For those (one, maybe two people) who read this blog, you may recall that almost a year back, I did something I wanted to do for a while. Move. As in, move back to Vancouver and be happy. Well, that happened last year. The second half of that return home was to buy a place. That happened as well. It feels like months ago! Well, the next bit of that saga is happening now.
I got keys to the place a couple of weeks back and I have been unpacking ever since. I can't begin to tell you how awesome it was to move the way I did. This may sound like a bit of an advertisement, but who cares, it is my blog after all and I shall sing these people's praises if I choose to.
Firstly, the good folks at Certified Packaging & Transport from the DC area (Jessup MD I think is their home) did wonders packing my stuff. They came over, packed everything with hundreds of thousands of sheets of packing paper. The guys who did the packing and moving were pleasant and seemed like real decent folks. They gave me a decent estimate and did what they said they would do. To date, I have not found one thing missing or broken from my meagre possessions from DC. I think there were over 70 boxes/items they shipped. Everything was packed properly. I am in awe of how well things can be packed and transported. From the time I gave them a call to get an idea of what to do, to the day when my stuff cleared customs here, they were out there looking out for me. They were a referral from a co-worker who did the trek a while before I did. I am thankful to her for the contact. I have since passed their contact info on to another co-worker who is making the trek back home to Canada. Hope it works out for him and his guitars.
Secondly, I have to give Canada Customs and Revenue credit. I had an appointment with them to clear customs (and apart from the wait they made me do at the airport when I first returned home), their handling of my move was stellar. The movers faxed the manifest to Customs, I showed up and was done in 2 minutes. I am not making that up. They even saw me before my appointment. I guess when the total value of everything is not that much, they don't care. But they still made dealing with them a pleasant experience.
Next, Williams Moving from this part of the world. They did my initial move to DC and I was impressed at how quickly they moved my stuff out of here. Well, I was again impressed at their awesomeness on delivering my stuff to the storage locker. You see, they are the receiver of goods from Certified Packaging & Transport in Canada. Their people called me the moment my items crossed the border and arranged for all the paperwork that had to go to Canada customs. I was also quite happy with the guys at Public Storage... they sorted out a locker for me quickly and I had my stuff delivered by Williams there. I guess I am always in awe of these sorts of things because they look somewhat magical to me. Moving large numbers of boxes and things in an efficient manner is an impressive sight, to me at least.
My stuff made it to Canada in December of 2009. I had been looking for a place last summer and thankfully, this spring, with yet another referral from a friend, found a realtor. Danny was awesome. He gave me good guidance on what to look for and dragged me around looking at all sorts of things, some that I liked, some that I didn't and one that I ended up buying. His professionalism was awesome. He also sent me to the mortgage broker and he was quite helpful in explaining how mortgages work and what the process is. He also ended up getting me a good rate on my mortgage. These two folks, along with my notary who did the close made the whole process not as scary as I imagined it would be. I cannot say enough about how useful they were and how accessible they were when it came to silly questions I had. I had to jump through a fair number of hoops to get all the paperwork done, but in the end, I got everything in order, got the mortgage, bid on the house and what not.
The home inspector fellow Terry Rudolph from Cascadia Inspection was quite professional as well. I think he's a P.Eng and used to work in the construction industry before. He explained everything in his report in quite a bit of detail, explained what kind of construction is out there and why things are built the way they are. He seemed to know a tonne of stuff and tolerated all my questions. The only question he wouldn't answer was the one where I asked him if he would buy the place if he was in my place. Wisely, he said that he couldn't answer that.
Once everything was in place, I needed my stuff moved from the storage locker at Public Storage to the new place. I was referred by yet another friend who made the move to Strong Brothers Moving from Vancouver. These guys were good. They had everything in their truck and had everything inside my apartment in about the same amount of time as it took for them to load up. Probably because of the packaging from DC itself, my stuff was likely easy enough to move and quick to move. Still, they did an amazing job and were very professional about it all.
I've been surrounded by boxes and paper and stuff for about two weeks now. I am starting to see the place look like a real place now, minus some furniture I still have to buy. That should be rectified soon enough. So far, I am loving it. I am 1 block from the water, 1 block from the new skytrain, blocks from friends (another friend is moving in across the street on Canada Day!) and what not. It isn't like there aren't some issues... I miss not seeing my mum and the dogs. It is a bit odd to have to call my mother to talk to her seeing as she lives like 20 minutes away and works quite close to my new place. The sound of traffic takes some getting used to... as does the drunk/loony singers wandering the streets. Still, if I close all the windows, I hear nothing apart from the occasional fire truck.
I finally have Internet (Novus has been awesome so far) and office space with a door! Now I need a fan because it gets hot in the office. Apart from little things like that, I am quite thrilled with the place. I am once again off the car; back to carrying groceries and walking it home. Thankfully, downtown Vancouver is full of all sorts of good places within walking distance. Like Costco. And T & T. Or the little fruit shop across the street. There is plenty to eat out at. From the fancy Italian restaurant that is part of the building to Provence (which is a block away), there is lots and lots here to eat. And I can run on the sea wall, use the crazy facilities in the building and what not.
I don't know how I managed all this. Somehow, it feels a bit unreal. I had plenty of support from my friends and my family, a good deal of luck and a decent enough employer who pays me enough to barely afford all this :). I can't thank my friends enough for going to see places with me, answering all my questions, helping me put stuff together, lending me tools etc. Hopefully, all goes well and I will have an awesome time here. The take-away, if there is one, is that referrals are definitely worth their weight (if you trust the judgement of the person doing the referrals) in some kind of precious metal. Without that, I would have been worse off I think.
Anyway, its late here. If you're in town, come check out the place. I have an inflatable queen bed which can be handy if needed.
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