Hanging Out with Spot

Song Lyric of the Day:

Now it seems to me / That you know just what to say / Words are only words / Can you show me something else

Rob Thomas / “Lonely No More”

11:10PM.
I finally finished some entries I’d started a while back, so be sure to check out April entries And That’s How They Do It In Norfolk, Baby! and Return to TV La-La Land.

I’m currently in Virginia Beach. Our close friends Matt and Kristen have been gracious enough to let me stay at their lovely house while they enjoy the sun visiting family in St. Croix. I was never more jealous of that than during the wonderful nor’easter that rolled in on Friday. I mean, 49 degrees in May in Virginia Beach? That really stunk.

Kristen picked me up from the airport on Monday. I flew in after spending the weekend in Knoxville. Rich and I drove down on Thursday, closed on our new house (yay!) on Friday, and had a small cookout and spent our first night in our new house on Saturday, which leads us to our first “Tale from Tennessee.” No sooner had we gone to bed–at 10PM, beyond exhausted–when we heard the first of several gunshots. We’re talking rifle shots, people. After the third shot or so, I made Rich call the police. The dispatcher informed him that he was the second person in our new neighborhood to report shots fired and that the police were already on the way. So after a very tense half hour of listening to seemingly closer shots and dealing with two terrified dogs, silence once again prevailed. At lunch the next day with our friends, Jonathan, Curry, and Tamara, Curry’s simple response to our story was “Welcome to South Knoxville.” And so it is.

Aside from being social on Sunday, Rich and I drove around and explored the area near our house. We managed to get lost twice, in no small part because I don’t know Knoxville’s roads anymore. Lesson learned–if ever I’m in a car with you trying to navigate, don’t listen to 90% of what I tell you to do.

We called it an early night Sunday so Rich could get me to the airport early Monday morning. Once Kristen picked me up, we grabbed lunch at Quizno’s and headed home. She helped me get on the home network and I went to work. Once Matt got home later in the day, he finished setting up my network access and I was good to go.

So now I’ve spent a week sitting on the couch with my laptop, working. I managed to come up for air on Thursday and email Joan that I was here. Being carless for now, she picked me up and took me to dinner Friday night and to Barnes & Noble, giving me much needed exposure to fellow human beings.

I’ve spent the whole week with Matt and Kristen’s cat, Spot, as my sole housemate, so I needed the human interaction. Not that Spot’s been a bad companion. On the contrary, she’s been quite lovely. She is very talkative (read: she meows) and follows me around a lot. I think she’s happy that she got to stay in her house while her parents are away. My first night alone here was Tuesday; by Thursday night, I took Spot up to my room at bedtime and she stayed with me for a while. She’s been sleeping with me some, and this morning she even came back to sleep with me after I got up early to feed her. Her mom and dad can rest easy that she’s in good, cat friendly hands.

This week I’m really hoping to catch up with a few more people before heading home to Knoxville for good on Sunday. I hadn’t anticipated being so busy with work this past week, so now I need to make it a point to see some folks while I can.

As it is, by the time I leave Matt and Kristen’s house, there is going to be a Pattie-shaped, permanent impression on their couch. I can’t say I’ve fallen behind on my evening TV viewing, that’s for sure. And I’ve scared myself silly playing Nintendo Gamecube‘s “Resident Evil Zero.” Blasted horror survival games.