Tuesday November 2nd, 2010 - Lake Villa, IL I’m in a tight spot. So what’s new? I’ve been in them my whole life, but not exactly like the one I’m in now. In a nutshell, I have to find a place to live and move all my stuff there by the end of this month. The trick is, I’ll be gone for most of it working on cruise ships. All in all, I’ll have maybe four actual days of work time and I’m not even close to being ready to go yet. Everything I own is in disarray and in piles, and the last thing I want to do is have to sort through boxes and/or haul a bunch of garbage to the dump or bags of stuff to the Salvation Army. I hadn’t planned on having to move so quickly, but alas here it is. I’ve been moving my whole life, and I’m really sick of it. I’ve never had a place to call my home, except when I bought a house in Utah when I lived there. Oh, I called it home, but the bank eventually called louder and I ended up losing it. Moving out of there was a nightmare, and really cleaned me out of self esteem, dignity and hope. It was humiliating. Since then, I’ve actually been pretty stable - at least for me. I lived in Chicago for a few years and even though it wasn’t a great place, it was a great location. I love big cities and if I could find a reasonable place there I’d go back in half a second. There are some areas that aren’t fun, like parking, but for the most part I love the energy of living in a big city. Moving out here to Hooterville has been a good experience for the most part. I was able to help the person I stayed with get over her divorce financially, and we had so very little actual contact that we never had a chance to clash in any way. We both had our own lives and rarely if ever crossed paths. If there ever has been a win/win situation, this was it. Technically, I live in a basement but it’s really not that bad. The place is fixed up and is clean and doesn’t look like a basement at all. I’ve got furniture, cable TV, a bathroom and plenty of room to pile my stuff. That’s part of the problem, I’ve acquired a lot of stuff in a two and a half year period, and now I have to pack it all up and move it all in a few days. I really don’t know what I’m going to do or where I’m going to go. I have several offers from friends, friends of friends, and even strangers. I’m very grateful for all of them, but I really don’t have time to go look at every place that may be available. I need to find a fast solution or throw the stuff in storage and live in hotels for a while until I can find a place. The schedule for the ships will determine a lot of what happens as well. If I get offered a long run out at sea, I might not have to worry about rent for a while. That would be the best solution. If I came home with a wad of cash, I could take my time and be able to get a place I choose - not an emergency stop gap like I’ve been doing for most of my life. One thing I’m not going to do is worry about it. The worst case scenario is I’ll throw it all out and start over with a few clothes and books. Gandhi allowed himself to have only six worldly possessions, and one of them was his glasses for reading. Maybe I can do the same. Six possessions is a bit lean though, unless one of them is a bag full of $100 bills.
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