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an easy move
Saturday, February 6 1999
Today was the day of the big move to the south. Actually, since we were only moving one door down to a bigger two bedroom apartment, this will probably stand for all time as the shortest move in my life. Even back when I lived in college dormitories, moves were always more of an ordeal than this. Further simplifying the move was a series of arrangements made by Kim with our various friends. She'd told them that we'd have food and coffee available and, no doubt, that it would be a lot of fun. Like most educated people in America, Kim has probably read The Adventures of Tom Sawyer and and is aware of the fact that it's quite possible to cheerfully enslave one's friends.
We walked up to the Zen Bakery and bought a bunch of bagels and cream cheese. Then, in our new apartment, we made a pot of French press coffee and set up some preliminary furniture: the kitchen table and some chairs. It was a vast new territory, with wide expanses of virgin carpet and Yosemites of freshly-painted walls.
A surprisingly large number of people turned out. First came the ever-energetic Cindy, then our friend Eric the Engineer, both of whom helped with all the big things that needed to be moved. Then Ludimilla the Brazilian girl and her new boyfriend Pete (the Jim Carey look-alike) came by. Since Kim was actually paying Ludimilla to help, she dove into her work with unusual enthusiasm. She moved all our clothes and re-ordered them in our new closet space. The she ran the vacuum cleaner. By now my co-worker Al had come by, and he was also handy with the vacuum cleaner.
We all took plenty of breaks: first for coffee and bagels, then for pizza and beer. There was also Marin County marijuana to be smoked, but it was mostly wasted on me. I haven't been able to get high since my recent sickness; I think it has something to do with all the crud in my lungs.
Kim was amazed at the good turnout for today's "moving party." She remarked several times how great it is to have friends vacuuming your carpet and scrubbing your sinks.
The only disadvantage to this method of moving is that we had no idea where anything was after we settled into our new place. Normally a move is an opportunity to take stock of your Earthly possessions, find things you've misplaced and even feel nostalgia about times, people and places gone by. This was more like waking up after a dream; the transition was almost that abrupt.
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