In other news, I’m updating the look of the site. If some things look funky, feel free to send me an email, telling me what browser you’re using and which page looked wrong.
The settling in process continues. Yesterday morning I got the desktop computer set up in time for the call from my payroll company at 10AM. The end-of-year paychecks are on their way, and they’re sending along a list of government agencies I need to send change-of-address forms to. That’s probably the biggest single task remaining for me, since not only do I need to inform all the companies that send me mail that I’ve moved, but also all the various bureaucracies I have to deal with for my business. And it would seem that the post office didn’t like my initial change-of-address form I gave them, either. No mail has been forwarded from the old place to the new yet, and I’m going to have to check into that today. My strategy on previous moves was always to just fill out the form with the post office, and then send corrections to companies as I get the forwarded mail. If the USPS isn’t forwarding the mail in the first place, that plan breaks down in a hurry.
I still need to get my kitchen unpacked, too. I could probably cook something if I had to at the moment, but it would involve some improvisation, since almost all of the cookware is still in various boxes (probably labelled “glassware”). I’m hoping that I can empty a box or two today, but if not, my entire plan for new year’s day is an “Ow! My Fucking Head!” party some friends are throwing, and unpacking the kitchen. Once that’s done, just about everything else can be dealt with as I get to it. Yeah, it would be nice to get things more organized in the living room and dining room, but it’s not critical. As for the bedroom, I still have to tear out the carpeting and figure out what I’m doing with the vinyl tile, so there’s no huge hurry there.
- In Military Mobilization: Ralph Peters is Wrong it says maybe we aren’t shafting the Poles after all, just not giving them stuff before we give it to our own troops. That’s a better take on the situation, but I still don’t see why we’re throwing money at countries who give us a lot less help than Poland does. [instapundit]
- Doc’s exploring (with help from others) the similarities between blogs and TV channels and RSS and TiVo. That’s an interesting idea, and I haven’t thought enough about it to have an opinion one way or the other yet, but my first impression is that there’s an interesting bit of truth in the comparison. [doc]
- Apache Plaza is set to cash out, and the Herberger’s actually wants to stay longer. I dunno. When I swung by there earlier in the month for the gun show that got relocated, I was wondering why any stores still had their doors open at all. The place feels like a morgue, and I’m surprised any stores have hung in there this long. [press-patch]
- Xcel is Pulling the plug on an eyesore, and has announced plans to tear down their High Bridge plant in St. Paul. I’m with the guy at the end of the article who says that you may not like what comes out of the 560 foot smoke stack, but it’s still a shame to see it go. Something that tall becomes part of the landscape after a while. [press-patch]
- “Urban explorers” arrested at the Gopher State Ethanol plant in St. Paul. No word on whether it was the Action Squad or not, but whoever it was got arrested for suspected terrorism (that charge was later dropped). Seems it’s not so safe to go poking around when the country’s on orange alert. [press-patch]
- FBI urges police to watch for people carrying almanacs because you know, all them old farmers are potential terrorists. Especially when their kids are crawling around the ethanol plant. [boing boing]