Monday, July 21, 2008

movin' on up

You may have read/heard me griping about the Big Move on the weekend, so I might as well get everyone up to speed. On July 10, I picked up my keys and opened the door to my brand spankin' new condo. By this time, I'm not even all starry-eyed about it. It's been 27 months in the making and I already had to do a PDI, which is essentially a list of everything that's wrong with the place. The plan was simple: clean and prep entire condo for painting on Thursday, do one coat on Friday, another coat on Saturday and touchups on Sunday. What actually happened? I didn't finish touchups until Wednesday (July 16). As a direct result, I didn't install my closet or curtain rods, leaving all this to the day of the move, which eventually avalanched into a three-day weekend of boxes and frustration.

First, the "easy to install" Rubbermaid closet stalled on Step One: find a stud. There's no stud in that damned closet. How did the original closet have any support? Who knows? Internet searching and Home Repair manuals tell me not to worry, that a few toggle bolts will take care of the weight, but by this time it's late on Sunday night (July 20) and everyone's about ready to collapse.

This has led to domino effect of things not getting done. I'd like to move in and unpack slowly, but right now my kitchen is "supply central", with the counter acting as a work surface and sorting centre. No kitchen means no cooking or eating. How do I get the counters cleared off? By having somewhere to put the stuff (a closet or the bathroom would be a lovely start).

So here's what still needs to get done:
1) Bedroom Closet: once this is done, I can unpack all my clothes, get rid of the suitcases and put all the furniture in the right place. Then I can sleep in my new place.
2) Bathroom: the toilet roll holder was installed completely off-centre (which is too annoying NOT to fix); the medicine cabinet has to be moved to a desirable location... once all that's done (with its related spackle and paint jobs) I can shower at my new place.
3) Hall Closet: this will allow me to unpack numerous boxes of linen, coats, board games and other miscellanea which will reside in this closet. Then I can have more room in the Living Room.
4) Kitchen: with most things put where they belong, the Living Room can now become "supply central". This will free up the Kitchen for more mundane things like cooking. Then I can eat in my new place.
5) Living Room: a summer-long project of furniture assembly. This seems so far away, it's almost a fantasy instead of a plan. It's July 21 (11 days after I got my keys) and I'm still living with the 'rentals. sigh.
6) Curtain rods: these are so low on the priority list (what with being on the 16th floor and having nobody at my height for miles around), I don't even want to discuss them.

It all seems so simple, no? A bunch of little 4-5 hour projects, really. But it's like every time I sit down to get a project done, I get thrown a curve ball (no studs, no plumber's tape, hinges that won't fit, dammit). Who said moving was easy? Okay, no one says that. But people should just say that moving is hard. Period.

There is one bright spot in all this: the view.

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