Slumpbuster

It’s difficult to believe we’ve been here in New York now for over two months. I told a friend that Sharon and I are still trying to shake the idea that we’re just here for some extended two-plus-months vacation or work assignment and concede that we live here.

Life has moved quickly, though it’s hard to distinguish whether it moves quickly because of New York or because we’re really busy. It feels like a cop-out to pin it on either the former or the latter. The truth lies, as it always seems to do, somewhere in the middle.

Our move from Birmingham, Alabama, to Manhattan was a trip. We packed our lives into some 30-plus boxes, loaded (ok, paid some dudes to load) them on a truck, stuffed the remainders plus our cats into a rental SUV, and made the 16-hr drive to our new home. A few thoughts:

• We thought we left a reasonable amount of items to pack into our rental car to bring with us, but it turned out that we fell victim to my uncanny tendency to underestimate at the most inopportune moments. That RAV4 was packed to the brim. We could only barely see out the rear windshield. I don’t ever want to drive a car with that obstructed-due-to-overpacking a rearview again.
• We’ve driven to and from “the beach” at either Gulf Shores, AL, or Santa Rosa, FL (5+ hours); Louisville, KY (6+ hours); St. Louis, MO (7+ hours). Never had we driven 16 hours anywhere. We split the trip into one gargantuan 14-hour drive from Birmingham to one cherry-picked pet-friendly hotel in Allentown, PA, (that’s your cue, Billy Joel), and a minuscule-by-comparsion 2-hour jaunt into Manhattan. I drove two 7-hour portions before I just couldn’t will my eyelids to stay open, after which Sharon subbed in for a few half-hour relief (and, in all honesty, life-saving) efforts to get us to our destination on the first day.
• The cats behaved remarkably well for two animals who had only ever ridden in a moving car for 20-minute intervals in their entire life (I attribute this both to their incredible capacity to sleep and [and this was key] their refusal to take a dump in a moving vehicle).
• Surely, I say unto you, it was the grace of God that that rental car survived our first driving experience in New York City traffic unscathed. I kid you not. I'm happy not to have to drive in this city.

[This was originally a bullet point, but upon further review, it requires its own paragraph:] 

Our experience with the movers was unpleasant. A few tips: 

1. It is better to overestimate how much you’re moving to the movers at estimate time than to underestimate. This is yet another example of my knack for underestimation really hurt us. 
2. For God’s sake, READ THE FREAKING CONTRACT before you sign it. You might notice that, by declining to initial a particular line of the form, you’d be entitled to a higher insurance rate for damaged items than if you hadn’t read the form and mindlessly initialed anywhere you were asked.
3. When the movers inevitably damage some of your belongings in the move, make sure to photograph each damaged item. We were burned on items that were damaged that we either fixed or threw out without taking pictures of them; by the time we got around to looking into filing a claim, we realized that the mover’s casual “Oh, we’ll make a note that it was damaged” means nothing when the claim instructions say “You don’t get squat if you don’t include a picture documenting the damage to your belongings.” 
4. Unless you’re paying movers by the hour, take your time. They will rush you, which causes you to overlook important things like #2 and #3, which only serve to take money out of your pocket or to keep your money in theirs.

Note:

I've got ideas overflowing the small bin in my mind I've reserved specifically for blog post ideas (couldn't you tell? The answer is or should be "No.") as well as several months of pictures to eventually upload. As long as busyness and the persistent existential-blog-conundrum ("So, why do I bother with this, again?") don't overtake me, this is hopefully a first, if poorly written and poorly edited ("wait, he actually edits this?"), step back on the wagon.