The Hassles, the Irritation and the Luxury…

The Hassles, the Irritation and the Luxury…

I probably should have waited to get this new bed.  It came very close to getting all of the ‘stuff’ out of the house in Maryland that is now in piles of boxes and bags all around the house, in the garage, on the back deck and in the basement.  BUT, I did not.

So as I realized that getting the old bed out of the bedroom might prove to be difficult since it went in when there was a bedroom in the little bedroom across from my bedroom and not my embroidery business.  In order to get the unbendable box base from the living room to the bedroom, you have to angle the unit on its side through the doorway into the hall and then into the office until the end of the frame pass by the hallway door enough to be angled into the bedroom.  So all of the old stuff had to move out of the bedroom in reverse and then move the new stuff into the bedroom the same way.  And, of course, there were tables for cutting fabric, boxes, bags and bolts of batting in the living room and bedroom that had to be dealt with.

So I started getting some things moved and put away.  I wanted to try to take the time to go through the ‘stuff’ as I went along so that I was also getting the additional stuff put away.  I had my parent’s drum end table that I wanted integrated into my living room.  So I sorted through the junk by my recliner, moved the recliner, removed the table that was there, put the drum table in place and then filled the inside of the table with the stuff that had been living on the floor in that corner.  I also put the remaining brass floor lamp back in the corner so I now have matching floor lamps on either side of the recliner.  It looks nice and is much neater.

I then emptied the bedside table that Rudy had placed in front of the end table next to where he liked to sit on the sofa.  It gave him room for all of his manuals and magazines.  I moved that table into the room and cleared off the end table and replaced that with the table I had next to me.  Those of you, who have been to my house, may understand what I have done…maybe.

Yesterday I woke up knowing that I had piles of magazines, books, and ‘stuff’ laying all around the living room and bedroom that had to find a home.  Marji and Danny were going to come up to assist in whatever way they could but we never set a time.  The only thing I knew was that the delivery was supposed to happen between 3 PM and 7PM.  So I just dug in and kept moving things and getting things out of the way for the exchange.  I kept working toward the 3 PM deadline and just kept working as though I was the only chance of getting this done.

I had just kicked back in my recliner to take a breather before the last push when my phone rang.  It is 1:45 PM.  The caller ID said ‘out of area’ which I usually ignore, but since the delivery was to happen, I was answering all phone calls.  Here it was the truck; they were on their way and about 20 minutes away.

O M G !!!!!!!!!!!  I am not quite ready.  So, up out of the chair and into the bedroom.  Unplugged the stuff on my nightstand and pushed it out into the Living Room.  Grabbed the vacuum and tackled the dust that was living behind it and under the paperwork that was tucked behind the door.  I put the vacuum off in a corner, out of the way and hoped that the delivery guys would give me a chance to vacuum in the space under the bed before they put the new bed in.

At this point, they pulled in the driveway and I opened the door and the tornados came in the house to begin the exchange.  I explained to the one man that getting the things out would be a tad bit difficult, but he immediately grabbed the mattress and wrestled it out, standing long-wise and getting it wedged in doorways, requiring him to muscle it out into the living room.  I realized at that point, that they were going to do it their own way and the best thing I could do was get out of their way.  So I held Molly in my lap as they had propped the doors open.  The other man came in with the owner’s manual for the adjustable bed frame.  He gave it to me and in broken English indicated that I should read it well.

So in a whoosh of activity the old bed was removed and placed on my back deck so I can Freecycle it to someone who might need a nice bed, and the new bed installed, remote synced so that both parts of the base (it came as a split queen for easier movement through my hallway) move together with one remote and they were GONE!  All before the 3:00 PM time that was to have been the earliest arrival!  Marji and Danny missed it all.  Good thing I did not wait for them to come and help.

Lessons learned:  (1) Do not order a new bed so closely to having moved stuff out of a summer home.  (2) Do not arrange for any kind of delivery on a Friday when the delivery people might want to get finished early.  (3) Do not count on help arriving to assist you unless you specify a time.

Now, to the bed…. It is wonderful.  It sits higher than the old bed and even the one that was in the showroom.  It is a different adjustable frame from the showroom one as it was a split queen and the type in the showroom only came in one piece.  So I have to hoist my rear end up a tad higher than before.  Hopefully Molly will not try to jump off this bed, it might break one or all of her legs at her age.  But she has been hesitant to jump off the couch, so I am sure she will not try it off the bed.  I had removed all of the bedding from the old bed and it had been washed.  So I gathered all of the bedding and made up my new bed.  The mattress is thicker, so some of my sheets may not fit as well.  By the same token, some of my sheets should fit very well, as the fitted sheet was a bit loose on the old bed.  The difficult part of making the bed was the foot.  There are now two metal bars holding the mattress in place.  It prevents the mattress from moving when the head or foot is inclined.  So I have to bring the sheets and blankets between the mattress and the bars.  A bit of a hassles, but not too bad.  The thing I really like, is that the new height.  Even though it is not much, I am not bending over as far.  I like that very much.  I put all of my pillows on the bed, but I do not think I am going to need them.

Marji & Danny arrived around 3:30 PM and I was happy to see them.  I had a ham in the oven and a lovely meal planned.  My other BFF, Debby, appeared around 4 and they all tested the bed, declaring it very nice.  Danny did help me by getting some things moved to the basement, but for the most part, we just chatted until dinner was ready.  It was a delightful meal and everyone was gone just before 8:00 PM.  I watched some TV and then around 9:00 PM, Molly and I headed into the bedroom to see how the bed works.

It was awesome.  I did learn that laying on your back and inclining the head of the bed pushes your feet to the bottom of the bed.  I kept the pile of pillows and watched TV well into the evening and hit the massage buttons and played with the regular massage and the wave massage.  It was nice, nice, nice!!!  Finally turned out the lights and slept hard.  Molly got me up a 3:30 AM, but we came back to bed and right back to sleep.  Woke up at 7:45 AM and felt wonderful.  I stayed in bed until around 9:00 AM, enjoying the snuggly comfort and lack of aching back and shoulders.  So, hassles and irritation with the prep and delivery was so worth the luxury of my new bed!