One of the things about law school that I didn't know is how the 1L/2L and 2L/3L summers work. I (foolishly) assumed that you had that time off, much like in undergrad. In fact, law students must find work in their chosen field for those months as part of their education. Columbia (and, I imagine, most law schools) has a whole system for assisting students with finding placement. Larra really wanted to go overseas and do human rights work, so she applied for many such internships in early January. Columbia provides funding for students who do these kinds of internships. By virtue of the deadlines that Columbia has in place, and other information we received, we were led to believe that we would hear back by the end of February. It turns out that international human rights organizations are often on a different time-table from American academic institutions.

About a week and a half ago, Larra received (and accepted) an offer for an internship with the New South Wales Law Reform Commission in Sydney, Australia! The NSWLRC is a non-profit that works to ensure that Australian law conforms with human rights standards, as well as working to reform legislation. She is going to be doing research on mentally disabled and mentally ill people in the criminal justice system.

Both of us are very excited about this summer job! I am currently hard at work researching housing and dialysis options. Our plan is to leave a few days after the wedding and be in Australia through mid-August.

I am rapidly becoming very sorry I ever complained about trying to schedule visitor dialysis within the United States. Doing so pales in comparison to coordinating dialysis (and especially American insurance) in a country that is on the other side of the international date line. Having said that, once it's all set up, this trip is going to be amazing. I have always wanted to go to Australia, but I never really thought it would happen. I am incredibly fortunate that Larra has given me this opportunity.

On April first, I sent a text message to my future father-in-law which congratulated him for writing a very funny April Fools article. The next day, I received a text back from him with an attachment.

The message said "White Power," and the image looked like this (without any words). I thought was pretty weird. The message had been sent at 3:54 AM, so it hadn't been April 1 any longer, but maybe it was a crummy attempt at a joke? That didn't make much sense, because 1) Kevin would never make a joke like that, and 2) When he does make a joke, it's usually funny.

So, I showed it to Larra, and she thought it was really really odd and didn't sound like her dad at all. She suggested I call him, because maybe he had been hacked or something. Our idea was that as uncomfortable as it was for me to receive a message like that, it could ruin him if something similar had been sent to any of his business contacts.

The voicemail message I left was one of the strangest and most uncomfortable messages I have ever left, and I've talked to plenty of machines while under the influence (in the hospital). I told him I'd gotten a message from him, and that it had some Nazi stuff in it, and maybe it was a joke that I didn't get, but maybe not because I don't think that's your kind of thing, and anyway I just thought you should know, and I hope you're having fun in San Jose and we'll talk soon about work stuff. We waited most of the day for him to call back, thinking that he pretty much had to respond to a message like that, but I never heard from him.

Finally, late last night, Larra talked to him. He said he hadn't gotten a text message from me since sometime in November. That was weird, since I thought I'd sent him several since then. He also had no voicemail from me, so he asked what phone number I had for him in my contact list. It turns out that I was one digit off when I entered his number into my new phone in January.

Argh.

I don't think I've sent "him" very many messages in the last couple of months, but I have tried to call Kevin several times. I guess I know why "he" never picked up--the owner of the phone I was calling didn't recognize my number. Now, though, I have to wonder about that person. Are they a Neo-Nazi? Are they some moron who thought it would be funny to send Nazi images to someone they've never met? In either scenario, what did they think of that trying-to-be-amused-but-incredulous-and-confused voicemail I left. Is there a group of dudes (I assume it was a dude) sitting around listening to my voicemail repeatedly and cracking up?

So, yeah. That happened.

Yeah, it was awesome. It's kind of surreal and confusing to actually be there, though, because you don't know where to look. Jon is up there on the set, often obscured by cameras or or a boom arm, and there are many flat screen monitors hanging above your head. The show as you see it at home is up on the monitors -- the clips they show and the graphics. When they play a clip (or a pre-recorded segment, like John Oliver's White House Press Corps exposé), it appears up there, but Jon is watching it at the same time, and his reactions are often just as entertaining.

Jon is an incredibly professional performer. He didn't do any retakes, and the commercial breaks lasted the length of an actual commercial break. Also, and I thought this was especially classy, he gives his people curtain calls. After the aforementioned John Oliver segment finished playing, he tossed it to commercial, and then said "John Oliver, everybody." As he said this, John Oliver came out of a side door, waved, and took a bow (to much applause).

Perhaps the weirdest part for me was that except for people who were on camera, no one was even remotely dressed up. Everyone else was dressed almost as if it were laundry day. Even the warm-up guy, who interacted with the audience for at least half an hour, was dressed more for comfort than anything else. This is an especially noticeable thing in Manhattan, since everyone here dresses as if they're going to be seen (which they are). It's kind of disconcerting to see John Oliver in jeans and a faded layered tee.

Reading what I've written up there, it feels like I complained a bunch. That is not an accurate depiction of how much I enjoyed myself. It was SO COOL. I guess I'm also just feeling a little bit disillusioned. I hope we can go again. A lot.

I should have told this story a few weeks ago.

Larra and I started dating on June 16, 2005. Since then, we have celebrated our "monthiversary" on the 16th of every month. About three weeks ago, I suggested that since Valentine's Day is on the 14th, and our monthiversary is on the 16th, we should do something for the "Sandwich Day" that falls in between. Somewhat bemused, she agreed.

So, we got on the train and headed down to Central Park that Sunday morning. We walked around for awhile until we ended up at Bethesda Fountain, which is Larra's favorite place in the Park. We sat on one of the stone benches near the water and appreciated the view. I asked her if I could see her iPhone for a bit, and she handed it to me. After I opened up her iPod app and found the piece I had written for her (and secretly uploaded while she changed for dinner the night before), I suggested we listen to it.

Naturally, she was very excited to hear it, but she expressed her disappointment at having to do so through the crummy iPhone speaker. "Why don't you listen through these?" I asked, while pulling her headphones out of my pocket. She commented that this was very romantic as I pulled out my headphones, and we listened to her piece. A side note: for about a year and half, Larra has wanted me to write her a reel, and this is it (although it's probably a little closer to a hornpipe). Also, she knew I'd been working on something, but I wouldn't play it for her (which is unusual). I told her it was a string quartet to throw her off the scent, which is why it begins the way it does. Anyway, she loved it, but she teased me that I was playing it for her that day rather than the day before.

"So, what, you needed an extra day to finish it?" she asked. "No," I said, "I finished it a couple of weeks ago. I wanted to play it for you today, because I have something else for you." And then I pulled out her ring and asked her to marry me. (She said "yes.")

It was a good Sandwich Day.

American Airlines called me in response to the voicemail I left them. In that message, I complained that they had lost part of my life-saving medical device, and as a result I was going to have to go to the hospital in the morning.

They woke me up, and without introducing themselves, asked me how I was. The conversation started something like this:

AA: Good morning. How are you?

Me: I'm fine, thank you.

AA: How are you?

Me: I'm fine...?

AA: How are you feeling?

Me: I've been better. Who is this?

AA: This is American Airlines. Are you in the hospital?

Me: I'll be leaving to go there shortly.


There was some other stuff after that. She had a pretty thick Indian accent, and our connection sucked, plus I have a hearing problem, so I had to ask her to repeat herself a lot. Things were especially weird because sometimes she would use what I assume was Indian/English vernacular, like when she asked me, "How much you buy?"

I told her I didn't understand her, so she repeated it. When I suggested that she might mean "What did it cost you?" she agreed with me. There was a lot of weird back and forth about that, but in the end I hooked her up with my dialysis unit, who are the ones who actually own the IV pole. At this point, I think both my nurse and the manager of the unit have explained (at length) how important the pole is, and how badly they screwed up. It's nice to have people on your side.

I should be getting my new pole tomorrow or Wednesday, and I'm pretty happy about that. In the meantime, I was able to borrow one from my dialysis unit, so I have been dialyzing at home since Friday. Result!

We really did. We saw both of our families and had a really good time.

On the way back, American Airlines lost my IV pole. I can't dialyze without it. I take travel days off, so I need to dialyze for sure the next day. I was unable to do that today, because I was waiting for my pole to be delivered. First I was told that it would be here this morning (which would have been fine). Then it was going to be here between 12:30 and 6:30. Then they called me to ask if I would be home between 8 and 10. It finally arrived about ten minutes ago (at around 10pm). That is, the cardboard tube it was in arrived. The pole is not in the tube. Since the entire process takes about 5 hours, this is too late for me to dialyze (even if it were here), and that's why my writing is a little off.

It's also taking me a lot longer to write than usual, because I can't find my words. THankfully, Larra has hers, and she is on the phone with American, trying to get some kind of refund or something. I'm going to have to go into the dialysis center tomorrow so I don't die. That is overdramatic, but they really did put my health in jeopardy. They knew that it was part of a life-saving medical device, and the guy in Portland went out of his way to try to get all of our stuff with us to New York.

This may all be the fault of the ever-vigilant TSA. The tube has an "Inspected" sticker on it, and the tape has clearly been cut through on the open end. I don't really care if they look at my 42" steel pole as long as they give it back to me.

Anyway, I feel completely sick and awful and I'm pissed as hell.


UPDATE: Larra was a total hero on the phone. Despite the fact that she told them we "will never fly American again, I will tell all my friends not to, and everyone else I ever meet--ever--for the rest of my life," we have two ticket vouchers coming our way. Also, the TSA is supposed to call me tomorrow. I don't know that I've ever spoken with a clown in the security theater before, so that might be interesting.

We're in Portland right now, at Larra's parents' house. It's really nice. We arrived right before most of the snow fell, and we've been mostly house-bound for about a week.

We've spent most of our time with Larra's parents because mine had the incredible forethought to schedule a trip to Hawaii during this time. I spoke to them earlier today, and they were sure to complain about the weather they are having. I guess there's some wind and there was some rain the other day.

My Bobe has decided she wants to learn piano, so she bought a keyboard at Costco. It's a Casio, which makes me giggle. That brand (in keyboards, at least) has always been synonymous with cheap in my mind.

Today, the 25th of December, is both my great-aunt Dolly's birthday as well as the day most of the world celebrates Christmas. Not so this year in this household. Since our Christmas celebration is about family, food and presents rather than that J.C. guy, and we are currently short some family and a number of presents (due to weather), we postponed our holiday until Saturday. Also, this year is a tree-less one. Tomorrow is present-wrapping day. I'm really excited for everyone to see what we got them. I think my gift to Larra especially kicks ass.

This whole visit has been pretty chill and fun. We're here through my parents' birthdays before we head back home to the big city.

Social Security automated system: Please say the name of the state or territory where you were born.

Me: American Samoa.

Social Security automated system: I think you said TEXAS. Is this correct?


Somehow, that computer had more trouble hearing than I have.

So I guess today is Columbus Day. I wish I'd remembered that before I called Social Security to try to set up an appointment. I also wish the local office I was calling had an outgoing message saying they were closed for the holiday (as the national hotline I called later did), instead of just putting me on hold.

A while back, I claimed that Larra and I would post a new video of our furnished and decorated apartment once it was furnished and decorated. I finished furnishing a couple of weeks ago, but we've been busy with a number of small projects since then (see entries I never made re: dealing with Social Security, hosting Christy and Mimi, general work wackiness, ongoing dialysis, etc.)

Our plan was to "film" the video this week and post it soon thereafter. Unfortunately, something happened to our digital camera. The viewfinder is cracked, and the display is completely broken. We assume it was dropped, but we don't know when or how that happened. To summarize: no new video of our apartment will be seen here.

Also, quite a while ago, several people requested pictures of my "new look." This picture is my new facebook profile picture, but I'll post it here, too. For those of you wondering, this shot was taken by Laura Domela, who is an artist specializing in photography. She is also Larra's stepmother. She has been using this treatment on a lot of her portraits lately because it makes them look hyper-real.

( OMG big headshot )

Amazon sent me a "Recommended For You" email today. Most of the things I buy from Amazon are gifts for others, so my recommendations are often a little strange.

Here's the list of movies they think I'd like:

Beowulf
Michael Clayton
Alvin and the Chipmunks
Atonement
American Gangster
Water Horse-Legend of the Deep
August Rush
The Aristocats

Our TV arrived yesterday. The box was huge. I'll upload pictures later, when Larra is awake to remind me what our photobucket password is.

Yesterday afternoon, the cable guy showed up. I think he spoke English, but it was hard to tell. His thick accent/mumbling + my hearing problem = HILARITY. Anyway, the cable box he installed was a total lemon. The DVR worked unless we tried to see what we had recorded, at which point we got a fatal error message and the box rebooted itself. That was fun.

We managed to get a cable guy out here tonight with a replacement box that works, so: victory #1.

Right before we left Seattle, we mailed most of our possessions to the old New York address. When we got here, we worked out a system with the Columbia housing office so that we could get our stuff at our new address. The problem has been that nothing's arrived, and it should have.

Today, I called the Postal Service. I spent quite awhile wading through their automated bullshit, until I was able to speak to a person. Once I got her, she basically told me I was screwed. We hadn't paid for any tracking or anything, and since we hadn't "established an address" (our name wasn't on the door) the boxes could be on their way to a dead-letter office. It was possible that they were still waiting at a local post office.

Once I was finally able to get her to give me the phone number and address for the nearest post office (a task that was much harder than I expected), I gave them a call. They were glad to hear from me, as all of our boxes were taking up a bunch of space. The woman I spoke to was very helpful and sympathetic. She told me that they're not supposed to just deliver things to a different address, but she understood about Columbia housing (and she wanted the boxes out of her way). She's supposed to have them delivered tomorrow, so: victory #2 (pending).

I tried to sell my car before we left, but it didn't get done in time, so my parents were stuck with it. They mailed us the check for the money over a week ago, and we haven't seen it. In fact, things they mailed a couple of days later have arrived, but no check. Tonight, my mother called me to tell me that her letter had been returned because her hands were shaking (I really don't like prednisone) when she addressed it, and it looked like apartment 513 instead of 5B. The check will go out tomorrow in a new envelope, so: victory #3 (also pending).

How about them apples?

A week ago (that little time? really?) we were trying to get all of our "must-keep" possessions out of the apartment and on their way to New York. Most things were sent through the Post Office, but we took the valuable stuff to FedEx so they could pack it all nice and safe.

Among the things we dropped off at the FedEx Kinko's (I guess they're FedEx Office now?) was my computer, a number of small instruments and mallets, and our television. There was a lot of discussion about that last one, because we thought it would be expensive. In the end, we figured we'd ship it only if it was cheaper to do so than to buy a new one.

When we took it to the store, they had to weigh it to see if it could be shipped by ground (they said nothing heavier than 70lbs can be shipped by ground to a residence). Naturally, our trusty TV weighed 74lbs. Because of the weight, we were told it could only be shipped by air, so we asked about the cheapest air option. He told us three day air would be $300, but probably a bit more with the box (that he had to make).

Fine. $300 was still less than a new TV of equivalent size would cost, so it was worthwhile. Plus, we'd have our TV sooner, and the Olympics are coming up. We left the stuff with the dude with the understanding that it would all go out in the next day or two, and he would call us when he had a final, actual cost so we could pay him.

Since arriving here in our new city, we have had a few calls from "Jim at FedEx" telling us what the status of the project was. Several times, the TV was "probably going out tomorrow," which leads us to today. This time he called me, and told me the TV was ready to go (I assume this means it would go out tomorrow), and that the total came to $730. I was confused by this number, and I thought it must be the total for everything all together, which meant it was going to cost more than we thought.

I was wrong. Actually, he was telling me that the TV alone would cost the $730 to ship (a week late). For that kind of money (if we had it), we could get a pretty kick-ass TV (or, as Larra pointed out, buy our original TV a plane ticket to New York). Had we known it would cost so much, we would have put our set on craigslist and bought ourselves one once we got here.

Larra is on the phone with customer service as we speak, being awesome. It is at times like this that I can see the terrific lawyer and advocate she's going to become.

ÒNE HOUR LATER:

In the words of the customer service agent: Oh my heavens. It turns out that the maximum weight for ground shipments is actually 130lbs. Our TV is being shipped tonight by ground for less than $150. It is also possible that we got someone fired. No one we talked to can figure out where a number like $730 came from.

So: yay, pretty much.

A full account of our recent adventures can be found on Larra's LJ.

A video tour of our apartment, narrated by Larra, and starring me (in my ongoing cameo career):


5B Tour from Larra Morris on Vimeo.

Things are going pretty well. We have the internets, obviously, but I put the power cable to the second laptop in the boxes to be shipped, so we're sharing until my desktop arrives.

Whee!

On Wednesday night, Larra and I will board a flight in Portland. On Thursday morning, we will disembark in New York City. Once there, we will sign a lease, get a quick look at our new apartment, and head to the dialysis center for "training."

Wheeeee/Aaaaaah!

As should be clear from my previous post, we are in Portland this week trying to be helpful. On Saturday, we head back to Seattle to try to finish up all of our packing.

Sometime before August begins, we will be out of that apartment and on our way to Manhattan. Currently, we don't have an address or a move-in date. Columbia provides guaranteed subsidized housing to anyone who is accepted to the Law School. Naturally, complications arose from my health-caused living space needs.

When we visited, we checked out some of the student apartments. They were small, but workable. Except, we said to each other, for the lack of storage space required for the dialysis machine and supplies. When we got home, we did some measuring, and discovered that we're using 80-90 square feet for all of my stuff. No wonder it feels crowded sometimes!

To make a long story short: we have been approved for "disability housing," but the approval process took an extra month. Sometime this week we should receive information about our new address, and then we can make more concrete plans and act upon them.

Yay!

Yesterday, my mom received a kidney from her youngest brother, Raymond.

Other than it being an extremely long day, everything went just fine. They are both recovering well, and the kidney pinked right up and it is making lots of urine.

I am so grateful to Raymond for stepping up to do this. Every male member of the family on my mother's side has only one kidney now because all three of them have been donors. I am grateful also to his wife and daughters for supporting his decision and helping out immensely.

The whole family is here, minus my sister, one cousin and an aunt. It's been a bit of a circus, but mostly a good one.

Yay!

Man, I never like moving. Packing sucks. Shipping stuff sucks. Unpacking really sucks.

We've done a pretty good job of starting. All of our books and movies are packed and ready for shipping. We're using pretty much everything else that we still need to pack or sell.

Speaking of selling things, if anyone in the Portland or Seattle area needs more stuff, here's our current listings:

Car

Bookshelf

TV stand

Since I last wrote, some things have happened: