About the move

We had tons (literally) of stuff to move, and the movers had estimated that a crew of 3 men could do the job in 12 hours. That's one heck of a large move. Well, they goofed. Their truck was pitifully small (it was a big truck, but no match for our accumulated belongings). It took FOUR truckloads to move us, and by the time we were done, the owner of the moving company had called in reserve crews. In the end, it took SIX people 14 hours to move us. They tried to charge us the whole shot, and I was open to some compromise (after all, their estimate was not binding). We settled on a revised figure that both of us could live with.

I want to keep the rest of this post short. If I don't, I will get too depressed. The new home is what I expected it to be, but not what I had hoped it would be. It was priced very low. That should have been a clue. By the time we're done, this house will cost us more than what we had budgeted for a home.

The good thing is that I'm now debt free. Equity from the sale of the prior house was sufficient to pay off my long-standing debts. Even the mortgage on the new place is less that what we owed on the old house - and the interest rate and monthly payments are significantly less. But the house itself is a nightmare.

The only things that do NOT require upgrading are the appliances and paint. In just the past two weeks, we've already completed extensive upgrades to the structure of the house, floor coverings, fencing... and will soon complete an overhaul of the electrical systems. What we don't have the money for (at the moment) are nice-to-have upgrades like reliable plumbing, heating, and air conditioning. Those things will just have to wait until I find a job.

I won't get into the gory details of everything that doesn't work. I can tell you that the pool (which was sight-unseen prior to making an offer on the place) turned out to be in excellent condition. This (and the quality of work done by the contractors we hired to spruce up the place) is the only saving grace.

That's it for now...