Reflections on the move.

Last night Ben and I sort of reached the zombie stage of moving -- our bodies continued to move boxes and hang up clothes despite the fact that our minds were spending 80% of their processing capabilities trying to figure out just where the heck we actually were.

Sore arms and sore legs prove that we've actually made a dent in moving -- well, actually, we've made more than a dent since this morning we woke up in San Francisco.

Now, we're back in Petaluma picking up the last of our things and cleaning the rest of the house. And, as I sit on my G4 writing this entry, I wonder just when we'll have our DSL connection up and running in the apartment. Considering that they won't even let us make an appointment yet, I'm thinking that it will be a while.

Bad things about the move:

1. Our movers couldn't get our couch up the stairs to our apartment. We're couchless, basically. The movers are coming back this week with three more guys and they're going to try to hoist it up two and half stories.

2. We've gone from 2 1/2 baths to one quite small one. Perhaps this isn't so much a bad thing but more a wake up call that says "hey guys, you know what? Each of you don't need your own full bathroom."

3. We're a bit scared to venture out of the apartment. That will pass.

Good things about the move:

1. The kitchen is almost as big as our old kitchen and I'm almost finished unpacking that room.

2. It's quiet in the apartment. Since we're on Clement, I feared that the traffic would keep us up all night. I barely heard a car pass last night.

3. The creepiness of living in a new place has already worn off.

4. We feel like we're on vacation. This too, will pass. But, it's quite fun waking up and feeling like you've just began a new adventure.

Comments

[Paul]

How long will the boxes remain? And, how long will the walls go unadorned? These are the two important questions.

[vis10n]

Congratulations on the move, Mena.

Once you're settled in, and feel confident that you've seen most of the place (read: a guest won't find anything that you haven't already found), you should have a little potluck house warming.

I'll bring a main dish!

BTW, anything y'all are needing for the new place?

: )

[bri]

Hmm, Clement Street -- me too. Welcome to the hood! (though I don't know exactly which block you moved to) ... anyway, congrats on finding a new place...

[megan]

congrats!

[kismet]

Be very thankful that your apartment meets all the criteria you had wanted already! We moved into our apartment at the end of December, but it's still sporting some very hideous old-granny style wallpaperings that we need to change in nearly every room (aside from the living room, redone right before we arrived).

And, of course, enjoy it as long as the excitement lasts! :)

[Sheri]

Welcome to the 'hood! I'm on the other side of the park, on Irving.

[Sheri]

Oops forgot to mention... If you want to splurge on a yummy dinner go to Straits Cafe on Geary. Also, good sushi can be found at Kitaro on Geary.

[Ed]

Congrats on the move, but do not fear the wondrous world of San Francisco outside. Once you get used to the aggravated howls of humans claiming that the information inside their heads has been absorbed by gamma rays manufactured by Lockheed and the mad rush of graffiti-laden Muni buses jetting across streets, you'll find it to be a magical place of unique individuals, copious subcultures and a little bit of that old time elan from the streets. Welcome to the hood indeed. You two are part of us now!

[lucas]

Congratulations !!! :)

[Daniel Talsky]

It usually takes me about 3 weeks before a new place starts to feel like home, but at my current place it was a year before I really considered myself properly settled. That's when I finally made the trip to IKEA for storage solutions and finally really unpacked.

[Sheri]

Forgot to mention PPQ on Clement which is the best Vietnamese restaurant in the city IMO.

[resonance]

I truly wish you good luck getting DSL set up; I hear it can be a nightmarish process in SF, but I'm sure you've accumulated enough in the good internet karma account to make your bandwidth withdrawal a short and relatively painless period.

Hell, it's SF. You and Ben wrote Movable Type. Dangle a 10 Base T cable out the window; someone's bound to plug it in for you!

[Dinah]

Yay! We live in the same city. I'm over in Hayes Valley.

I'm looking forward to getting together sometime and do let me know if you need a hand with anything.

Important Note About Living In SF:
San Francisco is two cities. One, seen from the car is frustrating, hectic, nervewracking. The other, once you ditch the car and start walking around, is generally relaxed, friendly, accessible, enjoyable.

Oh, and visit http://www.mistersf.com for all kind of good tips. Hank's got it goin' on.

[Julie]

Thank your lucky stars! You guys are both young and clever, plus you get to move into the greatest city on earth just when everyone's moving out. No fair! It's pretty envious from where I'm sitting. Congratulations!

[Todd]

For what it's worth, I feel your pain. When my wife and I moved to Atlanta, we had no furniture, no hot water, and (gasp!) no broadband connection. We sat on large piles of blankets and pillows (like we were in Turkey or something), ate too much pizza, and surfed using a 56k dial-up through NetZero. Boy...those were the days. :)

[Lee]

Hate to break it to you, but you will miss not having another 1/2 bath at the very least. One of the first things you'll notice is that he's only in there when you need to use it.

[liz]

I moved on Fri/Sat this past weekend. It was absolutely horrible and un organized. My roomate was moving out too and she had tons of stuff and I didn't get done moving my stuff until 2:30am Saturday morning. I had to go back and grab my IKEA shelf and put it in the trunk half hanging out because it's too big. I got most of my stuff away on Saturday during the afternoon and night, Sunday I barely did a thing, I was too exhausted. I still have tons more to do...Baby steps.../groan

Congrats on the move...Funny, I didn't have any creepy feelings when I moved in...Oh wait! The ants. Yes. They are always a nice tough. /shudder

[Benedict]

I feel for you about the couch. We contemplated sawing the legs off our sofa, but settled for knocking out a window.

[dawn]

I am so glad you finally found a place, Mena... I read earlier posts about your apartment-hunting woes! Great to be settled in, huh! Speaking of boxes (re: Paul's post) - I still have yet to unpack some boxes from our move FIVE years ago... I grew very bored of the unpacking process!!! But I find some great treasures now and then, when I go digging in the basement, that I'd totally forgotten about !! :-)

[caroline]

Much, much luck, health and happiness in your new abode!

[matt]

whats half a bath?

[Don]

You might want to check out http://www.dslreports.com or http://www.getconnected.com. They both have resources to find broadband in your area.

[kirkaracha]

Ernesto's (at 24th and Clement) is a great family-style Italian restaurant, Gordo Taqueria (at 23rd and Clement) is good for burritos, and India Clay Oven (at 25th and Clement) has good Indian food.

The Pig and Whistle (Geary and Wood, on the right just before Masonic if you're headed downtown) is a great English-style pub, Ireland's 32 (3rd and Geary) is a nice Irish pub with pool and darts upstairs, and the Plough and the Stars (2nd and Clement) is a bare-bones Irish pub with live acoustic music most nights.

Green Apple Books (at 7th and Clement) is one of the best bookstores in the city.