Moving…. I love having books to read. I love having the books that I read neatly displayed on my bookcase. I like owning them. I like watching my library grow. Well that is until I have to move my books. Then I hate them. I hate how even if you put just five of them in a box the box is almost instantly too heavy for me to lift. I hate the irregular size of all the books and how they never quite fit in a box of any size or shape. I hate having to take all the books off the bookshelf before you can move the bookshelf and then dust it and then dust the books because they collect an irregular amount of dust. I didn’t know that it was not only possible to get sunburned but to get fried just by the 40 seconds or so it takes to walk outside and load something in a moving truck then walk back inside. I don’t like that moving suddenly creates things you need. New rugs, new bookshelf, new couches, new this, new that, new office chair, new grill. Now that the majority of ‘stuff’ is in our new apartment a hunt and gather expedition must be launched whenever we need something. My phone charger was last seen plugged into the kitchen outlet in the old apartment. To date there has been no sign of it in the new apartment. Or there is the awkward in-between stage. Cereal in new apartment, milk in old apartment. Frozen breakfast thingying roommate eats in new apartment and microwave in old apartment. Dirty dishes in new apartment, dish drying rack for sink in old apartment. Then there is the ‘wonder what’s in here’ box opening experience. Most of roommate’s belongings have been in storage for the past year. Opening some of these boxes has demonstrated his packing technique to be a categorized as the ‘willy-nilly’ style of packing. One box could contain any or all of the following: random assortment of wires, hats, medical records, text books, lamp, car cleaning solutions, tissue box, baking sheets. When moving boxes out of storage the task was set to, if possible, quickly search each box before loading it into the moving truck. Why one might ask. Well that’s because there was concern that the fireworks might be dangerous to move and roommate had no idea where they were because more than one box was labeled (and I kid you not) “stuff”. All boxes from storage are now in our apartment. Fireworks have yet to be found. Highlights of moving… As the roommates’ office chair was ‘on its last leg’ so to speak, it was used to give me a high speed ride around the parking lot. That was fun. Those moments of pure exhaustion when one or both of us broke out in sillyness. Those are moments I cherish because they were often followed by me getting annoyed when sillyness continued on for more time than I felt demeaned funny. Imagining what the final product will look like keeps me going. I picture friends and family sitting in the living room on the new couch chatting away as we play host and hostess to them in our first new place. I greatly look forward to literally digging into the small wild garden we have in our patio. Under a vine that has taken over the small space I found a half dead rosemary plant and a small tomato plant with 4 cherry tomatoes on it. Garden sheers have been purchased in preparation for rescuing the rosemary and tomato plants. Then there is the discovering the …nuances of a new old apartment. Like dimming lights that only go off and on and do not dim. Or the light in the bathroom high up on the wall above the sink that does not have a switch and does not turn on. Both closets in our new place have little baby windows in them that are chained so you can only open them about two inches. Was there concern that a toddler would craw up the side of the building and get in through the baby window to rob us? Must chain window so no one can fully open…..? Another window oddity is the window in our bathroom. About six inches outside our bathroom window is a wall but not like an outside but an inside wall. There is also randomly and odd and very loud noise that old pipes make. Then there are the two discoveries that were made early this morning. The discovery that the circuit breaker box was outside. Why one wonders would anyone need the circuit breaker on only their second day in the apartment at 7:30 am? Well glad you asked. In the bathroom is a metal grate of an old 1950’s heater. In a moment of curiosity someone who shall remain nameless, turned it on to see if it still worked. It works in the sense that yes, one can turn it on and the coils visible inside instantly light up red and emit a strong heat. No, it does not work in the sense that it does not turn off when one switches it to the ‘off’ position. It also stays on once the circuit breaker has been turned off and turned back on. Stay tuned for the resolution of this one….