Oh joy unbound, the shipment arrived yesterday afternoon! They were actually about twenty minutes early and I really didn’t think it was them since the truck they pulled up in was a large panel truck, not a moving truck like the one that packed us out. Seems they opened the big wooden crate and moved it all from the big truck to the panel truck. I was a bit concerned since two moves doubles the chances for damage, but all was well and nothing was chipped, cracked, broken, or missing.
These guys were real pros, and while I realize that we must have had the smallest shipment of anyone coming this year, they still had everything into the apartment, unboxed, packing materials removed and electronics assembled in under ninety minutes. Cindy and I were working furiously with them to make sure everything was where it should be and trying hard to keep up with the three of them unpacking. The only real problem is that they on longer use upright hanging boxes for clothes on hangers. Instead they just lay the clothes on top of each other and that results in lots and lots of wrinkling. We’ll hang them up and see if things fall out. When the guys left I gave the boss man a generous tip, something that I don’t think he was expecting, but took with great delight. I saw him dividing it up with the other two guys outside and they both looked up and smiled. Believe me, they deserved it.
We have lots and lots of cooking stuff. I can’t for the life of me remember why I thought we needed to have three sets of spatulas, cooking spoons, pasta tines, slotted spoons and other assorted stirring stuff. And yet with all of that, I don’t have any long handled tongs, which is something I dearly love to use in the kitchen, so I’ll find one on the economy. We have mixing bowls, lots of Tupperware, baking pans, two glass pie plates and plenty of pots and pans to keep me happy for the next several years. I spent lots of time in the kitchen washing wine glasses, pots and pans and all the other storage stuff, while Cindy sorted out the clothes and bathroom stuff. By seven-thirty we were exhausted; we knew we couldn’t get it all done that night but we did try. We stopped for the night and had a cocktail to recharge our batteries and then, instead of going out, we had a nice meal of cold chicken and salads and headed to bed rather early.
This morning I got Cindy off to school and started really hitting the house hard. Got three loads of laundry done, turned the mattress and made the bed with the new sheets and mattress pad that was in the shipment. We now have a real comforter and our great pillows from WV, so we expect to sleep very, very well. I was able to get the kitchen almost in order and then turned my attention to hooking up the 21” iMac and wireless printer. That took a bit longer than I had thought since I don’t have an Apple Airport here and using something designed for PCs takes a toll on my brain. Finally got everything up and running and now it is just a question of slowly putting stuff where it belongs. I’m hoping to tackle the TV/DVD/Cable Box later tonight but need to give that some thought.
Our cleaning lady came at noon so I took off to the embassy to do some shopping, sign up for TV cable access and get a haircut. The shopping took about forty-five minutes and I got a lot of stuff that you just can’t get on the economy. Granted, I probably didn’t need it all, but heck it was there and if you purchase more than US$100 they deliver it free to the apartment, which sure beats having to lug it all home on my back. I made sure I got lots of heavy stuff, tins of tuna, chopped clams, bottles of pickles, good honey in a squeeze bottle and a bottle of real maple syrup. I can just picture having a steaming bowl of oatmeal the morning of the first snow and being able to pour maple syrup over it. I also got some Joy dish detergent, since the stuff we purchased here really doesn’t do the job with glasses. I then got some frozen fish and meats and some skimmed milk, which they keep frozen or cold as appropriate for you until they deliver it tomorrow. Such a deal!
Getting the cable box was a breeze since the apartment is already wired; all they had to do was give me the box, the decoder chip (I was hoping for a decoder ring) and a few cables and remote. Now I just have to figure out how to hook it all together. Getting a haircut in the embassy was fun. It is a shop run by Russians with very little English but boy can they cut hair. It was like being in Italy, they take their time and cut very little, very often. The last cut I had was in Charles Town and I was in and out in ten minutes, and it showed. This was a thirty-five minute cut, not including the shampoo, and she offered to shampoo it again after the cut but since I was coming right home to shower, I declined.
So, the minute the cleaning lady leaves, with the floors shinning, in come the ‘green guys’ to drill holes in the wall to hang mirrors, hooks, towel bars, all through plaster, which left a lovely white dust everywhere. Guess who will be able to try out his brand new Swiffer, which arrived in the shipment?
Walking home from the embassy I saw a classic traffic jam. For about a quarter of a mile the cars that were going the same way I was were just stopped, with horns blaring. As I got to the major intersection I could see one of the electric trams blocking the intersection due to the fact that there were two cars illegally parked at the curb and he couldn’t get around them. It would appear that these trams have no reverse because the tram driver was kicking the tires of both cars to make the alarms go off in an attempt to get the drivers to come and move them. I watched for a while - it was vastly entertaining - but the noise of the horns was taxing my eardrums.
From CC: Every year, the first day of AAS includes an assembly where they recognize all of the countries (63 this year) that are represented by students attending the school. The oldest student from each country is selected to carry the flag and it’s similar to the opening ceremonies of the Olympic Games as they march around the periphery of the gym. There were sometimes very loud cheers as various countries were called, the U.S. and the United Kingdom getting the loudest cheers (no surprise there). As it happens the girl carrying the U.S. flag was an Asian – I got a kick out of that. After the flag ceremony there was a short performance by some Russian dancers, we all sang the school song, and the high school music teacher sang a very jazzy and cute song about the first day of school. At the end they explained the bread and salt ceremony and then served the bread and salt to all the newcomers as they left; there were at least 15 women who were posted at the exits dressed in traditional costumes and holding the baskets. I can’t wait until next year when I will know to get there early enough to get a better seat; this year I was on my tiptoes at the edge of the room!
That’s it for today, best wishes to all, Cindy and Wm
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