s e v e n i s a j o u r n e y

Okay — can’t put up any pics yet, ’cause I’m running on Stephen’s laptop through *dial-up*. Ugh. It’s amazing how thoroughly for granted one comes to take high-speed internet access. Plus, I don’t think he’s got an image editor on this thing.

Anyway, packing the can went great. The weather gods cooperated beautifully, and we had so many people helping, that we quickly got everything lined up in front of the container (Len got a fantastic panorama). From there, it was two people playing 3-D Tetris to slot everything in (you want it packed so it won’t move around too much when the big crane picks it up and goes shooka-shooka-shooka, or when the truck has to slam on its brakes because some dork in an SUV cuts in front…), and a couple people on the ground taking directions like, “Find me something long and flat, no flatter than that…”

[Edited 26-Apr to add pics ! Before and after !]

After the packing, we all schlepped over to China Pearl, to enjoy the mediocre service and the fine over-the-top decor (the entrance hall features a “bamboo forest” constructed of painted one-way mirrors, and there’s a 30 foot carved gold-painted dragon over the bar. Karl is a fan of their Zombies, served in glasses shaped like Easter Island heads, as proper Zombies should be).

Yesterday (Sunday), Stephen and I roped in the last few odd-shaped things and locked the box for its big trip. Let’s hope the Pacific lives up to its name. For those taking bets, we have about 19 feet of stuff, weighing roughly 4 and a half tons. The final box/item count was 362. Yikes.

The matinee of Bulletproof Monk was… heh. Okay, it wasn’t good, but it was fun. Getting to hear Chow Yun Fat say “Coco-Puffs” was worth the price of admission as far as I’m concerned. After that, there was more stuffing of faces at Outback (my camera is rapidly filling with assorted shots of friends at restaurants), followed by a screening of The Emporer’s New Groove at iHouse. I’d forgotten how deeply weird that movie was. More props to Disney’s Rogue Florida Studio for getting it made in the first place.

Goodbyes sucked, of course (last night’s and all the others). Despite my firm intentions, I completely failed to tell everyone in person to their faces how much I love them and will miss them. I hope me bawling all over them got the message across more or less.

Gotta finish organizing my bags — I’d *like* to find some way to stuff these last couple Archaeology magazines into my carry-on somehow, but I don’t think it’s happening. The next week is going to be a blur of airports and planes, but I’ll try to check in periodically. Hug each other.