Thursday, January 14, 2010

Unpacking Update

Sorry for the delay in posting. I'm really busy at work and evenings have been taken up with moving boxes around and tending to the dogs. Since I get up at 4am during the week, I go to bed by 9pm most nights (I read in bed and almost always whack myself briefly awake with my book around 10pm, just awake enough to turn off the light). I really only have luxury of time on the weekends.

Yes, indeed, in reply to comments from the previous post, we have been drowning in packing paper and boxes. I gave up on photos. It's just been chaos. 800 square feet now contains what I formerly spread out over 2700 square feet (more or less--I didn't ship any furniture over here). When I started unpacking, I piled and repiled boxes so I could find a few key items (like closed shoes--I only brought sandals and my feet have been freezing!). I was able to move into the second phase last night and today and started opening every single box based on which one was closest to me.

The necessary shuffle of Aramco furniture out and my stuff in was a bit of a pain but it is now done. I can't tell you what a luxury it is for me and the dogs to stretch out on a queen-sized bed again. I know they are much happier with the extra space.

My brand new fridge fit into its allotted space--that is, the height and width were okay. Depth, not so much. Couldn't open the door to the closet housing the dollhouse-sized washer and dryer. Instead, the new fridge has to be tucked into a corner of the living room. Since the dollhouse cabinetry will only hold food or dishes but not both, I'll have some shelves built in the former fridge space to make an open pantry. The dishes remain in boxes because there is no place to put them. I did pull out my good pots and pans and left the Aramco offerings outside in a bag for the gardeners and other workers to fight over.

Speaking of washer and dryer, my lovely LG front loaders remain swathed in packing material, stored in a corner of my office room until I can move into a bigger place. I stacked all of my suitcases on top of them. Not the most fabulous decorating theme but it will have to do for now.

I am going to see if I can get a gas cylinder for the grill tomorrow night. I'll take a shopping bus in to Khobar and try the Dhahran Mall. I haven't been to that one yet so I don't know if the right store is in it but it's worth a trip down to find out. I've got two pork chops that I bought in Bahrain that I plan to grill for the first meal.

I haven't unpacked any of my pictures yet. I assume most of them made it here in good condition. I've only found two items broken so far, neither of which were valuable in the least.

I thought that I did a pretty thorough job on the ship/store/sell/give away/throw away process but I have unpacked a few items that I now know that I have no use for whatsoever. I've been putting those things out for the workers too.

Now I can say that I'm in the third phase of unpacking. I've still got a lot of clothing to deal with, and of course all of those pictures to unwrap and hang. And I have to get all of my technical books to work and into my office. Still, those are details--I've worked out all of the big issues like how to fit all of my stuff into this small space.

4 comments:

Rover Mom said...

Excellent - are the dogs discombobulated?

Is there any word on your DSL so you can have internet (and specifically the ability to make and receive calls?)

-D

seniormoments said...

Sounds like the usual chaos of unpacking household goods, but all of it's worth the mess to have your own things again. Enjoy the porkchops!


VAMom

lilspotteddog said...

The dogs are HATING the commotion. They maybe think we are moving again.

No porkchops this weekend. It may take me longer to find propane than I originally thought.

No word on DSL. Argh. I'll be calling them next week.

BC Insanity said...

Yeah, it does sound like you're drowning in boxes and papers.
Line all the stuff against all the walls and leave it be.... he he he