The Drama/Trauma of Moving

Photos: On the left is the one I sold. On the right, one of these is what I bought. And because of that, the bottom photo shows that all my clouds have golden linings (better than silver).

Before I write anything I want it known I could not have done this without the help of Anne, Andy, Lori, Jess, Matt, Kathy, and Jonathan. Paul had just bought a house and was exempt from joining my chaos. And it truly was my ‘raggedey’s’ helping at every turn, that kept me sane.

The move was supposed to happen on May 18^th, but actually happened on the 21^st. I wonder what the numerologists would say about that? As a matter of fact, I will ask Pam Bell, numerologist extraordinaire!

The moving truck showed up a half hour early and loaded in 3 hours. The original estimate was for the loading to take 4.5 hours. So they are all loaded up by 10 a.m. and will not be able to unload until 3 p.m. Since time is money I was stressing out over a possible 3-5K moving costs.

In the meantime, Anne was coming in from MD at 11 a.m. I asked my friend, Pat, who lives close to the airport to pick her up, and I would meet Anne at Pat’s house. Once the truck was loaded and I did at least 5 walk-throughs, I headed off to pick up Anne. I arrived at Pat’s house just as Pat and Anne did. We chatted for a few minutes then Anne and I took off for the condo to do the final walk-through before closing.

We met my agent at the condo and went through. It was empty and reasonably clean. The moving crew was also there. We gave them the key and told them we would call when it was OK to start unloading. Since I had everything labeled as to what room everything should go, it would be no problem if I wasn’t there to direct everything.

I finally got to the condo around 4 p.m. and the guys were finished unloading by 5. What? It took them only 2 hours to unload? Hmmmm. They did have the key.

As we started arranging things into some semblance of order, Anne kept reminding me breath. I was wound way so tight I was barely breathing!

The bedrooms were set up, so, even though the rest of the condo was in total chaos, we could at least go to bed.

And so started a wild weekend.

Shopping, Shopping, Shopping!

I needed to go shopping…I needed: a washer and dryer (never had a set that matched before); living room area rug; dining area rug; small couch for living room; shower curtain for upstairs bathroom; and so much other stuff I’ve forgotten. Oh, one thing more…my Cisco wireless router.

Kathy came with us and at some point in Home Depot she couldn’t stand us any more (us being Anne and me) and she cut out. It had something to do with the way Anne and I would discuss what Anne thought I should have as opposed to what I knew I wanted. :)

On the way out of the store Kathy ran into her two brothers. “The mother and the sister are in there,” she cautioned. “If you see them, run in the other direction.” They did; and they didn’t. They regretted it! :):):)

I bought the washer and dryer at Lowe’s; the couch and living room rug at Bob’s Discount Furniture; the dining area rug at Pier 1; shower curtain and other stuff at Target. I had seen a rug in a Pier 1 flyer that came with the Hartford Courant one day. It had tones of rust, orange, brown, beige. That’s exactly what I wanted for the dining area. As we walked into Pier 1, there it was and it was on sale. Not necessarily the same pattern as in the flyer, but it was the colors I wanted. Once I get my living room arranged the way I want it, I will buy pillows for the couch in the colors from the dining area rug. Perfect tie-in.

Going Wireless

Now that I had the wireless router, it needed to be installed. Not by me! I have panic attacks just at the thought of installing software. I never know the answers to the questions! Anne offered to install my Lynksis but there were problems and she was unable to do the password protect part. I didn’t remember what name I gave my system so I never knew if I was on my wireless, or I was piggybacking someone else’s.

Bathrooms

Upstairs

How did I never notice the strong, musty smell in the upstairs bathroom? How did they disguise it…and…what is it?

Armed with a bucket of hot water, rubber gloves, industrial strength cleaner and a toothbrush, I attacked the upstairs bathroom hoping to get rid of the smell.

All I managed to do was diminish it.

The smell was coming from the area of the tub. Drain? Floor? Silly ‘splash preventing’ triangular piece of plastic?

Seemed to be worse overnight…I would put the bathroom exhaust fan on when I got up just to get the smell out.

So the search is on. Andy came over to cut a hole in the wall of the bathroom closet. We needed to see if the area under the tub was wet and moldy. Nope. Dry as a bone.

I managed to get the splash-guard off and…whoa…it stunk musty. Was this the source of mold? Andy scraped the goop that was left on the tub and tub wall and I scrubbed with cleanser and toothbrush. Hmmm. Not sure if that was the only source of the smell.

The next morning I knew it was not. The smell was still there…not as strong…but still there. That leaves only one place where it could come from…the floor…under the vinyl on the floor. Even though it is completely sealed, who knows how wet and stinky it was before the vinyl was put down.

I have a decision to make now. Do I continue spraying with air freshener? Gut the whole bathroom? Just rip up the offending portion of vinyl in order to de-mold the underlying wood? I would really like to gut the whole thing, but that’s a lot of money. It looks like it will be rip up, treat, and patch. There is a large piece of the same vinyl in the basement.

And the toilet got a new seat.

Downstairs

The half bath downstairs had a very strong, make-your-eyes-teary, smell. I finally located it on the floor of the sink cabinet. It looked (and smelled) like liquid soap (red in color) had spilled and left to evaporate. After scraping and attempts to deodorize, the smell is almost gone. Almost. I have a plan of attack to make it all gone. I will polyurethane the bottom of the sink cabinet. That should seal in whatever smell is left.

After scrubbing the toilet and sink, I washed the floor. I wanted it to dry quickly so I put the fan on it. It wasn’t drying. I ran my fingers over the floor (which is laminate) and it was oily. What? You don’t oil laminate flooring.

Here I go again. The industrial cleaner, washing rag and toothbrush went to work. After the entire bathroom was scrubbed…including the floor…I finally felt comfortable using it.

Oh! And new toilet seat here also.

Basement is next

On Tuesday, June 22^nd, Kurt and Jimmy are coming over to look at the basement and give me estimates on finishing it. Kurt is a builder and Jimmy is an electrician. I hope the money I have set aside for the basement is enough.

Once the basement is finished, the 3 bookcases and 17 boxes of book in my living room can go down in the basement and I can finish my living room as a living room…not a storage space.

Indoor Pool

One of the reasons I was interested in this complex was the pool…indoor pool. How great is that? I have been invited to join a group twice a week for water aerobics, and look forward to clearing my calendar Tuesday and Thursday mornings so I can actually get down there.

I did go swimming on my own one afternoon and it was pretty scary. I haven’t been swimming in decades and at first the water felt very ‘thick’ and hard to move through. J After I had done 4 laps the short way all the scary feelings had vanished and the water was ‘thinner’. I then did 5 more laps the long way. I felt pretty proud of myself. Can’t wait to do it again.

Physical Therapy

Through all of this, I have been dealing with an injury to my left arm, shoulder, neck, rotator cuff, and God knows what else. The cure, at the moment, is worse than the injury, but there is hope for complete resolution of the problem. All I have to do in the future is not be stupid! :)

Shhhhh

It is so quiet around here. Ahhhhh! I don’t hear my neighbors to either side…in fact the entire complex is super quiet. No hot rods, motorcycles, screaming kids or parents. There are kids in the complex, but I never hear them. One night I heard a siren…it was on TV.

I do hear an occasional jet from the airport across the river, and, sometimes the landing pattern changes in the early evening and they come right over the house. No big deal.

One thing I hear with regularity is the trains just the other side of the woods below my condo. I’m not far from the tracks and the river. I love the sound of the trains. I wait for the whistle at the two crossings. I heard them during the night the first night I slept here. If they have gone through at night since, I haven’t heard.

And thus ends the saga of my move from 7-room house to 2 bedroom condo.

Excuse me while I sit here and enjoy another beautiful sunset.