So here we are, a full week after our arrival in Windsor, and although it is much delayed, I now present for your edification, The Very Lengthy and Woeful Tale of the Great Westward Move, including Diatribes and Very Naughty Words, in Several Parts for the Edification of our Learned Readership.

Monday: The movers did not arrive between 1 and 3pm as requested, but in fact, not until 5pm. This was more than a little inconvenient, since it meant that Arthur was out of day care by the time they started, and it meant that they didn't finish until after 8pm. So, we were pretty cranky already, but fortunately our landlord invited us in to let Arthur play around downstairs while they worked. And then ... they decided that everything wasn't going to fit on the truck. By the time they were half done I knew it was possibly a problem, and when I asked one of the workers he told me that a) the foreman wasn't doing a very good job packing things in and b) they would probably be able to get it all in. So, he was half right. But what annoyed me most of all was that rather than tell me there was a problem and ask if there was something that could be discarded, the foreman decided to leave a solid wood bookshelf from the office, and then say at the end, "Would it be okay if you left this bookshelf behind?", presenting this as a "compromise". That was more or less the last straw and I tore a strip off the guy, using some naughty language in the presence of Arthur. Needless to say we will not be using the incompetent, unprofessional buffoons at Lion Moving again, and neither should you. We left the city around 8:15 and, with the exception of hitting a raccoon on the 401 on the way to my parents' place, had an uneventful trip to Cobourg where we all went to sleep, or would have if Arthur hadn't got his second wind and decided that he wasn't tired any more.

Tuesday: Julia and I switched our stuff into Dad's car and left Cobourg at around 6:30 am, with Arthur still sleeping at my parents' place, fortunately. We drove to Windsor and arrived just before noon, with our movers, our real estate agent, and our Sears delivery truck all arriving at or around the same time. The move into the house was thankfully far less problematic than the move out. However, Sears informed us that while our fridge, stove, and boxspring had been delivered, our mattress and headboard had not, and they couldn't tell us what had happened or when it would be delivered. While this wouldn't be a crisis immediately, we would eventually need that bed once my parents arrived with Arthur. We spent most of the afternoon getting things sorted out as best we could. To our dismay, our phone line was not working as had been promised by Bell (surprise, surprise); thankfully we had my dad's cell phone by this point so we were not completely out of touch with the world. I called to check on the phone, and was told that a hold had been placed on our account by Bell Credit Services (???). We were, however, able to go out to Leon's to buy some living room furniture to be delivered later in the week, and to Zellers to get some other necessary supplies. Because we had had so little sleep the night before, though, we really didn't get that much done before we fell asleep.

Wednesday: Called Sears; they informed me that the missing mattress was on its way and would be delivered between noon and 6pm on Thursday - just in time for arriving relatives. Called the phone company; they informed me that in fact the 'credit' problem was that the previous owners hadn't properly cancelled their old internet service, thus causing some sort of weird conflict, and that it would take another 24 hours to resolve the issue (grrr). We did an enormous amount of shopping (for a new filing cabinet for me, various household, garden and kitchen stuff) but basically the day was devoted to getting the living room, kitchen, and Arthur's room sufficiently unpacked for my parents, my brother, and Arthur, all arriving from Cobourg the next day. And since at this point, it appeared that the bed and the phone would be sorted out by then, that was all good.

Thursday: The morning started auspiciously when our living room furniture arrived promptly and in excellent condition. However, things quickly took a downturn. The phone line was still not installed, forcing us to continue to rely on the cell. Sears arrived promptly at noon - with a headboard, but no mattress, and no indication when there would be a mattress. The delivery guy himself informed us that we were getting shoddy service and should call back and cancel our order. So, we were very cranky. And then ... my dad called to let me know that they were in Windsor, but that my car had broken down about a mile away from our house (fortunately still under warranty, but still, grrr). After driving to their location and picking up the family and taking them home, and then getting my car towed to the local Toyota dealer, I decided that what I really needed was more frustration, so I called Sears home delivery about our mattress, only to be informed that they weren't sure where the mattress was, or when it would be delivered, but wouldn't we please give them 24-48 hours to try to figure out where it got to? At this point I uttered some very naughty words indeed, and informed them that not only would I not do that, but that I wanted to cancel the order entirely. And so Julia and I headed out to Leon's, who had delivered our other stuff promptly and also don't make us pay for it for 15 months. On the way to the store (a 5-minute drive), we got a call from Toyota telling us that in fact, the problem with my car was that there was quite severe damage to the radiator, caused by hitting something on the undercarriage, and that it was accordingly not covered under the warranty. So, yeah ... remember that raccoon we hit on Monday night? Apparently it got its vengeance on us to the tune of $1400+, despite the fact that the car drove 600km+ without any complaint. And what's more, apparently some of the parts need to be shipped from Vancouver, so the earliest our car would be fixed would be next Monday or Tuesday. Again, naughty words were uttered. We glumly went to purchase a mattress set that cost about $200 more than the one we got at Sears, and arrived home to find that our phone line still had not been installed, for unknown reasons. I called Bell and they said they would send out a service person the next day, which would cost us $75 minimum if they had to come in the house. At this point I decided that I had had enough of this crappy day, and would not call the insurance company about the car until tomorrow. We ordered some Chinese food and then slept on the couches.

So, as the first half of our tale ends, our intrepid adventurers have been reunited with their son, but have no working phone, no mattress to sleep on, and a busted car with expensive repairs looming...

Tags: growlery, windsor