Reading: 0, me: 1.

As you might have guessed, I've been reading. Someday it will end. That day is not today.

I left off with the cricket incident. Sunday, Sarah and I spent the entire day cleaning out our old apartment; throwing away the majority of our belongings was a real joy. Since then, I’ve been doing a lot of reading. Mostly books. Sometimes street signs. But mostly books. Yesterday, I had my first Hebrew exam. I think it went well. I’ve got another weekend class tonight and tomorrow, and, if you’ll excuse me, I have some reading to do…

I spotted a cricket today and realized two things: 1) crickets don't like to be peed on, and 2) crickets should not hide in urinals. If there was anything else I learned, it was probably that I don't like it when unidentified insects come from seemingly nowhere and jump near my private parts. But I think I knew that already.

Today, we received what seems to be a final, "screw you" from the apartment complex. They taped a note to our door (on legal letterhead) saying that we are required to move the mold-ridden things out of our apartment by Monday. If we don't they'll charge us storage rent (same as regular rent) for what looks to be about 45 days. Things could be worse, but we're tired of the crap.

Still have lots of work to do (15 pages to write in the next few days, hundreds of pages yet to read...). Broke down and bought a new computer (the old laptop was making me nervous: taking 10 minutes to turn on, going more slowly than normal, etc.). Have been having headaches and other maladies (what's new...). Landlord says we owe $3500 in back rent (we don't) and has threatened to evict. Good times.

God was merciful tonight. I had a migrane, but it wasn't as intense as usual and lasted less than two hours. All in all, it wasn't a great experience, but it came at the best possible time and wasn't nearly as excruciating as it could have been.

In other news, I had extensive conversations with our bank, insurnce agent, leasing manager, and a company I hired to assess our mold. Nothing was really resolved; though I did get to spend about four hours on the phone.

Good day, migrane, beaurocracy, lots of reading. I have to go and throw up.

Sarah has her first day with students tomorrow. She's excited and not, all at the same time. I continue to read for extended periods of time, occasionally trying to practice Hebrew but actually sounding like I just have something caught in my throat (I don't).

for me

Have you ever found a working, 50-inch, Hitachi Ultravision big-screen TV with a free sign attached to it? Before today, I hadn't either. Before today. I'll bet you didn't think I was going there, did you? As it turns out, today is neither my nor Sarah's birthday, and it definitely isn't Christmas, but God has given us a present. A used present, a present with some flaws, but an awesome present none-the-less.

Sarah worked at school today for 13 hours (doing lots of work prepping her classroom); in spite of that, she was planning on stopping at the grocery store on the way home (she had the car). Naturally, I told her I'd walk to the store so she wouldn't have to add more time to her day (aren't I nice). On the way home, 16-pound watermelon and half-gallon of sherbert in tow (see what happens when she sends me to the store...). I saw some people (who'd previously been packing a moving truck), pull out of the complext; near where they'd previously parked their truck, I saw a big TV just sitting in the hallway. My curiosity got the better of me (here in apartment world, people are always setting stuff out that they don't want), and I went to investigate. It was a nice looking unit, albeit a little dirty, with wooden cabinetry built around the sides and a speaker system built into the stand. And it was big. And it had a post-it note: "Sometimes needs to be shaken. Free. Take it."

Wouldn't I love to take it, I thought, but how the heck am I supposed to get it to our new second floor apartment that is at least 300 yards away. In the past, I might have tried to carry it by myself, but the thought of it made my back twinge, so I kept right on going. After I got the sherbet in the freezer, I was still thinking about the TV. I decided I'd just go and see if there's any way I could figure out how to take it. And I prayed (frivilous, I know, but my TV is covered in mold, you'll recall) that if there was any way to get it to our apartment, God would show me and help me do it. My mind was reeling with possibilities: knock on random doors until somebody takes pity on me and helps me carry it; offer that guy I just saw $20 to help me; strap it to my back, etc., etc.

I made my way back to the TV and was surprised it was still there (1000 people, all in their 20's, live here; it's really first come, first served). I made another inspection, thinking, wouldn't it be great if this had wheels; I pushed it. It rolled. Too bad, I thought, better luck next tim...wait, it rolled!!! Five mintues, and one short elevator trip later, we had ourselves a new TV. Granted, there's no remote (I'll buy one), and the screen has a few scratches and a slight contrast issue (I'll ignore them), but IT'S LIKE THERE'S A MOVIE THEATER IN MY HOUSE. Call me a garbage picker if you want, but I'm happy about our present.

Note the size of the TV compared to the chair. Also note that our old TV could have sat comfortably on said chair.