Movin’, Movin’, Movin'. . . Rawhide

February 5, 2006

- “Susie, what did you do on your vacation?”
- “I moved.”
-“What about last year?”
-“I moved.”
- “And the year before that?”
- “I moved.”
- “Well, then what’d you do last weekend?”
- “I moved from Manhattan.”
- “What about this past week. You do anything different?”
- “Nope, I moved from Columbia to Laurel.”
- “Aren't you done moving?”
- “Nope. I’m moving to Ellicott City at the end of this month.”

Today my brother Pete turns 44. Next month my sister will be 43. And I’ll be 42 the following month. By then I will have moved 42 times. What happened to that number being just 41, you ask? Elephants. That’s what happened. I had elephants living above me in my temporary apartment in Columbia, and I’m pretty sure they were bowling. Yes bowling. In the living room.

The newly built apartments look nice from the outside and are pretty nice on the inside, but I'd swear they were constructed of cardboard and Saran wrap - unlike my Manhattan apartment that was walled in solid cement.

The pounding and stomping from my upstairs neighbors (dogs and kids included) got so bad that the corporate housing folks had to call the apartment management office. My first complaint was passed on to them last Monday. The second complaint went in on Tuesday. When that didn’t work, I called the apartment people directly last Wednesday night, after hours. In turn, they called a state patrolman who lives on site and acts as community watch.

The young, strong, good-looking officer with his military haircut came to my door that evening. He wasn’t surprised about my complaint; he said he’d been up to that apartment responding to complaints on several occasions. He said they have a history of slamming doors and running up and down the stairs a lot (bam! bam! bam!). I agreed wholeheartedly. So he went up and knocked loudly (like cops do) on their door.

From inside my apartment, I heard the upstairs neighbor run to his front door and stop to look out the peep hole. He saw the cop and didn’t answer the door. The officer tried knocking again, saying, “Maryland State Police. Please open the door.” Still the tenant refused to answer. (Guilty much?) The nice officer stood there knocking for several minutes to no avail. He came back down and told me that they were standing right behind the door but wouldn’t answer. I’d heard the whole thing and told them I knew they were there too. He indicated that they’d be getting a nasty letter from the landlord.

It was quiet the rest of the evening, but with people like that who don't care about their neighbors, chances are they aren't going to change. So I decided to cancel my short-term lease and move out. So much for settling in. I went home-hunting again the next day and found another corporate apartment in Laurel. This one is on the top floor of a 3-story apartment building and is more expensive, but I took it for the peace and quiet.

I spent Friday moving to Russet. It took two car trips and a zillion trips up and down stairs, huffing and puffing. Four hours later I was done moving, and Martin was scoping out the new place. It only took him a matter of minutes to get adjusted this time. He even slept with me the first night. This moving stuff is old hat for him now.

So tonight is an exciting, long-awaited event: Seattle Seahawks in the Super Bowl. Yay, go Hawks! And tomorrow is the big day. I start my new ‘beltway bandit’ job as Security Systems Engineer for a large scientific research and development company in Columbia. I can’t wait to start working again. Not that moving isn’t work – but I’m ready for some brain work. Oh yeah, and a paycheck wouldn't hurt.

As it turns out, the house I was going to buy in downtown Laurel fell through at inspection last month. I decided that, after failing at purchasing a home after at five costly house-hunting trips, I would just rent for a while - as much as I dreaded moving twice...something I wanted desperately to avoid. I found a nice 2-bedroom, top-floor loft apartment to rent at the Elms at Mont Joy in Ellicott City and was all lined up for it. I’d done everything but sign the lease, which they were going to mail to me in New York.

On my way out of the Elms complex, I had to pull over to write down a phone number. If someone had been behind me in their car, I wouldn't have pulled off the road into a parking lot. As it happens, the parking lot that I was forced to stop at was adjacent to a model town home. I had the car in reverse, ready to leave, when I noticed the model. I decided “What the heck,” and got out to look. I figured I had time to kill, and I'd look just for fun.

The model was beautiful. Just astonishing. I fell in love with the gorgeous kitchen with its Zodiaq counters, and the huge master bedroom, thinking “No way I can afford this.” I talked to the agent. Yup, the place was around $550,000. Too rich for me. However, she told me that they were running a special on their less expensive Freedom models - $40,000 off. She pointed me to that model, and I drove over to take a look. I’d seen it earlier and been tempted to stop, but I drove on past it with the thought, “Nope, I’m going to just rent – no more house-hunting!”

To make a long story short, within a week I’d decided to buy a brand new town house on Mont Joy Place in the new Mont Joy subdivision. This was my serendipity, so I knew it was the right thing to do. I’d totally given up on buying when the right place just fell in my lap. As it turned out, I bought the last one available. So I knew in my heart it was meant to be.

It’s still being built and should be ready for closing the last week of February. This will be the first brand new place I’ve ever owned! (Thank goodness I got in soon enough to change the color of the kitchen counters!)

So my future home is in Ellicott City, Maryland, voted one of the 25 best places to live by Money magazine. I can’t wait to move. Um….again. Gad. I’m going for the Guinness Record for most moves in a lifetime. . . .

Oooooh - Seattle just won the toss. It's kick-off time. See ya!!!