. My new job seems to be going well - I work with some great people and I'm learning more about the worlds' fine cheeses than I thought was possible. I'm not too keen on the 4:30am wake up calls, my lack of nights, mornings and weekends, embarrassing ill-fitting uniforms and snooty rich folks who got the jobs that I didn't, but at least I'm a member of the workforce and I've got a bit of cash on hand.

This week I saw The Decemberists in a free show with the Grant Park Symphony Orchestra. I was a bit disappointed by the show - the marriage of indie rock and orchestra didn't seem to mesh as was intended. The Tribune agreed. The turnout was incredible - 15,000 people (who were able to get in the door). I was fortunate to have a wife who was willing to kill her afternoon sitting in line so we could sit in the 25th row. We rode our bikes home in the pouring rain and Xtina's harry potter book got ruined (no, not the new one). I made fun of her for reading harry potter. The following evening we saw the free taping of "wait wait don't tell me," also in the Pritzker Pavilion in Millenium Park. The show was good but the panelists where somewhat mediocre. We thought the show would have done well to include our favorite panelist - Paula Poundstone or perhaps Mo Rocca.

We stop by our new apartment today and pay the first month's rent. We move this coming Tuesday. We are so far from being ready; I think we're both so busy we're a little in denial about it's impending stress.

back to town

I think I'm going to come back to town for a while this week. I need to decompress for a bit. Also, I need to catch metal before he becomes the next one to skip town. Xtina is working like crazy these days and I wouldn't see her much anyway. I've been married for over two years now and this will be the first time we've slept apart since being wed.

Not much else to say around here. Pitchfork is this coming weekend and the weather should be better than it has been. Next weekend we can move into our new place - such an idea brings so many worries for me I prefer not to think about it.

Our landlord has our current apartment listed with two different agencies right now and they're parading people through our stuff almost daily. They're having a hard time renting it - it doesn't help that he raised the rent and it was overpriced before.