Early Monday morning, the air shipment was delivered to my house. The guy was actually 5 minutes early! I was able to check out of the hotel and get to work on time, too. After work, I hustled back to my new home and started to set up camp. I have camping chairs and I turned one of the moving boxes upside down for a makeshift table.
For the bed, I thought I was being smart by bringing the queen sized air mattress and the pump with the cigarette lighter connection so I could blow it up. The pump worked like a charm, but I had to haul the mattress from the driveway up the stairs. At least it was light! I did some other unpacking and came back to make the bed when I noticed that the mattress already looked a bit wilted. I blew some more air into it and checked the stoppers. When I came back, again it was low. By this time, I realized there was a very serious problem. I had a leaky air mattress and all wood floors – not so smart! I did my best to settle in for a long night.
I asked at work the next day for a recommendation for a camping store or other place where I could buy an inexpensive camping bed. They gave me directions to a store and I needed to hurry to get out of work on time to get there before closing. Fortunately, I met up with one more person before I left the office. I had met her the day before at lunch. I told her my plight and she offered to loan me her spare mattress! We worked out all the details for me to pick it up. Yeah! Later that night, I followed her precise instructions and found her apartment. We lugged the single mattress out to my car and I was glad they gave me the giant rental car! At home, I had to haul it up the stairs be myself which was no easy feat. But at last, it was set up and I slept like a baby.
The week at work was spent getting settled with my new team and trying to figure out what the heck I’m supposed to do now. I was having trouble getting my computer to work properly, too. I found out it was still talking to the US network which slows everything down. I requested to be migrated to the Dutch network. I told them they could have my computer all day on Friday when I was going to be out of the office. Well, something got mixed up because my computer stopped working entirely on Wednesday at lunchtime. It turns out the US had already removed me from their network. I turned in my computer on Thursday morning and spent the rest of the day trying to find things to do that didn’t require a computer. This predicament also made it impossible for me to post to my blog!
On Friday, I was having my washer and dryer delivered. I had to look up on the store’s website when my delivery was scheduled for. Actually, I had to have someone look it up because I had no computer. Since the website was in Dutch, it was good to have help. That’s where I learned my word of the day. Gebezorg is the word they use for delivery here. I can’t say it, but I’ve seen it on several pizza restaurant menus.
The delivery guys came within the allotted time (three hour time slots, which is similar to the US, but they don’t deliver at all on Saturday). They had to carry the washer and dryer up to the third floor and then install them. Wow! The guys spoke a little English, possibly more English than most delivery guys in the US, and were able to give me a basic lesson on where to put the soap. The instructions are all in Dutch, German, and French. The buttons have a lot of pictures, so it should be OK to figure out.
After some laundry tests, I realized the washer takes FOREVER to run a load, at least 2 hours. I asked around and that seems normal for here. I think the problem is that there is only a cold water connection, so for warm and hot water washes, the washer heats the water. You can get this machine up to 95°C, although I have no idea why you want to cook your clothes!
The rest of Friday I spent going to Utrecht to pick up my residence permit. This has to be done in person and, of course, only during normal working hours. I rode the train from Bussum into Utrecht (about a 30 minute ride) and walked to the immigration office. I could easily tell the other people who were doing the same thing. They were all ethnic and were stopping people to ask directions. I had printed a map from google maps so I didn’t need to ask for help. At the office, I had to take a number and wait to be called. When my number came up, I went to the window and showed my letter and my passport. She handed me a card that looked a lot like a driver’s license. That was it. It took less than a minute at the window. For that, I spent 12 dollars and an hour on the train and 30 minutes walking.
When I got back to the house, I found the lawn mower that the owner had dropped off for me, some assembly required of course. So on Saturday, I started working on the yard. The lawn was so overgrown that the little push-mower kept clogging up. I had to keep stopping to clean it out. I was nearly done when the neighbor lady suggested that her husband could use the electric mower for the first go-round. I declined as I only had about 1 square foot left to do. When I finished, the lawn looked more trampled than mowed. I’m sure I’ll have to go again when it stands back up. I also got the patio swept and some of the shrubs trimmed. I planted some geraniums in the front to make it look a bit more homey. I’ll add some more potted flowers when I get some more free time.
Sunday I walked around town and relaxed a bit. The house is getting boring without TV and especially without my husband. I was watching the cats in the yard – boy, are there a lot of cats in this neighborhood! It makes me miss my cat. My kitty will come out with my husband in a couple more weeks.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment