We made the actual move on Thursday. It did not go as I had planned, and I had a lot of "where did I go wrong?" moments. The serious tongue wound cost Mike a couple of days, and so I guess we were a couple of days behind in getting rid of things. Then when moving day came, there was yet another wrench thrown in the works, and at the end of the day we had a sobering mountain of stuff that had not made it onto the POD, to the Salvation Army, or to the garbage, and it would not fit in the car. That was very frustrating after all of the planning I had done, but the planning had involved the participation of 2 people, and with Mike being out of commission it just did not work out. Lesson #1: Plan for contingencies in your time. You know how they say you can start packing too early? I disagree. Lesson #2: Check all cupboards and closets before the trucks leave. Maybe mark empty cupboards/closets with a piece of tape or a post-it or something.
Because of various issues, the schedule on the last day was jacked up, and I didn't get to do any work (the paying kind), which was also frustrating considering that if I don't work, I don't get paid. So we have way more outgoing cash than incoming at this time. It was just not a good day. Lesson #3: Plan for contingencies in the budget.
We did learn that we have the best cat in the world! Jack was so good for the car ride. She didn't fight when we put her in her carrier and she did not cry during the ride. I was so surprised at how well she took it. She did not like it and was a little scared from time to time, but was very brave and well-behaved.
Since our Thursday schedule was messed up I did not get to sleep before the trip. And I can't sleep in the car. So I was up for 24 hours and the resulting stress and dehydration made me sick for a couple of hours where we just sat at a rest stop and waited it out. We also had an extremely unfortunate incident involving a bottle of liquid soap opening up in the car. You might wonder why we even brought such a thing. Because I'm stingy. It was a bottle of expensive soap, and it was a big bottle. But it was very, very unfortunate in the end. Lesson #4: Don't move liquids, no matter how expensive they were. Or, pack the liquids in a water-tight container.
We picked up our keys on Friday morning and have not had any unfortunate incidents since then. It's beautiful. We got assigned a parking space right in front of our building. Our apartment has a gorgeous view and is in pristine condition. It looks like no one lived here before us. There is not a scratch or a speck of dust anywhere. It is even better than the model they showed us. It is better than we remembered. We are paying $1130 for a 2-bed 2-bath with washer/dryer, all appliances, and a huge deck outside. Huge living room. The view is comparable to a $3000 apartment in Laurel Canyon, but even a Laurel Canyon apartment would not be in new and pristine condition and would not have the space that we have here. So I guess I'm saying that this place could not be had for any price back in L.A. It's just unbelievable.
Jack found a hole under the kitchen sink that goes behind the dishwasher, and she hid there for about half an hour before Mike lured her out with treats. She was a little spooked the rest of Friday. She wanted to hide and she was scared when she looked out the windows or when any door opened. I know this is normal for cats who have moved. When we moved Ozzy, he hid under a dresser for 3 days and wouldn't even eat treats when I shoved them under. But Jack got over it all pretty quickly. By this morning she seemed back to normal. She plays with strings and her toy mouse and tears around the house like she knows this is where she lives now. She even seems to think she's ready to go outside already, but we say no.
Our place has huge windows with wide window sills that are great for cats to sit on. Birds come to the deck and look through the window. I'm sure Jack wants to go outside very badly when that happens.
One thing I have already learned about Portland is that it seems that it has all the specialty stores and services that you can find in L.A. Things I would not think could be found outside of L.A. Like a place that specializes in men's shaving kits, for example. (Mike is into that.) Portland has all that stuff but it's so much smaller than L.A. that it is convenient to actually get to those places. Now I like this place even more. Oh, Mike keeps saying we're supposed to be telling everyone that Portland sucks. I will have to stop saying how much I like this place. That's the last time I'll say it.
It rained yesterday and overnight. But I didn't mind.
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