Decrepit Old Fool

Yesterday I helped MiddleSon (working on master’s in mathematics) move from one apartment to another, and noticed a few things:

Renting a cargo van is the best sixty bucks you could possibly spend, and beats the hell out of actually owning one.  The incredibly efficient young man at U-Haul was there when we picked up the van in the morning, and still there, still working hard when we dropped it off in the evening.  He looked tired, though.  I don’t want to hear any crap about how young people don’t work hard any more – this guy had serious hustle.  And he is not unique.

Particle-board is the worst possible material from which to make furniture.  It is heavy and fragile, and difficult to repair when damaged.  Bamboo furniture, on the other hand, is awesome.  Sturdy and practically weightless.  Why did I never realize it before?

‘Habitat For Humanity’ runs a heck of a good used furniture store in Urbana, Illinois.  Or maybe it’s in Champaign.  They’re like Bloomington/Normal – really one community with two mayors, city councils, etc.  Twice the mistakes for your money.

The new apartment belongs to a realty company founded by a former circus performer.  It was immaculate and clearly they’d checked it very carefully.  And by “carefully” I mean that when I had to pull the door hinge pins to get a large desk into a room, the hinges had been oiled.  That’s getting down to an impressive level of detail, folks.  Everything fit and worked perfectly. But being’s the apartment was built “before 1972” he had to sign a warning about lead paint (though the apartment was just-painted).  I hope he can remember not to chew on the woodwork.

One of my son’s new neighbors runs an under-the-table business fixing people’s cars in his driveway.  Man, that’s initiative!  I wonder what he does in the wintertime, though?  Must be a hardy fellow. My son won’t be using his services, though, because he doesn’t own a car.  The apartment is on a bus line, two blocks from a shopping mall, two blocks the other way to a large grocery store.  I hope to live in an apartment like that someday.  Mowing lawns and fixing siding just doesn’t excite me the way it does some people.

When it hasn’t rained for over a week, how can the humidity be so darn high?  Temperature in the low ‘90’s and I consumed maybe six quarts of water in one form or another.  It wasn’t enough.

A tape measure is an absolutely essential piece of equipment for moving day.
And when moving, do not underestimate the importance of someone whose job it is to open doors and close them again.  It really is a job for a specialist, not an avocation for the furniture-mover.

Not to be outdone, MrsDoF had her own set of observations.