Now for Part 2:
Wednesday morning the crew showed up on time and surprised us with how quickly they worked. Within 20 minutes, all 76 boxes were out of our apartment plus most of the furniture disassembled and wrapped. We had a couple boxes that had yet to be sealed, but they were so quick we were literally chasing them out the door with tape! It was quite comical! All right, that's where the funny part stops. Mover #1 (There were three) brought our mattress into the hallway, and quickly called me over to point out that "Ma’am, you have bed-bugs." This was like a nightmare. (To avoid causing any unnecessary heart palpitations, end of story is that it was NOT bed bugs) There were about 6 little bugs crawling on the box spring of one of our beds. We had this horrible feeling, and did not know what in the world to do with this information! Yaakov google-imaged bed bugs while the mover was trying to take a picture of one of them with his phone, while I was like "Could someone at least kill them!" Our neighbor who came over to help out got some tape and started collecting the “they-who-shall-not-be-named” insects. EWWWW, all I could think was "Let's get out of here!!" I called my mother to let her know what was going on and she immediately got Mr. Friedman, the head of maintenance on Yeshiva Lane, on the phone. He was skeptical that they were in fact bed bugs and made a conference call with a well known exterminator. While all these conversations were taking place, the moving company ordered their crew to immediately unload the truck and bring all of our stuff back to our apartment. They wanted nothing to do with our stuff either, and would not wait until we consulted with an exterminator. Our guy was on the phone with the moving company trying to tell them that there was no point in bring our stuff back, because if it was bed bugs then it was too late; their truck was already contaminated and it would be more sensible to "fumigate" the truck with our stuff in it. But the company would not hear of it, and the stuff was on its way back in. Oh by the way, the google images of bed bugs did not look like what was found on our box spring, but "Sir,” the mover responded, “there are many different types of bed bugs. These are bed bugs."
A short while later, an exterminator came to assess the nature of these insects and laughed when he saw what they were. "These are not bed bugs! These are called carpet beetles and they are not uncommon to find in apartment buildings." He did a quick check of the other mattress and there were no bugs there. The problem seemed to be isolated, the bugs we found were removed, and the mattress was going to be discarded. Another phone call to the moving company. They were quite frank. It didn't matter what they were; they were not going to take our stuff to their warehouse until we could give them a letter in writing that our apartment was fumigated. Now what?!
First thing Thursday we called the Exterminator to come back and help us get out of this mess one way or another. When he came, he told us that their reaction was a bit extreme and he did not even know if it was legal to fumigate if it was not necessary, but he would inspect our apartment and write us a letter if it was the case that this was a non-issue. He was going to charge a nice fee for this however, so we decided to use the building's exterminator who agreed to come that day. Guess what. He never showed up and was then unreachable by phone! At this point, we decided to forget about this whole complicated exterminating thing. The truck going to Calgary was leaving without our stuff and even after getting clearance from an exterminator, we would have to wait at least a week before another crew could come and possibly longer until it would be delivered to Canada. We were going to call another moving company first thing in the morning. Sometimes, you just got to mooove on. (Pardon the pun)
After a long day on Thursday, we were finally ready to leave Woodmere (albeit with our stuff still in our apartment) and head to Connecticut. While Yaakov was bringing our luggage down to the car, I waited with the kids who were drifting off in their car seats. The windows were open to let the cool summer night breeze into the car. After one last check around the apartment and some more good-byes to our friends, we could not be more ready to GO! All the obstacles to leaving made it that much easier to want to go. And what I am about to say is not a joke. THE CAR WOULD NOT START! (I'm really not joking!) Just then the sprinklers outside turned on and started aiming right at our open windows that were now not closeable! Our very kind neighbor, jumped in front of the window to prevent the sleeping kids from getting drenched just in time.
We were laughing at this point. It was our best defense. It seemed like the battery was dead, so our friend went to get his charge pack to give the car a jump start. The car started, but the charge would not hold. The clock was ticking. It was already almost midnight when another car-expert-friend swung by with his equipment. Something was wrong with another part, and would need to be fixed by the mechanic. Connecticut-here-we-come was going to have to wait.
It was now 12:30 and we needed a place to sleep. Baruch Hashem we had a few different options, and we ended up going to our friend's Mom's house in Far Rockaway. Poor Tehilla. I told her (finally confidently) that we are really going to Connecticut tonight and Im Yirtze Hashem, when she wakes up we should be there. Well, that didn't quite work out, but B"H she adapted to the situation. Her own crib to stay in, an empty house filled with toys, and Dunkin Donuts for breakfast helped.
Early Friday morning, Yaakov brought the car in to the shop and a new alternator was put in, and the car was now good to go. We got a new moving company who offered to come as early as the next day, and things started to fall into place B"H.
As we processed the events of our week, we kept reminding ourselves what my father and Rabbi Knobel pointed out-- that these obstacles are indicative that we are doing the right thing. The idea that when you do something good, there's a natural resistance to make it more difficult, and hence more rewarding when you persevere. Thinking of it this way gave us hope and strength to keep trekking up to the summit. But maybe this resistance we encountered was not only a natural response to our efforts but maybe these obstacles were really blessings from Hashem. That the difficulties were actually for the good, helping something else work out like we saw in the beginning of the week with my dental problem and the kids getting spared from the shattered car window as a result. Or were things challenging to remind us that the world is in need of a redemption? That we live in an imperfect world and that is just the reality of a world awaiting a Geulah? How do you look at it when obstacles come your way?
I hope everyone has a meaningful Tisha B’av and an easy fast…
First thing Thursday we called the Exterminator to come back and help us get out of this mess one way or another. When he came, he told us that their reaction was a bit extreme and he did not even know if it was legal to fumigate if it was not necessary, but he would inspect our apartment and write us a letter if it was the case that this was a non-issue. He was going to charge a nice fee for this however, so we decided to use the building's exterminator who agreed to come that day. Guess what. He never showed up and was then unreachable by phone! At this point, we decided to forget about this whole complicated exterminating thing. The truck going to Calgary was leaving without our stuff and even after getting clearance from an exterminator, we would have to wait at least a week before another crew could come and possibly longer until it would be delivered to Canada. We were going to call another moving company first thing in the morning. Sometimes, you just got to mooove on. (Pardon the pun)
After a long day on Thursday, we were finally ready to leave Woodmere (albeit with our stuff still in our apartment) and head to Connecticut. While Yaakov was bringing our luggage down to the car, I waited with the kids who were drifting off in their car seats. The windows were open to let the cool summer night breeze into the car. After one last check around the apartment and some more good-byes to our friends, we could not be more ready to GO! All the obstacles to leaving made it that much easier to want to go. And what I am about to say is not a joke. THE CAR WOULD NOT START! (I'm really not joking!) Just then the sprinklers outside turned on and started aiming right at our open windows that were now not closeable! Our very kind neighbor, jumped in front of the window to prevent the sleeping kids from getting drenched just in time.
We were laughing at this point. It was our best defense. It seemed like the battery was dead, so our friend went to get his charge pack to give the car a jump start. The car started, but the charge would not hold. The clock was ticking. It was already almost midnight when another car-expert-friend swung by with his equipment. Something was wrong with another part, and would need to be fixed by the mechanic. Connecticut-here-we-come was going to have to wait.
It was now 12:30 and we needed a place to sleep. Baruch Hashem we had a few different options, and we ended up going to our friend's Mom's house in Far Rockaway. Poor Tehilla. I told her (finally confidently) that we are really going to Connecticut tonight and Im Yirtze Hashem, when she wakes up we should be there. Well, that didn't quite work out, but B"H she adapted to the situation. Her own crib to stay in, an empty house filled with toys, and Dunkin Donuts for breakfast helped.
Early Friday morning, Yaakov brought the car in to the shop and a new alternator was put in, and the car was now good to go. We got a new moving company who offered to come as early as the next day, and things started to fall into place B"H.
As we processed the events of our week, we kept reminding ourselves what my father and Rabbi Knobel pointed out-- that these obstacles are indicative that we are doing the right thing. The idea that when you do something good, there's a natural resistance to make it more difficult, and hence more rewarding when you persevere. Thinking of it this way gave us hope and strength to keep trekking up to the summit. But maybe this resistance we encountered was not only a natural response to our efforts but maybe these obstacles were really blessings from Hashem. That the difficulties were actually for the good, helping something else work out like we saw in the beginning of the week with my dental problem and the kids getting spared from the shattered car window as a result. Or were things challenging to remind us that the world is in need of a redemption? That we live in an imperfect world and that is just the reality of a world awaiting a Geulah? How do you look at it when obstacles come your way?
I hope everyone has a meaningful Tisha B’av and an easy fast…
It is hard not to react to the obstacle at the moment. Yet you cannot tell if an obstacle is really an obstacle until you have a long range perspective, right? For example, the morning of 9/11 the people who missed their train or had other problems getting to work on time were aggravated but it turned out not to be a bad thing in the long run.
ReplyDeleteI am amazed at your incredible positive and loving nature- a Cook family trait. What a blessing for me to know you!!