New York to Austin: Countdown to Moving Day

by Paul on May 16, 2011

In two weeks I’ll be packing up the rest of my belongings into my small, 145,000 mile Nissan Sentra for the first of 30 days on my roadtrip from Alfred, NY to my new home in Austin, TX.

Austin TX

Donating almost everything I owned is already proving to have a significant impact on the time and mental energy I need to dedicate to relocating. Though it just hit me last night, how little time I have to get all my ducks in a row. So, here’s what’s going down…

I originally wanted to take my time and spend all of June, July and August on the road, but I soon came to the realization that it was a horrible time to migrate South, and I’d never survive the heat. A problem you never have to think about here in upstate NY. A three month nomadic adventure by myself is setting the bar really high, stir in 100+ degree weather and it would have almost certainly resulted in failure. I’ve now trimmed my trip down to only a month on the road; two weeks in the Washington D.C. area, and two weeks exploring the South.
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Declutter Your Music Collection with Grooveshark

by Paul on January 9, 2011

better-grooveshark-screen

Let someone else manage your music collection. For free.

I recently picked up a new notebook in an attempt to become more mobile, and because my Dell netbook bricked while I was home for two weeks during the Christmas holiday, and work had to be done.

Normally I would load up the hard drive with as much crap as possible, and with 450-something gigs to fill, it was very tempting. The music folder on my desktop PC is out of control, with newly downloaded albums and tracks saved in a number of random places. I didn’t want to have to deal with the same problem again on my laptop.

Luckily, my desktop was still Upstate, and I didn’t have access to my collection of media, nor the many work files I store there. Chapter 9 of Leo Babauta‘s Simple Guide to a Minimalist Life was also a great inspiration in keeping a minimalist computer. Read the rest of this entry »

Free Chairs

by Paul on January 5, 2011

free-chairs

I’m always on the hunt for free stuff. I’ve been a Freecycle member for years, and have found all kinds of great stuff like office chairs, electronics, packing boxes, etc. You can find practically anything in some communities.

Back in Gaithersburg, MD, I was able to get all kinds of great free stuff. Both the quality and quantity are greater there because people need to make more room for their new stuff.

I haven’t had much luck with Freecycle here in Alfred, nor Craigslist. Although I don’t really have much of a need for anything either, and only pursue the really great stuff.  A small car makes it easy to paass over larger items like sofas, desks, etc. All of which I’ve realized I don’t really need.

I did, however, stumble across a salvage yard with help from my roommate and part-time business partner, Michael Stevenson Jr. He’s been in Alfred for years now, and is no stranger to what most people would call “junk”. Read the rest of this entry »