The hassles of moving house

DaveyR

Retired Moderator
Joined
Jun 15, 2006
Posts
5,422
Media
0
Likes
30
Points
268
Location
Northumberland
Sexuality
No Response
Gender
Male
I am moving to another apartment with the same complex building next week on Feb 1st.

I rang Telefonica on Friday (they have the monopoloy for providing phone lines in Spain) to arrange to keep our number and swicth over the line and ADSL. They took all the details ( it took 30 minutes to take them!) and advised me that an engineer will ring me within 2 weeks to give me an hour notice that he will come and do the work. I tried to arrange a set appointment but was advised that they do not operate in that way. The engineers are sent their work and arrange it when it suits them. Fortunately I have the keys for the new apartment but I do work Tuesday to Friday. If he rings me on a work day it looks like I will just have to tell my customers to get stuffed if I want a phone line.

Anyway, if I suddenly disappear from here without notice then you know we have been switched over to the new address before we move in.

I am dreading this move even though it is only about 50 yards. Spain is dreadful for red tape and bureaucracy. I have 20 copies of my passport, NIE number, and Residencia at the ready - believe me I will need them.
 

Gisella

Expert Member
Joined
Mar 18, 2006
Posts
4,822
Media
0
Likes
116
Points
193
Location
USA
Sexuality
99% Straight, 1% Gay
Gender
Female
It sucks I know...kisses see you soon I hope ...sometimes speed miracles in burocratic places does happens..:cool:

Take care of your back and drink plenty of liquids while moving.:smile:
 

madame_zora

Sexy Member
Joined
May 5, 2004
Posts
9,608
Media
0
Likes
52
Points
258
Location
Ohio
Sexuality
100% Straight, 0% Gay
As a perpetual mover, I feel your pain. It doesn't matter if it's down the hall or 20 miles away, you have to uproot your whole life.

I'll keep a good thought for you that the utilities and cable get transferred with minimal stress, and look forward to seeing you when you're reconnected.
 

DaveyR

Retired Moderator
Joined
Jun 15, 2006
Posts
5,422
Media
0
Likes
30
Points
268
Location
Northumberland
Sexuality
No Response
Gender
Male
I am in shock and so are all my pals who live here too. The engineer rang me at 7.30 this morning wanting come and do the switch at 8.00am today. I asked him in my limited Spanish if he could do it next week instead. No problem - he has made me an appointment for 9.00am next Wednesday ( day before we move).

Maybe Telefonica are getting the message on customer service or maybe I just got lucky. I know people out here who have been waiting over two years for a phone line.

Hope it is the same engineer as last time because he was a FF ( Fit Fucker).
 

Ethyl

Legendary Member
Joined
Apr 5, 2006
Posts
5,194
Media
19
Likes
1,714
Points
333
Location
Philadelphia (Pennsylvania, United States)
Sexuality
99% Straight, 1% Gay
Gender
Female
I am in shock and so are all my pals who live here too. The engineer rang me at 7.30 this morning wanting come and do the switch at 8.00am today. I asked him in my limited Spanish if he could do it next week instead. No problem - he has made me an appointment for 9.00am next Wednesday ( day before we move).

Maybe Telefonica are getting the message on customer service or maybe I just got lucky. I know people out here who have been waiting over two years for a phone line.

Good luck, DR. Moving can be a real pain in the ass. I've done it so much I have my own autopilot that switches on whenever the time comes.

Hope it is the same engineer as last time because he was a FF ( Fit Fucker).
If he looks like my HVAC guy, I don't blame you. :biggrin1:
 

DaveyR

Retired Moderator
Joined
Jun 15, 2006
Posts
5,422
Media
0
Likes
30
Points
268
Location
Northumberland
Sexuality
No Response
Gender
Male
Eh, I'm about to move across 2300 miles of open sea. I'll try to decide if I feel sorry for you....:tongue:


That's about the distance I moved when I came here from the UK. To be honest Sorcerer when you move so far away you do tend to plan it a lot more precisely ( well I did anyway). I'm sure it will go well for you.

Where are you mving to anyway? Good luck.
 

DaveyR

Retired Moderator
Joined
Jun 15, 2006
Posts
5,422
Media
0
Likes
30
Points
268
Location
Northumberland
Sexuality
No Response
Gender
Male
As a perpetual mover, I feel your pain. It doesn't matter if it's down the hall or 20 miles away, you have to uproot your whole life.

I'll keep a good thought for you that the utilities and cable get transferred with minimal stress, and look forward to seeing you when you're reconnected.


Thanks MZ. We have moved 16 times now in twenty years and this is our shortest move to date. We are both pretty chilled about it to be honest. Our current Landlord is overseas and not in a rush for the keys back so we do have the option to stay on here for a few days if it all goes pear-shaped.

The bureacracy involved with utilities, banks, Insurance companies etc in Spain is a nightmare.
 

Principessa

Expert Member
Joined
Nov 22, 2006
Posts
18,660
Media
0
Likes
138
Points
193
Sexuality
100% Straight, 0% Gay
Gender
Female
My former boss' mother-in-law had a saying which took a few moves for me to comprehend.

"Three moves equals a fire."

Translation: You lose just as much after moving 3 times as you do in a fire.

I had no idea how true this was until I moved from Fitchburg to Leominster, MA. A distance of four miles. l lost my melon baller, blender, and iced teaspoons! The weird thing I KNOW I packed them and they weren't all in the same box. :confused: Okay it gave me an excuse to hit Target and Crate & Barrel but isn't that weird?!?




That's about the distance I moved when I came here from the UK. To be honest Sorcerer when you move so far away you do tend to plan it a lot more precisely ( well I did anyway). I'm sure it will go well for you.

Where are you mving to anyway? Good luck.
 

DaveyR

Retired Moderator
Joined
Jun 15, 2006
Posts
5,422
Media
0
Likes
30
Points
268
Location
Northumberland
Sexuality
No Response
Gender
Male
My former boss' mother-in-law had a saying which took a few moves for me to comprehend.

"Three moves equals a fire."

Translation: You lose just as much after moving 3 times as you do in a fire.

I had no idea how true this was until I moved from Fitchburg to Leominster, MA. A distance of four miles. l lost my melon baller, blender, and iced teaspoons! The weird thing I KNOW I packed them and they weren't all in the same box. :confused: Okay it gave me an excuse to hit Target and Crate & Barrel but isn't that weird?!?

Good saying NJ - Having said that once when we moved to Scotland from England we got the removal firm to do the packing. We unpacked the boxes ourselves and found a few things in the boxes with our stuff that were not ours.
:biggrin1:
 

DaveyR

Retired Moderator
Joined
Jun 15, 2006
Posts
5,422
Media
0
Likes
30
Points
268
Location
Northumberland
Sexuality
No Response
Gender
Male
Well everything went fantastically. Now that is amazing for this country. Everyone turned up exactly when they should have and did what they needed to do. Even the new furniture we ordered turn up this afternoon as agreed. All unpacked and sorted now - even the packing crates have been disposed of. Bought some Moet to celebrate and really enjoying it.
 

dannymawg

Experimental Member
Joined
Sep 30, 2006
Posts
1,113
Media
0
Likes
17
Points
183
The last time I moved, I had two identical boxes of clothes - one of my prized vintage clothing, and another to give to Goodwill or the like. Somehow the two got mixed up, and once settled in I opened a box to find all the giveaway clothing inside.

Some homeless dude somewhere is now wearing my extreme cold weather Army surplus parka, "My Mother Thinks I'm At The Library" T-shirt, the cream suede bellbottoms I wore for my disco cover band, and my jockstrap from high school :tongue: