Archive

Posts Tagged ‘starkville’

A Decade in Portland

Tuesday, February 15th, 2022 No comments

As I’ve been saying on social media, today is the 10th anniversary of my arrival in Portland. Moving here is still one of the best decisions I have ever made. It was brave, picking up everything and moving so far away from everyone familiar. I don’t regret it.

There are so many more career opportunities available here than where I was. I might still be working for the university, but I’d be bored. I’ve had a chance to experience some exciting things here.

There are so many cool things to do here in Portland. I was pretty bored in Starkville. Portland gives me a city feel without being too big. And I’m not that far from several major cities. There’s so much going on that I can’t do everything I want to.

Last, but not least, I have met so many great people that I would not have have met otherwise. I’ve never felt more accepted than I have here. I love my Portland family.

I’m looking forward to the next 10 years here. I’ve grown so much personally and professionally in the past 10 and I think there’s more to come.

Linked below are my posts from 2012 about my moving experience.

What’s Up, Doc?

Sunday, June 2nd, 2013 2 comments

About a week and a half ago, I went to see a podiatrist to have a piece of glass removed from my foot. I stepped on a piece of glass from a broken mirror about 5 weeks earlier. Since my foot never completely healed and my regular doctor didn’t find anything, I figured I needed to get it checked out by a specialist. Also, my medical insurance that I had from working at Tactel was about a week away from expiring.

One thing I’ve noticed since I moved here is that I never have to pay anything before I leave a doctor’s or dentist’s office, even if there’s a sign stating that payment must be made at the time services are rendered. When I was in Starkville, I always had to pay something before leaving the office. There were times when I was close to broke (still in school or barely out of school) and asked if they could file it with my insurance and send me a bill later. Nope. They always wanted me to pay something before I left the office. Now that I’m in Portland and more well off, I never have to pay anything before I leave. I always stop by the checkout desk before I leave, and they look at me like they’re confused and say, “Do you need to schedule a follow-up appointment?” When I say that I don’t they tell me that they’ll bill me what my insurance doesn’t pay.

I wonder why there’s a difference. Is it because I lived in a small town then and I live in a major metropolitan area now? Is it because of the insurance plan I’m on? Maybe I’ve just been lucky with my choices of medical providers since I moved here. Who knows? It just makes me happy when doctors are more concerned about helping patients than getting money from them.

They did find some glass in my foot. I hope they got it all out. It still hurts a little, but hopefully I won’t have to go back.

Leaving Starkville

Sunday, February 12th, 2012 2 comments

I wanted to updates today since I haven’t written in a while.

I was busy with preparing to move and trying to visit family, friends, and my former co-workers before the move. I hope I get to see everyone again soon.

Packing is a pain, especially when you’re doing it all by yourself. It seems like every time I have to move, I end up having to do it all by myself. There were some times when I said “Screw it. I want to play Xbox for a while.” I got it all done, though, in time for the movers to come yesterday.

The movers made me hate moving even more than I did while I was packing. They got to my place at 3pm, which is a later than I wanted them too. I still had to clean to place after they left, so I was hoping they would give me plenty of time to do that. They didn’t. They parked the truck across the street. I understand that they couldn’t get closer because my driveway goes down and the truck is too low for that. Since they had to walk farther than 75ft, I’m going to be charged an additional fee of $75-$100, depending on the weight of my stuff. I’d be willing the bet that I’m going to be charged the maximum amount.

There were two movers. The older guy was Russian or Eastern European and the younger guy was Latino. I love meeting all different types of people, but there were communication issues because they weren’t fluent enough in English. Early on the older guy came running into my place and asked to use the bathroom. I heard the toilet flush about 5 times and the water in the sink run for a long time before he came out. He went back outside and I hardly saw him after that. I don’t know if he was sick or if he was supposed to stay outside with the truck. When I went into the bathroom it was rank and there was poo splatter all on the inside of the toilet. I had just cleaned that toilet before they got there and packed away the toilet cleaning supplies.

The younger guy kept dropping stuff and almost dropping stuff. The older guy kept barking instructions on what the young guy should have been doing whenever I saw them together. I ended up helping the younger guy out some, since the older guy wasn’t around.

Eventually the older guy came in and told me his estimate for how much my stuff weighed. His estimate was about 1300 lbs over the original estimate, which meant I would owe them about $1000 more than I expected. I figured it would be over some due to stories I’ve heard from others, but not that much. I WAS PISSED. This on top of everything else. I think he could tell how upset I was by this because he basically told me that we would find out the real weight when they weighed the truck. I emailed the guy who originally set up my move. He’s a Mississippi State graduate. I figured he’d get back to me on Monday. This news really put a damper on my mood. I was already stressed out enough. I got a call from the moving company today in response to my email. They said tha my actual weight is close to the original estimated weight. If I am over, it’s not 1300 lbs over. What a relief! I had a feeling that mover guy didn’t know what he talking about.

After they left I finished cleaning pretty late and put as much in my car as I could. I slept on the floor with Reese. I listened to coverage of Whitney Houston’s death on my phone. Kind of a sad way to spend my last night in Starkville, huh? I got up this morning, finished putting the rest of the stuff in my car, got some gas, and left Starkville around 6:30 this morning.

After 14.5 years, I’m gone.

Cabin Fever

Thursday, January 19th, 2012 1 comment

One benefit of working at home: It’s been about a month since I filled my gas tank and I still have a little under a quarter of a tank left.

One drawback of working at home: I’m going a little stir crazy. Other than trips to the gym and to the grocery store, I haven’t gotten out much lately. I’ve probably said this before, but this town is so boring. I’m glad to be leaving.

I think I’m going to the movies this weekend. Haywire looks really good and it’s getting good reviews. I’m interested in Red Tails as well. Watching the Golden Globes this past weekend made me realize that I slacked off on movies last year. That’s partially because a lot of movies I’m interested in don’t play in Starkville, but it’s also because it’s a lot easier and cheaper to stay home. Maybe I’ll go to Columbus and do some shopping as well.

Small Town Frustration

Tuesday, November 1st, 2011 No comments

Last Wednesday, I had a cold and took a day off work. I went to Walmart to get some medicine and get a copy of Attack the Block on blu-ray. Attack the Block is a British sci-fi film that a lot of geeks were going crazy about earlier this year. It never played here in Starkville. It came out on video last Tuesday. I shouldn’t have been surprised to discover that Walmart didn’t have the blu-ray and only a few copies of the DVD. I guess Walmart didn’t get many copies because people around here aren’t big on blu-rays or British sci-fi movies. They couldn’t have sold out in 1 day, could they? Grocery stores and drugstores do have some movies, but I doubt that they would have this one. Sam Goody, Blockbuster, and Movie Gallery have all closed. Redbox probably won’t have it for another 28 days if at all. I went home and ordered a copy from Amazon. I’m so tired of having to order everything I want online because Starkville doesn’t have any place that sells them. No real bookstore, music store, video store, electronic store, or clothing store. I don’t mind paying a slightly higher price than I would online if I can drive to a local store to get what I want.

It’s not just shopping that I can’t do in Starkville. When I needed surgery, I had to drive 2 hours and then drive back a week later when I was still recovering. When I was having trouble hearing in one ear, I had to drive 1 hour to Tupelo to see a specialist. When my doctor wanted me to get a spot on my skin checked out, I had to drive to Columbus and the earliest appointment I could get was over a month away. When one of my teeth was hanging loose and causing me a lot of pain, I had to wait a week before I could see a dentist. Since most medical services that are available in town are only open 8-5 on Monday – Friday, I have to take time away from work whenever I need to see anybody. Maybe I’m kidding myself to think it would be different in a bigger city.

I guess I’m just talking myself into leaving Starkville. I can think of many other reasons I don’t like this place anymore. I need to go. It might not be Austin like I had dreamed at one point, but that’s fine.

By the way, Attack the Block was really good! Check it out!