Home In Amarillo!!!

I finally landed here in Amarillo!! The move I had planned for Friday was delayed because the U-Haul (I now refer to them as "Screw-U") truck I got had no working defroster on it. It was a GM truck with only 15,000 miles on it, but the entire electrical system for heating/air system was on the fritz. The technician finally wired it directly to the fuse box. To "turn it on" I had to open the hood and connect two wires. Nice. At least it got me here. I rolled into the apartments just before midnight. Exhaustion is an understatement. Fortunately, my folks drove my vehicle up here and were a big help getting moved in Saturday. I don't know how I would have done it without them.

Everything fit into my apartment...barely. It'll be nice once everything is unpacked and setup. I got a covered parking spot right in front of my door. Sweet! I'm pretty happy with it as temporary living quarters. It is still an apartment though and I'll be actively hunting for a house before long. My cat did much better than I thought on the trip up here and getting used to the apartment. She adjusted very quickly and within a couple of hours, was pestering me to play ball. No upchucking or major pschizoid episodes.

I'll have high-speed internet and cable TV by this evening. Yeah! I can finally start monitoring the weather again. I awoke Sunday morning to heavy ice fog which was cool. All of the trees were coated in a white, powdery glaze..not the clear glaze associated with freezing drizzle. It was dazzling when the sun peeked out. I didn't have my camera handy. :-( Today, temps are approaching 60F and the last visible traces of snow are about gone. Tomorrow...approaching 70F! Bring on the dryline!! :-)

I am now 5 miles from work with a 10 minute commute. This is completely astounding considering my previous 90-120 minute one-way commutes in Dallas just to get 24 miles. After nearly two decades of the DFW metromess nightmare commutes, I feel like I've broken free from a third-world prison. :-)

During my move, Florida was devestated by tornadoes. I was shocked to watch the news this morning and see the amount of devestation. With 20 people parishing, I can't begin to fathom the shock and grief of those affected by this tragedy. Unbelievable. That poor state has been under the gun for the past few years. Please consider donating to the Red Cross to help them out.

That's it for now from the heart of the Texas Panhandle. As we roll well into February, I'm already eyeing the calendar in eager anticipation of the dryline awakening from it's winter slumber and setting up house right over my head...along with the parade of ejecting upper level impulses that always deflect well away from North Texas. No longer will I have to watch in agony as tornadic supercells repeatedly erupt in the Panhandle while 300 miles away, I bask under the cap or ridging around DFW. I will be right in the middle of the "Panhandle Magic"...exactly where I want to be. :-) Look for alot of pics and video this year!!