NZ Life

Everything is wrapping up now. I just had my last [for a while] Peoria breakfast and will head to the airport in a few hours.

This weekend I gave the keys to the house to Paul and Loreen. I’m sure they’re glad to be out of the apartment they’ve called home for the past month, because I’m completely sick of this hotel room I’ve been in for only the past week. I stopped by the house to finalize the lease documents and the cats looked completely grateful to have some humans in the house with them again. They have already learned to like the Lander’s shaggy rug, though I heard there was a long period of inspection.

My dad flew in yesterday to pick up the Civic. He’ll drive it back to AZ so Erin can replace her failing Cavalier with something a bit more reliable. He’s seen here catching up on a day’s worth of missed internet surfing.

The going away party yesterday evening was a great time. I got to see many friends for what will likely be the last time for a few years, and it seemed like everyone was enjoying themselves. I’ll eventually post some photos after I get done resurrecting them from the shadows. I left the flash off because I hate blasting an entire bar with bright light, but some of the pictures are really dark. I’m sure Photoshop can help me find the people in there. Thank You again to everyone who stopped by.

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I did a really dumb thing last night. By the time we all called it quits for the night, I was in no condition to drive so Cam and Bronwin brought me back to the hotel which was great. At a painful 6am I was thinking a little about my car and how it was faring behind the shady hotel next to Pi, and it dawned on me that what was in the car was far more important. I had left my work laptop, personal laptop, car title and passport in the trunk. Amplifying the panic was the realization that my personal laptop was completely unsecured and probably had open the program I use to store all of my 20,000 passwords for online accounts. Great possibilities here for someone! Instead of nursing my head until 11am as planned I was in a cab at 6:30am to reclaim my car.

Everything is present and accounted for. Crisis averted. The one upside of this little incident was the discovery that adrenaline and 10F air bright and early work wonders on a hangover.

This morning Angela started on her long, long journey to Malaysia where she’ll visit with family for 3 weeks before flying to Christchurch. This photo was taken at about 4am, and by now at 11:30pm she’s still another 30 minutes from touchdown in Japan. Then there’s the next 7 hours to Singapore. Yuck! Flying direct from Singapore to Christchurch in 9 hours will be a breeze in comparison.

The movers came back with their sea container and took the remainder of our stuff. When they conducted the inventory, they thought we just might fit into a 20ft container, but decided to play it safe and instead used a standard 40ft version. Ha! It turns out that all of our stuff (sea+storage) could have easily fit into a 20ft container, and the result will be the importation of many cubic feet of quality Peoria air. I think it looks pretty silly.

After a 1/2 day of work in the office, the evening wrapped up late by spending some quality time with the cats and a Rug Doctor. The carpet now looks immaculate:

The movers had a day off from our place today. They were done packing yesterday but the container won’t be available until tomorrow, which meant we had the day to run last minute errands. Tomorrow Angela departs for Malaysia and then I’ll be at the house seeing the last of our stuff taken away. For now, since we have to get up at 3am tomorrow: Goodnight.

Oh yeah: Happy Birthday, Mom!
Oh yeah 2: Bon Vonage, Christian!

Day 2 is done and we’re right on schedule. A lot of stuff was taken away, and the remainer is buried in bubble wrap awaiting a sea container. Interestingly, I found out that our container will depart via the port of Norfolk, VA, which seems a tad East of where I’d expected. I’m sure there’s a good reason for it.

We’re now living in a hotel. It’s a nice two room suite arrangement, but I’m quite sure I’ll be sick of it by next Tuesday. For now, however, it’s just good to be away from dust and boxes. Angela doesn’t mind the ice cream from the lobby either.

Well Day 2 is half over. The trash man decided not to pick up our mountain of trash in front of the house. They just drove by. I wonder if the snow will turn to ice and preseve all our trash until next spring 😉 (that would be funny, really). Jim had donuts for breakfast and I had half a can of pringles. Hmmmm…. healthy diet.

I went in to work to wrap up some stuff. Said goodbye to Anh, Cheryl, Rajani, Bob M, Adnan Manan, Travis, Steve B. and anybody that I see on the way out.

Yesterday went well, but by the end of it all Angela and I were tired, grumpy and wheezing from all of the dust in the air. We had one scare when we couldn’t find a very important computer item and had to search through many packed-up/taped-up boxes looking for it. Of course it wasn’t in any of those boxes and was safely in our “Do-Not-Pack” zone, but we found that out after a lot of frustration. It surely won’t be the last time; there’s just too much stuff to track it all.

Today two crews are present. The same group from yesterday is packing up the last of the storage items and all of the sea-going stuff. There are also a couple of new guys with the big semi who are hauling away the packed storage goods. The sea container shows up tomorrow. So basically there is a lot of activity but little Angela and I can help with. Most things are well enough defined now, and it’s up to Allied to put the boxes in the right place.

So far the day has gone well. The crew of four seems friendly and hardworking, and there have been no unwelcome surprises. Aside from me answering a question or two now and again, they’ve pretty much done everything. Yet, at barely 1pm, I’m actually exhausted. There’s no good exertion-based reason for it. Maybe it’s due to the feeling that I have to track what everyone is doing at all times (which I don’t), or that they’re handling thousands of our personal effects to complete the job, or that the house is in disarray. Whatever the case, I’m ready for the day end so Angela and I can relax in quiet and plan for tomorrow.

Day 1 of Moving: Jim checking emails. The house is a complete mess. The movers are here to help pack. Baby seem completely content to sit among the mess.