In what seems like a sudden event, I now find myself taking occupancy for my loft after all this time (three years!). Last Friday (November 2, 2007) I actually moved a whole bunch of furniture and a few assorted things, just to get me started, and I’m on my way to finally moving in completely. I know!
The last month or has been busy, exciting, and stress-filled. So much so that I never got around to providing any loft updates for what seems like ages. So, here’s what happened in the last several weeks.
First, the Occupancy date was pushed out by a couple of weeks from the last date to October 31st. At the time, I really didn’t think that date would stick. Remember that point, it comes up later.
On Wednesday October 2, 2007 I had the Pre-Delivery Inspection (PDI) for my unit. Basically, you inspect everything with someone from the customer care team and make a note of any deficiencies (scratches, paint marks, missing paint, etc.) All that information gets recorded and they work out getting it fixed upon occupancy. If you looks closely through my pictures of the inspection you can see red dots. Those are the deficiencies.
That was a fun day and also an incredibly exciting one as it was the first time I actually saw the inside of my unit. It turned out better than I had hoped and the place looks bigger than I expected. I was in a mild state of shock which isn’t too surprising after 3 years when you think about it. And there really wasn’t anything seriously wrong when I did the inspection, just a few pain marks, scratches and a missing small kitchen cabinet door. I hope to get most of that done in the next few weeks, but all in good time. The Toy Factory itself still isn’t quite finished and there’s a lot of construction still going on so I’ll probably be getting things sorted out little bit at a time.
Things seemed to go pretty quickly after the PDI. Remember the Occupancy date I thought would slip? Well, it didn’t and I found myself booking a move in date a few weeks ago while also organizing the delivery of my furniture with the fine folks at EQ3. I’ve also been working out the mortgage situation with my broker, using a fax machine more than I have in my entire life, signing a ridiculous amount of cheques (one of which for a ridiculous amount), and having a good chat with my lawyer.
As I mentioned before, last Friday was the big move (with many smaller ones to follow). Since I’ve been living in a temporary, minimalist state until my loft was ready, I really didn’t have any furniture, so I pretty much had to get everything. It was great not having to move it myself and thankfully I had help from family and friends when it came to unpacking, assembling furniture, and dealing with inevitable pile of cardboard and packing material. That last part would have broke me if I were on my own. Assembling the bed, which I did myself, almost did in fact and I even bashed my thumb.
And finally, this past weekend, I actually slept over on Saturday night. I enjoyed that and I’ll probably be staying over at my loft on most weekends until I have everything moved in. The building itself isn’t quite finished yet, so I’m in no hurry and, due to the awkward timing of things, I still have my current apartment for another month or so. I was initially bothered by that, but it kind of turned out in my favour really and has made the whole move less stressful than it could have been. And I get to enjoy the freedom of being able to walk to work and go home for lunch for a few more weeks, so it’s not so bad.
So that’s it, the big wait is finally over and hopefully by the end of this month I should be permanently living in my new home.