Export Operations: Kenny in 'burq, no girl

Well, I guess I’ll back up, start pretty much where Denise started. She embarked on a journey to another country and another life while I stuck around Albuquerque a for a month to unwind what had become affectionally known as my “halfway” period. The night before she left I said goodbye and prepared for a girl-less month.

By the next morning I had found some excuse to see her once more and, upon inspecting her preparations, found nothing was in order.

Nonetheless, it was time to celebrate father’s birthday. To the main house!

Stef had to work that day and left before cake, but not before a photo shoot with Annie.

Around the same time, Bule’s heater core developed a leak and Nathan (roommate), who had amassed a block of time off, offered to perform the repair. This was a fun distraction: while he handled the vast majority of the work (we’re talking 99%), I had a front row seat to a surprisingly involved procedure.

Disassembly! Dropping the steering wheel reveals a platform, suspiciously ideal for beverage placement.

Perhaps the engineers had in mind that this repair requires moral support.

I enjoyed this string of distractions, conveniently coinciding with the departure of girl, but Nathan eventually returned to his opposing work schedule and thus began a series of lonely meals, accompanied by Chloe, who, since the partial disbandment of halfway house had become much more friendly.

Fried rice accompanied by brussels sprouts.

Chloe seeks a pat.

Fried rice accompanied by broccoli.

Cheapfish accompanied by broccoli.

Cheapfish accompanied by b.sprouts.

Chloe in a box.

Repeat menu. Pet cat. Think about moving out… And then Thanksgiving!

Gravy accompanied by Thanksgiving.

Annie, uninterested in turkey, opts for the whipped menu.

After some half-hearted shuffling of items and organizing of things in the weeks before, halfway house was eventually packed up and moved out in earnest. Nathan took on most of the high value items at his new place.

Rent a UHAUL, fill it up.

Chloe considers her new digs.

The halfway house, dark and lonely.

There was a week or so of crashing with Nathan which was a nice chance for a rough draft at adapting to complete abandonment of the routines and familiarities of the last 3 years. It went fast and before I knew it, it was time to move out again! This time from my job at PNM.

Find a nook for breakfast in an apartment occupied principally by boxes.

I decided to walk to work on my last day. It was 12°F and had snowed a bit the night before. It felt like jumping into the pool after a long soak in a warm, comfortable hot tub.

My cube, 8:30a.

Surprisingly, 3 years of PNM amounts to a stack just over a foot tall. Maybe a bit deceptive; most of the work I did was on the computer…hard to get a picture of the gigabytes value I produced.