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September 02, 2005
Rough month, rough move
Well, here am I in my new home, Claremont, CA. My Dad had a car accident a week before my move west, and I spent a worried weekend in the hospital in Seattle while he and my Mom and sister and I got through the first few days of his broken L1 vertebrae. I had to go back to Cambridge too soon, but my sister stayed on for a week more, replaced by my other sister after that. Dad is now on a rapid road to full recovery, it seems, but it's been painful.
My packing up went pretty well, and I had nice visits with a sister in Pennsylvania and then a college buddy in Columbus, OH. My long-time luck on long-distance trips and moves gave out along the way, however, when my car was broken into in a hotel parking lot in the midwest. They tried to steal the car and drive away with the U-haul trailer but only succeeded in tearing up the ignition assembly. Amateurs, I guess, and thank god for that. They then turned their attention to the contents of the car, and found my desktop computer under a tarpulin, riding more safely, I thought, over the soft suspension of the car than over the hard bouncing trailer axel. They also found the camera that was tucked in under a box to be handy for a picture along the way but which I thus forgot to take up to the room with me. They also grabbed a gym bag containing an mp3 player/recorder and two cases filled with every cd I've ever pirated (some kind of capitalist justice there, I suppose). I was stuck for two days waiting for the repair on the car. The rest of the trip was pretty nice, but I grieved the whole way for the computer, a lovingly home-made box I was totally attached to. I also really liked that old Nikon FE with the 24mm lens. Oh well.
Anyway, August is over, Dad is on the mend, the theft losses are fading into memory, and a new semester at a great new college job is under way. I never was so glad to see September!
Posted by John at September 2, 2005 03:02 AM
Comments
=-O!
That's horrible. I was about to email you the other day (did I? I can't remember.) and ask you how your move went... and also if the baby naming was anywhere near being resolved yet. Wow. I'm glad you arrived in CA. I will mourn the loss of your techie stuff. :(
Posted by: Illiana at September 3, 2005 10:41 AM
By the way... I'm going to die in this PhD program aren't I? They should just include on the little contract thing a clause that says: You are signing the next 7 years of your life to the cause of anthropology. :-\
Yes, I saw the reading list for my pro-seminar... :(
Posted by: Illiana at September 7, 2005 06:04 PM
You might. I'm sure the pro-sem list is pretty daunting!
Posted by: JohnN ![[TypeKey Profile Page]](http://www.johnnorvell.net/blog/nav-commenters.gif)
at September 7, 2005 10:45 PM
Holy smoke, John! What a huge bummer about those thievin' bastards. Well, I'm glad it wasn't any worse.
I was wondering how you guys have been, how the move went, how the baby naming is going, just like Illiana, so you'll have to tell us. How's Leda feeling?
Posted by: Lynn at September 14, 2005 01:35 PM
No progress on the names. Leda thinks I'm stalling in order to foist my favorite on her at the last minute. Does seem like a good strategy, but I wasn't nearly that clever. We're just stuck. Right now he's Babu, which is baby boy in Nepali (Leda was in Nepal this summer.)
Posted by: JohnN at September 14, 2005 01:41 PM
back at Harvard after a thrilling adventure through San Francisco with my other half. I went to Carmel by the Sea, but missed wine country . . . alas.
I had been hanging onto this very 'creative' and interesting card to send you as a thank you note - but unfortunately it got crumples along the trip.
I am so sorry to hear about your father, and the whole car thing. I bet your better half is happy to see you though . . worth the trip?
I hope that you do have an excellent and fruitful year. I hope your baby is both healthy and happy, as I can only imagine to be the case.
Cheers! Brittany Garza bgarza@fas.harvard.edu
P.S. 24 years ago, when my sister Ashleigh was born, my mother couldn't decide on a name - so for 10 YEARS she was officially ' Baby Girl Garza' on her birth certificate. They didn't change it until she was fourteen, but everyone called her Ash after the first few weeks of birth. Now I think you have to have a name before leaving the hospital. Good Luck!
Posted by: Brittany at September 14, 2005 07:38 PM
Thanks for the comments, Brittany. I've heard that about needing a name to leave the hospital, but I've also heard that hospitals put pressure on you to do so but you don't actually have to. Probably varies state to state. At the moment we're polling people about their feelings on having a hyphenated last name. Most don't seem too happy with it.
Posted by: JohnN at September 14, 2005 10:28 PM
Babu is cute! :)
How many last names would Babu have if his last name was hyphenated? Doesn't Leda already have 2 last names?
Posted by: Illiana at September 15, 2005 02:40 PM
Random question...
Are you coming back to Harvard after a year or two or something? They still have your courses in the coursebook with expected dates of 06-07... that's why I ask. :)
Posted by: Illiana at September 21, 2005 05:36 PM
u
Posted by: Roru at May 2, 2006 01:29 PM
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