Wednesday, February 13, 2008

Moving out.

When I visited Indianapolis for the first time, I got mugged. By the city.

RobertaX's house was in the Broad Ripple neighborhood, which reminded me a lot of my old haunts in the Virginia-Highlands area of Atlanta, except flat and with the streets all running at right angles to each other. The same gentrified old houses on quiet, tree-lined streets; the same mix of pubs, restaurants, boutiques, and galleries. On top of that, Christmas lights were up and the whole place was covered in a blanket of snow. It was almost hopelessly twee. I was smitten. Further, I hit it off amazingly well with my hostess. It was one of those experiences that happens only a few times in your life, where within five minutes of talking with someone you realize "Wow. I have a new best friend."

Driving back to Knoxville, the first exit I passed coming into the city was the one that led to Marko's house. Marko's old house, as he'd left for New Hampshire a week or two earlier. And Kaylee was gone to Alaska. And my old downstairs neighbor, "rennaissancemann", had gotten all married up and moved across town. And I didn't work at the Armory anymore... I suddenly realized that I had pretty much nothing left rooting me in K-town. So when RobertaX mentioned in a phone conversation that she was open to the possibility of a roommate, I was barely off the phone before I started pricing U-Hauls.

Saturday I'll be backing a 17-footer into the driveway of the place I've called home for the last six years, longer than anyplace that didn't have my parents' name on the mailbox, and Sunday I'll be setting out on my next great adventure. Knoxville's been fun; I showed up almost eight years ago without a pot to piss in or a window to throw it out of, and proceeded to make this town my own, but it's time to head for new horizons. I'm excited, a little nervous, and buzzing with anticipation. (That last bit might just be because of the chocolate-covered espresso beans, though...)

Wagons ho! :)

63 comments:

Anonymous said...

But Tam, how will you ever get your fix of sherbet orange?

Anonymous said...

Well.........by.et45

Carl H said...

Good luck. Watch out for those Wabash Cannonballs...prepare for counterbattery fire!

The Duck said...

Well what we say but welcome, I'm about 95 miles east of Indy

Rustmeister said...

Have yourself a safe trip.

Don't become a Colts fan. =P

Anonymous said...

Fair winds and following seas, though admittedly the only water between you and Indy are rivers.

On a positive note you will be near both the Fort Knox museum and if I recall corectly a relatively new weapons and armour museum in Louisville.

Oh, and that move puts you pretty close to Mad Mike.

Anyway, don't be gone too long and stay safe, that 17' truck will not like you, or vice versa if you're not extremely careful with packing all that weight.

Anonymous said...

Good luck Tam....and I'm sorry that we won't get to meet for brunch the next time I have a barbershop convention in K-Town!!
GeorgeAtl

David Neylon said...

Ok, this response was getting too long. Hope you don't mind I drop you an email. :)

Good luck and say hi to everyone.

Bonnie said...

Inkling: confirmed. :-)

Good luck to you both, and have a safe trip!

Alan said...

Hmm... Tam and Roberta, roommates.

Would it be inappropriate to admit to a stray thought when I first read that post?

Anonymous said...

At last we know!

Is there a long residency requirement for your new carry permit?

PresterSean said...

I love Broad Ripple and love Indy!

And you will be much closer to Camp Perry now!

Joseph said...

cool! I live an hour south of Indy, you'll have to come cowboy shooting with us sometime. Oh! And do become a Colts fan, named after Sam hisself you know.

Anonymous said...

w00t! You're be near a Fry's Electronics. You'll know what I mean when you go there.

Anonymous said...

Well, I'll miss out on seeing you in the spring when I get back through TN, but I'm sure you'll have fun in the new digs.

Rabbit said...

Well, that was my second choice as to your destination. I figured you were gonna be a newly-minted Texan, myself.

Best,
Rabbit.

Anonymous said...

I was born in a tiny town an hours drive south of Indianapolis and went to IU.

4 decades now in Joisey and every once and a while in the spring I can walk outside in the morning and it smells like Indiana.

Nothing like it.

Anonymous said...

Good luck with all the packing/unpacking.

the doctor said...

Good luck on your move to Indianapolis Tam , you have the opportunity to write a new chapter in your book of life . You should publish it one day .

BobG said...

Tamara and Roberta in the same town? The mind boggles...

Les Jones said...

First Marko, now Tam leaving Knox Vegas.

Shoot me an email with your phone number. We still have time for some last minute horse trading.

Jenny said...

dang.. between you moving UP to Indy and some buddies here moving DOWN there, I can see I'll have to visit someday.

Ugh. Yankeeland. I still say you're crazy. But I reckon you're worth it. :)

Visiting home won't be the same without you though. :(

Anonymous said...

Good luck with the move, I'm not sure I'd do a voluntary move in the Howling Gales of Winter, though.

Roberta and Tam, working in parallel out of the same location. It does indeed boggle the mind.

(Uh, this doesn't mean the Sunday Smiff will be delayed or anything, will it?)

Anonymous said...

As a born and bred native Hoosier, Let me be among the first to welcome you to our state. It is a great place for gun people.

The state Constitution has already been interpreted to grant each citizen of Indiana a property interest in their right to a "Personal Protection Permit". That means if you are unjustly denied your PPP you can sue the bureaucrat responsible for this misdeed and when the court rules in your favor you get financial damages, just like if he stole your home or farm. Nice. It makes them far more responsive to our rights.

The only thing you can't have gun-wise in Indiana is a sawed-off shotgun....a legacy leftover from Mr. Dillinger's escapades, but then you can visit his grave at the Crown Hill Cemetary on the Northeast side some sunday afternoon and tell everyone he was a distant relative when they ask why?

As for funshows, there is the Indy 1500 at the State Fairgrounds, the small Tipton show as well as the Kokomo and Muncie shows. Not to mention the three shows down in Louisville at the Kentucky State Fair grounds.

Although I live 90 miles up I-65 (half-way to Chicago) my family originated in southern Indiana. My great, great, great, great grandfather is buried in the back of the Hopewell Cemetary outside Scottsburg. He died in 1783.
We've been here awhile.

Glad to have you as a neighbor and All The Best,
Frank W. James

doubletrouble said...

Good luck Tam!

Geez, I waz hopin' you were movin' up here(NH), but Indy's good too.

Take care...

breda said...

zOMG! So much coolness under one roof! It'll be like Mecca for geeky gun girls everywhere.

(and wow, what a lotta fun! Good luck!)

Zendo Deb said...

Safe journey. From Knoxville to Indy - I would guess the weather won't change that much, but it will change some. Me, I would be headed for warmer climes.

Anonymous said...

Correction: Crown Hill Cemetary is on the NORTH WEST side of Indy. Sorry, I had a senior moment there.

All The Best,
Frank W. James

Dingo said...

Tam,

Hey, congrats on the move. We live about 5 minutes from Broad Ripple on Kessler. You'll have to come over and enjoy my Library/Bar. There is always a keg on tap, though I tend to stay away from the hoppier beers you like.

If you ever want to go to the range, you can try out our S&W 1917.

Anonymous said...

Is it safe for that much snark to be in the same location?

Best of luck in your new adventures. Hey, you can go see the Indy 500.

Now I got two songs stuck in my head. Indiana Wants Me and Cardboard Boxes by Loudon Wainwright III.

Roberta X said...

First off, will you two -- you know who I mean! -- please stop boggling. It's not at all handsome and your faces will stick that way. ;)

Second, Indiana is only about half Yankeeland, by several measures: US 40, right through the center of town, is the dividing line between "Southern" and "Midwestern" dialects of American English. We speak both here fluently, and understand some Inland as spoken farther North though we rarely admit to it. During the Late Unpleasantness Between The States, Indiana was considered a huge seccession risk, not 'cos we were a slave state but 'cos we have strong southward ties and were even then as independant as a hog on ice. And a significant portion of our population hails from KY and TN. It's not impossible to get grits here, for instance, and at New Years there's plenty of black-eyed peas in the markets. We're not barbarians.

Third, I already wove lavish tales of the glory that is Fry's. Tam doesn't believe me. She'll see!

'Twill be grand adventure.

phlegmfatale said...

I predict the best conversations in town will be happening next to that chiminea. Very cool! Y'all have fun and we'll anxiously await reports of any mischief you get up to.

Anonymous said...

Hope your move goes well.
To repeat Rustmeister, have a safe trip.
Look forward to you being back online again.

Erik in Colo.

Anonymous said...

You're in luck, either last year or the year before, Indiana went to a lifetime carry permit. Lot of good that does for an old fart like me. A very happy welcome to Hoosier land. Don't forget to hit the Indianapolis 1500 gun show when it comes around again. If you ever get around Farmersburg (South of Terre Haute), let me know and I'll spring for a beer or two, and maybe some shooting in the back yard

Anonymous said...

Man, I was hoping you would move to Killeen so there would be at least one knowledgeable employee working at Guns Galore. Like one knowledgeable enough to convince them that a gun store with more than 1700 guns on display can carry more than four Colt 1911s (not four models, four pistols) at one time without causing the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse to come galloping by.

Jeffro said...

Well, alrighty then! Drive careful, and like Jed said - lot's o' snark brewing from one spot! Can't wait for it.!

Anonymous said...

roberta--
Your caution to us two is duly noted, but I must say in my defense that I am boggled fairly easily.

TN's loss is IN's gain.

"There is no snark in Knoxville, Mighty Tam'ra has moved out!"

Roberta X said...

Okay, boggle all you like, but don't come cryin' to me when that's the only facial expression you can muster! :)

Must admit, I'm a bit bogglfied myself. Pretty sure we'll be ready for any zombies that happen by.

Kevin said...

You WILL still be making the 2nd Amendment Blog Bash in May, right?

RIGHT?!?

Matt G said...

Might be worth packing a few cases of Ruination-- it's hard to come by, in other states.

Glad to see you looking forward to fun.

"These things are fun, and fun is good." -Dr. Seuss

Anonymous said...

Out here in the western OC we call Fry's the Evil Empire... Stay away from the blue and white tags...... Roberta can fill you in to what they mean.

Good Luck on your trip, Tam!

Anonymous said...

We gots Ruination in Colorado, should the question ever arise.

Anonymous said...

Safe trip, young lady. We're through Indy at least twice a year - to and from Colorado and Ohio. Friend's a county officer in Indiana, and we usually put in there for a day or so on each trip. Let us all know what gun shop, deli, or dance parlor you'll be hanging out in.
Best to you. Olde Force

Drang said...

Well, my bet was that you were moving to Utah to work for Larry Correia at Fuzzy Bunny Guns, or whatever his outfit is called, but then this inner voice kept saying "Tam? In Utah?"

You do realize that Indiana will give you all kinds of opportunities for weather-blogging, don't you?

Anonymous said...

Lifetime CCW in IN! Have fun!
Good luck with the Uhaul...

Cybrludite said...

Cool. A good buddy & his wife moved there back before the storm. Nice town from what I've heard. Have a safe trip!

Anonymous said...

Welcome, Tam! I live just west of Indianapolis and work out near the airport.

Not a bad place to be.

Christina RN LMT said...

Good luck, Tam!
Have a safe trip.

:)

Anonymous said...

Good luck, and have a safe trip!

(Is there an echo in here?)

I have also actually thought about moving to a different town (Tulsa, OK) because of a ginormous gun show, so there's some validation for you.

Anonymous said...

Well done! Safe trip, happy landings. And don't forget, Cincinnati is practically next door.

Mark Alger

Anonymous said...

Hey! I guessed right. Every now and then I call one right. I thought fer sure we'd be saying President Thompson. ;)

Welcome to Indy. Been here all my life so I don't have much to compare to, but I think it's a good place.

Broadripple's a fine place to live if you don't have to send your kids to the public schools. So you're covered there.

Have a good drive up here!

Someone needs to arrange a Welcome Tam to Indy bash.

Rob K said...

Hooray! 60 days and $130 and you're set for life, open or concealed carry! And we have Ruination!

J.R.Shirley said...

Damn. Now, I'll never see you. :-(

I miss you, sis.

red said...

I lived in Broad Ripple for 10 years until the wife and I moved a bit north (about 5 minutes from Ripple).

If you ever want to hit the range or need anything, let us know.

red450 AT gmail DOT com

Congrats and welcome to Indy!

Anonymous said...

Hey, don't forget that the newly renovated range at Atterbury is really nice, if a bit loud, no rapid fire, etc. I'd say that the admission is cheap (it is), but as it was paid for by tax money, not really...

But it is nice.

Pop Guns on the eastside has a decent indoor shooting range.

And avoid Don's Guns like the plague. No, I take that back. You have to go in there at least once...

Anonymous said...

I hope Indy is milder, but as a new resident of South Bend (about 120 mi. north) we were warned about the weather. We moved here from the tropics, and the realtor said "you'll love having 4 seasons again." She neglected to mention that those seasons were:
Almost Winter,
Winter,
Still Winter, and
Mosquito Season.

Have a safe move, and welcome to the lifetime carry permit state!

Formerflyer

Anonymous said...

As a former Hoosier who's decided to move out to a western, hairy-chested square state, all I can do is wish you the best in Indy.

It ain't a bad town, and the Indy 1500 is indeed the best gun show I've ever attended.

Just promise us you'll stay away from Don's Guns.

Rob K said...

Noah D mentioned the Atterbury range; here's a complete list of ranges maintained by the Dept. of Natural Resources: http://www.in.gov/dnr/fishwild/huntguide1/0708_HG/0708_hg_moreinfo.pdf

Most of them are a good bit away from Marion county, but most of them are free and in beautiful scenery.

Rob K said...

Let me try that again:
IN-DNR shooting ranges.

Tango Juliet said...

Good luck in Indy.

Mark said...

I wish you a safe move, a safe journey and good memories will fowllow you and bad ones be left behind.

God Bless

LBJ said...

I love living here. .

scully at skywritings

(Holly B has my addy)

Turk Turon said...

I know what you mean about Broadripple. I, too, have heard her siren’s song. Great ambiance. Decent gun laws. Lots of sidewalk cafes and live music. Miles and miles of absolutely heart-stopping residential architecture. Like Georgetown without the pretension (or the tourists). Or Dupont Circle without the Violence Policy Center!

Says here I’m comment #63. You’ve got a lot of fans, Tam. Good luck, drive safely, and get your blog “back on the air” ASAP.