Moving day no. 1

January 26, 2019

Moving day

It’s been almost exactly one year since we moved our belongings out of our condo in preparation for putting it on the market. Looking back now (thanks to the journal I thankfully kept at the time), I’m startled to be reminded of what an insane rush that month was. On New Years Day we suddenly decided to sell our home and rebrand ourselves as bike touring vagabonds, and then on the next day we flew off to Kona for a short tour of the Big Island. On January 12th we flew home, brainstorming during the flight about how we would segue into our new life. Just 17 days later was moving day, when we emptied our condo of most of our belongings; and four days later, we were sleeping in our first Airbnb and Jim the painter was at work repainting the condo in preparation for putting the unit on the market.

Last January must have been the most breakneck period of our lives. We were in such a rush because we hoped we could get our home onto the market or even sold before we departed for Greece in April, a tour we had already purchased a flight for before we came up with this crazy idea.

A part of the move plan was to reduce our possessions down to whatever we could fit into our tiny 5’x5’x6’ storage unit. I lost a lot of sleep trying to figure out how everything we hoped to keep would fit into that space, finally ending up with this packing plan. We made it, but boy is that unit stuffed.

A few days ago, when we discovered that we had a moth problem in the storage unit, our thoughts went immediately to our hand-woven Persian carpet. There is no way that we could extricate it without completely unpacking the unit, and we couldn’t see any reasonable way to protect it in place. After sleeping on the situation for a few days, we decided to get a larger storage unit and do something to protect the carpet once we’ve unpacked it. We don’t really know if we’ll ever have a place to use this carpet, but we’re attached to it. Besides, it feels irresponsible and disrespectful to its creator to just let it be slowly destroyed over the next few years.

So, we’re leasing a significantly larger unit: 5’x10’x8’. For only $10/month more, we have double the volume to work with. We would have rented one of these in the first place if it had been available at the time. This will be a really good move, even without taking the carpet into consideration. Our current unit really is too small. Everything is jammed in so tightly that there is almost no space to maneuver when we need to put things into storage or take them out again. We were reminded of this when we returned home this month and tried to get to our winter clothes and other essentials.

So, we’re moving. It’s a multi day project, one that I’m taking the lead on. Yesterday I unpacked and moved the top layers, down to the furniture too heavy or bulky for me to move on my own. It’s a challenging project. First, it is very difficult just to start extricating things. They’re packed in as a dense interlocking jumble, and it’s like opening a Chinese puzzle box trying to start removing things. Secondly, our current unit is on the mezzanine, up a flight of stairs. Our new unit is on the third floor, which is serviced by an elevator - but today I just have to cart everything down the stairs by hand to get it off the mezzanine. I’d forgotten until rereading the old journal that we had hired movers to do this work last time, but today it’s just me.

So actually, there are three benefits to this move. We’ll hopefully protect the carpet; we’ll get more space to maneuver in a larger unit; and I’ll get these stairs out of the picture while I’m still such a young man. Who knows if I would still be able to manage them when we finally take things out of storage for the last time some years down the road?

Elevators! Such a wonderful invention. Ranks right up there with the wall and the wheel.

The Big Decision

We have a major news announcement on the next tour decision. When I ask Rachael what the next rule should be, she startles me by her impassioned response. Sounding a bit like Eliza Doolittle, she bursts out: Rules, rules rules, I’m so sick of rules! I hear rules all day through. There’s only one rule here: it’s my birthday, so I get to choose! I choose Sicily!

Well, that certainly saves some time! Even though we just went to Sicily two years ago (I don’t care, we’re going again! I hear in the background), apparently we’re going to Sicily. Details to follow.

What ever else is included this spring, this will be in the picture.

Today’s ride

It’s a bike blog, so there should be a bit of biking in it. There is, just - rounding up, I took a two mile loop to get to Caffe Umbria for my morning fix and to wait for the storage facility to open up so I can get back on the moving project.

The ride was a bit of a sham, and a bit of letdown. A bit of a sham, because Caffe Umbria is only a quarter mile from our apartment, and the only reason I biked there was so I could credit some biking in today’s entry. A bit of a letdown, because the weather forecast indicated extreme fog this morning. I must be in the wrong part of town though, because it’s hardly foggy at all. Very disappointing.

In front of our condo: the big, beautiful steel slatted wall alongside Tanner Springs Park. The wall, a public art work, is constructed of rail tracks salvaged from the area.

On the Broadway Bridge. Not so foggy after all.

Rate this entry's writing	Heart	6
Comment on this entry	Comment	4

Bill ShaneyfeltYou may already know of it, but if you buy paradichlorobenzene (mothballs) you can keep moths out of your wool items. Buy several big containers and place them around your items and punch a small hole in each container so the pdb will slowly evaporate (sublime) out the hole and protect your items for long periods of time. If possible, plugging cracks or other places in the storage location will increase the concentration. Maybe stuffing thin plastic foam (not polystyrene, because it will dissolve and turn to a sticky gob with pdb) packing in cracks around doors as they are being shut. Also putting them in large plastic bags, such as a mattress comes in along with the mothballs is even better, possibly duct taping the open end. Anything you can think of to maintain a high pdb vapor concentration by reducing airflow. Of course they will have the mothball aroma for a while after being removed but that is better than holes!
Reply to this comment
5 years ago

Scott AndersonTo Bill ShaneyfeltThanks for the suggestions, Bill. We’ve been doing some research h ourselves. Unfortunately it’s an unseals Le storage unit - the ceiling is a wire mesh open to the fire extinguishing system - so some of the ideas aren’t an option. We’re going to pack items at risk in sealable containers though, and put some sort of repellant in them. Fortunately we don’t have many things that would be vulnerable to this.
Reply to this comment
5 years ago

Kathleen ClassenHooray for Sicily! It is never a mistake to do something you love twice and it is always different. Keith and I still sigh dreamily about biking from Verona to Brenner in October. We had done it before and were planning to train that section...we had a flight to catch in Zurich. Instead we took the train from Innsbruck to Zurich and biked the route again. Best. Decision. Ever. You are going to love being in Sicily again and I can’t wait to read about it.
Reply to this comment
5 years ago

Scott AndersonTo Kathleen ClassenWe’re both very excited about it, of course. Sicily is still at the top of our best tour list, and it will be wonderful to go back. We’re especially excited about being there during Easter. This has been the plan for months, really - don’t tell anyone, but this whole journal has been a sham up until now. Fake news, you might say.
Reply to this comment
5 years ago