I figure I’m already overdue for an update. Do you figure that as well, faithful readers? I think you do. If not, you’re getting one anyway.

Adventurer’s Log – Day 9
We have established a small base in the enemy camp and they seem to have accepted us as a variation of their own. No one knows I am from the midwest and appear to believe I could be from Provincetown, or something, probably. The dogs are more conspicuous, barking at neighbors and threatening to blow our cover. We have resolved to keep them on active probation, with some reservation. There is not much space in our temporary base, so we have already been looking to expand our operations. Unfortunately there are not many options currently equipped with out list of requirements for such a task, but we persevere. It seems there may be a possible match and we are moving to claim the area in the coming days. I must now update my superiors on our progress, they will be anxious to hear of the invasion…

Either way, we can be certain. I do not have a hopeless love affair with Philadelphia the city itself. This is no Julia Child moves to Paris scenario, at least not yet. It has less to do with the friendly people in the city and more to do with the russian roulette driving, the beautiful but ultimately disappointing old homes we’ve looked at, and just the side effects of packing so many people into such a tight area. And probably none of it is really that bad, it’s just difficult to move to a new city, go to new places for everything, and just generally not have any of the bearings that I established over the last 10 years.

A delicate balance of lane and curbcheck

Moving can be difficult, even with close friends. No friends yet, but the plan is to meet some new friends at some meetups or something in the city or more hopefully out in my suburbs, although just trying to keep the dogs and I afloat in the apartment right now is taking considerable energy. If we do put in an offer on the house we’ve been looking at, it will be soon and hopefully we can get more settled by around Halloween, which is – lets be honest – more exciting than my own birthday. Whether this happens or not, I am devastated to think that I might not be able to swing my murder mystery party for the first time in… is it 3 or 4 years? I guess I could always do a make-up party (not that kind of makeup Matthew and Anastasia. This isn’t Ru Paul’s drag race, it’s “A Murder Gone To Wong”) in November once we’re settled in. We might be in Keystone over thanksgiving instead of Japan this year and in that case I’m sure I would have some people willing to attend. Its difficult to say where we’ll be and when, especially as I haven’t even found a place to board the dogs here yet. It’s that weird sort of culture shock… the kind where everything is ALMOST the same, but little differences unnerve you. Like not being able to buy beer at the same place they sell wine and liquor. Or curbs on the right side of roads that have no sidewalk. At least when you enter a completely different culture, you give up having any idea how to navigate and put yourself at the mercy of the locals. This is hard because you have directions which you think you can navigate with, but when you try to use them you sometimes end up with unexpected results.

All in all, we’re doing pretty well so far. It’s difficult and scary and still a little sad, but for me – I came up with an analogy for this, but you’ll have to wait until next time. Love to all –

Chris