Moving across town and forward

Moving isn’t fun. Having lived in the same small apartment (about 700 square feet?) for the past three and a half years has been interesting. I have had little storage outside of this small place to keep things that really belong in a shed, garage, or similar facility; consequently I have learned to live like you do on a ship. I have found more things that I hung, stashed, hid in every nook and cranny! This has led to approximately three dump runs to get rid of stuff that just accumulated over the years. It still is tough deciding what is worthy of going to the great garage in the sky…especially the things I’ve held onto since childhood.

I finally got rid of the first tent I ever bought. I remember saving up the $25 to afford this camouflage, single-person pup tent. It sheltered me in the backyard in its infancy and made its last appearance on a 1999 trip to the Utah desert. I’ve had that tent for close to 20 years! I discarded a free entertainment center that I received from my last boss close to seven years ago, just because I couldn’t get the help to move it. My collection of cassette tapes is living in a landfill now…I figured since I didn’t have anything that would play them…well…time to go. I did glance through them and found some very old music that must have been appealing when I was 10.

However, there are items that I cannot part with yet. I held on to a straight razor my Grandpa gave me, a knife my Dad gave me that has a folding fork, knife, and spoon, my first backpacking stove, my first and only “self-tanned” rabbit fur, and a myriad of other firsts. I wonder how long it’ll be before I wonder why I’m packing all of that around. For now, I like to reminisce a little…and the problem is, it all still works! It’s hard to dump something that still has some life in it. (Boy, that almost sounds like it’s all out of a Patrick McManus book…all I need to add is some kind of reference to military surplus and I’d be set!)

The move itself has been quick. We finally signed the lease last Friday and began the transition immediately. Packing, hauling, and unloading two houses in basically three days is impressive (we both took Monday off). Unfortunately, just getting things TO the new house is only half the battle. We have been unpacking some of it as we go…we both threw ourselves at the kitchen first, followed by clothes and bathroom stuff. I’ve noticed you have to have some sense of “home” in order to feel like you’re living in a place. The garage in the new place, on the other hand, is stuffed with all the things that must be sorted and either put up or stashed later.

All in all things are progressing nicely. We’re both still dealing with the old places and needing to move some miscellaneous things…followed by cleaning! Top a long day at work with cleaning a house that you don’t live in anymore is tiring to say the least. We’ve been eating dinner around 1900 every night, then staying up until about 2300 to just unwind. Not the best system in the world because the lack of sleep is catching up to me at least. The goal is to have the old places taken care of by this weekend; so pretty quick we can simply focus on the new house.

All the critters are getting along nicely. A little trepidation on Tate’s part because she’s been a solo cat since I got her 8 years ago, but she is a true military mastermind. We’ve got a spiral staircase going upstairs which she parked herself at the top of. The label “ceiling cat” doesn’t apply…nothing can get upstairs without facing claws and fangs…her flank protected, she surveys the living room and kitchen like a sentry. But she is getting brave and making the rounds on a periodic basis.

I’m still getting harassed by my now-previous landlord about where I can park while I’m loading the truck, when I’m going to move this and that, when she wants me out, when the carpets can get professionally cleaned, and just today she asked if I could vacuum before 1545 so she can show the place. I’ve told her over and over that she can bring people in there to show it to them, just know that I’m in the process of working plus moving so only a little bit (three to four hours) will get done each day. But to have her ask me to do that when there is a vacuum sitting there and she’s home all day? Hmmm, irritates a guy a little bit. I’ve been paying her rent for the past 3 ½ years and the other day she met a counterpart of mine from the south and couldn’t remember my last name! And to not be able to throw me a little bit of a bone with this whole moving thing when I’m being pretty darn nice letting her show the apartment that I technically still “own” it in the first place?

I guess all I can say is that every time she makes a comment or statement like that, I can just smile and roll with it knowing that I will never have to deal with it again.

I will share photos of the new place when I finally get around to taking them! Stay tuned.