The Move...

Chuck's Movers (623) 234-3778

It was a Sunday, about eleven days ago and the movers called and said they could fit me in on Sunday, today! LJ had just finished helping me load the first load onto her truck, after being the victim of a series of collapsing shelves. She really did pretty well, only bleeding from one arm. We drove to the new house in 2 vehicles, driving really slowly, so as not to lose her load. We no sooner arrived at the new house when my phone rang and it was Chuck, my mover, saying he was just 5 minutes away from my old place. Running around like a Keystone Cop, I apologized to LJ for abandoning her, but I HAD to be there when the movers arrived. She said she'd unload the truck by herself, along with Macy's help. Macy is a dog! I thought she was joking as I drove back to the old house at 90 MPH. 

About an hour later, Chuck and his helper had loaded the first run to the new place, when my phone rang and it was LJ. She explained that she and Macy had finished unloading her truck and were on their way to get some burgers, what do I want on mine? I couldn't believe she had actually unloaded that thing alone, some of that stuff was pretty heavy!

When the movers and I showed up, LJ was sitting on my new patio eating her burger and Macy was chewing on hers. The garage was fully packed with things from her truck and everything was nicely put away. I could hardly believe my eyes! The movers, Chuck and his 16 year old nephew worked fast and soon the truck was on it's way back for the second load.

Now I've used Chuck before and he's unbelievably inexpensive, quick and efficient. His overhead is nil and works out of an old pickup truck and a trailer of his own. After the second load was in place, I asked if there was a goat that we could tie to the back of the trailer, just for effect? In addition to Chuck being extremely strong, he's pretty quick-witted. The above picture was taken a little too soon, as there was still a reclining chair that went on top of the 2 black couches. It was a good thing there were no bridges to go under! The entire move cost me $260, plus a tip. My previous movers charged me $800 plus, for the same load, plus they stole my jewelry!

Now I've been in this house for about 11 days and finally got most of the repairs done. Here is a list of the things that didn't work. Dish washer leaked heavily, garbage disposal inoperative, faucet in the kitchen leaked and was frozen in place, washer and dryer were both inoperative, shower leaked, and the vent for the dryer was blocked. Everything has been fixed or replaced, I threw out the washer and dryer and used my own that I had just bought before moving here. Here is a biggy! The toilet seat in the master bath required a seat belt to stay on it. Today, Walmart was kind enough to sell me one that had no bad history and was guaranteed to be more stable. I bought a butter dish, a new microwave, a toilet brush and a plunger. I've got all of those things packed away in boxes but it might be a very long time before they surface.

The worst of the ongoing problems is the smell of cigarette smoke that seems to be attached to the house. They tricked me. The place has new wall to wall carpeting and was freshly painted, plus there were room fresheners everywhere when I looked at it and now that they've dissipated, it's more than obvious that a smoker had lived here. Today I bought a gross of air fresheners. Walmart is my new best friend! They sell tomatoes for 94 cents a pound! (Safeway, $2.99)