The Move, Part I

[onefixedstar]

The move out was fairly smoothly--the boxes were (mostly) packed, the elevator was booked, and the truck proved to be big enough. The super even decided to drop the threatened charge for carpet cleaning.

The move in was less smooth.

Getting the keys proved to be simpler than I had feared, and the wait for them gave us a lovely four hour break which we spent wandering the Annex in our best geek style--comic book and music stores. Then came the actual arrival at the apartment, and the realization that moving in would involve hauling everything up to the second floor via a slightly rickety fire escape. That difficulty paled, however, next to what I discovered when I walked into my new apartment. The place was a complete disaster. There was garbage everywhere: Mail and assorted papers. Broken boards. A broken vacuum cleaner. Various pieces of furniture. Rings. Coins. TTC tokens. Panty hose. Bags of plastic bags shoved in the fireplace. A plate of chicken on a shelf. A pan of water in the sink. A candle that had been burned directly on the toilet, leaving dark blue wax caked to the toilet and splattered on the walls. Assorted cleaning supplies that as far as we could tell were just there for show. Bits of flotsam everywhere. And then, of course, there were the things that were missing, like the bar from the towel rack in the bathroom and the plate covers from the phone jacks. The worst part, however, was the smell. The place absolutely reeked of cat urine. thoughtfreely and I ended up cleaning the bedroom that smelled the least, and then piling all my stuff in there. Happily, when we spoke to the super the next day, he was quite reasonable in agreeing that we shouldn't have to clean it up, and promised to have it done by Saturday. NewRoommate has her old place until the 9th, so I've been staying at her place (while she's off moving a friend to Boston) and checking in periodically to watch the progress. Big props to thoughtfreely, stillvisions, and the entire H. family for their help with the move. I couldn't have done it without you.

I'll post before and after pictures of the new place once I dig out the cord for my digital camera.

Comments

[onefixedstar.livejournal.com]

Awww! That sounds terrible! And bullets in the ashtray, while not nearly as disgusting as a fridge full of month-old food, sound a little unnerving.

I totally hear you on feeling like you're moving the previous tenants out. I kept wondering if they hadn't quite realized that they were actually leaving and maybe thought they'd be coming back for another load or possibly moving back in after a couple of months.