October 21, 2005

• Movin’ on Up?

  
  

  Things have been quite maddening in the past 4 weeks, hence the sparse updates.

  
  

  Moving is a b*tch.  And moving into a brand new home is a b*tch.

  
  

  You’ve gotta set everything up from scratch.  The window blinds, the grass, the flowers, the trees, getting appliances delivered, buying more furniture to fill up the place.  Getting the water, electricity, phones, trash and gas set up and endlessly explaining to the utility companies why they have no record of a previous account in the newly built house. 

  
  

  Here are some of the gems in the past month:

  
  

  - Having the move-in date for the new house delayed a month… after selling our old place a month ago — thus, being in limbo with no place to live as the new owners moved into our old place. 

  
  

  So as we moved out, we had to keep all our stuff on the truck for $150/day – but to save all the food in the refrigerator, I had to:  Unpack the fridge… have the movers deliver the fridge to a friend’s place… plug it in there and then repack the food into the fridge. 

  
  

  Thankfully we were only ‘homeless’ for 1 day… but that meant we first had to have the movers stop by my friend’s house to pick up the fridge, where I then had to:  Unpack the fridge… and then repack it again at the new house.  And since we had to pay the movers for technically 2 moves, plus having to stop at my friend’s place both times… I think we spent about an additional $500 to save $200 worth of food.  (Hey — hindsight’s 20/20, alright?) 

  
  

  - Having to discover that mail service doesn’t begin until 10% of the community has moved in.  Took about 2 weeks to learn that one and then track down the post office where our mail was being held.

  
  

  - Having no gas for 3 weeks and taking cold showers/boiling water for the baby’s baths and eating Tostino’s Pizza Rolls the entire time (because that was the only ’hot meal’ that fit into a toaster oven — but then we just discovered that the home’s oven is electric.  Damn, could’ve used it that entire time.  Hey, hey , hey, hey… I said hindsight’s 20/20, okay!?!? ).

  
  

  - Having the Gas Company Guy find water in the gas lines (after finally getting him there to hook up the gas).  And then having to find a plumber to flush out the gas lines and then… get the gas guy back to hook up the gas. 

  
  

  - Having the washer/dryer delivered once the gas was hooked up… but one of the deliverers damaged a portion of the machine.  A replacement got sent a few days later… but then we noticed the bottom of the drum was rusted and got another replacement scheduled.  That replacement shows up with chipped paint on the porcelain, so we send that one back as well.  It’s been a month that we’ve had these paperweights in the laundry room and have not been able to use them once (this is when owning 30 pairs of underwear comes in handy).  

  
  

  - Having a new 350 lb refrigerator delivered (when no one was home) and then left on the back patio for yours truly to figure out how to get into the house.  And then once I do…I’ve got to: Unpack the old fridge and then repack the new one (I can do this process very quickly now).

  
  

  - Having workers cut a hole in my wall to tuck in wires from the mounted television and then give up after 20 minutes (because something was blocking the wires) and say to me, “I know a guy that can patch this hole up for $75″.  (Oh right, so that the ‘Hole Patching Guy’ can come up to me and say, “I know a guy who can paint this patched up hole for $85?!?”)

  
  

  - Having to give 5 minute detailed directions to all of the vendors above because my place isn’t on any maps yet.

  
  

  - Having been actually relieved to receive a landscaping quote for “only 20 Grand” – because everyone else was quoting “35 to 40″.  (And man, you’ve got to pay for that sh*t when the job’s done!  No lay-away or financing whatsoever!  Yes, that’s in addition to making the biggest dent in your checkbook (ever) with the purchase of the actual house!)

  
  

  To quote a friend’s blog who recently documented all his trials and tribulations of moving, “Despite our short stint in our new home… problems have already come up and smacked us in the face as if to say, ‘Welcome to homeownership, bitches!’ “ 

  
  

  Well, I’m sure everything will be better once I receive the first mortgage payment in the mail… property tax time should be a blast as well.  Hey, at least I now actually get them delivered to my mailbox.  Sheesh… 

  • 7:41 am
  • 19 Comments