Getting settled at home

Finally! That describes what Garry and I were thinking as we saw the movers, about seven hours ago, on my day off. They just left.

It has been more than a week sitting on the floor, eating on the floor, and sleeping on an air mattress. Not to mention living out of suitcases and watching TV on Garry’s laptop computer. I’m glad that’s over. Now to organize almost everything I own.

I was hoping it would happen on a weekday, when I could sign, pay, and leave the rest to Garry.

I didn’t really want to spend hours deciding where things go and unpacking. But if it had to be on a weekend, it had to be on a weekend. Better sooner than later.

So the door was open, I was cold, Casey was in one bathroom, and Yeti in the other. I spent time drinking coffee, sitting on the floor, starting to write this on Garry’s laptop (and I can’t stand laptops), while he watched the movers bring things in while it was raining, and telling them where to put things. I was lucky for that and for keeping occupied.

I have to warn you, I’ve been babbling on and on. That’s what happens when you’re hiding from the movers and the work. I wrote a lot of this by hiding and dictating into the phone. Right now, I’m in the closet, laying on my back, surrounded by boxes. Soon, my clothes that Garry hates will be here and, I should add, in fashion here!

The movers consisted of two guys and one’s daughter, although she disappeared after 15 minutes of bringing in some light stuff. We knew it would go slowly and it did. And they were dealing with rain.

I remember how long it took in Hartford in 1997. I didn’t want to wait another day so the mover arrived after the 11pm newscast I produced. Notice I wrote “the mover” because the other guy got in trouble in Atlantic City, if I remember correctly. I was the other guy, well into the morning. Luckily, I didn’t have much stuff.

This time, we moved from a three bedroom (for rent, so click while it lasts!) to a two. We could have waited for a three bedroom. It would’ve been available around March 19th, but we couldn’t wait that long. So we are moving everything from about 1500 square feet to about 968 square feet, if my memory is correct. No way to check anything right now. So as you’ll see in the pictures, the place is pretty crammed. And it’s not permanent. We have a six month lease up with an option to go month to month. At least we won’t have much floor-space to vacuum.

The movers seemed to do a good job, but the folks in their offices did not communicate so well. The Bekins sales guy in Miami and corporate guy in Indianapolis didn’t return messages all last weekend. Finally, I tweeted something to @BekinsVanLines and then, somehow, got a response. I highly suggest that method.

Publicize your ongoing problem when you’ve done everything else you can and let the PR person try to handle it. Did that with American Airlines (@AmericanAir) on the first of my two interview attempts in Richmond. Didn’t work so well, but I got a little satisfaction. The movers on this end were from a different company, out of Delaware.

So for more than a week, we lived out of suitcases, slept on an air mattress, sat and ate on the floor (with very limited cooking supplies), and watched TV on Garry’s laptop computer. We had cable but no TV! At least Casey didn’t have to stay on the cold bathroom floor at the motel for more than two nights. He has the master bedroom, bathroom, and closet. Yeti has the rest of the place.

I had a feeling I was going long. This is starting to look like a three-parter and it’s almost time to start the unpacking process. Be glad you’re not me today. Or the next few days. Or Garry. Pictures are coming up next. Then, look for something on my first week at work tomorrow, and some thoughts on Bristol on Monday. You may want to put your email address in the box on the right so you get emails whenever I publish.

Living space…

when you walk in,
and turn to the left,
and turn to the right.
The kitchen
Close-up of hallway after entry
Have to put up shelves, connect cable and watch TV
The laundry room: Good thing we left the washer and dryer in Florida!

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