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Nov 24, 2024 13:37:04 GMT -4
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Post by Deleted on Jun 18, 2021 18:11:52 GMT -4
When I got rid of my old couch in anticipation of the new one being delivered, I used College Hunks Hauling Junk. They charge by the amount of space the items take up in their vehicle, and they give you a free no-obligation estimate before hand. The crew that took my couch consisted of two college guys and one older guy who was their supervisor. They were in and out in about 15 minutes, which was pretty impressive because they had to carry it down three flights of stairs in my building because the elevator was too small. |
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Post by biondetta on Jun 19, 2021 9:37:59 GMT -4
We got lucky in that we sort of did a house swap. We bought our home from a guy who flips properties, essentially, and he bought our old place. Considering my husband is disabled and I was feeling pretty disabled halway through packing everything on my own and the number of stairs in our home and building complex were messing with my already messed up knees, there was a lot of stuff left behind, even though the movers took a lot. There was some miscommunication on the old mattresses. But anyway, there was an attic area full of old outdoor furniture and odds and ends and the buyer who was hiring a big dump container anyway, kindly dumped everything for us, without charging. There have been a lot of frustrations with buying this new place (no stairs!), but our agent and the seller/buyer have been nothing but kind and understanding and patient. We got super lucky. Now the notaries that you have to deal with in Italy on every single damn thing are another story. They charge exhorbitant prices and not a single one of the two we went to had any disability access nor did anyone offer to help. I was fuming as my back and knees are now messed up from this move. Fortunately, a few kind strangers helped the first time and our agent made sure to be there to help the next time. Still, most of the heavy lifting, literally, comes down to me, as the one most familiar with how to manage it. The agent was impressed with my strength, though.
I'm still unpacking; we were off on the measurements for my husband to get into the bedroom, so now the bed is pushed up against a wall and I have no side table and have to climb in from the foot of the bed (remembere, bad knees), and getting a working stove/oven took two weeks, and a washer another week and a half, but we have AC now, thank goodness. I'll be back with decorating questions, because we had a loft before and now we have individual rooms and a bit of a hodgepodge kitchen and a LOT of art.
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Post by famvir on Jun 19, 2021 11:05:01 GMT -4
We got lucky in that we sort of did a house swap. We bought our home from a guy who flips properties, essentially, and he bought our old place. Considering my husband is disabled and I was feeling pretty disabled halway through packing everything on my own and the number of stairs in our home and building complex were messing with my already messed up knees, there was a lot of stuff left behind, even though the movers took a lot. There was some miscommunication on the old mattresses. But anyway, there was an attic area full of old outdoor furniture and odds and ends and the buyer who was hiring a big dump container anyway, kindly dumped everything for us, without charging. There have been a lot of frustrations with buying this new place (no stairs!), but our agent and the seller/buyer have been nothing but kind and understanding and patient. We got super lucky. Now the notaries that you have to deal with in Italy on every single damn thing are another story. They charge exhorbitant prices and not a single one of the two we went to had any disability access nor did anyone offer to help. I was fuming as my back and knees are now messed up from this move. Fortunately, a few kind strangers helped the first time and our agent made sure to be there to help the next time. Still, most of the heavy lifting, literally, comes down to me, as the one most familiar with how to manage it. The agent was impressed with my strength, though. I'm still unpacking; we were off on the measurements for my husband to get into the bedroom, so now the bed is pushed up against a wall and I have no side table and have to climb in from the foot of the bed (remembere, bad knees), and getting a working stove/oven took two weeks, and a washer another week and a half, but we have AC now, thank goodness. I'll be back with decorating questions, because we had a loft before and now we have individual rooms and a bit of a hodgepodge kitchen and a LOT of art. Wow! Big changes and a lot of work, but congratulations on no stairs and more room! Once you are moved in and “t”’s crossed, there will be time for a long relax with a glass of wine. I’ve spent so many posts hearing about your old place, walks with your dog, Covid restrictions, stores, food, neighbors, it feels like I know your neighborhood as well as I do my own! |
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Post by biondetta on Jun 19, 2021 11:15:27 GMT -4
We're in Italy. There's always wine.  We still have a grocery store that's nearby, though it's more student/single-meaal focused, as we live in the university zone hardcore now. But the street art is better now! Our building is still from the 1960s, as we're still close-ish to the train station area that was bombed in WWII, but the buildings next to and across from us are older and have pretty colors and portici. We've been in the old city center the whole time, but now we're a bit closer in, despite only moving about two blocks up and two blocks over. It's faster and easier to get to the nice stuff. |
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Post by famvir on Jun 19, 2021 11:19:21 GMT -4
I can’t wait to hear more day in the life details as you settle in!
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Post by biondetta on Jun 19, 2021 11:28:08 GMT -4
Honestly, it's been lots of arguments with my husband because stroke brain doesn't really register the amount of pain and exhaustion I'm experiencing. But I'm making headway on the unpacking, and I love having doors and walls, though because of the dogs, we can't close some of the doors I'd like to close. We need someone to install doggy doors for us! On the plus side, once I finally get vaccinated (first/only?) shot is 25 June, there's a restaurant around the corner from us that does a decent margarita, which is rare in food-insular Italy. There's also a botanical garden basically around the other corner that I might finally remember to go to. I'm usually with a dog, and that's one of the few places dogs aren't allowed. Pharmacy? No problem. Even the smaller grocery store by us lets dogs in! It's handy first thing in the morning when I realize we need milk. We brought our old kitchen, because there was no existing kitchen, and had to replace the oven/stove because we had gas in the last place, but this is electric (boo), but there's no backsplash and I need more storage because of some stuff we couldn't move. I'm thinking of trying Magic Paint or some other washable paint, but just up to the bottom of the cabinets and doing another small line of another color to frame it off. It's difficult, because there's no clear boundaries with the cabinets and cooking vent. Everything is white and I want to add some color. It's a big room, so I was thinking of going bold and doing red, since a lot of our cooking utensils and stuff is red. |
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Post by carrier76 on Sept 17, 2021 9:31:45 GMT -4
Potentially dumb question. What repairperson does one call repair/replace light fixtures?
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Post by scarlet on Sept 17, 2021 10:02:25 GMT -4
Potentially dumb question. What repairperson does one call repair/replace light fixtures? Is there wiring involved? If so, I'd think an electrician. If it's just cosmetic, a handyman service should do the trick. |
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Post by Ginger on Sept 17, 2021 11:31:39 GMT -4
When I got rid of my old couch in anticipation of the new one being delivered, I used College Hunks Hauling Junk. They charge by the amount of space the items take up in their vehicle, and they give you a free no-obligation estimate before hand. The crew that took my couch consisted of two college guys and one older guy who was their supervisor. They were in and out in about 15 minutes, which was pretty impressive because they had to carry it down three flights of stairs in my building because the elevator was too small. This is an old message, but I recently used College Hunks for the first time recently, and they were so great! I had a bunch of junk to get rid of, including a 6-foot tall bookcase on the second floor that I couldn't get it downstairs myself. The College Hunks estimate price was totally reasonable and it was all moved easily by two nice young guys. It was a nice revelation that such a service exists. The only thing I'm a little skeptical about is that they said they work with a group of local charities (Habitat for Humanity, Goodwill, etc) and that they would donate anything those charities were willing to accept and then send me a donation receipt. I thought for sure that a large white bookcase in perfect condition would be of use to Habitat for Humanity, but I never got a donation receipt. I don't care that much - I was mainly just looking to get it out of my life. |
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Post by carrier76 on Sept 17, 2021 13:39:47 GMT -4
Potentially dumb question. What repairperson does one call repair/replace light fixtures? Is there wiring involved? If so, I'd think an electrician. If it's just cosmetic, a handyman service should do the trick. It’s wiring. The light in my son’s bedroom ceiling fan fixture randomly stopped working months ago, and this morning I changed a bulb in my bedroom fixture, flipped it back on - nothing. |
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We still have a grocery store that's nearby, though it's more student/single-meaal focused, as we live in the university zone hardcore now. But the street art is better now! Our building is still from the 1960s, as we're still close-ish to the train station area that was bombed in WWII, but the buildings next to and across from us are older and have pretty colors and portici. We've been in the old city center the whole time, but now we're a bit closer in, despite only moving about two blocks up and two blocks over. It's faster and easier to get to the nice stuff.
