On the move

I'm sitting in front of the apartment, on the laptop using Google wifi. The movers arrived just slightly after 8 am, which is Good, except I was only able to corral Domino into the downstairs bathroom, Pumpkin was being more psychic than usual and hid under the direct center of the bed and refused to come out. I figured that was fine, as long as he stayed there, and the mover who was packing up the bedroom did the smart thing and put the wardrobe boxes he was loading in the doorway.

The movers had not been told about the piano. Or that it was a "full pack" move. And the woman who told me packing materials were included in the cost had lied to me. It was in the fine print on the email confirmation, after a long list of "no additional charge for" items. But the movers were cool about it, had me chat with the guy in the office, and maybe the materials will come in under $100. Maybe.

I have a lot more stuff than I thought. I really should have done a better job of clearing out old clothes, especially the dozen or so jackets I rarely wear.

The weather gods have smiled on me. I had expected rain, but it's a lovely sunny day, and so bright out here I can hardly read the screen.

Half an hour into the move, Pumpkin made a mad dash downstairs, and instead of heading for the open front door he wanted to get out onto the patio. As I came toward him he let out a yowl I have never heard before, then he dashed back upstairs under the bed. About 15 minutes ago he came downstairs again, I opened the patio door,  and picked him up and brought him inside, opened the door to the bathroom, and put him inside, but Domino rushed out. I cornered her by the cat perch in the livingroom, and she hissed at me, but didn't fight as I picked her up and managed to get her into the bathroom without Pumpkin getting out. hey have their food, water and litterbox in there and a little area they can hunker down. I hate having to do that, but it's better than the cages at the pound or a kennel. And less expensive.

After I post this I think I'll go back to reading my new book, A Crack in the Edge of the World by Simon Winchester. It's a geologist's take on the 1906 SF quake, and was highly recommended by a friend who used to work for Shell. And it has all kinds of kudos for being fabulous writing. But after reading the prologue, I think it's probably just fabulous compared to the usual dry academic texts, not compared, say, to Ray Bradbury.

Moving the cats

Two cats, two totally different reactions to moving.

Pumpkin hid under the bed for the first hour and a half of the move, but I was able to put Domino into the downstairs bathroom with food/water/litterbox right away. They both spent way too much time in there because the movers were way slow.

I let them out before we headed for the new apartment, so they had the run of the old place for almost three hours.

When I came back to collect them, Domino went into her carrier right away, no fuss. Pumpkin put up a mighty struggle, and I had to pour him in upside-down. He righted himself pretty quickly, though.

They were both silent for most of the trip, just a little mewing from Pumpkin about a block from the new place.

In the new apartment, neither of them wanted to leave their carriers at first. Domino left with minimal encouragement, but Pumpkin had to be tipped out, and he went around the place howling and looking for a way out. After going upstairs to do something I came down to find him inside Domino's little carrier, still complaining.

Domino was very affectionate, camping out on the bed when I was upstairs, and sitting on my lap and on the arm of the recliner, purring, when I took breaks. That's a way of expressing insecurity I can deal with. Domino stayed scrunched underneath a low end table for hours, I finally moved it away, and he howled and went somewhere else. I have no idea where he is now, probably upstairs under the bed or something.

The first time I opened the door, Domino bolted and ran half a block away, around a corner and down a pathway towards the back of the complex. I called him and he came to me, but I had to grab him and throw him inside, he did not want to go in there. He tried to bolt several more times, so I had to make sure I had at least one hand free any time I opened the door. He seems to have gotten over that now, but one never knows.

Tomorrow I'll install the cat door so they can go out on the balcony. And I'll put the litterbox there. The food and water will stay in the dining room (how appropriate). It will be nice to have the litterbox away from the food, for a change. One thing nice about this place is both bedrooms have a balcony door, so if I put a cat door panel in one, I can still use the other (the panel makes the door opening a squeeze for me to get through).