Getting Ready for the Move. First Purchases. Manchester

GOT STUFF

SO excited about the move! Yea! I ordered a top of the line futon mattress made of a zillion layers of cotton and wool. Thick and fabulous. Everything here is made of wool. The duvets ("doonas") are even filled with wool, although I found and purchased one made of down. Also bought a dark oak bed frame, sort of a Japanese style. I'll post pics as soon as I get my new iPhone working. Heather is furnishing the office, so I'm packing up a giant Ikea desk of hers to take with me as well as some Ikea chairs she has. Her accountant donated an old TV. Very nice, but should I be worried? LOL There is some kind of city clean-up going on, so I of course sifted through all of the stuff the neighbors had put out on the curb ("nature strip") and scored: two nice door mats (for my deck and my front door), two short sold wooden stools to use as temporary bedside tables and a small two-shelf bookcase that can be used as a TV stand. My old friend Rich would be horrified.

MANCHESTER
"Manchester" is what bed linens/towels are called. I asked someone where the sheets were and they said "Manchester is that way" and pointed to the back of the store. I thought maybe there was a separate store called Manchester or perhaps he simply didn't understand my accent. When I first met my friend Jenny here she told me that she sold Manchester in her store, but at the time I was so overwhelmed with apartment hunting, meeting someone new, etc. it didn't register with me. Anyway, I of course had to Google it. Are you ready... linens came from the mills in Manchester England back in Victorian times and "Manchester" was stamped on the packing crates. That's also why plates/cups/bowls are referred to as China; they were imported from China.

SOME GLITCHES
There are a few glitches that I'll have to deal with regarding the move:
- I couldn't get in to the apartment to measure anything-- the rooms, the space for the refrigerator or the washer/dryer closet. Apparently no floor plan was available either. So, I will not have a fridge or a washer dryer until??
- It will take two more weeks before my home phone and Internet can be installed.
- Surprise. The realtor just informed me that in this apartment, water and sewer are metered separately so I'm responsible for both bills. Ugh.
- There is some funky processing glitch holiding up the mobile phone contract I signed last Sunday so the service is not yet live. Interesting challenge for moving day as I try to coordinate deliveries, etc.

All is okay though. I will use a mobile broadband stick for Internet access for the first couple of weeks. The cell phone contract will eventually work itself out and in the meantime I can use a prepaid card. Regarding the water bill, I plan to deliver amazing results for the new company and make enough money that I won't even think about the water bill. As far as the fridge goes, I'll hope that the law of attraction will help me locate the perfect size, stainless steel, quality, working fridge that is quickly deliverable and free. Well, it is the law of attraction...

WORD WONDERS
Nature strip: the bit of grass between the sidewalk and the curb.
Manchester: linens/towels
Doona: duvet
Brolly: umbrella