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We were supposed to be in our new apartment by now.
We aren't.
The moving company, which had quoted us about $200 to move our stuff according to the description George gave them (about 50 boxes, many books, and 3 large pieces of furniture going from a 3rd floor walkup TO a 3rd floor walkup), came in, took one look at our boxes, and said: "Oh, no, this isn't a $200 dollar job..."
(Are you ready? Here it comes...)
"... this is an $800 dollar job."
Laurie and George: "WHAAAAAAAAAATTTTTT????!!!!!!????!?!?!??!?!!"
There's no way in hell we can afford that, not after 2 weeks of sick cats. We had to cancel the job, though the guys DID fill out what was left of the hour by loading and hauling what boxes they could in that time... so several boxes of our things are sitting alone in an otherwise empty apartment five blocks from where we currently live. :-(
We called our "old" rental agency in a panic, and they told us that for $25 per day (pro-rated on our old rent) we could stay in this apartment until we're able to move all of our stuff out. Four moving companies are sending representatives Monday to give us a firm quote on trucking our goods five whole blocks and up a couple of flights of stairs.
We are not happy. There are no words to describe how NOT happy we are.
However, we are both too exhausted to try to grapple with anything more right now. We hooked our machine back up and got this internet connection going, and will soon be crawling into bed to pass out for several hours.
Two silver linings are ever-so-slightly discernable through the overwhelming black clouds:
1) this gives the owners of our new apartment time to repaint the large room we'll be using as our studio. They'll be painting it a nice clean white. Currently, it is dark uterine pink. Oh, the horror, the horror.
2) it also gives George and I (who have been frantically packing to meet the supposed pick-up deadline) a little more time to clean the place up and leave it in better condition than we'd hoped. The realty is going to be gutting it to the bare walls and re-doing the whole suite, but it would sit easier with both of us to leave it as clean as possible.
Oh, and I got a Ventilin inhaler today to cope with the horrendous dust-induced asthma that almost sent me to the urgent care ward last night. Man... how long has THIS been going on? It's a true miracle of modern medicine -- one minute I felt like I was slowly suffocating to death, and five minutes later I could actually breathe comfortably.
A big shout out to my friend Corey, who was SO wonderful after I called him and sobbed a bit about what a shitty day we'd had. He not only came to take me out to coffee while George (who had worked all night last night because I couldn't breathe well enough to keep packing) took a serious nap, but he also took me to get the inhaler, plus more packing tape. AND he was even kind enough to haul six boxes containing my ritual gear to the new apartment, which was a big load off of my mind.
Speaking of ritual stuff... my most personal ritual tools (my athame, my chalice, my special-occasion pentacle) and my statues of Aphrodite and Pan will be coming with me in a hand-carried insulated lunch bag. Nestled between the Lord and Lady is a small glass jar sealed with a cork, containing the last brushings of Micawber's hair and three of his lovely long white whiskers. If it pleases him to remain with us in spirit, I want to have a concrete physical component of him in a place of honor, and have prayed that with the aid of this beacon he will be able to follow us to our new home and not be lost in the cold and dark.
We aren't.
The moving company, which had quoted us about $200 to move our stuff according to the description George gave them (about 50 boxes, many books, and 3 large pieces of furniture going from a 3rd floor walkup TO a 3rd floor walkup), came in, took one look at our boxes, and said: "Oh, no, this isn't a $200 dollar job..."
(Are you ready? Here it comes...)
"... this is an $800 dollar job."
Laurie and George: "WHAAAAAAAAAATTTTTT????!!!!!!????!?!?!??!?!!"
There's no way in hell we can afford that, not after 2 weeks of sick cats. We had to cancel the job, though the guys DID fill out what was left of the hour by loading and hauling what boxes they could in that time... so several boxes of our things are sitting alone in an otherwise empty apartment five blocks from where we currently live. :-(
We called our "old" rental agency in a panic, and they told us that for $25 per day (pro-rated on our old rent) we could stay in this apartment until we're able to move all of our stuff out. Four moving companies are sending representatives Monday to give us a firm quote on trucking our goods five whole blocks and up a couple of flights of stairs.
We are not happy. There are no words to describe how NOT happy we are.
However, we are both too exhausted to try to grapple with anything more right now. We hooked our machine back up and got this internet connection going, and will soon be crawling into bed to pass out for several hours.
Two silver linings are ever-so-slightly discernable through the overwhelming black clouds:
1) this gives the owners of our new apartment time to repaint the large room we'll be using as our studio. They'll be painting it a nice clean white. Currently, it is dark uterine pink. Oh, the horror, the horror.
2) it also gives George and I (who have been frantically packing to meet the supposed pick-up deadline) a little more time to clean the place up and leave it in better condition than we'd hoped. The realty is going to be gutting it to the bare walls and re-doing the whole suite, but it would sit easier with both of us to leave it as clean as possible.
Oh, and I got a Ventilin inhaler today to cope with the horrendous dust-induced asthma that almost sent me to the urgent care ward last night. Man... how long has THIS been going on? It's a true miracle of modern medicine -- one minute I felt like I was slowly suffocating to death, and five minutes later I could actually breathe comfortably.
A big shout out to my friend Corey, who was SO wonderful after I called him and sobbed a bit about what a shitty day we'd had. He not only came to take me out to coffee while George (who had worked all night last night because I couldn't breathe well enough to keep packing) took a serious nap, but he also took me to get the inhaler, plus more packing tape. AND he was even kind enough to haul six boxes containing my ritual gear to the new apartment, which was a big load off of my mind.
Speaking of ritual stuff... my most personal ritual tools (my athame, my chalice, my special-occasion pentacle) and my statues of Aphrodite and Pan will be coming with me in a hand-carried insulated lunch bag. Nestled between the Lord and Lady is a small glass jar sealed with a cork, containing the last brushings of Micawber's hair and three of his lovely long white whiskers. If it pleases him to remain with us in spirit, I want to have a concrete physical component of him in a place of honor, and have prayed that with the aid of this beacon he will be able to follow us to our new home and not be lost in the cold and dark.
