Saturday, August 12, 2006

Caution: Ranting about my Move

If only I could rewind and start the move over again. In all of one week, I managed to lose my wallet and everything in it, the movers haven't come and have missed their projected window, the movers overcharged me and my school (who refuses to pay for the whole move), and the cat somehow managed to crawl into the chimney and then got stuck and refused to push herself out. Not even a handful, and I mean a whole handful of smoked salmon could tempt her to squish her furry floppy body back out through the narrow opening. Finally when I attempted to block off her ascent with a large piece of cardboard, a torrent of falling soot distressed her enough for her to get out. Then she ran into the closet and stayed there for 24 hours. I think I was pretty traumatized too, but not as much as I was when I discovered my wallet had fallen into a trashbin that was emptied the previous morning.

I've basically been making trips to Target (tahr-jay, which is suburban bourgie shopping paradise to the uninitiated), slowly buying up duplicates of things I already have but need now because they are all with the movers until my cash runs out and my credit cards arrive.

Funny thing about the movers. As you know, my things left my apartment and were loaded up onto a moving van last Thursday. I was told they would arrive in 2-8 days, but once the van was loaded, that window would narrow or become more specific. Or so they said. Today I learned that although the shipment left the Montreal warehouse yesterday (a week after leaving my apartment), it hadn't crossed the border yet today at 7:15pm. And Montreal is half an hour from the border. They keep bullshitting me when I call, too. Yesterday I called to try to get some information and they told me the guy in charge was in the toilet and they had lost my file. Then they called me back about 3 hours later and had me speak to a new guy who wasn't clued into the fact that my file was soi disant missing. "We never lost your file, I have it right here," he said innocently. There is a website for me to check the status of my move, but it doesn't have any updated information. In fact, it places the estimated time of arrival between a week and 5 days ago.

It probably goes without saying, but just for extra emphasis: If I had known it would take the movers this long to deliver, I could have stayed in Montreal an extra week. Which would have been grand.

So basically here I am waiting for my replacement drivers license to arrive by overnight mail (it was in my wallet), waiting for my clothes, books, cooking utensils and furniture to arrive by van and praying that it will arrive all in once piece and with nothing missing . . .

I've got a little under 2 weeks before I start teaching. But I've got orientation activities all week starting this Tuesday and I'm supposed to move into my office too.

I've been being extra nice to strangers, hoping a little karma will come my way.

At least I read a really good novella the other day.

7 comments:

Anonymous said...

Poor muse! Doldrum is too kind a word for the removal company. At least it goes to show that incompetence is equally distributed on both sides of the border.

And at least you have your laptop with you...

Good luck

skookumchick said...

uh oh... so so sorry. Hope things start to improve, or at least the absence of your stuff allows you to explore your new town (as you have nothing to unpack).

Glad the cat came back out of the chimney, and (silver linings) at least your stuff wasn't there to get soot on it... I've got my fingers crossed for you for your next week.

Pamphilia said...

Aw gee guys, thanks for the words of support. I'm lucky to have friends like you. I shouldn't be such a kvetch, because I got my license today and the other day I bought my first serious piece of furniture.

But it is equally scary that I ended up consoling myself with shopping and spending so much.

I have been exploring the place, though there's not a whole lot to explore, Skookumchick. It's a lot like White Midwestern City about 15 years ago, though without White Midwestern University in the center of it. The place I teach is off to the Northwest, in a very manicured, suburban area (land of golf courses and country clubs). It's very beautiful and very NOT urban. Which is hard for me to come to terms with, but I'm doing my best!

Anonymous said...

Wow. That's a hell of a story. Moving normally sucks under the best of circumstances, and this is not the best of circumstances!

I wouldn't worry about consoling yourself with consumption. Moving always seems to involve several hunded dollars worth of runs to places like Target, Ikea, the Home Despot, etc. After all, everyone needs curtains and there's always some odd furniture need in a new space.

Anonymous said...

It is indeed regrettable that you couldn't have stayed an extra week in Montreal considering how the move is turning out! Hang in there, muse, and hopefully things will begin to look up down South.

Pantagruelle said...

Oh, muse! That's all just awful! I'm so sorry. I hope that you and poor Saffron are doing better now. In the end, did the sun come out tomorrow?

Pamphilia said...

Yes it did.