Here I am. I type my first rambling from this, my new home, high atop the Remington Castle. Granted, it probably won't be seen by the rest of the world for a number of days yet, but it is being typed nonetheless.

Already, I am questioning the wisdom of having set Argo up in the bedroom, while the tv and sound is out in the main living room. Fantasia has been playing for nearly the last hour out there, serenating the place with its beautiful melodies, but already, I find myself wanting to glance around the wall to see the visuals.

[Bitscape gets up, walks over to the door, watches the picture for a few minutes, and returns to the console.]

Ok, this is definitely going to need to change. My reasoning for putting Argo in the bedroom was because, well, I'm used to sitting up at the computer until I'm deader than dead tired, and moving less than a meter to plop on the bed. It's a lifestyle. Also, Argo has carried on a duty started long ago by Dagobah, which is to make sure Bitscape gets up and gets going in the morning. In order for that to happen, computer must be near bed.

Of course, there is only one real solution to all this: A second computer! Obvious, isn't it? I have even had thoughts of buying a cheap hard drive and reviving Dagobah. (I'd also need a monitor, which could potentially cost more than the hdd, depending..)

Anyway, putting future speculations and plans aside... Here I am.

Here I am! I love this place! Everything feels so pristine around here that I almost don't want to touch any of it, for fear of contaminating the splendor of it. Oh, but it is so inviting! My place. My lair. Where I can come to relax, play king of the castle, and plan the battle strategies of the 21st century.

[Bitscape gets up and walks around for a bit.]

During lunch hour today, I hopped into Tobias and transported Argo the rest of the way to the new lair, pronto. After dropping Argo off, I made certain I knew the exact location of the nearest Taco Bell (very close by; a plus), and tried the drivethru out. Very quick service, and good food, although I wish they hadn't been quite so stingy with the hot sauce packets. (I didn't have enough to put on all my burritos and nachos, much some extra to snack on later, as I occassionally have been known to do.)

As evening began, I took a slightly extended stay at work. Since there is a deadline approaching, free supper was provided, and this time, we actually had a large number of people from the "other side" of the building, plus members of top-level management, coming to help out as much as they could. (Save us all from the dot com graveyard! :) A general atmosphere of merriment abounded.

At 1900, I departed the office, and headed straight back to the Louisville Compound. Even though Argo had now moved, several critical personal items were still back in the old place. (Boring stuff like bathroom soap, towels, clothes, and various random articles.)

The swamp had not expanded too much since the morning. It wouldn't have reached Argo's position, but it had crossed the thresold of the door to the old lair. I was glad I was getting out.

I considered sorting through more of the boxes of ancient items (yes, there are still several left to go through), but decided I didn't want to mess with it. I threw together everything I could think of that I would need, grabbed R2D2, plus anything else I knew I wanted to be moved over, and filled Tobias to partial capacity.

I knew there were at least a couple of things I would also need to be buying, so I found a Safeway not very far from the new Lair.

• Item 1 (I knew I would need this): toilet paper.
• Item 2: Cups. I could only find disposable plastic ones at the grocery store. I shall soon need to visit a place that sells more permanent accessories.

Once I got inside the store, I decided start get some other useful items. A completely empty fridge is spooky, so I got an item to put in the fridge, and an item to put in the freezer. A frozen pizza. Some cream cheese. Bagels. English Muffins. Onion salt. Mmmmmmmmm! :)

I realized that in order to the pizza, I would need a spatula for retrieval from the oven. For cream cheese, I would need a knife. Things start adding up. I actually started using a cart instead of my usual routine of bare hands, or at most, a basket. (True sign of an "adult": Pushes a cart around the grocery store instead of just walking around and grabbing no more than one can carry.)

With these newfound goods in hand, Tobias and I made our way to The Lair. (Henceforth, the shorthand expression "The Lair" refers to area within the Remington Castle that I now occupy. The Louisville Compound is no longer my base of operations, therefore any area within it ceases to carry that title.)

2100. Arrival. Made several trips to carry all the stuff up. I took a few moments to gather my thoughts, and then began to arrange bits and pieces.

After getting the food put away, the next instinct was to begin assembling the audio video hardware. I thought about Christening the new place with a viewing of The Matrix, but decided that could wait. Opened the sliding door to the porch, and felt a refreshing wave of cool air blow in. I checked the thermostat, and knocked the temperature down by about 5 degrees celcius.

Walked out on the porch, took a few breaths of fresh air, looked up, then down, and met my first new neighbor, who was leaning over the railing of the porch directly below me, smoking a cigarette. (Normally, cigarette smoke is considered a high level annoyance, but there was enough distance and open air that I could see more than I could smell of it.) We chatted for a little while about the pleasantness of the evening. I found out that he had also just moved in last Saturday, although unlike me, he had to complete the entire move in one day. Seemed like a nice enough guy. Tis good to meet one's neighbors. (I think I actually exchanged more words with this guy in 2 minutes than with any of the neighbors of the Louisville Compound over the course of 7 years.)

I finished hooking things up, started Fantasia, watched it for a while, and then got Argo going. So there it is.

New place, new life, new adventures ahead. Now, for the first time in this newly occupied castle, I will rest my head on the pillow and sleep.