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Showing posts with label moving. Show all posts
Showing posts with label moving. Show all posts

Sunday, July 7, 2013

Our Big Blessed Moving Day

The morning of our move, after tossing and turning all night, we got a call from the movers letting us know they were in route.  After doing more cleaning, packing, and pacing than I would wish upon anyone, we found ourselves standing at our front windows waiting and watching for our movers to pull up on the street below.

About ten minutes later, a box truck, much like the one our movers described on the phone, double parked in front of our building and two obese, slow-moving  African American males lazily slid out of the vehicle.  These two gentlemen not only seemed to be taking their sweet time, but might not even be able to safely negotiate our steep and narrow flight of stairs.  At that moment, considering our movers were billing us by the hour, Jen and I looked at each other and said, “Oh sh*t.”

While frantically trying to talk each other down from hysteria and the conversation jumping from the importance of not judging a book by it’s cover to what we pictured them to look like in our minds, the doorbell rang. Dreading what was about to ensue but knowing I had no choice, I buzzed them in.  Jesus take the wheel.

I opened the door and there, to our surprise, stood the complete opposite of what we just witnessed downstairs: a fit, forty-something white guy and his big, strong assistant. But… you’re not… where’d you guys park?

It turns out the guys we saw out front were delivering to the vet or bar next door, thank God, and our movers had parked a block up. What our movers lacked in personality (they wouldn't even answer simple moving-related questions with more than one or two words) they made up for with their hustle. There was no parking on either end of the move and it rained almost all day but they made it work somehow, and in under five hours. They definitely had some experience under their belts and did a great job overall. Even things we were hoping would break (so we would have an excuse to throw them away, i.e. hand painted nativity set of biblical proportions) survived the move.  Note to self: Less newspaper next time.


So now we’re getting settled into our new South Slope, Brooklyn apartment. We’re discovering things we love about our new pad everyday and the neighborhood is full of so many great things that it’s kind of overwhelming. Yesterday our new couch was delivered and our internet was set up (so thank you for your patience in waiting for a new blog post). I’ll be posting pictures and updates on the apartment soon, so don’t go too far. 

Monday, May 27, 2013

Dr. Kildare

Happy Memorial Day weekend! We went apartment hunting in Brooklyn on Saturday and think we may have found the one. We’re waiting for our application to be processed. It’s a 1.5 bedroom (the ".5" bedroom is just the size of a queen sized bed), 1 bath that has a lot of great light, nice dog-loving owners in the building, and it's in a convenient, safe location. Move mode, commence!

Yesterday we tackled one of our biggest pre-move projects - cleaning out our main closet. It’s the place in our apartment where things we never use but can’t get rid of end up. We consolidated Christmas decorations (we haven’t decorated in two years), games (that we never play), paint (that Home Depot advised us to buy way too much of), and other junk that Goodwill shoppers could happily use. Both Jen and I have the day off so we made a list of productive things to do— like going to Goodwill and taking things that we can’t throw away to the UPS Store to be mailed to my parents, without permission— but forgot that nothing would be open today. I’m sure Mom and Dad won’t mind getting a few holiday items delivered to their doorstep, mid-year, when their garage is already packed tighter than the Clampett’s car on Beverly Hillbillies. No big.

My new job is going well. I’m learning a lot, mostly about insurance and paperwork, the least fun part of what I do. My patients, as challenging, pessimistic, and stubborn as they can be, keep me laughing and entertained all day. I was told recently that I looked like Dr. Kildare from the 60’s TV show. I was like, “who’s that?!” thinking that it sounded like a Kevorkian-type murderer. A nurse looked at me and said, “I have no idea.” Ha. I Googled it at home later and found out. The haircut, the lab coat… maybe a little. I’m also asked about my nationality pretty often. Polish? Swedish? German-Nazi? I guess my Aryan kind is pretty rare here in NYC. I also had a patient ask, “Hey, are those all your teeth on the top there in the front?” “Uh, yep, they sure are.” Hers are not, FYI.


Last week went by really quickly and I got my first paycheck, which are good things. Thankfully, not as much tax was taken out of my paycheck as I predicted. And, thanks to Memorial Day, this coming week will be a short one… I’m already thinking like a 9-to-5er.