Journal: June 1st. Moving in

Shoes with nests in hall closet

Woke up the morning of June 1st in the house.  This was the real beginning.  So very much to do--the initial cleanings had scarcely scratched the surface, and there was so much else to do.  Every closet, every drawer, every corner needed emptying and scouring. 

The first task was to figure out how to use my computer.  Who could have guessed at the beginning of this saga (who knows what beginning I am talking about?) that computer access was my primary concern.  Before arriving, I'd dealt with the telephone question (there was no longer a land line in the house) by buying a very very smart phone--a Motorola Android--bypassing the I-Phone because my New Jersey informants told me AT and T barely worked in New Jersey, where Verizon reigned supreme.

Although the phone was splendid and even  provided me with a lovely talking gps system which i was gradually learning how to operate (I'd manage to use it with ease and grace during my cross drive, but the ny metropolitan area was rife with new challenges). My phone is internet connected, but I can't write on it--and it is too small for me to really read--and with a proper computer connection I can speak with Sam in Germany--so---although I'd like to think I'd do just fine without internet--turns out to be something I really want).

I'd  had a conversation with my nearest neighbor--who told me that I could get a wireless hook-up through Verizon.  I  thought I'd hit paydirt  when the young man at the Verizon store less than a mile away convinced me to get a little card that would provide wireless for up to five computers--and I was about to buy it and walk out when they discovered that my California account could only be accessed through the mega-verizon store at the Rockaway mall about twenty miles away. 

Twenty miles?  Nothing to a cross country vaulter like me--so off I went.   In the midst of my transaction there, a young man, eavesdropping on my dealings, suggested I could perhaps bypass Verizon with an app on my phone.  That didn't work out--but in the course of our conversation I learned that he lived about two miles from me--and although he was working part-time at a farm, he would be happy to help me with clean-up for $10 an hour. 

He told me he'd be haying the next day, but would give me a call and come to work on Thursday.  We exchanged numbers on our matching Androids.  I then purchased the wireless device which I hoped would solve my internet situation and felt I was moving forward in all directions as I drove back to the house.