Moving

I spent most of yesterday helping a friend move into her new Hoboken, NJ apartment...her new 4th floor walk-up apartment, that is.



I knew going into it that things were going to be difficult, what with my very limited strength coupled with the likelihood of me dropping boxes labeled "fragile" at various intervals throughout the process.  Still, with the aid of several dedicated helpers, we managed to move everything up all 4 floors without breaking any fingers or furniture (minus one expensive-looking bookcase...d'oh).

Even though this technically wasn't my move, I would still like to offer up a very special Thank You to certain key players involved:

First, I'd like to thank the asshole who decided to ignore the sign in front of the building that read "No parking Sunday from 11:30am-2:30pm; out of state move in progress." Without you, we wouldn't have been able to increase our collective workout by instead having to park all the way around the corner, thereby forcing us to drag loads of furniture down the block before embarking upwards on 4 flights of stairs. Thanks, buddy - you just made things so much easier on all of us.

Next, I'd like to thank the person who decided to store his bike in the very narrow hallway leading from the top of the stairwell towards my friend's corner unit.  Oh, and an extra special thank you for locking the bike in place so that throughout the process, it couldn't be budged. That really helped us hone our "on the spot" space management skills. You're the best.

Finally, I'd like to thank the building manager for his uneven, often crooked, poorly-maintained stairs. Hoisting that queen-sized mattress over my head and maneuvering it up the stairs was so much easier when my body suddenly found itself standing at a 45-degree angle. Oh, and those super small stairwells were also supremely fabulous when it came to fitting furniture around corners. (Think back to that classic Friends episode where they're trying to move Ross's couch up the stairs and he keeps on telling the others to "pivot" - let's just say that we did our fair share of pivoting, and then some.) It was also so comforting to feel the steps below my feet start to give way as I tried to get that 40-pound bookcase up to that final landing; that really inspired me to hustle, which is an easy thing to do when you're holding a 40-pound bookcase and you're on step number 64 of 72 and your entire body is sweating so profusely that the furniture item in question is as close as can be to slipping out of your hands and plummeting down the unsteady staircase.

So as you can see, what we accomplished was no small feat. As for the above-mentioned people involved...don't worry, your karma will catch up with you in no time.

And with that...must...take...Advil...