I have been silent the past week because I have been in the process of moving since the latter part of June. Rent was going up where I lived, leading me to want to relocate to a cheaper location. As an added incentive to move, there have been noisy dogs involved as well as a neighbor with loud volume on his radio at rather inopportune times of the day. So moving became something of a no-brainer.
I searched off and on for much of May and June before I finally found a place. I was stressed during much of my search, and I noticed my blood pressure numbers going up. But I think we all get stressed when we have to move; it is no fun at all. And I had to do it during one of the hotter times of the year.
I started moving with a few days left to go in June, hauling my belongings to another city. It took me four days since I did it all by myself. I did rent a two wheel cart to move my computer desks, so I was careful not to put too much of a strain on my back. And the back door to my new place was very handy for quickly unloading my possessions.
There are pluses and minuses to every move. The rent is cheaper here, and the place seems nice and quiet. But now I have a distance to travel as all the appointments I have are now in another city over 20 minutes away. All the businesses I frequent are also in that former city, and now I have a bit of a drive whenever I go visit my ex on the weekends. But we all have to make adjustments in life, don’t we?
A Riwa move looks something like this: I fill the Explorer with as much junk (er, stuff) as I can. Then I haul it over and unload it. When I’m ready to go it looks something like this…
When I arrive at my destination I empty the vehicle as quickly as possible. It makes no difference where the stuff will go later. Right now I just want it out of the vehicle and out of the hot sun as I did have triple digits to contend with. So the early stages of filling my apartment looked something like this when most of my stuff had arrived…
Look familiar? By now most of the stuff is put away or crammed into storage. Now I’m just trying to stay cool. And I’m also trying to get back into the routine of writing. Moving sort of threw everything off, and it’s been a challenge getting back into the swing of things.
One of the complications of moving has turned out to be how soon my Internet and phone would be restored at my new location. It took six days, an eternity for someone who doesn’t like to be off the Internet for very long. Imagine going through email withdrawal and severe Internet hunger pangs!
The good news is that I was able to get a library card at the local library. That way I could still get online there using one of their computers to check my email. So mom has received some word of my progress.
Not having a phone was a different matter. I don’t use it much, but doctors and businesses like to have it in case they need to call. Once phone service is restored, I will have to go around to all the businesses I frequent and update my phone number. And talk about a lot of places to go! I had no idea my life revolved around so many businesses: doctor, dentist, chiropractor, bank, insurance, etc!
So now it is hot and I am camped out in front of the wall AC. It blows cool air on me as I sit here typing. In my previous locations I have only had a ceiling fan to work with, which made things breezy but much warmer. This is one blessing of the move: having cool air blow on me.
This new location will take some getting used to. I feel like an era has come to an end as my former location was where I originally moved during my divorce. I lived at that apartment complex for several years and had become quite accustomed to life there. But time marches on and we all have to make adjustments to our changing environment and our new living quarters.
I hope you are all adjusting comfortably to these summer months: staying cool, taking a trip with family, going camping and enjoying the beauty of the scenery all around you. I hope this finds you all healthy and in good spirits. Take care, and thanks for stopping by.
(Oh, and I hope you don’t have to move anytime soon like I just did…)