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Move part 2

How to dispose of an old unwanted computer… drop it off the upstairs balcony into a bin. Not as elaborate as the VCR, but fun nonetheless. Make sure your sound is turned up – the thump as it lands is particularly satisfying.

So, here I am in the dying days of this eight year old (more or less) tenancy. The move is progressing. Over the past 36 hours, a lot of the small stuff has got moved. Enough to make me think that once things are settled in, I will do a major clean out of the junk I no longer need. No, a real clean out. What I’ve been doing over the last couple of months has barely scratched the surface.

Last night I was out with friends for drinks. Glugging down Belgian beer, chattering away with friendly people, toasting anything and everything, taking early leave with The Moving Excuse, then staggering home from the last tram and climbing into bed with a feeling that my legs were doing whatever the hell they wanted, and it was only by pure chance that they were taking me vaguely in the direction my brain had instructed.

Psychologically, a night off was just what I needed. Physically and organisationally, it was less than optimum, but I wouldn’t have missed it for anything.

Amongst all the agony of moving boxes and boxes and boxes, two little pieces of silver lining. Firstly, and most importantly, the kids love the new place – better than the old place in fact (and it’s not hard to see why – it is undoubtedly an upgrade).

And secondly, I spoke to my last remaining neighbour. She said they had been away for 2 months on holiday, only got back a couple of weeks ago, and never got their notice to vacate! Presumably it’s lost in the system somewhere… so I told them to ring Consumer Affairs to check their position, but I’m hoping that the registered mail notice to vacate is sitting uncollected in a post office somewhere (or was returned to sender – and I know how disorganised they are) and that it means they have more time to move out. Ah, I can just see those developers in their convertible BMWs, being mightily pissed off when they discover they’re facing yet another delay.

Oh, speaking of BMWs, last week I sent out a bulk e-mail advising friends of my imminent move. There-in I scathingly mentioned the "developers who all drive BMWs". Two days later I remembered that at least one of the people I sent it to drives a BMW, and so does his wife. Oops. He didn’t point it out in his reply back, and he’s got a good sense of humour, so hopefully his reaction was merely one of amusement.

Meanwhile, in preparation for the actual moving day on Tuesday, all the essential services are connected at the new place, except one: Internet. The ADSL connection may take another 4-5 working days, so I’m going to need to get dial-up working I suppose. Sigh. Back to the bad old days.

By Daniel Bowen

Transport blogger / campaigner and spokesperson for the Public Transport Users Association / professional geek.
Bunurong land, Melbourne, Australia.
Opinions on this blog are all mine.