Musings & Thoughts for Tuesday, December 5, 2023, or: Moving Box ‘Triage’ & My ‘Plan’ for the Day

Late Morning/Noon/Early Afternoon, Tuesday, December 5, 2023, Lithia, Florida

Hi, everyone.

It’s a cool early winter day here in the Tampa Bay area. Currently, the temperature outside is 71°F/22°C under mostly sunny conditions, with a feels-like temperature of 80°F/27°C. Today’s forecast for the Lithia/Fish Hawk area calls for partly sunny skies and a high of 75°F/24°C. In short – perfect tourist weather.

In sharp contrast, the town where I’ll be living once I get there next week. Madison, New Hampshire, is the very picture of New England in winter. The current temperature there is 32°F/0°C under cloudy skies, with a feels-like of 39°F/4°C. The forecast for Madison and the surrounding area calls for mostly cloudy skies and a high of 35°F/2°C.

Action This Day

I don’t have much of an action plan for my last full Tuesday in Florida; last night I had to perform “Moving Box Triage” and mark all the boxes in the Florida room as either “Hi” or “Low” priority because we will be lugging my stuff in a U-Haul trailer and not move it on a truck from Lithia to Madison. I understand the reasons why, so I’m not protesting or anything, but it was depressing, because that means that a lot of my stuff will stay here until we can come back in March to retrieve it.

I can’t really cope without my movies, CDs, and books, so I marked all of the boxes marked as containing those items as high priority. Also marked as “Hi” are the boxes with my clothes; I can’t afford to buy an entire new wardrobe, especially suits and summer clothing.

Accordingly, I marked most of Star Wars Collectibles boxes as “Low” or “Lo” priority. Emotionally, they’re also high priority, but practicality and common courtesy to the friend who I’ll be renting the two rooms from say otherwise. So, most of my cherished Star Wars stuff will stay here, as will my kitchen stuff. I hate leaving my Star Wars mugs behind, but I’ll retrieve them in three months. I did mark one Star Wars collectibles box as high-priority; I hope – fervently – that it can be included in the December move.

Needless to say, I am bummed about that, but – hopefully – once I’m in Madison and focus my attention on making connections in my new town and writing my novel, I’ll get over it.

As for today, here’s what is on the agenda:

• Try to work on Reunion: Coda for a while, even if it’s just to edit the existing copy
• Go for a walk
• Read for a while (from Kindle, mostly)
• Wait for the arrival of the Amazon package with Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny and Stand By Me
• Kill time by gaming

Aside from that, there’s nothing else worth reporting, so I’ll close for now. Until next time, stay safe, stay healthy, and I’ll catch you on the sunny side of things.