00Rump

Snapped this gem this morning. I pass this billboard every day on the way into work over the Walt Whitman Bridge. I hope someone at Clear Channel Communications loses their job over this pile of hilarious puke. Why am I the only person cursed enough to see this shit?

Pics of the apartment/my view coming once I have a split second of free time.

Philadelphia

Well, the moving process has started in full swing. I rented a U-Haul truck on Saturday and moved all of my furniture except for that big ass Yamaha organ.

First of all, I'd like to write a little bit about how much I hate moving. Since 1998, I have moved no less than seven (7) times. 7 times in 8 years, and that includes having lived in my own place in NJ for 3 years. When I moved into my last place, I vowed to myself I would never move again until I was either getting married or buying a home. Seeing as though I don't want to own property in the NJ/Philly area, this meant that I was basically waiting until I get married. So much for that plan. My former property management company upped my rent to $865/mo. For that much money, I could afford to be making mortgage payments! They suck ass anyway. Even after explaining to them that I was moving because they were essentially pricing me out, they could have offered to move me into a different unit at a comparably lower price, thereby retaining my rental business. It's obvious they don't really care.

Secondly, I'd like to sound off about how much U-Hauls sucks. I called them to reserve a truck for moving, and I told them that I have a one bedroom apartment that I need to move. The size truck they reserved for me was nowhere near enough space for me to fit all my furniture, so I ended up having to make 2 trips. Some math:

$19.95 - rental
$ 1.89 - per mile rental fee
$10.00 - hand truck rental
$????? - insurance

To be honest with you, I think that U-Haul just pulls these figures out of their ass and charges you whatever they feel like charging you. I know this because when I went to return the truck, this black dude who worked there sought to strike a bargain with me so he could walk with some cash. Since I was forced to make 2 trips instead of one, I was stuck with 2x the amount of mileage that I should have had, and the tab was running about $200.00 by the end of things. The guy brought me inside and was trying to get me to slide him $50 in cash for him to reduce the bill. I was way too tired to haggle with him but he insisted on dragging me inside and pitching me this bargain. Instead of charging me $1.89/mile, he downgraded the fee to $0.99 a mile, which reduced the fee dramatically. Down to $120 from $200, not bad. But then I had to give this dude $30 in cash. Needless to say, this arrangement wasn't on the up and up.

Janic calls me Sunday morning to ask me why there's a $120 charge from U-Haul on our joint bank account. Those bastards charged the wrong fucking credit card, and now our account stands to take a whack from an overdraft surcharge. Luckily he noticed this the day after the transaction, and he's attempting to call them today and rectify the problem. If they don't waive the fee, I'll probably have to go thru the hassle of contacting U-Haul and getting them to send a letter to the bank. If I have to go thru that mess, the $50 I saved would immediately be lost to all the phone calls and running around I'd have to do to avoid the surcharge. Man, I want to bust that U-Haul crackhead's legs.

Anyway, even after having moved all of my furniture, I still have a bunch of shit to move out of the apartment which can fit into my car. Plus I have to clean the place out completely, vacuum, and leave it looking somewhat respectable. I don't know if I'm going to get thru all of that before I go to visit Goo, but I have until the 29th of May to straighten out everything.

I am so tired right now!

Yamaha Electone

A while back, an elderly couple called one of the program in my agency wanting to donate this Yamaha Electone organ. I went over there with a buddy of mine to pick it up. It's heavy as hell. I think it weighs around 250lbs. It's either the model D-2B or the D-7 from 1967, almost 40 years old! This thing originally sold for $3995, about the same price as a Cadillac back then.

Eventually the thing found it's way over to my apartment. Not knowing what else to do with the thing, I was about to donate it to a church or school to get the full cash value for the thing as a tax deduction when Adam from The Sidecar Bar & Grille told me that we should put the thing on wheels and roll it into the bar. Soon after he had that idea, he told me that he thinks he may have a local neighborhood musician to play the organ. This guy used to play with people like Stevie Wonder and Patti Labelle, and since I already have a house spot at the place, the proposition sounds like it might shape up into something interesting.

Speaking of moving, I'll be doing that next weekend. I plan on renting a truck to move all of my major furniture on Saturday, then I have a gig that evening which I can expect to be sore for. Heh, I started off the moving I did today (just a few light boxes) by pulling a muscle in my back which still hurts right now. I can tell this week's moving is going to be just peachy already. The next day is Mother's Day. The following Wednesday I leave to go see my Gooloved (finally!) for 4 days.

I hope to have everything moved before I go on vacation to see her, but I may have to make one more trip for the Yamaha Electone. I have to construct a dolly to make the thing portable. What a project.