The Forever Move

Air Mattress--oy, my back

How long has it been now?

I'm not a big fan of moving. For that matter, I'm not sure that I know anyone who is.

On the odd chance you don't know, yes, after a little over 2-years in Cincinnati, The Lovely Bride and I are returning to Georgia. We bought a really cool house in Smyrna and though we announced it a month ago (seems like a year), we are moving in full this week.

There is nothing about moving that is fun. And I should know. Since graduating college in 1988, I've moved 13 times (I had to count), with the current move being number 14. So this is a subject that I know a little something about.

Out of those 14 moves, at least 9 of them I did myself with the help of friends. We don't do that anymore.

Where I wrote this--temporary office

And over the years I've added and subtracted, gained and purged a lot of stuff. When we came to Cincinnati from Atlanta in 2009, we moved from a 2600 sq. ft. house to a 1300 sq. ft. rental house. Since living here we downsized to an 1100 sq. ft. apartment. And now we are moving back to an 1800 sq. ft. house.

But back to the question. Why does it take so long?

Here are my thoughts: First, you have to give notice at your job if you are leaving it. I finished work at the palatial digs of WCPO on Sept. 25th. I gave them notice on the 7th. That is 18 days. And what's worse, I knew I was leaving at the end of August. I just couldn't say anything.

Maybe that is why this seems like such a long process: We've known we were moving for 60-plus days and are just now getting to do it.

Anyway, continuing on my list: You have to find someplace to live. Sometimes that is easy, sometimes it isn't. We were lucky. We are friends with our realtor and she's helped us in no short order; sell 2-condos, buy 2-houses and sell 1-house. She knows us pretty well and what we like. We found a place in a matter of a couple of days. Specifically, in one weekend.

Then there is the move itself, which may be one of the single most stressful things you'll ever do in your life. Yes, it was easier, to an extent, when you did it yourself. It's much more difficult when movers are involved.

We got estimates from 2 sets of movers. And believe it or not, the cost was nearly $2000 different. For the same stuff. To pack and load our stuff, which there is no longer a ton of; and to move it to Georgia.

You then have to schedule them..in advance to do it.

Sept. 2009 the move to Cincy

They came yesterday (Tues. the 4th) to move our stuff and I now sit, writing this in an empty apartment. TLB is cleaning parts of it that I didn't yesterday and we drive down to Georgia tomorrow (6th).

I've never been so ready to be done with something my entire life. No, I don't have a job down in Atlanta (yet), I think it won't take as long as it did here in Cincinnati (6-months). So I'm a little anxious about that. But it's also a lot easier to find something in the town you are living in than from 500+ miles away.

I know, it will all be over soon and we'll be spending our weekend unpacking our stuff and finding out how much we need to fill up the house. I look forward to that.

I guess though I really shouldn't complain too much. It does pale in comparison to the move up to Cincinnati. That one, we knew about at the end of March 2009, we didn't get to move until that September.

Guess this kind of sums it up...and it is one of my favorite songs of all-time:

Move it or Lose it!

As creepy and scary as the show "Hoarder's" is...in a lot of ways, we all are something like that. No, I know most aren't compulsive-obsessive about it, but we all accumulate stuff. We just don't always realize it.

If you are like me and TLB (The Lovely Bride), you probably have no idea just how much stuff you have...until you are getting ready to move.

Really, if you look around your house right now. No, not at the stuff that's out and you can see. No, look in your basement or attic if you have one. Look in your closets. And then try boxing it up.

On the surface it looks easy. I know when I looked around our house I thought "We've got stuff, but not a ton, this won't be a problem". And its true. We do have a lot of stuff. I'm pretty sure we are like everyone else and have a decent amount of clothes....a lot of which never get worn.

But we also have stuff. 3-plus boxes full of Christmas decorations, 3-plus boxes of video tapes that have 21-years of my work. Paperwork and more importantly dishes. Two sets of them.

Yes, we are borderline foodies, so we have a ton of stuff in the kitchen. All kinds of pots and pans and utensils and stuff that might get used once or twice a year.

We've condensed a lot of stuff. We moved last year (2009) out of a 2600 square foot house and have spent the past year in one half that size. We had to condense. But we have to condense even more. We're moving again. From a 1300 square foot house to a 1100 square foot apartment.

On the good side...the apartment has a lot of storage space. The house doesn't. The bad, we still have to get a storage room.

I'm not really making a nasty rant here or going off on a subject. No. I'm just kind of making an observation. I can say it because I started moving stuff into storage today. Just 2 trips, but I'm guessing there are at least another 10 or 15 in my future.

We all know that we aren't really "Hoarder's" but I really just wanted to make the 10 or so of you who will read this think. Think about it when you say..."Oh, I want to hang on to that.". "I don't know what I want to do with it yet, I just don't want to get rid of it".

On that note, enjoy today's clip....just because it's legendary...The Jefferson's Opening Theme! Thanks YouTube:

The Fine Art of Procrastination

Daisy says "Get on with it already"

For someone who has accomplished a lot of things in their life, it's sometimes amazing that I get anything done.

It seems like...and I've been told this too, that I am decent at a lot of things but really good at one: Procrastinating.

Yeah, sure, I always get things done and I am obsessively organized, but everyone...including me, wonders how it gets done. To look at my desk, heck at TLB (The Lovely Bride) says, look at my living area, you'd never think anything gets done. But it does. Despite my lack of tidiness, I know exactly where everything is. Despite my forgetfulness about writing down what I need to do and when I need to do it, things always do get done.

Oliver says "Just get it done and stop bothering me"

Today is a prime example of my procrastination skills. I got up around 7, which is normal for me on a day off. I really didn't have anywhere that I had to be. No appointments, no go get at the store moments...nothing. And guess what I got done today? I can't say nothing, because I did do a little, I got our first moving estimate and I posted a couple of stories to the OSG Sports website...but that was about it.

I'm staring at a pretty lengthy list of stuff that needs to be done before we move, really I can't do much until I secure a mover, which I hope to on Tuesday. Once I do that, I can start working down the list. And I will.   I keep threatening to start boxing stuff up. Nope. Haven't done much of that yet. TLB wants me to go through the office closet and try and condense. I need to do that, but haven't yet. Although a lot of it is old file tapes and things like that from my TV life. That stuff may go to storage, but ain't getting thrown away.

Oh...and I keep telling myself I need to post some stuff here too, I really haven't been good about keeping up the blog. Sorry.

Sure, I know that I sound like just about everyone else. Yeah...I'm pretty frighteningly normal. I know that. I'm okay with that. Tomorrow is another day. I don't, again have much to do. I do have to take the Wonder Dog to the Vet's office for a shot, but that is about it. Hopefully I'll get some packing in. And the other moving estimate that I want. I can start the rest of the process from there. I do have to get things moving. We go out of town for a week starting the 13th. When we get back. 3 weeks to get packed and moved and while we no longer have an inordinate amount of stuff. We have a decent amount. If it doesn't get started now, those last three weeks may not be so much fun.

In the meantime, enjoy some classic Cars...Moving in Stereo. Thanks You Tube:

Time to pack the boxes...

Do you know anyone who actually likes moving? I don't. Not that I know a ton of people...I do know a decent amount and I've never heard any of them say that they liked it. I sure don't.

But it comes with the territory. I guess before anyone starts asking, I better add that we are staying in Cincinnati (Southern Siberia)...for now, we are just going to change addresses. We are leaving the 105-year old house we've been living in and moving to an apartment, which will be weird unto itself.

((Moving in 10/1/09//Courtesy: Me))

In my chosen profession, moving has been part of the price of being in it. Lynchburg, Chattanooga, Jacksonville, Nashville, Atlanta and Cincinnati all cities that have been part of my wandering life since 1988. All of them have been fun experiences...and in most cases I moved more than once in some of the cities.

Early on...moving wasn't a huge deal other than the fact that I did it primarily myself. The chief would inevitably come to wherever I was and help as did my grandfather. Of course at that time, I didn't have too much stuff. Hand-me down furniture, a TV, some clothes and a few odds and ends.

Funny thing that happens over time, you accumulate things. I'm no exception to that and by the time I arrived in Atlanta, I had accumulated a pretty good amount of stuff. The initial move to town was aided by my friends Dave and Michael who after helping get the sleeper-sofa that I had owned up 3 flights of stairs said "Dude...we love you, but unless you get rid of that, we'll never help you move again".

Really, unlike Jacksonville, where I lived in 4 apartments in 5 years, I only moved twice in 10-years in Atlanta. Both moves in Atlanta were done with a mover, I'll never move myself again. Of course, I got married in Atlanta and the amount of stuff I now have doubled.

We had a relocation company move us from Atlanta to Cincinnati. That was interesting and forced us to get rid of some stuff. We left a 2600 square foot house in the ATL to come to a 1250 square footer here. The house in Cincy has some good things: A backyard for Daisy....a nice back deck and cool front porch, but it also has a leaky basement, no insulation and only one bathroom.

The thought of going back to an apartment isn't particularly appealing, but it will work for now. Just the idea of not banging my head in the low clearance basement will be an improvement. We can't keep the house cool...or at least the upstairs because there is no insulation in the house...at all. During the winter, we had to keep the heat on 56...to keep the gas/electric bill around $300.

((Winter in Southern Siberia//Courtesy: Me))

So it is back where we started...an apartment. We are going to do some of the moving ourselves since we are just going down the block (less than 1-mile). We'll hire someone to move the big stuff.

By no means is it permanent. We still don't know yet if we are staying here. While the town is decent and I really like my job and the people that I work with...it has been a very tough adjustment. I can't speak for TLB...but I still feel like a visitor here, like I am on a long assignment or something. Maybe that will change...either way, we will probably have to move again around this time next year. Where we go...we will see.

Enjoy today's music...Unto itself an okay song...but possibly one of the coolest things I've ever heard is when 92,000 Auburn and Georgia Football fans sang this in unison at the end of the 3rd quarter in the 2008 game at Auburn's stadium...kinda gave me the chills.

Anyway enjoy your Jovi...Thanks You Tube: