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Entry tags:
New House Journal
Part Eight: Moving Day
I awoke on Moving Day and roused my housemates. Chris's job was going to be wrapping the dresser drawers in plastic while Sue and I got the truck. The shrink wrap in question comes on a fat, 6" roll with a handle. The assembly resembles some kind of medieval bludgeon, so we affectionately call the thing the Mace of Immobility. Sue and I got to the Uhaul place, and they were not only selling Maces of Immobility, but also Staves, Rods, and Wands - the longer, dual-handled versions in various lengths. Getting the truck took a long time because, it being a weekend in July, the uhaul place was having a busy morning, but we weren't in any hurry. After figuring out the parking brake on the truck, Sue and I headed to Waffle House for a power breakfast; it never hurts to start a moving day like this with some protein and carbs. Yum!
We got back to the old place, and Sue drove off to the new place to do some sweeping, swiffering, smudging, and moving stuff out of the way to prepare for Chris & myself to move all the heavy stuff into the house. I tried to give her the less strenuous stuff to do, as she was still feeling ill, although better than the day before.
Loading the truck was slow going, because we hadn't really been able to prepare properly, so there were still piles of things on the floor and stuff in the bookshelves and generally everything was still in the way of everything else. We disgorged some things into the yard to make way, and then started the slow, tanglefooted process of trickling our belongings out into truck. Dresser drawers first, then beds, couch, love seat, two armchairs, a bookshelf, Chris's two dressers and my one chest of drawers (Chris owns more clothes than Sue and me combined), Chris's desk, my desk, boxes, more bookshelves, Sue's desk, the dining room table, the two rolling cart things we have our microwave and toaster on, and the washer and dryer. Sue took a load of stuff in the van, and the car ended up with our computers, monitors, the TV, two lamps, and Sue's hanging clothes. The process started at about 10:30 am, and it was about 6:30 before we were done loading the truck. Part of what took so long is the day was swelteringly hot, and about 2 pm I called off truck-loading activities and turned our efforts to packing and computer cord-wrangling.
We took off, in our three vehicles, and headed toward the new house, Chris in the truck, Sue in her van, and me driving the Kia sedan. As we were driving, the sky half-darkened the way it sometimes does in the south. Sue saw a rainbow, but Chris and I were at the wrong angle for it. At one point, as I drove, I saw the road about 500 yards ahead of me shrouded as if by a 6" cover of very thick fog. As I approached, I realized that I was seeing rain spatter. The rain hit us as we drove into the Arby's parking lot, and we got rather wet running in. The protein-rich dinner was heartily welcomed by our stomachs, and we headed back to the new place in a brief break in the rain.
The rain continued on and off the rest of the night. We tried, for a short time, to wait it out, but it seemed no use, so we went ahead and parked the truck so that the back was within 6 feet of the house, and started ferrying stuff from the truck into the house.
The first thing was to put in the washer and dryer, and we had two possibilities. We could take them up the back stairs into the kitchen through the back door, or we could take them through the front of the house, which would necessitate moving the fridge. I assessed the back steps, and decided that the unmowed-grass-covered path to them was too slick and the steps too narrow. We decided to move the fridge. Thankfully, it turned out to be helpfully fitted with wheels, so it was easy to move. However, the washer and dryer were not easy to place. We put them in their little cubby and very quickly decided that the area was designed for stackable washer-dryers, because with both in place as we had imagined them, the back door couldn't open, and we would not be able to fully open the dryer door. Our washer-dryer set are stackable, but they require some kind of kit that Chris is going to have to track down on Monday.
The rest of our belongings went in with relative ease, and despite the rain the unloading took a mere three hours. We emptied the truck and Sue's van, found our pillows and a blanket each, took our evening pills, and collapsed into bed. It was 12:30 am.
Part Nine: The Slow March to Homeness
Today has been a much less strenuous, and much more sore and stiff, day than yesterday. We did bring two loads of stuff from the old place in Sue's van, but most of the day has been spent in rearranging furniture to fit the new space, setting up furniture that was taken down, and putting away boxes and boxes of books, movies, and video games. We got most of the rest of the hanging clothes, and the TV table, which now has a TV on it, and other assorted odds and ends, into the house. We have dishes and glasses put away - not all of them, but the ones that were clean. We put up the shower curtain rod and the shower curtain, and the place is starting to look like people live in it, bit by bit. The foyer is still a giant mess, but that's to be expected.
We also dropped off our first load of recycling today. The city is taking over the curbside recycling in October, so while we have curbside at the old place, we couldn't sign up for it at the new place because the people that do it now aren't allowed to take any more clients. So, the recycling from setting up the new place had to be taken to the recycling center near the Sav-a-lot and separated manually. We also still don't have our garbage bins here, so we have several garbage bags just sort of sitting around the house in various rooms. They don't have any food or liquid in them, at least.
Tomorrow, Chris and I both go back to work. Sue is planning to go over to the old place and do as much chucking of stuff into boxes and bags as she can, so that when Chris and I get off work, we can load the van and take stuff back here. At the old place, our old bathroom and Chris's old bedroom are empty and ready to be cleaned. The living room and office are disaster areas, looking like something out of an episode of Hoarders almost, but I have confidence that we can pick at the piles from the edges and clear them out in the next few days. By Thursday I hope to have our stuff out of the old place so we can clean it and have it ready for our landlord. Friday will be a day of preparation for the housewarming barbecue on Sunday, and Saturday is set aside for rest and friendship, as, with any luck, Selina and Abby will both be here that day.
I awoke on Moving Day and roused my housemates. Chris's job was going to be wrapping the dresser drawers in plastic while Sue and I got the truck. The shrink wrap in question comes on a fat, 6" roll with a handle. The assembly resembles some kind of medieval bludgeon, so we affectionately call the thing the Mace of Immobility. Sue and I got to the Uhaul place, and they were not only selling Maces of Immobility, but also Staves, Rods, and Wands - the longer, dual-handled versions in various lengths. Getting the truck took a long time because, it being a weekend in July, the uhaul place was having a busy morning, but we weren't in any hurry. After figuring out the parking brake on the truck, Sue and I headed to Waffle House for a power breakfast; it never hurts to start a moving day like this with some protein and carbs. Yum!
We got back to the old place, and Sue drove off to the new place to do some sweeping, swiffering, smudging, and moving stuff out of the way to prepare for Chris & myself to move all the heavy stuff into the house. I tried to give her the less strenuous stuff to do, as she was still feeling ill, although better than the day before.
Loading the truck was slow going, because we hadn't really been able to prepare properly, so there were still piles of things on the floor and stuff in the bookshelves and generally everything was still in the way of everything else. We disgorged some things into the yard to make way, and then started the slow, tanglefooted process of trickling our belongings out into truck. Dresser drawers first, then beds, couch, love seat, two armchairs, a bookshelf, Chris's two dressers and my one chest of drawers (Chris owns more clothes than Sue and me combined), Chris's desk, my desk, boxes, more bookshelves, Sue's desk, the dining room table, the two rolling cart things we have our microwave and toaster on, and the washer and dryer. Sue took a load of stuff in the van, and the car ended up with our computers, monitors, the TV, two lamps, and Sue's hanging clothes. The process started at about 10:30 am, and it was about 6:30 before we were done loading the truck. Part of what took so long is the day was swelteringly hot, and about 2 pm I called off truck-loading activities and turned our efforts to packing and computer cord-wrangling.
We took off, in our three vehicles, and headed toward the new house, Chris in the truck, Sue in her van, and me driving the Kia sedan. As we were driving, the sky half-darkened the way it sometimes does in the south. Sue saw a rainbow, but Chris and I were at the wrong angle for it. At one point, as I drove, I saw the road about 500 yards ahead of me shrouded as if by a 6" cover of very thick fog. As I approached, I realized that I was seeing rain spatter. The rain hit us as we drove into the Arby's parking lot, and we got rather wet running in. The protein-rich dinner was heartily welcomed by our stomachs, and we headed back to the new place in a brief break in the rain.
The rain continued on and off the rest of the night. We tried, for a short time, to wait it out, but it seemed no use, so we went ahead and parked the truck so that the back was within 6 feet of the house, and started ferrying stuff from the truck into the house.
The first thing was to put in the washer and dryer, and we had two possibilities. We could take them up the back stairs into the kitchen through the back door, or we could take them through the front of the house, which would necessitate moving the fridge. I assessed the back steps, and decided that the unmowed-grass-covered path to them was too slick and the steps too narrow. We decided to move the fridge. Thankfully, it turned out to be helpfully fitted with wheels, so it was easy to move. However, the washer and dryer were not easy to place. We put them in their little cubby and very quickly decided that the area was designed for stackable washer-dryers, because with both in place as we had imagined them, the back door couldn't open, and we would not be able to fully open the dryer door. Our washer-dryer set are stackable, but they require some kind of kit that Chris is going to have to track down on Monday.
The rest of our belongings went in with relative ease, and despite the rain the unloading took a mere three hours. We emptied the truck and Sue's van, found our pillows and a blanket each, took our evening pills, and collapsed into bed. It was 12:30 am.
Part Nine: The Slow March to Homeness
Today has been a much less strenuous, and much more sore and stiff, day than yesterday. We did bring two loads of stuff from the old place in Sue's van, but most of the day has been spent in rearranging furniture to fit the new space, setting up furniture that was taken down, and putting away boxes and boxes of books, movies, and video games. We got most of the rest of the hanging clothes, and the TV table, which now has a TV on it, and other assorted odds and ends, into the house. We have dishes and glasses put away - not all of them, but the ones that were clean. We put up the shower curtain rod and the shower curtain, and the place is starting to look like people live in it, bit by bit. The foyer is still a giant mess, but that's to be expected.
We also dropped off our first load of recycling today. The city is taking over the curbside recycling in October, so while we have curbside at the old place, we couldn't sign up for it at the new place because the people that do it now aren't allowed to take any more clients. So, the recycling from setting up the new place had to be taken to the recycling center near the Sav-a-lot and separated manually. We also still don't have our garbage bins here, so we have several garbage bags just sort of sitting around the house in various rooms. They don't have any food or liquid in them, at least.
Tomorrow, Chris and I both go back to work. Sue is planning to go over to the old place and do as much chucking of stuff into boxes and bags as she can, so that when Chris and I get off work, we can load the van and take stuff back here. At the old place, our old bathroom and Chris's old bedroom are empty and ready to be cleaned. The living room and office are disaster areas, looking like something out of an episode of Hoarders almost, but I have confidence that we can pick at the piles from the edges and clear them out in the next few days. By Thursday I hope to have our stuff out of the old place so we can clean it and have it ready for our landlord. Friday will be a day of preparation for the housewarming barbecue on Sunday, and Saturday is set aside for rest and friendship, as, with any luck, Selina and Abby will both be here that day.