Tuesday, January 8, 2013

We'll Be Right Behind You


"You go ahead, we'll be right behind you as soon as we load up these boxes."

The words, spoken by the head mover, calmed me as we prepared to leave our apartment for the last time. This man was in control.

It was three days after Hurricane Sandy swept through New York and New Jersey, leaving broken houses, broken spirits and an unimaginable path of destruction in her wake. The move from our apartment in Manhattan to our new house in Westchester County was supposed to have been on Monday morning. But after listening to the ominous weather predictions over the weekend, we decided to push the move to Friday. Even if we could have made it before the worst of the storm hit Monday evening, the idea of riding it out in a new house with no kitchen, in a neighborhood filled with strangers, and with the threat of being without power for days was far from settling.

No, it was definitely better to wait.

I didn't sleep much Thursday night. The stress of the hurricane, the mild panic I had at the thought of leaving Manhattan after almost eight years, and the anxiety of moving in general combined into a toxic cocktail that left me tossing and turning until the sun began to rise. I probably could have handled any one of these things on its own, but together, they were a force far more powerful than I.

And when the movers knocked on the door at eight AM, I was already pacing the short length of our living room floor, and wishing that the was day over. They rushed in with their boxes, paper and packing tape, and in short order began dismantling the life that David and I had built together over the past two years. There wasn't much for me to do, so I just sat on the couch and watched the mayhem.

After a few hours, mayhem became mild disorder, and before long everything was packed. We had to make a stop at my in-law's house in Riverdale before we headed to our new house, and the head mover told us that the timing would be perfect. He needed about a half hour to load everything else in the truck, which was how long we thought our detour would take, so we would pull up to the house at the same time the movers did. He said that he would give us a call when they were on their way, and told us that everything was under control.

So with a last look at our 72nd Street home, we pointed the car north, and drove away.

Our stop in Riverdale took longer than expected. Curiously, by the time we left, there was still no call from the movers. I called them instead. The loading too had taken longer than expected, but they thought that they would be on the road in a half hour.

Ok, we thought. No problem.

When we got to the new house the movers still had not left the city, and there was little for us to do but sit and wait. I practically shuddered with relief when the phone rang. Surely it was the movers calling to tell us that they were on their way.

It was indeed the movers, but with far less appealing news. It seemed that the driver had accidentally left the truck's lights on while they were packing us, the battery was dead, and they didn't have jumper cables to get it started again. The head mover told us that he sent one of his guys to Home Depot across the park for the cables, and assured us that they would leave the city in no time.

An hour later we found out that they did, indeed, procure jumper cables, but the only cars around were cabs, and with mass transit completely out due to the storm, there was no cab in the city willing to idle for the twenty minutes it would take to get the truck's engine started. And then they found out that the battery was beyond saving. The company was going to have to send a tow truck, along with a new moving truck from their warehouse.

They had no way to estimate how long it would take to get the new truck, and the sun had begun to set. As we sat in the living room of our nearly empty house and as the sky grew dark, the knots in my stomach had knots of their own. I was sure that the anxiety coursing through me was palpable, and wondered that the air around me didn't just vibrate with the intensity of it all.

And then we got the final call. With all the Monday and Tuesday moves pushed to Friday because of the storm, the company didn't have any trucks to spare. There was no possible way for them to get our stuff to us, and we were going to have to wait until morning.

We spent our very first night in our brand new house sleeping on the floor of our bedroom, grateful that we decided to lay carpet, instead of sticking with the hardwood floors.


25 comments:

  1. Ugh! Isn't moving the worst?!? It's always filled with hassles like this - though this one does seem particularly bad. I love your optimistic take on the situation though.

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    1. It is so the worst, especially on the heels of the hurricane, but we are doing just fine now :)

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  2. Holy Cow. This could be a "If You Decide to Move From Manhattan." First there will be a hurricane, which will . . . Those storms can really alter our lives. It makes you realize how much we depend on technology and things that can be knocked out by wind. I grew up in Florida and don't remember it being too bad but now with the huge population explosion, when these things happen everyone is affected. Glad you are now in your home.

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  3. oh my, the knots in my stomach had knots of their own. love it. and ugh!! sorry!! this so sucks!! hopefully you're happily settled by now. that is not a good moving story! i mean, it was a good story, but.. you know what i mean! :)

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    1. We are all settled in and doing great now. It was a bad couple of days starting with the hurricane, and lasting for a week or so after the move, but we love the new house and the new neighborhood now.

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  4. Seriously, moving is such a pain in the rumpus. I am glad you had carpeting. MOving during Sandy is just too much. Glad it's all a memory and a great post.

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    1. It really was too much. If I could have put it off another could weeks I totally would have, but since we had already given our landlord notice that we were leaving, there wasn't much to do but forge on ahead.

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  5. Oh, good gravy! Did you have a bet with Murphy or something? Glad that everything worked out in the end...

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  6. Oh gosh what a pain! Ugh. Even in the best of circumstances, moving suuuuucks.

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  7. Now my stomach has knots! This is self-centered of me, but I just kept thinking "What would I do with my kids?!?" Hope you have been settling in nicely now.

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    1. Totally not self-centered at all! The whole time I was actually thinking that I was so glad we didn't have kids yet. It was just us, so we could rough it for a night, but if we had kids it would have taken on a whole different flavor.

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  8. I was totally stressed out just reading this! It is so unsettling moving to a new place, and I know you've had so many second (and third and fourth) thoughts about this decision that all the delays must have put you right over the edge. I hope things are starting to feel a bit normal these days; I think they are since you're running again, right?!

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    1. Yes! It was a super stressful move, but we are loving the new house and our new neighborhood, and I am finally starting to feel comfortable on our runs. I think moving is always stressful no matter what, but we came through the other side perfectly.

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  9. Moving is painful enough but this was no fun! We had to live out of suitcases for two weeks when we moved across the country. But we knew it and were prepared. I'm glad you got your stuff eventually.

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    1. Cross country is so much worse than 20 miles to the north! Truth is, after we got over the insanity of it all, that first night on the floor of our new bedroom was actually kind of fun.

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  10. Oh my goodness. I am so sorry to hear about this. That is terrible. When we moved in, our stuff was a week behind us, so we slept on a air mattress. It was rough, but memorable.

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  11. I love reading your writing. Your pacing and easy to read style always leave me with a smile on my face. And I never, ever want to move again for all of the reasons you so beautifully detailed. Ugh! Congratulations on your move and on surviving the process!

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  12. Ah, moving. I totally know what you mean about those knots having knots. What a bunch of misadventures!

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  13. Moving is so stressful, and must have been even more so with the hurricane, and then the dead battery! I bet it's nice to have it all behind you now. :D

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  14. Oh man, moving during hurricane week, what a mess! But at least you can say you'll never forget your first night in your new home!

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  15. The timing of your move could not have been worse but how do you predict that. Of course you don't. Thank goodness for the carpeting. I love your new house, though!

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  16. After my last move I vowed I'd never move again unless it was to California. Otherwise I will die in this house. I'm glad things have been looking up since then!

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  17. I'm sorry. That sounds awful, but again, made for a really good post. I loved the line about the knots in your stomach having their very own knots. Very well told -- great descriptives.

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