Music City

I made it.

The plane took off and landed with no hiccups in the middle. Not even a gremlin on the wing.

So, here I am, Nashville. 6th city. Officially past the halfway point. I have less moves ahead of me than I have behind me.

First impressions? Seems like a spread out city, could make not owning a car kind of a problem. I do live on a bus route (a stop is literally in my front yard), but I’m not sure how frequently it runs. If it’s like Charlotte, depending on buses may not be much of an option. I shall see.

Otherwise, I haven’t been settled down long enough to have much of an impression. My apartment is sufficiently dumpy for my purposes. After 3 years of living in relative comfort, there is something to be said for moving into an apartment that doesn’t even have a pole for a shower curtain. Guess I’m gonna be showering out in the open. Be forewarned any possible guests.

First order of business: Making my first trip to the local grocery store, a Kroger. After Safeway, Jewel and a few other branded grocery stores, I’m back to the chain of my youth. I don’t have one of their Kroger’s preferred shopper card (not even the Dillons card from Lawrence), but I do have Ralph’s Club (from God knows where), so Amazing Savings are mine!

I miscalculated my ability to carry the amount of groceries I needed. After 2 days of shipping boxes and getting rid of furniture, my cartoonishly thin arms are worn out. Carrying 10 packed plastic bags of groceries was not the best idea.

Sidenote: My purchases included Yuengling beer… after 3 years of looking for it, I’ve finally gotten close enough to the East Coast to have it again… but, no, it didn’t quite live up to my memory of it… frowny face emoticon.

Walking (and struggling) with my heaps of groceries in 90 degree heat, I watched as the bus I needed to take home drove past. Not a good first trip to the store. As I soldiered on, pretty sure my body wasn’t gonna make it much further, I heard someone call out to me. I looked up and saw a young girl in her car at a gas pump. With her baby girl in the back seat, she asked me, “Where are you going?” I told her up the street, and she said, “Get in.”

She drove me the 10 blocks and we chatted briefly. In that time, I explained that I had just moved from Chicago and she excitedly told me her family lived in Chicago but she was from Minnesota and had moved around a lot (mostly in the South). She was just starting nursing school and was finding college to be much harder than high school (especially with a baby). She also told me about cool places to visit in the city and informed me that there was a gay pride parade coming up soon (she mentioned this because, as she explained, she is bisexual).

Also, as you might expect, she told me I should be thankful to God that she was around to give me a lift. I’d rather just be thankful to her.

And for her troubles, I accidentally left one bag in her car. I hope she enjoys the Cheez-its.

I have some neighbors to meet (all students) and plenty more to explore. For today, though, I think I’ve accomplished as much as my bruised and tired body can handle. I need to eat something besides one can of Pringles and then I’m going to pass out on my floor.

Here are some pictures of the new place. Notice the lack of furniture? Yeah, that’s not gonna change much, though hopefully I’ll have a bed and maybe a desk by tomorrow. And there’s a whole other bedroom about the size of mine, making this easily the largest apartment I’ve ever had to myself.