015 THE FINAL COUNTDOWN - DAY 8

It’s the final countdown.  Yes, I know, more song lyrics.  I kind of like starting blog entries with various sets of song lyrics.  Well, here we go, 8 days to go before I take possession of the house.  Granted it will be a few more days after that before I get fully moved in and staying in the new house.  There is sadness in getting into the final few days, but there is a lot of joy and happiness as well.  I really can’t wait to get this over with and begin to start on the path to my new life.

The whole point of this blog is to give me an outlet for the feelings and the stresses.  It is also to document the path of making such a life move at the age of sixty.  I know lots of other people make moves later in life to downsize, or because of health problems.  In my case I’m actually upsizing in going from a 600 square foot basement to a 1500 square foot townhouse.  But I’m also downsizing in the fact that I’m getting rid of maintenance and yard care issues that are increasingly difficult to do because of nagging long term injuries.

I have always liked writing and have done two other blogs in the past, I also keep a journal of activities every summer at the lake.  In that case it’s an everyday entry and I don’t intend to make this blog an everyday thing.  Sometimes I will make entries sporadically and other times it could be multiple entries the same day.  It’s just when the feeling strikes me, or the need to blow off some stress.

I still have so much to do, but thankfully packing isn’t one of them.  Yes, I have to organize a few things, but I don’t have to physically lug boxes all over the place.  Sort of like yesterday when I helped my son move.  I just drove my truck and Karl and his friends loaded it and then I drove it to the destination.  He is quite literally just across the Fraser River from my new house.  We can just pop over the Golden Ears Bridge for visits.

Today I have to get busy and get 1-800-GOT-JUNK back in here to get rid of the remaining junk that I don’t want to keep and certainly don’t want to pay to have moved.  I also have to work the phones to finish off the address change list that I cannot do online.  I also have to work out what I need to keep out of the packing, for example clothes or dishes that I will need for the final couple of days.  Also stuff that I won’t have the moving company move such as various items of camera gear.

One thing that popped up in my email today that I forgot to put on my list is that Toby’s dog license is up for renewal in Vancouver this month.  When I logged on to get a phone number, I discovered that there is a link to cancel his license.  It gave 3 options, dog died, dog given to someone else or no longer living in Vancouver.  Now I have to call Maple Ridge and arrange for him to be licensed there.

As I listed in my last blog entry, busy, busy, busy.  It certainly doesn’t look like it is going to slow down anytime soon.  Even after the move I will remain busy for a while with documents and getting the house set up with furniture and unpacking things.  Even just settling into the new house and community will be some work in and of itself.  I hope I end up with nice neighbours and that we end up with a fairly tight knit community when the whole complex construction is done and all residents are moved in.

014 BUSY, BUSY, BUSY

Yesterday was a busy day and it turns out almost a sleepless night.  I conked out just before 11:00 PM, but was wide awake at 1:30 AM and I’ve been up since.  I went back to bed at 3:00 AM but was just staring at the clock ticking by until 4:00 AM.  At that point it becomes the law of diminishing returns.  If I fall asleep now, it’s a guarantee I will sleep in and miss hockey, and we can’t be doing that.  I would have a nap later on, but I have promised to help my son move.  Well at least provide the truck.  I’ll try and snooze while he and his friends load it up.  Here we are moving about a week apart.

What made things so busy is that after our regular morning routine, we went furniture shopping.  The number one priority is to get a bed so that we will have someplace to sleep.  The rest can be obtained as we go along.  So on that note we headed off to Sleep Country, to see what was there.  Well, talk about fancy.  I ended up with a Queen size Sealy Posturpedic, memory foam, adjustable bed.  It is going to be an enormous upgrade from the hide-a-beds I have been sleeping on for 20 years, almost to the day.

I even went so far as to buy a second bed for one of the spare bedrooms.  I had not really intended to do so, but both were on sale at tremendous bargains, so I figured I might as well do it at the same time and have them delivered the same day.  I even went all out and bought a couple of very fancy, and expensive pillows for my bed, plus a nice headboard.  The beds will be delivered the day before we actually spend our first night in the house.  I spent the afternoon, evening and part of the night doing the previously mentioned address changes and have 35 of the 46 done.  The others are being stubborn.

I actually take possession of the house on March 8 at 12:30 PM.  Sometime during that afternoon, TELUS will come and hook up my new phone.  I already have the number memorized, probably because the last four digits are the same number we used to use as a non-emergency number in the police department.  Later that day, Shaw will be coming in to hook up my internet and cable TV services.

I have to be back at the old house on March 9 for various errands and hockey at UBC.  March 10 the packers come and get things ready for the move.  I haven’t had a lot of experience moving and even less so packing up everything that needs to go.  The biggest advantage is if they do the packing, then 100% of my stuff is insured against damage.  If I do it myself, it’s only 50%.  Later this afternoon I have to be out to the new place because the beds are being delivered and set up.  Then it is back to the old house for the final night in the old place.

Then we hit the BIG day, the final few hours in the old house.  The movers come and load up what stuff I have.  Very little, if any furniture because I don’t have any.  I have my TV, a chest of drawers, a pool table in the garage and a hide-a-bed but it isn’t coming with us, because my son gets it.  That evening Renee will come out on the Westcoast Express to join Toby and I at the new house and we will all spend our first night there together.

Toby’s 10^th birthday is March 10, I entered the police academy on March 10, 1975, some 41 years ago and I actually moved into the basement here on March 13, 1996, so almost 20 years to the day.  It is a week of milestones.  It will be the start of my new life and hopefully the stress levels will then drop right off.  It has been an insane 14 months.

013 ADDRESS CHANGES OUT THE YING-YANG

This moving is a lot of work.  I have been working since yesterday to try and change my address on everything that it needs to be changed on.  Surprisingly, the two easiest to change online have been my driver’s license and my primary credit card.  Some have made it damn near impossible to do so, even though they advertise the ease of use of their web page.

For example, TELUS has a feature that allows you to move your service online.  Unfortunately, when I go in there to do it, it tells me that my new address does not exist.  Heck, the Federal Government web site recognizes it, and they are one of the most screwed up organizations anywhere.  So, it was a no-go so far for changing my phone service online.  The other screwed up part was trying to change my mailing address for my TELUS cell phone.  Despite sifting through about 1000 online pages, I’ll be damned if I can find the correct one to change my address.

I have been working on this for 3 hours last night and another 3 hours this morning, I have managed to successfully change my address on 9 items.  That doesn’t sound too bad, until you realize that I have 46 address changes to do and that doesn’t include all my friends and contacts.  They were actually easy to do with a bulk email to everyone in my list.

The other one which is vexing me no end is changing my address with the RCMP for my firearms license.  They have the warning stamped everywhere that you MUST notify them of a change of address within 30 days or face criminal penalties.  Umm, guys, I’m trying to change my damn address, but you have made it darn near impossible to do so.  They say I can use my i.d. and password from the income tax site, except it won’t accept the code that I just used 10 minutes ago to change my income tax.

BC Hydro, Fortis BC and Shaw all seem to be designed to make me pull my hair out.  All of them I have to give 10 days’ notice to have my services set up in my new place.  OK, but today is the 10-day mark and I have been trying since last night to do these and haven’t had a lick of success.  I could understand this if I was not tech or internet savvy, but I am, and I can’t figure them out, so I have no idea how anyone else can do it.

I booked my movers online without a whisper of trouble.  I booked 1-800-GOT-JUNK online without a single snafu, but changing my address is becoming a life changing event.  I feel sorry for people that move multiple times, like my kids, but then again, they probably have nowhere near the number of changes that I need to make.  I guess when you live in one place for 20 years to the day, that you really do put down roots and they are very hard to dig up.

012 I'M SO EXCITED

I'm so excited, and I just can’t hide it, I’m about to lose control and I think I like it.  More song lyrics, with thanks to The Pointer Sisters, but the song definitely applies.  After all the waiting.  After all the disappointments.  After all the delays and when I least expected it, I received notice late this afternoon, on a Friday no less, my house is ready. I finally have set dates and can go into overdrive for planning.  March 7, 2016 is my completion date and I get to move into my new house on March 8, 2016 any time after 12:30 PM.

Now the frenzy begins.  I have done a great deal of prep work, but most of the stuff I need to do now can be done because I finally have a firm date.  I can buy my bed and ensure it is delivered on the 8^th, so I will have a place to sleep on the first night.  I can order furniture and have it delivered, because I have a firm date.  I can send out change of addresses, because I have a firm date.

I have to set up an appointment with my lawyer to complete all the paperwork and I have to firm up the date for the movers.  I have to arrange transfer of my utilities and get a new phone number.  Oh my god, for a while there it seemed like I had forever to complete all these things and now they are right on top of me.  It’s a scary but joyous time.

There’s been a few times that I have felt this kind of excitement in my life.  Just before the births of my three children ranks right up there at this level, well actually a level way above this.  Just before the purchase of my first house, coincidentally a townhouse as well.  I know there is others, but I’m in such a tizzy right now, I can’t think straight.  I’m sure it’s going to ramp up to a new level on March 8.

It comes two days short of the anniversary of entering the Police Academy some 41 years ago on March 10, 1975.  It will be also two days short of my buddy Toby’s 10^th birthday.  It will be quite a present and exciting for him that day as well, moving into a new home.  Not counting time at the cabin, this will be his 4^th home, two of which are his forever homes with me.  He spent his first 9 months in the home where he was neglected, 6 weeks in a shelter and then forever with me.

The words are just jumbling together as they try and get out of my head and onto this page.  Hopefully this entry is making at least a little bit of sense, but the wait is over.  Well at least the initial wait, I still have to wait another 10 days or so, but the excitement and relief is real.  Yahoo!!!

011 BUILDING HIGHS AND CRASHING LOWS

They say that good things come to those who wait.  Well, I have been waiting.  Now that things are so close though, the waiting is fast becoming unbearable.  This whole process began on January 4, 2015 with the death of my Dad.  That was when I had a 30-day deadline to obtain a mortgage so that I could fulfil my end of the bargain and retain the house.  I really thought I was going to have major trouble qualifying for a mortgage being retired and on a pension.  It actually happened pretty quickly and I was the proud owner of my childhood home.

Unfortunately, as the months passed, the crushing debt was weighing me right into the ground.  The stress of that debt was playing on my health.  Add in the stress of dealing with my Dad’s estate and processing his loss.  Combine all of that with a significant back injury, a fractured wrist, previous knee surgery and my body was taking a physical and psychological beating.

After a summer of debating how I could best relieve the debt and what would be my best course of action.  I made the difficult and yes, painful decision to sell.  That occurred very quickly after I made the decision and called my friend Neil Thompson.  Within 2 weeks, the house was sold.  More accurately 10 days and that is only because the strategy was to leave the house on the market for a week, do the open house on the weekend and then accept offers on the Tuesday evening.

Once the sale of the house was put in motion, then I had to find a place to live.  After extensive searching online and picking out several possible locations, the physical search began.  I was quite open to living anywhere.  Renee was really wanting White Rock.  We looked at a place in Surrey which was very nice and looked like it would end up being “the place”.  It was a bit of a difficult commute for Renee though, plus it was missing several things on my want list.

We looked at a place in White Rock and were shocked.  The location was right on the King George Highway and noisy as heck.  It had literally nothing on my list and it was tiny.  The Master Bedroom was tiny and a queen size bed would have been crowded.  It was listed as a three-bedroom home.  By comparison to what I bought, the spare bedrooms there were about the size of my new walk-in closet.  Not to mention expensive and would put me in the position of another mortgage.

A couple of other places were looked at and rejected outright and then we walked into “The Place”.  It had everything, was within my budget and it’s a nice commute for Renee on the Westcoast Express.  The stumbling block here was the wait for closing on my house.  The days dragged by until October 30 and I received my money, which promptly disappeared.  Easy come, easy go.

Now the wait really began.  The down payment was put on my new home, which was under construction and just in the framing stage.  The projected finishing date was Feb 15, 2016 but allowing for delays Feb 29, 2016 was more likely.  Any further delays could push it back to March 15, 2016, but not likely further than that.

Finally, I got my notice that my final inspection would be Feb 17, 2016, so we are already two days behind the original projected date, but I figured things would progress quickly from there.  The days began to drag by, with the anticipation of the move building.  There was no word forthcoming about what was happening.  I suspected it may be a problem with Occupancy Permits.

On February 25, 2016 I got an email from my lawyer which instantly caused the excitement to build, until I read it and from a building high came a crashing low.  Sure enough there was a problem with either City Hall or the Land Titles Office and certificates have not been issued and so the ten-day notice to close would not be issued either.  The one statement that stood out and which really hit home was “the completion date for this transaction WILL NOT occur on February 29”.

010 THE WAIT GOES ON

The wait goes on, and the wait goes on.  Good song lyrics but the increase in stress of not knowing when exactly I can move is really starting to weigh on me.  I have an estimate from the moving company but no set date and I’ve postponed them twice.  My son wants my hide-a-bed, but I can’t give it to him until I move or I will have no place to sleep.  He moves on the 28^th, so I know he would like to get it soon.  I have had the junk people in once, but there is a bunch more to go, including a few things I am still using.

I have said goodbyes to the house and neighbourhood time and again, only to still be here.  That being said, while I was at the dog park today, enjoying a rare bit of sunshine, I looked around at my neighbourhood to embed it deep in my memory.  It was at that time that I realized how drastically my whole neighbourhood has changed.

It used to be all WWII style houses and primarily Italian, English and Slavic families and now there is a plethora of monster homes, with laneway houses added on and it is primarily Asian now.  I’m not being negative with that statement, or racist, it’s just amazing to me just how much the neighbourhood has changed in the last 5 years.  It is no longer where I grew up and those memories will be what stay with me the most.

With no set move-in date as yet, I’m stuck between a rock and a hard place.  Renee and I have gone out looking at furniture and have a few things picked out, but I can’t go buy anything because I cannot give them a date to deliver the items to the house.  I’m trying to get an estimate from a contractor to install a winch in the garage to pull the boat in, but therein lies the same problem.  I would do it myself but I don’t have the tools to drill into concrete and with my back in the shape it is in, I don’t know whether I could physically do it either.

Doing my final inspection and seeing inside my place for the first time, has really whetted my appetite for moving in.  I have done a little exploring around Maple Ridge and seen all sorts of great scenery and potential wildlife photo opportunities.  I’ve also done a lot of searching online.  While East Vancouver is still my neighbourhood, it’s fast being pushed to the edges of my memory and the new opportunities are beginning to fill the void left behind.

It’s all a waiting game and I just have to be patient until the time comes.  It’s just difficult and it’s like being a kid near Christmas and waiting for your gifts.  In this case I already know what the present is, but just the anticipation of embarking on my new life is what is making everything so difficult.  Good things come to all those who wait, and I’m waiting, and waiting, and waiting…

009 MISSES AND MEMORIES

I suppose it’s a natural thing that the closer it gets to moving time, the more there is to find fault with the old place.  There are so many good memories wrapped up in this old house, but there are a significant number of annoyances that I won’t miss at all.

I certainly won’t miss the dingy, tiny, cold basement that has been home for almost 20 years to the day.  I moved in here March 13, 1996 and if all goes to plan it will be March 1, 2016 that I leave and start my new life.  I have three tiny windows, two of which I cannot open the blinds, because people can look right in.  The other window is the only one that opens to allow fresh air during the warm months.  It’s also either open or shut, there is no opening it just a little.

It’s cluttered, as I have virtually no storage space, so things get stacked wherever.  With that, it makes it almost impossible to keep clean.  Not that I am by any means a good house keeper or anything, but having storage space and open areas will make this task easier.  Granted, with more space means more work keeping it clean, but I have that covered as well.  Robotics comes to the rescue in the iRobot Roomba vacuum cleaner.  Fully controlled by smart phone, I will be able to activate them while I am out.

I will miss the trees, but I won’t miss the gigantic upheaval of the driveway caused by the roots of the cherry tree.  The cherry tree that does not bear any edible cherries.  It also drops all manner of gunk and stuff on my boat that is parked underneath it.  For the first time my boat will get to reside indoors during the winter months.

I’m not a big apple eater, so for that reason I won’t miss the apple tree.  Then again, now that I will have a fully equipped kitchen I will miss the steady supply of fresh fruit to try my hand at baking some amazing treats.  I will also miss the tree because it was planted by my Grandfather on the day I was born.

While I will miss the wildlife in the neighbourhood for photographic opportunities, there will be even more available in the countryside I am moving to.  I may even be able to get that elusive bear photo.  What I won’t miss is the critters that have taken up residence with me.  I have squirrels that get into the attic under the roof.  There are racoons living under the front porch, which kick up a ruckus every night with their fights.  I certainly won’t miss the mice that run across my tiny kitchen counter.

I really won’t miss the rats that took up residence in the pile of junk Dad had in the back yard.  They even started infiltrating the house but several traps put a stop to that.  2011 was a bad year for rats all over the city, but it was getting nuts.  They disappeared when I got rid of the pile of junk in the back yard while Dad was in hospital for three months.  Prior to that I was not allowed to touch it.

I won’t miss the coyotes that roam the neighbourhood, although I’m sure they will be at the new place as well.  There is one that sits across the street at the park and howls, which gets Toby going too.  In the daytime it wouldn’t be so bad, but this is at 2:30 in the morning.  During the day there is apparently one that comes to the back fence and visits with Toby through the fence.  I have never seen it but I have had several neighbours who have driven by and seen them “chatting”.

TELEPHOTO LOOK FROM MY CHILDHOOD BEDROOM

It will be nice to not to have to hand wash dishes anymore and to have fully hot water.  We turned down the temperature on the hot water heater so that Dad would not accidentally scald himself.  It’s low enough that I can take a shower with just pure hot water and no cold mixed in.

WIDE ANGLE LOOK FROM MY BEDROOM AS A KID

What I will miss most is my old neighbourhood and the park across the street.  This is where I grew up and played, went to cubs and scouts and played Little League baseball.  That will always be in my memory and I’m glad my kids got to experience some of this as well during visits here.  It is a new adventure and a new life that I embark on and I am so looking forward to waking up in my new house.

008 WOW! JUST WOW!

FIRST CLOSE UP OF MY FRONT DOOR

Wow!  Just Wow!  Today is the big day.  It’s final inspection of my new house which will coincidentally be my first time inside my place.  Up to this point I have been able to see the house from behind a construction fence, but was not permitted to get close to it, or to enter it in any way.  This is all to do with safety with all of the big machines running around the complex, and workers working inside.

LOOK UP, LOOK WAY UP

The BC Government even did me a favour yesterday by tabling their budget and eliminating the property transfer tax for homes under $700,000.  It takes effect today, February 17, 2016 and because I don’t close on the deal until the end of the month, I get to have the property transfer tax taken out of my purchase price.  Awesome, anytime you don’t have to give money to the government and having them give some back is a bonus.

WHAT WILL BE MY BACK YARD

My appointment was 9:00 AM, so I took Toby out for his run in the park early.  Neil met me at the old house at 8:00 AM and we went out together.  We arrived early, despite being forced into a wrong turn by traffic.  We didn’t have long to wait though, as our escort met us there.  He is the “warranty specialist” for the construction company.  He was there to go through the house, look for flaws and explain the various points of operation that need to be explained.

MY FIRST ENTRY

I was shivering with excitement as I walked up to my front door for the first time.  Then it was time.  A rule I had already implemented, of no shoes in the house, was already in effect with a sign on the door stating that.  So off went the shoes and in I went.  There’s a smell to a new house, I would say akin to that “new car smell” and I just stood there for a few seconds drinking that in.

First stop was the garage and as I stepped inside, it was like stepping inside a cavern.  It is huge!  It seems bigger even than the display suite one.  Wall to door lengthwise it measures 36 feet 6 inches and 15 feet wide at its widest point.  11 feet 10 inches at its narrowest.  Certainly big enough to hold my boat and for good measure my pickup truck as well.

LOOKS LIKE THE BAT CAVE

Up the carpeted stairs we went to the main floor and I’m overwhelmed by the counter space, cupboards and drawers in my new kitchen.  The brand new high end Whirlpool appliances gleamed in their stainless steel coverings.  When you compare it to the tiny little kitchen space I have lived with for twenty years, it’s fantastic.  There is my new 5 burner gas stove with a gas convection oven.  Just amazing thinking of the meals I will be able to prepare.  Also considering I have had no stove for twenty years, it will be quite a change.  To be fair, using what tools I have had, I have been able to prepare some pretty tasty meals if I do say so myself.

LIVING ROOM LOOKING TOWARD KITCHEN

NEXT TO MY NEW STOVE

My dining room has a great view facing roughly south, right down the main road of our complex.  The living room has a great view up the road in the other direction.  There are lots of windows, and I don’t think I have a view looking into another building in any of them.

VIEW FROM THE DINING ROOM

Then it was up to the bedroom level.  My laundry closet, I won’t call it a room as the front loading washer and dryer sit in their own little closet in the hall.  I’m going to need some extensive studying to be able to use these and for that matter all of my new appliances.  Down the hall to the “master bathroom” which is right outside the 2 spare bedrooms.  Personally, I think of the bathroom in the master bedroom as that, but they say it’s called an en-suite.  More on that later.  It’s standard with a bathtub, toilet and a one sink counter.

FLOOR PLAN WITH MEASUREMENTS

The two spare bedrooms are well appointed with nice windows.  One is slightly larger than the other and it will become my computer room/office.  The other will be a spare bedroom/storage.  Not that I need any more storage.  Each room is complete with cable and internet plugs and each has its own baseboard heater and thermostat.  That was something else I noticed.  It was warm.  I was able to walk around in my t-shirt.  In my basement home, even when I had a furnace, I had to wear a sweatshirt during fall, winter and even spring.  Ever since November though, I haven’t even had a furnace, just a couple of space heaters.

The final stop was the master bedroom.  It is big enough to comfortably hold a king size bed, but I think to give more space for moving around, I’ll go queen size.  This is another awesome thing as I have been sleeping on various hide-a-beds for the last twenty years, and it’s no wonder my back is screwed up.  It will be great to sleep in a real bed.

MASTER BEDROOM, WALK IN CLOSET ON RIGHT

There is a neat walk-in closet that is literally bigger than one of the bedrooms in a townhouse in White Rock that I looked at.  It is equipped with its own outside window for Pete’s sake.  Again, more storage than I know what to do with, because the tiny little closet I have had here is overflowing.  I’m not even what one would call a clothes horse either.

WALK IN SHOWER

VANITY WITH DOUBLE SINKS

Into the en-suite bathroom and it has a counter with twin sinks, the usual toilet and a huge walk in shower that is almost big enough to be a room on its own.  Lots of room to enjoy a hot relaxing shower after a tough hockey game.  I opted for hardwood (laminate) floors throughout the house, instead of having carpet upstairs.  In fact, the only place with carpet is the stairs and that is a safety requirement.

Stepping back downstairs, there is a powder room right there and also the sliding door out onto my deck.  The deck is equipped with a gas fitting for my BBQ, so I won’t have to buy and lug propane bottles anymore.  It’s a 10 foot by 10-foot deck, so plenty of room for entertaining.  Then there are 5 short steps down to the fenced in yard.  Small, yes, but I don’t have to do any work on it if I don’t choose to.  The yard is not finished yet as the six weeks of rain has dampened (pardon the pun) putting in the grass.

10'X10' DECK

The fence is not finished yet and the boardwalk pathway between the houses is not yet finished, but they will come soon enough.  We went through the place with a fine tooth comb and could not find a single defect or questionable workmanship.  Neil said “this is the best townhouse/condo I have seen in all of my years in real estate.  I fully agree.

GAS CONVECTION OVEN

5 BURNER GAS RANGE

Finally, before leaving we went through and took measurements of each of the rooms, so I can start with planning how to do my finishing décor.  I am so amazed by this place (did I say that before?) and it already feels like home.  I’m still a couple of weeks from taking possession, but I can say without question that I have made the absolute right choice.

BUILT IN MICROWAVE

DOUBLE DOOR FRIDGE

BOTTOM FREEZER WITH AUTO ICE MAKER

The warranty technician seemed almost disappointed that we could not find anything wrong, so we put down that there is tape residue along the edge of the counter on the island, which by the way has a double sink and Moen faucet and a garburator.  I am so impressed and felt so at home and at ease there, I didn’t want to leave.

UNDER THE DOUBLE SINK WITH GARBURATOR

007 THE MORNING AFTER AND THE DAY BEFORE

It’s the morning after and the day before.  The house is really starting to look decidedly empty after having the junk collectors in yesterday.  It feels kind of sad actually, but, it is tempered by the thought that tomorrow I get to see my completed new house for the first time.  I’m hoping that if our inspection reveals any flaws, that they are minor and won’t delay the move any further.

I am so ready for this to all be over and starting down the path to my new life and living circumstances.  I am happy to be moving on but there is a real conflict of sadness of what I am leaving behind.  It will be an adjustment for Toby too since he will be leaving the only real home he has known.  I’m sure he will adapt quickly though as we will be together.

As I figured beforehand, despite loading their truck to almost overflowing, it will need at least one more trip to get the rest of the stuff we couldn’t get yesterday.  It’s mostly small stuff though, no real furniture left to get rid of.  Almost all of the empty DVD folders went yesterday, as did all my old skates and non-usable hockey gear.

I thought of having them back again today, but I need a day or two to get past it a bit as well as I need to sort through some of the remaining things to make some decisions.  I am donating a bunch of things to my neighbour of twenty+ years.  I’m giving her the picnic table I built, the lawnmower and a few other things.  I gave a bunch of stuff to my sister in the beginning and things have or will be going to my kids.

The weather is looking potentially nasty again today, which does not help the mood at all.  It is still dark out as I type this, so it is difficult to say.  Other than a couple of days here and there it has been either grey and cloudy or raining steadily for six + weeks.  I think I have actually taken my camera out only about 4 times since January 1.

It would be nice to maintain my record.  From the time I first saw my new place and every time I have gone there since, I have never seen it in the rain.  The sun has come out every time I have been there.  Granted that’s only about six visits, but it would be nice to do it again tomorrow.

006 ONE MORE HURDLE

1-800-GOT-JUNK LOADING

Holy cow!  It’s happening!  One more hurdle cleared as I just booked the junk people to come in and get rid of a lot of crap and clutter prior to the big move.  It took me quite a while to get past this hurdle.  I don’t know why, as I had no problem with stuff going out the door when my sister and her family were doing it.  In any case, they are booked and will be here within the next hour.

The house will take on a whole new complexion when some of this junk gets moved.  It looked so different after my daughter took the speakers and sound system and the upstairs kitchen looks positively empty without the table and chairs.  I have this funny feeling deep in the pit of my stomach which could be stress or it could be the lasagna I ate last night.

TOBY GUARDING THE OPEN FRONT DOOR

I think it will take at least two trips by the junk people, because I’m going to have trouble deciding what stays and what goes.  Some stuff I cannot get rid of until I move because there is still stuff piled on top that cannot be moved yet.  There is also still stuff that my sister indicated that she wants, so I have to pick and choose.

The next hurdle to get past is the grand unveiling or final inspection as they call it, of my new place.  It will be my first time through the doors and inside my place.  The excitement is already starting to make me vibrate.  After that is done, the next step in the process will be to sign the documents at my lawyer’s office and arrange for the final payment.

EMPTY DINING ROOM

Neil is meeting me here at 8:00 AM Wednesday and we will head out there together.  He knows all the tricks and what to look for and I will appreciate his detached outlook on it.  I’m going to be pretty excited and I’m sure not fully focused and so I might miss or overlook things.  It’s too bad Renee cannot be there, but she has to go back to work.

I highly recommend Neil Thompson of Re-Max Realty if you are buying or selling a house.  Neil has done really well by me both in getting top dollar on the sale of my house and then finding me the exact right townhome.  He has been with me every step of the way.  Granted he is an old friend, a work colleague and even my corporal at one point, but Neil’s integrity is off the charts and I’m sure he treats all his clients the same way.

I went with 1-800-GOT-JUNK for the removal and disposal of all the stuff I’m not taking with me.  They do a lot of recycling of stuff and donation of usable items to the needy.  That meant a lot to me and we shall see how the price works out.  This selection of company was made after extensive research online and talking to people who recommended them.

THE 2 FELLOWS WHO TOOK THE JUNK OUT AND GOT SOAKED

For movers I have chosen Bekins.  My daughter was giving me a hard time for using movers and not doing it myself.  She says of the numerous times she has moved; she has always done it herself.  Yes, but she’s not old, with a bad back and knees and not moving an entire household of stuff.  She’ll be beside herself when she finds out I’m having people come in and actually pack for me too.  I figure, I can afford it, so why not use it. 

005 DREAM HOUSE

They say that people have a “dream house” that they are destined to want.  Some people are fortunate to have found their dream house and some people more than one, but maybe not all at the same time.  They do change over time as well.  What started out as a dream house can become a nightmare over the long haul.  That’s because the house ages, as we all do and our wants and needs change.

The old house at one time was my dream house, because this is where I was born and raised and it was always “my big white house” growing up.  I wanted to live here forever, but that changed as I grew.  When I got married and moved into our first home, it was a 4^th floor penthouse apartment in south Vancouver.  Pretty cool, but hardly a dream as there were no elevators or parking.  My van and my motorcycle were parked somewhere on the street within a block of the building and my boat remained here with my parents.

Then we had saved enough for a down payment on a townhouse in Richmond.  A very nice complex with nice neighbours, but again with limited parking.  My wife’s car and my motorcycle were in the tiny carport and my van stayed in visitor parking.  The boat still remained here with Mom and Dad.  It had lots of room, 1500 square feet with three bedrooms on two floors.

Finally, we moved to my first “dream home” in Surrey.  The house was huge, 3200 square feet with a double garage and a long driveway.  This time the boat came along and was parked beside the driveway, since it was too long for the garage.  By this time, I had a car, but because one half of the garage was filled with stuff, it got to stay outside.  We had a huge yard that backed onto a forested area with a creek running behind it.  Awesome, but the yard work, oi-vay.  It took 90 minutes just to cut the grass, once a week.

After my separation I moved back home to help Dad and of course to help me with a much needed place to live.  I moved into the old basement suite which had been converted years ago to a rec room.  The pool table I had built in high school was still standing, which dominated most of my living area.  Dad was adamant that I not move it either.  It didn’t matter that he had not used it in many years.  Finally, after two years of living with no space, I just folded it up against the wall.  What started out as a temporary situation, stretched into a full 20 years (March 1996 to March 2016) in this tiny and cold basement.

I did love living here, as it was “my big white house” from my childhood.  The location is amazing, right across the street from Sunrise Park, but the house is old.  I did the yard work and maintenance.  I even painted the house twice for Dad in that time.  Eventually the house officially became mine, but by now, age, injury and debt had taken its toll.

My new place is a “dream house” because it is brand new and it requires no yard work or exterior maintenance and as long as I take care of it, the interior maintenance will be minimal as well.  It met all of my criteria in a home except for one thing.  I wanted a central furnace so I could later install air-conditioning.  I didn’t get the furnace, but the air conditioning is still a possibility eventually.  It also is built on the edge of a forest with a stream and has a garage big enough to hold the boat and the truck.

It literally became a “dream house” last night because my dreams overnight were dominated by this upcoming Wednesday’s “unveiling” for want of a better term.  I call it that, because I literally have not been inside my actual unit yet and have not physically seen a unit with my floor plan.  My dreams were so dominant last night that when I woke up this morning, I was completely disoriented as to where I actually was.  My current space looks different without the huge speakers and it took me a few minutes to wake up and figure out my location.

004 THIS IS REALLY HAPPENING

THE SIGN FROM FRONT DOOR

They say that the top five stressful things that can happen in a person’s life are a death in the family, selling a house, buying a house and getting married.  In this past year I have now experience four of the top five, and I have no plans to get married.  Normally I have no problem dealing with stress, but I think it is starting to catch up with me.

Losing Dad early last year sort of kicked things off.  The day after dad died, before I even had time to process it, my sister and her family arrived and started clearing his things out.  This led to the attic as well and there was stuff from the 1930’s found up there.  I spent 5 full 8 hour days just shredding old documents and then months later, found a whole bunch more to shred.

I got busy with the arrangements for Dad and also getting started on dealing with his estate.  That took a couple of months to get the initial part done, but I cannot complete it until I do his final income tax in the next couple of months.  Add into this getting a 25-year mortgage so that I could keep and stay in the house, and wow, things were really heating up.  I was scared that I would not qualify for one, but it proved fairly easy through my credit union.  But talk about stress.  Having a mortgage with such high payments.

This is really happening, I’m moving and very soon.  It was sort of an abstract thought after selling the house October 30, 2015.  My new place would not be ready for many months and so, life just continued on as if nothing had changed.  Then I got the call that final inspection of the new place would take place on February 17, 2016 and things snapped into focus.  I had to start getting rid of stuff to downsize.

When my daughter and her boyfriend came over yesterday to get my Dad’s old kitchen table and chairs, they also wanted my old stereo surround-sound setup.  Since I wasn’t using it anymore, and I could never get away with using a sound system with 1500 watts of power in a townhouse, I decided it was best to re-home it.  We or they loaded all of the stuff up into my truck and I drove them home, where they unloaded it.

Once I got home, my tiny living room/bedroom area is looking decidedly empty and that is when it really hit home that this is actually happening.  Now I need to bring in the 1-800-got-junk people to get rid of a bunch of stuff and declutter.  The more stuff I get rid of now, the less I have to pay to move.

Earlier I mentioned how the stress is catching up with me, my sleeping patterns have been all over the map in the past year.  Suddenly I cannot sleep past 5:00 AM and some nights I’m up at 4:00 and even once or twice at 2:30 AM.  I also noticed I am getting migraines again on a regular basis, and they had pretty much gone away before.  I had a wicked one that developed in the afternoon and lasted all night.  Now I get to deal with the migraine hangover.  It’s just like a real hangover, except you get the headache first, but don’t have any fun getting there.  It’s a combination of how the migraine physically beats you up and all the medications to try and stop it.

003 CLOSER AND CLOSER

The big day is coming closer and closer and it is not doing it slowly either.  As mentioned before the excitement is building, but so is the sadness and fears.  I want to make it perfectly clear that I am not having any second thoughts, whatsoever.  I agonized over the decision for months and I know I have made the right decision.  I’m positive I will love the city (I do now) I am moving to and I am positive I will love my new place.

Buying a corner unit ensures I share only one wall with one neighbor and I hope they are nice people and we will get along.  I am told it is a young couple just starting out, but we shall see once we all get moved in.  

DISPLAY SUITE STOVE

DISPLAY SUITE STOVE WITH MY COLOUR COUNTERS

I’m looking forward too many things and some of the ones that spring to mind are, that huge 5 burner gas stove and convection oven.  I already have so many plans and recipes I want to try out, it will be amazing.  I am looking forward to having my boat in a garage for the first time in its life.  It will be nice not to have to worry about freeze ups during the winter.  I’m looking forward to the almost unlimited cupboard and counter space in the kitchen and that huge walk-in shower in the master bathroom.  Having a walk-in closet will be an added bonus.

It's funny though, I have never actually seen the interior of my new place, nor have I seen an actual floor layout, other than drawings.  The display suite I have been through is a different floorplan than mine, so it is hard to visualize what everything will look like.  I have an idea what furniture I want to add, but until I actually get inside, figuring out the styles will be difficult.

WALK-IN SHOWER

DISPLAY SUITE KITCHEN

I have decided on real leather furniture and in black or dark brown.  Just because leather looks great, and lasts a long time.  There will definitely be a recliner as I have always wanted one and have gotten hooked on them from using the one at the lake.  I’m kind of thinking of a double recliner (loveseat) style, with a couch and maybe an armchair.  My living room will sort of be like my home theater.  Originally I was going to knock out a wall between the two spare bedrooms and make a home theater, but the living room option is better.

Along those lines there will be at least a 70-inch flat screen TV in the living room and my old 44 inch will be in the bedroom.  One spare bedroom will become the computer and camera room, while the other I will probably leave as a bedroom, in case anyone comes to stay.  This of course is all speculation, subject to what will fit where and how long the money holds out.  Of course, I don’t need to do it all at once, but the number one priority is buying a Queen sized bed.  I thought King sized, but it would not leave any room to move around in the bedroom.

In 1967 I became a Little League All-Star and a friend’s Dad made up plaques for all the kids on the team.  These were cast aluminum plaques that he made in his basement foundry.  Mr. Bromley did a great job on them and then in addition to those, he made door plaques for each of the families on the team.  Ours simply said “The Gowdyk’s” on it.  Luckily I remembered it was there and I took it off the door on Monday to take with me to the new place.  A little bit of the old mixed with the new.

002 TRIALS AND TRIBULATIONS

There is such a mixture of emotions running through me with regards to the move.  There is a deep sadness that the house which has been in the family for 70 years is no longer part of the family.  There is the excitement that comes with the purchase of a new place.  There is the anticipation of the closing on the old house and the resulting influx of money.  Seeing my bank account blossom from $400,000 in debt and credit cards maxed out to having over a million dollars.

I'm a millionaire!  Which lasted all of 15 minutes as the money was transferred to service debt, pay the new house, pay taxes, pay commissions etc.  It was truly fun while it lasted.  But at least I come out of it all with a new place, a new city, a new adventure and debt free.  My sister asked me on my 60th birthday, "so did you ever believe you would be 60, have a big mortgage and be living here?"  Truth is, no I didn't.  I would have gladly stayed, but physically and monetarily I just couldn't make a go of it.

I met the new owners and they are a very nice young couple, who grew up just six blocks from here and even went to the same Elementary and High schools as I did.  They love the neighbourhood and have always loved the location of our house, across from the park.  He is a dentist and she a real estate agent, but it was her brother (also an agent) who brokered the deal.

They have been very cooperative with allowing me to stay in the house until I have a place to go.  As he stated, "it's in our best interests to have someone living in the house until we can get the permits all worked out".  Yes, the house will be torn down, but I knew that long before I even considered selling it.  The house has seen 75 years (it was built in 1941) and was showing its age.  After the closing on October 30, 2015, the house no longer belonged to me and I was a now a renter in the house I had owned until the day before.

THE OFFENDING OIL TANK

 One day in early November the new owner called and was very sorry.  He had gone to his insurance company to get insurance on the house.  I had switched my policy over to "Renters Insurance" but that no longer covered the structure.  His insurance company refused to insure the house because of the oil furnace.  He tried several more companies with the same result, no insurance unless the oil tank was removed.

Of course once the tank was removed the furnace would no longer work and we were just heading into Fall and then Winter.  He didn't want too have the house left uninsured and I sure didn't want to live in a place that was uninsured, so I immediately agreed to have the tank removed.  He delivered four little space heaters to help keep the chill off.

GONE

A BIG EMPTY SPACE

001 THE BEGINNING OF THE END

THE HOUSE IN 2015

First a little history.  My grandfather bought this house in 1945 for the amazing price of $1500.  My Mother who was a grown adult at that time, moved in with them to take care of her parents.  After she married my Dad in 1950, he moved in as well.

Dad then built a suite in the basement where they lived until I came along in 1955.  In 1958 my Grandfather died and then in 1960 my Grandmother had a stroke.  In the interim, my sister arrived on the scene in 1960.  At this point the house passed into the ownership of my Mom and her brothers.  Since they each had their own homes in other parts of the world, Saskatoon, Long Beach, Jamaica they signed over ownership to my mother, no questions asked.

We went along as a happy family of four until I got married and moved out in 1982 followed a couple of years later by my sister.  In 1992, Mom died of cancer, leaving my Dad on his own.  He was in his mid-seventies at this point.  The house had been willed to my sister and I with Dad having lifetime tenancy privileges.  Unfortunately there was a screw up at the Land Titles Offices and the house was put into my Dad's name.

In 1996 when I separated from my wife, Dad invited me to come and live with him, in the very same basement suite that he had built so many years ago.  It gave me a place to live and it gave him the added security of having a policeman living in the basement.  Believe me, it wasn't without its trials and tribulations for quite a few years.  I had no stove and no shower facilities.  Dad and I tended to clash like oil and water on occasion.  But we always worked it out.

Initially, I could not afford to pay rent as I was living on a mere $100 per month for the first year plus.  Dad would not hear of it in any case, even when I got back on my feet.  I made up for it by running errands, taking him to Doctors appointments, doing yard work and maintenance projects around the house.  People used to bug me about how I was living rent free, but I did work for my keep, in addition to working shifts.

We had a few scares along the way with Dad having various health scares including several heart attacks.  One of the biggest scares came in 2011 when I got a 2:30 AM phone call from the RCMP saying Dad had been driving erratically and could I come pick him up.  By the time I got to where they had him pulled over, the intersection was full of police cars, fire trucks and ambulances and then I saw Dad on a gurney with a fireman sitting on his chest doing CPR.

I thought that was it that night, as he had gone into full cardiac arrest and then had his heart stop three more times on the way to hospital.  By the time we had gotten to the hospital, Dad was in Emergency and arrested three more times.  The Doctor told us at that time that if he arrested again, they were going to "let him go".  As luck would have it, he stabilized right then.  He arrested once more while in ICU, but was quickly brought back.

Dad amazed us all by waking up just in time to see the Canucks lose to Boston in Game 7 of the Stanley Cup Finals.  At this point there was no reason to believe he would ever get out of hospital and come home.  He fooled us all though.  After three months in hospital and care homes, he was discharged and came home, where I became his care giver full time.  Dad survived another 3 plus years.

In 2013 the error in the house ownership was discovered and moves were made with a lawyer to put it right.  Dad wanted me to be able to stay in the house and so an agreement was reached and the house was signed over to me, with a mortgage held by my sister, due and payable 30 days after Dad's death.  The real estate market in Vancouver had not by that point gone completely insane.  while in the lawyers office, the statement was made "if the bottom falls out of the housing market and you decide to sell, then you still owe us this money.  If the market goes up and you decide to sell, then you have made a tidy little profit".  Prophetic words as it turned out.

On January 4, 2015 Dad finally lost his battle and passed away a few days after his 96th birthday.  Now the scramble was on.  My sister and her family arrived the next day and started clearing out Dad's stuff and things in the attic.  There was stuff up there dating all the way back to 1945.

As per the agreement, I obtained a mortgage 20 days after Dad died and paid my sister.  The house was now officially mine, but of course that came with crushing debt.  It’s ok, I was going to make it work.  I had the mortgage amortized over 25 years to minimize the payments as much as I could.  I had already been retired 10 years by this point and was living on a fixed income.  A very nice income mind you, but still fixed.  The $1900 per month payments though did not leave a lot left over to live on.

Add into this the fact that I had suffered a significant back injury, then a broken wrist and followed that up with a knee injury, which left it near impossible to do the required yard work, or maintenance on a 70 year old house.

I kicked around suggestions and ideas of how to make it work.  Could I get a job?  Not likely at age 60 and inquiries proved that assumption.  How about staying in the basement and renting the upstairs?  Possibly, but I still had the problem of no stove and no shower facilities.  I had so little disposable income that solving that problem was almost impossible.  My sister offered to put in a shower at reasonable cost, but in February 2016, I’m still waiting for that to happen.

I spent the summer thinking about it and agonizing over it and trying to figure out what to do.  Renting out the upstairs was not practical for the reasons I listed plus the fact I was not at all keen on being a landlord, nor living with strangers.  Renting the basement and living upstairs, was not doable for the same reason.  Finally, after a summer full of stress and money problems, I came to the inevitable conclusion that it was time to move.

I contacted my old boss and good friend from work who was now a real estate agent.  We got together and he took a walk through the house.  We decided that the house would go up for sale at a listing price of $899,000.  Quite an increase from the $1500 that my Grandfather had paid.  Neil was fairly confident that we would probably end up with something closer to a million bucks.

NEIL PUTS OUT THE SIGNS

The house went on the market and on the first day of the open house, 35 people went through.  On the second day 72.  Meanwhile the real estate market in Vancouver had gone into frenzy mode.  By the time we made it to offer night, we had put on a restriction that anyone wishing to make an offer had to present a cheque for $50,000 in trust, to prove they were serious.  It was insane.  There was one fellow who came in and presented a cheque for $150,000.  I think he was serious.  The advantage here was if we reached a deal with any of them and they backed out, the money was mine and we would do the sale all over again.

We took 18 offers that night.  Some were lowball and one guy even tried to make an offer for less than asking.  The agents who appeared ran the gamut from total sleazeballs, to very professional and everything in between.  One guy who came in looked like a character from central casting for the TV show The Sopranos.  The fellow who presented the $150,000 cheque was the one who got it.  His offer was totally clean with no subjects and a total of $1,270,000.  An offer that was so far above my expectations as to be mind boggling.  Even my real estate agent could not believe it.

SOLD

Even more amazing was one lady made an even higher offer of $1,2888,888.88.  We dubbed her “Crazy Eights” but the offer was full of subjects and some “shady” stuff.  Plus she wanted me to pay $2000 per month rent to be able to stay until I got a place to move to.  We took the lower, clean offer and she went ballistic.  She could not understand how we could take less money.

FIRST VIEW

That out of the way, I had to find a place to live.  I decided I wanted a brand new townhouse, so that I would not have to worry about interior or exterior maintenance.  We looked at places in Surrey, White Rock, Langley, Coquitlam, Burnaby, New Westminster and Maple Ridge.  I set a criteria of what I needed.  I had two lists, one was “absolute must haves” and the other was “nice to haves”.  Some of the priorities were brand new, garage big enough for my boat, gas stove, etc.  We found an incredible place in Maple Ridge that had every single thing on both lists except one and that was a “nice to have”.

It's amazing how fast that much money can disappear.  After buying my new place, which as of this writing is still under construction, paying off my mortgage and penalties, paying off agents commission, paying off other debt that I incurred while trying to keep my head above water, taxes and filling the new place with furniture it didn’t leave a lot left over.  But, the big thing is I am now the proud owner of a brand new townhouse and I’m debt free.

EXTERIOR ALMOST DONE