Moving In

At the end of last year, I moved out of my old apartment. It was a sad decision, as I miss the neighborhood and the good neighbors, as well as all the memories I had of the old place. But it was the right decision to make, as it gave me an opportunity to get caught up on bills, pay down some debt, and ultimately find a place to live more within my price range. So, in April, I finally found a place that I felt I could live with and am now settling into a new home.

The move in presented its own series of challenges.

When looking through rental listings, I found a place similar in size and layout to my old apartment, but for a significantly lower monthly rent. I scheduled an appointment with the leasing office to look at the place. When I show up for the appointment, they hand me the key and tell me to bring it back when I'm done. Apparently, no one was going to actually go with me to look at the place. Hooray for the honor system, I guess. Of course, when I asked how to get to the rental property, the woman I talked to didn't know where it was. Wow. Fortunately, I had the address and a GPS, so I was able to track it down.

Looking at the property, I liked it. It had some cons to go along with the pros, but overall, I was happy with it, so I filled out the application and was accepted. Next was the typical series of hoops you jump through when moving into a new place. Security deposit, paperwork, etc. The utilities proved to be a bit problematic. I've had an account with Greenville Utilities three times now, each for a different apartment I've had in town. For the first time, I had to pay a deposit, which makes sense, since I had no previous history with them. When I had my second account, they didn't charge me a deposit, because of my previous history. When I was setting up my most recent account, they charged me the deposit again, which is fine I guess. This is the same utility company that disconnected my power three days before the bill was due, so I don't expect things to make sense with them (and its not like you have any choices in the matter. You either go through them or you don't have electricity.)

Next, I had to plan my move-in day. I was scheduled to work the first weekend of the month, so I ended up planning on moving the two days prior to that, which is fine except that anyone that I could potentially ask for help moving would be working those days, so I'd be doing all the work myself. I actually prefer working alone, since I can go at my own pace, so that wasn't a huge problem for me. Plus, since I'm moving all my stuff out of storage, its not like I couldn't come back on a later date with help to move any problematic items. So, I schedule an appointment to rent a truck on my planned move-in day.

Now, my old apartment came with a washer and dryer. This one did not, so I was going to have to figure out a way to work around that. I'm sure I could always take my laundry to a parent's house, but I don't like to impose on them any more than I have to, so I ruled that idea out. I could also go to a laundromat, but I'd never been to one before and wasn't entirely sure where the nearest one was, so I ended up discarding that idea as well. So, that left the added expense of buying a washer and dryer. I tried getting a credit card through Lowe's so I could buy one through them, but they weren't interested in my business, so I wasn't interested in giving them my money. So, I tried Furniture Fair. I had previously bought furniture from them, so I had credit history with them. So, I browsed their selection and found a cheap washer/dryer set that would suit my needs. The paperwork was approved, but the sticking point was on delivery. I could have them deliver it and add $100 to the overall bill, or I could pick it up myself. Well, I had the moving truck reserved, so I can pick it up with the truck. I tell them my estimated pick-up day and time and they tell me to call them two days in advance to remind them. Not a problem.

So, everything's all set, and all that's left to do is move. Naturally, things do not go as planned.

First off, the moving truck. I get a phone call the day before my move, not from my storage unit (the people renting me the truck), but rather from a different storage unit place. They have me scheduled to pick up a truck at 9am and are wondering if I can get it at 8 instead. First off, I'm surprised I'm getting the truck from them, since there was no mention of this when I made all the arrangements, but 8am means an earlier start, so there's no issue there. It wasn't quite as convenient as if I was getting the truck from my own storage place, but it worked out well enough, so it ended up being a non-issue.

Next, the washer and dryer. After getting all the details straightened out with the moving truck, I get a call from Furniture Fair saying that my washer and dryer won't be in until Friday. I was supposed to pick them up on Thursday. It's when I have the moving truck. It's when I told them I was picking them up. I even called them two days in advance as they requested to remind them. When I asked why they wouldn't be in the store, I was told that they had the wrong hoses with the washer, so they didn't send the washer and dryer from the warehouse. Apparently they couldn't send the hoses separately. So, I tell them that that is not acceptable. I did everything I was told to do and had made arrangements to get the washer and dryer on Thursday. I didn't have access to a truck on Friday. The woman on the phone understands and tells me that I can come pick it up on Friday. So, rather than waste more time trying to get a resolution from her, I go to the store and ask to speak to a manager. He ultimately offers to have the washer and dryer delivered to my home on Friday, free of charge, which I can live with.

Finally, move-in day. Naturally, it's pouring down rain. Despite the weather, I'm able to move all of my possessions by myself and finish dumping it all in my apartment by noon. I return the truck, and spend the rest of the day getting all the furniture roughly where I want it and stacking boxes in out of the way places until I have a chance to sort through them all.

As for the washer and dryer...

Friday rolls around, and Furniture Fair comes to deliver my washer and dryer. The three stooges proceed to unbox the units and lower them out of the truck. As Moe works on hooking the washer up, Curly tries plugging the wiring harness for the dryer into the wall to "see if it fits". Not only does it fit, but we discover that if you touch two exposed wires together, it creates a spark. We also learn that when you run enough electricity through two exposed, touching wires, it burns up said wires. And it trips a breaker. Fortunately, Larry was able to find a spare wiring harness on the truck, and they were able to finish installing the washer and dryer with no further damage. Afterwards, they inquired about a tip.

So, that about sums up my experience moving into my new place. I'm still sorting through boxes of miscellaneous stuff that I could probably afford to throw out, but for the most part, I'm settled in and getting used to the place. I'm curious what adventures I'll experience here and wonder if I'll be happy here. I guess only time will tell.

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A New Year: Looking Back and Looking Ahead

I'm a bit late on this, but it's a new year, which means time for reflection on my goals for the previous year, and planning for the year ahead.

I'm not typically one to make resolutions, as that seems to be a sure-fire way to guarantee that you won't accomplish anything. Everyone gives up on their new year resolution by February, and since I'm only just now accepting that there's a new year, I'm already behind the curve on that. That being said, I do try to come up with goals for the year, and make them nebulous enough where I can accomplish them without much thought on my part.

Here was my list for 2014:

1. Go someplace I haven't been before
2. Use vacation time to actually take a vacation
3. Eat at 5 restaurants I haven't been to before
4. Eat/drink 5 things I haven't tried before
5. Browse 5 stores I haven't been to before
6. Read 10 books I haven't read before
7. Watch a movie I'd ordinarily pass on
8. Do/try 5 things I haven't done/tried before
9. Have people over to my house for dinner
10. Go on a date

As for how I did...

1. Go someplace I haven't been before - I did hang out at some new friends' house this past year, so I'd say that counts, if only barely.
2. Use vacation time to actually take a vacation - I went to Nekocon this year in Virginia, using some of my vacation time in the process, so I'd say that was a vacation.
3. Eat at 5 restaurants I haven't been to before - I think I actually managed to accomplish this one.
4. Eat/drink 5 things I haven't tried before - I definitely managed to accomplish this one.
5. Browse 5 stores I haven't been to before - I failed on this one.
6. Read 10 books I haven't read before - I accomplished this one.
7. Watch a movie I'd ordinarily pass on - I actually saw several movies this past year that I'd ordinarily pass on.
8. Do/try 5 things I haven't done/tried before - This one was too vague. If I count food and drink, then definitely accomplished. But those were both mentioned above, so I'm thinking that doesn't count. That being said, I'd be willing to accept that I have had at least five new life experiences this year, so I'd say that counts.
9. Have people over to my house for dinner - I'm happy to say that I accomplished this one. I had a few house guests throughout the year, and all of them happily let me cook for them (whether they'd happily let me do it again remains to be seen...)
10. Go on a date - Moving on.

So, yeah, miserable love life and lack of window shopping aside (and with a healthy dose of loophole abuse), I think I did a fairly good job accomplishing my goals for 2014. A solid 8 out of 10.

As for 2015...

I think this year, rather than create some sort of laundry list of things to do or try, I want to take a different approach to this year. So, instead of a list of things to try, I only have a single goal this year, though it involves multiple steps to achieve.

• Be a better person

I realize that seems vague. That's actually kind of the point. What exactly is a good person? How exactly can one person be better than a former version of themselves? I hope to discover that this year.

My plan is to focus on different aspects of my life and make improvements on them:

• Be better physically. Be more active. Make positive changes to my diet. Exercise more.
• Be better financially. Establish a budget. Work on paying off my debts. Live within my means.
• Be better spiritually. Live my life with a clear conscience.
• Be better mentally. Don't dwell on my shortcomings or mistakes.
• Be better socially. Learn to communicate with people and not just the handful I'm comfortable with.
• Be better emotionally. Learn to love myself.

I'm still figuring out how to approach all these aspects and in what ways I can improve upon them, even if only slightly. So, it will be a journey this year. I'll offer progress periodically, so that I can remind and encourage myself to press on and continue.

Here's hoping everyone's year is off to a good start.