Pack rat: It's already too late. I moved some boxes to get them out of the way - that was part of the van idea - so now I have boxes to sort through in the new place.
I vowed to not have the boxes of junk all over this time. We'll see how well I do on that.
A couple years ago I opened a box in my dining room and found stuff like my high school IDs and memorabilia. I realized I had packed that box over 30 years ago in my bedroom in my Mom's apartment and that box had followed me around through 5 moves, 6 jobs and a marriage. I have others of vintage of a bit less than that.
News: After literally 6 phone calls in 4 days, the gas in live and the heat is on. On Friday when the third rep insisted that the house didn't exist and the meter wasn't theirs even if I did have the number and it had the gas company's name on it....and then did the "If you can't figure out how to place the order, put customer on hold for 15 minutes and they don't hang up, hit the release button" method, and I hear a recorded message from the University of California. That was the second time I got that method. And I at no point got abusive or intended to do battle, even after the 5th try. I just wanted the gas turned on. The last rep found the house account immediately but told me I would be paying for overtime for Saturday trip and I could have 11Am to 3PM. I agree but intend to call the commerce commission.
On Saturday morning at 8:30AM my phone rings, Can we guess? The gas tech is at the house and can't get it. I tell him "11AM to 3 PM." He says there is no such appointment slot. He takes sympathy on me and agrees to come back after 11.
Guy shows at 11:05, I have heat. There's no such thing as an overtime charge for Saturday. That's nice but with my experiences with the keystone gas company, I expect to have 5 random charges when I get the bill.
I left the water off. My plan is let the place heat for 24 hours or more. I'll be turning the water on later today. I'll pray for no leaks.
The clothes dryer doesn't work. Needs an igniter, but the drum is also very noisy. Since I have one I'm going to try to sell it as is on Craig's list.
After two tries I changed the front door lock. I should have known better than to mess with replacing the strike plate just to make newer. That cost me a half hour of messing because the door wouldn't latch.
I got a few lights working by changing bulbs but the hall light is toast and I don't know why.
I decided I'm too sore to deal with Home Depot, but I have dragged myself down to the Ace Hardware down the road. Got $150 in miscellanea yesterday and I still haven't made a list.
I called a buddy at the airport to ask for ride to bring the car home. They ask me why I'm going the long way around. The road on my side has been open. I had no idea. I've been wasting a lot of time. The car needed a jump in the 4 degrees.
And I'm setting up the van. Got a console. I got an allen wrench to adjust the headlight alignment but it was hard to turn and too cold to mess with last night. Gonna hit it the Liquid Wrench I bought. The lighter is rusted ****. Not that I need power for anything. The rear gate won't lock just to make me nervous as I lug around my Macbook.
Late update: I just put Ron Hazelton on the TiVo. He's getting a fireplace installed in the kitchen. There are flexible gas lines! I didn't know that. That means I can install my gas stove on my own. Being that I lived in Chicago, such flexible things are banned by the codes controlled by the unions. I can use Romex too? Cool!
What's weird is getting my head around the idea it IS mine. The first few days it didn't feel like home. I was in the mode that I shouldn't touch stuff.
I brought a microwave and nuked a brat for breakfast yesterday. It was so cold that even though I bought it hot and ready to eat, the thing nearly froze.
I just now realized that once I have the water on, I can even take a shower there. Imagine.
Signed: New homeowner Mr. ADD.
