November 11, 2006 Issue

Anyone who has ever moved knows it is right up there as a stress-inducing event, if one allows one’s self to get stressed. I learned some years ago that while I can handle a temporary obsession with something, I refuse to call it stress. Stress will kill you — obsession just bores your friends.

A cautionary note to those who rent, rather than own: do a little investigation of management companies before signing any lease. There are good ones and then there are those who care nothing about the people dwelling in the dwellings, they only care if the rent arrives on time. If they deal primarily with people who show up at the first of the month with cash, run as fast as you can the other way because many are the exploiters of the management world. I did not follow this advice, which is one of many reasons I had to move.

Preparation for an end of October move started in August. I knew I had only so much energy per day to allocate to packing, pitching, and organizing. Knowing when you need to move and finding the right place can be tricky. It doesn’t do you much good to find the perfect place in early September, so you don’t start looking until late September and hope for the best. After looking at some perfectly dreadful and over priced real estate, I finally found “the one,” with the expert assistance of Realtor Cindy Putman. I continued to pack and pitch things. I finally got rid of a bowling ball and a pair of bowling shoes I’ve been carting around for a couple of decades.

Time to find a mover. My last experience with a local moving company had not been good. They broke a knob off of my clothes dryer and refused to pay for the repair. They are no longer in business, I was happy to learn. Word of mouth about these things flies fast and this company was truly dreadful.

Starting with the yellow pages, I called A All Points Moving, the first one in the directory. I left a message, which was promptly returned, a point in favor of the company. The owner, Brad Johnson, and I discussed pricing and although I told him I was going to call around just to check to see if his prices were competitive, we made a move date. He said he would call to confirm. Finding his prices competitive, I decided to go with him. A few days before the move, he called me and asked if I could move it up one day. I agreed, although I really had the packing planned to be ready for Oct. 30, rather than Oct. 29, which means I was two boxes shy of finished when the movers arrived Sunday morning.

They worked around me though and the move was virtually seamless. We put items from the refrigerator (not many) into a cooler. Among the items were a dozen eggs. None were broken upon arrival at the new place.

I can’t find one of the shelves to my entertainment unit and my dog food container is MIA, but that aside, these guys were good and they hustled. As they were being paid by the hour, they could have dogged it, but they didn’t. Having the owner there says something too. Clearly Brad and his helpers, Mike and Fred, care about the job they do. It’s hard work that I tried to make easier by having lots of boxes exactly the same size for easy truck loading and generally staying out of the way, which I have learned is the best way to handle it. You hire professionals for a reason. Not a good idea to watch too closely.

After the movers left, I wanted to get the office set up ASAP. After unpacking the computer and all the peripherals and plugging in, I was stunned to find no power in the room designated as the office, but power everywhere else. Yikes!

I called the management office and left a message. Before 8 a.m. on Monday, I got a call asking if it was OK to come over and fix whatever the problem was. It was more than OK. After what I’ve been dealing with, it was downright astonishing and the problem was solved as soon as it was discovered a master switch existed in the laundry room controlling electricity to the family room, which currently is half office, half TV viewing room.

Life is good. The windows are open, my dog is happy with the big new yard and all those boxes are tucked away in rooms with the doors closed until I am ready to deal with them, one at a time.

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