Jan. 20:  Your blogger just completed the most exhausting 30 days in a lifetime, moving personal items of our sons into his new apartment, moving his furniture from storage in the suburbs, sorting 40 years of letters/ writings/ and hundreds of photos, packing 44 boxes, shipping three sets of photos  for scanning into my digital archives and packaging historical family records , moving our personal items and  our furniture into storage, on moving day, losing the key to the storage unit all on the coldest day in Chicago in three years (minus 5 degrees).  It has taken more than a week to rest up. This completes a journey selling our townhome in Chicago in 2001 and moving into a permanent residence on Maui that same year, buying the small apartment shown below, and now selling it. The saga..highly not recommended begins in this, {Part One photos from Galaxy, Part 2 coming from I phone: VOICES OF MAUI TALK STORY, LLC

PRELUDE LEADING TO MOVING DAY AT MINUS FIVE DEGREES: Tip: Do not move in the dead of Chicago winter especially if you already live in Hawaii.

THE START AND THE BEGINNING

Small apt in Chicago purchased in ’01 after we moved to Maui

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(Conor is working on a new book  about his seven lost years as a bipolar alcoholic that includes dynamite profiles of 12 others in recovery,. Now 30 months sober, he is our comeback kid.  He has agent, and here is posting on a fabulous  new blog (the bipolaraddict)  to promote the book that has garnered 15,000 views in three months. His blogging went up between packing boxes. Once publishers recognize that there are 5.7 million people suffering from bipolar and twice that number of loved ones struggling to help them, they will figure out there is a market for the book.  Our team of consultants and social media whizzes is confident this is going to happen. In recovery, his writing for the book and blog  is superb.  That is not hyperbole.  It is my best judgement as an award-winning writer). 

 WEATHER ON MOVING DAY: MINUS FIVE DEGREES

SORTING

PACKING

Day Dec/ 30

Dec. 31

Box lids

Sorting table

TV as a diversion

BOX A THON: 40 of ‘EM

FUELING

MOVERS AND MOVING DAY

THE CLOSING: Javier, our Urban East Agent who sold the unit and got us through it, at Chicago Title and Trust for signing of documents, handover the keys. Tip: Do not wait until day before closing to move out and cledan.

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REST AND RELATION

New Year’ Even R and R

WINTER INTERLUDE: On the way to Mariano’s fabulous park like setting where daughter lives.

The Weather

Still bitter cold on Jan. 12

THE SUPPORTING PLAYERS: SARA, MY SMART, BEAUTIFUL WIFE WHO STAYED ON MAUI TO TAKE CARE OF THE DOG AND COORINATE THINGS WHILE PROVIDING TERRIFIC COUNSEL, RECEIVING CALLS FROM MOVERS AND OTHERS AT 5 A.M HAWAII TIME, SON, DAUGHTER, SON IN LAW, MY HERO AND LAST DAYS ORGANIZER, 1/2 BLOCK AWAY IN BIGGER COLD WEATHER : ROCK BOTTOM CAFE FOR SOUP ON ON PACKING DAYS, WEBER GRILL FOR A FINE MAHI MAHI DINNER NEAR MOVES END, , JAVIER OF URBAN EAST, REALTOR, , CHICAGOLAND MOVERS (UNITED VAN LINES), WHO DID TWO MOVES FROM AND TO STORAGE, GRAND PLAZA STAFF, JEFF, DEMITRI WHO DISASSMBLED BOOKCASE ON MOVING DAY, MARIO WHO ACCEPTED GIFT OF OUTDOOR FURNITURE AND MOV ED IT FIVE MINUTES BEFORE FINAL INSPECTION BY OWNERS BEFORE CLOSING, ALASKA AIRLINES FOR TREATING ME WELL IN MY FIRST TIME FLYING FIRST CLASS, STARBUCKS COFFEE, PORTLAND AIRPORT (PIANO MUSIC IN THE CENTER SPACE, SOOTHING CELLO MUSIC NEDAR THE GATE).

WORD PRESS:  For continuing software improvements that make possible convenient posting and assembly of images and text. 

TO O’HARE TO PORTLAND TO MAUI AUI ON  A SNOWY DAY GOT THE BLOGGER THROUGH THis Sara, my smart, beautiful wife whor coordinated from Maui and accepted callsa  from moving company at 5 z.m.

DAUHGHER AND SON  who helped do some packing  mega coordinating, provided diners and came to by rescue the night before closing by relieving the exhuasted blogger and removing final boxes for shipnebt abd fubak sirtubg

DAUGHTERS HUSBAND who performed incredible duty delivering more boxes to two diferent storage locations i fr

ON THE PLomFirst Class, for the first time all the waypment mn city and s

ARRIVAL IN PARADIS E: Our Beach a few weeks before the month long triuburbs, and organized by stuff for the plane.

JAVIER   OF URBAN EAST, who through and uncountabale nmber of texts on the last days when my new phone wasnit set up properly.  (It farely rang on receipt of a call. texts pp.

CHICAGO LAND MOVERS whose representative arrived 30 minutes after the moving company was contacted one day before the moved, made the estimate, and got the ball rolling for the next day.  The three movers who drove thew a snow storm into the city, worked from 10 to 4, moving boxes and furntiure and packing large pictures and photos, packing the stuff in the storage unit and then left to drive home under bad weather conditions, GRAND PLAZA MANAGER    and his incredible staff who got all the paperwork done to move out of the condo, scheduled the elevator, and have been helpful during our 10 years osf ownership. Demitri, helpful for a number of years, who dissamebled a huge bookcase unit so that it could be moving moving day morning.

Mario: who accepted our dopnation to him of patio furniture and moving it out on Friday at the time of the closing, and leant a vacuum cleanrer for a final cleanup minutes before inspection.

The owner of the Redheat piano bar who got the blogger and great seat on New Years Eve. and whose entertainment venue offer frequent evening r and r before the last week.

Alaska Airlines who provided their usual wonderful service.

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