Friday, 29 August 2003
When last I blogged the move to Hermitage, PA, had not yet begun. As of today there have been three moving trips of one intensity or another. The first was Sunday, when we loaded up both Subarus (my parents have a Legacy wagon that is the younger brother of my Outback, and holds pretty much the same amount of stuff). Mom, Dad, and I drove down to Hermitage. I got there a little ahead of them and began signing the paperwork for the lease on the apartment. Dad joined me, wrote the check for the deposit and the first month’s rent (I’d transferred money to my USAA account but it hadn’t hit by Friday afternoon, so I’m just going to pay him back), and then we inspected the apartment.
When that was complete I shook hands with the manager and began moving things in. We brought mostly small things up on Sunday, boxes, the vacuum cleaner, the bed frame and head and foot boards (all still in boxes and disassembled), two file cabinets (also needing assembly), and a lot of kitchen items. While Dad and I moved things from the car to the apartment Mom was cleaning and filing the kitchen items. I have a lot of storage space in the kitchen, so it wasn’t easy! Two loads of dishes and things went through the dishwasher. Dad took a break from carrying and assembled the bed frame, and discovered that the head and foot boards wouldn’t go together correctly. We all left between 5 and 6 p.m. to head back to Erie.
Between the first two moves I raided Target for a toaster oven, microwave cart (free up some counter space), welcome mat, and other things. I also took the bed pieces back to the store in Erie where we bought them and they managed to assemble them for us.
On Tuesday evening Dad drove me to the U-Haul location on Buffalo Road in Erie where I rented a 14 foot truck, appliance dolly, and furniture dolly. I drove the truck back to the house and pulled it into the driveway. We had dinner, and then began loading things on. Erie, our next-door neighbor, helped get the old washer and drier out of the basement and onto the truck. Then Dad and I loaded all my books, the remaining boxes from school, my dressers, mattress and box spring, and other things. We locked the truck up and parked it in the street overnight.
Wednesday morning we loaded a few smaller things—like the TV—into Dad’s car and set out for Hermitage. I picked Patrick up at his place on the way to the highway. We got down to the apartment around 1030 and once again began unloading. It was a very hot and muggy day, so I turned on the AC in the apartment—that was a huge help. Still and all we were all tired and sweaty by the time the truck was empty at around 1145. I should say almost empty, as the appliances were still on board.
Dad drove to a nearby Arby’s to get us all lunch while I assembled a microwave card purchased Monday at Target in Erie. I ate while I finished that. Patrick and I then piled back into the truck and we drove to the church in Sharon (about 15 minutes from the apartment). I gave him a short tour, and then we met Doug, the rector. He’d come in to help us even though he was on vacation. Patrick and I unloaded the washer and drier onto a sidewalk near the back door of the church, and then went into the old pool area to begin loading the furniture I’d stored there all summer. That was when I had my very first moving disappointment.
As we loaded things, Patrick commented that there didn’t seem to be enough cushions for my two love-seat sized sofas. We looked around a bit, and discovered that three of them from one, and two from the other had somehow ended up in the old pool. Since the pool is out of use this wouldn’t normally be a problem. Unfortunately some water had leaked up into the very bottom of the pool—water smelling strongly of sewage. We were joined around this time by Russ, a sort-of-parishioner (long story, but he’s had negative experiences at church, like many, and doesn’t attend much). He suggested dry-cleaning them until he went down and fished one out and got a good look—and smell.
So, at present, I have two couches that are essentially useless. I have no household insurance yet, so I asked Doug if the church’s insurance might cover this. He told me not to worry, and that they would cover it one way or another. So I ordered new cushions for the “This End Up” couch (in a better pattern, so there is some blessing here). They will come in 10 to 12 weeks. The Ethan Allen couch I got from the Routhages (sp?) is another matter. I will go out to the Ethan Allen store on Saturday (the one in Erie) to begin finding out how to get replacements for that one. Perhaps someone clever at church can fashion new cushions. We shall see.
At any rate, Russ, Dough, Patrick, and I got all the other things from the church onto the truck and drove back to the apartment. We got there a little after 1400 and began unloading. This was definitely the worst part of it, as the weather had gotten warmer and muggier, the furniture was the heaviest things we had to move and, if you recall, I live on the second floor. I am not sure how long it all took but we got it all in. I am extremely grateful to both Doug and Russ for their assistance! I was expecting some help loading but I did not know they’d planned to come over to help unload, and it went much faster.
Once everything was in, Mom and Dad departed for Erie. About 20 minutes later Patrick and I shut everything down here and got back in the truck to return it to Erie. Mom and Dad went via I-80 to I-79, but Patrick and I used PA-18, PA-358, PA-19, and I-79. Much to our surprise, when we got on I-79 just south of Meadville, PA, Mom and Dad were behind us by quite a ways! Turns out they’d hit construction on I-79 south of where we got on, and had their speed reduced to 15 MPH for long stretches. I am glad that I took the country roads!
I dropped Patrick at his home in Erie before driving to the U-Haul rental location. Dad dropped Mom at home and then picked me up there. We returned for dinner and then all took it very easy for the rest of the day. Phew!
The third phase of the move happened on Thursday, yesterday. I loaded up the Outback with some things (plants, clothes, a few last minute items) and drove solo to Hermitage. I got here a little before 1700. I then unloaded the things and broke in the kitchen by making iced tea. Realizing that my blood sugar was getting low, I decided to assemble the kitchen table Ann Webber gave me and eat dinner. After 30 minutes of searching, I gave up on the hardware needed to do this and, after a quick glass of OJ, drove to Lowe’s to get new bolts. I got back only to find that I had left part of my purchase there, and that the bolts I bought didn’t fit (I did measure first, but obviously have a lot to learn about bolt sizing). So I drove back, recovered the lots items, and traded the bolts. B