1. Still feeling stressed out. Looking forward to next week, when all the moving-related, and funeral-related stress will be over.
So I've got this problem with the big-ass rug that is in the old apartment. Actually it's a problem with the whole apartment, but I previously thought it was just the rug. The problem is fleas. Every time I go over there, I get eaten alive by fleas. When I have gone over wearing khackis after work, I have been picking fleas off my pants legs. Which is weird, because they were not that bad when i was actually living there. It's like they have gone crazy and proliferated since I moved out, which I don't really understand, since there have been no creatures for them to snack on there for weeks. Maybe it has to do with the warm weather. But anyway, this morning, I went and rented a steam cleaner, to steam clean the rug. I had to change the dirty water two or three times, it was quite impressive. But then, when I was done with that, I went into the bedroom and sat down on the floor to have a snack, and was again accosted by fleas. So it's not just the rug. So then I just said fuckit, and called an exterminator. I suppose I could just move out and leave the fleas for the next guy to deal with, but I am a better person than that, so I am trying to take care of it before he moves in. So the exterminator is coming on Friday morning.
And then I have been trying to line up someone to come do the move-out cleaning for me. The first person I contacted didn't get back to me for a few days and it turned out she couldn't do it. I posted about it on facebook, and got in touch with another friend who might be able to do it, but she is having car issues, and is not sure if she will be able to. It's kind of getting down to the last minute, and if I can't hire someone, I will have to do it myself, which I would rather not do, since I am going out of town for the funeral this week, then coming back and working Fri/Sat/Sun. It would kind of suck to have to clean an apartment after work. But then, it probably would only take a couple hours, maybe I shouldn't turn it into this huge thing. But anyway, hopefully I can pay someone else to do it and all will be well.
So Porter and I will move the big-ass, newly cleaned rug tonight in his truck. Then I will just have to move the final stack of boxes tomorrow, and I will be all moved out. I will finally be done with the moving gauntlet.
I finally made myself a massage appointment, for tomorrow evening. The only female therapist with an opening at the time I wanted to come in is a very sweet and friendly lady... who is also notoriously chatty. I may have to come up with a polite way of asking her to be quiet. But still, first massage since February, and it is long overdue. My neck is super crunchy, and I feel tension all along my right side, from the base of my skull down to my hip bone. I booked a 90 minute session, and I am looking forward to it. Then, when it is over, I will cruise over to Oakland, pick up my brother, and head for Los Banos. I am hoping he will drive, so I can relax. It will be around 8pm by then, so there shouldn't be much traffic.
In an effort to look presentable for my grandmother's funeral, I dyed my hair today. It had been looking pretty sketchy before, as it was blonde and pink with brown roots. I tried to dye it something close to my natural color, so the root maintenance would be minimal, so I opted for a light brown. But now that it's dyed and dried, it's a weird color, with still some pink tones showing. That accidentally dying my hair pink episode will haunt me for long time, or so it seems.
I am totally waffling on Burning Man. I have changed my mind about it a few times this year, first I was going to go, then I decided I wasn't, then I decided that I would. So now I am kind of back to thinking maybe I won't. I think I kind of just decided to go because I wanted something to look forward to. And my roommate Porter is heavily into it, and likes to proselytize. But I have been thinking about how much fucking work it is, and how expensive it is, and how unpleasant it is once I get there. A relaxing vacation sounds good to me right now. More of the "lay on the beach" type of thing, and less of the "work your ass off in 100+ degree desert heat" type of thing. Of course there are alternatives, like going on a trip by myself, or with my family, or visiting friends in other states. Burning Man just has the built-in social guarantee because I already know a whole bunch of friends are going to be doing that, and it can be hard to get traction for any other group trip, especially in late summer.