If you asked me a week ago or three years ago or ten, how much does it cost to hire movers, I’d have said a thousand probably, five thousand, at least, if you’re moving out of state. For most of my life, it might as well have been a million dollars. It didn’t matter. I sure as shit didn’t have a thousand or five to hire someone to move my shit.
One time I complained about not having a certain kitchen tool, I forget what, like a spatula or something? I complained for like 10 years and then I broke down and bought one. For $2. That's all it would have cost me and it was ten fucking years of bitching. It never hurts to check it out.
ah!! I'm so happy to hear you're in a HOUSE, I hope you will have a WASHING MACHINE AND DRYER, those life-changing things. Selfishly hoping you're in my part of town bc if I saw you walking Woody I would low-key flip.
Do what you need to do. It’s hard enough to pack and unpack and tell the movers what to take and where to put the stuff when you move in. I’ve had to move everything out of rooms of my house (while I’m living in it) for repairs to take place. I had to pay someone to haul away an old couch and loveseat (my dog had created a lot of wear and tear for such a tiny animal) and I threw in some other odds and ends. They take it to a place where they sort it and various charities pick out what they want. It’s a way to keep things out of the landfill. Meanwhile, I keep finding things I no longer need. Goodwill, Austin Pets Alive, the library, and our favorite indie bookstore are the beneficiaries of what’s still useful. The recycle bin is filling up.
There are some advantages to moving more than once every 30 years. You don’t collect as much stuff. (And I’m done with taking other peoples’ stuff - after cleaning out multiple residences where my dad lived over the 20 years before he died, there are very few things I need to hang onto. Though I cannot seem to part with my dad’s duffel bag from his service in the Army during WWII. Go figure.)
Ah yes - Fart N’ Fetchum. Across the street from a PAC N SAK. And a bank. And oh, that’s another bank. I swear to god every corner in Amarillo you can either get a 120 oz coke or drive thru an atm. Austin is a damn Mecca by comparison - love the nickname, btw. I’d totally buy that bumper sticker
"godforbid Waco or Tyler" - amen! My kid had a summer internship in Kilgore, where they were warned not to walk around alone. Even Longview was the place to be because the Starbucks had some queer folks working there. Which is to say, I'm sending up a few good thoughts for any lesbians from Kilgore. And good vibes for the moving, WITH movers.
I'm thrilled that you and Woody are getting a house! And movers. I bet you can string up a hammock. I highly recommend it. You'll feel like you retired with fuck-you money.
Even cheap movers are expensive. A job gave me a $1000 moving allowance to move halfway across the country 30 years ago — it wasn’t nearly enough, even then. Even though we used it to move ourselves.
Maybe safer to move by yourself. When Mom surprised us by telling us she hated Cheyenne and was moving to Taos "to paint" (and eventually to die about seven years later but it was a good run), she hired a big-ass Van Lines company. They stole half the truckload and paid her a couple thousand bucks for her priceless tchotchkies. Just before that, when Dad died, Mom decided to sell Dad's woodworking tools. He had a planer and a jointer and a Delta table saw that I still covet. It was all in the hide-from-Mom garage shop. She hired an auction company. The owner of the company went to federal prison for kiddie porn and the 40k worth of tools vanished. Moving sucks.
Came here to see if you were okay and I felt reassured. Don't bother with texting. Stay with the cadence you developed; that's your voice and it would be a shame if it got altered in any way. Please give Woody a skritch for me.
Came here to see if you were okay and I felt reassured. Don't bother with texting. Stay with the cadence you developed; that's your voice and it would be a shame if it got altered in any way. Please give Woody a skritch for me.
I liked when you mentioned in a post about getting the rhythm of the words right. It is what I especially liked about the Texas Highways piece you wrote about wind. Good job.And tricky as hell to get right.
There is some benefit to moving yourself -- it has forced us to prune our possessions when they wouldn't fit in the truck and we were not about to make a 2nd trip from Illinois to NY. That was 1983 and 6 months later we did it again to move to PA. When we bought a house 2 years later, we had friends and could make more than one trip because it was only 12 miles away.
When we moved again in 1999, the employer paid for movers who were surprised at how much crap we had in our little house. Plus my mother's baby grand piano which she insisted we take. When we moved most recently in 2003, once more the employer paid for the move but I left a month before the possessions were to follow me.
The U-Haul self moves were a few hundreds of dollars. The move to Houston I never knew the cost. The move back to PA was about 13,000. The piano stayed in Texas -- given away to friends.
One time I complained about not having a certain kitchen tool, I forget what, like a spatula or something? I complained for like 10 years and then I broke down and bought one. For $2. That's all it would have cost me and it was ten fucking years of bitching. It never hurts to check it out.
ah!! I'm so happy to hear you're in a HOUSE, I hope you will have a WASHING MACHINE AND DRYER, those life-changing things. Selfishly hoping you're in my part of town bc if I saw you walking Woody I would low-key flip.
Do what you need to do. It’s hard enough to pack and unpack and tell the movers what to take and where to put the stuff when you move in. I’ve had to move everything out of rooms of my house (while I’m living in it) for repairs to take place. I had to pay someone to haul away an old couch and loveseat (my dog had created a lot of wear and tear for such a tiny animal) and I threw in some other odds and ends. They take it to a place where they sort it and various charities pick out what they want. It’s a way to keep things out of the landfill. Meanwhile, I keep finding things I no longer need. Goodwill, Austin Pets Alive, the library, and our favorite indie bookstore are the beneficiaries of what’s still useful. The recycle bin is filling up.
There are some advantages to moving more than once every 30 years. You don’t collect as much stuff. (And I’m done with taking other peoples’ stuff - after cleaning out multiple residences where my dad lived over the 20 years before he died, there are very few things I need to hang onto. Though I cannot seem to part with my dad’s duffel bag from his service in the Army during WWII. Go figure.)
The day I stop doing poverty math is the day I die. Congrats on the move!!
Ah yes - Fart N’ Fetchum. Across the street from a PAC N SAK. And a bank. And oh, that’s another bank. I swear to god every corner in Amarillo you can either get a 120 oz coke or drive thru an atm. Austin is a damn Mecca by comparison - love the nickname, btw. I’d totally buy that bumper sticker
"godforbid Waco or Tyler" - amen! My kid had a summer internship in Kilgore, where they were warned not to walk around alone. Even Longview was the place to be because the Starbucks had some queer folks working there. Which is to say, I'm sending up a few good thoughts for any lesbians from Kilgore. And good vibes for the moving, WITH movers.
I'm thrilled that you and Woody are getting a house! And movers. I bet you can string up a hammock. I highly recommend it. You'll feel like you retired with fuck-you money.
Even cheap movers are expensive. A job gave me a $1000 moving allowance to move halfway across the country 30 years ago — it wasn’t nearly enough, even then. Even though we used it to move ourselves.
Maybe safer to move by yourself. When Mom surprised us by telling us she hated Cheyenne and was moving to Taos "to paint" (and eventually to die about seven years later but it was a good run), she hired a big-ass Van Lines company. They stole half the truckload and paid her a couple thousand bucks for her priceless tchotchkies. Just before that, when Dad died, Mom decided to sell Dad's woodworking tools. He had a planer and a jointer and a Delta table saw that I still covet. It was all in the hide-from-Mom garage shop. She hired an auction company. The owner of the company went to federal prison for kiddie porn and the 40k worth of tools vanished. Moving sucks.
First, another great piece of writing. Second, thanks for the Woody pic.
Story of my life, my brain never stops and neither do I, but some how I still haven't accomplished the main thing I was working on...🤔🫠🙃
Came here to see if you were okay and I felt reassured. Don't bother with texting. Stay with the cadence you developed; that's your voice and it would be a shame if it got altered in any way. Please give Woody a skritch for me.
Came here to see if you were okay and I felt reassured. Don't bother with texting. Stay with the cadence you developed; that's your voice and it would be a shame if it got altered in any way. Please give Woody a skritch for me.
Hooray! A yard!
I liked when you mentioned in a post about getting the rhythm of the words right. It is what I especially liked about the Texas Highways piece you wrote about wind. Good job.And tricky as hell to get right.
There is some benefit to moving yourself -- it has forced us to prune our possessions when they wouldn't fit in the truck and we were not about to make a 2nd trip from Illinois to NY. That was 1983 and 6 months later we did it again to move to PA. When we bought a house 2 years later, we had friends and could make more than one trip because it was only 12 miles away.
When we moved again in 1999, the employer paid for movers who were surprised at how much crap we had in our little house. Plus my mother's baby grand piano which she insisted we take. When we moved most recently in 2003, once more the employer paid for the move but I left a month before the possessions were to follow me.
The U-Haul self moves were a few hundreds of dollars. The move to Houston I never knew the cost. The move back to PA was about 13,000. The piano stayed in Texas -- given away to friends.