Tammy and I took a day off from school and the weekend to help him move. He's been living in a furnished apartment in Grand Junction, and had little more than his clothes and computer to take with him, so that meant that when we arrived at his unfurnished apartment, he had to buy the basics to live on his own.
"The basics" are a surprisingly large list! He had plates, but no silverware. He needed a toaster, microwave, vacuum cleaner, waste basket, hand soap, plunger, toilet brush and a large number of other items. On the furniture side, he bought a computer desk and chair, kitchen table and chairs, dresser and a bed. We spent Saturday during the day shopping, and Saturday evening assembling. Assembling is time consuming!
Oh, the brilliant purchase we made, though, was a GPS for his car. Where he's living in Kansas City is a rat's nest of multi-lane highways. We wouldn't have gotten anywhere with nearly the efficiency if we didn't have the GPS directing us turn by turn. Kansas City reminded me of Aurora, CO. Lots of roads and strip malls. No mountains.
We're very proud of him and happy he's found a good job in his field, but it was a bit melancholy to watch him drive away from the airport after he dropped us off
The picture is of Dylan and Tammy working on the dresser. It's just a box with three drawers, for crying out loud! But surprisingly complicated.
Comments
I'm always astounded at what needs to be purchased when moving, even if one has long lived independently and owns lots of stuff already. When I bought my house last year, I was like, "Okay, you're now house-poor for a few months, so move EVERYTHING."
But then I ended up making choices to leave certain things. I probably should have taken the shower caddy thing, but I didn't, and a new one was much more expensive than I recall them being. I didn't take the bathroom shelves (which I had attached to the wall), so now I need new ones, and the only reason I haven't spent that money is that I haven't found ones I like yet.
The only reason I kept my old, junky bookcases is budget; they're on the list to get replaced in a year or two if at all possible. My new place has two bathrooms, which meant a second little trash can and toilet brush. The washer doesn't have an automatic fabric softener dispenser, so I needed a Downy Ball.
Then there are the stupid things you have to choose to either move or replace. Do you bring the 3/4-empty detergent bottle? The half-empty box of kosher salt? These are relatively inexpensive to replace and kind of annoying to pack.
And if you own enough stuff, you don't necessarily get it all unpacked quickly enough. Somewhere in my boxes are my telephones, but they weren't coming to the surface fast enough (still haven't found them) so I had to buy new telephones. Sooner or later I need to unearth my clothes hangers, because I refuse to buy more of those.
Yeah, I've always budgeted at least $500 for "post-moving expenses." It never ends.
Second, I live in Omaha and for my job (out of Lincoln), I had to drive to and through K.C. a bazillion times - many on my own. And I never had ANY trouble finding my way around, for some reason. So I'm betting that once he gets settled in, he'll find it easier to get around than you're thinking. (I don't even have a sense of direction so if I can do it, he can!)
3rd: Thrift stores!!!!
Edited at 2013-01-15 04:58 pm (UTC)