A late post today because I was up
very early for the company picnic, more on that adventure tomorrow. Yesterday was the last full day available
before the move so there was a lot going on. I was out early because on top of
everything else going on I had to get my car inspected. I’ll miss having the friendly
neighborhood mechanic I’ve established a relationship with here in Charlton. I
was in and out after a short wait but the delay gave me an opportunity to
appreciate what a truly fantastic New England summer day it was. Of course I
was not destined to avail myself of the ambiance; I was fated for extended
basement time.
My next stop was the Home Depot for the
seven new smoke alarms the fire department decreed that my house needed before
it could be pronounced safe to sell. While I was there I wandered down one of
the cavernous aisles to discover that Home Depot also sells boxes, and for a
lot less than where we’ve been buying. The only challenge was negotiating the
Saturday crowd to the checkout line with the unwieldy cargo.
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| The New Supply of Boxes Staged for Packing |
Before executing (poor choice of
word that) my smoke alarm rewiring I
taped the boxes together which provided a rich reservoir for my wife and my efforts
for the rest of the day. My electrical aptitude was last instructed in the 7th
grade and not all that successfully, so throw in a few decades of watching This
Old House I pronounced myself ready to rewire the alarms. My wife was nervously
vigilant as I mounted the ladder to change out the alarms. The only casualty of
my efforts was Buddy’s thinly held sanity which rapidly transformed into full
melt down mode with the repeated alarms going off.
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| Re-Wiring the Smoke Alarms |
The rest of the day was spent in the basement
where I finished off the residue of the required packing while my wife attacked
the second floor bedrooms. The seemingly generous supply of boxes dwindled throughout
the afternoon. The basement involved finding items that hadn’t been touched in
years but still retained the ability to evoke emotion as they called to memory
past times when two children admirably haunted the environs. By the end of the
day what wasn’t packed was consigned to the dust bins of history which in this
case involved some rather extended trash bags.
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| The Basement Finally Packed |
We had a secret to rescue what would
have been a day of complete drudgery. A couple of friends had arranged to take
us out for dinner as kind of a going away gesture since we’ll be moving out of
the same general area we both reside. They’re also members in good standing of
the Latin Mafia which insured a good time would be had. They treated us to
dinner at a local restaurant and then we joined them at their beautiful house
for some post dinner libations. The wife shares my own wife’s passion for
gardening and she’s established a truly remarkable series of flower gardens
which we toured as the sun faded. It was exactly the kind of time needed after
the day’s exertions and a reminder of what is truly important in life, friends.
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| Dinner With Great Friends - Perfect Way to End the Day |
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