Sunday, July 27, 2014

Progress, three weeks in

Unless I am totally off, today is the last day of our third week in Toronto, about to roll over to week number 4.  We've had the boxes from the movers for about 1.5 weeks.  We've had internet and TV for the same amount of time (in fact the movers and the cable guy were here at the exact same time, but managed to co-exist fortunately).  It's worth noting that on top of all this physical work (and real work-related work), I was very occupied in dealing with paperwork and then updating addresses and my email accounts.  That is itself a full-time job.

The kitchen is more or less unpacked, though there are huge piles of empty boxes (here and throughout the house) and a big mound of plastic wrap.  We can get more of the plastic out on Thurs.  But it is usable, though I think we'll end up looking for sturdier kitchen chairs, particularly as the kids grow bigger and are a bit rougher than they should be.  In that, they are pretty typical kids...

The living room is fairly close to being ready, though today I will try to unroll the carpet and see if I can get it situated under the couch and love seat.  There is a kind of neat reading area with an overstuffed chair by the window in the front.  On the front porch itself, I just picked up two cheap chairs from Home Depot, and those have already come in handy.  The main thing left for the living room, aside from getting rid of the spare boxes is to bring up the last of the art books, since two bookcases dedicated to art books are in that area.  Partly because I want to occasionally share them with the kids, and partly because if there is ever a flood, these are the ones that I will be the most devastated if they are water-damaged.  Pretty much all the fiction and non-fiction downstairs could be replaced, though I will make an effort not to put any valuable first editions on the bottom shelves!

The kids' rooms are fairly close to being done, though there will need to be some sorting out of books and games and such.  There are probably two or three more boxes of kids' books to come upstairs.

The top floor (master bedroom) is getting fairly close.  I am nearly done putting together the wardrobe.  We may even need a second one.  The biggest problem with this place is not having enough closets in the right places.  One of the screws is missing, so I do hope to find an adequate replacement and finish the wardrobe.  For the time being, I'll probably have to move my work shirts to my son's closet.  Fortunately, he is an early riser, so it won't be too awkward grabbing things from there in the morning.  But that doesn't sound like a great long-term solution.  Of course, since at the moment I am still living out of a suitcase, anything will be a step up.

The area that needs the most work is the basement obviously, though a fair bit of progress has been made over the past few days.  All the bookcases are in place.  I am trying to get books in the right general place and will worry about a proper sorting later.  Once the file cabinet is in place, I should be able to get six or seven more boxes unpacked.  At that point, I may be able to build the desk and start using the storage space as intended.  And that will mean that the small storage room on the 2nd floor (currently used to hold the computers) can be used for boxes and extraneous stuff.  It's sort of like a real-life sliding puzzle, though also in 3-D.



There are a few important things I am trying to track down.  I know that the movers lost my wife's bookcase-thing, which will have to be replaced.  If I can track down this large box, then I will be a bit more at ease, while I wait for the other things to turn up. (I just found it -- ironically in the box that was being used to hold up the monitor until the desk is assembled downstairs, so literally in front of my nose.  I'm too relieved to feel abashed.)

The backyard will take a bit longer.  We are being visited by three neighbourhood cats, and we need to make this a bit less cat-friendly before we will feel comfortable about putting up the patio furniture.  Sadly our backyard is just filled with gravel and it is a bit too inviting at the moment.  I'm also debating getting a small storage unit for the bikes, which I definitely need if I am to start riding my bike.  But that is something to work on in week four.

I think, on the whole, we have made good progress in these three weeks.

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