(written Monday) It’s been awhile since my last post. When I was still in Kamloops I didn’t have much to write about and now that I’m in Sexsmith I’ve been far too busy.
I’m here. I made it and so did the cats. I went to the vet to get some travel drugs for the little beasties but they wouldn’t give me any. Something about lower body temp, decreased respirations, blah, blah, blah. They suggested not feeding the cats for 12 hours before the trip and then half an hour before the trip give them a few milligrams of gravol in their food. Yeah right, both cats took one bite of their food and then wouldn’t go near it again. Then they were distrustful of me. Picture me in falsetto, “Here kitty, kitty, come on Smudgy.” While the cat stays just out of reach throwing me dirty looks in between licking his ass to get the taste of that food out of his mouth. I finally got the cats in their respective carriers and into the car. About twenty minutes into the trip one of the cats had a nice fragrant crap, five minutes later the other figured that was a good thing to do. Thank God I put litter in the bottom of the carriers. During the trip the cats only yowled if I accelerated, braked or stopped. Seymour didn’t like rumble strips and rough roads. Smudge had trouble with corners and ear popping hills. So all in all it was pretty uneventful.
The house looks great; a few final touches needed here and there but show me a house that is one hundred percent done. The appliances arrived on Saturday I was a little concerned about the fridge fitting but it slid right in. Watching the poor guys trying to get it up the oak capped stairs with out damaging walls, stairs, fridge or backs was interesting. (Read that as a nail biting, leaving the room, I can’t watch moment.) A minor dent in one of the oak caps, and little scuff on the wall and the fridge was in the kitchen. One appliance in, six to go. The rest came into the house smoothly. Getting them into their respective assigned areas is proving to be a little more daunting. The fridge was the easiest. (Remember I’m writing this, Flip did 99.9% of the work, I read the user manuals, watched the level, and pushed when required.) Just hook up the water and it slid right into place. Piece of cake, I do have to admire the symmetry things. The easier it was for the movers to get an appliance into the house the harder it proved to be for Flip to install. The microwave/ range hood is a prime example, 50 lbs of hell. First he had to mark out with a paper template anchor points in the cupboard above and in the wall. Then he had to install special anchors plus drill a hole for the plug to go though, and after that he had to attach a special hanging bracket. For an added degree of difficulty all of Flip’s tools are still carefully packed away with our furniture. Thank goodness Drool still hade his work tool belt and a drill, but there were still quite a few tools that would have been handy. Jessie (our niece), her boyfriend Jeff, and Sheri showed up around this time. It was good thing they did. At one point Jeff and Flip are pushing the microwave onto the bracket, I’m pulling the electrical cord through the hole, and Drool was standing on the cupboard, trying to line up the drill holes with the metal bolt holes in the top of the microwave. Good times. Of course nothing lined up quite right so everything had to come down a few more minor adjustments back up, then it fit like a finger in a bum.
Drool has been a huge help to Flip helping with electrical and grunt labour. He couldn’t help out on Sunday though as it was his first day of work! He got into town 9:00 pm Wednesday evening, put a resume in to Costco on Thursday, went to two interviews on Friday and started work on Sunday. He works today, (Monday), Tuesday and Wednesday. Then has Thursday, Friday off. He gets his first paycheck Friday and they are paying for a full day’s work for Friday because of the interviews! $13.75 during probation, $17.75 on Sundays. I’m very happy for him and a little proud.
Sunday for Flip and I was a trip to town to pick up the 50 little things that are absolutely necessary to install a dishwasher, a stacking washer and dryer, but that don’t come with said appliances. We are spending money like a couple drunken sailors in a whorehouse. “Hey Flip, the bill only came to $250.00, what did you forget?” So between a three-hour trip to town and dinner at his mom’s the only appliance that was installed was the dishwasher. The water isn’t hooked up yet but it’s getting there. The washer and dryer are still currently occupying the dining room. That’s where they will stay; as the furniture is due to arrive today. They said it was leaving the warehouse at 9:00 am, but I’ve learned times up here are approximated to the day not the hour or minute.

Update from yesterday's post that I am now posting. The movers arrived at 8:30 a half hour early! Everything is in pretty good condition we are just having trouble finding some things. The boxes are labeled very poorly, packed very well, but labeled very poorly. Phil got the last of the appliances in so I'm doing laundry, yeah. Sounds like a small thing but huge after not having one for a few days. Must run I'm on borrowed internet and my computer battery is dieing.