Busy Productive Day

We're now at T-minus-30 and counting. I made some definite strides toward getting the new household set up today. A few more pieces of the puzzle are now in place. Slowly but surely, things are coming together.

I've been working on addresses for invitations over the last couple of days. With the engagement photos now taken, we'll be getting the invites out soon. I hope to have a complete address list by Sunday morning.

Change of address stuff was today's theme. I talked to the landlady last night and found out exactly what the new address was. With this information, I started getting utilities arranged today. I got the electric service set up with minimal difficulty. The gas was an entirely different matter.

There was an apartment my ex and I moved away from about three years ago because one of the neighbors became convinced that we had reported him to the police and he made our lives there a living hell. Anyway, due to a miscommunication in the process, we ended up paying for the gas in that apartment for another six months after we moved out. Once we discovered the problem, the gas company disconnected the service and sent us a final bill. I thought. When I called in to set things up today, they pulled up my records and told me I still had a balance of about $75 showing from that incident. I tried explaining to them what had happened, and they said, in not so many words, it was strictly my problem. I could either pay the past due amount, or I could make a security deposit equal to the largest gas bill assessed to the property the previous winter, which I would get back if and only if there was a perfect payment record for the first twelve months. So I paid the past due bill. Gee, it's a good thing I didn't have anything better to spend that $75 on, like a wedding or anything.

Cable and internet are another issue. The main cable carrier here is Comca$t. They have a pretty good deal going on broadband internet service: half price for the first six months, rebates to cover the cost of the modem, and a $75 cash back mail-in offer. Broadband is pretty much going to be a necessity, I think. I can't go back to dial-up. I won't.

Cable TV is another matter, though. the Comca$t package looks pretty good for the first three months, then skyrockets in price. There is another option, a company called USD TV. Their monthly rate is very competitive, but there are a ton of up-front installation and equipment fees. And they only offer about twenty channels, and some of my favorites (History Channel, for instance) are not among them. I haven't really looked into satellite yet, mostly due to concerns about those same up-front fees. Maybe we'll just buy a pair of rabbit ears. That's TV, old school.

I filled out an electronic change-of-address for with the Postal Service too. One of the pages asked about catalogs I may have been receiving and whether I wanted them forwarded. It also asked if there were any catalogs on the list that I wasn't receiving but wanted to. I picked one: Sharper Image. It's the ultimate geek store, and I'm about to go from being an amateur geek to being a professional. I've got to have that catalog.

I also did my state taxes today. I'm getting a $25 rebate from the state of Utah. That's about a third of what I owe the feds for the year. This is two straight years I've come up short. I've got to do something about my withholding.

Now I'm at work. I was supposed to have a training class tonight, but none of the three scheduled candidates showed up on time. That was just as well, though. The production supervisor for the evening called in sick for the third straight day, so I'm taking his place. It's kind of nice to work a shift without really being responsible for it.

And that's about it. I'm about to have to close out several different projects, so I'll sign off for now.