Completing the Move in New Beginnings

I spent the bulk of this weekend completing my move to my new condo. I'd been moving odds and ends there since I closed a couple of weeks ago, but this was the weekend to really make it habitable. I took Friday off to set up my new mailing address and track down used (read: cheaper than new) items on Craigslist. Saturday, I rented a U-Haul to:

1. Pick up those items I found on Craigslist. Specifically, I was trying to get a kitchen table, sofa, and washer & dryer from various individuals. Both sellers I contacted about their kitchen tables ended up selling them before Saturday. In one case, the person said she would hold it for me until Saturday when she was having her moving sale, but when I sent her an email Friday night to verify that it was still available, she told me she already sold it. Another woman was also having a moving sale, she didn't promise to hold it for me, but she still ended up selling it Friday. Arrrghhh! The people selling the washers & dryers didn't contact me back.

2. Pack up and move my belongings from Johnny's town house to the condo.

3. Go to Ikea and purchase a few things I couldn't or didn't want to buy used. Specifically, I got a bed frame, couple of night stands, rolling swivel chair, and a book case. Parking was a nightmare in the rented U-Haul truck, but I eventually found a spot large enough to park without encumbering other patrons.

4. Pick up a sofa from another seller on Craigslist. It wasn't as nice as I was expecting, but it was still a deal at $200. What was grueling was moving it into my new place. My new residence is on a second floor, so it was only one flight of stairs, but when you don't have anyone to help, it feels like much, much more. When Johnny saw me packing up my things into the truck, he asked me if I needed any help. I figured that his offer was genuine and that he wasn't just being polite. I mean, all he was doing was wathing soccer on his laptop. I asked if he could help me move my sofa in. All I needed from him was to carry it up one flight of stairs and through the door way; that was it! The entire process would have taken about 10 minutes. I suppose it would have totaled 30 minutes out of his day if you count the ten minute drive to and from my place. Still, I had an hour and a half window from when I asked him (the truck was due back at 6). He said he could be there around 4:45pm, but at that time, he phoned me saying he wouldn't be able to arrive until 5:30pm

   I was concerned he was going to flake on me. I had already moved the sofa from the truck to the bottom of the stairs using a furniture dolly, so I decided to try an idea I had toyed with earlier in the week. I turned the sofa on it's front with the back of it parallel to the ground. I dropped down to one knee and scooted under it. I then let gravity pull the back of the sofa to the ground so that its middle seat was resting on my upper back. I then stood up on my feet, though I had to remain bent over to balance it on my back, and somehow walked up the stairs. I felt so cool, like I was channeling Hercules, though I probably lost any cool points by chanting "I'm the Hulk, I'm the Hulk, I'm the Hulk" as I carried it up the stairs. Once I got to the top, I about collapsed, but it was more about setting the sofa down gently so as not to damage it rather than exhaustion. I promptly called Johnny and told him he was no longer needed. A part of me was proud for doing it all by myself, but that's probably not a feat I should attempt when I get to my late 30's. I still had to navigate the blasted thing through the door, which was probably more frustrating than carrying it up the stairs by myself. Nonetheless, I got it in, so I consider myself indomnitable.

Speaking of the moving process, I have two assigned parking spots. There's no confusion of their owner since my unit number is painted on them, still the other residents don't seem to respect that system very much. One of my parking spots alligns perfectly bottom hallway that leads to the stairs to my unit. The spot is also level, which would have made it perfect spot to park the U-haul and unload. The key operative in the previous sentence is "would have". Of course when I arrived, someone had parked in the adjacent spot, and I needed both of my spots to park the truck. I knocked on all my neighbors' doors to ask its owner to move it, but none of my neighbors were home. I had to park somewhat across from my spot, which wouldn't have been so bad, except that it was on a substantial grade. That fact made unloading the sofa less an exercise in moving furniture and more a lesson in preventing makeshift furniture torpedoes. Even after I finished unloading, returned the truck, and drove my car back to my place, the lady who parked their did such a lowsy job, that getting in and out of my car required a bit of skill in contortion. She had parked so close to the line, I was maybe able to open my door 18 inches.

Eventually, I heard my neighbor outside helping the car's owner back out of the spot without hitting my car. I went out to see if I could make it easier by pulling my car out first, but by that time, the driver was able to get out and leave. As a nice consolation, my neighbor is quite fetching to say the least. After her friend was able to leave, she acknowledged me, then went back directly back to my place. I wonder if she was embarassed for her friend taking my spot, but there's no way she would have known about the headache it caused me in unloading. I suspect she may be the type of woman who gets away with shenannigans because she's pretty, so she never learned to be empathetic to others. I mean, she didn't even pause to introduce herself, which makes me think she's self-absorbed. I'm going to try an introduce myself to my neighbors this week, so maybe I'll get a better sense of her.

Both my other neighbors seem to be all right. I know one is woman with a dog who takes issue with me. There's no way the dog can see me when entering or exiting my place, yet he somehow senses me and barks like mad. I haven't even seen the neighbors who live below me. I think they (or he or she) have (has) a young child based on a children's lamp I can see through the window when I drive up. I suppose I'll meet them soon enough.

Ultimately, I'm almost done with my move. I'm back at Johnny's finishing a final couple of loads of laundry and using the internet service. I won't have internet access at my condo until Tuesday morning. I've loaded up my final car load, and as soon as my bed sheets finish washing, I can go back to my place. I even had a mattress delivered today, so tonight will be my first night sleeping in my new home. It's been a long time coming.