Catching-up!

Yeah, it's about time for me to catch up some... We are now in week 25 and changes did occur since my last post.  Eight weeks since my last visit, wow, time does fly, fun or not, it only goes one way, as Hubby often says.

Since our last chat, we have moved in our new place.  It was a nightmare from Hell, really.  No jokes, never had such a horrible experience moving.  This wasn't our first move, but this sure was our WORST move.  All of our wooden furniture was damaged.  The degree of damages varied from one piece to the other, but ALL were damaged.  The company we used, Go Transport  came recommended by a friend who moved from Montréal to Calgary and she was happy with them, had no complaint.  I wish I could say the same...  On the day of packing, the team that showed up worked well.  There was one guy who seemed to be a little more cowboy (read careless) than the other two, but it went well.  They wrapped our furniture with bubble wrap, some covers and some type of clingy paper.  When we did ask about some pieces, we were told not to worry they would get re-wrapped at the warehouse, before storing them. On top of moving we were also storing all our stuff for two months, while the new place was being completed, thus the rental apartment.

Right from the start, first box they brought in, we noticed some damages...  That was our first alarm... 

Things were coming in and showing abuse, it did not convey care at all.  I did mention it to the guy (a new one, since the previous team leader who was there at packing, was sick) in charge and he couldn't tell me much.  I did contact the manager, and my contact at the GOT.  He even came for a visit the following day.  He was really apologetic and seemed genuinely concerned, but that didn't repair the scratches or broken dishes.  He even fired the one I referred to as Comboy, since he seemed to be the source of most damages.  That box was made by Cowboy when they packed in February.  It contained the four legs of our dinning room table and... the two lamp shades of our nigh table lamps.

Yep, that is only in one box.  We had over two hundred boxes and that is not counting our furniture.  It was a nightmare, really.  Every thing we unwrapped we found new damages.  Even last week, we installed a big picture frame that had not been unwrapped yet (waited for the paint to be done, etc), and that too, have one corner chipped and the frame is cracked.  We didn't add it to our claim, because at this point we just want to put this nightmare behind us and move on to better things.  We've had a woodworker come in to fix all our wooden pieces as best as possible, we had our lamp shapes re-done and this week the sub-contractor of the builder will be coming in to change the carpet in the stairway, since they pulled a big thread in it.  There is about $1,500 worth of damages and that doesn't include our console table which was wrapped so tight they bend the legs and cracked the wood!  Hell, I tell you!

Good thing we did not have the place painted before the move in since not only was our furniture damaged the walls took a beating too.  But not it is all done, almost, we have curtains and blinds on all windows, the food pantry and our walk-in have been done - and we love them both - most boxes are unpacked, we even have pictures on the walls so this is really starting to feel like home!

Last weekend, I drove with a friend, to Rimouski - we had a Postcrossing meet-up.  The drive there was pleasant, since the weather was nice.  I even took the road along the shore, such scenery.  Took us six hours to get there.  Walked around a bit that first night.  We were facing the St-Laurent, where the Empress of Ireland went down in 1914 (1,012 victims sank on May 29th that year).

Pointe-au-Père (museum and lighthouse)

We stayed at this very little motel, our room was so tiny we didn't have chairs to sit (to give you an idea), tiny! 

June 11th, while I enjoyed my breakfast Likki took in the scenery.

We were really along the water, the last road before the beach. The smells reminded me of when I would go for walks along the pier in Bodø.

We had a nice big meet at the local post office, since the post mistress is an avid participant in Postcrossing, and twenty of us showed up, mostly from the region, but one girl came from New Brunswick, one from Toronto, a few from Québec city and four of us for the Montréal area.  We manage to sign and send 433 cards!

Likki with Postman Pat and Jess the Cat with my stack of cards: 43 cards!

Likki with the stacks of cards being mailed from the meet

It was a fun, but long day.  I did manage to "escape" a little, went to visit the Empress of Ireland museum, walked some on the beach and did some socializing too.  A busy weekend overall.  We drove home Sunday morning and had heavy rain most of the way back.  It took us ten hours, granted we did make some pit stops, I needed to wake up from the wipers hypnosis!

Rimouski is a very nice region of our province.  The people are friendly and the scenery is gorgeous!

The lighthouse, with a meringue sky!

Sunset on Sat. June 11th, 2016

The interesting rocks along the shore...

Since my last post, one of my aunt passed away as well as the daughter of a cousin.  Sad that we often only get together for a death...  But at least some a bunch of us (six to be exact!) got together for dinner after that and managed to catch up some.  We said we would try harder to get together more often... let's see if that works.  Besides that, life in Pleasantville seems to be just that, pleasant.  Getting use to it, and so far liking it. Starting to know more than one path to get home, woohoo!

I think this will be it for now, and I will try to be better at keeping up... trying being the key word here...