At last, after a somewhat harrowing but ultimately damage-free moving experience, all my belongings are in one place. I'm sitting at my dining room table, which we're using as a desk, and I'm surrounded by all the things I've had to keep in boxes for months until my furniture arrived. It feels so good to see my stuff again!
We picked up our U-Haul yesterday morning here in East Brunswick and drove it into Manhattan, which proved to be an adventure. I remember years ago a friend told me she'd driven a U-Haul into Manhattan, and I thought she was crazy -- I envied her bravery at the same time that I marveled at her nerves of steel. Well, now I can say that I've had the same experience! It really wasn't bad -- traffic in Manhattan is dense and a little crazy, but for the most part it moves slowly. I was tense, but more worried about parking and knocking off my huge side mirrors than running into anyone, or being run into.
We parked in front of my building (thank God for loading zones!) and managed to put everything on the truck in about an hour. I had a couch, a mattress, two bookcases, a dresser, my dining room table, a coffee table and a few odds and ends. We drove it all back to New Jersey, stopping for a lunchtime salad at a Roy Rogers on the Turnpike.
Back in East Brunswick, we had more furniture than we needed. So we planned to donate my mattress, my dining room chairs and our New Jersey couch (replacing it with the one from my apartment). Unfortunately, we couldn't find anyone to take our stuff. Goodwill sent us to Salvation Army, which wouldn't take the mattress, wouldn't allow us to drop off the furniture and wouldn't come to pick it up unless we had at least two large items. I tried another charity that wanted to charge me $100 for pickup.
So we wound up putting it back in the U-Haul and taking it all to the dump, which was a shame -- especially my mattress, which was 16 years old but still clean and in good shape. It just goes to show what a throw-away society we've become. Our charities are so deluged with used stuff they can't even take it all!
Anyway, we turned in the U-Haul around 3 p.m. (overall cost, just $103!) and came home, where I spent the afternoon and evening unpacking and organizing. I am SO happy to be settled in!
(Photo: Chinatown, last Wednesday.)
Yay! That's a nice feeling...
ReplyDeleteToo bad about the furniture - I wonder if we'd have the same problem here if we tried to give something away?
BTW - I think there might be some health code reason they wouldn't take the mattress, but I'm not sure.
ReplyDeleteI think you may be right on the health thing. I know everyone's panicked about bedbugs these days. But my mattress was bedbug free! I swear! :)
ReplyDeleteSteve, congrats. I get the sense that your transition from New York is now complete and that you feel really good about it. Like you can now exhale. It's been intriguing to this New Yorker of 35 years, to watch as you slipped the knot, little by little over the past year. Getting married probably capped it (forgive my mixed metaphors)!
ReplyDeleteFunny how happy I feel for you when we have never even met. Be happy in your new act, my friend. It sounds so right.
the maximum life of a matress is ten yrs. unless you only sleep on it once in a while. experts say replace a mattress every 5-7 yrs for health reasons
ReplyDeletematt
ps always remember to turn your mattresses (springs can sag, causing back troubles, dust mites are very common, especially in older mattresses and cause respiratory problems.)
ReplyDeletethink 'spring, spin, fall flip'
This means the in the spring, one side of the bed gets spun to be on the other side.
In the fall, the foot of the bed becomes the head of the bed.
congrats on surviving the rental truck drive and enjoy the organizing/integrating of your relocated stuff.
ReplyDeleteunrelated: i saw your comment on my blog about the donut tag but i accidentally deleted it along with a spam comment! thanks for noticing the silly trend.
Good for you to be settled once again.
ReplyDeleteCongratulations and bravo for facing this task in the middle of such heat. I hate to think about all the stuff I would have to move at this point. When I moved here from Manhattan I too rented a U-Haul and the worst part for me was the limited visibility. I hate not being able to see out the back window.
ReplyDelete