On Sunday Attila brought in more boxes of kitchen “stuff” from Tank, and he says there is still more lurking in the rented storage locker.
We decided that doing laundry is a priority. Attila, since he works outdoors, is very physically active, and works with dirty materials, needs to wash clothing at least three times a week. The cost adds up quickly at the laundromat. The solution was to invest in a new washer/dryer. So off we went to Home Depot, a mere 30 minute drive from Mist Cottage. Oh, the luxury! We found a floor model that was selling for $500 off the listed price, and it had all the features on my list. So we bought the set, and it will be delivered next week. Looking up the product later, we found over 100 reviews of the set that rated it at five out of five. Good luck on our part, we were in the right place at the right time. We paid the same price as the cheapest washer/dryer set sold at Home Depot.
The features I wanted were: top loading washer, High Efficiency units, large capacity, simple controls, and made in North America if at all possible. The Maytag set we bought had all of these features, and more that were not as important for us. We purchased the extended warranty as well, very costly, but if for the first five years we hope we can rely on the set to work. This washer/dryer set will pay for itself in about 3 1/2 years.
We learned the hard way the problem with many front-loading high-efficiency washing machines, odours. The people who bought the country house wanted the appliances, and we were glad to include them with the house, for two reasons. The washing machine had odour problems, which are no longer our problem, and we didn’t have to move appliances. When our house was being shown, we printed out a fact sheet about the front loading washing machine, the odour, and the class action suit in the US against Sears for selling such an inadequate unit. So the odour should come as no surprise to the new owners, we were very upfront about the issue.
After we returned from the store, Attila left again for the laundromat to do one load of laundry. He spent the rest of the evening clearing a place in the basement for the washer and dryer to be left by the delivery people. A path through the garage to the basement door also needed clearing, so they could get in!
The washer will not be hooked up right away, that project will have to wait until Attila returns from the North, probably next Saturday.
Attila and I went to bed early on Monday night, arising at 2 a.m. so that Attila could make the five hour commute to start work the next morning. There was no “weme” sadness with this parting. I guess that is because Attila was leaving HOME, and would be returning HOME; our sense of place was no longer divided. We waved goodbye, and I lay awake, waiting for his I-arrived-safely text message, which came in at 7 a.m.
My day was spent changing my address with Canada Revenue, and a few other government entities. The address changing isn’t all done yet, but it is off to a very good start.
News Flash:7:25 p.m.
Attila just received a call offering him a temporary job near home. He took it. His first shift is the midnight shift. He starts his orientation tomorrow morning at 11:00 a.m. and starts his first shift at 11:00 p.m. tomorrow night.
Attila will have Tank loaded with stuff from the storage locker by 8:00 p.m. tonight, and be headed into his five hour trip back home, arriving home at about 1 a.m. tomorrow morning. I will be waiting for him to arrive home, as he only had 4 hours sleep last night, then drove for 4 1/2 hours to work, worked an 11 hour workday, and is now driving the five hours back home again. Then he needs to sleep, so that he can begin his orientation at 11:00 a.m., then nap again before starting the midnight shift. Hopefully his schedule will settle down a bit within a week or so, so that he can catch up with his sleep.
His income will decrease drastically, but we will be living together, and so we have decided to take a chance on his getting a permanent living-wage job sometime soon. Also, soon it will be too cold for Attila to sleep in Tank at night, and by taking this temporary job, he can sleep at home, in his own bed; we will avoid the expense of renting suitable accommodation for him in the North. He will be living here, so it will be much easier to continue to look for a permanent job. We hope that with only one house to support, we will manage on the much lower income for as long as we need to. It seems like a few steps back, and maybe it is in a financial sense, but it is a big leap forward for our personal happiness.
We are both very excited and hopeful!
Worldly Distractions
Weather
13°C
Date: 9:00 PM EDT Tuesday 22 September 2015
Condition: Clear
Pressure: 102.5 kPa
Tendency: rising
Visibility: 24 km
Temperature: 13.2°C
Dewpoint: 11.9°C
Humidity: 92%
Wind: NNW 8 km/h
Quote
“I am not young enough to know everything.”
Oscar Wilde
1854 – 1900
Wishing you and Attila the best of luck and hoping that Attila finds a permanent job quickly.
Wonderful news about the job situation! In the meantime, all best wishes for Attila over the next few grueling days.
Thanks ever so much Eileen, for he good wishes! There is a small possibility that this temporary job could morph into a permanent job, we have our fingers crossed.
Thanks Wendy! You are right, the next few days will be grueling for Attila. When I talked to him at 7:25 he was wide awake with excitement, but eventually that has to wear off and then he is going to feel pretty darned tired. I will pass your good wishes on to him.
YAY!!! Raising the roof happy for you that Attila has been able to make this first step. Oh, the hardship of these first few days but I’m sure that he’ll be running on adrenaline at this new start and will persevere.
So glad that this will most likely be his last low-sleep commute. From now on the two of you can hopefully make those drives together to check on the storage.
What nights of the week will Attila be working now, Maggie? I’m desperately hoping he’ll have either a 2 or 3 days off per week, depending on the length of his shift.
Thanks Teri! I don’t have the details yet, just the first shift tomorrow night, that I know about. I guess I’ll know more in the next few days. Whatever the shifts, the hours, we will work around it. I think it is a forty hour work week, which would mean five eight hour shifts, which implies two days off, hopefully consecutive days off. I have my fingers crossed for two consecutive days/evenings/nights off work. Once he and I adjust to rotating shift work things should ease up considerably.
We are hoping to make one last drive north, rent a third truck, load it, and then Attila will drive it home, and I will drive the car home. It just might work. And I was just beginning to be able to see over the boxes that are already here!
Attila is a trouper! The real danger is that if he gets wound up too tight he might not sleep well. However, I think he will sleep well tonight, and again tomorrow, but time will tell.
Hurrah ! Now comes the new job readjustment phase. At least he’ll be home to move boxes some part of the day, and to have meals with you regularly . I am glad things are working out for you. Good news with the washer and dryer too!
Hurray!!!!!
Yay! This is a good thing. I remember I took a job at the base salary which was a lot less than I was earning before that, but I had a good feeling about the job, that I would like the work more, and I was there for 16 years as office manager and ended up earning a lot more than I ever dreamed I would be earning as a secretary. So going with your gut is a good idea in these matters. xxxxx
Temporary: stepping stone to permanent, or something better.
Woo hoo! Things are falling into place.
Hoping that no news is good news, that Attila made it home safely and is currently having a good snooze to prepare for his new job. 🙂
Oh, yeah. He had to do the orientation, first. Hopefully that’s over and he can get some catch up sleep until he starts work, tonight.
Sending you both best wishes as you adjust to all the ‘new’ that is going on in your lives!
Hi Maggie,
Congrats to Attila on the job. What a relief. I do not know how he keeps up the pace. Neither I nor my hubby could do it. Hopefully things change now.
Glad you got a nice washer/dryer combo.
Hope you find your camera soon! x0x0x0x0x
Lee Ann, yes, now comes the job readjustment phase, lol.
This new job is shift work, something we haven’t been exposed too in our time together. And it is rotating shifts, another factor to adjust to. It will take some time for Attila to work out when it is best for him to sleep, and eat… and then when he settles in it will take some time for me to work out what works for me in the way of sleeping and meal patterns. We think he will have most weekends off, but not all, apparently overtime on weekends is mandatory when requested to do so. Overtime, at this financial juncture, might be welcome.
I am really looking forward to having a washer and dryer! The set gets delivered tomorrow, Attila will be sleeping when it is delivered, at least in theory. Hopefully there will be some downtime on the weekend to get the washing machine installed, I don’t care so much about the dryer, I can always hang the clothes out in the back porch.
You said it Steve-Paul, hurray!
Thanks for relating that experience Bex, just what we needed to hear about just now! I think Attila will do well at anything he sets his mind to, so this job should be no exception. They do hire people full time, from time to time, so we have our fingers crossed!
Kate, they do seem to be falling into place, for which we are very grateful!
Teri, Attila like what he saw during his orientation, so we think it will be a go! He slept last night, and will be sleeping again soon, before he has to get up and go to work. He has requested that we wait a while before traveling north to pick up our belongings at the storage locker, to give him a chance to do some moving in!
Nora, thanks for your good wishes! I could not do what Attila is doing, that is for sure. He looks pretty worn down just now, but hopefully now things will settle a bit, routines can be established, and he will catch up with his rest. Attila is still relatively young, so he has the energy right now to do all this, but in ten years time he will find it more difficult to keep up such a pace, and hopefully he will not need to.
I’ve worked rotating shifts when I was quite a bit younger. First and second are easy, IMO. The hard part about third shift is 4AM. For some reason the body always wants to shut down around 4AM, so you always have to be extra careful around that time.
I was working a manufacturing job, then. Have to be very careful around machinery, most especially around 4AM at 3rd shift.
Good luck this evening, Attila!!!
Good to know Teri! I have never worked shift work, or rotating shifts, so I have no clue how it works, or how to manage it. Attila will be good at as soon as he gets his “sea legs”. I will pass on your good luck with to Attila.
Glad to learn there’s been job progress, I hope it’s a happy situation for Attila.
Joan, so far Attila is content with the job situation. He was management in his last job, and the stress was incredible. He seems so much younger all of a sudden! The new job is an assembly line kind of thing, stress free, boredom will be his biggest challenge. For now, boredom seems appealing for Attila. 🙂