Oh, what a day.

It started out well enough.  Pretty normal, all things considered.  I got a recommendation for an internet provider from an old friend and my husband called them today.  If all goes well, we might have internet by the end of the month.

We are still exhausted and I ended up falling asleep on the bed my daughters are currently sharing, while being cuddled by a cat.  The rest of the family ended up going into town. When I got up, I took advantage of the emptiness and made a video tour of the house that I intend to upload for a friend.  When the family got home, I learned one of my daughters was mistaken for me at a coffee shop. She then gave me the number of an old friend from high school I later got connected with. And so on.

Good stuff, in other words.  

The day has certainly ended on a sour note.

I got a call from a friend at the co-op we moved from.  It turns out another friend had passed away, likely several days ago. It’s entirely possible she passed while we were moving, or the day after. Living alone, she wasn’t found until today.

I can take some comfort in our last conversations. She was well aware she was already on borrowed time. She was at peace with her past and her life. She was also glad I was moving, advising me to let go and move on; that the place wasn’t worth what it was doing to my health and my family.

Sad news, but not unexpected. 

Then this evening, I was able to get my email. There was one from the movers.

In my last email to them, I was asking about the free storage option (since my first question about it had her giving me monthly rates and telling me the bill had to be paid first, while the contract says up to 5 weeks free storage, starting from the date of pick up, then the bill has to be paid) and when I could expect to find out the weight and the final bill.

What I got instead was a credit card form, with instructions, should I choose to use a credit card, to include copies of the front and back of my card, plus a total, including the 3% fee they charge on card transactions. I got a second amount for if I choose not to use a card.

It’s about $2000 more than I’ve got in the bank to pay for it.

There is no bill attached.

Nothing about the weight.  No breakdown if costs. Nothing.

Nothing about the storage I was asking about. Nor any sort of date, should storage not be an option. It didn’t even say anything about the amount of my deposit being taken off or not.

I would need to know when the truck is coming, so I can go to the bank and get a bank draft, money order or certified check, and have it ready for when they come. It’s not something I would get more than a day or two in advance.

The thing about living on disability is that we get paid at the end of the month. That’s it.  

What’s even more frustrating is that the amount we have now should have been enough. It’s about what the original estimate was, for 8000 lbs. With how much we got rid of, even with the partial pack that turned out to be a full pack, it should have been maybe only a few hundred dollars more. Not $2000 more. It’s even more than the in-house estimate I got, not including packing, which put me at 10,000 lbs. And there is no way I was that heavy.

But without having an itemized bill, I have no idea why it is so high.

And I don’t have the money to pay for it.

The Re-farmer