A Few Odds and Ends

Yesterday was a little bit of everything as H and I tried to enjoy one of our few days off here in LA …

After getting out of bed on a lazy Sunday, H went to her office to get the power cord for her computer while I got a quick workout in downstairs. After meeting back at our place I proceeded to get a load of laundry going while H went downstairs to the grocery store to pick up a few things. I am not going to lie - the ability to take the elevator downstairs and walk around the corner in order to get to Ralphs is fantastic. We find that we make more frequent trips there but only purchase the things we need and use.

H wanted to get out of the house for a while before doing some work so we got in the car and drove to Manhattan Beach. Did I tell all you non-California people that it was hot here yesterday? Like 94 degrees hot. Had no problem finding parking and the beach was really cool. After buying some suntan lotion for my pale skin we walked along the beach for a while and checked things out. It was cool to watch the surfers try and catch a wave and other people just hanging out and enjoying themselves. It was all quite surreal to be honest - I mean two weeks ago we are in Chicago where it is snowing and raining and today our feet are in the Pacific Ocean.

After taking the non-highway route home I put some more stuff away while H sat down to work. Cooked some dinner on the bar-b-que, which is a great luxury to have back, before watching a little bit of television.

We both have come to the conclusion that we may need to rent a storage space. It is kind of a bummer that our building doesn’t have one, either included with the unit or one to rent, but what can you do. So today I am going to call a couple places and see how much they are. I am not thrilled with the idea of having to spend $100 a month to store Christmas decorations …

I should mention that we drove to Pasadena on Saturday, what a great little area! There were a ton of stores to check out and it wasn’t too crowded either. We will definately head back there soon!

Still De-Cluttering Our Clutter

Clutter.

That is what we have more of these days, and I am not quite sure what we are going to do about it.

The unpacking continues and has gotten to the point where most of our essentials are put away: clothing, kitchen stuff, major electronics. Now the problem is what to do with all the stuff we had in storage.

Back home in our Chicago condo we had a closet in the second bedroom, a closet in the master and a huge storage space in the basement. Things such as Christmas decorations and lights are in Rubbermaid containers and ready to be stuffed away until the season but the problem is where to put it? What about those little odds and ends that you don’t use but you want to keep? The fine china we have yet to use?

Here in Los Angeles we have a good sized walk-in closet off the bathroom, obviously used for our clothing. We have two suitcases in there as well right now, on the floor. There is a shelf about six feet up off the ground that we could put stuff on, but probably not a lot in terms of weight. The other closet in our place contains the washer/dryer. There is a small amount of space just to the right of the unit and I have begun to stack some containers in there but there isn’t going to be enough room. I mean the closet goes up over 12 feet but you can only stack things so high.

We need some trendy person from tv to come in and help us out.

Movers and Have Come and Gone, and So Is Some of Our Stuff

Two guys pulled up to our building yesterday in a transport truck, or what I believe Americans refer to as an 18-wheeler. Not a ton of English spoken during the move but the guys were nice enough.

For three hours they schlep our worldly possessions upstairs to the top floor, down two long hallways and into our place. Here is a brief rundown on what is missing and what is damaged:

• Shelves for our bookcases: We have two Pottery Barn bookcases like this, and each of them has three movable shelves. Well those shelves are missing. I am almost positive that they were wrapped in a moving blanket back in Chicago. And I think that because all of our wood furniture was wrapped, including two other shelves for our entertainment unit.
• Clock radio: It kills me not knowing what time it is when I wake up during the night or in the morning. Not that we have anything to put said radio on (we didn’t have room for a night stand in our last place) but I would live with it on the floor during the interim. Anyhow, I haven’t come across it yet.
• Picture of my house in Ontario: Someone in my family came across a very old picture of the house I grew up in. The photo has been around for a number of years and I love it - it shows horses parked outside, dirt sidewalks, people in uncomfortable outfits, just a cool photo. My wife had a copy made and put it in a nice frame for Christmas this year. Haven’t seen this yet - it was in the original box.
• Damage: A bamboo cutting board set from Crate and Barrel got nicked up. One of the cushions on our couch had a small tear in it before we left, now that tear is huge. The paper backing on a framed poster has a rip in it.

We don’t yet have all the boxes empty so I am not sure if there is anything else. I do know that we have some serious storage issues. Back in Chicago our condo had a huge closet in the basement, and before that the apartment we rented came with a cage in the mezzanine for our extra stuff. Only one closet here, and no storage in the building. Not quite sure what our solution is going to be.

I will try and empty all the boxes from the main floor of our move before calling the company that moved us.

Ugh, another tough day or getting settled in.

We’re Going to California …. Tomorrow

Well I first want to apologize for the lack of news/posts but things have just been so crazy the last two days. Secondly, I am sorry for the long post you are about to read but I think it covers everything from the last two days or so.

• Monday: Much of the day was spent organizing what ’stuff’ I thought should stay in the car with us. Early in the evening both H and I went to Ditka’s with my former colleague. We had a great time and it is a real shame that I was not more aware of this great resteraunt earlier. We arrived home around 8 or so, after a stop at Dairy Queen, and did a little more organizing. H was in bed by ten but I was around until 2:30 a.m. or so taking apart the computer and things like that. (that is one of the reasons we have not posted - no computer at home, and H’s work computer was being swapped out).
• Tuesday: Movers arrive at 8 a.m. … Mover gone by 10:30 a.m. … It was quite strange to be honest. They came. They packed. They left. I can say that they did a great job putting our stuff together and packed anything in sight, including the rags I had made to clean the condo with. With the movers out the door it was time to prepare the condo as best I could. After two general cleanings which involved a vacuum and Swiffers I got to the baseboards, windows and window sills, the caulk in the bathroom and what seemed like a million other things. H was home by 6:00 or so and we packed up three-quarters of our stuff and headed to her parents. Spent most of the night talking with her family before heading to bed.
• Today: Back into the city by 9:30 a.m. and the touch-ups began. We did a little painting, something got spilled behind the washer/dryer and the unit had to be pulled out (solid hour there). We emptied the fridge, loaded the car with the rest of our stuff and said good-bye to our place. Stopped at a pet store to get Carter a seat-belt (more on that another day) and then into H’s work. Picked up her new laptop and saw a few people. Took our cable box back to Comcast and paid the remainder of our bill. Then we were on a hunt for a GPS unit and we got a great deal on the Navigon 7100 (more on this another day too!). Back out to the burbs, dinner and more conversation and now here we are.

Now that we have a laptop we will post from the road. Stay tuned for our journey to California.

Here we go!