The Movers Stopped By

So finally, after about 2 weeks since my closing, the movers came to get my furniture. I have been moving my other belongings, mostly in paper bags, over the past two weeks and have nearly finished. I spent last night and the early afternoon finishing loading up my car with random things.

The movers were scheduled for the afternoon and they showed up around 3:30. It took them around 30 minutes to wrap up and load my 3 beds, 2 chairs, bookcase and desk. They followed me to Meg’s to get my grandparents china cabinet, and we were on our way to Durham.

The most exciting part of the trip occurred within sight of my street. There was a police car blocking the road, as a tow truck turned around. There was a car in the ditch by the side of the road, and the Durham Police chose today to pull it out of the woods. We sat as the tow truck driver pulled this damaged car from woods, using chains from his truck. Once it reached the edge of the road, I could see the driver’s side front wheel was nearly ripped off. This made it a challenge to get the car up on the flatbed tow truck. It was finally up and the road was clear.

We reached my house and the unload was quick. The only problem was that my staircase is narrow and they had some trouble getting my queen sized box spring up the steps. I need to call on Monday to file a damage claim for the hole in my wall and scrapes to the ceiling. The guys felt bad, but sometimes stuff happens.

Now the real work begins.

Today I Bought a Couch

Today I was off work as part of our Green Friday initiative. This is something my office is doing to reduce our gas consumption this summer. By working an extra hour each day, we get every other Friday off. Since this week’s Friday is a holiday, I got Thursday off instead. This 4-day weekend is just what I need for moving.

This morning I went to Rooms-to-Go to buy a couch. I had previously spent way too much time sleeping on the couch, so when I moved into my apartment, I very intentionally did not buy a couch. Well, now that I have moved into my house, I need a couch. I don’t enjoy shopping very much, especially for major purchases, so I usually pick one store I like, find something, and buy it. If the store has a good selection, I can usually do this in less than 30 minutes. Online shopping just does not work for me for things like this. I need to sit on a couch to consider it.

I picked the above couch, which is a little darker in real life, and was ready to buy, but I was concerned about the size. I knew my “couch wall” was 7 feet, but didn’t know the exact measurements. The couch listed at 89″ long. I measured the couch and found it to be as wide as 92″ across the pillow arms. And this was the smallest 3-cushion couch. The next size smaller was about a foot and a half shorter.

I drove home to measure my wall and found it to be 88″ to the outer edge of the molding. I hurried back to Rooms-to-Go to buy the couch for next day (Saturday) delivery. For this delivery, there is no time window. Any time between 7am and 10pm. And they can’t even call you 30 minutes ahead of time. Even the cable company does that. Better on a Saturday than a weekday. It will be nice to have more than 2 places for sit.

Continuing to Move

My move is progressing slowly, but steadily. The basic problem with a local move, a 3-4 week window of time, a far off scheduled date for the movers to move the furniture, and a dis-inclination to pack is that this move is taken me quite awhile.

Since nothing is packed, I walk into my apartment and grab handfuls of stuff to take to the car. Once the car is full, I make the 15 minute drive from Carrboro to Durham. Unloading the car is quicker and easier. It is a shorter walk, there are fewer stairs and there are no decisions to make. It is clear where to set it down.

At the current pace, I should be done with moving my stuff just in time for the movers to pickup the furniture on Thursday.

Starting a New Home

I signed my lease for my new apartment today and I started taking things over tonight. I wanted to start off right, so I picked very specific things: my statue of the Maltese Falcon, an acoustic guitar and a vacuum cleaner. Grace brought one of her teddy bears and one of Peter’s to sit in their room and wait for them. I tried explaining the symbolism and importance of establishing yourself in a new home to Grace, but I’m not sure if she got it.