Well, being short of money to hire a moving van means this has been a very long process. But, progress is being made! I now have gas and electricity! And an appointment for the plumber to turn up this week and fix the shower. So, by the end of this week the basics should be up and running. Just in time for me to bunk off to Broken Hill for the poetry event. Hells bells. Most of this week I’m supposed to be about 6 places at once – home for various people to turn up and fix things, (the internet guy is coming sometime in an 11 hour window I have to be at home for!) moving stuff, medical appointments, and all the Tafe start-up and enrolment process. I am feeling a little stretched!

kitcheny things

I’m bidding on a few bits of essential furniture on ebay hoping to pick some things up cheaply secondhand, with delivery. I’ve got my eye on a washing machine, and I was winning the bid for a tiny extending table and four chairs until the seller pulled the sale. I’m a tiny bit over it all!

Today was a darn long day. I was up early to meet the guy who’s towing our dead van for repairs – they got the time wrong and turned up an hour late. Then trekked off for a counselling appointment and got myself confused and arrived an hour early. 😦 The appointment itself was great but wow, left me really stirred up and distracted. Managed to get home okay to down more painkillers and yoghurt, pack up another load of boxes into the car and head off to the new place…

…only to overheat and breakdown at a busy intersection in peak hour. Man, it was hot! The radiator had actually blown the cap right off – a thorough search didn’t turn it up. The RAA turned up after about 20 minutes and the chap duct taped up the radiator opening after coaxing some water into it. (I’m NOT recommending this!) It started so I coasted it home to the unit, my friend unloaded for me, and we called a taxi back to my old address – where my bed and fridge and various other essentials still are.

temporary radiator cap… worked okay!

Tomorrow now has “buy Radiator cap” top of the agenda, and it’s going to be very darn hot. I don’t cope so well in hot weather, and I’m so tuckered out I’m pretty useless at the moment in cooler weather. 😦 I get heatstroke easily which feels absolutely horrible and can last for days. So I’m not expecting to be much use tomorrow, but it was the only day a mate could come by with a ute. We’ll get through it… Hopefully we’ll get all the big heavy stuff done and tomorrow night will be my first night at the new place. I’m looking forward to it in an abstract, exhausted and painkiller-foggy kind of way. It’s going to take me forever to find everything again.

I’ve unpacked a lot of the kitchen gear and put it into the cupboards. My kitchen stuff has been in storage for a couple of years as the place I’ve been living has a kitchen kitted out with my housemate’s stuff. A few tins of food burst, and a packet of sugar tore, spilled, and melted into molasses onto stuff. Everything is full of dead insects and mouse poo, so I have a lot of dishwashing ahead of me. Siiiiiigggghhhh.

I was also able to wrangle last minute appointments with my gp and dentist this week, so hopefully one of them can help me get back on top of this facial pain. I can’t afford to keep trekking off the physio when it gets bad again every two weeks.

Assuming I can get my car running again that is. That could clear my schedule fairly emphatically! Sigh. It’s never simple, is it. I was so excited that this was a good move, an exciting move to a wonderful place, one I want to make and have been dreaming of! I miss all my stuff. I can’t think straight. All my anchors are packed up, everything is messy and chaotic and I’m trying to keep track of important paperwork and everything I’ll need for Broken Hill, enrolling in Tafe, and the Melbourne trip in case I can’t find them later… I have a very large box with one of most terrifying labels that can be written on a box when you’re moving – “Paperwork, Current”. Ye gods. I’m looking forward to this being over!