The BIG weekend at last! While I was meant to finish up work at 12:00 on Friday, I only ended up leaving the office around 14:30 – but I did leave with a car loaded up with electronic equipment! Yup, I had managed to convince Kyle that it made sense for me to pack up my desk on Friday because it was still in the varsity holiday period which made it easier to move around campus with the car. So with almost as much bubblewrap as computers in the car, I headed off back to Bellville.
I made a slight detour via Ryan’s place first to pick up one of the totes that I had already returned and ended up spending a sizable chunk of the afternoon playing some NHL hockey against him on the PS2, now that the poor bugger has had to revert back to the old console after returning his buggy Xbox 360. From there it was straight back to the flat for some good old elbow grease which needed to be applied to cleaning up the place a little.
Chantelle eventually arrived later the evening and we headed off to the perennial favourite Silver Spur to enjoy a nice and talkative meal with the Montgomerys. Unlike the last time I was there with Terrance and Ryan, the service was excellent and the food was thoroughly enjoyable – heck, we evening stayed for dessert!
From there it was time to call it a night, our last night in the flat ever for that matter, and it wasn’t too long before the two of us were passed out cold, getting as much rest as possible for the hectic day that awaited us on Saturday.
07:30 and I got woken up by a phone call from Andri to inform me that the guys who I was donating the bed and lounge suite to were on their way. So Chantelle and I shot of out bed like bats out of hell, got ready and got to work. I deconstructed the bed and knocked all the loose bits back together while Chantelle tackled the cleaning of the fridge.
It wasn’t too long a wait before I got a call from the gate to open up – Malcolm and the lady and her crew had arrived. Shame, Regina comes from Khayelitsha and has been working for Andri’s mom for more than 25 years now, and it was so wonderful to see just how grateful she was for the furniture I was giving her. It took a little work, but eventually myself and the two blokes she had brought with to help managed to load everything up on their tiny little trailer – with one sofa in the back of the taxi van! Honestly I hope they made it back in one piece because I was more than a little dubious when they pulled out on that rickety contraption! Anyway, my good deed for the month was done.
That gave us just enough time for Chantelle to shoot off to Tygervalley to replace the sunglasses she had stepped on and snapped the previous evening and me to get to the bank to replace my card. Funnily enough, even on payday the queue I stood in wasn’t bad at all – it was the actual process of replacing my card that took almost half an hour to complete!
Time really wasn’t on my side as I scuttled back to the flats and got the washing machine and fridge all prepped for the next movers to arrive. An hour earlier than planned, Monty, Rob and a buddy pitched up, bakkie idling in front of the stairs, and we hoisted down the rest of the stuff. And of course, the service lift is still not repaired, meaning the normal passenger lift was working overtime once again! Anyway, we strapped the washing machine and fridge safely on the back and it was time to wave bye bye…
It was at this point that Chantelle abandoned me to head off to Gordon’s Bay for work and to help out with the logistics of the stuff Monty and Rob were bringing through for me, meaning I was left alone in the flat to get on with the cleaning. The place is basically now just an empty shell, meaning all the bloody places that have collected dust over the years are now exposed – and that means I had a truckload of cleaning to do.
So the rest of Saturday afternoon was pretty much spent non-stop on cleaning up and it was only a short intervention visit by Ryan that kept me sane. As it is the flat looks a lot better, but I am afraid pops is probably going to HAVE to get a professional cleaning crew in here.
Exhausted and dead on my feet, I headed off to Ryan’s place to spend the evening (seeing as I now had no bed to sleep on at home). There I lent a quick helping hand to wash mom’s car and then we sped off to grab some takeaways in order to veg on the couch and watch Mythbusters on Discovery. Of course, I couldn’t let the opportunity slip and soon I had him gripping a PS2 controller as we clashed heads in Fifa Street and NFL Street and then fought together in the thoroughly enjoyable Mortal Kombat: Shaolin Monks, only putting down our weapons of war around 00:30!
Sunday morning we were both up bright and early and off to my flat to meet up with Dean who was lending a hand (and a truck) with the final move. Zania tagged along and in two short trips in the lift my flat was empty and we were on the long road to Gordon’s Bay.
Absolutely perfect weather greeting us at the Nagua Bay complex and it took us a matter of minutes to dump the stuff out of the truck and grab something to drink. In the end the buggers ended up staying and chatting for three times as long as what it took to actually move the stuff so eventually I had to subtly tell them to get lost by kicking them out of the house and locking the gate behind them!
Actually they were a tremendous help and thanks to them I could now get down to business and sort out the flat. With Chantelle working I was left to my own devices and was pretty soon hunkered down on the tile floor trying to make work of the various plans for my flat-pack furniture that I had purchased. A lot of sweat and screwdriving later, I stood proudly and surveyed my handiwork – one dining room table, four dining room chairs and one TV cabinet. Not too shabby if I say so myself! :)
By that stage of the day the shadows had already begun to draw longer and I took a quick five minute break by going for a quick dip into the sea and then it was straight back to work for me, this time tackling the multitude of containers that were in desperate need of unpacking. Sickly Chantelle eventually joined me at the flat, bringing with her some delicious bobotie for supper, which we were able to enjoy while sitting at our brand new dining room table – what bliss I tell you! It feels good to be a man and build something (even if I was stressing like a baby when I couldn’t find the mislaid plans for the TV cabinet!)
Anyway, we didn’t work for all that much longer because just after 22:00 I declared enough is enough, downed my tools and headed straight for bed, dragging the hapless Chantelle behind me. I was tired, sick and sweaty, but I had a smile on my face because I knew that at last it was done. I can now call Gordon’s Bay my home – even if there is still a ton of work to be done and that I need to be up at 05:00 in the morning to leave for work at 05:30…
Editor’s Note: If you think this article was a little messy to read, rest assured that it was rather messy to write. Used tissues everywhere! I think my babes has gone and infected me the virus that she was carrying. Stupid immune system had better kick in soon… I have got a lot of work waiting for me!