One Month

Remember the scene in the first (fourth) Star Wars? Where they are in the trash compactor? And the walls are crushing in? And there is some sort of monster tugging on legs? We seem to be living its natural analogy. Time is crushing in on us, NY is extremely hot and uncomfortable, we are surrounded by (our own) junk and our landlords are tugging at our feet from below the surface of the water. The only thing we're missing is a Wookie folks, as we have one month to get rid of the rest of our stuff, gear up, move out and head off into another life. It doesn't look like R2 will be pulling any last minute 'dius ex machina' stuff to stop time and allow us to slip out unnoticed. It might seem like I'm not so much excited as terrified of a horrible crushing death but I'd argue the two are the same.

Time is Crushing In

Earthtones Baby!

When I first started this blog it seemed incredibly early to be talking about getting ready for the trip. Now I feel I must play catch up on all our preparations. We've gotten most of our visas, Magda has had to get one more than me so far but otherwise that has been going smoothly. I told you about Kenya and India, we got our Australian visas online (!!) and we will be collecting Viet-Nam and China in the coming weeks. As far as packing up our lives, we've acquired an excellently priced storage unit in the Bronx (I should make the Bronx our latest excursion pin, to break up the Brooklyn monotony) which is really not so far away and half the price of any other place we found online. Kudos to Magda of course who can find the cheapest anything, anywhere. Even in NYC. The unit is $65 a month for a year and a month. It seems to be dry and peaceful, but you never know what happens in the Bronx after dark.

We are Surrounded by our Own Junk

We have been selling some of the bigger ticket items in our place to friends so far, our guest couch is gone as is the kitchen island and our dining table and file cabinet will follow them out tomorrow. We sold most of our books which was hard, but got a good price at 'The Strand' on Broadway. Our used clothes were roundly rejected by the Williamsburg Hipster HQ, 'Beacon's Closet'. I think they bought my old pair of cowboy boots and maybe a skirt of Magda's but then shoved the rest of the heap back into our arms. It was NOT worth the trip up there. Our wardrobe is simply not ironic enough. I'm thinking it's their mistake though, most of my stuff is so uncool that it is almost cool again. Earthtones baby!

Our Landlords Are Tugging at Our Feet From Below the Surface of the Water

Just as I started to get really nervous about the trip, the Landlord struck back. I called them to ask if they'd like me to help them find a new tenant for our apartment which I thought would be nice, an easy thing for them and us, and hoping they might pay us a broker's fee like they did the last guys that lived here. One sentence into the phone call and he told us he was raising the rent for the last two months of our time here. By 7%. With NY prices, 7% hurts. we quarelled a bit, I told him the purpose of my call and he seemed to reverse course. All seemed well. No hard feelings. Only, when the invoice came it was for our 'last month's' rent (which we'd already paid when renting the place) +7%, July's rent, which I'd already paid (in July) +7% and a late fee for July's rent of 7%. They claimed they never received my check which I'd mailed on time. This all was a little astonishing so of course I called back to complain. The week and a half it took them to deign to return my calls was a long one, filled with fretting and nail biting, thinking that they had decided to screw us over and that they were potentially going to take our damage deposit if we refused any of their outlandish fees. But they finally answered my calls and we figured it out, mostly. They still insist on the rent increase but have waived the late fee (they found my check) and it seems like we might get our deposit back without trouble. We'll see. I can't tell you how much nervous strain this has added to our already nerve-wracked month. I think it literally has given me my third grey hair in my beard, reason #202 for shaving it off.

So there we are. The departure date has appeared on the horizon and there remain obstacles in our path, but for the most part they are starting to seem manageable. Magda was terrified that the backpack she bought from the REI outlet store online was insufficient (Women's REI Grand Tour) but we packed much of the gear we've acquired so far today and it seems like it will be just fine. I haven't tried packing up yet since we haven't finished buying gear, but my pack is enormous in comparison and I'm sure we'll fill it with the heaviest and most useless object possible. So, a long angst ridden entry for you all to mull over, but hopefully things will pick up in tone as the date continues to close in.