The Big Move

This post may seem a little late since we moved on Sunday and it's Thursday, but we finally got our cable and internet hooked up. It's starting to feel like home, but let's back up a bit.

I spent Sunday morning scouring Harlem for good deals on loveseats and air conditioners. The latter could not be found, but I did have some luck with the AC. I found a great, 5200 BTU (whatever that means) A/C for $140. That was the cheapest price I'd seen in the million and one stores that I checked out. So I bought it. Here's the problem - it's very hard to find a yellow cab in Harlem. Imagine me carrying a 40 pound air condition 15 blocks. Yeah, it's not pretty. That's how far I walked before I was able to catch a cab. I had him take me to another store that I knew had a good deal on a bigger AC for the living room. Everything went smoothly until I get a call from the movers saying that they were in front of my building. They showed up two hours early. Wonderful!

I had the cab pull up right behind the truck, which was perfect because we just put the ACs in the truck. It took 3 guys about 2 1/2 hours to pack up the lives we created in River Crossing. They seemed a little slow at times, but they did a great job packing. It was a very weird feeling. I'm paying them to move me stuff, but I still felt guilty for just sitting there. Once the last box was in the truck, I grabbed a cab to the new place. They showed up and created an assembly line to get all our boxes up three flights of stairs. The guy who had to carry everything had the hardest job. He was of a mysterious ethnicity - and yes, this will come into play later.

It ended up costing about $130 more than the estimate. Surprise, surprise. But, what can you do? It was convenient and they did a great job. Nothing was broken. Everything was well organized. As the guys were leaving, I made a point to shake the one guy’s hand that did the heavy lifting up the stairs. I wanted him to know that I really appreciated his hard work (he didn't speak English, so I couldn't really communicated that well). Spencer said "gracias" because we both thought he was Hispanic. Nope. As he was leaving, he smiled and told us that he was from Tibet. We started cracking up! I'm sure he gets that all the time.

By 4:00 that afternoon, it was done. We were home. It's still a work in progress, but it's exciting. We're slowly getting all the things we need. Next on the list is a loveseat, recliner, flat screen, small kitchen table, artwork for the living room (saw this amazing, vintage map of NYC for $289 on 87th street). Oh yeah, and a bed for me. After a year, I'm ready to be an adult with a real bed.