about us brian (country mouse) is from new hampshire. karel (city girl) is from the new york metro area. in summer 2008 they drove across the US and moved to portland, oregon. here are their adventures, photos, and observations.
I want to start by saying thanks to everybody who continues to read and leave comments. They always get read and are very much appreciated.
Our move was only 1 event short of a "worst case scenario". The good thing was that there was an elevator in our building. but even that revolves around the bigger problem we encountered.
It started with me picking up the u-haul truck at 8 Tuesday morning. I got to the house and started to load our stuff alone because Karel had a mandatory meeting at her school and couldn't get out until 1:30. I underestimated the amount of time it was going to take to fully load the truck and we didn't finish until around 5.
Then we arrived at the apartment building and I was disgusted to find out that the u-haul truck was too tall to fit inside the parking garage area where the elevator is. There is another elevator around the front of the building but it would have been even worse to try and unload from that side of the building and carry everything through the main entrance. So that left us with only 1 option. I had to park the u-haul and my truck back together and unload into my truck so we could drive into the parking garage area where we then loaded that into the elevator. And of course our apartment was exactly in the middle of the 2 elevators around the back side of the building so we couldn't have carried our stuff any further.
Whoever designed this building was a total idiot(s). They certainly didn't take into consideration the fact that people might need a convenient way to MOVE IN! A large service elevator with a door to the street would have been a smart idea but NO, there is no good way to move into this place.
To make this situation worse I had to bring Karel to another school function that she absolutely couldn't get out of at 6:30. So on the way there I called my friend (the college mascot) HA! and he came by the building after he got off work around 7. It was good because he helped me with the big stuff that Karel couldn't have easily handled and I was already starting to feel tired from the rest of the day.
Then I had to go way back and pick up Karel at about 8. We got a pizza and ate it on the way back. When we got back we continued our ridiculous circus act until finally at 2:30am we could sleep.
Our apartment was a total mess.
Karel and I both had to work the next morning and that was AWFUL! I didn't actually "wake up" at any point during the day, I was pretty much sleepwalking everywhere and it didn't end there. Later that night around 8 we went to the airport and picked up Karel's brother. We knew he was coming and why did we move the day before his arrival? that was because our previous landlord wouldn't give us an extra week in the house so we had to do it then. I wasn't able to sleep properly until 2 days later because of working and then making room to move around without jumping boxes.
Now were about 95% settled with only a couple items left needing to be sorted and placed wherever they need to go. This is a big change for me, not at all for Karel and we'll see how I handle living in an apartment in close proximity to a major city and people around all the time.
-brian-
posted by brian at 7:50 PM
2 Comments:
mom said...
I don't know why everyone doesn't have as much common sense as you do!!! (hee hee) Yes, you will have to let me know how you make out as an apartment dweller near the city. I am sure Karel is feeling much better in this environment. Love you both and can't wait to see you!
Be thankfull that your apartment is not near the elevator. Cindy and I used to own a timeshare unit that was directly across from the elevator. When we bought the unit we thought that it would be very covenient, get off the elevator and then right into our unit. That was the only good part.
The first night we stayed their it was obvious that a close proximity to the elevators was a big mistake. Everyone one on our floor got off the elevator right outside our unit/bedroom window. Yak;Yak;Yak;Blah;Blah;Blah;Swear;Burp;Fart;Puke; you get the picture.
Sleeping for 30 years in fire houses where I had to wake up and get going when the alarm went off has made me a light sleeper.
Thank goodness that we have moved to the sixth floor away from the elevator and now all we hear is the ocean.
Apartment living!! Remember that you don't have to live there for ever! This move is a necessary step in your future plans.
2 Comments:
I don't know why everyone doesn't have as much common sense as you do!!! (hee hee)
Yes, you will have to let me know how you make out as an apartment dweller near the city. I am sure Karel is feeling much better in this environment.
Love you both and can't wait to see you!
Be thankfull that your apartment is not near the elevator. Cindy and I used to own a timeshare unit that was directly across from the elevator. When we bought the unit we thought that it would be very covenient, get off the elevator and then right into our unit. That was the only good part.
The first night we stayed their it was obvious that a close proximity to the elevators was a big mistake. Everyone one on our floor got off the elevator right outside our unit/bedroom window.
Yak;Yak;Yak;Blah;Blah;Blah;Swear;Burp;Fart;Puke; you get the picture.
Sleeping for 30 years in fire houses where I had to wake up and get going when the alarm went off has made me a light sleeper.
Thank goodness that we have moved to the sixth floor away from the elevator and now all we hear is the ocean.
Apartment living!! Remember that you don't have to live there for ever! This move is a necessary step in your future plans.
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