well I'm a movin' on up ...

2006 is not my year, at least not so far. In fact, it’s mostly sucked. Let the DZER recap, for those of you who have forgotten or just haven’t been around DZER’s blog all that long:

• There was the infected hangnail toenail, which isn’t as bad now but isn’t all that much better, either.

•My friend L moved stateside, depriving me of a lunch buddy (and removing the only truly hot chick from the newsroom).

• Another Valentine’s Day alone … bleh.

• The extraction of two teeth, including a wisdom tooth, both of which had extremely long roots, which necessitated them being pulled by an oral surgeon instead of my regular dentist (which meant it also cost more).

• I’ve had to put in a lot of long days (sometimes 12 hours), though to balance that, it was due to a promotion.

• I broke a pinky toe.

See? Crappy year so far. I did get the promotion, won a corporate-level writing award and celebrated a birthday with fine food, but those are about the only real highlights.

Why am I bitching about all of this crap? Well, it’s because I have something new to add to the shitlist.

I have to move.

By the end of the month.

Fuck me.

For those of you who don’t know, I have a sweet two-bedroom apartment that’s about 5 minutes away from the office. It’s centrally located, in a quiet, trouble-free area. It’s pretty close to the beach and a whole lot of conveniences, such as stores and gas stations.

Oh, and I was only paying $300 a month for the place. On Guam, the low-end rate for a decent two-bedroom apartment is about $650-$700. So I was getting a killer deal.

Now I will have to find a new place to live. Which will mean trying to find a place in a central location that’s close to work. Which means paying anywhere from $200 to $350 more per month for a smaller place.

It also means I’ll have to pack up all my shit and fucking MOVE. I fucking HATE moving. I hate it with the passion of a thousand burning suns.

*sigh*

Well, I guess it gives me a full-on legitimate reason to pare down my shit, to thin out my possessions, to get rid of a bunch of crap and stuff.

Remember? I said I was going to clean up and minimize my possessions and sell off a bunch of stuff. Well, now I have little choice, unless I want to cart truckloads of shit elsewhere — rather, more truckloads of shit than absolutely necessary.

I need to start gathering boxes. Stores throw them out like crazy, but moving places charge like a couple of bucks a box. Are there people who actually buy cardboard boxes? I guess so, or else they wouldn’t be on sale in so many places … LOL. As for me, it’s time to drive around the back of some retail outlets and stock up on cardboard boxes, baby!

Fuck.

Tried to get enthused there, but it’s hard. Moving sucks so much ass.

Random Guam Fact Of The Day:
• Guam is surrounded by a coral reef, which helps protect its shores from the worst a typhoon could potentially deliver to the island. It was dying off in most parts for years because of overfishing, environmental damage by runoff and the like. Protecting many reef areas via the creation of marine preserves has helped them rebound, though more work in other areas still needs to be done.