Showing posts with label moving drama. Show all posts
Showing posts with label moving drama. Show all posts

Wednesday, May 02, 2007

"Inspected by Postal Supervisor"

When I was preparing to move, I arranged to have Canada Post forward my mail to the new address, just in case I forgot any address change. Shortly after I moved in, I got some mail at my new address with yellow forwarding stickers on it, so that made me feel reassured. But just before I returned the keys to my old apartment (i.e. over a week after the date when my mail forwarding was to start) I checked my old mailbox just in case, and found some very important letters in there. So I sent an email to Canada Post explaining the problem, emphasizing how serious the consequences would have been if I hadn't gotten these letters, and imploring them to make sure the forwarding went smoothly in the future. There was a brief email exchange where I clarified certain particulars (I hadn't known what information they needed at first), and then the next morning, while I was in the shower, someone from Canada Post called and left me a voicemail saying that in addition to looking into my forwarding request and making sure everything was good, they were having the carrier who delivered to my old address keep a lookout for letters with my name on them and physically hand them to the carrier at my current address if they find any (because apparently all the mail is given to the carriers at the same physical location). So I was happy with all that.

So today I got another very important letter, addressed to and delivered to my new address and marked "do not forward" by the original sender. And someone wrote on it in pen "inspected by Postal Supervisor", with today's date and some illegible initials.

I wonder if that is because of this mail forwarding problem, or if it's a completely unrelated thing?

Friday, April 20, 2007

Emerald Movers & Storage

The moving company I ended up hiring was Emerald Movers & Storage, and I was quite happy with their work. The receptionist was very reassuring, knew who I was when I called, and was able to answer all my questions. The movers showed up on time, and were quick, efficient, strong, competent, and all business. They walked in and immediately started moving my boxes to the elevator. They wrapped up all my furniture in protective padding, and everything came out on the other side perfectly intact. Then they drove over to the new building and put everything back just as efficiently, taking all their padding and wrapping away with them. They required no supervision except for instructions on where to put stuff in the new apartment. They also behaved with complete propriety at all times. My mother was there most of the time, but at one point I was alone in an elevator with these two extremely tall and strong men, (I had to look up at them, and I don't normally have to look up at people), and I was not at all uncomfortable. The move came in under time and under estimate (although I think they overestimated the estimate for that very reason). It took a total of three hours to move my 500 square foot one-bedroom apartment a very short distance.

Now, if you're doing your research on Emerald, you might encounter a few things that could be interpreted as red flags. First, they point potential clients to HomeStars.ca where they have many positive reviews.* However, they have so many more positive reviews than any of the companies, so it really comes across as fake. I can't vouch for the accuracy or inaccuracy of these reviews, but they are consistent with my experience. (This is why I choose to review here, in an independent medium where you can see that I am, in fact, an individual.) Second, they are not a member of the Canadian Association of Movers. I asked the guy who gave me my estimate about this (he also ended up being one of the actual movers - I don't know if this is normal practice or not) and he didn't have an answer for me right away, but he did call me back the next business day with the explanation that CAM is geared more towards large moving companies and Emerald is small. Again, I cannot vouch for the accuracy or inaccuracy of this statement, but I have no reason to believe it's false, and the question was handled in a way that was consistant with perfect transparency. Thirdly, the truck they used didn't say "Emerald" on it, it was from Penske truck rental. I didn't get a chance to get a full explanation of this. I don't know whether or not it's normal practice, I did notice that they don't have any trucks on their website, but my move did go perfectly smoothly despite the fact that the truck didn't have the moving company's name on it.

Rereading this post, I just realized that, by saying that they were competent and did their job as expected, I may come across as damning them with faint praise. That is not my intention. It's just that I've heard so many horror stories about movers that I'm extremely happy that everything went smoothly. I can't say that Emerald went above and beyond for me, but it's not like they had the opportunity, because my move was extremely simple as moves go (if I had muscles and a car, I would have done it myself). As it was, nothing whatsoever went wrong, so I'm happy.

I would recommend Emerald without hesitation, and, as a youngish woman living alone, I would not be uncomfortable hiring these guys even if there couldn't be anyone else present on moving day.

*Edited to add: a couple weeks after my move, I received an email from Emerald thanking me for my business and suggesting that I review them on Homestars. So that's probably why they have so many more reviews than everyone else - because they actively point their clients there.

Wednesday, April 18, 2007

Done

The move went successfully, despite my ridiculous exhaustion. (Lesson learned: take nyquill before bed the night before you move. The showerhead is still in question. Any recommendations for specific hand-held showerheads with good water pressure?

More later, including a full review of the moving company.

Tuesday, April 17, 2007

freaking out

i'm surrounded by boxes and i hate it.

the water pressure in my new shower needs viagra. i'm particularly pissed since the leasing agents assured (sp???) me that there's good water pressure on every single floor and there's no need to worry about the details of construction because construction is so very very l33t that there's good water pressure on ever floor, and now the water pressure int he shower sucks. in a paricularly painful bit of irony, the water pressure in the sink and the kitchen are both fine, it's just the shower that needs viagra. I was so very very confident that the new apartment is better and that's why it's worth all this trouble and then the water pressure sucks and long hot showers are part of my raison d'etre so i don't know what to do now. Plus I saw an air conditioning truck outside the building today which make me nervous that the a/c doesn't work because the whole building is a greenhouse without the a/c. If it's not as better as i thought, especially at the prices I'm paying, I think I'm going to cry.

Anyone know any brands of handheld showerheads that give you like major major intense water pressure?

Also, I diligently finished off a bottle of wine tonight (since, like, it's heavy and breakable and liquid and it's good to use up bottles instead of moving them) so if I sent you any emails tonight it might not make sense and that's why.

I just want it to be over. Hopefully by this time tomorrow I will be and I'll be sleeping the sleep of the physically exhausted in my own bed in my brand new apartment.

I don't know how people ever manage to move huge distances or plan weddings or anything like that. Moving this ridiculously short distance is stressful enough for me.

Saturday, April 14, 2007

Shoes

I'm giving six pairs of shoes to charity. "Six pairs!" you're thinking. "Shoe whore!" you're thinking. "Obviously your feet can't be as hard to fit as you say they are," you're thinking, "if you have six extra pairs of shoes to give away!"

But it's not that these are extraneous pairs of shoes that are the result of consumerist impulse purchases. Rather, it's that they've been superseded. The flat black Mary Janes were replaced with a significantly more comfortable pair of flat black Mary Janes. The black ankle boots were replaced with a pair of black ankle boots that was taller and unlined. The black sandals were replaced with a more comfortable pair of black sandals that is also less unfashionable. The brown hiking boots that are from 1994 and look it were replaced by a pair of brown sneakers that's from 2006 and looks it. I've been wearing the same shoe size for about 15 years, and while every pair of shoes I've purchased was the best possible option at the time I bought it, but a better option turned up in later years.

You know you're a langling when...

Last week, I diligently packed up all my books, CDs, and DVDs in boxes, so I could feel all productive and self-satisfied. Ever since then, I've been missing my dictionaries! I keep thinking of things I want to look up, and I can't because they're all in the bottom of a box somewhere. These aren't important things or work-related things, I'm not in a situation where there's any immediate need to communicate something in another language. I just keep thinking of things that I'd like to look up.

For example, I once coined the phrase "el mambo abrir la puerta" for the little hip-swivelling thing you do to open the door hands-free when you're wearing a security pass on your belt. Just now, it occurred to me that it might be better to use a noun form of abrir, parallel to "de l'ouverture de la porte" (as opposed to "ouvrir la porte"). But I forget how to noun verbs in Spanish (I know, I know, but I only have two years of Spanish and that was five years ago.) Normally I'd reach for the dictionary, look it up, and get on with my life. But it's not quite worth unpacking a whole box for.

And I do this at least twice a day! I never realized how dependent on my dictionaries I am!

Friday, April 06, 2007

Garbage

The City of Toronto recently had an idea of issuing each household a small garbage bin, and charging them more money if they want a larger one. There are several problems with this plan, but the one I haven't seen mentioned yet is: what happens under exceptional circumstances that generate far more garbage than usual?

I generate very little garbage. Probably one big green bag a month, including organics. However, as I prepare to move, I find myself having to throw out quite a few largish things that can't be recycled or donated to charity. My old olive green pots and pans (originally my father's from his first apartment in the early 70s), whose non-stick is coming off. The original keyboard from my first computer, whose M key doesn't work. Hopelessly stained clothing that charities won't accept. Basically four years worth of stuff that I held on to because they aren't 100% useless (I am, after all, the child of an immigrant) but that I'm ultimately not going to use ever again. This is a one-time increase in my household garbage and probably won't happen again for another several years. It doesn't mean I need a larger bin 100% of the time, but I would need more for one garbage collection. Does this plan take these kinds of things into account?

I've been spending some time lurking around web communities devoted to frugality and waste reduction, in the hopes of finding leads on places where I can donate or recycle these kinds of bulky useless items. One surprising idea that kept coming up was to make craft projects out of stuff. I'm sorry, but I don't think this counts. I have all these old clothes that are too stained to donate. If I make, say, rag dolls out of them, then I'd have a bunch of rag dolls. But I don't need rag dolls. I couldn't donate or regift the rag dolls because they're made out of old stained clothes - you don't give a child a doll with your stains on it! I have no use for rag dolls in my home. It doesn't contribute to the decor - it's not like I look around and say "You know what this place really needs? Some rag dolls!" So while, technically, I have reused my useless old clothes, reusing being a frugal and environmentally friendly act, I don't actually get any points for it. I've just turned one useless thing into another useless thing that looks slightly less like garbage. I think craft projects should only count if the end product fills a need that you would have had to fill even if you didn't have the items you were making the craft out of. In other words, my hypothetical rag doll project would count only if, had I not had all these old stained clothes on hand, I would have had to go buy rag dolls or rags to make dolls out of.

I think the problem with society in general is that not generating waste is a virtue, frugally saving things until you can reuse them is a virtue, but being clutter-free is also a virtue.

Saturday, March 31, 2007

Not dead yet

I've just come off the week from hell at work and then I took possession of the apartment today. So I haven't had time to blog any of the zillions of things floating around in my head, or look at my comments, or look at other people's blogs, or generally participate in online or IRL social life. There will be more apartment fuss this weekend, but I do expect to come back to the land of the living shortly.

Compared with this process I'm going through, I'm astounded at how uncivilized our move-in process for res was in university. We were treated like cattle on an assembly line. When we had to move from winter res to summer res, we were given one day's notice without consideration for the fact that we may have other obligations that day. I compare this with my current process where I call or pop in, and they just know who I am and why I'm there and act like they're happy to see me. I wonder if they treat the uni students worse because we'd most likely never lived away from our parents before so we had no idea how well people might be treated for housing out in the grownup world?

PS: To everyone I told that my phone number is changing: my phone number is NOT changing. Apparently Rogers can just take over my Bell number, so I get to keep my 416 cred instead of looking like some 647 newbie. Even though I really am I newbie. Well, I have been here for nearly 7 years...hey, that's over 25% of my life! Maybe I'm not a newbie!

Sunday, March 18, 2007

Teach me how to tip my movers

This is the first time I've ever hired movers, and I'm not certain about the tipping dance.

1. The general consensus of the internet seems to be that $20-30 for each guy is an appropriate tip. But is this a flat-rate tip, or is it based on a percentage of the bill? The company I've chosen is one of the more expensive ones out there - I decided I'm willing to pay for a good reputation - so as tips go this isn't actually a respectable percentage of the bill. Do I need to be tipping 20% of the bill, and if so do I need to give that to each guy, or in total?

2. Like most reputable companies, the one I've chosen has a minimum number of hours for which they charge you. Because my apartment is small and my move is short, it's going to take less than the minimum number of hours. I've decided this is acceptable, especially considering the poor repuations of companies who don't have minimum charges. But if the tip is supposed to be a percentage of the bill, do I tip as a percentage of the actual bill (which will be for more hours than they actually worked), or as a percentage of what the bill would be if there was no minimum charge?

3. How exactly do I give the tip to the mover? When I go to a restaurant, I tip by leaving money on the table. When I order a pizza or take a taxi, I tip by telling them to keep the change. I've never been in a situation where I have to actually hand the tip to the person. I'm not comfortable with this - it feels kind of like an insult to their dignity. Do I just hand them a wad of cash or put it in an envelope? Do I say "Here's your tip" or do I just hand it to them? Do I give them each their own tip separately or just give it to the head guy?

4. I might have them working through lunch. The internet tells me that the polite thing to do is feed them, but this is logistically difficult. I happen to have in my possession some gift certificates for a place where they can get some (fast and cheap) lunch. I'm never going to use them because I'm embarrassed to use gift certificates for such a small purchase. Would it be a good idea or a bad idea for me to include these in the tip (in addition to, not as a substitute for, an appropriate amount of money)? I think it might be a good idea because it will cover the lunch thing, but I think it might be a bad idea because it's something I'm embarrassed to use myelf.

I'd appreciate any insight anyone might have on these questions.

Saturday, March 17, 2007

The bottom layer

I've been slowly sorting through everything in my apartment, culling piles and throwing out stuff I don't use. But whenever I get to the bottom layer I get sad and don't want to throw the stuff out.

The bottom layer is the stuff from when I first moved in here, from the last little bit of university. There are university projects that I foolishly thought would make a good portfolio, my planner from 4th year uni (which ended up being the last time in my life that I ever used a planner), bits of administrative minutiae - things of no further importance and no sentimental value by any standards.

And yet finding them makes me sad.

I don't know why. The time they are from was not good. It was uncertain and terrifying and angst-ridden. Now is much better. My life is not changing, I'm just moving to a nicer apartment. I don't know if I'm picking up on residual sadness from back then or if I'm feeling some irrational sadness now, but this is most inconvenient.

Friday, February 09, 2007

Parking etiquette question

Some of the moving companies I'm looking into do in-home estimates, where they come and look at all my stuff and tell me from there how much they expect it to cost.

My question for any urban drivers reading this: am I expected to provide the estimate guy with parking?

My building has underground guest parking. Guests need to be let in with a building key, which means I'd have to escort them, which is perfectly normal for people who are actually my guests, but weird for someone I've just met. There is limited free one-hour parking on my street, but more often than not it's all full. There are some Green P lots in the area, but you have to pay for those.

Is parking a basic hospitality like offering a chair to sit in or a glass of water, or is it a business expense that he's responsible for?

Wednesday, February 07, 2007

Boring grownup stuff

The problem with arranging a move is that there's so much boring grownup stuff involved. I have to call people and get estimates for stuff and write cheques and watch my bank account balance and sign things. I've used the word "insurance" more in the past week than in the rest of my life combined! Don't get me wrong, I'd still rather be an adult than a child (I watched whatever I wanted on TV today! And now I'm playing computer games while drinking wine!) but this high density of boring grownup stuff is kind of getting me down.

This makes me glad I'm childfree and carfree. People with children and cars have to worry about stuff like this ALL THE TIME! Cars are giant resourcesucks, and with children you have to be doubley extra super-duper careful about EVERYTHING!

Maybe that's why those Kids Today people take childlessness as one of the signs of not being a grownup - because it affords you time to think about stuff other than boring grownup stuff.

Monday, February 05, 2007

Things They Should Invent: centralized directory of people's new email addresses

For my primary personal email address, I use the address that came with my ISP. It has been serving me well for the past four years, but when I move in a couple of months I'm going to have to use a different ISP, so I'll lose my primary email address. I will, of course, email everyone I correspond with to inform them of my new emaill address (no, I haven't decided what it will be yet), but if I miss someone - say, someone I went to university with, or someone who wants to hire me - they'll be SOL. Since I haven't made myself terribly googleable using my real name or my primary email address, I'll be very difficult to find. I don't mind anyone who knows my old address knowing my new address, but they might not be able to find me, and I have no way of knowing who might be looking for me.

I'd like to see a website that is specifically designed for the sole purpose of informing the world of email address changes. When you have to change your email address, you enter your old email address and your new email address in a form. You don't have to enter any other information if you don't want to. Then if someone comes looking for you, they just enter your old email address, and the website will give them your new email address. If they know the old address, they can get the new one with no difficulty. If they don't know the old address, they can't find you by searching by your name or anything, unless you set it up that way. Simple, straightforward, solves a lot of problems. But it will only work if there's only one centralized site, which, really, is the problem with many online things.

Saturday, February 03, 2007

Update

I have an apartment, but not the apartment. The apartment was far far too expensive. But I'm more or less happy with what I got. More later, I'm done for today.