I hate moving
And yet it is a necessary evil.
Come Moving Day, I still hadn’t quite finished packing up my kitchen and sorting through everything to determine what was to be banished to storage and what was coming along to the new apartment. No matter, we had things to do, I’d handle it later.
L & R arrived with bagels and cream cheese, I provided the chilled Gatorade. After a quick breakfast we headed to U-Haul to pick up our truck at 7 am, sharp. Surprisingly, there was only one couple in line ahead of us, so we got service relatively quickly. This is the only moving truck company within a reasonable distance to our neighborhoods, so they’re usually pretty busy on the weekends. We got our truck and went back to my apartment where A was waiting. He got his breakfast and then we commenced to fill the truck with everything I wanted to take to storage. T & J showed up, helped load the truck, AND helped me pack the rest of the kitchen. We were locked and loaded by 9 am. I was impressed and had a good feeling about the rest of the day. If it only took us that long for my apartment, loading up L’s apartment should be a snap!
We headed out to my storage facility, and as I filled out paperwork with the creepy manager, the “crew” started to unload the truck into the storage space. By the time I was done with Manager Leering Eye, the truck was almost empty. It was 10 am. Sweet.
Before traipsing off to L’s apartment, we stopped by my old place to make sure we brought the Gatorade along. While we were there one of the new tenants that is moving into my old place just showed up (we’ll call him D and his fiancé R – they’re the one’s who are crazy about their cable). D & R had decided that they wanted to get a jump on their moving and move some things in that day. D wanted to take my keys and make copies. He swore it would only take about 20 minutes. Alright, fine, but I’m on my way to L’s, so you’ll have to bring them back to me. Also, D, if you’ll notice, I’m not quite done moving out. No problem, says D. We’ll just be putting a few things in the dining room. Fine. By the way, says D, where can I get these keys copied? OK, genius, you’re the one who is so hot and bothered to do things today, maybe you should have thought of that *before* getting the keys. L and I directed him to a place about 2 blocks away. We were a tad worried he wouldn’t find it. He promised he’d call and meet me on the corner at a gas station to give me back my keys. Whatever. Get out of my face and drive away in your Mercury Cougar.
T & J had to go and attend to some moving-related busy-ness of their own, so I thanked them profusely and sent them on their way. L was moving out of a 2nd floor apartment, and though she wasn’t taking all of her major furniture, we still managed to fill the truck. The best part was chucking her futon mattresses over her balcony to A & R below to put on the tree lawn. Also, her dressers had WHEELS. Wonderful concept for large furniture.
D called about 30 minutes into his key-copying adventure to let me know that he still had about 2 hours on his meter, so he thought he’d get his hair cut. Fine. Just call me when I can have my keys back, OK?
Keep in mind that it’s about 90 degrees and sunny. Thank goodness there was a breeze to cool you as you walked down the fire escape with armloads of stuff. But still, we needed a break. Subway provided us not only with plenty of parking for the truck, but also an air conditioned place to sit and eat lunch. I love you, Subway!
Then the day took a sudden turn for the worse. L’s new apartment is on the FOURTH FLOOR, and there is NO ELEVATOR. We all thought we would die. I am no where near “in shape,” but I can be pretty scrappy when I have to be, carrying a bit more than you might expect. This was torture. We made L promise to live in this apartment for at least two years before asking us to help her move again.
The clock was ticking and we had to have the truck back at U-Haul by 3 pm, with the same amount of gas, if not more. At about 2:15 we decided to just get everything off the truck and pile it up by the door. That would give us enough time to swing by a gas station and get back to U-Haul. A & R thought it was a great time to take a break and not barrel toward heat exhaustion quite so fast. L drove the truck and I drove her car to the gas station. Putting in $10 of gas made the needle barely move. Putting in an additional $20 make the needle jump way beyond the half tank mark we were aiming for. Damn gauge.
As we approached U-Haul, we see that there could be a problem. The U-Haul has a kind of “courtyard” fenced in area where they store the trucks and trailers. Some idiot had come to return a trailer and had decided to back it into the courtyard and simultaneously block the entrance. It obviously never occurred to him that other people may need to be getting in and out. AND the U-Haul folks never told him to move his car. Consequently, a 24 foot truck parked itself almost bumper to bumper with the idiot’s Jeep, trying to leave at least a little bit of maneuvering room in the area outside of the courtyard for general public parking. L pulled in and was bumper to bumper with the 24 foot truck, trying to keep the rear end of our truck out of the street. I had to park someone in just to get off the street.
Thankfully they processed our return relatively quickly, and we got to see the idiot in person. This man and his daughter had no business attempting to pretend they knew anything about moving.
On the way back to L’s apartment we stopped at Wendy’s to bring the boys some frosties. We were shocked when we got back to her building. A & R had brought up just about everything that we had left piled by the door. All that was left were the mattress, box spring, a bookcase, and the 2 dressers. Of course they were irritable and ornery, but the frosties helped. L and I helped where we could to get the last remaining items up to her apartment. By then it was 4 pm and A had to go home – he was already about 4 hours late. We left L & R in the new apartment and I took A to his car parked by my old apartment.
A offered to help me take the rest of my stuff to my new apartment, but I declined (idiot!) thinking “I really don’t have all that much stuff.” About 5 car loads and 6 hours later I was done. But I did it! And I did it all by myself. I told you I was scrappy. What kept me going was knowing that I already had a bed that was assembled and covered in clean sheets waiting for me in my new furnished apartment.
I had been overpowered by the scent of Pinesol the minute I’d walked back into my old place. Turns out that D & R and R’s grandma had completely filled the dining room and had cleaned the kitchen sink with Pinesol. They were not going to be returning to “help” me clean. All I did for cleaning in the old apartment was bleach down the bathtub and toilet, then sweep the kitchen and foyer. Fuck it. If grandma is so hot to trot with her handy Pinesol, let ‘er rip.
I was to exhausted by the time I got to my new home that I was actually overtired. Part of it was sleeping in a new place – a hot and loud new place. My new apartment is significantly smaller than my old apartment, so it only has a window unit and really, that’s about all that it needs. My old apartment had central air. A body can get used to that in a hurry. The window unit is in the bedroom, right at the head of the bed. With all of my in-and-out with bringing my stuff up, the apartment never really got a good chance to cool, so I was hot, the apartment was hot, and the AC was constantly running and loud to boot. Hard to get used to your first night.
The Day After Moving Day sucked. I was sore and exhausted. I’d also plated a nice 7 hour experiment at work. I woke up relatively early to get to work and start my experiment. Thankfully there was a bit of down time near the beginning, and for the first time I actually grabbed a timer and laid down on the couch in the lounge. I was asleep within minutes. I woke up 2 minutes before my timer alarmed with drool all over my hand. Nice.
I completed my experiment and dragged myself home. My new landlords (D & L) are very nice and inquired if I had been gone all day for “business or pleasure.” I assured them it wasn’t pleasure.
Over the last few days I’ve put just about 95% of my things away in the new apartment. I’ve also discovered a bunch of things that missed the boat to the storage space. I’ll have to make another trip, but I’m not going alone. Not only was the manager creepy, but the place is in a pretty bad neighborhood and exudes a shady vibe.
I’ve also had a nice little “get to know you” chat with my new landlords. They are an interesting couple and I like them, but I can tell they are going to make good blog fodder. I’ve never met anyone like them.
Come Moving Day, I still hadn’t quite finished packing up my kitchen and sorting through everything to determine what was to be banished to storage and what was coming along to the new apartment. No matter, we had things to do, I’d handle it later.
L & R arrived with bagels and cream cheese, I provided the chilled Gatorade. After a quick breakfast we headed to U-Haul to pick up our truck at 7 am, sharp. Surprisingly, there was only one couple in line ahead of us, so we got service relatively quickly. This is the only moving truck company within a reasonable distance to our neighborhoods, so they’re usually pretty busy on the weekends. We got our truck and went back to my apartment where A was waiting. He got his breakfast and then we commenced to fill the truck with everything I wanted to take to storage. T & J showed up, helped load the truck, AND helped me pack the rest of the kitchen. We were locked and loaded by 9 am. I was impressed and had a good feeling about the rest of the day. If it only took us that long for my apartment, loading up L’s apartment should be a snap!
We headed out to my storage facility, and as I filled out paperwork with the creepy manager, the “crew” started to unload the truck into the storage space. By the time I was done with Manager Leering Eye, the truck was almost empty. It was 10 am. Sweet.
Before traipsing off to L’s apartment, we stopped by my old place to make sure we brought the Gatorade along. While we were there one of the new tenants that is moving into my old place just showed up (we’ll call him D and his fiancé R – they’re the one’s who are crazy about their cable). D & R had decided that they wanted to get a jump on their moving and move some things in that day. D wanted to take my keys and make copies. He swore it would only take about 20 minutes. Alright, fine, but I’m on my way to L’s, so you’ll have to bring them back to me. Also, D, if you’ll notice, I’m not quite done moving out. No problem, says D. We’ll just be putting a few things in the dining room. Fine. By the way, says D, where can I get these keys copied? OK, genius, you’re the one who is so hot and bothered to do things today, maybe you should have thought of that *before* getting the keys. L and I directed him to a place about 2 blocks away. We were a tad worried he wouldn’t find it. He promised he’d call and meet me on the corner at a gas station to give me back my keys. Whatever. Get out of my face and drive away in your Mercury Cougar.
T & J had to go and attend to some moving-related busy-ness of their own, so I thanked them profusely and sent them on their way. L was moving out of a 2nd floor apartment, and though she wasn’t taking all of her major furniture, we still managed to fill the truck. The best part was chucking her futon mattresses over her balcony to A & R below to put on the tree lawn. Also, her dressers had WHEELS. Wonderful concept for large furniture.
D called about 30 minutes into his key-copying adventure to let me know that he still had about 2 hours on his meter, so he thought he’d get his hair cut. Fine. Just call me when I can have my keys back, OK?
Keep in mind that it’s about 90 degrees and sunny. Thank goodness there was a breeze to cool you as you walked down the fire escape with armloads of stuff. But still, we needed a break. Subway provided us not only with plenty of parking for the truck, but also an air conditioned place to sit and eat lunch. I love you, Subway!
Then the day took a sudden turn for the worse. L’s new apartment is on the FOURTH FLOOR, and there is NO ELEVATOR. We all thought we would die. I am no where near “in shape,” but I can be pretty scrappy when I have to be, carrying a bit more than you might expect. This was torture. We made L promise to live in this apartment for at least two years before asking us to help her move again.
The clock was ticking and we had to have the truck back at U-Haul by 3 pm, with the same amount of gas, if not more. At about 2:15 we decided to just get everything off the truck and pile it up by the door. That would give us enough time to swing by a gas station and get back to U-Haul. A & R thought it was a great time to take a break and not barrel toward heat exhaustion quite so fast. L drove the truck and I drove her car to the gas station. Putting in $10 of gas made the needle barely move. Putting in an additional $20 make the needle jump way beyond the half tank mark we were aiming for. Damn gauge.
As we approached U-Haul, we see that there could be a problem. The U-Haul has a kind of “courtyard” fenced in area where they store the trucks and trailers. Some idiot had come to return a trailer and had decided to back it into the courtyard and simultaneously block the entrance. It obviously never occurred to him that other people may need to be getting in and out. AND the U-Haul folks never told him to move his car. Consequently, a 24 foot truck parked itself almost bumper to bumper with the idiot’s Jeep, trying to leave at least a little bit of maneuvering room in the area outside of the courtyard for general public parking. L pulled in and was bumper to bumper with the 24 foot truck, trying to keep the rear end of our truck out of the street. I had to park someone in just to get off the street.
Thankfully they processed our return relatively quickly, and we got to see the idiot in person. This man and his daughter had no business attempting to pretend they knew anything about moving.
On the way back to L’s apartment we stopped at Wendy’s to bring the boys some frosties. We were shocked when we got back to her building. A & R had brought up just about everything that we had left piled by the door. All that was left were the mattress, box spring, a bookcase, and the 2 dressers. Of course they were irritable and ornery, but the frosties helped. L and I helped where we could to get the last remaining items up to her apartment. By then it was 4 pm and A had to go home – he was already about 4 hours late. We left L & R in the new apartment and I took A to his car parked by my old apartment.
A offered to help me take the rest of my stuff to my new apartment, but I declined (idiot!) thinking “I really don’t have all that much stuff.” About 5 car loads and 6 hours later I was done. But I did it! And I did it all by myself. I told you I was scrappy. What kept me going was knowing that I already had a bed that was assembled and covered in clean sheets waiting for me in my new furnished apartment.
I had been overpowered by the scent of Pinesol the minute I’d walked back into my old place. Turns out that D & R and R’s grandma had completely filled the dining room and had cleaned the kitchen sink with Pinesol. They were not going to be returning to “help” me clean. All I did for cleaning in the old apartment was bleach down the bathtub and toilet, then sweep the kitchen and foyer. Fuck it. If grandma is so hot to trot with her handy Pinesol, let ‘er rip.
I was to exhausted by the time I got to my new home that I was actually overtired. Part of it was sleeping in a new place – a hot and loud new place. My new apartment is significantly smaller than my old apartment, so it only has a window unit and really, that’s about all that it needs. My old apartment had central air. A body can get used to that in a hurry. The window unit is in the bedroom, right at the head of the bed. With all of my in-and-out with bringing my stuff up, the apartment never really got a good chance to cool, so I was hot, the apartment was hot, and the AC was constantly running and loud to boot. Hard to get used to your first night.
The Day After Moving Day sucked. I was sore and exhausted. I’d also plated a nice 7 hour experiment at work. I woke up relatively early to get to work and start my experiment. Thankfully there was a bit of down time near the beginning, and for the first time I actually grabbed a timer and laid down on the couch in the lounge. I was asleep within minutes. I woke up 2 minutes before my timer alarmed with drool all over my hand. Nice.
I completed my experiment and dragged myself home. My new landlords (D & L) are very nice and inquired if I had been gone all day for “business or pleasure.” I assured them it wasn’t pleasure.
Over the last few days I’ve put just about 95% of my things away in the new apartment. I’ve also discovered a bunch of things that missed the boat to the storage space. I’ll have to make another trip, but I’m not going alone. Not only was the manager creepy, but the place is in a pretty bad neighborhood and exudes a shady vibe.
I’ve also had a nice little “get to know you” chat with my new landlords. They are an interesting couple and I like them, but I can tell they are going to make good blog fodder. I’ve never met anyone like them.
posted by Lil Kate at 11:15 AM
1 Comments:
My goodness. You do work blue, don't you?
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