We are down to 2 pots, 2 frying pans, 2 casseroles, 1 collander, boring, sparse, getting ready to live on a boat. I must put everything away: begging Andy not to get a step-on waste-basket; buying a paper towel dispenser for folded towels, so they won't show; unable to find the perfect system to house the sterling in 1 drawer and another system to corral all the other junk in the only other drawer - a peeler, knives (steak, carving, paring), spoons, ladles, corkscrew, wine stoppers, can't think of the name of the utensil that is used to flip pancakes, whisk, can opener. You get the idea, crazy and only doable by me. But my mind is been 2 worn out to manage any of the above.
Not to mention the bedroom filled still with unpacked bags of who the hell knows what, not being able to lift the bed he up to get a better sense of the space. Or to measure and design the system for the gear-end support. The storage wall, still naked with no way to create and install the curtain wall.
I won't mention the rest of the place.
The worst of all was no Cable or Internet from Comcast. I told them we would do a self install, saving the 80 bucks fee for them to come out and do it. I figured Anna could do it on Thanksgiving morning, no problem. But plans changed for Thanksgiving. Blake decided that Thanksgiving without football was not a bearable risk. There was no guarantee we could actually hook it up for the afternoon games. Plus we had bad luck play a dirty trick on Katie's family, allowing us to have Katie and George for the holiday. So Blake asked Allison if it was okay if we switched to Thanksgiving to Cohasset. It really was the perfect decision and a perfect day. Except that the Corbetts have Verizon, who was having a dispute with Fox which was airing the only football that day. So football was limited to one game early in the afternoon. We did live.
And we didn't get cable on Thanksgiving day. Andy and I are complete technophobes. I did manage to connect the modem to a cable line, but that was it. I never was able to activate it and TV didn't have a chance. So I booked the Comcast installation guy for the Friday a week after Thanksgiving. Brian came and pronounced the lines into the apartment dead. He did talk to the maintenance guy here who said something about a tuner, claiming Brian was a subcontractor, not a Comcast employee. The building owner would have to install new cable lines. Stanley, the next Comcast guy game the next Wednesday at 6 o'clock. He found a second line and found that it was not connected to anything and that Comcast would have to install a new cable. The maintenance guy and the manager of the complex said they'd like to help, but how. Stanely scheduled the next cable guy for Friday at 6 PM. The manager suggested, why don't you book it when we're actually here so that the cable guy and the maintenance guy can talk. So I talk to some manager at Comcast, played the cancer card, that compounded with my very weak laryngitis voice and begged for an earlier appointment. Chris, extension 58300, which of course did not work, did manage to get me an appointment for the next morning between eight and noon Thursday, business hours at the baker chocolate factory. I let the manager know at about 9:30 that morning that he was coming. She said we're closing early today at 11:30. I said why the fuck didn't you tell me that before I booked Comcast? No I only thought that and called Comcast and begged again. I am undergoing chemotherapy and have a horrible cold. All I want is to slump around and watch some TV. PLEASE? Mitch, claimed to be the best Comcast installer ever and arrived at about quarter of 11. He and John, the maintenance guy, pronounced that neither the living room nor the bedroom cable outlets was alive. In a last ditch effort, testing in the lobby closet and finding a live line into our apartment, Stanley found another cable outlet, hidden behind the dining table in the wall topped by the railing enclosing the living area. Miraculous!!! Who gives a shit that he had to lay cable 30 feet up the stairs and around the perimeter of the living room to reach the TV. He set up everything.
An interesting sidenote. All three of these Comcast installers were young, black men, charming friendly and really quite sympathetic, all. Andy mentioned it first, do these three young black man have unusual name's for their cohort? I had also noticed and agreed. Chris's extension was bogus. Comcast promises 100% customer satisfaction. Are they afraid of giving their employees real identities?
A special thanks to our friend Ginger. At lunch with 4 friends on Wednesday I laid bare my frustrations. Ginger suggested that I hire John to come execute some jobs for me every week. She shook me into being able to face my slump directly in the eye. I called our sons and asked for help and Becky gave me a call. I really should've just asked her directly to help, but she offered anyway after hearing my woes. She is bringing an electric drill with battery (can't find my charger) and a ladder and spending Sunday night, so we can complete many jobs. George is coming in the morning and he can measure for me and help me buy several drapery systems for Becky to install. He can hold up pictures so Andy and I can curate our art collection, determine what stays and what goes.
Thus my headline, something about landing on the moon after solving some problems.
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