on.moving

Even the short distance from Arlington to Cambridge seems infinite when you don't really want to pack your junk. It is unavoidable.

OK so here I am almost everything packed up. Only the refrigerator and pantry to clear out and throw in bags and my computer is still connected and up and running. What a strange world I live in. I'm lying on the floor at my keyboard writing a blog entry with iTunes on shuffle. I think that most people would pack up the computer first so it wouldn't get damaged in the move. Oh well.

Today was much more than my day to move. It was a day of overcoming circumstances.

I awoke after insufficient sleep after subconsciously disabling my alarm. Rushing to pick up a moving truck for all the stuff. I see I have to back up. Not my stuff. I only have enough to fill a midsize car (after all that's how I moved here from California). My apartment was a sublet from a guy is now of rather poor health (sad story implied but overlooked for now). So as his lease has ended he must move everything out but since he is living with friends he has no need of it. Now this guy has touched many peoples lives to the point that several people offered parts of their basements to house his things. So a truck was rented, the crew was assembled and the destinations plotted out. Now I return to the procurement of the moving truck.

The temperature at 8:30am was already in the 80s but a nice breeze rustling through the lush trees of springtime new england put a smile on my face. Halfway to the rental place I encountered what else but a small-town parade complete with high school marching band, boy scouts, little league teams, and several fire trucks and other large impressive city vehicles. I was stuck behind one of the aforementioned fire trucks for 30 minutes until I could resume my journey.

Arrive I did only to learn that the 24 foot truck I was to procure was twenty-four feet internally and much larger outside but a diesel and a manual transmission. I became a truck driver for a while. For anyone who has used large vehicles to move people in or out of small apartments in the city you understand the challenge that followed.

Once loaded off it went with words of I'll move your car to the rental place after I help move some of the stuff in another truck (this time a pickup with a dubious history) a shorter distance. The drive started ominously enough with a couple wrong turns and a strange smell from the engine compartment. When the steam started to billow I knew it was only going to continue. We made our delivery but didn't make it back.

So here I sit having been rescued from the side of the road by a generous friend done the car swap (painless compared to so much else today) and hungry. I need to eat and finish moving.