I went back down to Florida, packed Luci(my car)'s trunk as full as possible, and paid a vehicle mover (classy name for "towing company") to bring my car up. Then, about a week or two later, I took a flight with my parents and a bunch of suitcases with the last of my belongings.
The first thing I noticed upon entering my apartment for only the second time was the smell. It didn't smell bad or anything; just... like it was still someone else's apartment. Also, some of the windows were broken, and a part of one of the heaters had fallen down. I tried calling the landlord, but it was a weekend, so I was on my own until Monday morning at least. Little did I know that my landlords tend not to give a shit about any problems that tenants may have with their living situations. Every issue is taken with a roll of the eye, loud sigh, and no attempt to conceal their annoyance. It didn't help that my parents forced me to call the empty office several times during the week to complain about the littlest issue.
The weekend pretty much went downhill from there. Apparently, Lowell has no concept of "street signs", so every time we hopped in the car, we got lost. Very lost. At one point, trying to get to the Walmart that was not half a mile away from the apartment, we ended up in Salem, NH... via the back roads... Yeah. We did find a Walmart, though! Finding the apartment again was a different story. It was probably 10pm before we found the damn place again, and it was by pure luck. We'd been lost for something like 3 hours.
By Sunday, my fiance had come to join us to help me get settled in. While it wasn't very warm out, we decided it would be best not to try and open the windows, so the air was incredibly stale. My mom ended up breaking my desk. The futon was missing a few bolts (but to this day, it's working nicely!). The kitchen floor was already filthy. My car had not arrived; the company had "gotten lost", and I was sure that we had been scammed, and I'd never see my car or most of my stuff ever again. The phone company kept giving me shit, too; they gave me one reason after another as to why I couldn't have my landline hooked up yet. My future university lost my medical records.
When my parents left Monday morning, it was a wonder why I was still excited and optimistic.
Don't expect your move to go smoothly/as planned. Always have a Plan B... or Plan C.
Next Time: Getting Around
