Still Clickin

This is going to be my last comment about moving, I promise.

I always told my dear wife that I had one move left in me, but this experience has shown that I may have been exaggerating. However, the big pieces are now complete, and most of the critical things are working. Note the word “most”.

My desk is in a good spot. I can even turn to look at the perch of our neighborhood eagle, as in bald. What I still can’t do is open the desk drawers. Somewhere, in some box, reside the keys for those drawers. They are certainly secure, but they might be more useful if I could open them.

Then comes the computer. I never thought when I switched our access for the Internet that I would also be switching from wireless to wired. When I did realize it, it did not seem like it should be anything major. After all, access is access. I didn’t mind the change to wired, but my computer has proven to be less flexible. Computers always seem to have an independent streak . . . especially when you need their cooperation.

So, the big pieces are in place, the kitchen is operational, the taxes are finished, and we have even entertained beloved guests. Now we only need to get a computer working, a network established, and a desk opened. I could also put up a shower rod if I only knew where my drill was packed.

Moving. It certainly is a humbling experience. And through the experience of new surroundings and the agonies of a move, we develop a new sense of self, striped of the trappings and the routine of former nests. It always makes us challenge ourselves in ways that we never anticipate. We reveal more of the mystery of ourselves to ourselves, and the discoveries can be rewarding.

After two and a half years of renting and looking, we have moved. And now we are rediscovering our former life as we open box, after box, after box. Despite the detailed inventory list of the items contained in each numbered box, I can’t remember what many of the descriptions refer to anymore. Each box always contains a surprise.

I wish one surprise would be the keys to my desk. At this point, I have searched the contents of more than twenty boxes to no avail. If we had resettled within six months, I’m certain I could remember where I packed them, but at this point I have no clue. I’m working on the “They will emerge” theory.

One delight to rediscover was an unboxed item, the molding from the door frame where we measured our growing children’s heights. The bottom was chewed by an over-eager Welsh terrier, but the rest remains intact. I’m sure it will bring yawns from my children, but my grandchildren will love it!

Some boxes also contain Star Wars characters and Barbie dolls. We have moved them across the breath of this country, from Narragansett Bay to Puget Sound, to adults whose interests have moved elsewhere, but the grandchildren will be intrigued, I hope.

Boxes also contain some things that should never have been moved. At the end of the madness called packing, it is much easier to pack than to make decisions. Now, we are faced with the folly of some of those choices.

In spite if all the human nonsense we uncover, it is a delight to finally find a nest on another shore. It is still unfamiliar, but all our children are here. We attend such magical events as pre-school graduation and Saturday morning soccer games. We would never be able to schedule cross country flights to participate in those occasions. Having been there, we know it was right to reduce our lives to boxes.

Now, what is in box number 87???

Finding new friends can be a challenge if you are totally new to a community. It is one thing to wave goodbye to the movers, and quite another to find a new network of friends. The old friends don’t go away, but the relationship isn’t as immediate. Finding that zone of trust called friendship is never easy, but unfamiliar surroundings make it even harder.

Fundamentally, you have to be proactive. We are following a few basic guidelines to help with the transition, i.e.

1. Pursue your “how to spend your time” interest. If that activity has a social component, be alert to people that you meet that share your interest.
2. Look for local meetings, classes, or organizations that pertain to activities that do not have a social component, e.g. model boat building, and participate in them. You may be more advanced than the level of a particular event on the topic, but finding others who share your interest is a worthwhile objective.
3. Make the effort to be outgoing with neighbors or shopkeepers that you meet in the course of your day. They can be especially helpful with tips about happenings in the area.
4. Get out into the community and become active.
5. Volunteer for something, even if it only happens once a year.

Moving isn’t for whimps. Neither is getting old. But with a little determination, we can not only carry it off, but do it with style.

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We’re moving. We’re downsizing. We’re not going far, but just far enough that we may need to revise our Support Group, i.e. doctors, dentists, hair stylists, etc. Unfortunately, as seniors we tend to see our doctors and other professionals often enough to be on a first name basis. Sometimes, these professionals can identify good practitioners in your new area that they can comfortably recommend and offer a referral. That referral can be especially helpful with providers of excellence whose docket of Medicare patients is at or near completion.

Often, however, they simply may not know of anyone in the area you have chosen. In that instance, you are left to your own devices, and the challenge can be intimidating. You are left with very little helpful guidance, e.g. -

• Local professional organizations of the major affiliates, e.g. AMA or ADA, or
• An area publication that periodically selects the “Best” physicians, dentists, etc., or
• An Internet search.

If you find yourself in that situation, you might find the approach that we have used somewhat helpful. The steps to this approach follow.

1. Do your research, and find the “best” professional that practices in your area.
2. Search the faculties of the local medical or dental schools as a start.
3. Do not be deterred if you learn that these practitioners are not accepting any new Medicare or other patients.
4. Call and request an appointment within a 1-2 month time-frame.
5. When you are told that an appointment is “not possible”, request the name of an alternative provider that they would recommend.
6. Make an appointment with that professional. Typically, that provider will have comparable skills, but will not be as market savvy. As of this writing, the talent of market savvy has never been known to have any impact on the level of professional care.

The professionals we have found using this approach have been quite competent. However, it obviously doesn’t work for hair stylists. To find that person, you still have to observe the coifs of others in the shops and offices you visit and simply ask, “Who does your hair?”

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I have to move next week. Moving is a job no one can love. No one likes change, and changing your home can do personal, self-inflicted, violence to your sense of place. To add insult to injury, moving as a senior citizen brings with it a number of added burdens. Typically, you are -

• learning of a whole raft of tasks that must be completed by a firm deadline,
• forced to part with some treasures that are either too heavy or fragile to move sensibly,
• required to dispose of some items, e.g. plants and paints, that movers don’t handle,
• faced with the need to find a “new home” for furniture and accumulated “stuff” that simply will not fit into your new surroundings,
• picking out a responsible mover from a fairly large group of suppliers,
• packing cartons yourself, possibly with the assistance of friends, or paying the professional movers to do the job, and
• paying out of your own pocket.

Some suggestions I have learned from past moves -

1. Structure your housing deal to permit 60 days of time for preparations. The more planning you devote to the moving process the less stressful it will be.
2. Talk to friends and neighbors to learn the name of 3 - 5 movers in your area. Local movers operate differently than interstate movers, who have to abide by federal rules.
3. Develop a plan of where your furniture will be placed in your new home. The process will help you decide whether to keep certain pieces and also provide the movers with a guide once they arrive at your new home.
4. Select three movers and get quotes from each. If some offer a “not to exceed” price, it is worth serious consideration, especially if gas prices are escalating.
5. If you choose to do the packing, create a packing station in the dining room or garage to which things can be moved and collected before the actual packing process. You must have a high enough surface to spare the strain on your back.
6. Purchase your cartons, tape, magic markers, and packing materials from your mover or a U-Haul store. If you enjoy being creative, the cartons discarded by liquor stores are usually stronger than others, and their dividers can be used for glassware.
7. Take the time to learn about the packing process, e.g. use 2 - 3 sheets per plate. The external links below contain some resources for your review.
8. Review the quotes from the movers and select the one whose approach makes you the most comfortable.
9. It is very smart to write down what you place into each carton. A good carton inventory can help your sanity at the other end when you are looking for a special item one month later - especially if some cartons are going into storage.
10. Pace yourself carefully. Ideally, you should plan to complete a week early because you will need that time to address the surprises you encounter along the way.
11. The night before the move, pack the “last in, first out” cartons of basic kitchen supplies, tools, blankets etc.
12. Meet the movers the next morning and be prepared to answer a number of questions throughout the day.
13. Once the movers leave, pick up the final pieces, lock the door, and start traveling to your new home.
14. When you meet the movers at the new home, have your copy of the furniture plan in hand and guide its final placement to suit your taste.

One site with more helpful information on packing is How to Pack by Atlas.

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Yesterday, after a cross country move and two years of renting, we finally bought our West Coast house. I strongly suspect it will be the house I get carried out of, toes up, because I don’t think I have another move left in me. But the selection took awhile, both because of Northeast and Northwest differences and because we were “downsizing”. This is our third downsizing move.

There is absolutely no valid rule about how much space anyone needs. However, once you retire, it can often make sense to reduce the amount of “stuff” you have to care for and maintain. Although “downsizing” typically refers to moving into a smaller home, you can also downsize at the home you’ve been in for years. The key words are “simplifying” and “reducing”.

Let me present the approach we used for downsizing.

1. First, pretend you are moving across the county. (Our first move just went from CT to RI; the next was RI to WA) With that thought in mind, attack the basement, attic, closets and storage lockers. That “treasure” may have been useful once, but if it would not be worth moving it across the country, you probably don’t need it.

• Create a staging area space where you can collect such items. You can do this in phases. If you’re not actually moving, you don’t have to do it all at once.
• Offer these treasures first to the children or relatives. For items of value, you may want to use the silent auction approach with real or monopoly money.
• Consider eBay. Items of special interest may fetch a surprising amount. Get out your digital camera or use a service.
• Run a springtime garage/yard sale to remove more. If you can entice neighbors to join you on a specific weekend, it will draw more traffic.
• Call a local charity that might accept some items for donation. Some have pickup services and can handle heavy items.

2. Look at your living needs through “new eyes” and make an assessment of how much space you actually use. A home that housed a growing family might have a fair amount of excess space that you no longer need.

• If you decide to stay at your current home and it has two floors, try to think of a way to move the master bedroom into a room on the main floor. Removing the need to climb stairs from your daily routine can become more important over time.
• Evaluate if there are any barriers or obstacles that a carpenter could remove. It is smarter to make such changes sooner, while you have time to adapt, rather than later.

3. Talk to friends who have gone through the experience and discover what they have learned through the experience.
4. If you do decide to sell the homestead and move across town or across country, consider renting a smaller place for a year to find out how a smaller space feels to you.

We move in 17 days . . .from a rental and two storage lockers into our toes up house. Not much time for blogs, but I’ll try.

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Somehow, the people that praise the joys of home ownership forget what it’s like to have a new roof installed. But once the job is complete, the sense you feel of “shelter” is never so intense. Maintaining a home is like that, terrible to endure the process but delightful to enjoy the results.

Certainly, the adage “an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure” can be applied aptly to the challenge of maintaining a home. But the process does not have to be difficult if it is conducted with care. There are three facets that must be tailored to your home. They are -

• a regular schedule of monthly tasks
• seasonal inspections to uncover any unscheduled surprises
• a budget to anticipate necessary repairs, and
• a roster of trustworthy tradesmen to perform certain work.

The start of the New Year is a great time to budget repairs for the coming year as well as perform some routine tasks. Specifically -

Home Exterior:

1. Will this be the year for a new paint job or a roof?
2. What was the condition of the roof gutters when they were cleaned in the Fall?
3. Are there any landscaping changes needed? - trees, shrubs, gardens, lawn, or hedges?
4. Does any fencing need repair?
5. Are the decks and/or patios safe?
6. Will the driveway need resurfacing?
7. Is more insulation required? This is the time of year to check.

Home Interior:

1. Detectors - Time to change batteries in smoke and CO detectors?
2. Furnace - Time to change filters (depends upon filter type and furnace)?
3. Humidifier - Check to see that it is operating properly.
4. Interior paint - Time for a new coat on ceiling, walls, or trim?
5. Floors - Time to refinish?
6. Bathrooms and Kitchen - If it is time for an update, this can become a major expense.

Maintaining a home can seriously impact finances. Now that the new assessment of Net Worth is complete, a serious assessment of the homestead is imperative. The start of the New Year is a perfect time to make that evaluation. It definitely takes precedence over any travel plans, because you’ll want to feel good about coming home.

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