A Three Ring Circus

Of course I knew that moving was going to be crazy but yesterday was a testament to what I can expect for the next week or so. I am going to be utilizing the garage at the new place heavily to accommodate a lot of things. For this reason I needed to make sure that things that I don’t want or need are not in there. The old home owners left some old building supplies, plywood window covering and a garage fridge for me. It all needed to go.

I figured the quickest way to do this would be to list them on FB Marketplace, for free. Easy is relative because doing so opens the floodgates from both real and imaginary “buyers”. In total I have no doubt that I received over 50 inquiries. The good news is both the fridge and the huge pile of plywood were picked up by the end of the day. Being only 10 minutes away made it easy for me to run over there to facilitate the transfer.

The guys that picked up the wood did me a favor and helped me load the existing washer and dryer into the back of my truck since I am swapping units between homes. I probably gave them at least $500 worth of plywood. My plan is to get conventional hurricane window covers installed which are light and easily stored metal panels.

So last night my goal was to swap washer dryer sets. I can be stubborn and/or stupid at any given moment. I demonstrated both qualities during this process. I was too stubborn to ask fro help unloading the washer/dryer from my truck. Instead I used a motorcycle ramp to do it. I precariously balanced each unit on the ramp and slid them down, praying the ramp would not slip off the tailgate, which it almost did. Somehow I got them off in one piece.

So next I had to disconnect and pull out my Samsung units. I grabbed my slip joint pliers to disconnect the water lines. I first removed the hot line and moved to the cold side. This connection was more stubborn so I squeezed and turned harder. Then I heard it, CRACK, followed by the sound of rushing water, I had broken the feed pipe… I hauled ass outside and turned off the water to the house to stop the flow probably within 60 seconds. I was so pissed. I guess I should have held the fixture to provide some strain relief while cranking on it, I just never expected it to snap.

So now I had to find an emergency plumber. I made three calls before I found a place that was able to send someone out ASAP. The guy had to cut out a section of drywall to get to the damaged area. All he could do last night was plug the broken line so I could get water flowing again in the rest of the house. Someone will be coming back Friday to do a permanent repair, joy. It was quite the day/night already, but I was not done.

I had my neighbor help me load my Samsung units in my truck. I felt compelled to get them dropped off at the new place because I needed the bed of the truck empty to transport my 70 inch tv today. I only left my place a little before 9PM.

When I got to the new house my plan was to again try to muscle the washer/dryer off the truck myself. Luckily for me one of the neighbors saw me getting ready to attempt this lunacy and offered to help me lift them off which was awesome. His name was Randy, he and his wife live a couple doors down from me.

While I worked on getting the units hooked back up he gave me a lowdown about the community. He said they have lived there a couple years and have loved it. There are mostly retired people around us so it’s quiet most of the time. He invited me to a block party they are hosting at the end of the month which was nice. I’ll do my best to attend.

After hooking up power and water I fired up both units just to make sure they survived the trip which they did, thankfully. I looked at my watch and realized that if I hustled I could get to Home Depot before they closed at 10PM to grab some installation hardware I need for the TV. I can’t say I have ever been at Home Depot before when the store is closing in 5 minutes announcement came over the PA.

I collapsed into bed about 11PM, sore and tired, knowing I will be rinsing and repeating these crazy days for a little while. It’s coming together, slowly.