Coming Home

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

23 Comments
Inline Feedbacks
View all comments
Eileen

Wishing you and Attila the best of luck and hoping that Attila finds a permanent job quickly.

WendyNC

Wonderful news about the job situation! In the meantime, all best wishes for Attila over the next few grueling days.

TopsyTurvy (Teri)

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.

crochetlady or Lee Ann

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!

steve paul simms

Hurray!!!!!

Bex Crowell

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

Kate

Temporary: stepping stone to permanent, or something better.
Woo hoo! Things are falling into place.

TopsyTurvy (Teri)

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. 🙂

TopsyTurvy (Teri)

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!

NORA

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

TopsyTurvy (Teri)

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!!!

Joan Lansberry

Glad to learn there’s been job progress, I hope it’s a happy situation for Attila.