I’ve just spent the past three months packing, unpacking, and moving from one apt. to another in the same city. I spent three weeks just cleaning out the closets. AT&T U-Verse left me without an Internet connection or home phone service for a month while they made excuses in transferring services. I was dependent upon my iPhone for everything, including making payments since I had misplaced my checkbook in the move. Fortunately I ended up with only one late payment fee. The new apt. is smaller, cheaper, more accessible, bright and fresh, and better built. I tried Craigslist without any luck so I gave away lots of stuff, but even so the new place is very crowded. I was in the old apt. for 12 years so it was time for a move, and I downsized to prepare for the next decade as I age out. I haven’t even done my income tax return yet so the move has totally absorbed most of my time.
The 4th season of Dowton Abbey was short and disappointing. All the story lines seemed to limp along in limbo. The first episode of Selfridge was a set piece for a whole series of controversies. I haven’t read anything because I also was involved in an 8-week course on mindful-based stress reduction (MBSR) at Duke Integrative Medicine that involved 2 ½-hr classes each week plus reading assignments and five audio CD’s. It was helpful in dealing with some of the stresses associated with the move.
Like most of the East Coast we have had a late spring although we missed most of the snows, and it has been unusually cold. The frequent swings in the weather flared up my arthritis so it has been a struggle to continue my daily morning exercises that keep me somewhat flexible. I’m finding it increasing difficult to walk or stand for an extended period of time.
Justin Lee with the Gay Christian Network hosted their annual conference in Chicago this year and is on tour in Los Angeles now so he hasn’t been in Raleigh much in recent months. I track the topic on Google Alerts, but the only real news has been the first gay marriages in England and Wales. Much of the gay chatter on Twitter is negative news, and I say just ignore the biggots and don’t give them free publicity. In the US, the battle has moved to the states, and the ban is being over-turned in several. The Employment Non-Discrimination Act (ENDA) continues to languish in Congress after 15 years of debate, and the President has not yet made an Executive Order except to ban discrimination by federal contractors.
The Raleigh Rant 