How's The Move You Ask?

Move update:

We feel like we owe everyone who has supported us and our blog with an update on the move. It has been a little over a month since our endeavor across the US. And the transition has been something of a challenge. When we recap the uphill battle this has been people often say “well that just like the Titanic/Hindenburg disaster”. Well obviously.

So let us get stuck in, after we spent five days cruising across the lower lower 48 we kicked the dog out and immediately started searching for a place to live. We spent the next two days DRIVING again, up to Alexandria/Arlington from Fredericksburg which is another 84 miles to and fro. While also, driving around the cities looking at the different properties we searched. In California we lived in a privately owned condo, and searched for the same here. We had some help looking up listings in the area, and drove all around the area hoping to find something similar. I hope this conjures up memories of you having spent long periods of time in a vehicle.

Day one did not go well. We found numerous places that were “Vintage” and not our style. We left day one severely disappointed in the options and were quite worried about finding a nice place on par with our standards. Day two started off much better we were contacted by the owner of a condo in Alexandria and setup a visit of place we would ultimately settle on. The place is close enough to Elizabeth’s work, a bridge away from Maryland, and only a few minutes from DC. But the location is very much residential. I would imagine the walk-ability score for this place is very low. There are sidewalks, muddy sidewalks, but there are NOT a lot of places we can quickly walk to and get coffee or breakfast like we had in Aliso Viejo.

The night before move in, we received the keys, and walked the unit. DISASTER. As this is a live blog, I do not want to go into the enormous list of things that did not meet our standards. But we reached out to the owner and she was very responsive to the punch list of things that needed attention. Move in day, because of the day before punch list, the handy man was at the unit, painting and patching the unit the exact same time as the movers. In a 987 sq/ft unit, we had the following: Me, Elizabeth, Painter, two painters helpers, ladders, drop cloths, lights, movers bringing in boxes and furniture. To top it all off, god damn BLIZZARD conditions outside. Due to the painting situation we could not place anything in its resting place, so we loaded up the guest bedroom from floor to ceiling. We stacked all the furniture in the middle of the living room while the painters finished patching the walls.

Anyone that nose me, nose, I have a bit of an issue with smells. Once in high school, I correctly identified the smell of golf balls from 100 yards away. If you don’t believe me, ask Richie, Webb, or Jones they will corroborate. The place was again trying to be nice, not cleaned well. It had a very distinct greasy curry chicken smell, of which was embedded in the layers of grease left behind. This took two tubs of wipes and buckets of soapy water to attempt to remove. The tile grout was black, and it was laid tan. So we had to hire a floor cleaner to attempt to remedy. I could continue but not to belabor the point, call me or text me; I will gladly inform you of the litany of other things that have had to be fixed, including plumbing, lighting, cleaning, painting, etc.

Quickly, the car shippers also damaged Elizabeth's band new car, it has less than 150 miles on it. The driver and I almost got into a fight as they threatened to take the cars back to California if I did not sign the paperwork saying that my car was delivered in same condition is was when it left California. Also the movers damaged our bed by dragging it across the ground, tearing the fabric. They also smashed up a glass lamp.

The jobs front, I have recently accepted an offer to work for a local telecom company. Few good things about it the job is Monday through Friday and looks like the majority of the time 4/10’s. So for the first time in 15 years Elizabeth and I will have weekends off together. Elizabeth is settling in pretty well, for those whom may not know, she accepted a job here in Alexandria where she will be selling doors door to door. Ha Ha, actually she is a branch manager for a door and hardware company called precision door and hardware. After a week-long training course she is all up to speed on her door jams, and throats, rabbets and is ready to sell you a door.

So in short, things have not started out well. We will have to see how the next few months progress, keep you posted!

Love,

D&E