Monday, January 26, 2009

Moving Day


I have to thank all my friends who made Moving Day possible: Christine, Randy, Debbie, Dave, Jp, Sue B, Rob, Sue R, Johanna, and Eddie. They are my heroes.

Moving day didn't start off all that well, I got up off the cot (the king size bed was already dismantled) and looked out the window to find a foot of snow had fallen overnight, and there was still snow coming down. ACK! We got lucky and it stopped mid-morning just like the weather man said it would. It didn't get all that warm, the temp was somewhere in the teens. I was mighty glad to see my buddies show up despite the less than perfect weather. Once we had a car or two, we started the actually hauling of things out of the apartment.

A couple of things still needed packing; folks pitched right in. I loaded some stuff in cars & trucks myself but most often to be found in the kitchen answering questions of this person or that one while moving things out from the back rooms to the front. I didn't even see the piano going until they had it on the porch maneuvering it onto the trailer ramp. We had an open trailer; everyone brought tarps (& I bought one - for the cost of the thing it should outlive me)One of the funnier moments was watching the king size bed being wrapped like a Christmas present before going out the door. constant flurry of activity, and then suddenly there weren't any more boxes. Most of us headed out to the new place while the Barbers and a few others stuck around to help John move the remaining furniture around to his liking.

We traveled the 4 or so miles up the road to the new place in Waterbury Center. Our "plow guy" had done a great job clearing all kinds of room in the yard. My roommate Z was out running some errands, so we had the place to ourselves. The neighbors did call the house though, to find out what all the commotion was all about. What with the local speed trap being a 100 yards from the driveway and the neighbors checking things out, I'm feeling pretty safe here, even though it is not on the main road.

I called in a wings and pizza order for lunch, and we emptied out the vehicles in record time. The back porch has a ramp on it, which made it somewhat easier to move the big stuff in. The Parlor ended up the resting place for most the boxes until I could go through them. A lot of the furniture went right up to my bedroom, a 15 X 14 room with a couple of windows and a hole in the floor (this appears to be the place a stovepipe once went up to the chimney) which was "covered" by a Frisbee. We got all of it unloaded by the time lunch arrived.

An enjoyable meal was had by all, or so it seemed. the party broke up after the eats, as most folks had a bit of traveling to do to get to their homes. I found out later Dave had been bested by my office chair - it gave way at the wrong moment and he took a tumble. He was shook pretty hard but survived it just fine. Apparently the piano move wasn't perfect, even with the two furniture dollys - there were a few spots where it still needed to be lifted. The fellas made it look easy though. I had a few tense moments when I realized there only was an inch to spare around the sideboard as it went up the stairs as I hadn't measured the width of the stairwell, and although the glass lamp made it intact the other ones needed to have the bulbs replaced.

All in all though it was a very busy day, and every body worked hard. Eddie, Sue B & Jp stuck around and helped me set up the electronics and set up my bed. Sue was was intrigued by the furry sheets mom had found for me down in Pennsylvania. We also were able to set up the rugs Canadace had given to me; everything fit just so, and except for the hole in the floor, It was turning out pretty good. We all went out for dinner at the local wings place, and then since Sue & Jp had a room at the Best Western, we went over there to do some swimming and met back up with Johanna who was also staying there.

I eventually found a piece of plywood that currently resides over the hole in my floor: Eddie is working on a better fix for that. Jp came up and helped us re-caulk our shower. I replaced the dark shower curtain , and Eddie put in the handheld showerhead I got. Its better than it was, but its still the smallest shower I've ever seen. I managed to empty 20 or so boxes within the next week; another 12 or so last week, and the remainder are things that probably won't be used here as the house is fully furnished (in Early American hand-me-down style), with dishes and everything. I'm settling in and this big 4 bedroom farmhouse is beginning to feel like home. Here's hoping I'll be here a while. Look me up if you're in the neighborhood!

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