Mon Mar  3 07:52 EST 1997
The Move to Pepperell

I am glad to be back at work so I can rest.  I think even the sight of
cardboard makes me shudder.

I took off last Wednesday to finish preparations for Thursday's move and
it was a good thing I did because there were still many things to be done.
But by Thursday, we were as packed as we were going to be, so we set our
sights on the closing and the move.

At 10:30, Joy and I met our broker at the house for the final walk through.
I was going to hook up the ice maker and the stove while there - should
have only taken a minute, but I discovered I needed a few things.  Oh well.

Our first closing (on the Nashua house) went very smoothly with the
Metcalfes and the Desrochers interrupting the lawyer with a joke or
two.  My mind was on the timetable for an efficient move and I expected
these formalities to be dispatched without fanfare or trouble.  Didn't
I wish.

Our second closing (on the Pepperell house) started out on a very bad note.
The seller did not like a $50 charge that the bank lawyer had somewhere in
the paperwork and said that he refused to pay it.  The lawyer said it was
a standard charge.  The seller (also a lawyer - an accident lawyer, not
a real estate lawyer) said he tried to call to perform the action for which
he was being charged $50 and continued to state that he would not pay.
The lawyer ignored him and proceeded, but the seller persisted, and I
said, that the matter did need to be resolved.  Both of these men argued
back and forth without budging and the seller pushed the papers in front of
him and got up from the table.  All the while, I'm praying, "Lord, what are
we going to do!!?"

I said, "Hold on." and turned to the lawyer and asked, "would you be willing
to come down on your fee for this item?"  He responded that he'd be willing
to split the difference and come down to $25.  I turned to the seller and
asked if the $25 reduced fee would be all right and he said no.  I asked
him what he thought was a reasonable amount and he said $10.  The two of them
argued again and wouldn't budge and the seller tapped his wife for her to
get up; they were leaving.

I said, "Just a minute!  What we're talking about here now is a difference of
$15, right?" They both agreed.  I stood up and reached into my pocket and
pulled out a $20 bill and put it on the table and said, "Here!  I'll pay the
difference.  Let's finish this!"  Both of them protested saying that I should
not be the one to pay the difference.  I said, "I know, but let's do this and
not hold it up for $15."  Joy broke down in tears.  I was very nearly there
myself.

The rest of the closing went through fairly civilized.  The seller paid only
$10 but the lawyer told us after they left that he would get his "pound of
flesh" from the seller.  And he did.  The lawyer delayed paying off the
seller's mortgage for a couple of days which caused him to pay a few more
days of interest on his loan.

We cannot believe how many impediments have been thrown in our way against
us getting this house.  We are just beginning to appreciate the house after
all the obstacles and physical exertion of moving.  Speaking of which...

The move went pretty much like clockwork.  I got the truck at 2:30 and
we began loading at 3:00 and took the first (main) load over at 6:30.
We had several heavy and wide items that required several men and door
jams to be removed and replaced.  We wondered how to get some things out
of the basement since we thought I built walls after I had things down there,
but we managed to get everything out, one way or another.

By 8:30 the truck was unpacked and a few guys encouraged us to go back
and pick up the rest of the stuff.  So we stumbled back and picked up
MOST of the rest of the stuff and loaded it on the truck floor.  Phil
Morano came back Friday morning (thank you!) to help me unload the final
truck load.

Joy was already at the Nashua house cleaning up the place before the
Desrocher's arrived with their things.  There was enough little stuff to
fill our minivan.  It took nearly 8 hours (split between two women, once
Erin Scheuermann arrived).

I didn't have the right piece for the fridge, but I had the right pieces
for the stove.  The stove had a cap on the gas line that wouldn't come off
and my measly vice grips would not do the job.  Dave Bickom came over with
the necessary wrenches and got the stove set up.  The fridge was set up
the next day after my third trip to the hardware store.  (We found one in
town.)

   Side note: On Friday morning, I awoke early and went out to a local
   bakery to get some doughnuts for breakfast.  When I arrived, I noticed
   the store had no displays.  The baker had converted from retail to
   wholesale.  The baker came out and asked what I wanted.  I told him that
   I had just moved into town and came in looking for doughtnuts.  He asked,
   "Are you the ones who bought the house from my brother?"  (The first guy
   I meet in Pepperell is the brother of the guy I buy the house from!)

On Saturday, we did more unpacking.  Mark Burgess and co-worker show up
to start on the 3/4 bath in the laundry room off the master bedroom.  I
work on the fridge.  Dave and Paula arrive to make us lunch (thank you!).
My family also arrived to celebrate the new house and Paula made us a
lasagna dinner (THANK YOU!).  The kids played hide and seek.

On Sunday, I went back to the Nashua house and picked up our fish.

We're adjusting to the new house.  Joy and I are sleeping in the barn
until our bedroom and bathroom are ready.  When I say "the barn" people
conjure up cow stalls, but this is very well finished, heated, carpeted
and pleasant.  It is a bit like camping because we have to walk 100 feet
to get to the bathroom.

We hope to be well settled before Spring takes hold and we have to turn
our attentions to the substantial horticultural bonanza on our acre of land.

You're invited to stop in anytime.

When we are settled, we're planning an Open House Celebration.

Now to sift through 172 new mail messages I have waiting for me.

Thank you, Dave, Paula, Charlotte, Ray, Rich, Wendy, Eric, Linda, Andrew,
Ryan, Jeff, Jim.

Mark
of Metcalfe Manor
  .+*+                .....Cadence Design Systems, Inc.
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