Hell Week

Every activity seems to relish having its own hell week. We just finished the ‘round-the-world version of hell week.

Monday We cleaned up the grill we used for the pig, and Danielle packed her bag for the trip. We did a couple of other things but were mostly lazy. We had a good time watching Bill and Ted’s at Paul and Gwen’s, too.

Tuesday Time to really get cracking. We spent a solid day boxing things up, moving things around, and took many trips to the dumpster in front of our apartment. We managed to pack up a good chunk of the living room and a few odds and ends. In our living room we marked out 5x10 feet, which is the size of the storage unit we hope to use. We also sold the futon, which 2 law students picked up. They loaded it precariously into a half-bed pickup held there by just a few bungies. They did have a red shirt to indicate the length of their load, though.

Wednesday More packing. Somebody came and took away all the weights, which was another load off our minds. The “lifting platform” we donated to the maintenance guys at our apartment complex. We packed up the rest of the living room, and got started on the rest of the apartment. Somewhere in there we also went down to Ventura to sign papers for a 5x10 storage unit. Turns out 5x10 is the outside dimensions of the unit. The walls take away a few inches.

Thursday Another day, time to pack. We took a break for a relaxing lunch with Danielle’s dad at the locally famous Surf Dog hotdog stand. At the end of the day we had most of our stuff packed, besides a few odds and ends.

Friday Moving day! A truck was scheduled to come at 2:30. The morning was relatively relaxed, just doing little things here and there. We also sold the TV. At 1:30 we started hauling stuff to the parking lot. When the truck rolled in at 2:20 we were just over halfway done with that. We loaded for another good hour, and fit everything in the truck fairly easily. It was hot, though. After a quick ice cream and water run we were off to the storage space. We loaded everything off the truck so it could get its oil changed. Meanwhile, we started the process of loading everything into the freight elevator. Then from the elevator onto a cart, then through the hallways into our storage space. 5x10 is not very big for all your stuff, but we somehow managed to fit it all. The storage area had nice tall ceilings and we made the most of it. Finally, just after 7 we had everything inside and closed the door. That was a long day.

Saturday Rest at last, right? Well, not quite. We still had a lot of stuff to get rid of, so Saturday morning we held a garage sale (out of our living room) where everything was free. Many people came, and pretty much everything was taken. Some happy people took home the grill, bookcase, dresser, and Rus’ table and chairs. And there were a lot of clothes, books, knick-knacks, etc. Aftwards we took 2 boxes of mostly clothing to the Salvation Army, and several of my old text books to the library. Then it was off to the dump to get rid of a monitor nobody wanted, as well as some batteries. On the way back we gave Andy’s car a well-deserved cleaning, and also stopped at the recently opened cupcake place in Santa Barbara. They are good cupcakes. Then we drove home and started worrying about rental cars. We decided we’d have to pick one up at the Santa Barbara airport, so off to do that again. All this day my shoulder hurt pretty bad, presumably from all the moving I’d done on Friday.

Sunday Got up early, vacuumed the apartment, and loaded up the car. We decided to let the apartment complex use their cleaners for the final cleaner, and just take it out of the security deposit. Hopefully they’re fair. We stopped by the storage unit again to fit in the last few bits. It was a little bit of a puzzle, but we made it happen. Next stop, Andy’s house, to drop off some valuables and his car. Finally we made it to Danielle’s parents’ house. We unloaded, returned the rental car, and were able to relax.

Now we’re there, and mostly taking it easy. If I had to do it again, I would reserve 8 solid days for all this work. But we made it. I’m glad that we did get a chance to relax a few times and see and enjoy some of the beautiful place we lived in.

Bill, this morning we did something like Fight Gone Bad. It’s the first workout of our trip. Keep us honest. :-) Obed joined us and did great, too.