Prolog : The week of July 5th I initiate the process of selling enough stock to generate $3000 in cash in the money market account. This money won’t be available until July 13th.
9:59 am : The movers have possession of all our worldly goods. I am expecting a paycheck for two weeks of work, that when combined with our account in Illinois will be enough to get our things back tomorrow.
10:02 am : My check arrives and, lo and behold, it is only for one week’s work. Seems I started in the middle of the pay period. Major oh shit moment. Now we don’t have enough to buy back our possessions.
10:05 am : I strike a deal for an advance on my next check with the boss. This will get us through the buyback transaction. Barely.
10:15 am : I talk to a friend in Springfield who is going to pick up a computer desk we are giving away. He agrees to get it Saturday while our cleaning lady is at the house. I call her and she agrees to let him in when he arrives.
12:45 pm : I leave work for the day, having reached my mandated 40 hour billing maximum. I deposit the paycheck in our new local bank.
2:00 pm : Michele and I enjoy a late lunch and talk about the stress of tomorrow. Neither of us is looking forward to the long day, filled with decisions. We just wish it was over.
3:30 pm : A quick check online of our Springfield balance reveals less money than we thought. Enough less that even with the advance from work we’ll be broke after buying our stuff back from the movers.
4:00 pm : After unsuccessfully trying to negotiate a larger advance from work, I call my father and ask him for the money we need. It isn’t anymore than the work advance, but we won’t have to pay the 8% interest work wants on the “loan” either.
4:10 pm : Ernesto calls to inform me that he can’t get a truck for Saturday, he wants to come by the house on Monday at noon. With my chances of getting our stuff back hanging by a thread I put him off saying I’ll call him back later.
4:15 pm : We talk to the Allied dispatcher and make the first two payments; one that will nearly wipe out our Springfield account, and one on my father’s credit card. The remainder will be paid in cash from our Overland Park account.
5:05 pm : While at Budget Rental getting the small truck we reserved for the weekend to move overflow items from the apartment to our storage locker, Allied calls and says that the charge against our Springfield account was denied.
5:10 pm : Since I was in the middle of the truck transaction I had asked to called Allied back. I suspect that there is a hold on some money due to other transactions against our account that haven’t cleared yet. I called Allied back and ask her to try an amount $200 less. After a minute on hold she returns to say the charge cleared.
5:15 pm : I am now so stressed that I can’t find my way home; missing the turn on to our street and having to find a parking lot to turn around in, with Michele following me in the car.
5:30 pm : Back at the house we are both emotional and exhausted and ready to quit. After breaking down and having a good cry I manage to explain about the pending stock for cash exchange. While our account is down to $500 dollars today, we’ll be depositing via wire, nearly $3000 on Tuesday. The giddy relief that my spur-of-the-moment foresight the previous week provides us is tremendous.
6:00 pm : We are still wiped out emotionally and mentally from all the stress of the afternoon. But at least we are confident that we’ll get our belongings back in the morning.
Epilog added 7.11.2004 @ 4:45 am Saturday, July 10th 6:30 am : We are both up and ready for the movers. Of course they aren’t scheduled to arrive until 8:30 am.
8:00 am : We call the local credit union to find out what their Saturday hours are and discover they aren’t open until 9:00. Michele agrees to go there while I deal with the movers.
8:30 am : The Allied truck arrives. The driver and his assistant begin to setup to deliver our stuff.
8:45 am : Michele leaves for the bank.
9:15 am : Michele returns from the bank. When I walk over to her she says that she doesn’t have the check. That the bank didn’t show the money in our account. For about 3 seconds my heart stops beating and my ears roar.
9:16 am : Michele breaks into a huge smile and pulls the check from her purse, just kidding she says. The line is perfectly delivered and the resulting laugh helps to pop the bubble of tension we both had about the day.
12:00 pm : All our stuff is off the truck, the garage is full of boxes to open, the storage locker is nearly full.
6:00 pm : We’ve managed to complete the setup on our office area and our bedroom. Since we brought enough kitchen with us two weeks ago we can skip the chore of unpacking it today.