When Moving Sinks In
posted at 12:05 pm
on Oct. 4, 2004
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Approaching Vancouver
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There are big signs that you’ve moved, and small signs. One small sign today, one that really drives the reality of the new city home, is that we’re removing and resetting all the radio presets in our car.
So far, we have:
92.9
99.3
and 101.something
One radio station, a classic rock station, took an advertising break from their “Psychadelic Sunday” to play an ad for, I swear this is true, better marijuana fertilizer. Bigger leaves, faster growth. Good to know.
We’re not in La La Land anymore.
Today, the movers came. We had to drive out to a bonded warehouse where our stuff was held for customs to peruse. They didn’t, but they could have. I think it was made a lot easier by the fact that I am a “Canadian returning home.” The American after me, who was up here on a work visa, was given a harder time by a meaner lady.
The movers had fun putting everything in the elevator and hauling it up 26 floors. My fun task was to stand in the street and make sure that nobody walking by made off witha suitcase or lamp or table leg.
It was warm enough that I was wearing jeans a a T-shirt, and cold enough that I was glad the T-shirt was black. Standing in the building’s shadow, I found some small shafts of sun to stand or sit in. When it got too chilly even for that, at around 1 p.m., I folded the furniture blankets into a large pile—they must have used at least 50 of them to wrap all our stuff.
But when the movers came back down, they told me not to waste my time. It seems the truck driver, Sterling, has a “system” for folding blankets for which he is famous. They said it wa a nice effort, but they had learned not to bother because Sterling will just refold them all.
When Sterling brought the truck back, I asked him if it was true that he had a reputation for blanket folding, because I’d fold them up for him if he showed me how. He thanked me, but declined.
“I wouldn’t let my wife fold those blankets,” Sterling said.
