Taking the Red Pill

Hell of a week. Now that I have my compy hooked back up under my newly assembled desk, along with high-speed internet, things are finally starting to settle.

The trip started off Friday morning at 8 – just like we planned (yeah right). Actually, we left at closer to 9 because I forgot to do some critical last minute tasks, such as packing the refrigerator, and cleaning out the litter boxes. Placing cats in a box against their will was probably the scariest thing I can imagine doing. Noah went full ferrel, and proved to be a “challenge” for three grown men. If she still had claws, there would have been three dead bodies at the old house.

I had to scramble to locate a GPS for Kristin’s folks, since I didn’t think about printing the directions out on paper. The day went by with quite a bit of chaos, and cross-communication gone wrong. We got to Staunton, Virginia though, and settled down for the night. Until 4am. The cats started fighting like two inmates in prison. The dogs started barking at the cats, and everyone except my folks bailed out of the rooms by 8am.

The next day went smoother. We headed for Scranton, Pennsylvania – home of Dunder-Mifflin from The Office. We actually blew right through the city and landed on I-84 entirely by mistake luck – good job John. We had a great time as we worked our way east, passing through Maryland, New York, New Jersey, Connecticut, and finally Massachusetts. The communication seemed to go easier the second day.  I think we got into a routine.

We arrived at the house in Braintree before dark, and took a tour of the property. You would never imagine the beauty of the inside of the house from looking at it on the street. The renters have really done a lot of work inside to modernize the house, and it shows in the details. Marble counter tops, hardwood floors, fresh paint, sliding glass closets, and a glass shower. I have posted a few pics from the inside of the property, but I am holding off to photograph the outside until the restoration is finished. It just doesn’t do the property justice.

The furniture trickled in thanks to my folks, Kristin’s folks, and John over the next few days. Now the big pieces are in place, and the rest boils down to unpacking everything from boxes and organizing things again.

Today, we ventured out into the town of Braintree (I don’t know how we missed this when the everyone was here) and did some grocery shopping at Shaw’s. Quite an enchanting little area with nothing but local shops and family restaurants. When you read the name Shaw’s, think Kroger. Interestingly, Shaw’s doesn’t sell liquor – we had to make a second stop at a package store. Also interesting was this particular package store almost exclusively stocked domestic and Irish beers. Samuel Adams and Harpoon topped the list due to the fact both beers are from the area.

Now we are settling in for the night, and I begin my fantastical job tomorrow morning. I will fight with I-93N and probably lose, but with such a flexible start time I think it will be all right. I am really looking forward to the job this time around. The folks seem great, and it will be nice to start feeling like I am contributing to society again.

Thanks everyone for the unpacking help – I really could not have done it without you. Wish me luck, and I will keep you all updated on the adventures of a Georgia boy living and working in Massachusetts.