All this AND I start my Great American Novel today.
Although I'm not sure what to call it, since "A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius" is taken and "Now a Major Motion Picture" is already the working title for my 10-volume public denunciation of Nicolas Cage.
MDB and I are all nice and moved, and I have to say this may well be the nicest apartment I've ever lived in, and I've lived comfortably beyond my means since college. More on that later. First, I must relate the hiring movers experience.
The company we chose was very competitive in their bidding, and that was the reason we selected them, ultimately. Yada yada insured yada yada all professional crews yada yada 20 years experience yada CHEAPEST QUOTE -- Ok. I have to say up until the moving process began, they were fairly conscientous and professional, confirming with me twice the times/date/circumstances of the move.
It was also the company's policy to call me and tell me when they were 30 minutes away on the day of the move itself. Which they did. They were supposed to arrive at MDB's apartment first, get him packed and loaded, then come to my apartment before moving us into the grand gorgeous apartment we would soon be sharing. I verified this again with them, although it was a bit difficult as I was now speaking with not the thoroughly Texan accents of the management, but the thoroughly ESL accent of the labor itself. At that point he mentioned "unloading" my address, but wishing to exit the conversation as soon as possible, I did not pursue this point, and simply wrote it off as the mover misspeaking. After all, I had confirmed the details of our 2-stage move TWICE.
I busied myself with packing and cleaning, and I wondered that MDB had not messaged me to say the movers had arrived or began work after an hour had passed, as his texting frequency is just short of obsessive--one of the many reasons he is perfect for me. So I kept an eye on my cell and continued my work for a few minutes, then went to text MDB proactively, only to be messaged as I was messaging to ask if the movers had started, "Have you heard anything from the movers? No sign."
This began a series of telephone calls. The movers at first did not answer, then assured me they were 5 minutes away, then admitted they were lost. They were scheduled to arrive at 9:00. They didn't end up at MDB's apartment until 10:20. This placed MDB and myself into a measure of grump.
I cannot complain about the quality of the movers who worked extremely hard once they arrived. Indeed, I feel I should apologize to them, their families, and the gods that they must have inevitably prayed to as they confronted the 4 flights of stairs at our new apartment. But they were unaware that they had 2 apartments to move that morning, and they got lost AGAIN following us to the new place. And they took all our money. And so the feelings at the end of it were decidedly mixed.
So to sum--
Good --
Move accomplished in mere hours
Friends not inconvenienced by herniated disks
MDB not forced to again drive big honking U-Haul on narrow, expensive car bestrewn downtown streets
Able to get much cleaning and unpacking done while movers mounted stair flight after stair flight after stair flight
Bad --
Substantial portions of class/racial guilt
All our money are belong to movers
The leader of the group also tried to sell us a large mirror after seeing the wall o' mirror in our new apartment and apparently imagining we like such things. It felt very seedy.
The new place is fantastic though--Christopher Eccleston-grinning fantastic. The kitchen is ideal and by far the most functional apartment kitchen I've ever had, with adequate drawer and cabinet space for the most ambitious culinary designs and fits us very comfortably. MDB and I plan to buy a shelf at Ikea to put in a hutch area under the cabinets and over the sink for cookbooks.
Adjustments did have to be made for the pot rack that hangs over the kitchen island, however, as MDB kept bonking his head on cookware.
This is actually a 2 bedroom floorplan, although we're using the second bedroom as a study. Though the second bedroom is smaller than the master, both have gigantor full-sized bathrooms and closets with garden tubs and full counterspace. So MDB and I have divvied the bathrooms and closets, and each of us now has more space than we know what to do with. Now, as we have both long dreamt, it will be possible for both us to dawdle with our coffee and breakfast until 8:00 every workday without one of us having to rush into the shower 15 minutes beforehand or else be 15 minutes late for work.
The apartment also features a nice balcony, from which one can enjoy our curiously bisected view of half AMLI complex with blue-green pool and red brick facades below us and 75/35/45 interchange with the downtown Dallas skyline across and above. It's kind of neat actually. From there I can not only look down and see how crowded the exercise room is, but I can also look to the left and see how bad traffic is.
The cable guy also cometh today, and we have lots of laundry to do--and as they're out of laundry cards for the onsite facilities and we have yet to buy a washer/dryer, we'll be doing that in an actual laundromat. Woot. I'm looking at it as a chance to get some reading in. Tomorrow we'll likely have to go hang out with some friends of MDB's who tend to show up with small notice when we can least afford it, but at least that's an excuse to grab sushi. MDB and I are fully exhausted and just want to curl up and be gloriously happy with new digs and maybe the power to watch some casual Food Network or Comedy Central. Last night's Halloween consisted entirely of grocery shopping, watching the original "Wicker Man," and baking and eating pizza and pumpkin pie--but I think it was probably every bit as wonderful as it would have been to go to Fright Fest. There is something to be said for simple pleasures and comfort after the year we've had.
Speaking of which, I haven't had coffee yet.
MDB and I are all nice and moved, and I have to say this may well be the nicest apartment I've ever lived in, and I've lived comfortably beyond my means since college. More on that later. First, I must relate the hiring movers experience.
The company we chose was very competitive in their bidding, and that was the reason we selected them, ultimately. Yada yada insured yada yada all professional crews yada yada 20 years experience yada CHEAPEST QUOTE -- Ok. I have to say up until the moving process began, they were fairly conscientous and professional, confirming with me twice the times/date/circumstances of the move.
It was also the company's policy to call me and tell me when they were 30 minutes away on the day of the move itself. Which they did. They were supposed to arrive at MDB's apartment first, get him packed and loaded, then come to my apartment before moving us into the grand gorgeous apartment we would soon be sharing. I verified this again with them, although it was a bit difficult as I was now speaking with not the thoroughly Texan accents of the management, but the thoroughly ESL accent of the labor itself. At that point he mentioned "unloading" my address, but wishing to exit the conversation as soon as possible, I did not pursue this point, and simply wrote it off as the mover misspeaking. After all, I had confirmed the details of our 2-stage move TWICE.
I busied myself with packing and cleaning, and I wondered that MDB had not messaged me to say the movers had arrived or began work after an hour had passed, as his texting frequency is just short of obsessive--one of the many reasons he is perfect for me. So I kept an eye on my cell and continued my work for a few minutes, then went to text MDB proactively, only to be messaged as I was messaging to ask if the movers had started, "Have you heard anything from the movers? No sign."
This began a series of telephone calls. The movers at first did not answer, then assured me they were 5 minutes away, then admitted they were lost. They were scheduled to arrive at 9:00. They didn't end up at MDB's apartment until 10:20. This placed MDB and myself into a measure of grump.
I cannot complain about the quality of the movers who worked extremely hard once they arrived. Indeed, I feel I should apologize to them, their families, and the gods that they must have inevitably prayed to as they confronted the 4 flights of stairs at our new apartment. But they were unaware that they had 2 apartments to move that morning, and they got lost AGAIN following us to the new place. And they took all our money. And so the feelings at the end of it were decidedly mixed.
So to sum--
Good --
Move accomplished in mere hours
Friends not inconvenienced by herniated disks
MDB not forced to again drive big honking U-Haul on narrow, expensive car bestrewn downtown streets
Able to get much cleaning and unpacking done while movers mounted stair flight after stair flight after stair flight
Bad --
Substantial portions of class/racial guilt
All our money are belong to movers
The leader of the group also tried to sell us a large mirror after seeing the wall o' mirror in our new apartment and apparently imagining we like such things. It felt very seedy.
The new place is fantastic though--Christopher Eccleston-grinning fantastic. The kitchen is ideal and by far the most functional apartment kitchen I've ever had, with adequate drawer and cabinet space for the most ambitious culinary designs and fits us very comfortably. MDB and I plan to buy a shelf at Ikea to put in a hutch area under the cabinets and over the sink for cookbooks.
Adjustments did have to be made for the pot rack that hangs over the kitchen island, however, as MDB kept bonking his head on cookware.
This is actually a 2 bedroom floorplan, although we're using the second bedroom as a study. Though the second bedroom is smaller than the master, both have gigantor full-sized bathrooms and closets with garden tubs and full counterspace. So MDB and I have divvied the bathrooms and closets, and each of us now has more space than we know what to do with. Now, as we have both long dreamt, it will be possible for both us to dawdle with our coffee and breakfast until 8:00 every workday without one of us having to rush into the shower 15 minutes beforehand or else be 15 minutes late for work.
The apartment also features a nice balcony, from which one can enjoy our curiously bisected view of half AMLI complex with blue-green pool and red brick facades below us and 75/35/45 interchange with the downtown Dallas skyline across and above. It's kind of neat actually. From there I can not only look down and see how crowded the exercise room is, but I can also look to the left and see how bad traffic is.
The cable guy also cometh today, and we have lots of laundry to do--and as they're out of laundry cards for the onsite facilities and we have yet to buy a washer/dryer, we'll be doing that in an actual laundromat. Woot. I'm looking at it as a chance to get some reading in. Tomorrow we'll likely have to go hang out with some friends of MDB's who tend to show up with small notice when we can least afford it, but at least that's an excuse to grab sushi. MDB and I are fully exhausted and just want to curl up and be gloriously happy with new digs and maybe the power to watch some casual Food Network or Comedy Central. Last night's Halloween consisted entirely of grocery shopping, watching the original "Wicker Man," and baking and eating pizza and pumpkin pie--but I think it was probably every bit as wonderful as it would have been to go to Fright Fest. There is something to be said for simple pleasures and comfort after the year we've had.
Speaking of which, I haven't had coffee yet.