First Week

So the first week here has been quite eventful. Work on Monday was great. New faces, new environments, new tasks, a new job. The rest of the work week was a bit tedious because I'm trying to get caught up, and that means reading papers and briefs and code for 9 hours a day. But I'm getting there and soon I'll be interacting and developing and contributing. So I'm excited for that.

On Tuesday, the movers came with our stuff! BUT, the second they arrive he informs me that we will owe a "long carry" charge. A "long carry" charge is due if the back of the truck is more than 75 feet from the residence. Well, since we lived on the third floor, he said it was due. The charge is $75 per 100 cubic feet. We had 500 cubic feet, and hence owed them $375 in cash or else they were taking our stuff away! WHAT! Well, I told Celeste and she busted out the contract and found a clause that said they DID NOT charge for hauling up stairs (up to 3 flights). The guy tried to dispute that clause and eventually Celeste got him to agree to charge us half. So we owed $185. That was more reasonable, and we wanted them to start moving our stuff in, so we agreed. I was very objectionable to the whole thing, because the distance from the truck to the first step did not look like 75 feet. No way did it look that long. But the guy swore it was and I slightly trusted in his experience. I went to get the money from the bank, and--wouldn't you know it--we only had one debit card and we lost the pin number. AAAHHH! So I had to take a cash advance on my credit card (ICK!) to get the money. So I go home, drop the money off to Celeste and leave to go to work. I called Celeste and urged her to make the guy measure the distance to double check if it was indeed 75 feet from the truck to the first stair.

So, after the move was about 2/3 over, Celeste asks the movers to measure the distance. They tried making her pay the full amount if it turned out to be 75 feet, but she refused since we'd already agreed on half. Well, reluctantly, the movers measured the distance and it came up to 72 feet. (Celeste actually saw them measuring and swears it was only 62....) Well the guy still wanted us to pay! But Celeste refused to pay anything since it is LESS than 75 feet. Celeste walked away victorious and didn't give them any more of our money. They finished the move and they are out of our lives forever! E-Z Movers based in Chicago. NEVER USE THEM! And that's that.

The rest of the week went by without a hitch. Over the weekend, my brother Aaron stopped by for a visit. It was so great having him here and gleaning all that older brotherly advice. We shopped at the mall, ate out for lunch, and had some delicious homemade ice cream. It was tons of fun.


Saturday night, after Aaron left, we resumed some car shopping we had done on Friday....and ended up buying a car! We got a 2006 Chrysler Town & Country Touring. We got a great interest rate (after some fine haggling by your truly), and we're excited to have a van. It's a little surreal financing such a large amount, but we feel like grown-ups. Life's just moving right along. The next major purchase is gonna be a house. More debt. Huzzah.