20K and a Year Away

We are out of the apartment! We cleared everything out and headed to the hotel. This is the fourth hotel I have stayed in in Florida. What is it with the smell in these places? I think the damp has settled in and there is no saving them. I say burn them down.

On Friday, September 24th, I sold my car. That was my favorite car ever. I don’t know if you see it, too, but when you looked at it from the front, it looked like a T-Rex. You don’t see it? Maybe it is just me. That T-Rex just bought me another year on the road! Raaaaawr!!

Monday, September 27th, was our clear-out day. We had so much stuff in the apartment still. On Sunday, we made a huge pile of boxes and all the furniture and miscellaneous household items we couldn’t get rid of. There were appliances – mixer, rice cooker, blender, waffle maker – baking pans, pots and pans, utensils, dishes, roller skates, yoga mats, bike helmets, and so much more. We ended up with 7 or 8 boxes of just stuff! The entertainment center was still there, too. It was an impressive pile.

Fortunately, I ran into the maintenance man, Jonas, and asked if he would like the entertainment center. He said he would take it and see if anyone in his family wanted it. He also said he would take any of the other things we had left! That was perfect! He came by Sunday afternoon with two brothers, his daughter, a pickup, and a trailer. They hauled all the boxes, chairs, footstool, and entertainment center away. It was like magic, there one minute, gone the next!

Even after he took all that, there was all the stuff we were still using left. We had the blankets and pillows, camp chairs, cleaning supplies, and the microwave. Jonas said he would pick all of it up Monday after we moved out. It was so nice not to have to coordinate a garbage or donation run and he got a ton of good stuff out of the deal. Win, win! I did have to notify the office that everything was still there and he would pick it up later so they wouldn’t charge me for leaving it there! It’s the little things.

At work, I did all the things. I set an out of office message on my email. I recorded an “I don’t work here anymore” message. I turned in my badge and keys. I said goodbye to the people. I left. I am not officially done with work, but I am working remotely tomorrow… which means I am officially done with the office. It is a bittersweet feeling. I am leaving a job I really liked full of strong team members, which is sad, but also an environment that was not a good fit for me, which is good. You live and learn, right? I certainly learned that Florida is not my forever home.

Do not recommend, one star – only for the beaches.