Moving to Italy...week #3

[LisaKinVA]

What a whirlwind.

 

Biggest news of the week...I saved my husband from making a horrible, horrible car purchase.  He has been going out with 2 guys to look at cars for the equivalent of $4-5,000.  Now, I've driven a beater -- and I am not anti-beater when it comes to cars.  In fact, I put our van squarely into the "beater" category with a value of $5,000 and 12 years of child abuse, dents, dings, missing hubcaps, and not-quite matching replacement door handles, etc.  But it runs really well (even with 170,000 miles).  And, our family fits in it.  But the cars 12-14 year old cars my husband was being shown make my van look "Like New" by comparison.  My gut told me these guys were out to make a fast buck off my husband -- and in the process rip us off.  (We're talking cars with speakers sitting on the floor-board, hanging out of the door, missing seat belts, plastic moldings falling off, ripped fabrics, really worn-out seats...but the engine works kind of car).  Needless to say, GOOGLE.IT was my best friend.  On the actual market (not just taking someone's word for the price of the vehicle), the cars we were shown were being offered for equivalent of $1000-$1500 -- they were marking them up by nearly 200% -- I pointed my husband to about 100 cars (Alpha Romeo 156, both the sedan and sport wagon) that were in our price range HERE in Naples that photo-wise were in excellent condition for their age (nicer than my van), newer, with low to average mileage.  Rip-off avoided.  I am relieved.

 

Driving in Naples...

I now know why my dh was so excited to come to Naples...so he could drive like a mad-man.  The man drives like a native (of course, the years of training in NYC and driving a 15 passenger van in DC traffic may have helped him a bit).  He is absolutely not intimidated here. DH has had use of a friend's VW Golf for the past week (our van won't be here for another month, and he hasn't actually purchased a vehicle...), so I've gotten to experience this for myself.  Oh dear.

 

DoD school...

Blondie started off in the 1st grade at the DoD school here, and was moved up to the 2nd grade as of Monday.  There were concerns because of her use of Abeka's DVD school (unfamiliarity, I'm sure), and because I said she was a reluctant reader.  Perhaps I used the wrong terminology (the girl CAN read very well...she just doesn't WANT to read...but her personality is such, that she would rather someone, anyone, do everything for her...think, she's at the table, the box of cereal is right in front of her, as is a bowl and a carton of milk...instead of just pouring the cereal and the milk herself she will look at an older sibling or me and ask in her little-girl voice, "will you pour me some cereal?" Of course, I look at her and tell her to pour her own cereal...but that doesn't stop her from trying!)  So, next week -- she starts 2nd grade, which has 1 hour (at least) of homework a night.  I meet her teacher on Monday.  

 

House hunting...

Looking at houses has occupied a lot of our time.  Unfortunately, there isn't a lot on the market right now (there was a lot more a month ago...but we weren't here!), so I'm trying to make the best of what we have available (taking into account air quality, access to major roads, quality of the house, etc.).  We have found two that will work pretty well -- none without some sort of compromise.  House #1 is NEW.  It is about 3,500 square feet (which includes the finished attic space...although some of that space isn't very useable ;) ), 1 small room in the basement, 1 larger room in the basement -- nothing large, but definitely workable.  a LARGE garage, a pool (decent...not big...but fine for playing in, and teaching kids to swim), a nice patio with a gazebo, pizza oven, outdoor kitchen, small garden area, space for a trampoline, and good parking.  NICE kitchen, AWESOME bathrooms, and central air (I think I fell in love with the house because of the kitchen, bath rooms and laundry room...haha).  Downside...really close to the main road, so there is road noise (not when the windows are closed...mainly when you're outside).  House B -- really needs some updating, meeting with the landlord on Monday to go over our list (he just wants to paint...in which case we'll pass).  BUT, it is very large...HUGE basement, HUGE pool, HUGE garden with bearing fruit trees (lemon, apple, nectarine, orange, clementine, olive, fig), HUGE drive way area -- great for riding bikes, scooters, roller skating -- outdoor workshop/storage room.  The kitchens and bathrooms are more "typical" for Italy.  Nothing special -- but serviceable (small showers...they feel like 3.5x3.5...).  Bedrooms are really nice, great rooftop terrace -- view of the Med, Liternum, and the lake...great breeze...no shortage of space in this house.  I think we have a few more houses to see this week, and I'm probably going to put the new house on hold on Tuesday.  I'm definitely leaning toward the new one.

 

$10,000 for overweight charges...

They claim we are overweight.  I don't know how.  Honestly, I don't.  I don't even understand how we are over our 1000 pounds for UB, but every estimate we had said our HHG would be between 12,000 and 16,000 pounds, and they are saying we were 19,500!!  Honestly, we could have bought most of our stuff brand NEW for $10,000.  We will be present for the re-weigh, but I can't say I'm not really concerned.  We did not bring much in the way of furniture.  And, this is driving me crazy.

 

Furniture:

 

1 sectional (cheap, lightweight), 1 futon (probably as heavy as the large sectional. 1 over-stuffed chair, 10 kitchen chairs, 1 table for 6, 1 table for 4, 1 small hutch, 2 night stands, 3 small dressers, 1 crib, 1 set of cheap bunk beds, 4 twin mattresses, 1 twin box spring, 2 Queen mattresses w/ box springs, 1 King mattress w/ box spring, 1 coffee table, 1 square sofa table, 1 small rectangular coffee table, Upright baby grand (that one is about 800 pounds...), 3 large bookshelves, 2 small book shelves, 1 entertainment unit (large, but not heavy) -- and that my friends, is the furniture.  I brought a standard amount of dishes, plus my china and crystal.  Bakeware, pots & pans, bedding, towels...other big items included the table saw and the router table...other miscellaneous tools...and books.  being generous, I brought about 4,000 pounds of books (I have an inventory of my books, and I own over 3,000...but a good number are young-adult fiction paper-back, penguin classics, children's books, etc...many are fairly light weight, and I shipped 4 boxes USPS, and 8 small boxes were in our express shipment).  So yeah, this has me very concerned.  We don't have $10,000.

 

The re-weigh on our express was exactly the same number.  I guess it's possible that our shipment was overweight...but it still has me scratching my head.

 

Included in that shipment was:

 

8 small book boxes (avg. weight 35 pounds), 1 knife block, plastic bowls/plates/cups (from Target...re-useable...the kind they put out during the summer), 1 Costco-sized box each of: plastic knives, spoons, forks, 2 Costco-sized packages of paper towels, and toilet paper, 1 box of towels, 2 small boxes of clothing (8" x 36" x 24"), shoes, 2 bins of personal care items (file box size), 2 larger bins of LEGO, 2 medium bins of Barbies and my little pet shop, 2 small bins of Ponies, and doll clothes.  1 childs' guitar, and 6 board games, 2 "trunks" of camping gear (3 sleeping bags, 3 mats, 1 lantern, 4 flashlights w/ batteries, and 4 camel backs...sleeping bags take up a lot of room ;) ).  So...yeah...I'm a bit befuddled, but I guess there is nothing we can do about that now.

 

But, we absolutely *must* win this re-weigh for our HHG.  

 

Anyone with experience on this -- please let me know!

 

So, in short -- we're muddling through, taking care of business, and making things happen.  It's still good.  I've only gotten really sad once...at church on Sunday.  I really felt the loss of what we left behind there...

 

Well, I have to run.  Blessings to you all!  Thank you for your prayers and support.  Hopefully, next week I'll be able to update you all with our final housing selection!

 

Lisa

[readwithem]

I don't know how it works for military moves - we had 3 international corporate moves and they weighed all our stuff before putting it on the boat.  That must be really stressful!  I hope you get it sorted quickly.

 

I would go with the first house since you'll be home so much.  If trying to get landlord #2 to paint is like pulling teeth, you'll be hard pressed to get him to do any more updating.

 

And Naples drivers scare me more than any other place we've been - they pass at such high speeds!   :driving:

 

[Twigs]

:seeya:

[Chris in VA]

I love reading your updates!! Best wishes for finding a great house.

Thanks for telling us about your experiences--so interesting!

[Jean in Newcastle]

I am living vicariously through  you.  I'm glad that your wisdom saved your dh from a disastrous car decision.  

[Tammyla]

:driving: Driving in Italy...I think I blocked that out of my memory.

 

Happy house hunting!

[Mom in High Heels]

OMG, driving in Italy is AWESOME!!!!!  I like to drive like a maniac, so it's right up my alley.  Man, I miss driving in Europe!

 

Good for you on catching the lemon sellers!  You have to be careful when buying used cars, especially over there.  People will try to rip you off.

 

I hope you guys find a house soon!  

 

Keep updating.

[Lanny]

Cool about your research into the used car market there. Used cars here in Colombia do not depreciate to very low values, as they do in the USA.

 

I have my fingers crossed for you regarding the reweigh on your shipment, but based on my February 1995 experience, with Graebel Van Lines in Dallas, Texas; I am not optimistic for you. The moving company here, which is excellent,  recommended Graebel, but my experience, with the people I worked with, in Dallas, was horrible. YMMV

 

I suspect that the moving company sales people deliberately underestimate the weight/cost of the move, to get you to sign a contract with their company...  When I found out the total cost of my move, I believe it was about double what I had been quoted...

 

Hoping that everything you shipped arrives in perfect shape. Graebel did a horrible job with my stuff. Started with the people who picked up the shipment in Texas (possibly they were on drugs),  packing valuable heirloom China into a box, as if it was junk. I called the moving company saleswoman and they repacked that in Dallas. Then, in their warehouse in Dallas, they attached the nearly new King Size mattress set to sections of the tower of my amateur radio station.  This next thing I think was not intentional: They built a wooden box to protect the refrigerator, but the box was too small and the refrigerator was damaged. In retrospect, I wish that I had shipped even less furniture than I did and that I had given the refrigerator to Goodwill or the Salvation Army, etc.

 

My stuff went by truck, to Miami, and then in a cargo jet, from Miami to Cali. The moving company saleswoman had told me "Colombia may be the only country in the world you can move to, for less money, by air, than by sea".

 

Driving in Italy sounds a lot like driving here in Colombia. One needs about 10 eyes, to see traffic coming from different directions. The traffic police here are not armed and most of the tickets they write are for infractions like registration or insurance and not for driving like a maniac.

 

Much good luck on the house hunting! I agree that if landlord #2 is reluctant to paint the house, it will be difficult to get any repairs you want or need to be done. And, probably the house should have been painted, before they tried to rent it?