I am unsure how much longer the current Mount Sutro hiatus will last, but please do not stop visiting! I have not stopped writing, so as soon as things calm down a bit for me and I get connectivity at my apartment, I will start publishing. Included will be my new campaign against the evil company U-Haul and a series of observations about living in a new place.

I hope everyone is doing well and will do my best to be in touch soon.

I am currently without non-work access to the internet, so postings here will be suspended for at least another week or two. I am currently talking with the only broadband gang here in Tallahassee, Comcast. Their prices are inflated exponentially, so I am going to talk to them in person and try to seal a better deal.

As a quick update to you all, both the work and living situations are quite excellent right now. Honestly, I could not be happier. Big things I cannot talk about on here are in the works and the people that I live with — in the same small apartment complex I live in that is, as I have a nice and large two bedroom to myself — are quite awesome, not to mention hospitable.

The drive up here to Tallahassee on Sunday was fairly uneventful, save for driving in the outer rain bands of Hurricane Katrina which, much to my surprise and delight, were substantially weaker than I expected. The rain was light, but steady and some wind gusts knocked my car around a bit. Overall, I think everyone here in Florida is very lucky, unfortunately at the expense of Mississippi.

I am all settled in here at Claire and Ashleigh's house where I have a nice guest room to myself, my computer and most of my clothing. As an added bonus, I have been enjoying their fifty-five inch widescreen rear-projection television with high definition. INHD and INHD2 are officially my two new favourite channels, even when the show is not of particular interest.

My new job with the government (herein and thereafter referred to as "The Agency") is going well, so far. I have already started to acclimate to the new environment, policies and procedures while at the same time learning some new things and hopefully proving to be a valuable asset to the organization.

Since giving it a try when it first became available last week, I have fallen in love with the simplicity and power of Google Talk, the new instant message and voice chat client. While not yet available for non-Windows platforms, this thin and resource light tool is great for standard instant messaging plus offers a wonderfully crystal-clear live voice feature. The pure digital quality of the transmission is quite spectacular. My overall fondness for this new application and my ongoing displeasure about the way Trillian runs on my older system has brought the decision that I will use Google Talk primarily. It requires a Google Mail ("gMail") account to use, so if you do not already have one and would like to chat with me, let me know and I will send you the invite to Google Mail and to Google Talk. If you already have Google Talk and would like to chat, my address is — surprise, surprise — mountsutro@gmail.com

And last but most certainly not least, my new Post Office Box is active. Feel free to send me mail, though remember that if you need to ship something using a non-USPS service, DHL is the only organization that will deliver to USPS boxes.

David July
Post Office Box 268
Tallahassee, Florida 32302-0268

As I make final preparations to move, I can now comfortably indicate my planned moving times.

First, I will travel with primary living equipment — clothing, bathroom accoutrements and my notebook — to my friend's Claire and Ash where I will stay temporarily as my apartment is readied. I plan to make this leg on Sunday, 28 August 2005 barring any unexpected need that requires my presence in Tallahassee sooner.

Then, after living and working for a few weeks I will travel back to Orlando on Friday, 16 September 2005 and stay the night. On Saturday, 17 September 2005 I will pick-up my U-Haul 6' x 12' Trailer, pack it and begin the trek back to Tallahassee, this time with the gracious assistance of my parents. Once in Tallahassee, we have a hotel room waiting for us where we will quickly crash after eating somewhere on Monroe Street, as the next day's move-in procedure will begin quite early.

Hopefully everything will continue on track as it has been so far and this schedule will hold until implementation. In the meantime, I continue to pack and arrange for services — such as my bank and treasured Post Office Box — to be started or transferred. Oh, and I have a couple of articles I have been meaning to compose. I should have some time to get to that as well.

The quality of my life improved exponentially this morning. It was then that I learned my apartment application had been both received and accepted.

The space — a studio apartment featuring 530 square feet — is located 2.9 miles away from my new office for a total travel time of about five minutes. Additionally, the price on this space is extremely affordable.

According to the leasing office, my apartment will not be available until Thursday, 15 September 2005. While I already have worked out where I am going to stay in the meantime, I had hoped the move-in day would align with a weekend. Regardless, it appears I will be doing the real move that following weekend.

I have not yet seen the space and unfortunately will not be able to until possibly the end of August, but I am confident that it will be nice enough. As an extra precaution, I am paying more per month for a six month lease in the event that this location proves unacceptable.