The times they are a changin'
Although I am definitely not a fan of Bob Dylan (his voice to me sounds like fingernails on a chalkboard, but he did write some awesome songs - although I prefer when other artists cover his songs, such as Guns 'n Roses did with "Knockin' On Heaven's Door"), his song title "The Times They Are A Changin'" well summarizes my life right now.
Beginning last Friday morning and afternoon, I made the move to the new apartment in Mayfield Heights. At 11:10 when I was about 5 mins away from the apartment, Jason called and asked if I was already there. He and his mom, stepdad, and grandma were already there with the moving truck and ready to unload, but Gina at the Leasing Office was nowhere to be found (one tends to need keys in order to begin moving in). The Leasing Office is supposed to be open every day from 11:00-6:00, but apparently Gina ran late that morning (not so unusual, according to a maintenance worker who talked to Jason). When I arrived with my mom and grandparents, Gina had just arrived, although 15 mins late for work. Naturally, she did not have the keys for the apartment yet, so she told Jason and I that she would run over to the management office, pick up the keys, and then meet us at our apartment. Jason, myself, and our entourage went to the apartment building, and waited... and waited... and waited. 15 minutes later, Gina shows up at the apartment with the keys. As she walks up to hand them to us, she said "Oh, how nice - everyone is here to help you move in... and there are still some things that we need to finish." Jason and I looked at each other with a quizzical look, wondering what she meant.
On Thursday before our move, Gina called Jason and told him that everything was "looking good" and ready for us to move in the following day. However, when she gave us the keys and we went inside, we both noticed that the bathroom and kitchen were a complete mess. The kitchen was filthy, with miscellaneous junk laying on the floor. The grouting for the tile on the bathtub in the bathroom was not finished. The wall beside the mirror had been patched up with spackling, but not painted. Another spot, located on the wall just behind the front door, was also touched up but not painted. So much for the comment about the apartment "looking good" and ready for us to move in. Gina and Mary (the head manager for maintenance) both acted as surprised as Jason and I were upon seeing the work that still had to be completed. Gina, in an unprofessional manner, said "Somebody dropped the ball here, and it wasn't Mary or myself!" as if it really matters WHOSE fault it was in the first place.
Despite the situation, and despite our initial shock and anger, we began to move things in, one box at a time. My grandparents gave me a 27" television and entertainment center for the living room, and so they brought that with them. Mom and I brought some other miscellaneous stuff - mainly my music collection, guitars, and other small items. Unlike Jason, who packed a rental truck and moved in one day, I decided to save some money by bringing my belongings in several trips. I came back on Saturday with more things (my desk, computer, and more music-related gear), and then took Sunday off from the moving process. Sunday morning was fun at church - the praise team and I performed a version of the Led Zeppelin classic "Stairway to Heaven," with new lyrics of course. Although all of us made some minor mistakes, it turned out alright for the first time of ever playing it. The rest of the service went very well and smoothly, and I could see certain people were moved by the songs and the energy. Because it was my final day as the leader of the praise team at FCC in Columbiana, Len & Nita Derico - along with a couple members of the band - decided to host a "farewell" party at their home Sunday afternoon. I had a great time spending time with and talking to my friends from the church. We ate lots of great food, played some games of Bocce and Frisbee, and chatted for awhile. I was surprised by the number of people who came to the gathering.
Following the party at Len's home, I went back to my parents' house to pack some more things, and then went to visit some close friends of mine. After having to practically peel my friend's son Tyler off of me (obviously he did not want me to move 
), I went back to the parents' to catch some sleep, for Monday (Memorial Day) was going to be one long day.
On Monday morning I woke up fairly early and packed a few miscellaneous things, then went to my aunt Anna's family get together. I stayed there for a few hours, leaving at 4 with my dad to head home to finish packing and loading. After Dad and I got back to Columbiana, we dismantled my bed and dresser, then loaded them onto my truck. At about 9:00PM, I left by myself and headed to Mayfield Heights. When I arrived, Jason helped me unload the rest of my furniture and other belongings. After unloading and unpacking most of it, I spent some time arranging my new room before watching a movie with Jason and heading to bed.
Since then, I have further refined my room. I have also gone exploring throughout the area. I took a drive to where I will be working (TEC, Inc. Engineering & Design in Eastlake) in order to time myself for Monday morning, when I start my first day on the job. On the way back, I stopped at a few places to check things out. Richmond Heights Town Center mall has very nice FYE and Barnes & Noble stores, plus a nice Ruby Tuesday restaurant. I also found large Home Depot and Lowe's stores, and noticed some cool steakhouse restaurants and Cracker Barrel, which is another of my favorite places to eat. I then stopped at Wendy's to grab some dinner, which is right next to the entrance for the apartments where I now live. Last night while unpacking some small things, I rediscovered the lyrics I had written for a song several years ago - lyrics that I had previously assumed to be lost forever. The lyrics are based upon the seven trumpet calls from the book of Revelation in the Bible (in chapters 8-10). While they are not nearly as great as I originally thought them to be in 1998 when I wrote them at the age of 15, the lyrics are still cool, so last night I typed them up and posted them on my website (click here to read them).
Today I went out for a bit - updated my address on my drivers license at the local BMV, and then hit up a cool bookstore/music store called "Half Price Books" in the Golden Gate Plaza around the corner from the apartments. While there, I discovered some mega-rare CDs and simply had to purchase a couple of them (found the original 1986 CD pressing of Barren Cross' Rock For The King album for $6 - and the bidding for the cheapest CD copy that I found on eBay was selling for $78!). I then went to Best Buy for a bit before heading back to the apartment. For some reason I was in the mood to take care of some cleaning, so I washed the dishes and bagged the trash and took it to the dumpster. At about 9:00, I cooked myself dinner - made a KILLER double cheeseburger all by myself! - and cleaned those dishes as well. Since then, I've been killing time here on the computer.
While I am definitely excited about the new place and the new job (cannot wait for it to start, and definitely cannot wait for that first paycheck), everything is so... different. I already miss my close buds from Columbiana. I will definitely miss leading the praise team, utilizing my musical talents at church, and spending time with everyone (however, I will be making a special "guest appearance" there in a few short weeks).
To briefly summarize everything, the song title "The Times They Are A Changin'" is so appropriate for me right now.
Cheers until next time!
