Finally Settling IN Don in BLUE, Max in RED

We've finally transitioned from car to hotel to apartment. We are here and moved in. It has been a struggle and there are still a few hills to climb (besides the obvious ones in SF), but we are moved in and almost cleaned up.

I can only imagine what folks thought when we checked into the hotel in Oakland- for just two nights- and pushed the loaded cart through the lobby. We were not traveling light! But then we hoped to organize everything into two piles- one for the hotel and one for the apartment which meant EVERYTHING had to come out of the Honda. I think the Honda sighed a big sigh of relief with the load off!

Our initial plan was pretty good, but plan and actuality are two different things. We originally asked to have our stuff picked up so we could have it in the apartment on October 1, then have a week to get organized before having to start serious work. We learned on the 29th that delivery wouldn't happen on the first, but rather probably on the 3rd, then probably on the 4th, then definitely on the 5th. So we were stuck in a hotel in SF for 5 nights instead of one.

Kelly- our wonderful niece- with 4 children AT HOME- will never understand how anyone could complain of staying in a luxury hotel- we did not have to clean the bathroom- or set out fresh towels- or make our bed- But we were ever so anxious to get started- And living out of a suitcase was getting more and more cumbersome with each day.

So instead we spent the week taking care of details. Max had her physical for work and got her California drivers license.

I read the California Driver's Manual from start to finish twice- and some 3 times. I know the California Driving rules (I missed the question about what happens if you are driving and are intoxicated and get pulled over- Marianne missed that one in Florida as well- I just guess neither of us read that part very carefully!) But I do know that the driver's here are not as familiar with the laws as I am. Such as- the book clearly states that one SHOULD NOT honk unless it is necessary to prevent an accident. Well they've been honking at me all week- And only once was I even close to an accident- I did appreciate the honk that kept me from turning the wrong way down a one way.

WE did some shopping for the apartment that we hadn't expected. For instance, there is a rule here in the apartment that we have to have 80% of the flooring covered by carpets so the noise of walking around won't bother neighbors below.

And we managed to fit all three area rugs into the Honda- And drive across the Bay bridge from Oakland. The carpet rule is just one of the HOUSE RULES- we have a copy- And have to sign and give back. There are other things as well- like being quiet after 9pm and before 9am- And not putting trash down the chute after 9pm- and not plugging the trash chute- I did that once- But Don was able to get it unstuck! But I appreciate the quiet- The only place I can hear a neighbor is through the bathroom wall- Our lovely neighbors- one of those gorgeous, tall, healthy- drives the BMW- warned us to watch the bathroom noise- or the whole house would hear.

We got the telephone, cable TV and telephone done. We bought stuff for the home office that I'll need. WE found a Bed Bath and Beyond and bought lots of the little things we didn't bring because Amber will need them in our house in Cincinnati. In short we spent a lot of money that we hadn't really expected.
You would not believe how BIG this Bed, Bath and Beyond is- I've never seen one so large- even has an escalator just for the shopping carts- you can see mine piled high! If you need it- they have it- And we bought it! It is amazing how much "stuff" you need for a one bedroom apartment! And this Bed, Bath and Beyond is not far from us- no long drive to Oakland!

It turns out that the reason the furniture delivery was so late was that the truck that was hauling our furniture broke down somewhere in the middle of Wyoming and it took a while to get the part to repair it. They finally arrived Friday morning around 10:00 and started getting our stuff hauled up the two floors to our apartment. Everything made it undamaged. Unfortunately, our brand new sleeper couch was about 4 inches too big to fit through our door.

We briefly considered hiring someone to hoist it up and through a window, but since this apartment is like most in SF and set up in a row house fashion, there was no way to get it to the back of the apartment where we might have been able to hoist it in. So we are going to have to sell it and get whatever we can for it. Right now it's sitting in the entry way of our apartment building waiting for someone to buy it.

Other than the money- but what the heck- what is another $1000- it worked out best that the couch didn't fit- I was actually going to put it in front of the window with the wonderful view- Now it wouldn't have obstructed the view- but when you sat on it you would be facing a wall. But now there are two overstuffed chairs in front of this window looking out over this beautiful city- A pretty sight at day or night.

We spent most of Friday afternoon unpacking and putting away.


That was followed by breaking down all the boxes and collecting all of the packing paper that was used. That resulted in about 6 very large wardrobe boxes filled with either cardboard or paper. So we took it down the elevator to the basement and sat it beside the recycling bin. It wasn't long before the V.P. of the apartment board knocked on our door telling us that the recycling truck only takes what is in the bin and we would have to find something else to do with all of those boxes of paper, each of which was significantly larger than the recycling bin. So we are going to have to find some way to get it hauled to a recycling center. Apparently, California is very big on recycling, just not very interested in making it easy.

And we ate out. I've been looking about- And I think there are enough restaurants here that we could eat out every night this year- And never go back to the same place. I even found a Dino's Pizza- not a Gabby's- but I'm going to have the San Francisco Dino deliver us a pizza soon! But we started the grand adventure of eating!

There are the diner's:

Though it is true that the 60's HAPPENED in San Fran- the Diner's are straight from the 50's- complete with the juke box- and the music- and food. It reminded me of our dear Diner in Cinti on Sycamore- that closed after the riots. Here riots are just part of the fabric of living- And the Diner's live on!
And there was Mediterranean, Mexican, Sushi, Chinese, Thai, oh my oh my! I just drive around looking for more places to eat! I don't think anyone cooks!

But we are here, the apartment looks great, the weather is beautiful, we have cable, high speed internet and telephone, the IKEA stuff is all put together, we both are starting out new jobs this week. We are on the cusp of what we hope will become normal for us here. It will be good to find out exactly what that means.