I HATE Moving!!!!!

This last move was the biggest one I've had yet, and so many headaches. I am too stressed about it all. Finally this evening I am beginning to relax a little, from sheer exhaustion if nothing else. This is what happened:

• 1/2 hour before pre-close inspection we ran into a legal problem that had not been resolved. The seller was gone, their lawyer was out of town, and their realtor was away as well. It took a lot of "urgent" work on my lawyer's part, but we had it resolved by early afternoon.
• On inspection, we found a crack in the foundation that had been hidden by stuff in the pre-purchase inspection. Now mine to pay for. Permacrete comes tomorrow for the estimate.
  
• Immediately following that, my appliances arrive. It took 3.5 hours to get them in after having to remove the screen door, the steel door and the the fridge door. They managed to put a little dent in the top far corner. I'll live with that so I could have cold food.
• Next day it took 3 hours to load and unload the two trucks. I was flabbergasted at that, but everything was put everywhere and without a lot of care. I got many scratched pieces of furniture and dents and scratches in walls.
• I discovered that there are only 4 phone jacks here and only 3 that actually work. One of them should have been a wallmount phone jack, but isn't. Aliant comes on Thursday to fix and install more.
• Now, I thought I had room for everything, but it appears that I don't or have to put a lot more thought into how to arrange things so that it will. More headaches.
• Now there are curtain rods and curtains to buy since they took them all but one or two. They were supposed to leave them all but two sets.
• The security system is all set up and activated. Hopefully we won't set that off accidentally.

I have questioned myself several times in the past few days as to why it was I wanted to do this. How foolish of me to think that this would be a good thing. I don't like doing this alone. It's too overwhelming, at least at the moment. I hope it will all die down shortly. Right now it is chaos and insanity. I should have moved into an institution instead!!!!

Who Says Size Doesn't Matter?

Last week I went with my daughter to a local camera store to buy her a 35 mm camera she needed for her courses at school. She had gone in previously and looked at a couple and chose which one she wanted. I met her there to purchase it.

When we finally got to speak to the sales manager that she had been dealing with, he showed me the camera. I said OK, and off he went to get one from the stock. He came back with two—one model a little different from the other. I asked him what the price difference was. One was about $80 cheaper than the one he had first shown us. I asked what was different in the way of features. He took the one we originally looked at out of the box and showed me the numbered settings on the lens. (There was an additional setting on the more expensive model, but I hadn't noticed it to this point.) He turned the dial to the second last setting on the adjustments, then said to me, as he turned the dial from the second last setting to the last one, "The difference is between this and this." The lens popped out about another 1/4".

I started to chuckle. I turned away from the counter and looked at my daughter. She didn't know what I was laughing at, then I said to her, "I'm not even going to tell you what I'm thinking." Then she understood. She shook her head, giggled, and said to me, "Mom, I can't take you anywhere!"

At this point I was laughing out loud. I couldn't restrain myself any longer. I turned back to the sales manager who had a smile on his face, laughed, and said, "I think I like you." Then I started to laugh out loud again. It was a great laugh on an otherwise busy and stressful day.

Would you have paid an extra $80 for another 1/4"? I did, and it was worth it!!!!!!!!

Open Wide ...

Tonight I had my 6-month check-up and cleaning at the dentist. This is one task I absolutely hate. I don't like dental work at all.

Dentists tell you not to pick your teeth with sharp objects, and then they start scraping them and nearly pulling them out of your head with this sharp metal hook. What's with that?

They say not to put foreign objects into your mouth, then they proceed to put their fingers, a mirror, a pick, and a stream of water or air in there all at the same time. First thing you know, they ask you a question and expect you to answer with all these things in there. Like they could understand what you answered anyway!!!!!

I have a really wonderful gag reflex, which I curse for more reasons than one. It is annoying. I even had them mark it on my chart so they can keep their grubby little fingers and utensils away from the back of my tongue and my palate. I've gotten pretty good at retracting my tongue to keep it out of the way and also for the doctor and those damn tongue depressors.

Oh well ... I got through it, and have no cavities. Next appt. — March.

Getting Older

Today is also my son's birthday. He is my youngest, and has just turned 20. I have no more children in their teens. That makes me feel old. I don't like that part. I have to say, though, that the past year has made a huge difference in him. He has matured more in a wonderful way. I really like what I see in him. As for me ... I just got older ... and maybe a little wiser. At least we can hope I am wiser. Here's hoping the two of us (and my daughter, too, of course) see several other 20-year periods. It's a long time in some ways, and goes quickly in others. Life is just too damn short for some things.

That'll Cost You ...

I am discovering how expensive it is to move—twice at that. This is what I was told:

• Yes, you can rent this truck and it will cost you $__ for the day and $__ per kilometre.
  
• As a courtesy, I will feed lunch to the people who are volunteering their time to help me move. That will cost me $__. This is a small cost because I appreciate the help so much.
  
• We will disconnect your phone and Internet from your current location and reconnect at the new one and it will cost you $__ for this service.
  
• We will install your satellite service for free, but it will cost you a 2-year contract. If you wish to terminate the contract before the end of the term, it will cost you $300.
• The post office will redirect my mail again, but it will cost $__ to do so.
  
• We will connect you with water service, but it will cost you $____ to connect.
  
• Your power can be connected and based on budget, but you will have to pay the budget amount of the previous owners. That will cost you $100 more per month than what you are paying now.

It is unbelievable how much it costs. I don't think I will want to move again any time soon after this. I think I will be too poor to do that.

It's Getting Closer

Just 20 more sleeps and I will be in my own home. It has been a busy time, and I'm starting preparations for the move now. Any volunteers to help?

I may not be posting much while I am preparing for the move. Much to do. So ... if I don't talk to you for a bit, don't forget about me. I'll still be thinking of you.