When you need help, we always come

Let’s see, we left off with our new TV hung on the wall waiting for the cable guy to hook it up. A lovely, personable young man came out, installed the new cable box, did the magic with the TV and our computers so they all worked with the new service, and left. The next morning the remote gave me the side-eye and refused to even turn the nice new TV on. 

After a long chat with the cable company they said we needed a new remote. They said, “You come to our nice office and we’ll give you one.” I said to them, “I am old and tired and am paying an unholy price for this service and you brought me defective merchandise. When are you going to bring me a working remote?” They asked, “Will Tuesday work?” And it did. They sent a service man, and all was well on the home front. 

At least it would have been if I could be content with the new beds and mattresses still in their boxes, and boxes and boxes of books, painting and doodallallys everywhere. And I just *couldn’t* be. I’m just wired that way. Never content with nothin’.  

I’d been trying to hire someone for almost a month to help unpack and move the beds, get rid of the furniture we needed cleared out, etc, but had no luck. Our friend Mohammed left for Ethiopia the day the painters Karim and Sayid (who are his friends) started painting our place. He was due back on the 7th but we didn’t expect to see him for several days. That’s a long trip. However on the 8th there was a tap-tap on the door and in comes Mohammed, glowing and burnished as a chestnut at Christmas. 

“Oh I have *missed* you guys!* he said, and the feeling was mutual. 

He looked around and said, “Still everything in boxes?” and I explained our plight. “I’ll find someone to help you, by *Tuesday*.” He said. 

On Saturday morning he called and asked, “Can they come now? Karim and Sayid are at my house and they will come now and help you. They will do whatever you want.” 

Karim and Sayid are Lebanese. Karim has the most intense blue eyes I have ever seen. He’s been in Canada 12 years and is very proud to have his Canadian citizenship. Sayid is a recent arrival, and is not yet comfortable speaking English but he is very funny. Both are small and quick and energetic. 

They got to work immediately and within about two and a half hours had the furniture we were getting rid of gone, the double bed from our room taken apart, moved and reassembled in the new ‘guest room’, the new twin adjustable beds out of their boxes, assembled and set up, and other pieces of furniture moved around to accommodate  the new arrangements. Karim also replaced a blown out light bulb we can’t reach.  

They also took away the huge amount of cardboard and plastic packing material all of this new furniture required, including the TV box and packing. And they swept the floors after. Good gracious. 

Karim said, “You should have called us when you need help. We said to you, when you need help, we always come.” 

Who knew they meant it? 

Now I am emptying boxes of books and DVDs one by one. (It might go faster if I quit stopping to re-read the books) Mohammed is taking the boxes away for me. The wretched little cat has ripped gaping six-inch holes in the boxes, sharpening his scimitars of death. I fear for the health of the new sofa once the boxes are gone.

But the new adjustable beds. They Are Heavenly. Seriously. Get yourself one. I may write an entire post singing the praises of my adjustable bed. But for now that’s it. We’re on our way to a redecorated condo. Hurrah for us and all those who have helped us on our way.     

Hoarding; the hobby that will drive you insane

I’m waiting for a TV crew from “Neat” or “Hoarders” to show up at the door, because six weeks in we’re still navigating around a maze of boxes. Boxes of books, paintings, beds, mattresses, new linens, towels, and ironically empty storage boxes which are destined to go under the new beds, once they are out of *their* boxes and set up. 

Smokey, self-sacrificing chair tester 

This is not to say we haven’t made progress. We have new living room furniture in place, sofa, two new chairs and a new storage unit - all beautiful. The living room looks pretty great. The chairs have the feline seal of approval. I admit they are mighty comfy. (Covered to protect from gobs of cat hair) 

Ian went shopping with me to buy the sofa, and he put the chairs and the heavy and somewhat tricky-to-assemble storage unit together. And he went with me to buy the new TV and wall mount. (Damb, those things are expensive!) He hung the TV on the wall a couple of days ago. The cable installer comes tomorrow. Our old TV turned up toes and died this past week. Actually the TV works perfectly well, it’s the remote that died, and the TV has no controls on the unit, no off/on switches, no volume controls. (What’s the extra cost of adding that people? A nickel?) We’ve been turning the TV off and on with the power bar for months, but this last week the volume control went, and Ian didn’t know we were turning the TV off with the bar, and unplugged the cable, and now we can’t get it to turn on again.   

In the end Zak and Nicole postponed their trip until October, which is probably just as well, as they’d have spent their time moving furniture rather than relaxing and visiting. Meanwhile I’m trying to find two people here in the building to hire to help me migrate the big bed into what will be the guest room, set up the two new beds in our bedroom, move the other furniture which needs to be moved, put up curtain rods and hang curtains, hang paintings, put books in the bookshelves, wash the big patio window doors - something my floppy shoulder girdle muscles won’t allow me to do - and in general restore this place to sanity before I need professional help.