trochee

We moved last weekend. Saturday,

beegirl came and helped load up

imtboo's house while I went (back) to yon Swedish flatpack store to pick up a critical missing piece of the bedframe. I took the rental minivan, and by the time I got back,

beegirl and

imtboo had already done a run with

beegirl's van.

Saturday we rocked. We got nearly everything from

imtboo's house over to the new apartment, and got the bed together.

Sunday, we did my house.

imtboo and I returned the rental minivan in the morning, and

blackwingedboy met us there and took us over to get the rental truck. At the rental place, a tremendously pissed-off woman came in with a truck screaming at the manager about the starter on the truck not working. He puffed up a little, and she escalated into cussing and left the truck running in the parking lot. The three of us sat quietly watched.

I drove our truck back to my apartment, and pulled it into the driveway on one side of the building. We went up, and tried out the contraption (pictures to come, once

imtboo gets back online, I imagine). The plan had to be revised, but we successfully used the pulley contraption to lower all the small heavy boxes of comic books and novels, as well as a number of smaller things, with very few stair-climbs required. All this time, it was raining. And as we finished up with the contraption (tentatively dubbed "the apartment winch"), the rain started to really come down.

About this time, A. from the department came to take away the awkward sofa. He arrived just after

caracola and

mythalethe arrived to help out, and with their assistance we got the rest of the truck loaded in about two hours -- everything out of the apartment by 3:00. We were rockin' it, despite the rain. But then the shit hit the fan -- the truck, parked across the sidewalk in a very dense urban neighborhood, loaded up with all my stuff -- the truck wouldn't start. My labmate D. called, saying he would be there in a few minutes. Of course, with the truck dead, I told him not to bother.

We tried to jump it with

blackwingedboy's car, but no luck. It's a 16-foot diesel truck; it has not one but two batteries. I called Budget, and they sent a tow truck out to try to jump it. He took a while to show, and we went around the corner for some lunch. We're all beat and tired, I'm running dangerously low on blood sugar, and I am angry at the truck company. Just my luck -- before we have a chance to order, the tow guy showed up and called. I ran over, and tried starting it up for the tow guy. No love.

I called Budget again, and the tow company again, growing increasingly cold, hungry and frustrated. Eventually the tow company sends a big truck over: now the plan is to tow our truck --loaded!-- to the new place, unload it as fast as possible, and tow it to the tow company's lot. But the driver of the new (big) truck, when he shows, wants to try to jump it again with his (even bigger) truck, and after a few minutes charging we try to restart our rental: still no start, but this time the engine turns over once. "It's the battery," he says, and he calls another tow truck.

After another half an hour, we now have three trucks (two tow trucks and our rental) blocking the entire street next to my apartment. Both tow trucks are charging the battery of the rental, and after a while we start it -- and it starts!

But now it's 7:30p. We're all tired; I've had a little to eat but anxiety and frustration have made it difficult to eat very much. Luckily, there are still five of us (D. had other plans later in the day, so we lost his help), and we now still have to unload the truck.

caracola went home to write a paper, but I drove it over, and -- in bucketing rain, which is really quite unusual for Seattle so be quiet you sunny-place people the rest of us unloaded the truck in about 45 minutes into the back stairwell at the new place.

blackwingedboy and I went to return the truck, and

imtboo and

mythalethe started moving things up the stairs into the new place.

Then the four of us remaining bucket-brigaded all these things up the four floors of stairs (the back stair lets in on the basement). We were finished (finally) at 9:45p Sunday night, when we took

mythalethe home.

blackwingedboy,

imtboo and I went out for some food (and a drink) and we went to bed totally exhausted.

We're still unpacking, because we both have had to play catch-up in the rest of our lives as well. Poor

imtboo has had to work at her ordinarily-part-time job all week since, and started a new physical theater class. The house coalesces, slowly.

Lesson learned: don't rent trucks from Budget.

Confirmed:

blackwingedboy and

caracola and

mythalethe: you are all heroes. Thank you all so much.