T minus 48

48 more days to go until my final Thursday at YB, and I've still got 99% of my moving-prep checklist to get through. Right now, though, I'm more immediately focused on prepping for the Fourth of July: my buddy Dr. Steve will be coming down again, and my brother David, his lovely wife Patricia, and their intrepid dog Penny (currently suffering from a urinary-tract infection) will also be making the trip over.

All my guests have, miraculously, elected to celebrate the Fourth the way I've been celebrating it for the past few years: by driving out to a lonely overlook on Skyline Drive, and staring into the Shenandoah Valley while fireworks pop off until about 9:30PM. I've found this style of celebration to be both relaxing and beautiful—nothing like the hectic activities our family used to engage in on the Fourth. As residents of the Mount Vernon, Alexandria, area, we would often elect to head into Washington, DC, just fourteen miles up the road, to watch the huge fireworks and musical celebration on the US Capitol lawn. While such big events were full of bombast and good cheer, I would inevitably find myself chafing at the crowds and the sunburn and the long lines for the Porta-John bathrooms. I've never liked big parties. Hell, I've never liked most parties, big or small, unless I was the one running them. But this Fourth ought to be cool. I just hope my guests don't get too bored.

Ah, yes—about that 1% of my checklist that's been accomplished: I've been to my rental office to talk with the nice lady about leaving my lease contract early. There was no talk of penalties, but I will have to pay the full amount for the August rent, even though I'm leaving on August 12th (my flight to Korea is the following morning). Luckily, that's not the end of the story: the rental office will send me a refund check once the new resident arrives and takes over. I was told that the transition from me to the new resident (a woman apparently itching to rent an apartment in this particular complex) would be at least a four- to five-day process: after I hand my keys back in, several crews will arrive and fix things up: painting, carpets, etc. I don't seriously expect to get my deposit back, but if it does come back, I'll be pleasantly surprised. The refund, meanwhile, will cover everything from the day the new resident moves in to the end of the calendar month. I assume that means, approximately, from August 16th to August 31st, my 44th birthday. 44 Magnum.


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