Adventures in Moving

So we’re in. The house is ours, after a few hiccups in the closing – this was only the third real estate deal the sellers’ lawyer had ever handled, and our attorney found plenty of mistakes in the deed and kept sending it back for correction. He told us “It was like they’d never done a deed before.” So remember, when you hire a professional, be sure they’ve done the deed.

Consequently, although we did all the signing we needed to do, the deed wasn’t actually ready until the next day. But the sellers gave us the keys beforehand, and we had even already moved some of our stuff into the house, so all was well, if not yet legal. So, to break the month-long tension, we went out to see Dodgeball, and laughed a helluva lot. “If you can dodge a wrench, you can dodge a ball!” is my new motto.

We moved the next day, on Tuesday. At 10, we drove to a service station to pick up our U-Haul, and discovered that the guy who handles the truck rentals wasn’t in yet, and could we come back in an hour or so. Luckily, our movers weren’t due until one, so we had a little time.

We went home, fiddled around with some stuff, and came back for the truck. Kathy drove it, and it was in dire straits. The check engine/gauges lights were on and beeping to get her attention, it was leaking antifreeze and low on oil. Once we got it back to the apartment, Kathy called U-Haul and they sent out a guy to look at it, who showed up an hour or so later, when the truck was half-full. Luckily, he was able to change the oil, see that the battery was charging properly (in spite of what the gauges said), and so forth. I asked him if it could go 50 miles or so, and he said sure. After that, it was U-Haul’s problem, and I was fine with that.

(By the way – the service guy said he gets a LOT of emergency calls for U-Haul trucks. He said they run their trucks into the ground. He uses Penske when he moves, since their trucks are in much better shape.)

The three guys we hired from Cranston moving were crackerjack. We had a ton of stuff (actually, that’s certainly an understatement), and they fit it all into the 24-foot truck we’d rented. They used every inch of space, accommodating my comics, thons of boxes of who knows what, and a bunch of furniture. I don’t think there was any air left in the first half of the cargo hold, things were packed so tightly.

My mom and my brother Jim were here at the house to help unload and to see the house, and they were a big help. Soon after the unloading was done, Kathy’s mom came by, as did her sisters, brother-in-law, and assorted nephews and niece. Exhausted as we were, it was good to see them. Once they left, we hustled over to a local diner to eat – our first food since before going to get the truck the first time.

Since then, it’s been unpacking and cleaning and what-have-you. I’m trying to focus on the what-have-you, but there’s a lot of other stuff to be done.

Phew!

Just remember: If you can dodge a wrench, you can dodge a ball.

Rob