The Running List of Problems We're Facing Since Deciding to Move to Arizona
I am an optimist--if you've spent any time with me or even reading my Facebook and Twitter posts, you know this--but, damn, it's hard to remain optimisitic right now. Nearly everything that can go wrong over the last couple of months has, in fact, gone wrong.
First, my wife was laid off. Her company divested all its holdings in Oregon, laying off employees there. That, we decided, was the perfect impetus for a move to Phoenix, AZ. It was time for a change, and seemed like a great thing for our family. We'd been talking about it for a year. That decision, though, was the beginning of a lot of ups and downs.- BAD: Apparently realtors and rental agencies in Arizona have a problem talking to a woman. Every time my wife calls and tries to get info on a house she's found online, the realtors (etc.) blow her off or refuse to return her calls. When I call, they treat me great. I can't do the house search due to traveling, teaching classes, onsite consultations, and other work that keeps me busy.- BAD: Even those realtors (etc.) that WILL talk to my wife want us to PRE-PAY the security deposit on rental houses BEFORE or CONCURRENT WITH submitting an application for rental. It's "how things are done here," they say.- BAD: We're 1 week from moving to Arizona and still have not found a place in Arizona to move to.- GOOD: My wife finally finds a great house, the realtor will actually talk to a woman, no $900-$1200 upfront app fee. We're approved, sign papers via fax. It's 4 days before we leave Oregon.- BAD: The PODS moving container we used for packing our house was too small despite the estimate of the PODS rep. We had to hire a second PODS, a significant expense we hadn't been counting on.- GOOD: Amidst a mess of sales ads and coupons, my wife found a year old book royalty check of mine; the amount was sufficient to cover the second PODS and other expenses.- BAD: My wife received a speeding ticket the first day of our trip from Oregon to Arizona (Saturday). It was a small town speed trap, one that went from 55 MPH to 35 MPH with a sign half hidden by low-hanging tree boughs. The small town cop was waiting across the street from the sign.- BAD: Various things went wrong with our planned hotel and dinner in Reno, Nevada.- BAD: We were delayed the next day and couldn't stop for the night; we had to drive straight through to meet an 8:30 AM Monday paperwork signing deadline in Phoenix.- BAD: We got stuck in a bug-infested, smelly motel that day.- BAD: The water had not been turned on in our new house. It would take 2 more days for that to occur. In the meantime, we had to stay in that bug-infested, smelly motel with my wife, her parents, our daughter, our pets, and me.- BAD: The stress of the situation led to an unnecessary, huge argument between my wife and me.- BAD: The area of Arizona to which we moved is a haven for giant flying cockroaches.- BAD: PODS was late in delivering our furniture. They finally arrived Thursday.- BAD: The movers who unloaded our two PODS nicked the hell out of the walls and our furniture.- BAD: We lost several pieces of furniture due to damage either during loading in Oregon or simply due to the motion of the PODS.- GOOD: Cox Communications installed cable television and internet service on Thursday.- BAD: It didn't work as promised. Internet connection speed was lower than promised, and cable television was terrible--"certain features aren't available in your area yet"--including simple things like OnDemand of any type, many of the premium movie channels we'd ordered, etc.- GOOD: Cox didn't complain too much when I accused them of misrepresentation, demanded a full refund, and cancelled their service.- GOOD: DirecTV came out the next day to install their television service.- BAD: None of our furniture fits within the oddly shaped, sized, and laid out rooms of the new house.- BAD: The central air-conditioning cools the entire house EXCEPT the master suite and my office--the two rooms in which we spend the most time.- BAD: The shower leaks (heavily) and behind the wall; we find a puddle on the opposite side of the wall in the garage. It takes the plumber 4 days to come out to fix it. In the meantime, we don't bathe.- GOOD: We bought and assembled an above ground pool.- BAD: While filling the pool it floods the sand and stone backyard to the point that our patio furniture is floating. It takes 4 days for the desert ground to fully absorb the water and return to a state of sand from mud.- BAD: We didn't have access to our cluster-box mailbox for 2 weeks due to confusion between the previous homeowners, the property management company, and the Post Office.- GOOD: We get a very good deal on a new washer and dryer at Lowe's.- GOOD: Lowe's comes and installs the washer and dryer for us into the second floor laundry closet.- BAD: Unbeknownst to us, the washer's drain hose is improperly installed by Lowe's. The first load of laundry we run floods the upstairs.- GOOD: Lowe's promises to fix everything.- BAD: It takes more than 2 weeks for Lowe's to dry the upstairs, replace the carpet and padding, replace the baseboards and folding doors damaged during the water removal, and finish the job.- BAD: During this time we're stuck in the house waiting for daily visits from Lowe's employees and contractors. We don't get to do anything with our 11 year old daughter.- BAD: The day Lowe's et al finally finishes fixing everything our dog becomes sick and has to be taken to the 24-hour emergency vet (this is midnight Saturday night before Memorial Day). The vet exmaines her, takes x-rays, finds a shadow he calls an abstruction in her lower intestines. Suggests surgery, but says we can wait 12-18 hours to see if the medication he prescribed will cause the object to pass. [Yelp review of the vet.]- BAD: The bill for the vet was outrageous.- BAD: 12 hours later the dog is still ill (constant vomiting, lethargic, in pain). I call the vet. The receptionist/gatekeeper will not let me talk to the vet; receptionist said I would have to bring my dog in for a ($95) office visit if I wanted to speak to the vet. I explain that the vet TOLD me to call at this time; receptionist said I would have to bring my dog in for a ($95) office visit if I wanted to speak to the vet. I tell the receptionist that I think the meds the vet prescribed could be making my dog feel worse, that I merely need to ask the vet about the meds he prescribed; receptionist said I would have to bring my dog in for a ($95) office visit if I wanted to speak to the vet. I say something nasty to the receptionist and hang up on him.- BAD: We spend all day Sunday, all Sunday night, all day Memorial Day Monday, and all night Monday cuddling a dog we are positive is going to die because, after the move, we don't have the funds to initiate the $4,000-$11,000 estimated surgery.- GOOD: Tuesday morning we call a normal (non-emergency) veternarian. They agree to see our dog within a few hours, and for fees a fraction of those charged by the emergency vet.- GOOD: The new vet is a country vet--overworked, too small an office, many patients, and cares fiercely for the animals she treats.- BAD: The new vet examines the x-rays from the emergency clinic and fails to see the same obstruction. Says wait and see another day.- BAD: Wednesday we return to vet. Dog is still sick, won't eat or drink, probably dying. Vet runs new x-rays and finds "a large obstruction in the stomach itself; the obstruction is too large to pass through the digestive system and must be removed with surgery."- GOOD: The vet agrees to let us pay for the surgey in installments over the next couple of weeks, says she understands the costs of moving.- GOOD: Thursday AM dog goes in for surgery. We're feeling much relieved. We get home around 10 am and get to sleep a straight 5 hours for the first time that week.- BAD: Vet calls, says she couldn't find any obstruction in the stomach, intestines, or colon. Apparently there never was an obstruction or inflammation. Vet says it was probably just a temporary stomach flu or the dog ate bad food. Dog should be fine. Good news: the surgery bill is $100 less than expected! We're livid. Unnecessary surgery, unnecessary misery for our dog, unnecessary expense for the surgery when we couldn't afford that expense.- BAD: We pick up our dog, vet refuses to speak with us--"too busy. She'll call you to discuss the results of the surgery and the dog's prognosis in more depth. Will that be debit or credit?"- GOOD: Two days later, dog is doing much better (except for cone of shame e-collar, staples holding her abdomen together, the need to take pain killers and anti-biotics she hates taking). All original symptoms have disappeared lending credibility to vet's post-surgical, too-little-too-late diagnosis that the dog's original problem was merely a temporary stomach bug.- GOOD: After 3 weeks in Arizona, we FINALLY get to take our daughter out of the house to do something fun--Wet N' Wild water park. Everyone has a blast. It's our last day with our daughter before she goes to her father's for the summer.- BAD: Daughter is flying to visit father for the summer. We arrive at the airport and discover upon checkin that BookingBuddy.com and Expedia.com fouled up; daughter's flight is NOT scheduled for June 4th. Somehow the system set it for June 26th.- BAD: Daughter can't stay; her father is expecting her. Buying a new ticket at the counter costs $360 we don't have. We buy it.- BAD: USAir charges a ridiculously inflated unaccompanied minor fee of $100 on top of the ticket price. (Alaska, Delta, others charge $50.) We have no choice. We pay it.- BAD: The original June 26th ticket cannot be refunded. It's money wasted.- BAD: One of our betta fish, who made it all the way from Oregon, died Sunday.- BAD: The second betta fish dies on Monday; the final fish dies two days later.- BAD: I try to install a simple, Walmart-bought coat-rack-style hook-board into our bathroom for towels, robes, etc. I drill holes in the door and pound in the provided anchors. Surprise! The screws that came with the hook-board don't fit the anchors that also came with it. I try larger screws I have; the anchors won't take threading. The rack is useless and I now have two, anchor-adorned holes in my bathroom door.- GOOD: On July 1st I get a chip in my windshield repaired.- BAD: Also on July 1st another semi truck shoots a rock into my windshield resulting in a chip and series of cracks larger than the one I'd had repaired 5 hours earlier.- BAD: Because of the holiday weekend, I have to wait until Wednesday, 7 July for SafeLite to come repair my windshield.- GOOD: SafeLite says the windshield needs to be replaced. Fortunately they have them in stock, and will be back later in the day to perform the replacement in the driveway of my friend's house.- BAD: SafeLite calls to say that they haven't got the moldings in stock, and won't have them until Monday the 11th. We drive back to Arizona Thursday the 7th.- BAD: While we're in Bakersfield, Calif. a massive dust storm with 60+ MPH winds covers the Phoenix metro area and destroys our brand new $200 canvas and wrought iron patio canopy. The winds not only tear the staked and cinder block-secured legs from the ground, sending the structure tumbling across the yard to warp the iron frame and shred the canvas, but also smash the structure through the cinder block wall dividing our yard from our neighbor's.
