i moved out of my old apartment on sunday. moving house is a completely different kettle of fish when you have furniture, all calluses and crushed fingers and imprecations. thomas gave me a hand with the heavy lifting, and i got a u-haul and wondered how i ended up with so much junk (how is it that i own so much tupperware?). the new place was far from ready. all my crap went in the garage, and we did 2 trips, and i learned that driving a van on the right side of the road is nothing like driving a car on the left, and that parallel parking, difficult for me at the best of times, is a monstrous bitch when you can't see anything that's behind you.

the renovations are horribly behind schedule. on sunday, there was no hot water, only one functioning toilet, and no ceiling or lights in my bedroom. also, my room was freezing despite the central air being off, and i was tempted for a while to set up a bivouac on the lawn until reason prevailed and i remembered that i was in west philadelphia. darkness fell. i read the new yorker by torchlight on an inflatable bed amid plaster and plywood, and thought about the new espresso maker i wanted to buy, and said a little prayer that everything would be all right.