ideas I'm kickin' around: Blogging? What's that?

It's been a LONG time since I've checked in with you fine folks, and

Please accept my PROFUSE apologies
Please allow me to explain my last month or so away (or, ya know, make a buncha EXCUSES)

As you know, I got booked on a long-term Scripty gig. Boy, I sure hope you actually know that. Pretty sure I was still able to post something after my first full week of it. Yes, there's probably a link here, in case you managed to not read that post, so you can read that post. That gig ended, as all showbiz gigs do (yup, even shows like Bones, which provide work for their crews for 11 seasons or more, are still considered "temp" jobs, and at the end of each season, the crews are "laid off" from their temp gigs and have to find other work. This is a fact that a good friend of mine {the best boy electrician on Bones} will easily verify for you, if he reads this blog and you happen to know him). I was able to use my much-needed time off to finalize moving us into our new place.

We Moved! We're back, closer to our old 'hood, much happier than we were in Burbank, and even though we officially rented a place with ~100+ square feet of more space, what we didn't account for was the "additional" storage afforded by the previous space. Yup, we're going to be living out of bins and boxes for probably awhile, this go-round, kids. Nature of the beast. Here's the pluses, tho:

we scaled down, AGAIN. We both went through our closet/dressers, and we gave away four or more large bags of clothing. We were going to find someplace to sell them, but that was just another hassle we didn't want, and the day we were planning to walk those bags over to the donation drop-off, we were stopped by a homeless family who were happy to take them off our hands. FOUR (or more?) large bags of clothing. If they wear them, great. If they sell them, great. If they donate them somewhere, great. We win; they win. [I'd love to know what was the final destination of the evening gowns; there were some really nice ones I was sorry will never fit me again]
new place has washer and dryer, In. The. Apartment. This may not be a big deal to you readers. It totally is, in Los Angeles. Some places have only laundromats every corner of every block, because they don't even have a single coin-op w/d in the building. Yes, we realize that the space occupied by these two items would be awesome storage. We're okay with being able to wash a load at our leisure; dry it at our leisure; Put It Away at our leisure.
kitchen is open and large and has a bar; We had to purchase a new refrigerator. We now have a very grown-up fridge, and we're not stuck with some cheap-ass "apartment" fridge. This beauty may manage to outlast us. Kidding. Or not. I have no idea how long a fridge lasts; I've moved too often in the last decade.
we're on the first floor (technically). If you came to visit us and had to park on the street (where there is plenty of parking available), you'd have to climb a flight to get to the security door to have Stephen's phone buzz you in. But if you're riding in my car or have a key to the building, you can enter from ground level and take the elevator up to the "first" floor. This improves the moving experience and the shopping experience and the delivery-of-large-items-like-refrigerators-and-wardrobes experience, as well as the playing of Rock Band 4 drums experience. No Downstairs Neighbors to complain.
there's no longer a city ordinance banning smoking for us to feel we have a right to enforce. Our last neighbors flaunted their lifestyles vs. the law, and because we had horrible airflow through the apartment, we suffered greatly. Our immediate next-door neighbors here smoke, and sometimes we smell it in the kitchen. I've spoken with the young man; I've met his mom; he wants both of them to quit; Stephen and I both have our stories to share without judgment and will be able to support Josh and Jeanette in their journeys. As long as they don't smoke in the general courtyard area, we actually experience only about 10% of the secondhand smoke we used to, back when the law was on our side.
the new apartment has central heat/air, and the heat/hot water/stove are gas. This is a HUGE "plus", in that the apartment has yet to be uncomfortably hot or cold, and gas is much cheaper than electricity, and Burbank Water and Power was a big Screw-You kind of utility.
we've "cut the cable" because the new building doesn't allow satellite television. We're learning what this will really mean for our tv viewing (will we be delayed on our British stuff, like Doctor Who and Call the Midwife? Time will tell), but so far, we're loving the cost savings. This also applies to our internet, because even though AT&FuckingT is one of the absolute worst companies around when it comes to their customer service, and even though I spent about a week babysitting for service calls, and even though it took no fewer than three technicians and phone contact with a supervisor to "Git 'er Done", we did manage to finally get set up for basic internet that seems to be working well enough. We're not wi-fi-ing the streaming tv, that's done through an ethernet cable; what that means is cheaper wi-fi on the whole and uninterrupted streaming video. Win-Win! If you're familiar with the Doctor Who reboot (i.e. are a "fan"), then think of the David Tennant episode "Gridlock" and equate "the fast lane" with actual wi-fi "noise" that steals your signal and eats your car. This is, essentially, how the last tech explained it all to me, and it totally made sense. We only pay for 6 (yup, kids, that's right, SIX) Mbps but because we're never on more than two devices at a time and the streaming is hard-wired, we absolutely don't NEED to pay for more than that. Any single person or couple, kid-less, who boasts about having the "fastest" broadband, is probably paying for too much and has been suckered in by their provider. Jus' sayin'.

What else? I've managed to update my photos over at Central since I've cut off all my hair again, and I've booked one day a week of BG work since the Scripty gig ended. Stephen interviewed for a floor supervisor position that was given to a person who actually worked in that particular store (setting a precedent within the company for not transferring a promotion elsewhere), but has just recently interviewed again for another floor supervisor position in a store that is not technically closer than his current position but is not inconvenient from our new apartment. Oh, and we decided to get him a bicycle when we moved, since the "walk" to his current job would have taken for-freakin'-ever. So he has a bike, and a promotion that will start any day, and a new home, and a busy-enough wife.

And the cats seem to like it here. Daddy asked for pics, so here's what I just took. Yeah, we're still livin' outta bins. Didn't I say that already?