Here in Durham, where we are well away from the coast and the threat of torrential flooding, the worst part of Dr. Frankenstein’s Hurricane is the unseasonable cold.

After the five hour drive up to DC last Friday, it took us (Jake, my DC roomie Matt, and myself) almost ten hours to load the truck with all of my stuff. It’s not that we were lazy, not even that we were all that tired from the drive. The problem was, really, the three flights of stairs, two cars I had to have towed out of the truck’s parking spot, and… well, it was a pretty sudden move and as a result none of my stuff was packed up. But, on the upside, it only took us 45 minutes to unload it all once we were back in Durham. Once unloaded, we dropped the truck off and invited some friends over to help us break in (read: slather the interior with bacon fat) our new grill/smoker.

One of the strangest parts of the whole process was the “Handicapped Dog Walk” area signage at the NC Welcome Center on I-85…

The work week went by without incident—a lot of waiting for client comments. Most of our evenings were consumed with unpacking boxes and the moving of furniture around the house. We’ve finally got the all the boxes unpacked and the bar set up, so now it’s time to kidnap our friends and put them to work in the mines muscle through getting everything put away and the pictures hung.

On Friday I was able to volunteer with some coworkers on a Habitat for Humanity deconstruction project in one of the ritzier parts of Durham. It was nice to get to know some of the folks I work with outside of the office and visit frustration-relieving destruction upon some walls—it was a bit of a two-for-one deal. We only had one injury… one of our guys stepped on a nail only a few minutes after the site supervisor finished his “don’t step on a nail” speech. Nice.

Friday night Jake and I went to see Cloud Atlas in an IMAX theatre not too far from where I work. I will say only this: Having not read the book, the Wachowskis have created something that is magical to behold. Be prepared for a complex and engaging story, brilliant visuals, and Oscar worthy performances. I say no more! (true true)